Chapter 4

The smells of beer, smoke and humanity assaulted Angela's nose as she opened the door to one of her most favorite places in the world. The door creaked as she opened it and walked in with her bag slung over her shoulder taking in the view of a couple of hunter wannabes huddled in the corner chatting over a possible hunt.

She had arrived after spilling the whole story to Bobby. She really couldn't say no to the man when he got into what she privately called his father mode. She showed him the email the princess had sent her and explained that the victims were just like Sam. They had all been visited when they were six months old and some of them had a parent killed in their nursery.

Bobby was surprised that there were that many and could have asked her how she managed to find them when Sam and Dean had been at it for months with little success but didn't. She didn't really want to tell him why or anything that touched on those days but she felt she owed it to him and she was tired of the secrets. She kept them because she thought it would protect the innocent but in the end all it caused was pain.

She told him the story of what she once was and when she met her first. What she didn't know was that Sam had told Bobby the story as he heard it that night. She told him about killing the psychic and how she understood Dean's fears. In fact she became an angst bucket to the old man and Bobby just listened.

Then Bobby asked her about the ones behind the killings and if they were anything like Gordon Walker. Her response was no and that the ones who did it were hunters. She confused Bobby with her choice of words and proceeded to explain the difference. Once she explained, Bobby asked if she was sure that it was one of those guys.

Angela had no doubt that it was renegades. They believed that everything that had a hint of darkness within them should be killed. The irony of it was that their divine given talents put them within that sphere of beings that they hunted. They dealt in absolutes and were considered a disgrace by the other clans but they still held a strong sense of family honor. It made sense since the vast majority of that clan's members were descendants of the other clans and it was also the reason why major confrontations were avoided. Hell she had been caught in the middle once and managed to stave off disaster… with a close call on her life.

Bobby took it remarkably well and wished her luck on her hunt. He didn't mention contacting the boys. Thinking about it now as she stood in the bar she thought that she probably should have warned them but she didn't want to bring them trouble. Also she knew something that she hoped was sufficient leverage to keep them out of this.

"Hey ya just gonna stand there or do you want a drink?"

Angela couldn't help but smile as she looked at the speaker. She gave a slight chuckle as she replied, "If only I wasn't on the job. How are you doing Ellen?"

Ellen Harvelle wasted no words on greetings but came out from behind the bar to give Angela a big hug. She then gave a playful slap on Angela's shoulder and mildly scolded, "Don't you dare ask me how I am when you haven't bothered calling to tell me how you are." She then gave Angela another hug. "Oh it is so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too Ellen," Angela replied giving a hug of her own. She had known Ellen for a few years and the woman never failed to go motherly on her. The first time she did that Angela had been stiff as a poker. Having gone on for years without that kind of contact, it was confusing but pleasant and so she returned a few times and every time Ellen greeted her the same way every time.

"Ash told me you were coming. So you call him but not me?"

"I didn't want to bother you."

"Don't you give me that Angie. You know you can call me anytime," Ellen replied holding out Angela to better look at her. Actually Bobby called to tell her to expect her and Ash confirmed it. To Ellen, Angela was like a younger version of Jo before she decided to go off hunting but with a few differences. In fact she had to hand it to Angela because of the advice she gave Jo before she went off to be a hunter.

Ellen had been avoiding Jo while she packed up her stuff. She wanted to say something but how could she support her daughter in this? The job got her husband killed and she could admit that it was still a sore spot as far as the Winchesters were concerned. Still it was a good idea to at least wish her daughter well. She went to Jo's room and was stopped short by what she heard.

"Angie do you think Mom hates me for what I want to do?"

"No. Why do you ask that Jo? Your Mom is just worried. She knows what the job entails and the general lifespan of a hunter. No parent wants to bury a child."

"You don't doubt me do you?"

"I don't. You have the skills. With the mental and emotional toughness, that remains to be seen. Look at me: a little over four hundred years on the job and I get depressed watching people I like grow old and die or die on the job. I'm a wreck."

"Yet you still do it. I think you have more courage most of the guys that come by the Roadhouse and you're not afraid to let them have it."

"That's kind of you to say so. So where do you plan to go?"

"I don't know yet but I was thinking of calling Mom to let her know that I'm okay at least"

"Do that Jo. Treat your mom right. You only get one and sometimes not for very long."

Whatever Angela said worked. Ellen came to expect the weekly calls from Jo. Sometimes they varied if she was on the job but it was a welcome relief. At least her daughter was okay. Each call was a reassurance. About Angela, it was a full time job worrying about her. Why Ellen did it, she wouldn't tell but in her heart she saw a girl who had built up defenses if only to spare herself from pain but in the end she was still in pain keeping it inside and with no one to confide in. "So what have you been doing with yourself?"

Angela smiled and replied, "You know been here there and everywhere. So I see the Roadhouse is still the same."

Ellen gave one of her conciliatory smiles and gave a slight nod. "Everything's been good. The same business as usual. A couple of small game headed this way and I was going to see if you were interested in them."

"I don't think they would be for me Ellen. Maybe the boys would be interested. I'm actually here on another matter." Angela leaned forward to whisper, "That matter with the kids."

Ellen knew exactly what Angela was talking about and gave a nod. She beckoned the girl to follow her towards the bar away from prying eyes and open ears. She poured a couple of glasses of the best whiskey she had and took a drink. "Ash mentioned that you asked him for help and that was why you were coming. So I take it something happened in your search?"

Angela pulled out her computer pad and brought up the section of the email she had shown Bobby and showed it to Ellen, "A few of the ones that were under protection were found dead along with their guards."

Ellen studied the email and all the details. "You have any idea who did it?"

"Renegade hunters from the disgraced clan. They, aside from a few very good wannabes like Gordon, are the only ones able to track down people like them. They believe that all creatures, no matter what they choose must be exterminated. Halflings like me are an abomination and it is a mercy killing."

"So it is a bunch of crazies then?"

"A bunch of talent given crazies," Angela replied taking a drink of whiskey. It was a good vintage and a good brand. Better than some of the moonshine she tried in the thirties. "Ellen these people have the ability to scent out the supernatural. They were created for it."

Ellen finished her drink and looked at Angela. "So you're saying that they are like the things they hunt?"

"More or less. They are still human; they were blessed… well as the stories go."

"That you are right on but who you're thinking of… not so," a new voice entered.

Angela grinned but didn't look until she said, "Dr. Badass is in the house." When she saw Ash, her grin got even bigger. "So Ash you have something for me?"

Ash gave his signature grin and replied, "Do I ever. Nice set of gear you got there." He pointed at her computer pad. As far as he knew that kind of gear was expensive and for a hunter that would mean some fancy work with the credit card scams. Ash knew that Angela was more than what she appeared and figured that she must have funds stashed somewhere. He tried prying but gave up after a while and that was after she bested him in a drinking game.

Angela smiled and replied, "Thanks. I believe I can get you a deal on something you might like."

"Might take you up on that."

"Alright you two go and discuss what you need to discuss and you better not leave before saying good bye Angie or I'll shoot you with rock salt the next time you come by," Ellen spoke giving her usual scolding.

"I wouldn't dream of it Ellen." Angela gave another smile and downed her drink before going with Ash to his room.

Ash didn't bother to wait but instead produced a piece of paper. He led the way to his room and started talking, "I checked on the pattern of attacks along with the movements that have been recorded of the clan you mentioned. No luck there. However…"

Angela began to tune out Ash as she read his computations. She was well versed in computations like these since Ash taught her initially and then she sought out others. Besides what Ash was telling her, she was reading it. As she read the computations, she felt as if her heart was stopping if it were possible. She felt her lungs constrict and she stopped in her tracks.

It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. She thought they had gone to the depths after that last fight. She had shown them mercy when they left and they came back to finish her then. She managed to save the crew and then sent the ship to the depths with them. Now they were back. They were after them and all because she refused to kill one of them.

Ash stopped talking when he noticed that Angela had stopped walking with him. He turned to see her looking ashen faced as she stared at the paper he had given her. He could see the color suddenly disappear from her face as she continued to stare at the paper. "Hey Angie, you okay?"

Ellen had come to the back and noticed that the pair was just standing there. She could Ash looking concerned and Angela was visibly shaking slightly. She was about to say something when Angela collapsed in a dead faint on the ground. She rushed to the girl and started questioning Ash about what had happened while she tried to get Angela to wake up.

The storm was growing worse. The storms always were when they struck. It was their nature after they corrupted their purpose. The spray of the sea that always brought joy when she felt it was no longer there for it had been replaced by shadow. She looked up at the sky as rain poured on her face and she felt it and remembered.

Then she lowered her head and her eyes narrowed. She looked straight ahead but addressed the man behind her. "Still at your old games?"

"Anything to rid the world of the heathens you let live."

"We were to hunt the demons but a choice was always an option. You have corrupted our purpose."

"I have made it better. Now give up the brat and the others will be spared."

She put her right hand across her middle to reach for the handle. "That… I cannot allow you to do." She then pulled out her sword and swung it to strike.

The battle began. Those of the crew that wanted to fight, she let since she told them the choice was there. Just as long as the boy was safe. They rallied around her to take on them and the battle raged just as the storm did.

Somehow she and her former pupil ended up on the main mast balancing precariously. Their blades clashed with sparks due to the strength and speed of their strikes. Suddenly her blade was knocked from her hand and it became lodged in the wood of the ship. She looked around as if to find a way out. When she saw what she needed, the time was to act.

"As you can see, I made us better. You are weak."

She grinned, "Now such would be the case if only it were true." She then jumped and grabbed one of the moorings and swung off. She pulled out her gun and came about and fired. The explosion rocked the ship but that didn't matter as she grabbed her blade out and let go. Using her momentum, she flipped and went in feet first into the water just as the ship exploded.

The storm began to dissipate as she swan to the boat and was pulled aboard. She saw the other crewmembers scrambling to the other boats. The boy was safe. One more stab into the demon's hide and a mistake was corrected.

Angela wrinkled her brow as she opened her eyes to find herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling but the same familiar smells of the Roadhouse. Moving her fingers, she found that she was on a bed and she wondered why that was. Then she remembered and sat up quickly and looked around.

"Good you're awake. You had me worried."

Angela looked to see Ellen bringing in a pitcher of water with a glass. She apologized, "I'm sorry Ellen. I guess I lost enough air."

"Don't go playing it off on me young lady. Something had you scared enough to make your face go white," Ellen replied as she poured a glass of water and handed it to Angela. "Ash said it was when you were looking at his computations for that case you asked for his help in." Ellen sat on the bed next to Angela and looked at her. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Angela held the glass of water and ran a hand through her locks. Ash must've been scared when she did that. "I guess I did scare Ash a good one."

"Scared Ash my ass you scared me," Ellen replied. "Angie what did Ash find that had you turn white as if you had seen a ghost?"

Angela drank the glass of water. She didn't want to drag Ellen into it since that could put her at risk but then again they never harmed regular humans unless they defended her kind. Then again Ellen was involved anyway just like Ash so she might as well tell the whole thing. Well as much as she could bear. She looked at Ellen and replied, "Something that I thought I took care of and I would rather Ash hear this as well."

It was fifteen minutes and three beers later that Angela told the whole story about the group that she was sure was killing the psychic kids. Ellen took it in a stride much like Bobby did when she told him about the renegade clan of hunters. Ash was more or less accepting of the whole thing. Ellen said, "So you trained these guys to hunt demons?"

"I was a demon slayer yes," Angela replied, "I trained only a select few how to track demons through the scent of their blood. Demon blood has a particular scent that differs greatly from human blood." Angela took a drink of her beer to hide the fact that explaining this was bringing her back to a time that she would rather forget.

"Well I could understand vampires being able to scent by blood but you said that these guys were human." Ellen frowned in puzzlement as she took a drink of beer grateful that she had shooed everyone out. "How is it possible?"

Here we go, Angela thought. She replied, "The clans that I mentioned earlier? Their blood allows them to be hunters. Legend has it that seven were chosen to defend the world from the monsters. They were given the gift to hunt and thus seven lineages were born. They are considered hunters. The wannabes I refer to are those not born of those lines. Those that are members of those lines, they are good at what they do. Their senses are more alert, stronger wills and most of those happy accidents can be mistaken for luck to an outsider."

"So that accounts for the high concentration of some hunts outside the parameters you gave me," Ash replied. "The victims weren't the psychics but they held a similar pattern but they differed slightly."

"So what about these hunters?" Ellen asked.

"I was and to some degree, still am, considered the best at being a slayer. I was asked by the Centurion to train others since they are one of the groups that defend humans. I refused for several years until I gave in under the stipulation that I would chose who got trained and who didn't. I selected them mostly from the vampires since they had exceptional sniffers already but then I got curious about others and selected some from the hunter clans."

"Somehow I get the feeling that there is more to this," Ellen said.

"Knew you would pick up on that," Angela replied giving a wry grin. "The hunters… well all of the slayers drank demon blood. To be able to smell it, you have to taste it." She didn't say any more about that. If Ellen and Ash picked up on that, then so be it. She would deal with it.

"So the drinking of blood gave them that ability," Ellen confirmed. She guessed that it had been a rather painful admission for Angela and wasn't going to press on it. "So what happened?"

"To make a rather long story short, a particular set of hunters didn't like the tenets I set when I let a Halfling go because he was doing no harm. They thought that the renegades were right in that even Halflings were an abominations and had begun hunting them down. I discovered it and banished them but not before I was challenged for leadership. I won and showed mercy and have been hated ever since. They joined the renegades and that was the last I heard of them until they popped up again and I fought them again and I thought I ended it." Angela paused to take another drink of her beer. "Apparently not."

Ellen took her time to digest the situation. She didn't blame Angela one bit for hiding that truth. At least she tried to rectify it. It just didn't work out that way. She asked, "So why now and why the psychics?"

"I can answer that," Ash replied as he pulled out the paper and the map that he had marked. "You said that the psychics that were killed were ones that you personally saved and had hidden and that no one else knew their whereabouts."

"That was the agreement that I demanded in exchange for the disbanding of the slayers," Angela frowned in confusion.

"In following with what I was working on for Sam and Dean locating the other psychics, I took the liberty of looking at ability manifestation. I would say that these ex buddies of yours were drawn to them."

"Like moths to a flame," Ellen replied as she peered at the map. "These are the killings that you gave Ash and these are…"

"Ones that happened to pop up," Ash replied. "Ones that had guards but were not ones that you saved Angie. I would say that these were designed to draw you out."

"Revenge is a sweet dish," Angela muttered as she studied the map. "I must have left a mark on them or I seriously underestimated their capabilities. Either way I'm going to have to track them down and kill them."

"What about Sam and Dean? Shouldn't you warn them?"

Angela looked at Ellen. She was right. She wouldn't leave them high and dry like that but as far as she could tell, they were trying to draw her out. That meant they didn't know where she was and there was the possibility that they didn't know about Sam. She could also rely on the fact that she knew one thing about the Winchesters that would guarantee the hunter clans, all of them, would leave them alone. Thing was her oath to John stood firm in her mind. She would warn them. She replied, "As much as I want to believe that they don't know about Sam…" She gave a nod. She was about to say something more when her cell phone rang.

Slowly she fished out her phone and looked at the caller ID. She looked at Ellen and Ash and said to them, "Looks like I'm going on a hunt." She then answered the phone.

What she heard on the other end was not what she expected. She listened to the person on the other end ask her for her help. It sounded pained and hoarse. She said, "Alright. I'm coming. Where are you at?"

She listened for the location. "I'll be there," and hung up.

Putting her phone away, she turned to Ellen and said, "I have to go."

Ellen nodded. "You need anything for the trip?"

Angela looked down to think a moment. She took a breath and replied, "No. Just me and my stupidity will do." She gave a slight grin. "And maybe something to eat on the road."

Ellen couldn't help but smile at that. She went to the kitchen to make some sandwiches while Angela spoke to Ash about some last minute things. Ellen knew that one sandwich wouldn't be enough for Angela. The next thing she knew she was filling a cardboard box with other foodstuffs that would probably feed several people. She emerged almost running into a wall with the box only to have it taken from her and Angela balanced it on her shoulder. She gave a tolerant smile and said, "That should be plenty for a growing girl like you."

Angela chuckled as she reached with her free hand to hug Ellen. She was grateful for Ellen and Ash's non judgment when she revealed everything about the renegade slayers. It gave her encouragement for when she had to reveal all of it to the brothers. It wouldn't be half as bad and she was already on a self-imposed exile. She replied, "Thank you Ellen and I'll call when I get where I need to go. That I promise."

"You better young lady."

A/N" Dr. Badass in the house along with Ellen! Well don't that beat all. Show of hands who knows who called Angie? Find out next time on Souls Ameliorated...