Supernatural

The Other Side of the Tracks

"Dead in the Water"

Emily looked down at her cell phone, pressing a key to make the back screen light up revealing five new voice messages were waiting for her. The brunette sighed quietly, tossing the small electronic device back onto the bed of her motel room. Her silky brown hair was tied into a loose bun at the back of her head and she wore only a grey tank top and a pair of torn up black jeans. Surprisingly, she found herself feeling bad for leaving the brothers in the dark. After fighting that wendigo in Colorado, she had just kind of disappeared and the brothers were showing a surprisingly large amount of concern for her. There had been other messages before those, where Dean had apologized if he had offended her, surprising her each time since he seemed to have a damn good idea of how to talk to an upset woman. She, however, was not upset but more concerned. Sure, his comment had been hurtful but that was for the two seconds she processed it. In reality, her experience in the cave had led her to frightening repeats of her history, driving her to flee to Washington and dive right into another case.

She quickly moved across the room, sitting down at the table where a laptop sat open with books surrounding it. She clicked open a page to reveal her foe, Zahhāk, a lesser known evil figure from Ancient Persia. What had led this ancient evil to Washington, she didn't know, but she would kill him...It? She huffed and leaned back in her chair, slipping one hand over her hair. Most of the mythology said that Zahhāk was defeated, or at least imprisoned, by a man who was essentially a warrior of the light. It would be more difficult this time around, seeing how, after so many years, this evil sorcerer learned new tricks. He has divided himself into three different people, all identical but never in close proximity. Luckily, she located his 'base of operations' as it were, and, if her sources were right, all she had to destroy was an amulet which would summon all three of them and force them to recombine. Then, three ox bones, forming a triangle, around his heart, the only thing in his body that there is only one of. "Planning it out in words is easy enough but man am I going to get hurt. The man is, like, made of deadly animals."

Emily laid in bed in her dark motel room, not sleeping of course but wishing she could. The few weeks spent with the Winchesters had begun to change her, faster than it ever had before. She frowned and rolled onto her side, holding a pillow against her. The more time she spent with humans, the more mortal she became. More emotions, more sleeping, more eating, more lust, more of everything. Everything became mandatory and even her aging process sped up to that of a normal human, causing her more problems than she wanted to deal with. She closed her eyes tightly, now faced with the most difficult of choices: should she stay with the Winchesters and allow herself to age and succumb to human urges or should she pursue John alone and retain all of the aspects, both good and bad, of her near-immortality? This question had faced her so many times and, every time, she chose humans because, despite her solitary lifestyle, she loved being around humans and all the emotions she assimilated, even the bad ones, were worth it. Sure, she had been hurt in the past and yes, bad things happened to good people, but she was, inevitably, optimistic. And, though she hated to admit it, the brothers had grown on her. Like a fungus, really.

Emily snapped out of her funk as her phone rang loudly, filling the room with noise and light, forcing her to move and grab it from the dresser. "Hello?" she muttered into the phone, listening on the other end for a response. She waited for a few moments, hearing shuffling but no response. "Hello?" She was nearly cut off mid sentence. "Emily, when are you coming back?" She smiled at Sam's voice and sat up, leaving her comfort pillow behind her. "Hello to you too Sam." She murmured, looking at the digital clock, its red numbers reading 2.23a. "Look, I'm still trying to figure out if hunting with you boys is in my best interest. I mean, I got my ass kicked more times over the last month and change I was with you two than in the last year." She said, smiling. "Why? Is Dean particularly unbearable?" Sam exasperated sigh made her chuckle quietly. "Where are you guys at?" Sam and Emily rattled on about the case they were on and, while she described her case, she never disclosed her location. "Well, unless the black lagoon creature is making a comeback, I'd say you have an elemental spirit." She awaited Sam's response for what seemed like a long time. "Elemental spirit?" Emily shook her head, silently willing herself not to comment. 'Sam has been out of the game a long time; John was experienced but he hasn't seen it all; elemental spirits are rare' her mind went off on reasons not to tease Sam. "Well, odds are you're looking for a death that happened in the lake. An elemental spirit is generally stronger than regular spirits but can still be put down the same way. Their power over the element in which they died is extremely dangerous but they usually are very specific in their unfinished business and vengeance." Emily hadn't actually encountered an elemental spirit in a long time but remembered facing a fire spirit once. Let's just say there are parts on her legs that just don't grow hair anymore. "Well, I have to run. Good luck to you." She ended the call promptly and frowned, putting the cell on the drawer and grabbing the remote. Zahhāk was too strong at night to face so she would just have to entertain herself. She flicked on the power button of the television, the room lighting up. "Welcome to Casa Erotica"

Emily walked along the streets, carefully adjusting her red and silver aviators while slowly making her way through the bustling foot-traffic of the city into the lesser-known section. Industrial buildings and old run down factories were surprisingly versatile. "Yeah, you can skip school and come smoke pot or, you know, set up a demonic altar that splits one of the evilest beings on the planet into more evil things." She quietly mused. Emily reached behind her and slipped her map out, following the route she designed to a T. Her boots clicked against the broken concrete of the long abandoned road and led her straight to her destination. She slipped the map back behind her and pushed her sunglasses up, pushing her hair back as well. She wasn't prejudice against any supernatural creatures based on their heritage but the goddamn Persians knew how to protect their important things. The building was visibly riddled with sigils and spells designed to alert Zahhāk of her existence. Touching the door would be a big red flag and, depending on what spells he had on the inside, teleporting could be her last action. "Craig Miller..." she whispered, pulling one of the many obits from her pocket. "Died shortly after breaking into an abandoned factory of a potent venom, previously believed to be extinct. Police found no trace of the animal blahblahblah." Emily slipped the paper back into her pocket and headed around the building, looking for his point of entry. A lovely piece of metal wall was pulled up, beckoning her to enter and end this.

Emily discreetly hid her jacket and supplies, wearing a black band t-shirt and a bracer on her left arm. Considering how many altars she had to find over the years, Zahhāk didn't really seem to put much effort into hiding it. But, in reality, who would go after a creature with snakes growing out of his shoulders. No one sane, anyways. She lifted the small blue amulet up, the sharp edges forming a perfect triangle with a small vial at the center. She gripped it tight in her hand, silently preparing herself before leaning down and lifting her compact bow off the ground. Moving behind a wall on the opposite side of the room as her supplies, Emily threw the amulet at the ground in front of the altar, shattering the thin glass. Her eyes slid across her selected arrow, hand crafted from ox bone, as she stopped breathing, the change in air pressure telling her that a whole bunch of evil was about to be coming her way. Moments passed, like an eternity, until one thump after another landed in the building. Just as she mused about how scared any mortals who saw his figures vanish must be, Zahhāk released a terrifying roar, the undeniable sound of hissing filling her ears. Butterflies filled her stomach so she tightened her abs and flipped around the wall, shooting an ox arrow straight into the inhuman flesh above his heart. He was more terrifying than the legends had said, with rotting flesh and a rancid stench; she had never seen or smelled worse.

With a deafening roar of pain, Zahhāk stumbled backwards before his inhuman red eyes settled on her, identifying his attacker. Emily took a running start, pulling out another ox-bone arrow and trying to set it in place to fire. She looked up as he came at her, pushing herself off the ground and drop kicking the monstrosity in the chest, pushing the arrow in further and knocking him on his ass. She moved over him as the poison that ox bone was to him temporarily immobilized him. "Ox bone, bitch." She murmured, shooting the second one in at close range, drawing another roar. She tossed her bow away and pulled out the other arrow, dropping down on him and plunging the third in. He screamed, hard and loud, as the area she isolated with the bone melted into an empty hole, effectively killing Zahhāk. Adrenaline pumping hard, Emily released the end of the arrow, leaning back, ignoring the stench. "Looks like you won't be feeding innocent people's brains to your snakes anymore." She whispered, standing slowly. Sharp movement caught her eye and she just barely got her arm in front of her face as the ten inch head of one of his snakes made a last ditch effort to avenge itself. Emily cried out as its teeth sank into her flesh, the black venom seeping down her arm as the snake injected as much as it could. Pulling out a miniature machete, Emily rendered the head of the snake from the body as the melting proceeded to engulf what was left of the Persian Evil Lord. Emily fell to the ground, her left arm completely paralyzed and turning black as she pulled herself towards her supplies. Her body, for once, couldn't take the poison. Typically, her immune system would have kicked in and fought it off immediately but this stuff was nigh unbeatable. "That's why you chose the bow you stupid piece-a crap!" she yelled at herself, dragging and pushing herself. Then, there it was; a sharp piercing pain overloaded her chest in agonizing sensation, forcing her to stop. Desperately, she reached out, pulling her jacket off her bag and grabbing the small string that dangled from the straps. Her breathing was getting exceptionally laboured.

Emily awoke with a start, sitting in a private room in a hospital, wearing a flimsy paper gown with a large bandage on her left arm. "Well those boys will sure be relieved your ok." Emily looked up at the nurse speaking to her with a completely neutral expression, the overly cheery woman just smiling obliviously. "You were lucky they were playing hooky." Emily looked around, moving to get out of bed when a pain came from her thigh. She hiked the dress up and saw a large injection mark. A soft sigh escaped Emily's lips as she silently thanked whoever was out there that she got the needle in time. "They found you sprawled in one of those factories with a needle in your hand. Now, the police want to have a word with you due to the fact that you had venom and the anti-serum injected into you. Due to the nature of the venom, they're kind of curious as to what is going on." The brunette looked to the nurse, smiling. "You'll hold them off for a bit won't you?" The nurse shared a small smile with her and nodded empathetically. "Well, you should be right as rain in a day or two. Your immunity really kicked up after the first hour after you were admitted. No serious damage." Just before the nurse left the room, Emily spoke up suddenly. "What about my things?" The woman looked back at her and nodded. "Well, your clothes are under your bed. Other than that, the police haven't mentioned finding anything else." Emily was up and out of bed the second the red-haired nurse left the room, pulling on her clothes almost frantically. She zipped up her jeans, threw on her bra, slipped into her t-shirt and was out the window in 30 seconds flat.

Emily gently kicked the head of the snake around, wondering where her things had gone. They weren't here and, according to Davis, the police didn't have anything. Thank god for Davis, the only legitimate connection she had with a police department. She would send him a fruit basket or something, someday. "You killed it, didn't you?" Emily turned around to see two boys who looked vaguely familiar. "Sorry? I don't know what you mean..." Emily kind of stopped herself as the teens held up her possessions, including her bow. She smiled slightly and ducked her head a bit. "I can only guess you knew Craig Miller." She murmured, taking a few steps closer. "I was the one that dared him to come in here a few nights ago." She looked at the taller one who believed himself to be solely guilty for Craig's death. "It's probably best if you guys forget about what happened here." Emily slipped her jacket into her backpack and threw it over her shoulder, making her bow even smaller and slipping it into the side pocket. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save your friend. But because you guys saved me, maybe I can protect other people's friends and loved ones." She set a hand on the taller boy's shoulder and smiled caringly at the other. "Just, try to forget what you've seen. Go make a difference in the world." Emily moved forward and stopped just at the door as she heard one yell for her, looking back. "Thank you for all you've done but..." he paused and smiled at his friend. "I hope I don't have to see you again."

Well that was the story of Emily's life tied up in a neat little bow, she thought to herself, smiling. She had to get out of Washington but, as damaged as she was, she couldn't exactly teleport herself. Looks like she would be hitching rides to see the brothers, which was, admittedly, better that taking a bus. As if on cue, her phone beeped in her backpack, forcing her to stop and check what it was. "Another voice message, Unknown Caller, how mysterious." Emily stopped and became very serious as she heard rustling on the other end of the phone, like someone was running with their phone in their pocket. Suddenly there was a sharp growl and a scream. For the next few moments, Emily listened to someone getting torn apart.