Cough, sneeze, tissue, deep breaths. Same thing over and over again, this cold was taking a major toll on Alex's body and she couldn't help but feel weak and helpless. While the boys took care of those kids—which Dean had been totally right about, and hadn't stopped rubbing their noses in it—she had to stay in bed, wearing an over sized hoodie from her duffle, socks and sweat pants.
"Samn," she croaked, letting lose another sneeze into her tissue clutched in her left hand.
"Coming," Sam yelled from the kitchen not too far away in the motel room. He came walking carefully out with a bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup on a tray, with saltine crackers to the side and an apple juice box.
"Thans agnin."
"No problem."
"Where'n Dnean?"
"He went to go and get some more cold medicine and a few movies."
"Whan nind?"
"Don't know," Sam replied placing the tray on her lap above the comforter, taking the thermometer off the nightstand and sticking it into Alex's mouth as she tried to speak.
"I loon line reaning rudolphn the redn none neindneer. I nound funny," Alex said, trying to say certain things, but her nose was preventing her from saying them correctly.
The young hunter chuckled at the words, knowing exactly what she was saying. Suddenly the thermometer beeped and he took it out, looking at the temperature.
"Amn I gonna live doc?"
"Your fever has reduced a bit, but you still need to rest up for a few more days until it's gone," he replied, heading towards the bathroom and rinsing off the thing. The door to the motel room opened and in walked Dean with a small bag holding medicine, and in the other hand, car keys and five movies.
"Hey, how're you feelin'?" he asked, kicking off his shoes and removing his jacket before taking a seat on the opposite bed.
"Line shin," she replied, another sneeze escaping her, tissue at the nose right on time. She blew into it hard, squeezing her eyes shut and grossing out at the sound. Dean was a little displeased himself.
"I bet. Well listen, I got a great selection of movies I thought you might like. Then again, you might not." Alex placed the used tissue in the trashcan that was next to her bed and grabbed for another one out of the box, turning her head towards Dean, waiting for him to continue.
"There is…Down Periscope. For your humor needs. Babe. For your sad farm animal needs. City of Angels. Which I have never seen, but the lady at the movie place said it was a great one. The Last Action Hero. For your action packed, Arnold Schwarzenegger needs. And last but not least, The Shining. For your horror needs."
Dean smiled at her as he lied them all out on the bed in front of her.
"You've never neen Ciny on Angeln?" she asked incredulously.
"Nope. Why is it some kind of porn movie?" Dean asked.
"Len'n wanch than. You have minnedn oun my nriendn."
She had finished her soup just as the beginning credits ended, the first reason why it seemed to not take her so long to eat it was because it really did take a long time. Dean had tried to figure out how the VCR worked in the room and when he found out it wasn't even connected to the TV, it was about ten minutes or so later.
Sam entered the room from the bathroom and found his brother home, and watching a chick flick, looking completely engrossed in the film. He brushed off the thoughts bouncing in his mind to make jokes about it to Dean, only to stop and see how happy and calm he was. It was the first time he had seen a movie with a girl and was into it because he wanted to be, not because he had to be in order to impress the woman.
When the movie was over, Dean glanced over at Alex who was sleeping soundly, hands on either side of her, palms turned up, head lolled to the right side and resting on her shoulder. What caught his eyes though was what was underneath the tissue in her left hand.
Quietly he snuck over to that side and lifted it out gently.
Scars and cuts were etched into her hand where the lines in her palm should've been and his eyes flickered to her face to see if she was awake.
"Did you do this to yourself?" he whispered to no one in particular. Although all hopes of her not waking up was thrown out the window when she stirred.
"Dean," she spoke, head facing him, her voice had gotten better from the rest and soup, but he could tell she was a bit stuffy still.
Their eyes locked for a short period of time as hers then fell upon her left hand in his and showing the markings she had made.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted angrily. Alex pulled out of his grasp tiredly, knowing she didn't have the strength to win a fight if it ever came to one.
"Alex…did you do this?" he asked, ignoring her anger.
"No!" she screamed frightened, clutching the hand close to her chest, a sob was caught in her throat and she tried to mask it.
"Then who did?" he asked sounding more concerned now.
"No one!"
"Please Alex. Someone must have done this to you. And I'll be damned if they ever do it again."
"It wasn't anyone or anything all right! I accidentally got cut a while back."
"Did you get cut from breaking the mirror at the last motel?"
"No! I didn't break the mirror! God! Why can't you leave me alone?! Why can't you just leave well enough alone and stop asking me these questions?! You don't know me! And never will! Keep your nose of it Dean! And same for your brother!" she screamed, pulling back the covers and climbing out of bed, running a bit off balance into the bathroom.
He tried following after, only to get the door slammed in his face. Alex looked into the mirror, finding her eyes watery, but the tears pushed back, just the way it should be. Show no emotions…it's a sign of weakness. Left hand moving away from her chest, she looked down at it. Reaching inside her shirt for the knife, she grasped it, pulling it out and flicking the blade into the open.
This time, skipping tracing the unhealed cuts she closed her eyes and gulped down a bit, biting down hard on her bottom lip, until the blood came out. The taste of iron running over her tongue and down her throat. Bringing the blade down hard into the middle of her hand, letting out a distorted agonized scream ripping from her chest, she looked to find the blade at the hilt and all the way through flesh and bone.
"Alex, are you all right?!" Dean shouted worriedly from the other side of the door.
'They can never know. No one can ever know. What you're doing is the right thing to do. Inflicting pain on you to free all sins and all feelings. Everyone looks at you like a freak anyways, why not keep it that way? If they know what you do, they'll be able to see how fucked up you really are. You know you are fucked up. Filthy piece of shit. A mutt, that's what you are. Go cry to your mommy and daddy. Oh wait, they think you're dead. And even if you did go and see them, they'd kill you once they set eyes on you.'
"Shut up! You don't know anything! Nobody knows anything! Nobody cares! My parents never cared!" she yelled out loud. Her thoughts weren't hers, and this she knew. They were part of the reason why she had done all this to herself, to her body. She couldn't handle it anymore.
"Alex!" the brothers kicked and banged on the door, twisting the knob to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. Alex turned around abruptly, staring at the wooden plank, separating her from them.
A blur out of the corner of her eye made her look to the right towards the shower, finding nothing, and then ringing erupted in her ears, high pitched. She dropped to the floor, blade still ebbed into hand as she brought both hands up to her head to stop the sound.
"It's time to go Alex."
"Go where?"
"Leon."
"It's not fair! You can't do this to me! Leon don't! I didn't do anything! What did I do?! Just tell me what I did!"
"You left and betrayed us Alex. All of us. Now it's your time to pay."
"Sam! Dean!" she screamed.
888
Alex heard murmuring close by, she even felt she was lying down on something soft and cushiony. Her best guess was they had gotten into the bathroom and placed her on the bed. What she didn't guess to happen though was something to grab the object stuck in her hand and yank it out with all their might.
The screamed ripped a new one out of her throat, causing her to arch her back since something was holding her down in place.
"Fucking idiot that hurt!" she shouted.
"Well, would you rather have it stay in there the rest of your life? I think not," Dean replied to the left of her. She opened her eyes to glare at the man and then at the one practically straddling her to the bed.
"Sam get off me!"
"No."
"Listen to the warning Sammy! Get off me now or else you will have—UhAH!" she screamed once more as Dean stuck the needle through her hand, suturing the hole up, front and back.
"Wow. What's UhAh? Sounds pretty painful," Dean said sarcastically, trying to make conversation and to calm her down.
Sam and Dean were stunned at the sound that came from the girl this time, it was a whimper and she was choking back sobs so then they wouldn't escape.
"Shh…it'll all be over soon Alex. Everything's gonna be okay," Sam soothed.
"I did it," she blurted out, not even trying to hold back the tears any more.
"Did what?" they both asked.
"I smashed the mirror, I made those marks on my hand…I did everything it told me to! Don't let Leon get me like he did. I was so young…god I was just nineteen. I just want it all to end. I don't even know what I did exactly. He said I left them and betrayed them. I have no idea who 'they' are! Make it go away…make it stop. Please…" she pleaded, falling back into her pillow and relaxing. She had realized she had been screaming into Sam's face literally until her body fell back onto the bed beneath her, and she suddenly felt the need to apologize.
"Please…" Alex said softly one more time, before slipping into unconsciousness.
Once Dean finished patching up her hand and Sam had climbed off they left to go into the other room to discuss things.
"Dean, we need to help her. Obviously she is in trouble and something is after her."
"All I know is…whoever this Leon guy is…he doesn't know who he is messing with."
Unknown Location:
"Here's a little treat for Jinxy. Who's a good boy? Who's such a good boy? Killing that angelic human girl," Vera spoke with a toothy grin as he patted his hound. There was a difference between the hellhounds and his own, the fact the hellhounds chased only after the people who made crossroad deals when their time was up, and his hound Jinxy that tore everything up just for fun.
Jinxy was made of muscles, bones, snakes, fire and so much more nightmarish things, it's tongue split like a fork and teeth that showed rows upon rows like sharks.
"My liege! My liege! I bring news from Zale!"
"Ah, the messenger boy. Go on spill," Vera urged with a gleeful grin.
"There has been activity of a higher power in Vermont, along with sightings of the Winchester brothers," the boy replied.
"What news is this to me? They go on their merry own way while Azazel deals with them. They are of no interest to me. However…the other…send Peoria and Rodfeld to check it out," Vera said, turning around to walk towards a throne on a raised platform.
"Will do my liege."
"Whoever this higher power is, I would love to become more acquainted with them…at least before I decide to play with their intestines."
