Sorry for the late update, but hopefully soon I'll be posting loads of chapters cuz I'm on my winter break! I look forward to your support, reviews, and follows! Thank you! I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7
"Let's go inside," I said.
"Are you sure Nat?" I nodded in reply.
"Alright, come on," Dean said as he held out his hand. I grabbed his hand and he slowly began to pull me off the floor. Suddenly my knees gave out, and I fell back down onto the dirtied sand floor.
"S-Sorry I didn't mean to…" I apologized.
"Its fine, your body's probably dead tired. Come here," Dean ordered. He suddenly picked me up.
"Thanks Dean… Sammy," I said. I then looked at Sam, who was currently walking with Dean and I.
"No prob Nat," Sam replied with a smile on his face.
"It's fine Nat, but could you tell me something?" Dean asked.
"Yeah?" I replied looking back at Dean.
"How is it that you're 8 and a Winchester but you're still this tiny?"
"I'm not that short!"
"I mean skinny retard," Dean sighed then continued, "You need to get meat on your damn bones," Dean chuckled.
"Well…" I paused trying to think of a quick remark 'Got it!' I thought before continuing, "I don't want too much 'meat' I wouldn't want it to go to my head, like it did to you…meathead" I replied in a groggy voice with a light chuckle.
"Whatever brat," Dean replied, "I mean it, you're even scrawnier than Sammy" he continued looking down at Sam.
"Hey! Don't drag me into this!" Sam practically yelled with a glare on his face.
"Sure thing, bitch," Dean shrugged with a smirk.
"Jerk," Sam huffed. I couldn't help but laugh, and soon I wasn't the only one. Dean and Sam began to laugh too. Soon, we were inside Uncle Bobby's house.
"Dean if it's not too much trouble, could you take me to my room?" I asked meekly.
"Sure," Dean replied with no hesitation or annoyance. 'Normally he would have protested or something…' I thought with confusion. As we entered my room Dean walked over to my bed and sure enough threw me on it 'I knew he'd do something!' thought furious.
"Dean!" I yelled.
"What? I brought you to your room like you asked?" Dean shrugged nonchalantly.
I sighed 'I shouldn't even waste my breath…' I thought.
"Hey listen, dad brought dinner so come downstairs once you're done 'kay?"
"Dean I'm gonna need help down the stairs…and to the shower," I dared to say. Dean sighed in annoyance.
"Alright, get your stuff and I'll help you. But I am not going to help you shower!"
I began to laugh, "Yeah, like I would want your help! EW!" I pretended to gag then reached over to my bag and pulled out a towel along with some clean clothes. "Okay help please!" I said with a big smile on my face. Dean walked over and helped me to the bathroom. He set me down on the toilet, which were about 2 steps away from the tub.
"I'll be on the other side of the door, just holler when you need me, and don't take too long I'm hungry," I nodded. "Good" was the last thing Dean said before he left. I unbuttoned my jeans and after what felt like an hour, finally got them off 'NEVER run in jeans again!' I mentally screamed, and then I pulled off my shirt and undergarments. Now my only problem was how to get into the tub 'Ok, ok…ok…I've got nothing…' I let out a deep sigh 'Wait! I got it!' I put one hand on the rim of the tub and sat myself as far to the corner I could of the toilet's seat.
"Ok…one…two… three!" I whispered to myself as I lifted myself off the toilet seat and onto the rim of the tub. 'YES!' I cheered inwardly.
I opened the water faucet and nearly screamed at the hot water that came crashing down onto me. I quickly turned the faucet to the cold side and was immediately greeted by what felt almost like ice. 'There's just no winning here!' I inwardly screamed in agony. Finally I settled down once I pulled the faucet to the middle.
I finally finished washing myself and felt so revived. 'Okay Natalie try to stand!' I thought trying to encourage myself. I actually managed to stand and walk out of the tub and back to my clothes. I felt overjoyed at my accomplishments.
"Alrighty then" I said with a sigh as I finished drying my soaked body and hair and began to put my clothes back on. Each time I lifted my leg I could feel my strength decreasing. Never in my life did I think that a person could become this weak. Finally I was fully dressed and just as I was about to reach for the door, my happiness came to an abrupt end as my legs gave out and I crashed to the floor. The door was flung open, nearly hitting me, as Dean bursted through the door. He must have heard me.
"Natalie are you ok?!" he yelled with worry laced in his voice.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine sorry, I was able to stand long enough to change and then I thought I could walk again but…but my legs gave out again…"I trailed off as I hung my head saying the last part of my sentence. Dean sighed before picking me up off the floor.
"Its fine granny as long as I didn't have to help you change into your diapers, it's all good,"
"Hey!" I yelled at my brother's insult nudging him as he carried me out the room.
We reached the kitchen just in time to see the heat buildup between our dad and Bobby; Sam was trying to calm them down but kept failing until he saw me.
"Dad! Natalie's hurt!" Sam blurted out just as we were all pretty sure he was about to unleash his 'sailor mouth'.
"What happened?" he asked as he looked over at Dean and I as we entered the room.
"Oh umm…nothing my legs just kinda…died…"
"Alright well just sit down and eat you dinners before they get any colder," dad commanded Dean and I with a strict voice.
"Yes sir," Dean replied for the both of us. We walked over to Bobby's kitchen table and Dean gently set me down in between Sammy and himself. Sam wasted no time in passing us our meals. Dean quickly dug into his burger and fries while I was still unwrapping mine. He looked like a wolf that hadn't eaten in weeks while scarfing down his burger hungrily. Then again it was Dean.
"So dad what's on the agenda tomorrow?" I asked as I finally unwrapped my burger.
"Well assuming you can walk, combat training. But most likely you won't be able to be that well enough to do target practice"
"Awesome…" I answered back with a sigh. I bit a chunk out of my burger as the silence began to take over the room and the only sounds to be heard consisted of the sound of food being devoured and swallowed. After sometime John spoke up,
"Natalie I said I'd ask later and now is later. How did you know what I was talking about earlier,"
"Wah?" was all I managed to say with a mouth full of fries.
"How did you know what I meant in our earlier conversation when you said you knew what I meant," Suddenly it downed on me as I remembered what my father meant. The memory came back to me and I nearly choked on my fries while reminiscing. "Well?" he continued. I managed to somehow swallow all my fries at once, which I instantly regretted thinking I could have had more time to avoid this question if my mouth was full.
"W-Well…umm…w-when you Dean a-and Sammy were out on a hunt I was bored and started to…snoop around," I knew that alone was going to get me into tons of trouble, "T-Then I accidentally found in one of D-Dean drawers a u-um…P-Playboy and I umm I kinda… read it…" my dad shot a glare at Dean who shot one at me while Sam and Bobby just laughed.
"I'll deal with you later," dad said directing it to Dean who gave me a look saying 'thanks a lot you idiot'. I tucked my hands in between my legs and looked down trying to hold back my laughter, but I knew I had to get Dean out of trouble (well as much as I could anyway).
"B-But dad you shouldn't be totally mad at Dean…" I trailed off as I looked back up at my father who looked back with a glare.
"And why not?" he asked daring me to answer and like an idiot, I did.
"B-Because the week before I found it in your drawer, I just didn't look inside…" Sam and Bobby began to laugh harder then before and I could have sworn Bobby was getting six-pack right there on the spot. Sam laughed so hard that his laugh became silent. As they continued to laugh their faces began to go from red to blue.
I didn't know what caused them to laugh so hard until I looked back at John who had gone red from embarrassment and at that point I could no longer hold back my laughter either. Dean was the only one who somehow managed to not laugh out loud, but eventually failed terribly as he tried to stay silent. Finally the laughter began to die down.
"I'll let it slide this time but don't ever go through peoples things again, do you understand Natalie?" John said in an authoritative tone.
"Yes sir," I quickly answered.
"And Dean… same goes for you,"
"Yes sir," he replied.
"All right kids it's nearly 11pm so it's time for bed, now go," John commanded and none of us dared to complain after laughing at him for a solid 5 minutes. There was one thing among many others we knew about dad and that were, he hated being laughed at. Dean picked me up off of the chair and carried me on his back as I began to doze off, and in what seemed like a second later we were in Sam and I's room.
"Set her down here," I heard Sam say.
"No shit, I'm not blind," Dean replied as he gently set me down on my bed. I felt the blankets being pulled up to my shoulders then not long after, I felt a peck on my head from Dean.
"G'night little one," Dean whispered, "Night Sammy," I heard him say as he ruffled Sam's hair.
"Night Dean," Sam replied as Dean walked out of our room.
"All right, goodnight Nat," Sam said as he kissed me on my forehead like Dean had done not too long ago.
"Night Sammy," I replied just above a whisper and almost instantly drifted off to sleep.
~*Dream-Natalie*~
"Natalie get ready! It's probably really close!" Dean harshly warned as we prowled the misty woods. It couldn't have been any earlier then midnight. The sky was practically black with not a star in sight and hardly even the moon. We all walked slowly with alert and caution; with each step we took we could hear the dead leave below our feet crunch. This was my first hunt and I was scared.
"Shit!" Sam hissed getting all our attention, "It's not gonna come out until it has a target!" Sam practically growled. Suddenly both Dean and Sam looked at me.
"Nat, we gotta do this," Dean explained as he and Sam tied me tightly to a tree.
"Guys but what if it attacks?!"
"We'll just have to take that risk Natalie!" Sam said tying the final knot.
'Taking a risk?!' I mentally screamed 'They would never do that!'
"Dad will be mad though! Please let me down please!" I begged terrified. My whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.
"It's a great idea!" I heard someone announce from behind the tree. I snapped my head to the left and saw John coming around the tree, "I'm proud of you boys, great idea," he congratulated my brothers as he walked over to them.
"But daddy…what if it hits…you guys and gets…me?!" I somehow managed to say as I nearly choked on every word.
"Natalie taking risks is part of being a Winchester!" he replied sternly. I was just about to plead again when suddenly we heard a loud roar pierce throughout the woods grabbing all our attentions.
"It's dead ahead!" my dad said just above a whisper, "Come on!" he instructed as he ran ahead with Dean and Sam following close behind.
"WAIT!" I screamed, "P-Please don't leave me please!" I begged but I was too late, they were gone. I began to cry as I repeated in my head 'They would never do this! They would never do this!' suddenly I felt my heart drop as I heard a low growl come from behind the tree that I was unwillingly tied to. I immediately began calling out for my father and brothers.
"DAD! DEAN! SAM! HELP! IT'S HERE!" I practically screamed. But there was no reply or sign of them returning. I hear the growling getting closer and closer. I never thought my life would end so soon, but I wasn't about losing hope. I began to pray 'God please don't let me die here please! Guide my father and brothers back to me and grant them a safe return so…I don't want to meet you soon!' suddenly I heard my name being called by Dean.
"Natalie!"
"Here! Over here!" I replied. Soon my father and brothers were in front of me and I looked to each side of the tree and the monster was nowhere in sight. I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
"Natalie when you called out the first time you said it was 'here' so where is it?"
"W-What?" I was shocked "You heard me?! Then why didn't you come?!" they were silent. I began to cry again, "You knew it was here…and you didn't come?" John inhaled deeply and was about to reply but before he could there was another low growl behind my tree. I began to fight against the ropes but it was useless, Sam and Dean were amazing at tying knots. "Help me down its coming!" I whispered but no one moved.
"Why?" Sam simply asked.
"Because it's gonna kill me!" I replied just above a whisper as I struggled against the ropes.
"Good" Dean chimed in.
"W-What? Why?"
"Natalie, sweetie, who wants a freak as a daughter? I know I sure as hell don't, so this is the best way,"
"No! You guys would never do this! Please just let me down!"
"Sorry Nat," Sam apologized sarcastically.
I heard the low growl again but this time it sounded as if it were an inch away from my ear. My body stiffened in fear as my eyes widened. I felt a hot breath on my neck, which sent shivers down my spine. During this I looked to my brothers and father with pleading eyes but got no response. Soon I heard the sound of dead leaves being crushed. I slowly turned my head to the left where the growl had originated from and as I did I saw a tall skeleton like monster stand before me and it bore then of a wolf, it was like no creature I'd ever seen and I'm sure there are many but this one just… didn't seem real.
It raised its left arm and was about to swing at me. I looked back at my family with tear filled eyes, but not one of them even had a twinge of regret. I closed my eyes and waited for what seemed to be the end, but when it didn't come and silence fell I felt relief. As I slowly opened my eyes both my brothers and fathers were passed out on the ground and the monster gone. I was shocked at the scene until I heard my name being called by a voice that made my skin crawl.
"Natalie" a voice from my right called. I turned my head to see a silhouette of a man wearing some kind of coat and a hat, and I knew this figure well as it burnt its memory into my mind since our first meeting.
"It's you…" was my only reply.
"Natalie dear, you sound disappointed! Shouldn't you be more grateful to the man that saved your life?" he asked as he cut my ropes freeing me.
"I've seen you before-" I was cut off as he chimed in.
"I know," he simply replied coming closer, his eyes brightened and I could see as clear as day the devilish yellow they held, "Unfortunately for both of us only in dreams,"
"What do you want?" I asked ignoring what he said.
"My my what else dear?" he paused. I felt my stomach churn as I could guess what he was about to say, "You…" he simply replied. I felt each hair on my body stand on edge as he continued, "Natalie as I said before, I will come back for you and I always keep my promises,"
"S-So what, you're gonna take me?"
"No my sweet it's not time yet, unless…you want to leave your wicked family now?"
"NO!" I yelled back at him.
"But Natalie look what they were about to do to you!"
"There was something wrong with them…they would never do this, so stop coming to me because I'm NEVER leaving my family!" I yelled at the yellow-eyed man. I couldn't see his face but I could feel his anger surrounding his aura. I had never felt this type of anger before and it was terrifying. I turned around to try to wake my family when I stopped in my tracks as my name was called.
"Natalie," I turned back to face him, "I never break a promise."
~*Dream-Natalie end*~
I sprung up from my bed and could feel my heart thumping furiously in my chest. I could hear ringing in my ears. "WHAT THE!" Sam yelled in surprise at my suddenness, "Natalie you scared the crap outta me!"
I couldn't respond to my brother as my chest heaved heavily. I clawed for air; my lungs felt heavy and my throat dry. It felt like I couldn't call for help even if I wanted to. My vision became a blurry as tears began to fill my eyes before cascading down my cheeks.
"Nat?" I heard Sam call out to me. But he felt so far away though he couldn't have been more them a few feet away. He ran over to me pulling me into his chest. Ever since I was a child Sam always knew what to do, like yesterday when he kept me from passing out of dehydration and knew exactly how to deal with it. "Natalie what's wrong?" he asked as calmly as he could manage. It felt like I was having an out of body experience, as if I were looking down at Sam hugging me. I had nightmares but never reacted this bad, except once and this time it had that yellow-eyed man in it too.
I heard the door open and it was Dean, "Hey guys it's-" Dean stopped as he noticed the sight in front of him, "What's wrong? What happened?!" Dean asked in full alert.
"She had a nightmare, but it's not like normal," Sam replied in a calm voice. My guess it was not to scare me. Dean walked over to us and slowly sat on the other side of the bed. He rubbed my arm as Sam rubbed my back as he cooed, both in an effort to comfort me. Finally my tears and trembles completely stopped and the room fell silent. Sam still rubbed my back in calming circles while hugging me close as Dean rubbed my shoulder.
"How you feeling Nat? "Sam asked.
"Better…sorry for being so annoying and bothering you guys" I replied.
"Nat it's no bother you're our little sis," Sam replied as he ruffled my hair, "And besides you're always annoying!"
"Hey!"
"But Nat look at the up side" Dean chimed in.
"What upside?" I looked at Dean in confusion.
"I believe every event in our lives shows us something new…" he trailed off.
"And this taught you what exactly?" Sam asked.
"That you're going to be a good mother someday Sammy" Dean smugly replied with an ear-to-ear grin.
"DEAN!" Sam yelled as I laughed. Sam tried to punch Dean but Dean deflected it
"You feeling better?" Dean asked as he held Sam in a tight chokehold.
"Yeah," I replied in between my laughter.
"Awesome, can you stand?" Dean asked.
"Well let's find out," I said as I threw the blanket off me and swung my legs off my bed. I sat on the side of my bed with my hands on each side I stood up.
"Ummm Nat you ok?" Dean asked.
"This is as far as I can stand…" I replied feeling like a complete idiot. I looked like I was about to squat but not quiet. My legs were bent and my butt stuck out and that was as far as I could stand. I heard a thud come from behind me and as I managed to turn around, I only saw Dean laughing but heard Sam who must have been rolling on the floor.
"N…Nat! You look…HILARIOUS!" Dean said in between each laugh.
"Stop making fun guys! It's not funny!" I yelled at them as I tried to stifle my own laughter.
"Oh come on why so butt hurt?" Sam said as he somehow managed to get up off the floor. I couldn't hold it back I began laughing despite the numbing pain I felt.
"What's going on in here?" I voice from the door asked but judging by its tone we all knew it was our father.
"What are y'all idjits laughin about?" another voice followed that must have been Bobby because I don't know anyone who says 'idiot' as cool as he does. But none of us were fazed by the questions as we continued to laugh.
"Natalie what's wrong with you?" I heard dad ask.
"Natalie can't stand!" Sam replied as he continued to laugh.
"What? Why?" dad quickly asked.
"Probably 'cuz of all the laps you made me do yesterday!" I nearly yelled because as I laughed a bit too hard but I think my pain contributed to that. I laugh when I'm in pain. Just then I heard two more people join in our sea of laughter.
Finally as the laughter simmered down John broke in, "Alright all of you kids head on down stairs before breakfast gets cold,"
"Yes sir!" we all happily replied in unison, as everyone walked out I tried to fallow behind them but with each step I took I felt my body forcing my upper half to lower even more and the pain grew.
"Hey Rex want me to help you down the stairs?"
"Rex?" I asked looking at him with knitted eyebrows.
"Dude I'm sorry but by the way you're walking and standing you look likes some kind of T-Rex,"
"I'd rather be a T-Rex then a meat head!"
"Yeah whatever brat, you want help down the stairs or not?" he asked daring me to insult him again, 'I hate needing his help win I'm trying to win an argument' I sighed after my thought and reluctantly replied,
"Yes…" Dean crouched down in front of me but then quickly stood up "Whoa, what's wrong?"
"I just thought that maybe your legs would hurt if I carried you like that"
'God damn it Dean! Why I is it whenever I'm mad at you, you become a nice guy?!' I thought as I continued to mentally curse my brother but that's who Dean was I guess, one minute you wanna kill him the next you wanna buy him drinks wait… ok that didn't exactly go the direction I meant for it to but you get my point.
"So how are we gonna do th…WAH!" I sounded funny as my brother swooped my up into his arms "Geez Dean! A warning would be nice!"
"I'm sorry princess Rex I'll make sure to do that next time,"
"Shut up dweeb," I quipped as I lightly smacked his chest, 'It felt weird by brothers were growing up, when Dean's voice broke at 14 and dad gave him his first beer, now he's 16 and can pick me up with no trouble. Now Sam is nearly 14 too and I'm only eight! I mean when guys mature their voices break and stuff but what about girls? Dad, Dean and Sam were always reluctant to tell me what happens or just change the subject all together! Do they even know?' as soon as I realized how random my thoughts were I stopped myself and before I realized it I was being thrown onto a kitchen chair
"OW!" I yelled.
"Hey just be lucky I didn't throw you on the floor!"
'Ok, I take back what I said he's always a jerk!' I corrected my last thought.
"Dean quit it unless you wanna do laps too," John warned.
"Alright y'all just start eatin yer damn food before I throw it out," Bobby cheerfully chimed in.
Once we were done eating breakfast dad told Dean and Sam to start their gun training outside, as I tried to stand up Dean quickly came over to help me, but we were both stopped.
"Natalie you can't train if you can't even stand-" I cut off my dad before he could continue.
"But dad! You said 'no special treatment' so what the hell? I can do it!"
"No you can't, Dean Sam head outside and start. Natalie there is more to hunting than just physical training, how do you think we know our stuff to keep us from gettin eaten alive on hunts?"
"Ooooooo, Nat's hitting the books!" Dean said before shutting the front door behind him and Sam.
"The books?" I asked.
"Just like your idjit for a brother said, darling you're gonna be hittin the books for the next couple of days," Bobby chimed in.
"Does it count as training?" I curiously asked.
"Yes it does," my father replied with a chuckle.
"Alright let's get started!" I enthusiastically cheered pumping my fist into the air.
