Chapter 9

The Cabin in the Woods

"Ouch," Emma heard Drew wince under his breath. They had started the walk to the cabin, figuring that was the best place to go.

"You okay?" she asked, looking over a Drew who had stopped walking.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just landed weird on my bad leg," he said through gritted teeth.

"You can use me for balance, if you want," Murdock offered, looking at the Nephilim with gentle eyes.

"I said I'm fine," Drew spat and continued to walk.

Emma sighed; she knew what this was about. The shadows had revealed something about him that was supposed to be a secret. Drew wanted to die. She wished she knew why or was able to talk with him about it, but it didn't seem like she could. It's not like they were all in group therapy.

The other most likely felt the same. The shadow said that Murdock was too innocent for battle…which was true. He had lived alone his entire life; he didn't know what he was getting into most of the time. His type of bravery was verging on stupidity.

And then there was Lynn. The shadow called her a Hybrid. What was that supposed to even mean? Was she a full efficient car? Emma's curiosity was peaking; she was going to have to find out soon.

But what the shadow had said about her nerved Emma to no end. She couldn't save Exarp. The shadow was blaming her for his death. Which it had a right to because it was her fault. She could have done something but instead she just stood there like an idiot while Libra stuck a blade into his stomach.

Emma decided to shake off the thought as they neared the cabin. She could think about the shadows and guilt trip and mourn over Chief another time.

"So, should we just knock on the door, see if anyone's home?" Lynn asked, looking around the porch they now stood on. The place looked old, the wood decaying, giving it sort of an eerie look. As Emma looked around as well she couldn't help but notice something that caught her eye. Right in front of the door was a line of salt. The same for the windows.

"Looks like a hunter lives here," Emma said, pointing to the salt lines.

"Well, that's good," Drew sighed, either in relief or tiredness Emma didn't know.

"Who's there?" Emma jerked her head back towards the door when she heard that. A little slot in the door was now open, a pair of ocean blue eyes staring at them.

"Uh, we're hunters. We had a bit of trouble on a hunt and one of us is injured." Emma could feel Drew's glare on her as she said that. "We would really appreciate some help if you let us in."

There were a few moments of silence before a flask was hanging out of the slot in the door.

"Everyone drinks it," the voice demanded and Emma nodded. The flask probably had holy water in it. Hunter indeed.

Emma grabbed the flask and took a swig then passed it along. Murdock and Drew drank from it quickly but when it was Lynn's turn she didn't do anything. She just held the flask with a panic look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Murdock whispered to Lynn.

"It's, uh," she stuttered.

"Drink it or you're not coming in," the voice from behind the door stated.

"Just drink it," Emma ordered, her patience wearing thin.

"I can't okay!" Lynn yelled, frustrated.

"Well, why can't you Lynn? Are you a demon?" Emma questioned, glaring at her.

"Wait, Lynn?" the voice seemed surprised. The pair of blue eyes seemed to recognize her. "Lynn Logan?"

Lynn looked surprised. "Uh, yeah. Do I know you?"

"No, but I know you." Emma heard some rattling, like locks being undone, before the door opened. There stood the voice that was behind the door. He looked about Murdock's age and was about as tall as the warlock, probably a little taller. He had somewhat messy brown hair, a small strand of hair jutting out a little in the middle of his forehead. He held a shotgun casually in his right hand.

"You're Lynn Logan, from the Unfallen series," he said, smiling at her. "I'm a big fan."

Lynn's mouth was wide open, staring at the boy almost like he was crazy.

"Wait, what?" Murdock asked, confused.

Lynn sighed. "The Unfallen books are books about me and the things that have happened to me. A prophet named Chuck wrote them."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Chuck wrote books about you too?" There's this prophet named Chuck who is fixated mostly with the Winchester's lives. So, having nothing better to do, he decided to write books about their hunting adventures. And soon enough there was a book about Emma too called Signs of God. The last time Emma met Chuck he said that he was working on a sequel.

"Wait, no way," the boy now looked over towards Emma. "So this is what happened at the end of Balance?"

Balance? Oh, that's what Chuck must've called the sequel. Great.

"Uh, yeah, I guess?" Emma wasn't sure what to say, though he hoped that this guy wouldn't say anything about her past.

"This is pretty cool," he said then leaned against the door frame. "You guys are welcomed here. I'm Connor Rain Heart. But you can just call me Connor."

"I'm Emma Crimson," she introduced herself to cute Connor- no wait, just Connor, not cute, totally not cute.

"Like the name," he grinned at her.

"You obviously know Lynn. The one with the glasses is Murdock Leroy and that's Drew Copperfield," Emma introduced the rest of her team.

"Nice to meet you all," he said. Emma couldn't help but notice that he had a little bit of a Brooklyn accent. Were they in New York? "I assume you're the injured one?" he said, pointing at Drew.

Drew nodded shyly. "All I need is some Advil, really."

"Okay, well my casa es su casa," he said then turned around to lead everyone inside.

Everyone started to follow but Lynn. She coughed and said, "Um, could you break the salt line?"

"Oh yeah sure," Connor said and used the butt of his shotgun to break the line.

"Wait, wait, wait, are you a Demon?" Emma turned to block Lynn from going inside. She couldn't cross over salt, she couldn't drink holy water; those were the major signs of someone being a Demon.

"What's it to you?" she snapped.

"Well, we're a team now. If you're a Demon we should all know of it," Emma said then looked over at Connor. "You obviously know what's going on here. Is she a Demon?"

Lynn shot Connor a look. He shrugged. "She's a half Demon," he admitted.

"What the hell?" she yelled at Connor.

"I believe in being honest with yourself," Connor said. "You'll never live with yourself if you can't accept who you are."

"Half Demon?" Murdock repeated. He looked surprised but there was something else in his eyes, a little glimmer of pain.

Lynn let out a sigh in defeat. "Yeah, I'm half a Demon, okay? Lucifer and Lilith are my Mommy and Daddy. Now get over it," she said then stomped into the cabin.

Everyone was silent as the rest of them entered the cabin. That was… a little more painful than Emma hoped it would be. She just wanted to know the truth; keeping secrets in their situation was a bad thing. Emma needed to make sure that she could trust her new friends. She didn't care that Lynn was a Demon (she was on their side, so that made her good) but all Emma cared about was that she was lying to them. Or, at least, avoiding the truth.

But that's what the shadows meant by Hybrid. She was half Demon, half Angel. The child of the Devil.

Lynn stood by the couch, her arms folded with an angry look on her face. What could Emma say? The words seemed to be caught in her throat.

"Listen Lynn," Murdock spoke up, walking over towards Lynn. "We don't care that you're part Demon or whatever. All we care about is that you're on our side. I know that some warlocks have tarnished our reputation but who cares? I'm cool because I'm not one of those bad warlocks. Drew doesn't use his Angel powers for evil. Emma doesn't either. And you don't. We won't judge you on your birth; we'll judge you on your actions. And so far your actions deserve a medal of honor."

Holy shit. That sounded like something Obama would say.

Lynn was silent for a few moments before practically leaping onto Murdock to give him a big hug. "Thanks," Emma heard her whisper to him.

"What he said," Emma interjected.

Lynn laughed a little then released Murdock from the hug.

"It's like I've been transported to a Lifetime movie," Connor said, throwing his shotgun onto the chair next to him.

"Ditto," Drew agreed, hobbling over to the couch to sit down. "I'll take that Advil now, please."

"On it," Connor said and walked to what Emma presumed to be the bathroom.

"Sorry," Emma said to Lynn. "I probably sounded like a bitch."

Lynn nodded. "No hard feelings."

Emma sighed a little then took a moment to look around the house. The cabin was actually pretty huge. The biggest part of it was the living room, which they were standing in right now. The ceiling was high above their heads. There was a fairly big TV with a couch and a few love seats that looked towards the TV. On the sides of the TV were two huge bookcases, both of them filled completely with books. Over top Emma could see the hallway of the upstairs with a few doors that probably lead to bedrooms. Behind them was another door that most likely led to a kitchen. And Connor came out of the bathroom that was to the right of them.

"Here ya go." Connor threw a bottle of Advil over to Drew who caught it with ease.

"Thanks man," Drew said, twisting the cap open and taking a pill.

"No problem." Connor then looked over the four of them, as if trying to think of what to say. "What kind of hunt are you on? Because if you're having trouble then I could help."

Emma almost forgot that Connor was a hunter. A million questions started to run through her head. Did he live in the cabin alone? Where was the cabin exactly? How old was he? Was he a good hunter?

"Well, about that…," Murdock scratched his head. "We're not really on a hunt. It's more of a big situation we're in."

"And what's that?" Connor questioned.

"The Devil's field trip."