Her body sprung up from the bed, her chest heaved up and down as she let out a strangled sob. Her eyes were wide as she struggled to see into the darkness, feeling as if she was being watched. She tried to hold onto the...dream?. She had been dreaming of the man who had attacked her at the bar. It was from her point of view and before she lunged at him, he let out a blood curdling scream. She felt her teeth sink into the tender flesh of the throat, the memory of the salty taste of the blood was so very strong as she tore at the skin.
The room was very dark, just a strip of yellow light shone under the curtains, but it wasn't enough to give her any help in where she was located. She swung her legs off the side of the bed and she felt every muscle in her body aching. That son of a bitch from the bar really did her a once over.
She felt her way through what she confirmed as a motel room, but she didn't remember checking into one. Skylar made her way to the bathroom and flipped on the light, squinting at the harsh florescent lighting. With her eyes closed, Skylar felt her way to the sink, feeling her fingers touch the cold, ceramic surface.
She lifted her head and looked in the mirror, shocked at what she was looking at. The entire right side of her face was bruised, starting from underneath her eye to her jawline. Her bottom lip was split and swollen and she grimaced as she moved her jaw back and forth. It wasn't broken, but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. She sighed and leaned forward into the mirror to get a better look at herself. She wasn't going to win any beauty contests at the moment, but she would heal. She'd been knocked around worse than this in the past.
She stepped back from the mirror, grabbed the bottom of her shirt and want to pull it over her head when she felt a sharp, burning pain just below her right breast. She lifted the shirt up and frowned when she noticed the boot sized bruise along her ribs and from the pain, she knew a few were broken.
She turned from the mirror and put her hand on the white plastic shower curtain and yanked it back. When she did, she let out a scream than clamped her hand to her mouth as she frantically shook her head. A mewling sound came from behind her hands as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
Once, not too long ago, he would have been considered handsome. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, his jawline sharp with a dimple right in the middle of his chin. He was tall and muscular, but none of that mattered anymore. His throat was torn open, the white tee shirt he had on was saturated with his blood. His eyes were open wide and glassed over, his mouth slack with his silent scream. His chest had been ripped open and she felt her stomach churn with her revulsion.
She placed a hand to her stomach feeling it churn as she slowly backed out of the bathroom. She let out a scream as her ankle twisted into the bed sheets, making her fall hard onto her ass.
The heel of her hand slipped into something sticky and she fell backwards, hearing something squish underneath her. She rolled onto her side and brought her hand to see what was on the floor and saw the bright red. She turned her head to the floor and to her horror noticed the large drops that led to the bed in the corner.
With her body shaking, Skylar crawled on her hands and feet following the blood to the bed where it continued underneath the bed. Her hands trembled as the pulled up the dark blue dust ruffle and instantly smelled the coppery smell of the blood. She felt underneath the mattress until her hand found an object that squished underneath her fingers. With a scream on her lips she pulled it out and saw the heart.
"Noooo!" She screamed as she dropped the organ on the dark green carpet and crabbed walked to the wall. "OH...god...nooo!"
"W..what happened?" Hailey stood in the threshold of the living room. She had been in the kitchen making dinner when she heard the heavy slam of the front door and it made seemed to make the whole house shake.
"Out of my way," Dean barked as he brushed past her and straight to the study desk. He threw a few books out of the way as he grabbed the half-full bottle of scotch, twist off the top and take a heavy sip.
"Sam?" Hailey tore her eyes off of Dean to see Sam standing near the couch, anguish on his face. "W...what is it?"
With a grunt, Dean moved past Hailey, opened the front door and slammed it behind him, leaving a wake of awkward silence.
"We...we went to the morgue."
Dean chugged the bottle of scotch as he made his way through the maze of beaten up old cars. He was at the end of the property, when he saw it sitting near the fence. It hadn't been driven since that night at the lake.
Bobby had been enraged when they both showed back up at the house several hours later. He reamed Dean up one side and the other and Skylar's fate was much worse. He'd be damned if he had a daughter fall for a Winchester, so he shipped her off to her Aunt's in Oklahoma for a year.
She had managed to run away and somehow she found Dean deep on a hunt in Missouri. She begged him to come with her, to run away and live a life they knew they both wanted. Dean had to watch the hurt in her eyes as he lied to her. He lied and said he didn't love her, that it was just sex. It ate at him as the year's passed.
He walked over to the hood of the Camaro and moved his hand over the dust, leaving a trail. He moved past the driver's side door and paused as he approached the back seat and looked into the cracked leather. He saw a bundle of black and red so he leaned inside the open window and lifted it up off the floor. It was a blanket. They had made love in this car and Dean had wrapped the blanket around them. For just a brief few hours, Dean felt as close to normal as he possibly could. He was lying with a girl he was falling in love with, despite the repercussions it might have in the end.
Feeling anger grow inside of him, Dean let out a strangled cry as he reached down and grabbed a crow bar that was lying near the tire. With all the rage exploding into his body, Dean gripped the bar in his hand and brought it down on the trunk of the car. Dust flew up into his face as he beat it faster and faster caving in the trunk, bashing the windows not caring that a few cut into his arm. Sweat popped out on his forehead as he went around the car, crashing the crow bar into the metal. With pure exhaustion, he threw it on the ground. He let out a huff as he leaned up against the grill of the now ruined car and sighed.
Feeling optimistic that this would be a case of a wild animal attack and not of the Supernatural kind, Sam and Dean made there way to the morgue. That all fizzled when the met with the corner, a short, balding man with sharp features, met with them and told them the grim news. It was an animal attack and from the matted fur found clenched in his fist, it was a wolf. But that wasn't the puzzling thing about this whole situation. The fur seemed to have both animal and human DNA. Unfortunately for the two brothers, the body had been sent for cremation per family's request.
Dean didn't want to think of the possibility that there was something more sinister going on here, no matter what Sam was throwing at him. It was Skylar for fucks sake.
"Dean?"
"What?" Dean barked as he turned his head to see is brother standing awkwardly at the trunk of the car. Sam was staring at the ruined car in shock.
"Bobby wants us in the house."
"Fantastic." Dean grumbled. He pushed past Sam as his legs quickly moved him along the dirt path to where the sagging house stood. His eyes automatically scanned to the top floor and looked at the room just right of the big oak tree. Sometimes him and Skylar would meet to go down to the creek and she would be sitting on the roof waiting. He felt a pang as the spot was empty and it made him realize how badly he wanted to find her.
With a loud bang that sent dust into the air, Dean made his presence known to Bobby and Hailey who were both sitting in chairs. Dean took his spot by the desk and sat on the end of it as he waited for Sam to take a seat.
"So, what's this all about?"
Bobby pointed to a book that was lying on the table and on the page was a picture of a wolf. "I think we might have some information. And Dean, it's not good news."
Skylar wasn't sure how long she sat there against the wall, her head tucked between her arms and her hands cradling her head. She didn't want to look at the carnage that was in her room. Blood covered the carpet, the drapes and the moldy green bedspread.
The man with the torn out throat and heart, that was still under the bed, had been the motel manager. She had found the run-down building after running from the bar. She could still hear the sirens, but they weren't near as loud.
She didn't have the money to pay for the room and the manager had taken the opportunity to have her pay some other way. Skylar wasn't sure if he had done anything because the next thing she remembered was waking up on the bed. She felt her stomach churn as she raised her head and looked around the room. She had to act fast before a customer came wandering in and started to wonder were the manager was.
She walked out of her room to see the purple and pink sky of dawn and down the breezeway taking the keys out of her pocket, trying not to see the blood caked into the metal.
The keys rattled against the door as she tried to lock it and after a few minutes, clicked it shut. She walked around the counter and quickly turned off the vacant sign and flipped off the lights. Bathed in the blinking NO Vacant sign, Skylar sat down at te chair and looked for the ledger. She counted on the fact that the motel hadn't seen a renovation in years, she wouldn't be on the computer.
The black book was located in the bottom right drawer and she placed it on the desk. She took a pencil, found her name and frantically erased it, feeling the tears on her cheeks.
She closed the ledger and felt her body shaking, feeling the adrenaline fade from her body and the exhaustion kick into her system. She felt her phone that was tucked into the pocket of her shorts and flipped it open. Because of her shaking hands, it took er several tries to get the number dialed.
"Skye!" His voice was lower than usually almost as if he was whispering.
"Dean...I need your help." Her voice shook with her held back emotion.
"Where are you?" She could hear the squeak of the screen door and the heavy crunch of gravel underneath his boots.
Skylar lifted her head to look at the blinking motel sign. "Flamingo Inn just outside Topeka."
The low rumble of an engine and the creak of the door let Skylar know he had started up the Impala. She closed her eyes as he let out a huff. "Stay put Skylar. Don't move. You stay right where you are. Lock the door and do not open it for anyone but me."
Skylar moved out of the chair and ran to the door and made sure it was locked tight. Just for good measure, she drug the brochure rack and placed it underneath the handle. She turned to face the small lobby wishing she had some kind of weapon. Se walked back around the desk and looked down to see bat leaning against the metal cabinet.
"Fat good that did you." The bat felt heavy in her hands as she sat down in the chair, feeling The exhaustion set in and she laid her head on the wood with her hand wrapped around the handle.
She snorted awake and er eyes snapped open as she heard the low rumble of a car and she lifted er head surprised tat it was broad daylight and the clock on the wall told her it was past noon. Sunlight glinted off the wind shield preventing her from seeing the driver. Even though her gut was screaming at er to stay hidden, she found er self walking to the door. When she slid the rack out of the way, she unlocked te door and found her self to the car.
Dean almost didn't ave time to get out of the car before he was tackled by Skylar, making him Stumble off balance but righted himself by bracing his hand on the door of the car. "Dammit Skylar, I told you to stay inside."
"I don't know ... I don't know what happened. I...woke up and he's dead in the tub." Her voice was muffled as she pressed her forehead into his chest.
Dean felt the fear rise up in him as he heard Skylar tell him what had happened. HE closed his eyes as he placed his chin on the top of her head and rubbed his hands up and down her back. He took a moment to let her compose herself before he took his finger and lifted her chin up and that's when he noticed the bruises on her face. He felt anger bubble up inside of him as he noticed her split lip, her black and blue nose that may or may not be broken and the huge welt on her cheek. "Did he do this to you?"
He had her face upped into his hands and she couldn't pull away from him, so she shamefully looked down to the ground. IT humiliated her that Dean was seeing her like this, so vulnerable and weak. Wasn't him that taught her those were the two things that would get you killed and it almost did.
"Th..the guy at the bar...he...followed me outside after I turned him down for a dance."
"Skylar." Dean shook her a little harder to get her to focus. She was starting to shut down on him and he needed as much information as he needed. He had to prove to Bobby, Sam and Hailey that they were all wrong about Skylar. He looked behind her to see that the motel door was still open, so he guided her inside the lobby and shut the door, making sure it was locked. "Tell me what happened."
Skylar looked up to see Dean standing near the brochure rack and shook her head. "I can't tell you anything Dean. I..I don't remember."
"There's a man dead inside your motel room Skylar." Dean barked at her, making her jump. "And in order to help you, I need some god damned information."
Skylar shook her head and looked away from Dean's angry glare. She knew he had a temper, she had seen it so many times, but it was never aimed at her. She knew she couldn't take it to heart, he was frustrated and wanted to help her. "I'm sorry Dean," She felt her lower lip tremble as the tears pricked her eyes. With an angry glare, she swiped the tears with the heel of her hand. "Room 12."
"Stay here." He huffed as he yanked open the door making the bell jingle as it slammed shut.
Skylar sat there in the chair watching for Dean to come back. As the minutes ticked down past 30 minutes, Dean walked back into the motel room, his face hardened with his anger.
"Get up."
"Dean..."
"I said get up," He barked as he flung open the doro and waited for her to go through it before shutting it again.
Skylar stopped walking when they approached the Impala to see the trunk was open and a body that was wrapped up in the moldy green carpet. She felt the earth pitch and swim as she heard Dean barking at her, but she couldn't focus. She felt something jab her in the back and she realized it was Dean leading her ot the passenger side. "Dean..where..are you going."
Dean's face softened a bit as he leaned down and placed his hand on her cheek. "It's OK Skye. I"ve got this covered." He took off his leather jacket and placed it over her chest. As he shut the door, his face hardened once again as he looked at the motel.
As he walked to the trunk of the car, he pulled the cell phone out of the front pocket of his plaid shirt and pressed in a number. "Chuck, hey it's Dean Winchester...listen..I've got a job for ya..you interested?"