Chapter 12
The road so far has taught Anna that Life is a journey of love & loss, ups & downs with problems to solve & lessons to learn. No one can never truly know how long the journey will last; all we can do is decide how it unfolds.
Back at Bobby's, saving people and hunting things gave a different perspective to her life. It was nice to know that what they did made a difference in some one's life. Even if it was one person at a time or one small family at a time… it was good to know that they did what they could to make the world a better place.
When she last talked to Dean after almost a week after John's death, he told her about their little adventure at the Harvelle's Roadhouse Bar. Dean didn't have to explain a lot. "You met Ellen & Jo?" Anna interrupted him. "What… do you know those people?" Dean sounded surprised.
"Of course dude, I spent almost 3 weeks at Harvelle's. But Bobby moved me out of that place before the demons get the sense of it. So technically, it's still a safe house for me." Anna answered.
"And, Jo is awesome you know… She is like my sister from another mother." She added. "Yeah, she was very nice." Dean agreed. Anna wanted to tease him about it more, but she realized that maybe it was not the right time.
"Did you find anything helpful?" she asked again serious. Dean told her about how Ash made a whole system to track the Yellow Eyed Demon's sightings. "Oh yeah… Ash is a genius. Do you know that he went to MIT?" she asked admiring what he is capable of.
"Yes, it did come out… Anyways Ash would let us know, if anything out of the ordinary happens. And so far that's the only hope we got." Dean sounded very tired.
"How's Sammy?" Anna asked him quietly. "He is fine… here you can talk to him." Dean passed the phone over to Sam. They both talked for a long time mostly about general things. She wanted to make sure that he is coping well; she knew that he isn't truly ok.
She was very glad that she found Jo when she was mourning her father & brother. They had just met, but both of them clicked instantly, even though they were different from each other in many ways. Jo was always there to listen to her; I guess she understood as she had lost her father too in a very young age.
Sure girls talk about feelings more than boys, but Anna really wanted to be there for Dean & Sam. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I am always here." She always told them. Maybe I will annoy them enough, that they will start talking just to shush me. She just wanted them to let it all out, no matter how.
Time flew by, and Sam & Dean stumbled upon cases that lead to knowledge of other psychic children that the Yellow Eyed Demon was after. They met Andy who has mind controlling abilities in one of those cases. Anna found Sam deeply invested on finding other children like this to try and get some answers to what the Demon's end game is. But it wasn't an easy task, even for Ash. But as it turned out, Ash managed to find a connection in a town nearby to Bobby's.
The boys came in to town to check the lead and came to know about Brian Whittaker. Both of them decided to stake outside his house hoping to learn more about him. Anna tried her best, but in the end had to stay behind because Dean won't let her join them in the stakeout. She stayed at Bobby's to go through all the data Ash had found based on the research done by John.
Sam had come to a conclusion that Jacob Middleton, the guy they couldn't save back at the Banyan Tree Motel must have been one of the psychic children too. That Demon kidnapped him and they didn't hear about him afterwards. What if a Demon decides to pay a visit to Brian as well, Anna thought in horror.
And last time, it didn't go very well for them. Dean almost died that time. She picked her cell & dialed Dean. His phone was out of reach and so was Sam's. And that was just too familiar to last time, and she obviously became paranoid. Can the presence of a Demon mess with the phone coverage; was that the case last time?
And now again, their phones were out of reach. All these ideas didn't help her; it only made her to do something stupid as Dean would call it. Never mind, she grabbed her keys and ran to her car. In 15 minutes she found her parking the car behind the Impala near Brian's house. Dean would literally kill her for being there, she knew it. But she was shocked to see the Impala empty, both of them were not there.
Her eyes turned to Brian's house, did they really went in? She took a moment to decide, the plan was to stake outside and not engage. So if they really went in, it's only because it was necessary. And why it was necessary, Anna knew the answer.
She got down from the car, pulled her gun out & walked slowly towards the house. When she came closer, she realized that the front door was broken by force. Oh Damn… She wished she was wrong. But still she moved closer and slowly peeped through the door. And she was right, and as it turned out now a days she really didn't enjoy being right.
There was a man standing in the middle of the room, he had Sam & Dean pinned to the walls. And he didn't sound very happy to cross paths with the boys. "You keep getting in my way… boy. And you are really getting on my nerves." The man said. Anna knew for sure that the Demon meant it for Dean.
"And when are you going to learn that there is nothing you can do to stop any of this… ha? I mean you even got your father killed… isn't it the time you learn that lesson?" the demon's words made Anna angry and she could imagine how pissed Dean must be now.
"Anyway, good talk… prepare to meet your Dad in Hell…" the Demon added and made a fist making Dean scream in pain. Anna knew that right there was the time to do something stupid. "Step back!" she emerged from the door with the gun in her hand. "I was just wondering where you are?" The demon turned around with a smile.
"I can't kill you… you know… orders. But no one ever said anything about breaking a few bones." He said breaking his knuckles. "Stay away from her!" Sam screamed at him. Anna quickly glanced at Dean, he was still withering pain.
She closed her eyes and opened them up concentrating all her energy on Dean and a second after that Dean stopped struggling. The demon squeezed his fist again and was obviously confused when it didn't work.
Anna could feel the demon's power still hovering over Dean keeping him & Sam pinned to the wall. So this time, she pushed her mind more towards them both. It took more effort, but she actually felt it when she fully penetrated through it all. A feeling of relief fell over her when Dean & Sam fell back to the ground free from the binding.
The demon looked at them surprised & confused; he waved his hand again and when it made no effect on them; he slowly shifted his stare to Anna. He knew that Anna was immune to their powers, but now she was doing something more.
"Using the powers that we gave you against us? That is a very big mistake!" The demon said with eyes filled with murderous rage. He started to walk towards Anna and clearly it looked like he has forgotten all the orders given to him. He wanted to kill her... Anna took a step back; the look on his face frightened her. "Guys..." that was all she could whisper.
Sam jumped and stood his ground in front of her, for the first time in their lives they were in a position to fight a demon man to man. Their powers didn't work on them this time and for the first time it was going to be a fair fight.
And to be honest, it was about damn time at least one of them paid for it. Sam brought up his fists to do what he was waiting for a long time. But he only had the chance to take one punch, the demon knew what was happening and he didn't waste any time to storm out of the body he was possessing. But before he did that, he gave one more glare at Sam and Anna, "You two... your time is now up. You both are going down." He said with each word sending a shock.
As the man who was possessed fell to the ground, Anna looked at Sam with fear in her eyes. Guess her time of immunity was over; they both looked at Dean who stood on the other side of the room. The look on Dean's face wasn't something that surprised her. She knew that he will be furious, but still it was difficult for her to see him so angry. She looked down realizing that she indeed had done something very very stupid. But she didn't regret it; sometimes there is only a fine line between the stupid thing and the right thing to do.
She saved Dean and Sam, and to her that's all that mattered.
Sam took some time to explain everything to Brian. He was of course stunned with everything that happened in front of him. He had seen a man with super powers who can pin another to a wall or hurt with his mind.
Obviously he had no idea that he was dealing with a demon. For most normal people, demons were just a fiction. Well, fiction had just become reality. They gave him a demon proof hex bag and advised him to get as far as possible from there.
Sam drove Anna's car back to Bobby's and she sat next to him purely because she didn't want to ride with Dean in the impala. She knew he is going to explode any time now, but at least she needed Sam to be there to back her up. And Dean didn't even wait until they all walk in to the living room, "What the hell were you thinking?" He yelled throwing his gun to the sofa.
"Damn it Anna, I thought you are the clever one." He screamed so loud that Bobby came running. "What's going on here?" Bobby raised his voice.
"Why don't you tell him?" Dean pointed at Anna, he was so pissed. Anna didn't want to answer; she knew Bobby would be disappointed in her. There was silence in the room, "Can someone tell me what's going on?" Bobby urged again.
"Well Bobby, Anna here has been messing around with her freaking abilities. And apparently, now she can shield others from a demon's power." Dean answered angrily. "And did you really think that the Demons will let you walk away with that? You are using their power against them. You think they will forgive that?" He added looking directly at her.
Bobby stared at her, Sam was just silent. She really did feel like a freak right now. "I just wanted to put what I can do to good use." She said even though she didn't really want to explain anything. That did not make any effect on Dean; he still kept staring at her. And this time she stared right back at him. Deep down she wanted to apologize, but a part of her was too damn stubborn.
"Ok... you two, cut it out." Bobby intervened when he realized that this staring contest isn't going to have a winner anytime soon. Bobby had to come and stand in between them to make them budge. Anna was the first to give in, "I am sorry, I get that was a stupid thing to do." She said quietly, but directly to Dean.
She knew too well, that behind Dean's anger was just concern. He was worried now that the Demon threatened to take them both out. Dean finally let out a breath calming down. "I am sorry for yelling, you actually saved my life there... again." He admitted.
He turned to Bobby, "We got to get out of here. They will come after these two." Dean pointed at Sam and Anna. "We are going to need some backup." Bobby answered.
"I really don't want other hunters to know about this Bobby. Some of them might not understand." Dean tried to explain. Bobby knew he was right, what was happening to Sam and Anna with their psychic visions and abilities was not natural. Most of the hunters would see them as a thing they hunt.
"You are right; we got to keep this to ourselves. But the Harvelles… we can count on them." Bobby said pulling out his mobile.
Sam was silent all this time, even though everyone put the blame on Anna; he knew he was partly to be blamed for all of this. It was his obsession to find other psychic children that put them in this mess in the first place. So maybe this was not partly, but was fully his fault.
"Dean, this is all my fault. I am the one who insisted on finding other psychic children." He finally said not wanting Anna to have all the blame. "Yeah… no argument there." Dean frowned at him.
"But what's done is done. Let's focus on the way forward." Dean quickly added, he had to after all act like the oldest sibling. "Pack your bags, we are leaving in 10." Bobby came back and ordered.
Dean looked at Anna and gave a small pat on her shoulder. He really couldn't be angry at her, the girl is stubborn but she always had good intentions. To be honest, Anna needed that pat on the shoulder; she didn't like to be on the receiving side of Dean's anger. There may be demons out there waiting to kill her or to do God knows what to her, and she knew she could face it all, but not without these two beside her.
Ten minutes later, they were all in the impala. Bobby sat in the front seat with Sam and Anna in the back. Anna felt tired, this mind business was not a walk in the park, and she felt like her energy has reduced. But it wasn't something she was going to share with others; it would only bring her more yelling from Dean.
So maybe only 15 minutes in to the drive; Sam found Anna a sleep when her head fell on to his shoulder. He slowly rested her head properly on his shoulder and held it there with one hand. Dean was checking them time to time through his rear view mirror, and he noticed that Anna has dosed off.
"Sammy, is she sleeping?" He asked quietly. "Yup." Sam answered. "Did you know about what she was up to Bobby?" Dean asked with his eyes still on the road.
"I had no idea. She was doing a hell of a good job with research and helping me out. She was always doing something. I didn't even think she had time to do anything this stupid." Bobby replied quietly.
"You should have seen the look on that demon's face Bobby, when she shielded us from his power. I think he did not see that coming and hell that made him so angry." Dean continued with worry clearly visible in his tone.
"She saved my life, but look what it got her." Dean said; he always blamed himself for everything. "Don't worry Son; we will deal with it together." Bobby assured looking at him. Sam silently listened to the conversation, he really felt Dean, he always cared and worried about others. That was always his move, but he always forgot that people around him did the same thing for him too. Maybe Dean thought that he is not loved, but he was wrong.
They reached the Harvelle's Roadhouse by midnight and luckily there were no other hunters as it was pass their closing time. "Hey everyone..." Anna gave a hug to Ellen and then to Jo and even to Ash. She looked comfortable there having spent some time before.
"You two are safe here." Ellen smiled and greeted them all. They all went to bed early, Anna bunked with Jo. It felt good to see her again, they spent some time talking before they dosed off.
Next morning, they were all up early. None of them knew what's coming for them, or whether anything is actually coming for them. They were all on edge and had no idea what they should be prepared for and it made all of them nervous. But things took a different turn when Sam had a vision about another man in trouble. They assumed it had to be another psychic child, but this time Sam was reluctant. The last encounter didn't go very well, but it was not in his nature to sit and do nothing.
He looked at Dean hoping for some understanding. Dean could read his brother very well; he knew that Sam was struggling to make a decision because he didn't want to put others in danger.
"We should help him." Dean put him out of his misery. Sam smiled and got up and so did Anna. "Oh no, you are not coming." Dean said pointed at Anna. "Please Dean, let me help." Anna said it in such a way that everyone looked at Dean waiting for his answer.
But he didn't answer, "Why don't we all go to check this?" Ellen stepped up when she felt the tension rising in the room. "You need backup, now that we know there's going to be demons." She added.
It was a whole gang getting ready to save one person that none of them knew, but in a way this was exactly what they did every day. 99% of the people they saved were complete strangers, but that did not make it any less of an achievement.
This time they decided to move in without waiting, sooner they take him out of this place, the better. Dean, Sam, Anna and Jo went inside the house keeping Ellen and Bobby to guard the door.
They were only half way through in their explanation to Ryan, the man Sam saw in his vision; when Bobby and Ellen came running inside. "We got company" Bobby said standing in front of them and turning back to face the door.
Dean pulled Anna and stood in front of her as Sam did the same with Jo. "No arguing." Dean yelled at both of them when Jo protested.
In came 3 men, damn even the demons brought back up this time. "It's you... again." The man in the middle announced. "And like I said before, this time you are going down." He directed that to Sam and Anna.
And all three of them raised their hands together and turn them in to fists and made Bobby and Ellen fall to the ground groaning in pain. Then only Anna realized that the Shield she was holding was not fully covering the people who stood in the front.
She focused her eyes harder and pushed the shield further this time and Bobby and Ellen slowly stood back up."I will apologize to them later for that small technical failure." Anna thought while keeping her concentration. It was much harder this time given that she had to shield the power of 3 demons.
Bobby opened fire and all of them started to shoot at the demons hoping to slow them down. But as usual it didn't make any effect of them; the man in the middle smiled and flipped his fingers. Then came a big cloud of black smoke a collection of 5 or 6 demons through the door straight at them.
Anna was not at all prepared for that, she pushed Dean aside and raised both her hands up in defense as Dean looked at her in shock. The black smoke hovering over made them clearly see the shield that Anna had made to cover them. The demons in the black smoke kept pounding harder on the shield attempting their best to break it.
Two of the demons who barged in earlier also smoked out of their bodies and joined the cloud leaving only one demon standing in a human. The force of the demons pushed Anna back, but she pushed back her hands putting all her strength. "Dean, I can't hold it for much longer. I have them locked. Exorcise them." She screamed as she felt the blood dropping from her nostrils.
Dean's eyes went wide when he saw the blood, "Sam, with me." he made his way to the front and started to recite the exorcism. The smoke made a turn to the other way to get out, but Anna was right she had them locked.
By the time, they were at the end of the exorcism; the smoke turned to fire and disappeared. The remaining demon looked at them in horror, there was rage in his eyes but mostly it was horror. "You will be very sorry for this." He muttered and smoked out.
The room fell in to silence; Anna put her guard down as she saw the last demon leaving. She was standing, but she swung like a leaf and she extended her hand to Dean as if to ask him to hold her. But her knees gave out sooner and she fell to the floor.
Dean was fast to get to her before she hit the ground; he sat on the floor and held her head on his lap. Her eyes were closed with blood dripping from her nose, "Anna, Anna..." Dean touched her face about to cry.
"Let's get her out of here." Bobby touched Dean's shoulder shaking him back to reality. "Dean, we have to move." Bobby yelled again he knew that the boy was in shock.
Dean got to his feet and carried her out and in to the impala. He asked Jo to get in first, so he can lay her down on her lap. And he drove at full speed as soon as Sam got in without even waiting for Bobby and Ellen. Let them deal with Ryan; he had no time for that now.
All he wanted right now was to make sure that Anna, his sister... was safe.
