Eight years ago:
John pulled into the motel parking. It was after 11 and he knew Dean was going to be relieved he came back at all; although Sam was going to be pissed he never called to reassure them. John took a deep breath before getting out of the car. As he walked to the door, his Nokia phone started ringing. He sighed angrily when he saw it was Brenda, his daughter's mother. This was the fifth time in two hours. John stopped short of the door when he answered his phone, he didn't want his boys hearing the conversation.
"Brenda!" he said in a low whisper, "I told you, I'll be there, with the boys, by tomorrow afternoon." "Mr. Winchester?" John was taken aback. It was a child on the phone, and he sounded scared. "It's Andrew," the little boy said all hushed. "Annabelle's hurt and in the hospital. I know you're busy with your life but she needs you."
Fear had rushed through John, he started to stutter. "Uh, what, what exactly happened?" He asked, his voice shaking. "Well…" the little boy sounded weary, then John heard a female voice in the background. "Drew," she said harshly, "What are you doing?" the voice got more clear; John figured she was taking the phone away from the boy. "Hello John." The fear that John was feeling instantly turned to anger when he heard the bitterness in her voice. "My daughter is in the hospital and you want to be bitchy with me?" he growled as he paced. Brenda sighed, "Look, I was going to call you…" "Going to call me?!" he didn't believe her, "That's exactly why your son stole your phone." He spat. "John," She said with authority, "I just figured that there would be no reason to worry you if she was alright. Annabelle was out with her friend and got into a car accident. They said that she could probably be released before you even get into town."
John was baffled and furious at the same time. How could she be so calm about all this? Her daughter was in a car accident for God's sake! How is that not a huge deal? "No she won't." he said as he walked into the motel room, motioning his boys to start packing things as soon as he got in there, "Because we're leaving now. I'll be there in a few hours." He growled at her. "Dad." Sam piped up. "What's wrong?" Dean looked up as he was packing his duffle bag, waiting for an answer. "Apparently Annabelle was in a car accident and she's in the hospital." Sam's eyes widened and Dean stopped any action, "What?" Dean exclaimed. "How-how-how could that happen?" the furry in Dean rose so quickly that he started to stutter. John looked at Dean sympathetically, "I don't know, son. We'll figure it out when we get there." He looked over at Sam, who had already started putting his things together, "So let's get going." "Yes sir." Dean and Sam said at the same time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~
Annabelle sat in the hospital bed, staring out the window, the stars were almost invisible. She slung her head back over to see the television. Though she couldn't really tell you what was on.
From the corner of her eye, Annabelle could see her mother storm into her room. Her body went rigid with fear as she sat up more, wincing at the pain. "You're brother called your father." She said, standing in front of the door. Brenda closed the door and stood there with her hands on her hips. Her mother refused to learn sign language so Annabelle had to learn real quickly how to read lips after she became deaf. "I told him you were in a car crash." She sympathetically looked at her daughter, though it seemed a little forced. "With all your injuries, it seemed like the best excuse." Annabelle instinctively moved her hand to her side. She had three cracked ribs on her right side, her right arm broken, a busted lip, and basically the right side of her face bruised.
Brenda slowly walked to her daughter. "You will tell him the same thing, right?" she asked slowly, "I mean, what if he knew the truth? Meaning if he actually believed it, that is." Annabelle flinched when her mother placed her hand on hers. "He would freak, possibly go to jail. And then, where would your brothers go?" To anyone else, they would take Brenda's tone of voice as loving, but Annabelle knew that it was a threat. That she would make sure if Annabelle's father found out and did anything that he would be thrown into prison for a long time. Annabelle nodded to her mother as she softly said, "I was in a car accident." Brenda smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead, making Annabelle smile warmly. Her mother cupped Annabelle's good cheek, "Everything will be different this time, baby. And I swear he will be gone by the time you get home. He won't hurt you or Drew again." "Promise?" Annabelle squeaked. Brenda lovingly rubbed her thumb on Annabelle's good cheek. "I promise," Brenda rubbed her nose against Annabelle's nose for an Eskimo kiss, just like when she was little, "My Annabelle-y."
~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~
John was dead tired. He may have had about 8 hours of sleep in the past 4 days, but his baby girl needed him. He drove 90 all the way to the only hospital in the town his daughter lived in, skidding into the parking lot, parking in the closest spot possible.
Dean slowly woke up as soon as he felt the Impala turn off. "Dad?" he called out, his voice all groggily. John sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Wake your brother and meet me inside." John said as he got out of the vehicle. "I'm going to find your sister and get me some coffee." He called out as he walked into the emergency room. John wasn't sure exactly which part of the hospital Annabelle was in, but he figured that would be a good place to start.
Dean reached over into the back, gently hitting his little brother to wake him. "Sam?" he said softly as first. Sam was cramped in the back seat, using his jacket as a pillow. Dean hit Sam's leg a little harder, "Sammy!" he called out. Sam groaned in annoyance. "What do you want?" he whined. "We're here. Dad already went in to find where Annabelle is." Sam sat straight up and rubbed his eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked as he grabbed his jacket and getting out of the car. Dean laughed to himself once, it had never been so easy to wake Sam before, and followed after him. Dean was still a little sluggish, seeing that he had only gotten a little more sleep than his dad in the past four days.
After 20 minutes, and some intense yelling and intimidation to a few cocky doctors or nurse administrators, John and his boys finally found Annabelle's room. And, with what they saw, John and Dean nearly dropped the coffee they were both holding.
Annabelle was watching television, holding her right side. Tears filled the eyes of all three male Winchesters. They couldn't stand the sight of pain that she had been through. Annabelle had always been a cheerful, good little girl and they couldn't stand to see her like this-a bruised up face, busted lip, and broken arm. John slowly walked into his daughter's room, his sons following behind him. He hesitantly placed his hand on her bed. When Annabelle flinched, John gave her a confused look, which Dean and Sam mirrored.
Although she looked like she was in severe pain, Annabelle beamed at her father and brothers, wrapping her arms tightly around her father and motioning her hand for her brothers to come get a hug, which they happily, but gently, did. When Sam pulled away, him getting the last hug, he pointed to the oxygen tube that was under her nose. Annabelle's smile faltered a little, but one could still see it on the corners of her mouth; she looked at her oldest brother and father as well. "Yeah sweetheart," John started, "Why do you got that?" Annabelle tilted her head and smirked. "I'm fine." "Come on, Bells." Dean signed. Annabelle smiled softly at Dean, "You're getting better." Sam smiled along with his brother, "We've been practicing." Annabelle giggled to herself.
Annabelle lifted her hands in hesitation. "Will you translate for dad?" She signed to Sam who nodded once. Sam's voice was a little shaky as he spoke. "When I came here," he started, concentrating on Annabelle's sign language, "They thought I just had three cracked ribs," Sam's eyes widened when he Annabelle finished signing, and he all but cling to her hospital bed, "What happened, Na-Na? Is everything alright?" "What?" Both John and Dean asked. Sam looked towards his father and brother, "One of her ribs was actually broken," Sam's voice was monotone, as if any emotion was being drained from him, "It punctured her right lung." Dean walked to the other side of Annabelle's bed as John walked out of the room. Sam and Dean were too worried about their sister to even notice their father left.
John was a man on a mission as he bolted out of his daughter's hospital room. He followed the signs in the hallways to the cafeteria. If Brenda was still in the hospital, she was probably getting something to eat. When he saw her walking down the hallway from the cafeteria, he started walking even faster. John grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side. "What the hell?" he exclaimed to her. "I should be the one asking that, John" Brenda scoffed, "Who do you think you are? Manhandling me and coming at me all crazy." John crossed his arms in front of him, "Oh, you wish." He said sarcastically. "I thought you said it was nothing serious. That Anna was fine." Brenda laughed nonchalantly and smiled, "She is fine." She said before taking a drink of her coffee. It took all of John's strength not to smack the coffee out of her hand. "Her lung was punctured last night! How is she fine?!" Brenda shook her head, "She's fine now, John. She's strong and pulled through it." With that, Brenda started walking towards Annabelle's hospital room, John on her heels.
"How dare you not call me?" He said in hushed anger. "If there's something going on with my daughter, you call me. What are you, an idiot?" Brenda laughed herself again, "You're her father only maybe 3 or 4 times a year, and you think you have any right to get a phone call from me?" She told him with venom in her voice. John once again grabbed her elbow, pulling her to a stop. "She is my daughter." He said slowly, "You had no right to keep any of this from me." Brenda stared him down, but John could tell that she was scared. Brenda yanked her arm free. "Keep your hands off me." She started to walk again but turned to face John, "And she is my daughter. I will do as I please and whatever I feel is necessary."
~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~
Present:
It was 4:30 in the morning. Annabelle was preparing her back pack, filling it with water bottles, protein bars, cans of soup, and, of course, a couple bottles of Code Red. Annabelle noticed some movement in her peripheral vision and looked over to her oldest brother's bed; he was slamming his hand on the alarm clock. Annabelle laughed when Dean had to hit it several times because he didn't bother to actually look at the thing when he was trying to turn it off.
Dean sat up slowly and rubs his eyes. He looked over at Annabelle and blinked a few times. "What you doing?" He spelled in sign language on one hand. Annabelle laughed once, "Previsions." She replied, still packing her back pack. Sam walked out of the bathroom with a towel around him, dripping wet from the shower. Annabelle glanced at Sam and started to laugh hysterically, maybe it was from lack of sleep or that she wanted to get an early start on aggravating Sam. He looked over at Annabelle, who was now sitting on the other bed, and gave her the meanest bitch face he had, which made Dean laugh. "Aren't we a little too old for this, Annabelle?" "Bringing out the full first name already." She signed to him as she poorly acted afraid. Sam rolled his eyes. Annabelle couldn't help it, she always thought that the way Sam acted when he would forget to bring his clothes in the bathroom with him—quickly wrapping a towel around him without drying off so he could literally run and get his clothes then run back into the bathroom—was hysterical. He has always acted awkward, being that he never had to worry about a sister being around when he was basically naked. And yet, she decided to take pity on him and just throw him his duffle bag. Sam grabbed it and ran back into the bathroom.
Dean got out of bed and threw on some pajama pants. He had gotten hot early in the night and took them off, sleeping in his boxers. As he was putting his sleep pants on, he noticed that Annabelle was already dressed. She was wearing forest green tank top, black pants, and her ugly tan, steel toe boots that always reminding Dean of what construction workers use. Annabelle looked up at Dean as she put her hair back, giving him a look as if she was asking him what he was wanting. "What do you think you're doing?" Annabelle furrowed her eyebrows, "With you two." Dean shook his head and scoffed, "We don't know what's out there, and you could get hurt." Annabelle rolled her eyes, "So could you." She countered. Dean took a deep breath and looked to the floor, "You know what I mean." He said softly. Annabelle took a step forward. "Just say it, Dean."
Sam stepped out of the bathroom and saw Annabelle in attack mood. By the looks of it, Dean either had or was about to put his foot in his mouth. "What do you want me to say, Bells?" Dean also took a step forward, there was now only a few feet between the two, Sam standing with his back against the bathroom door. "You have a good eye and great instincts, but…" Dean hesitated for a second. "Hunts like this is not for you." Annabelle raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. "Because I'm deaf?" She asked, Dean felt like the biggest ass but he didn't want her in any danger. All he could do is nod. Annabelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, Sam was standing next to Dean, she almost laughed because he was approaching her as if she was a wild animal. "He's kinda right, Na-Na." he said with his hands up, "If something comes up behind you, or is following you, and you can't see it…it's too much to worry about." Annabelle laughed to herself and calmly walked back to the bed, zipping up her back pack and tying her shoe laces. "You guys know nothing about the woods, excluding the few times you had to hunt a monster that like wooded areas." She signed once she was done. "I may have a disadvantage because of my lack of hearing, but you two have a disadvantage because of your lack of experience." She stood up and walked to her brothers again, "Plus, if something happens, I know how to track, how to set up a tent and hide my stuff, or myself. So face it," Annabelle placed her shrugged with a smile, "I'm your only hope, princess Laya."
~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night before, after talking to the only survivor of the last attack, Sam had written down some notes. Stating what they had figured out, the attacks and victims, what he thought it could possibly be. He always did this with every case they had. It was like his own little journal, but he never went so far as to buy one. Annabelle was now reading his notes in the Impala as she waited for her brothers, to get up to speed with the case. There were also a few pages on the possible places their father could be.
Annabelle could tell how angry Sam was about this whole thing, but she couldn't really understand it. Yes, the whole reason why Dean came to get him was to find dad, but did that really matter now? With Jess…gone…did Sam even want a normal life anymore? Why can't he just enjoy spending time with his family, using the family as a way to cope with Jess's…Annabelle couldn't even finish that thought. Sure she was never really close with Jessica, but she truly did like her, and Sam loved her. And she loved him. Unconditionally. She was like family in a way, and that was good enough for Annabelle.
As the boys were getting dressed and packing the duffle bag with the possible weapons they would need, Dean would periodically look out the window, checking on his baby sister. "I'm telling you, something's up." Dean said as he threw some knives into the bag. Sam gave him a confused look. "Ever since we got back last night, Bells just hasn't been acting right." Sam scoffed, "Oh, like she hasn't been a little shit to me yet?" Dean gave him a smart-ass smile, "Exactly." Dean threw on his jacket as Sam put the duffle bag strap over his shoulder. "I'm telling you man," Dean continued as they both walked to the door, "Something is off." Sam sighed, "Whatever. If there is something wrong, she'll tell us." Dean paused for a second and looked down at his car keys, "Yeah, maybe." He looked up at Sam, "Hey, you want to check those directions online again just to make sure?" Sam put the duffle bag down and nodded, "Good idea. Don't want to miss Haley and her brother and have them wander without us." He said as he grabbed the closest laptop, which happened to be Annabelle's. "What kind of babysitters would we be?" he mumbled angrily under his breath.
When Sam opened the laptop and put in Annabelle's password, he was a little surprised at what he saw. Annabelle had never left the internet open. She always closed out them and then sign out of the wifi. But this time, Sam saw the last thing Annabelle was on. He didn't know she had a fake facebook. But when he saw who she was messaging, he understood why. "What's up, Sammy?" Dean asked, noticing he was taking too long. Sam had already read the two messages and he quickly went to the site to get directions before Dean could find what he found. Sam quickly wrote down the directions so they were fresh in his mind.
Annabelle sighed in frustration when her brothers got inside the Impala. Both Sam and Dean looked back, "What?" Dean asked. "You guys take twice as long as I do."She giggled softly.
Author's note: Sorry if the beginning is confusing...just kinda wanted to show yall some of the past. trust me, it will come together soon :D