Dean had only a second to look at vampire who seemed to materialize out of the shadows. Castiel was in front of him in the next moment, using his wings to herd Dean back up against a tree. Dean grunted as he got a face full of feathers, and he frantically shoved them away. Stupid angel! He needed room to fucking aim—

"Did we catch you off-guard?" the vampire mocked, and Dean stiffened, looking over at her. In between Castiel's wings, he could see her, standing in the shadows of a rocky outcropping. But she wasn't the only one visible: Dean's attention was caught by shadows moving to his left, sleek like a shark's fin breaking the ocean surface. Castiel was looking toward his right, and Dean glanced over as well, seeing a gleam of glowing eyes and the flash of fangs before they too melted into the darkness.

That was all Dean could make out, and he glanced from tree to tree, searching for other movement. How many vampires were there? Five? Ten? Fuck, had he been so stupid not to ask beforehand? Not that it mattered — they were surrounded. Towering rocks covered one side, trees hiding vampires the other, and the only exit was yards away … and that lead straight to a literal drop off a cliff.

They were trapped. Trapped with some of the best damn hunters in the world around them, armed with claws, teeth and a bite that could knock out something three times their size. Vampires were masters of stealth and stalking — and they were fast too — and had night vision that was as good as a demon's. But it was how well they worked together that made them so dangerous, almost telepathic in how coordinated they could be. Dean remembered military training, watching fully armed squads get taken down by a just a few vampires who never once exchanged words on how they'd attack.

Even with an angel at his side, Dean did not like his odds facing a nest. With a healthy, full-flighted, well-fed angel, no problem, but Castiel…?

Yet, the vampires didn't attack. Dean looked around in surprise, heart in his throat — what were they waiting for? he wondered — and then glanced over when the first vampire moved. She had emerged from the shadows, and was headed toward them, moving with the sleekness her kind was known for.

For how human she looked, their differences immediately stood out: mainly, her large, pointed ears, her iridescent eyes, the teeth. Her mane of hair had been pulled into a braid, skin dark as the shadows themselves. Unlike Castiel and the werewolf, she was fully clothed, her lean frame swamped under a shirt and in a pair of the demon's military fatigues. Like Castiel and the werewolf, she too was littered with white scars and bite marks, the most prominent scarring on her face. Five slashes traveled across her cheeks and nose and over her left eye, which had sealed shut. Her right eye was fine, black pupil blown against an iridescent green sclera, and it swung between the two of them.

"So it a human under all that werewolf blood," she said as she approached, and Dean's mind went blank as his eyes fell down to his clothes. Had he … Had he just walk into a nest covered in blood? The vampire stopped before them, hand falling to her hip as she looked from him to Castiel. "The monster, demons, the dogs and now an angel and a human in my territory. This week is just full of surprises."

Dean knew more about vampire hierarchy than he would have ever liked, and there was no doubt she was the nest matriarch. She was the one who gave the orders then, and the one he would not want to piss off so she didn't sic the whole nest on them. "We're just here to talk," he said carefully, letting go of his rifle long enough to hold up his hands. The vampire's eye flicked back to him.

"So I've overheard," she replied, and Dean's hands dropped back to his rifle. Shit, how much had they overheard? How long had the vampires been watching them? "And it does make me wonder what he must have said to earn your protection, Angel," she continued, as she looked back at Castiel. "And, even more surprisingly, your voice. I didn't even know you could speak. I had always assumed the demons tore out your tongue like they had your wings."

Dean could only wonder what she meant by earning Castiel's voice — it was forgotten when she mentioned Castiel's wings. The angel tensed too, said wings tightening against his back and his shoulders going rigid. She doesn't mean that literally, does she? Dean wondered, not wanting to imagine demons ripping feather after feather off Castiel. (Though now that he was thinking it, he could so easily see it...)

He looked back when the vampire moved closer, her attention back on him. "So, human… what could you possibly have to say to me?" she drawled, sounding bored. Her nostrils flared then and she looked him up and down once. "Please tell me you didn't try talking to the werewolf too. By the amount of its blood reeking off you, I can't imagine that went well."

Now it was Dean's turn to tense, his grip tightening on his rifle as he forced himself not to look down at his bloody clothes again. "What do you care?" he heard himself say from far away. The vampire grinned, all her fangs revealed.

"I really don't. It just seems a waste of perfectly good blood."

A vampire boiling someone's worth down to their blood was nothing new, but this time it struck a little too close to home. Dean remembered the werewolf — her emaciated body covered in scars and bite marks; a testament to everything she been put through— and how she had come back, just briefly. Long enough to probably realize she was dying; long enough to be scared by that. And it all happened to her because Dick thought she was no better than meat.

For the vampire to dismiss her for the same reasons … It made Dean see red.

"She was a person, you bloodsucking bi—" he hissed and then grunted when Castiel's arm shot out, stopping him from stepping forward and yelling that to her with a gun in her face. The angel more or less shoved him back against the tree too, Dean cursing and glaring at him.

The vampire let out a sound that could have been a laugh. "I wouldn't do that, human," she warned, baring her fangs in a grin. "The angel's holding us off, but one step out of his reach, and you're ours. And for someone so adamant the angel not die protecting you, that's exactly what will happen if we grab you."

Dean froze — no, he didn't want that to happen, and fuck, she sounded pretty damn confident she could take on Castiel — while the vampire looked back at the angel. "Not that we want to kill you, angel," she said, and then dipped her head and shoulders so she had to look up at him. She started to move toward him slowly, her voice lowering, almost gentle then. "Not after everything we've been through."

That made Dean frown, and he glanced between the two of them. Wait a minute … Did they have some sort of relationship? They obviously knew each other — Castiel had known where to the nest was, and they had apparently been together before they were put out on the island. But ... were they friends?

They didn't look like friends, not with the way Castiel was glaring down at her. (And she had basically threatened his life, too.) The vampire went on however, voice still soft, though it turned into a growl at the end. "Not over a human," she sneered.

Dean felt a stab of anger, grip tightening on his rifle. If she and the angel were friends or not, he didn't know, but this vampire was not dismissing him too. "That human is armed," he reminded her, and she glanced back at him.

"So you are," she muttered, sounding anything but impressed. She rose back to her full height, hand falling back to her hip again. "But I should remind you that we outnumber you, and you are not trying to get the angel killed?"

As Dean glanced around at the trees, she took a step back, and then spread her arms wide. "But, by all means, human, call my bluff," she said, fangs on show again when she grinned. "Just step away from the angel and take your shot."

Dean swallowed. He would have to step away from Castiel to take the shot … and then the other vampires would grab him, Castiel would fight to save him, and they'd both die. Fuck, she had called his bluff, and the anger that went through him at that — and the sight of her her smirk when he didn't move — made him want to shoot anyway, but Castiel ended that for both of them.

His blade slid into his hand, and the vampire glanced down at it, her smirk fading. It was clearly enough of a threat, as she looked up at the angel, and then dipped her head, acquiescing. When she backed off, Dean didn't even bother hiding the smarmy grin he knew was on his face. Talk a big game, don't you? he thought darkly. Well, take that.

The feeling didn't last long. "So, human willing to stand up to the monster," she drawled again, pacing the edges of the clearing. "Will you be doing that behind the angel's back as well?"

Dean twitched, and the vampire glanced over him. "Is that why you're here? Are you organizing a coup?"

If he was, he wouldn't have her be part of it, Dean grumbled to himself. This was the moment he had been waiting for though; the entire reason he came. It took a bit to swallow his pride — this is for Sam, he reminded himself — but he managed. "I'm here for information."

She paused in place, her expression unreadable when she looked at him. "Information," she repeated.

"Yeah." Dean again had to swallow his pride, and it was a little harder this time. She was an underfed vampire, he kept thinking, and that probably meant the entire nest was too. It evened things up some, didn't it? "I'm looking for something," he said instead. "In exchange, I have something to offer you."

The vampire lifted her eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest as she turned to face him. "And I assume you don't mean your blood."

Oh, how he wanted to be petty then, to leverage Castiel's presence and lord it over her. I mean your life, he wanted to say, and only just managed to hold off. For Sam, he reminded himself again. "Better than that," he told her, forcing a smirk.

"It must be, if it earned you the angel's protection," the vampire replied, and then looked over at Castiel. "Why is that, angel? What earns a human your protection?"

Though Dean hadn't exactly gone out of his way to avoid pissing her off, her dislike of humans seemed … pronounced. Even for a vampire, who didn't like humans in general. (And vice versa.) But it was like she thought it was beneath Castiel to protect him … Why?

Castiel answered her however, Dean jumping a little when he heard his voice. "He…" the angel said slowly. "He can help us."

"Help us? Help us?" The vampire barked out what could have been a laugh, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she looked back at Dean. "So, human, tell me: How will you help us?"

If looks could kill, Dean would have been dead twice over at that point. But this was his bargaining chip, and damn if it wasn't a good one. He let go of his rifle again, the confidence making him stand tall. "I have a way off this island," he declared proudly.

The vampire had no reaction. She just stared at him, her expression blank. "A way off the island," she said after a long moment, voice giving nothing away. Not surprise, or disbelief, or even outrage because she didn't believe him ... Which had Dean a little worried that she wasn't reacting. Instead, she looked to Castiel, her eye narrowing. "Is that what he told you, Angel? And you believe him?"

"Yes," Castiel whispered.

It wasn't the most ringing endorsement Dean had ever had, but he figured it'd have to count for something. The last thing he expected however was for the vampire to give Castiel a pitying look as she started to shake her head.

"Oh, Angel," she murmured as she approached them again, her eye never leaving Castiel's. "Look at you. The monster would be so disappointed in you."

Dean felt more than saw Castiel go rigid, mostly because he himself was staring at the vampire in disbelief. Had she just said … "What?" he sputtered, shaking his head because he had had to not have heard her right. "Who gives a shit what he thinks? He trapped you on this island! He hunts you like animals!"

The vampire paused, and gave him a look that clearly said she thought he was an idiot. "Human, we are animals," she said, hand falling to her hip again. "That's the point."

Castiel did not like that either, growing so tense Dean thought he might break. He glanced worriedly at the angel, and then turned back to the vampire. "What point? That you're animals?" he snapped. She couldn't mean that. She couldn't think that.

The vampire chuckled darkly, shaking her head again. "You're a human, and since you don't get the twenty-cent tour like we do, let me explain how this island works," she muttered, and then started walking toward him. "You: Meat. Us: Meat. Of course, there is a natural order to it all: we eat you, the monster eats us. And the cycle goes on and on."

Dean felt his stomach drop. He … ate them? Dick ate them? Oh god, he was going to be sick … But she couldn't be saying what he thought she was saying. She couldn't. "And you accept that?" he asked, perplexed. She shrugged with a smirk.

"What can I say? The monster is quite persuasive about his point of view."

Dean frowned at that. "What point of view?"

"That humanity has weakened us," she replied, and Dean frowned again. What? She stopped before him, folding her arms and shaking her head again. "That we've traded our instincts for easy meals; let ourselves be swayed by shots and pills and bags of blood. We let you convince us that we were more than our basic instincts. But, in reality, once you strip that away — our titles, our social statuses, our education, our humanity — we're all just animals underneath. We're all just meat."

Dick's words coming out of her mouth chilled Dean to the core. But where it struck him dumb, Castiel twitched violently, his wings rustling slightly. The vampire glanced over at him, arms falling back to her sides before she started to pace in front of them.

"Of course, being stripped of our humanity isn't easy," she went on, her eye on Castiel again. "So the monster has to break us down piece by piece. Remind us what we are, day-in and day-out. There's the torture ... the confinement ... having to smell the weak die around us. And what they did to you, Angel: Your wings, keeping you tied down in the dark ... the way the demons went after you over and over andover again."

God, what had they done to him? Dean thought as he looked over at Castiel. The angel's knuckles were white, and he didn't look like he was breathing. He just stared at the vampire, who leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper. "But the worse part is the hunger, isn't it?" she asked, and Castiel twitched again. "It never goes away, and it's always there, and there's never enough to fill it. It's all you think about. It consumes you, no matter how much you consume for it."

Dean frowned. Now what was she talking about? he thought, but he didn't have much time to wonder. It was then he noticed another set of eyes were watching them: One of the other vampires had emerged from the shadows, a tall but thin male with a set of scars on his head that made Dean cringe just looking at them. But his fangs and hungry eyes meant Dean didn't feel sorry for him for too long. There was movement to his left, too, and Dean looked over. The vampire there froze, Dean seeing her iridescent yellow eyes and black mane before she dipped back into the shadows.

They're hunting us, Dean realized, heart leaping in panic. The vampires were getting closer and closer, but Castiel wasn't reacting at all. His entire focus was on the matriarch, who was still talking to him. "This human?" she was saying, voice gentle again. "Don't believe in him. They're why we're here in the first place."

Son of a bitch, Dean thought. If she was distracting Castiel, it was working. "This isn't a trick," he pissed, glancing at each vampire before looking at the matriarch. "I have a way off this island."

She looked back at him, and the anger on her face made Dean pause. She was livid, and she turned on him, fangs bared. "Do you really think you're the first human that's promised us a way off this island?" she hissed, and Dean tensed. What? She shook her head again, her tone becoming mocking. "I've heard it all, human: Oh, if only we work together, the monster can't take us all on. We can sneak onto the compound, and steal a boat before they even realize we're there."

Was she talking about Sam? Dean wondered, his stomach dropping. Oh god, she was talking about Sam, wasn't she? "I've watched too many of my kind fall for that already," the vampire sneered. "I will notdo the same."

Oh son of a bitch, Dean thought, glancing over at the other vampires again. The man had crept closer, and the other female — a teenager, no less — had appeared again too, not even bothering to hide when Dean looked at her. They were so damn close that Dean didn't think it would matter if he stayed behind Castiel's back. They would snatch him before Castiel could even react...

Heart pounding, he turned back to the matriarch. He had to make her believe him, or he and Castiel weren't going to get out of this alive. "No, I have a way off this island. I can help you. I can save you," he hissed frantically, and the vampire barked out a laugh.

"Oh, human, we're animals," she said, boring her gaze into his own. "We can't be saved."

Castiel tensed at that, sucking in a sharp breath. Dean glanced over, seeing the angel's brow creased, and his eyes wide. He looked like he had been hit, Dean seeing his wings trembling and his hands clench into fists. What is it? Dean thought at him, confused, almost reaching out to touch him. But the matriarch had noticed too, and she turned back to him, voice gentle once more.

"Angel, don't worry," she murmured. "There's a peace to it, if you stop fighting it."

Dean frowned. There was something familiar to that, but he couldn't remember why. He didn't have time to remember what it was from, freezing when he heard what the matriarch said next.

"He can help us in another way, can't he?" she said to the angel. "I need the human. We both need the human. But we only need the blood. The rest… "

Oh shit, Dean thought, and that feeling grew when Castiel didn't contradict the vampire's words. The vampire was pressed in, her eye never leaving Castiel's. "It's been days since we ate, and I know it's been the same for you. I know you're starving. It's in your eyes. It's all you can think about. Let's have one more meal, Angel, before the monster comes for us."

Dean swallowed, but when Castiel glanced at him, his blood went cold. The angel's pupils slitte slitted, his eyes losing all emotion except for one. Dean couldn't even curse when he recognized the look, having seen it already before on the angel's face.

It was hunger, so palpable that Dean could have touched it, an abyss that could swallow him whole, and he knew what Castiel was seeing when he looked at him.

Meat.

His heart leapt, Dean taking a step away from him without thinking.

And that was when the vampires struck.