It wasn't long until we found the motel. The three of us were left to linger out in the parking lot, a scowl etched into place as I watched Dean take control of the situation and get our rooms. He was leaned over the desk and whatever he was saying, was getting a lot of shy giggles from the poor lady who had to endure his company. Though from the looks of it, she didn't mind.
"Is he always like this?" Leah asked with a grunt as she began to pull our things from the backseat, the bags and cases falling with a thud onto the loose gravel.
"Pretty much," Sam sighed. Tugging a little tighter on the bag he had slung over his shoulder as he looked down to me, noting the glare I held for the other man. "He really-he really isn't as bad as you think, Evalyn. He's just a bit rough, is all." I huffed in response, refusing to let him know that we were even sharing short words about him as he walked out, four keys in hand and a certain sway in his step, drawing the young girls attention from her post.
I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Room 14," he said with a smile, handing one key to Sam, tucking its partner away into his jean pocket and as he faced us, his grin grew, offering the keys between two fingers. "And for the ladies-Room 15."
"What?!" "You've got to be kidding me!" The two of us shouted in sync, bringing out a small chuckle from Sam that he desperately tried to hide, wanting to be on our good sides.
"You get your ass back in there and get a different room!" "Sorry, princess, they're all booked." "The parking lot is practically empty, you idiot!" "Or you could thank me, how about that? I could be off doing God knows what but instead I'm trying to save your ass!" "You came after us, remember? I didn't ask you to come here!" His breath halted in his chest and the emerald stare intensified, digging into me as his jaw clenched as well as the fist at his side. "We have to keep a close eye on the two of you. It's either sleep in the room next to us or next to us. The choice is yours, doll."
With teeth grinding together and knuckles growing pale, I thought over his words, exchanging a look with Leah who just sighed and slumped against the truck, nodding in agreement. She looked as exhausted as I felt and wasn't willing to put up a fight and when I turned back to him, prepared to deliver so final and venomous words he spoke up.
"I know, I know. You hate me."
Without a word, I snatched the two cards from his hand and stormed over to Leah, grabbing what was mine and slowly, but very angrily making my way over towards the room he had claimed for us. The room was typical. Surprisingly clean, white walls with the worst green carpet and floral bed spread I had ever seen. The questionable stains we discovered only making it worse. We did our usual routine. We checked for bugs, we checked for gross hairs left behind and we made sure the locks on the windows worked and then lined them with salt, as well as the door. We stripped our clothes away and placed our pistols where we knew we'd find them. Mine was on the desk just next to me, while Leah's remained under her pillow, claiming it was easier access, which I didn't doubt but the thought of having a loaded weapon just beneath my skull did not seem ideal to me. Once we were settled and feeling only slightly secure, like every other night, she jumped into bed and wrapped herself in the thin blankets, getting as comfortable as possible.
"If you hear something or if you just start to get scared, you know what to do," Leah mumbled as she flip flopped around, kicking her feet to loosen the tucked in covers.
This was a constant thing. She would offer herself as company if things got too bad for me and believe me, they have and I sometimes make use of it. I remember when we first left Chelsea, the night terrors were so bad that I had to crawl into her bed or ask her to keep me company until sleep took me again. I couldn't thank her enough for being so supportive and comforting through this whole mess.
It wasn't long until her soft snores filled the small room and I knew that tonight, she needed this sleep more than anything. Tonight I would avoid disturbing her as she regained her physical and mental strength. Tonight I would face my fears on my own, even if it resulted in me staying up all night and despite my desperate need for rest, I was terrified of closing my eyes. But unlike my dreams, the darkness waiting for me outside of this room was real. And like every night, I slowly moved to the window, my palms sweating and heart racing at the thought of seeing his face in the distance, watching me carefully. I gripped the thin curtains, pulling them closed and canceling out what little light we had before slipping into my bed. The laughter of the two men just in the other room bringing a small amount of comfort to my shaken nerves, allowing me to slip away.
A mistake I made too often.
The next time my eyes had opened, I found myself laying flat on the soft, wet grass. My cheek pressed down into the earth and fingernails covered in mud, small scrapes decorating the back of palm, a small amount of blood seeping through the thin splits as I clutched the tall, green blades. I could feel a familiar ache in my bones as I became more aware of my situation, suggesting that I had fallen. My hazy eyes stared out into the eerie dark of the woods. The branches and dried leaves illuminated only just by the moon in the distance, creating shapes and playing tricks on my mind, hoping to scare me. And even though I knew they were out there, watching me-I felt as if something else was here. Something less threatening, but unnerving nonetheless. As I began to move, I noticed a pair of feet made of stone, stood upon a slab of cement with dying flowers scattered all around its base. Hesitantly, I looked up, my eyes trailing the perfect curves of her dress as it folded, as if it had been frozen in time as a gust of wind blew by. Her face was expressionless as she looked down to me, hands extended out to her side to offer help for those who need it. But I didn't want it.
Not from her.
With a frown on my face and eyes locked onto her, I slowly moved so that I could stand. Completely disregarding the cries of pain as my bones cracked and popped back into place. As my postured straightened, I let out a sigh of relief that the fight was finally over, my body thanking me with with warmth, shielding me from the bitter wind. And I could have gone anywhere at this point. I could have run off on my two very tired legs to avoid seeing this woman but I held my ground. I was going to stare until I had become immune to her existence and the fact that people would see her years from now and tell their friends how she held a dying girl in her arms. Just watching. She didn't offer safety, nor did she take pity on the girl and kill her quickly so that she would not suffer.
How could I trust in them when they were never there to catch us?
How could I trust in something that ruined me?
With one, big gust of wind, the leaves had picked themselves up off of the ground to dance through the air, tickling my bare feet as they went. The sensation caught me off guard for just a moment, looking down to check for any spiders that felt it necessary to taunt me. But then there was the sound of cracking rubble echoing into the night, my heart beat immediately picking up in speed, sucking the breath right out of me.
I clutched my chest, shaken by the sensation and struggling to control myself but the noise continued and soon, a shadow was cast down upon me and as I looked up, I found that her wings had stretched out to the sky and once they had settled, I was left in an awful silence that seemed to last a life time. A sudden feeling of dread washed over me, a voice screaming for me to run and as I took one step back, the noise began once more though this time it was her head that moved, slowly rising so that she could look me in the eyes again. But I didn't give her the chance. I turned to run, shock immediately consuming me as I was met with a pair of the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen.
Eyes I had treasured and missed dearly.
"T-Tyler?" I asked breathlessly. But she did not respond. Her attention was locked onto the woman behind me, her body tilted to get a better view of her, staring long and hard until I had called her name again. The sapphires snapped to me and not a second later, cold, rough hands wrapped around my wrist. "Tyler, no!" I shouted, before I had been torn backwards, my back colliding with the front of the statue. Every curve, bump and point pressing into my soft flesh with great force as it hoisted my arms up, gripping tightly. But the cold and coarse texture had vanished, instead the feeling reminded me of tight, twisting and burning ropes as they dug into me, though they were nowhere in sight and all I could think about was the bruising on her. But she was completely fine now. Her stare was empty and her skin held the same amount of shine as it once did. Not an ounce of blood touched her but in her hand, was a knife.
She held my gaze for a moment, her facade cracking as a small smile crept through and as she kicked the ground, she started to move closer.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it? How've you been? Drowning your sorrows and trying to forget about me?" With pursed and trembling lips, I replied with another question, never answering her. "What do you want?" "Oh, I'm so glad you asked! Well, for starters," the space between us was closed within the blink of an eye, a sharp pain starting in my abdomen and then spreading like fire throughout the rest of my body and when I scream, she slapped a cold hand over my mouth, the noise vibrating against her palm. "Don't waste your breath on this. There will be so much more to come. And besides, how are you suppose to get all big and strong to survive, when you can't even handle a little pain?"
With a firm grip, she twisted the dagger deeper into my body, eliciting another scream, my torso shaking to try to wiggle my hands free. I was filled with relief when she removed the bade as well as her other hand, allowing me to gasp for the air I had forced out. "Doesn't feel good, does it?" The tool then slipped beneath my shirt, right at my bellybutton and slowly gliding upwards, leaving a trail of fresh blood behind,, splitting the skin as she went, pausing as the tip pressed down onto my rib cage. "Welcome to the last seventy-two minutes of my life."
An invisible forced dug into the flesh of my arms, carving a deep and jagged line down to the inside of my elbow and suddenly this quite night was filled with nothing but my screaming. The attack continued, though there was no source but every wound was similar to the ones found on her corpse. My clothes and skin splitting open as cuts formed in various places, burns stretching along my collarbone and neck even though she had barely moved.
I've had many nightmares about situations such as this. Her torturing me and vice versa and I always felt the pain despite it being all in my head, but somehow, it always managed to shock me when it happened. I would wake up mortified by what I had experienced, forget all about it and then wake up covered in the same sweat with aching muscles. This was no different and I could only hope that someone on the outside would take notice and help me out of this. But my throat was coated by blood and heat as I cried myself hoarse, tears spilling over as my body was shredded to pieces.
"Now you know how I felt! How does it feel to die alone, sister? You may have Leah to stand by your side but in here-when you close your eyes, you belong to us. Everything you fear."
The knife moved beyond my ribs the gathered up fabric falling back down to cover my exposed and mutilated stomach, the shirt quickly sticking to my form. "And what's even better is that you can't die here. So we can drag this out for as long as we want!" She stated with a wide grin, the knife hovering over the center of my chest. "You could gag on your own blood for hours here," she finished in sort of a dreamy tone, eyeing where the weapon rested against my chest before looking back up to me, her smirk returning. "And you don't even try to save yourself."
The pain had faded into numbness by now. My breathing in slow, steady pants as I tried to recover from the attack. My heavy lidded eyes locked onto her, glaring. "Maybe I just enjoy our time together," I replied with snark. She smiled at that, pressing down on the handle so that a droplet of blood spilled over. "Let's see what we can do about that, then."
She reeled back, her fist now raised and ready to strike down, plunging into my chest but as he began to throw herself back down, I had gathered up what strength I had left to lift my body as well as my leg, bending it and pressing my knee to my form and with the flat of my foot pressed to her torso, I shoved her back. Before I knew it, I was sitting up right in my bed, my heavy breathing filling the small room, my tongue dry and cheeks wet from tears. I had managed to escape the torment of my mind and though I was safe now, I didn't feel it. I didn't feel protected by these walls or the gun just at arms reach. I felt trapped and in order to feel free from my binds, I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my jacket and keys and very quietly opened the door, careful to not cause a break in the line and making my way out into the cold night and the moment I was placed in the truck, I had taken off. Tears were spilling freely as I stared off into the distance, anger boiling inside of me as I realized I had yet again, allowed the trick of my mind to consume and torment me. Sleep was meant to be peaceful for the most part. You were supposed to welcome it gladly with open arms but every night I found myself in the fetal position, scared of what would happen to me.
Scared of what I'd do to myself or Leah while under. So I secluded myself by driving down the empty roads with tears brimming my eyes, choking back sobs with hands wrapped around the steering wheel in an iron grip. The rough material squeaking as I twisted it, anger boiling in my veins. I had once again, given in to the torment of my own mind. My guilt, after all of this time still eating me alive.
Curious, I took a short glance down to the radio, scoffing as the time said that it was only ten o'clock at night, meaning I had slept a mere four hours. Typical. In order for me to recover from the damage done by the lack of rest, I'd have to be in bed for days or even longer. There were some nights I even refused to sleep, purposely slamming coffee and Redbull so I wouldn't have to see what sort of Hellish nightmare was stirring in my subconscious, waiting for me. I'll admit, it wasn't one of my best decisions. But there is only so much I can handle. So I opted for loneliness, sitting in the bathroom to read a book or scan through the internet, somehow winding up in the 'weird section' almost every night and since I had none of those things available to me at the moment, I instead put in the nearest mix CD and turned the volume on high. My body shaken by the intense beat as it echoed through me. My tired eyes wide and alert. But nothing could have prepared me for what was ahead.
He seemed to appear out of thin air. The lack of light masking him until the headlights shined over his face, a smirk clearly visible.
There was a split moment in this very short time to react, where I had considered the idea of flooring it and ripping him in two. But not only would it not end this seemingly never-ending chase, but it would also add to my body count. This skin did not belong to him. He had stolen it from a man with an unknown life. He could have a blossoming career and a family waiting for him back home and I wasn't going to be the reason for him to never come back. So I hit the breaks. My tires squealing as they did all they could to prevent the soon to be slaughter, but he was too close to fully stop so with my eyes closed, I allowed the car to rip through him but heard no thud and felt no jerk as we collided.
When the truck finally stopped, just a few feet from beyond where he was standing, I opened my eyes and frantically looked all around, finding him nowhere yet still feeling his disgusting, bone chilling presence. This wasn't another trick of the mind, he was out there.
He was always there.
Despite the fact that my door was locked, it was practically ripped off of its hinges, the cold wind slipping in and sucking the breath right out of me as I stared down at his wicked grin.
"You need to drive more carefully,"
Hastily, I reached for the gun in my pocket but as I did so, he had grabbed me. His long fingers locked around the collar of my jacket, tearing me from my seat and throwing me straight down into the wet cement, my face smacking against it roughly, hands not having enough strength to protect me from the force. When the intial shock of my fall had faded into the distance, I took notice in the lack of weight where my weapon should have been. My eyes shot open and my neck snapped as I scanned the glistening surface of the road, feeling my heart leap into my throat with excitement as I spotted it a few feet from me and not a second later was I desperately trying to reach it. My pulse was wild as I got closer and closer, but the moment it was just an inch or so from my gasp, I was stopped. The air in my lungs was pushed past my lips as my chest collided with the ground, a single foot adorning an expensive, customized shoe just for him was pressed to my back, keeping me down.
He tutted at me in disapproval and though I couldn't see him, I knew he was smiling at my predicament.
Absolutely fucked.
"Now, let's not do something that we'll regret. I haven't seen you in awhile and I thought we could catch up." "I'm not really in the mood to talk," I choked out, struggling to breathe as the pressure continued to build. "Well, then you're just going to have to listen for once, won't you?" His dirtied shoe had slowly lifted from my back, the point dragging along my spine until he finally decided to let it fall back to the ground, thus, beginning the circle around me. He was the predator studying his helpless prey. I knew he was faster than any human and I knew that his eyes were watching my every small movement, making sure I made no attempt for the gun. Even if I did and successfully grabbed it, he would make this little visit a nightmare. Unless I got to him first.
Which was my last option if everything else failed. An option I didn't look forward to acting out.
"That little stunt you pulled at the bar was fantastic," he cooed as he continued to move around me in a slow and steady pace, the sound of his heel hitting the pavement echoing into the night. "You know what I like about you two? You've got guts. You've got potential." I frowned, thinking I had misheard him and when I turned to ask what he had meant, the flat of his shoe met the side of my face, throwing me back down into the ground and with this foot he held me down. The dirt and small pebbles mixing into my hair as he pressed down on my skull, eliciting a cry from my dry throat. "And I see you have some new friends. If you want my advice, I'd dump them off on the side of the road. You need to stay far, far away from them." "W-why?" I muttered out, still wincing as I felt the rocks drag along my skin. "They want to-" "Help you, I know. Saving people, hunting things, the family business. The old Winchester motto. But you should know, the longer you're around those boys, the more danger you'll be putting yourself in. They are a magnet for tragedy and I'd hate to see you die because of them.. When it's my job to kill you." "So do it already! Cut the bullshit and just kill me!" The pressure was removed, the leg swinging over to the other side of my body, straddling me with his hand snaked around my throat, fingers forcing my head up off of the ground so that his foul, hot breath stuck to my skin.
"Not just yet, sweetheart. I'm an avid fan of long and drawn out torture. Most demons are. Watching you crumble into nothing, your pride shriveled up into dust as you beg for death. It's so much more satisfying. Your time will come, just not tonight."
I felt a violent chill race up my as I felt his teeth graze the tip of my ear, muttering dangerously low, "Enjoy what time you have left, Evalyn. Tell Dean that I'll be seeing him soon."
With a final shove, his weight had completely vanished, the cold air rushing over my skin once more, alerting me to my freedom.
I of course moved for the gun, the chilled handle resting in my iron grip as I whipped around, aiming the barrel into the empty air where he once was, but had faded away like he so often did. This time, I knew I was completely alone and let out a relieved sigh, falling back and laying flat on the ground, steadying my racing heart as I looked up to the sky. Admiring the very faint stars as clouds tried to conceal them, thinking over the Demons words very carefully.
"Winchesters," I breathed.
I knew nothing about them. I didn't even know their last name until now for Christ sake and yet I had agreed to do this. I had done much worse in my life, clearly. But now I was apparently willingly sleeping in the same motel as two men who could lead me straight to my own end. Did I just walk right into a trap? The speed of my heart beat picked up as I realized I had stupidly left Leah with two complete strangers and even though she could hold her own and wasn't exactly left without instruments to keep herself safe, I had still left her alone. With them.
At a dizzying pace, I jumped up and ran for the truck, the headlights still shining down the street, attracting what few bugs were left as the season slowly changed. Ignoring the seat-belt completely, I began the short yet speedy trek back to the building. Eager to keep a watchful eye out for her as she slept, though slowed down once I realized what I was actually doing. Was I seriously letting what a damn demon said get to me? They were known for lying and could easily manipulate anyone that had no real experience with them.
No one was supposed to have experience with them.
I wasn't supposed to know about this life and that fact made me even a little antsy to get back to the boys as well. To take my chances with them and hope they can guide me back to the right path without demons or blood or nightmares. But the moment I reached the parking lot and caught sight of a familiar silhouette, I was wishing I hadn't come back. Wishing the demon had instead knocked me unconscious, leaving me out there until the sun rose so I wouldn't have to endure this moment.
Seated on a flimsy, plastic chair placed outside of his room, he hunched over, hands clasped together between his legs, eyes and staring intently at the ground until my truck had illuminated his tired face. I then realized by the look he gave, that he had not slept, anticipating for something to go wrong.
He was waiting for me.
Sighing, I sunk against the seat before turning off the engine and retrieving my keys, my eyes locked onto his. He didn't look mad or even mildly annoyed that I had lost him a few good hours of rest, but I knew that the moment I stepped out into the open, he'd tear me a new one in the quietest voice possible so he wouldn't wake the other sleeping bodies. But as I gathered the courage and exit, he remained firmly planted in the seat, gaze fixated on me hesitantly moving towards him, planning to veer off to my room. But as the card slipped into the small slot, I heard him speak.
"So, what happened?" "Nothing happened, Dean. Goodn-" "That's a load of shit. No one runs off in the middle of the night for no reason." With a scowl, I looked down to him. His expression unchanged, though his eyes held a small sign of worry, forcing me to wipe the scowl away from my face and take a seat in a matching chair with a huff. "I had a nightmare."
He nodded in acknowledgment, lips pursed as he leaned back, his legs stretching out and hands rubbing against his jean clad thighs. "These nightmares happen often?" Biting down on my lip, my attention remained locked on the glowing sigh ahead of us, showing the lost where to go when they needed shelter, like me.
Though I needed a lot more than just shelter.
"They come and go. Sometimes it's every night and sometime it's a few times a month." "Do you wanna tell me about them?" Finally tearing myself away from the luminescent words, I looked to him with a raised brow. "Thanks, but no thanks. I-" With my mouth hung open, I paused. Completely confused by the strange expression on his face as he studied me. He squinted and with his arm pressed to the weak frame, he pushed himself closer to me. Even in the dark I could see the faint flicker of green moving as he looked over the scrapes and bruises adorning my face. When I felt my personal bubble finally popping, I backed away. "You mind fucking off, Winchester?"
His face fell at the mention of the family name, adams apple bobbing as he gave a hard swallow. We shared a few quiet seconds together, just staring into one another's eyes before he broke the connection to sit fully in the chair. "When were you going to tell me that you and your-" "Brother," he finished. "brother were popular with demons? That seems like something two girls who are being hunted down should know about. Don't you think?" "Demons? Is that who marked you up?" "No, Dean. I tripped and decided it would be really fun to just roll down the street. Maybe smash my face into the-" "Could you for once in your life cut the shit?" He snapped.
"Could you stop lying to me?" Now livid and completely disregarding the peaceful dreamers, he jumped up and began to use wild hand gestures, his eyes holding a painful glare. "I didn't lie to you, Evalyn! I just-I didn't tell you the full truth." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that, standing up as well and brushing what leftover dirt I had missed from my pants. "Okay, from now on, you don't leave my-our sight. Got it?" I shed a very faint smile at the demand.
"You can't keep me from doing shit." "Wanna bet?"
Out of nowhere, Dean had lunged for me.
Startled and not really sure of what he was after, my hands moved frantically to try to block whatever his grimy fingers dove after. But he moved so fast and as a distraction, tried to aim for the inside of my coat and while I was busy deflecting, his other hand had moved for my jean pocket, sliding in with ease and ripping the car keys from their confinement. Once he had them, he took a leap backwards, wearing a triumphant smile as he held them high above my head.
"You asshole!" I cried as I tried to jump for them, our chest bumping together and despite how irritated we both were, he couldn't hold back a laugh at my attempt.
"You can't do that!"
"I believe I can and just did, sweetheart."
HI. So, hey, thanks for sticking with me through all of this. If you did. I have a few messages to leave you with! I'm aware this story is a little nightmare heavy or dark but, Evalyn, as it will be later mentioned, is suffering from PTSD. She's a little fucked in the head but don't you worry! She'll get much, much better with time.
My second message is that my step dad is cancer free! And though I'm happy and celebrating, my dear friends mother has so far not been so lucky. So let's keep the positive vibes going!
My final message is to give a shoutout to my Bae; ReosAme. He's been my best friend for god like eight years? We give each other the motivation and inspiration to write and he even has his own Supernatural story called Under The Water, where Evalyn will be making AU cameos! So go give him some love :3