Chapter 22

Cal wasn't unconscious long, although apparently 'not long' had been long enough. When she finally came to she was tied tightly to a chair in the middle of her parent's kitchen. The mother of all headaches was beating its way through her skull and her stitches were burning painfully. Great Cal, just great… and you thought waking up in the hospital attached to a bag of blood was bad. This… this was definitely a new low.

Hunting was supposed to be fun. At least it was to Cal. There were times though… few and far between as they were… there were times when the life just sucked. Being hit in the head, tied to a chair and left to the mercy of a couple of asshole vampires definitely qualified as one of those times. This was not her idea of fun. "That lowlife, bloodsucking swine is going to pay for this." They both would.

Well, it could be worse. At least they were leaving her alone for the time being and she had the advantage of being in her own house which meant that Sam and Dean weren't far. Heck, they were probably outside right this minute scoping the place out. How long would it take them to find her in here…a couple of minutes maybe? Now, if it weren't for the fact that her hands were duck-taped behind her she might have been able to reach one of the knives she'd hidden in her boots. There had to be something she could use to cut through the stuff and get herself the hell out of that chair.

Big feet had tracked muddy footprints all over the place and half her cupboards were open. Apparently the pointy toothed freaks got hungry and decided to make themselves right at home. Well, better the cupboards then her neck right? Oh, nice… the TV was on in the living room, the sound blaring loudly across the house. Wonderful. Party night at Cal's place… the cocky bastards. Didn't they realize the Winchesters were nearby?

Come to think of it maybe entertaining these guys wasn't such a bad idea after all… in fact she couldn't wait for the boys to come join the party. Who needs a bar brawl when you could throw a vampire killing themed house party. So, where the heck were those two anyway? They weren't usually the type to leave a girl hanging…

Cal wasn't the type to just sit and wait around. Nope, she was all action. A quick look around made it pretty clear that there was nothing for her to free herself with. Okay then… let's make things a little easier for the boys then shall we? Sucking in a deep breath she started to shout at the top of her lungs. "DEAN! SAM! I'M…" and got cut off midway by a very large hand closing over her mouth to shut her up. Well, wasn't that a nice surprise.

"Although I doubt you have enough common sense to listen considering the stunts you've pulled so far, I suggest you keep your big mouth shut." Oh, wonderful. The man of the hour himself. What she wouldn't do for a free hand and a sharp knife… Given her current situation that was nothing but wishful thinking.

Still, Earl was not going to get away with roughing her around. No, Cal opened her mouth as wide as she could and bit down hard on the fingers that covered it instead. A girl had to keep her dignity, didn't she? Sure, it earned her a hard smack on the back of her already sensitive head. As far as she was concerned it was worth it. She'd get her payback later.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Perfect." She sneered at him. "Hey, you've got a little blood on your shirt…wonder where that could have come from?" Actually he had a lot of blood on his shirt, his pants and even in his hair. Satisfying, knowing she'd been the one who had put it there.

"You think you're funny do you? You're lucky there's not nearly as much as the last time otherwise the only food I'd be eating would be you." What had she seen in this guy anyway? Okay, so the guy had beautiful hair, bedroom eyes and a velvety voice… and, er, nice assets. But there was no mistaking the evil in those eyes or the controlled way he moved as if he was trying hard to keep himself in check. There should have been warning bells from the second she first set eyes on him.

"Don't kid yourself Earl. We've already been there a few times haven't we? And look where it got you… Let's see the first time I nailed you to the motel room wall and beat the crap out of you. The second time you came down with a bad case of, um, shall we call it food poisoning? Tsk, tsk. Nasty stuff that dead man's blood, isn't it? So that makes this what, number three? Look at you. You're a mess bleeding all over the place like that." Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a great idea pissing the guy off like that considering her slightly vulnerable situation. It was just so…gratifying putting that look of shock on his otherwise perfect face. "Take a hint dude, I'm not your freaking appetizer."

Cal knew what he was going to do even as he raised his hand above his head. Still she was used to being the one throwing the punches, not receiving them. So the feel of the back of his hand meeting the side of her face took her by surprise. Damn it! That was the second time the guy had managed to get away with it. The taste of blood was the last straw. She may not be able to fight back but she sure as hell wasn't going to shut up either.

"Wow, now that was impressive. Takes a great big strong man to hit a girl half his size tied down to a chair doesn't it? Fetch me some smelling salts… I may just swoon."

"I told you she had a mouth on her." Ah, so there was Jean-Charles. He had a bag of her M&M's in hand and was reaching into the fridge for a beer. Good, she had a thing or two she wanted to say to him too.

"Hey, JC. Take a hike. Find out where her little friends are. Cal and I need to have a private conversation that's long overdue." Darn it, that was going to screw with her distraction plan.

"Yeah, sure. I could go for a snack. This chocolate crap just isn't cutting it for some reason. Wanna beer before I go?"

Earl just pointed and JC practically ran out the door. That's right JC. Run like the freaking chicken you are.

Turned out that Earl didn't really want to talk… surprise, surprise. No, dude wanted to pick up where they'd left off that night… before the whole unfortunate cross-bow/beating incident had happened months earlier.

Cold fingers trailed across her shoulders as he pushed her jean jacket down her arms making her skin crawl. Resorting to the only weapon available to her she threw every insult she could think of at him but he wasn't listening. The pervert was behind her now trailing kisses down her neck as he hiked her skirt up her thighs and got a good look at her cleavage. She'd never wanted to throw up so badly in her life.

He had just started to pull up the edge of her tank top when all of a sudden the door flew open. "Hey!" Oh thank freaking GOD! Cal didn't need to see the door to know who it was. Dean's angry voice had never sounded so sweet. Earl shot up and lunged, but Dean was ready for him. There was the familiar whooshing sound of an arrow soaring through the air and a loud thump as the vampire was once again pinned to the wall. Seriously, you'd think the guy would have learned by now to watch out for those things… or at the very least to move out of the way.

"You okay?" Dean's voice asked from somewhere behind her, warm fingers gently touching hers before cutting her free. Was he kidding? Things got better the second the door came crashing open. Not yet trusting her own voice she nodded reaching down to pull out the long thin knives she'd hidden in her boots. Oh, she was a little shaky but that would get better in just a minute.

Earl had managed to pull the arrow out just enough so that he wasn't stuck anymore. Apparently he was learning a little something from experience. Dean didn't even blink, just raised his firing arm and hit him with another one. The vampire was ready for it this time. He lunged toward Cal, fangs bared. She heard Dean's curse as the arrow whizzed right past him and everything around her slowed. Crossing blade over blade she readied herself to finish it even as Earl fell on her and they tumbled to the floor.

She heard another crash and vaguely acknowledged Sam and JC fighting their way into the room. There was no time to see what was going on. Only Earl and death mattered now. It was time. That he was above her only made things easier. One quick move had her legs wrapped around his middle and then she was flipping them both over until she was straddling him. His shark like eyes went wide with surprise as the knives made contact with his throat. A graceful sweep of her arms and it was over. Earl lay lifeless and headless beneath her.

There wasn't time for what she had just done to sink in… another loud crash and a string of loud curses in three different voices sounded behind her. Turning she watched as the scene played out in slow motion. Dean grabbed JC with both hands, pulled him out of his fight with Sam who was now down on the floor and shoved him into a wall. Closing her eyes she just couldn't watch. JC hissed loudly. Sam watched as he went for Dean's throat. Now Dean was the one being pulled out of the way and Sam was stepping into the vampire's path, machete at the ready. A swish of blade as it cut through the air and a loud, dull thunk as Jean-Charles hit the floor in pieces. It was finally over.

Cal smiled as Dean knelt next to Sam checking to see with his own eyes that his brother was okay. Things were finally as they should be. Unnoticed she silently walked out the door. There was one last thing she needed to do.

The short walk to the maple tree seemed longer this time. Maybe it was what she knew was waiting for her when she got there that made it seem that way. As she walked through the muddy, empty field the winds picked up around her. Sometime during the fight that night the sky had clouded over and now a few soft flakes began to fall. Finally the running was over, the seasons were changing.

The maple stood proudly before her as she knelt before her parent's plaques. "Hi Mom… Dad. I, uh, know it's been an awfully long time since the last time I came up but… well I had something to take care of first." Fisting the hilts of the knives that had ended Earl's life she pushed the sharp ends into the cold earth until her fingers met grass. "I…I don't know if you have any way of knowing this but… I wanted you to know… Earl is dead. It's over."

Cleansing tears coursed down her cheeks, washing away the bitter feelings that had filled her for so long. Maybe… just maybe her parents had found peace, and each other again at last. She stood when she heard the footsteps, pulling the knives out of the earth and leaning them up against the tree.

There was no fighting it this time. When Dean wrapped his arms around her she simply lay her head on his shoulder and surrendered.