So I know I said sunday for the new chapter but...can we consider this super duper early sunday? No? Ah oh well. I stayed up all night perfecting this chapter. I was going to do a fun chapter and write the Ghostfacers episode but...like I've said in the past. It would have just swamped the story, as much as I love the Ghostfacers and how adorably nerdy Ed and Harry are. I miss them, hopefully they'll make a guest appearance in season 9. Probably not though, eh a girl can dream right?

Also a lot of you have told me your opinions on the subject of Melody/Castiel and all that other fun stuff. Well...I'm still deciding. I really, really want to go one way with the story and I'm trying to figure out how that could happen...got several ideas on how too.

Bah I'm talking too much, I'll let you get on with the chapter :) enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...

May 1, 2008

Tomorrow is the day. Technically in about two and a half minutes it'll be the day but we can skip over those details. Dean and I are still up, he's reading about hellhounds right now. We had to deal with a few, more indirectly than directly a few weeks ago. But before that—and I'm going to talk about this because it cheers me up a little—we ran into the guys from hellhoundslair .com. Well they were calling themselves the "Ghostfacers" this time. Ed and Harry had a whole team this time too. They had a girl, Maggie was her name also Ed's adopted sister if I remember correctly. There was a guy, Bruce and another guy Corbett. Dean had been begging me and Sam to go to the Morten House saying it was our "grand canyon" and we reluctantly said yes. That's when we ran into the Ghostfacers and had to protect their asses while also trying to figure out what was going on at the house. Corbett got killed though, unfortunately. He was really sweet too, and he even saved us from the other side by taking out the home owner Freeman Daggett.

I kind of felt bad though. The Ghostfacers had cameras and were recording everything, trying to get footage for a pilot for a tv …the world was not ready for that kind of stuff. And Sam, Dean and me all agreed that we'd rather not have our faces attached to that, so we had to destroy the evidence. Poor guys, it was actually kind of a cool show. Well after that, about three weeks I think, Dean got a call and he claimed it was dad…or…John. Honestly I don't know if I can even call dad dad anymore. Is he even my father? How the hell would Michael even be my father? How the hell would anyone let that happen? How the hell can it happen? I've done some research and have come up empty handed. There's nothing on nephilim. Only a few bible verses and that's about it.

Anyways, before I start thinking about things I don't want to think about, um…yeah I don't really know how but a crocatta is what was making all the calls. Sam killed it and Dean got in a fight, wouldn't really tell us all the details. Then afterwards when we were all back at the motel, Dean was saying things like he wanted to believe it was dad and that he's scared and that all of his actions were caused by the act of a desperate man and he doesn't expect anyone to show up with miracles and that the only person that can get him out of this whole mess is him. But…Sam and I can. That's what we're trying to do. Of course Dean just teased us for getting all "chick-flick" with him and dropped the subject.

Then after that we had to deal with this creepy ass scientist, some nineteenth century surgeon named Doc Benton who found a way to live forever by replacing organs the moment they stopped working. Dad…or John—whatever—tried to take him out before, cutting out his heart and everything but it didn't work. Doc took me and Sam. He had slit my wrists open and was draining my blood, saying something about experimenting with drinking or using the blood—I don't know. I was going in and out the whole time we were there, and Doc almost took out Sam's eye. But thankfully Dean showed up before it was too late and we buried that ugly bastard alive…he deserved every grain of dirt that fell over his grave. Oh and Doc tried to say that he was the solution to Dean's problem, but Dean just said no and that he didn't want to live like him.

Oh and Bela showed up again. I didn't get to punch her though, which I'm a little sad about but get this…apparently she made a deal with a demon when she was fourteen. Had the demon kill her parents and I'm assuming in return she had to get the colt for the demon (which we got back) and kill Sam. Dean had caught on to her plan and we were out of the hotel by the time she showed up. We left blow-up dolls in our places. Two for my brothers on the beds, and one for me on the sofa. Oh and Dean said he saw Devil's Shoestring above her door which is used to keep the hellhounds away. Turns out it was Lilith that held her contract and who holds Dean's contract too and Lilith is the one who wants Sam dead. Bela wants us to kill Lilith first I'm assuming because she doesn't want to die. We won't help her though; she lost her chance with us. If she had been honest (and not so much of an arrogant bitch) we probably would have helped her. Oh well, I don't feel that bad about not helping her. I know that's harsh but…she deserved it, in my opinion at least.

Melody leaned back in her chair, candles flickering and casting shadows against the walls. She picked at her black nail polish, fighting back the urge to fall asleep and stood up, going to the kitchen to make herself another cup of coffee. She stood by the counter, rolling out her neck and staring down at her clothes. Lately she had been wearing a lot more darker clothes, and her makeup started to look less and less worked on. Now she just seemed to smear on some shadow and dark eyeliners into the corners of her eyes, giving them a smudged up look.

Normally she wore dark denim and light colored shirts. Now she had on a pair of ripped up black tights, a worn rock concert shirt and dark red plaid shirt over it. She even had on her new favorite cowboy boots. They were a dark chocolate leather, with swift, woven designs in a burnt orange and soft baby blue. Sam had voiced his worry about her once, but Melody just shrugged it off saying she was fine and he didn't need to worry. But Sam knew better, and Melody hated the fact that he did. Most days she just wanted to curl up into a dark corner and not think about any of her worries or fears. She feared sleeping, feared seeing Michael again, feared losing Dean or worse…having to watch him die. It was coming, and Melody was so afraid of what it would do to her. When her father had died, she nearly fell apart but it was because of Dean that she was able to keep it together. Now that Dean was the one who was going to die…what would happen to her?

She started to idly play with her bracelet. It was a gift she had given her father once, probably the only gift she had ever given him. She remembered when she had presented the bracelet to him…

"Here dad uh…happy father's day." Thirteen year old Melody Winchester scratched the back of her neck nervously, setting down the tiny white envelope on top of the table. It was a rare, quiet night for the family and John had only just finished his first beer for the night so Melody figured now was her chance. John gave her a questioning stare before sighing, figuring his daughter would not go away until he opened whatever it is she had given him and started pulling apart the envelope. What came out into his hand actually surprised him. John thought maybe she had gotten him some candy or hell even a bottle opener. But instead a very nice leather bracelet fell into his open hand.

He admired the bracelet for a minute and heard his daughter give a small cough, "I uh…I figured since there's three of the little ropes uh…maybe those could represent me, Sam and Dean you know?"

John looked at the little ropes that were tied into the bracelet. There were three yes, one black, another a light tan and the last a pale white. He grinned and picked up the light tan rope, "Dean," he pointed at the black one, "Sam," and then he lightly touched the white one, "Melody."

For the first time in a very long time, John actually smiled—really smiled at his daughter. Not because she had killed something, not because she had had a good shot or thrown her knife the way he had taught her to. He smiled at her because she genuinely made him feel happy with the tiniest gesture of saying "thanks for being my dad" by giving him a simple bracelet. "So you like it?" Melody asked, wringing her fingers together nervously.

John smiled again and gripped the bracelet tightly in his hand, "I love it."

Melody grinned fondly at the memory, and then she started to think…did he know about me the whole time? Did he know that I wasn't really his daughter the whole time? How long had he been lying to her, been telling her that she was his baby girl when in fact she was just some half human half…angel. Melody blinked away a few tears, pushing aside all of her questions and emotions. There was no point wondering about that sort of stuff now anyways. The man who she had grown up with as her father was dead, and now the…thing that claimed to be her real father plagued her every thought. It wasn't true, it was not true.

She poured herself some coffee, dropping a spoonful of sugar but leaving out the cream, deciding that the cream would just be too heavy on her empty stomach and returned to the table where her brother sat at. Dean had fallen asleep on the table, face laid on top of a book he had been pouring over the entire night. Melody checked her phone, it was half past one in the morning and she was no were near tired or willing to sleep for that matter. Melody grinned at Dean's quiet snores and took a large gulp of her coffee.

Deciding to try and keep her mind occupied, she opened up her journal to a fresh page and stared at her brother for a moment then got up slowly, and moved to the sofa next to the table he had fallen asleep at. Carefully, she pulled out her Wonder Woman lunch pail and opened it as quietly as she could. Reaching in, she pulled out her special wax pencils, only having ever used them one other time to draw a picture of her mother. Melody only ever used color on the pictures that mattered the most to her, the ones that held the biggest memories and held the most value to her. With a line of tears rimming her eyes, she began drawing the sleeping face of Dean, knowing full well it was the last picture she would ever have of her big brother.

"Dig up anything good?" Sam's voice jerked Melody awake. She had fallen asleep on the couch, held laid back awkwardly and her journal still open to her now finished drawing of Dean. Quickly, she picked up her pencils and put everything away, blowing off a few stray pieces of wax off her journal before shutting it and stuffing it into her bag. She glanced at her hands, now covered with different colors of wax but just ignored it and turned her attention to her brothers.

Dean seemed to have been startled awake too and rubbed his eyes before answering Sam, "No. Nothing good."

"Well, Bobby has. Finally." Sam said with a grin. Melody stood up quickly when she heard the news,

"Really? What'd he find?"

"A way to find Lilith." Sam said and Melody could have jumped up and down like a giddy school girl she was so relieved. Dean, still seated at the table nodded slowly,

"Wow. With just uh, thirty hours to go." He glanced at his watch and then looked back up at his brother and sister. Thirty hours and then he would never get to see them ever again. Never drink a beer with Sam, sing loud rock songs with Melody…never get to tell them how much he loves them both. Shaking off his bubbling emotions, Dean squeezed his eyes shut for a moment fighting off his exhaustion he said, "Hey, why don't we just make a T.J. run, you know? Some senoritas, cervezas? Uh…we could—what's Spanish for "Donkey Show"?"

Melody and Sam both chuckled at him while Sam said, "If we do save you…let's never do that."

"Aw…party pooper," Melody grumbled, knocking her shoulder into Sam's arm. Dean just got quiet though, nodding his head and casting his eyes downwards again. Taking notice of his less than normal attitude at their light banter, both Sam and Melody moved in to try and comfort their older brother. The youngest sat down in the chair across from Dean, and Melody kneeled down next to him taking his hand into hers and squeezing gently.

"Hey, hey, Dean. Uh…" Sam began gently, took in a breath and continued, "Look, we're cutting it close, I know. But we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes Dean. You're not gonna go to hell."

Melody tightened her grip on Dean's hand making sure he was looking her in the eye when she said, "We won't let you. I swear and…"

"And I swear it too," Sam added catching on and finishing up for his sister, "Everything's gonna be okay."

Dean gave Sam a half nod and squeezed his sister's fingers weakly. He watched his younger brother give him a half smile and was about to give him one too when he felt a chill crawl up his spine. And then he saw it. The first of many signs to come in the following thirty hours. His brother's face grew dark and twisted, eyes sinking in, skin turning a sickly yellow. His brother's head turned and jerked in several directions, until his mouth opened and a loud, piercing scream came out of his mouth. Dean blinked and the ghoul face he had just seen was gone.

Ignoring what he had just seen and putting aside the fear that was slowly creeping up his spine, Dean just nodded again feeling his lip twitch he just grumbled out a simple, "Yeah…okay."

"So, you got a name?" Bobby said hefting the…whatever it was, Melody wasn't quite sure, onto the table over a map of the states. It was a strange device. It sat on a tripod, with a large metal circle around the top of the legs—symbols carved into the metal—and another, smaller circle with the same symbols at the peak of the device. Hanging down in the middle of the legs was a long, thin metal pole attached to a glass ball from the top. The glass ball sat in the center of the top ring, moving freely with the movement of the weight at the end of the thin pole.

"That's the whole kit and caboodle." Bobby continued explaining how the tripod was used, "With the right name, the right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out."

"Like the town it's in?" Sam asked from his side of the table. Melody stood close to her brother Dean, and watched Bobby from across the table answer,

"Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street." Melody leaned in close to Dean, feeling to need to be as near to him as she possibly could. Dean didn't say anything, and let his sister gently wrap her arms through his, holding on tightly as Bobby reached up and gave the large glass ball at the top a twist and started chanting in Latin.

The metal pole moved around and around the map, and as Bobby's chant came to a stop the pole slowly fell onto a point on the map. They all stared down and Bobby announced where they would be heading, "New Harmony, Indiana. And we have a winner."

Melody released her hold on Dean, knocking her finger against the pole as Sam stood up, "Alright. Let's go." The younger Winchesters both started to move from the table but Dean just held out his hands.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold on." He gently held back Melody from moving, "Just holster it up there Walker and Texas Ranger."

"Dean…" Melody complained and Sam threw out his arms,

"What's the problem?"

" "What's the problem"?" Dean restated and then said, "Come on, where do I begin?" He watched his siblings closely as he began explaining himself, "I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith actually holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? I mean when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants Sam's giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

Melody rolled her eyes while Bobby scoffed, "Ain't you just bringing down the room?"

"Well it's a gift." Dean grinned sarcastically ignoring his sister's eye roll.

Sam threw up his hands, "So, then what are we supposed to do Dean?"

"Well, just cause I got to die doesn't mean you have to, okay?" he answered harshly, "Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Okay fine," Sam stated, "if that's the case, I have the answer."

"You do?" Dean and Melody both asked him. Sam just nodded before explaining,

"Yeah, a surefire way to confirm it's Lilith and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing ginsu."

Melody knew exactly what he meant, and—rather reluctantly—had to agree with him. Dean however, did not agree and growled out, "Dammit Sam, no."

Dean turned away from them, not seeing Melody throw back her head in defeat or Sam clench his fists. "We are so past arguing," Sam fumed at his brother's back, "Dean, Mel and I are summoning Ruby."

"The hell you are!" Dean shouted turning around to face his siblings, "We got enough problems as it is."

"Exactly," Melody stepped up to him, standing at her full height as her hands shook in the air, "And we got no time and no choice either." She felt Sam walk up to stand behind her while Dean just shook his head,

"Come on guys, she is the miss universe of lying skanks, okay? She told you two that she could save me huh? Lie! She seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention—oh right—Lilith owns my soul!"

Melody clenched her jaw while Sam argued from behind her, "Okay fine, she's a liar. She's still got that knife."

"Dean?" Bobby tried to call over the arguing siblings but they didn't hear him and Dean just argued back at his brother a bit louder,

"For all we know, she works for Lilith."

"Then give us another option Dean!" Melody shouted back at him and Sam just said in a seething, calm voice,

"Tell us what else there is."

Bobby tried again, this time a bit louder to get their attention "Dean they're right—"

"No! Dammit!" Dean screamed at them, causing everyone to fall silent. After a pause and after taking in a short, shaking breath Dean spoke in a quieter voice, "Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys want to save me, find something else."

He walked away from them and sat down at a table in the corner, done with the argument. Melody seethed, clenched her fists and turned her back to Dean. She put a hand against her forehead, feeling a harsh headache begin to pound against her skull. Sam, seeing his sister's distress reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

Melody opened her eyes to find Bobby pulling on his vest, "Where you goin Bobby?" she asked the mechanic. He flicked his vest, adjusting it over his arms,

"I guess to…" he shrugged and threw up his hands in defeat, "find something else.

Melody leaned her hands onto the table top, staring down at the map. She had circled New Harmony, Indiana with a red pen and was currently boring a hole into the place where the little words were written on the map with her eyes. Damn Dean and his stupid, stubborn ass ways. He had fallen asleep again on the sofa and Melody was waiting on her younger brother.

Sam slowly walked into the room, arms filled with various pieces and nodded once at his sister. Giving Dean one last look, they quietly left the room and made their way down into the basement. Sam set up the summoning ritual and performed it while Melody stood behind him, keeping her eyes and ears open in case Dean happened to wake up and find them missing or decide to come down and interrupt the ritual.

There was just no other option. No matter how much she hated doing this; Melody knew it was the only way. Sam finished up the ritual, lighting the bowl of sulfur on fire and slowly standing up. They both turned their heads, eyes going to the stairs leading down to the basement after hearing what sounded like a door creaking open.

"You know, phones work too." The Winchesters looked back, finding Ruby standing on the other side of the room leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest casually. She grinned at the siblings, "Hey Sam, Melody. How's tricks?"

Melody's nostrils flared when she caught a whiff of Ruby's scent and grimaced. She could never get used to that or the heaviness of the air whenever a demon was present. "How do you get around so fast?" Sam asked her.

"I got the super bowl jetpack." Ruby answered flatly.

"Cute," Melody smirked sarcastically, getting a half assed grin from Ruby before she got down to business.

"So…you called?" she stood from her place against the wall and walked over to them. Sam took in a sharp breath,

"Did you know?"

"I'm gonna need a tiny bit more…" Ruby's face scrunched up in confusion and Melody huffed,

"About Dean's deal—that Lilith holds the contract."

Ruby came to a stop in front of them, "Yes. I did."

"Right, so that gives me a good enough excuse to off you right now." Melody sneered pulling out the her pistol from behind her and pulling back the hammer. Sam held out a hand, lowering his sister's arms and trying to get her to control her temper.

"And, what," he asked Ruby, "you didn't think that was more important?"

"You weren't ready." Ruby answered him, looking straight at the youngest. Again Melody felt her temper rise. She snarled, eyes flashing silver for a half second and pointed the gun at Ruby again.

"More excuses—more like proof that I should kill you." Ruby actually flinched a little when she saw Melody's luminescent eyes. Sam pushed his sister's arms down again giving her a stern look before asking,

"Ready for what?"

Ruby sighed, "If I had told, you three chuckle-heads would have just charged after her half-cocked, and Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty, pretty faces."

"Well we're ready now." Sam said and then glanced at the demon's holster, "I want your knife."

The demon watched him for a moment, keeping a wary eye on Melody before slowly moving around to stand closer to them, "You're right about one thing. You are ready. And now's the time, too—Lilith's guard is down."

Ruby walked around the siblings and Melody kept a firm grip on her pistol, finger hovering just over the trigger, "Is that so?" she queried.

The demon nodded, "She's on shore leave, a little R&R."

Melody made sure to keep her back facing away from Ruby as the demon slowly moved around the siblings. Sam just stood still, "The hell does that mean?"

"Trust me—you don't want to know." Ruby answered quickly and then questioned, "You didn't lose those hex bags I gave you?"

"We got em." Sam said and Melody absentmindedly moved her free hand to the inside hidden pocket of her leather vest, feeling the small lump where she had been keeping the hex bag.

Ruby nodded in approval, "Good. Then she won't sense that you're coming."

"So you'll give us the knife?" Sam asked eagerly turning to face her.

"No," Ruby deadpanned and Melody snarled again,

"You just said—"

"You want to charge in with one little pigsticker?" Ruby challenged, "It's a waste of a true-blue window, like hitting Hitler with that exploding briefcase—forget it."

"Okay," Sam stopped her, "then how?"

"I know how to save you brother—"

"No you don't!" Melody shouted pointing her gun at Ruby again, "You told Dean you couldn't—you've been lying to us this whole damn time! So just give Sam the god dammed knife!"

"You're not the ones I've been lying to…" Ruby said quietly.

"Oh so you can save him?" Sam demanded.

"No," the demon said harshly then stared straight at Sam, "but you can."

The Winchesters stared at her, both confused and Melody slowly lowered her gun again as Sam shook his head, "What?"

"Sam," Ruby spoke gently, "you've got some God-given talent. Well, not god given but you get the gist."

"All that psychic crap?" Sam scoffed, "That's gone ever since Yellow Eyes died."

Ruby just shook her head, "Not gone…dormant. And not just visions, either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

"Right," Sam rolled his eyes, "she's scared of me."

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle." The demon explained, and Melody could see her getting a bit…excited at the idea of it.

"I don't believe you." Sam said and heard Melody agree,

"Yeah, neither do I."

"It's the truth." Ruby defended quickly.

Sam still didn't buy it, "And you decided to tell me this just now?"

"Um…demon." Ruby gestured to herself, "Manipulative is kind of in the job description." She ignored Melody's eye roll and continued explaining herself, "The fact is, is that you never would have considered it, not until you were—"

"Desperate enough?" Sam finished for her. Melody saw his jaw tighten but kept her eyes focused on the demon, still not trusting her completely.

"You don't like being different." Ruby said looking up at Sam, "You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes, like you're some sort of sideshow freak. Or how he seems to favor Melody over you sometimes?" Melody's brow scrunched up, confused and a little shocked to hear what Ruby was saying. She looked at Sam, his eyes were downcast and Melody knew that Ruby was telling the truth then just by the way Sam wouldn't look at his sister.

Melody never knew he felt that way. The damn giant never talked to her or said anything—and she had always thought Sam would be more open and willing to talk about how he truly felt. Classic Winchesters, she thought bitterly returning her attention to Ruby as the demon said,

"But suck it up because we got a lot of ground to cover, and we got to do it fast. But we can do it." She watched the sibling's reluctant faces, though Melody seemed a bit more angry than her brother and tried again. "Look, call me a bitch, hate me all you want but I have never lied to you two. Not ever. And I'm telling you Sam—you can save your brother. And I can show you how."

"So, that's you huh? Our slutty little yoda." Melody and Sam both turned to find their older brother walking up behind Ruby and coming to a stop a few feet away."

"Dean," Ruby turned to greet the eldest Winchester, "charming as ever."

"Oh I knew you'd show up…" he said walking around, "cause I knew they wouldn't listen." Sam and Melody both averted their eyes in slight shame having been caught in the act. Dean ignored their shame filled faces and continued, "But you're not gonna teach Sam anything. You understand me? Over my dead body."

"Oh," Ruby grinned, "well you're right about that."

"What you are gonna do is give me that knife." Dean order her, "Then you can go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never both me, my sister or my brother again—are we clear?"

"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him, and we'd be stupid not to use it." Ruby tried to explain.

"Dean…" Sam said and heard his sister say gently,

"Just, hold on—"

"Mels…Sam…don't." Dean demanded, using a harsh voice—one he only ever used when he was using the powers of the 'oldest' against them. The younger siblings closed their mouths while Dean gave them a dumbfounded look, "Come on guys. What are you blind? Can't you see that this is a trick?"

"That's not true." Ruby defended herself but Dean ignored her.

"She wants you to give in, Sam, to this whole demonic…psychic whatever, okay?" Dean barreled over Ruby locking eyes with his brother, "I mean, hell, she probably wants you to become her little "antichrist superstar"."

He grinned sarcastically down at the demon who just seethed, "I want Lilith dead. That's all."

"Why?" Dean asked and Ruby stared up at him,

"I've told you why."

"Oh right, yeah." Dean rolled his eyes at her, "Because you were human once, and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach."

Melody knew her big brother well enough to know when he was purposefully trying to piss someone off. She kept a close eye on Dean as Ruby fumed at him, "You know I am so sick of proving myself to you. You want to save yourself, this is how, you dumb, spineless dick!"

Dean seemed a bit surprised at the insult. He took a half step backwards, mouth twitching before pulling back and punching Ruby in the mouth. The demon's head flew back, grunting in surprise. Melody tensed up while Sam just stared in shock. Ruby slowly turned back around to face Dean, wiping the blood from her mouth and snarled punching Dean in the chest sending him flying backwards a few steps.

She hit him again in the jaw but Sam stepped in, "Whoa! Ruby, hey!" he grabbed her by the arms trying to calm her down, but the demon turned on him and kneed the hunter in the ribs. Sam kneeled over and Ruby kicked him again in the chin sending Sam to fly back into a support beam. Sam fell to the ground, slightly dazed from the hit.

Melody snarled and powered up running up to Ruby she threw out her pistol, using the butt of the gun as her weapon. She hit Ruby across the face once, twice…three times before the demon got the upper hand and knocked the pistol away. The gun skidded across the floor but Melody ignored it and with the hand that was now free of the pistol, punched Ruby again in the jaw.

With her right fist sent into the demon's jaw, she used her left fist and threw it into the demon's ribs. Melody could have sworn she heard something snap after that hit. Ruby doubled over from the hit, feeling the breath escape her lungs. Melody grabbed the demon's head and upper back and kneed Ruby in the stomach once…twice…three times. She picked up Ruby by the arms, making the demon stand in front of her and headbutted Ruby.

Both demon and hunter fell backwards, dazed from the hit. Melody had been out of practice when it came to that sort of move, and didn't realize how hard the demon's head would be. She fell back a few steps, vision swimming a little but quickly recovered only to feel Ruby's foot get thrown into her stomach. Melody flew backwards, landing on her spine next to Sam, writhing in pain from landing on the concrete floor of the basement.

Ruby turned around only to find Dean who punched her in the face again. He went for another hit, but the demon easily avoided it, bending Dean over and kneeing him in the chest and then in the throat. Dean fell over on his knees and tried to crawl and back away from Ruby. The demon snarled and pulled back her leg and kicked Dean hard in the stomach with the toe of her boot. Dean fell over again, this time into the far wall of the basement.

He stood up slowly, grimacing in pain. Ruby came up to him, picked the hunter up by his arms and headbutted him…hard. Dean fell back again, landing on the hard floor but quickly caught himself from falling too far. He leaned up, Ruby was standing just a few feet in front of him and grinned a bloody smile at her.

"What the hell are you grinning at?" Ruby asked, breathing heavily from the fight.

Dean stood up, still smirking; "Missing something?" he asked the demon, holding up her very own knife. Ruby stared at the knife and sneered,

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." She ran at him, only to find her feet glued to the floor. Ruby pushed against the force holding her back, feeling that awful dread wash over her. Dean just grinned even more and she glanced up at the ceiling, finding a devil's trap painted there.

Melody groaned, having powered down as soon as she knocked heads with Ruby, and slowly stood up. She helped up Sam and stared at the scene unfolding before them; if she wasn't so beaten and bruised she'd be grinning just like Dean.

"Like I said…" Dean flipped the knife in his hand and stared at the demon, "I knew you'd come."

He moved away from her but stopped when he heard Ruby call out, "Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?"

Dean ignored her, "Sam, Mels…let's go."

"Oh, so you're just too stupid to live, is that it?" Ruby fumed as the Winchesters slowly began to ascend the stairs leaving her where she was. "Then fine. You deserve hell." She called up to their retreating forms, "I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones! I wish I could be there to hear you scream!"

"And I wish you'd shut your piehole, but we don't always get what we want."

For those that are interested, I have a picture of Melody's outfit for this chapter and the picture she drew of Dean on my tumblr page. Check it out if you're curious. Oh and quick little shout out to all of you, you're the greatest readers ever! Love you guys!

Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!