Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural. I own only my OCs
Warning: Gore
Alaska, Denali National Park
December 10, 2007
Selena let out a silent huff as she finished her fourth set of exercises, but her stamina was still going strong. The blame lay with her powers and body-but mostly her powers. Ever since she awoken them, she noticed that the winter season gave her more energy than spring or summer. All that energy made her restless and she had to go release it somehow. Do not be mistaken, she's pleased that winter was here. However, it does get annoying when she's trying to take a nap and she can't fall asleep. Granted, being in a cold environment isn't the best way to do that, but it was winter. There really wasn't anywhere close that she could go to besides in front of a heater.
:Or cuddled with your demonic, herbivorous mate.: Cheshire teased.
Selena gave a mental glare to the feline, ignoring the way her heart fluttered at the mention of Crowley. It had been doing that a lot recently as Crowley had taken to visiting her when he could or just sending her text messages-they had exchanged phone numbers finally-randomly. She had to swore Wyatt to secrecy so he wouldn't go telling anybody after their Thanksgiving date.
:Might want to look in front you, Selena.: Cheshire said, amusement in her tone.
Selena's brows furrowed in confusion and she looked in front of her, only to see an ice visage of a haughtily smirking Crowley standing before her. She stared for a good while, then shattered it with a clench of her hand.
This was ridiculous. Was being in love this...consuming? Strange. She had seen plenty forms of love. Dean and his many one-night stands and girlfriends, Mary and John, her former mother and father, Luke and his ex-wife, ect. There's always a different version and she couldn't help but wonder what version she and Crowley would fall into.
Is your mind that messed up or do you just not remember the fact that is a demon?! Your enemy! A harsh voice that sounded like Dean exclaimed inside her mind. No, Selena didn't forget. She knew they had a slim chance of happiness. Both sides wouldn't stand for such a relationship. Especially not Azazel nor her brothers. They weren't supposed to be attracted to each other and fall in love, but they had and it doesn't look like they were going back.
:Let's hope your story has a better ending than Romeo and Juliet's.: Cheshire said ominously. Selena scoffed softly. Have a better chance of knocking down the Statue of Liberty than hoping for that.
Xxx
Blue flames roared as they streamed across the ground, rows of ice following in their wake. Selena lowered her leg, looking at the results with satisfaction. The wind suddenly shifted and her nose twitched, body tensing at the smell of sulfur. She slowly turned to see four demons standing there.
"You demons picked the wrong time to challenge me." She purred, derisiveness clear in her voice. This was the second attack on her. The amusement got old after she sent the last demon back with his partner's decapitated, frozen head.
Demon 1- a female-glared at her and took a step forward. Selena decided to put an end to this before they got even more stupid ideas in their head. A strong wind abruptly started, throwing up snow and blinding the demons' view of her.
Demon 2 let out a noise as a hand tore through his chest, a rapidly freezing heart in hand. The hand retrated out his back and the demon fell down to reveal Selena. She looked down impassively at his body, then shattered his heart. The three remaining demons whirled around towards their comrade, but she wasn't there anymore.
Demon 3 and 4 were quickly taken out, throats slit and bodies encased in ice, then shattered. The wind died down and Demon 1 looked in panic at the bodies of the others. She turned only to come face to face with Selena, who quickly grabbed her by the throat and lifted the demon up. The female demon struggled in her hold, but Selena's hand didn't loosen.
"Lilith must be desperate to send two, then four demons after me. Is she so weak as to not come after me herself?"
The demon sneered. "Lilith will tear your soul apart, Winchester. She will-Urk!" Her spiel was cut off when an ice spike rose from the ground, impaling her stomach and she writhed like a stuck bug.
Selena watched as blood slowly trailed down the spike, eventually freezing in its tracks. Her head tilted, having a childish urge to lick it off. Her eyes slid back up to the demon's pain-filled face.
"I do not know if you will recover from this, but if you do…all the more for me."
"What do you-Arrrhg!" Dozens of spikes rose from the ground and impaled her in her stomach. They then lowered and Selena let go of her neck, leaving the demon suspended in the air. Vivid red puddled onto the ground. The silver/grey haired hunter pushed her hands into the chest of the demon, ignoring her screams, and grabbing ahold of two hard structures, she pulled with all her strength.
Blood and flesh sprayed all over her as the ribcage of the demon was pulled apart, breaking open her chest. The demon gasped and choked on her blood, limbs weakly twitching before they stilled. Selena released the bones and let the spikes drop the body.
A pity. Looks like she won't be coming back for turned, striding away while licking the blood off her hands. Selena's face distorted in disgust when the blood ht her tongue and she refrained from doing it again. Better find a river to wash off in. Too much sulfur to taste good.
Xxx
Yypsilanti, Michigan
December 22, 2007
It was another day in the lives of the Winchester siblings. More cases, another death or disappearance, and talking with grieving families. This case involved the disappearance of a man from his home in the night. Currently, the siblings were at the home of Mike Walsh, the missing man.
Selena scented the fireplace, smelling blood and something sweet in the chimney. It seemed to get stronger the farther up it went. She could hear Dean questioning Mrs. Walsh outside as she looked up the chimney, eyes narrowing at the sight of blood on the sides. A white glimmer in the walls caught her eye and she leaned further into the fireplace.
A presence came up on the side of her as she was reaching up into the narrow space. Plucking the thing out of the wall, her head tilted, noting it was a blooded tooth. Coming out of the fireplace, Selena saw that it was Sam beside her. She showed him the tooth and his eyebrows rose. He picked up the tooth to examine it before putting it in his pocket and they headed for the door.
"Thanks for letting us have a look around, Mrs. Walsh." Sam said as he and Selena exited the house, moving to stand beside Dean. "I think we, uh, got just about everything we need. We're all set."
Dean closed his little notebook, looking at Mrs. Walsh
"We'll keep in touch." He said.
They turned and headed back to Impala.
"Agents!" Mrs. Walsh called, making the siblings pause mid-stride and turn back. "T-the police said my husband might have been kidnapped."
"Could be." Dean said.
"Then why haven't the kidnappers called o-or-or demanded a ransom? It's three days till Christmas. What am I supposed to tell my daughter?" Mrs. Walsh wasn't crying, but they could tell she was panicking.
"We're very sorry." Sam said, sincerity in his eyes.
Resignation fills Mrs. Walshe's eyes and she turns, going inside her house as the siblings resume walking.
"Find anything?" Dean asked.
"Stocking, mistletoe...this." Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the tooth, dropping it into Dean's hand.
"A tooth? Where was this?"
"Selena found it in the chimney."
Dean's gaze switch between Sam and Selena, expression sceptic. "No way a man fits up a chimney. It's too narrow."
"No way he fits up in one peice."
That would explain the blood, Selena thought to herself.
:But it doesn't explain the sweet smell.: Cheshire added.
"All right, so, if dad went up the chimney-" Dean began.
"We need to find out what dragged him up there." Sam finished. They got to the car and piled inside, driving back to the motel they set up in.
Xxx
The sound of Sam on his laptop filled the air as Selena flipped to the next page in the Book of Revelation. She was already halfway through it and what she read wasn't really grabbing her attention. In her past life, she had become jaded with the concept of a heaven or hell. Too many unanswered prayers for her to truly believe that there was a God in the world. She had to rely on herself to get out of her situation. If there was a god, why wasn't he as active as he was in the bible?
Religion was something that contradicts itself in her opinion. One side says one thing, others say another. It all just gave her a headache and she didn't care for it. As long as it didn't get in the way of her food, then she ignored it.
The door unlocked and opened, Dean entering the room with a bag in his arm.
"So, was I right?" He asked, setting the bag on the small table by the window. "Is it the serial-killing chimney sweep?"
"Yep." Sam replied. "It's, uh, it's actually Dick Van Dyke." He stopped typing and turned to Dean, who gave him a bemused look, completely missing Sam's joke. Selena smirked a little, knowing somewhat who Sam was talking about.
"Who?"
"Mary Poppins?" Dean still had the bemused look on his face.
"Who's that?"
"Oh, come on-nevermind." Sam waved it off.
Dean scratched his head. "Turns out that Walsh guy is the second guy in town grabbed out of his house this month." He crossed the room, going over to the beds.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"The other guy get dragged up the chimney, too?"
"Don't know." Dean said, taking off his coat. "Witnesses said they heard a thump on the roof." He shrugged. "So, what the hell do you think we're dealing with?"
"Actually, I have an idea." Sam said. Selena closed her book, focused on Sam.
"Yeah?"
"It's, uh, gonna sound crazy."
"What could you possibly say that sounds crazy to me?"
"Uh…" Sam hesitated. "Evil Santa."
Dean stared at him, processing what he heard, then inclined his head in acceptance. "Yeah, that's crazy."
Selena blinked slowly. She had to agree with Dean on this one. Santa didn't exist. He was just an imaginary figure parents made up to make their kids behave. As if anybody would be happy if a real fat man snuck into their homes at night.
"Yeah…" Sam said. "I mean, I'm just saying that there's some version of the anti-Claus in every culture." He gestured to his laptop screen where pictures of Krampus and other evil Santa Claus were displayed.
Dean went over to him and Sam handed him a couple of printed photos.
"You got Belsnickel, Krampus, Black Peter." He continued. "Whatever you want to call it, there's all sorts of lore."
"Saying what?"
"Saying back in the day, Santa's brother went rogue and now he shows up around Christmas time. But instead of bringing presents, he punished the wicked."
"By hauling their asses up chimneys?"
"For starters, yeah."
"So, this is your theory, huh? Santa's shady brother?"
"Well, I'm just saying, this is what the lore says."
"Does the lore say anything about a sweet smell?" Selena asked, setting the bible down next to her. "Herbs, perhaps?"
Sam blinked, casting a curious look at her.
"No." He replied. "I don't think so. Why?"
Selena's lips thin. She may be just making a big deal out of nothing. Her instincts didn't go off at the smell. It may have been a candle or something at the Walsh's house for all she knew.
"Curious." She said.
Sam hummed, his attention turning back to Dean as the older man spoke.
"Santa doesn't have a brother. There is no Santa." He said.
"Yeah, I know. You're the one who told me and Selena that in the first place, remember?" A beat of silence fell after Sam's words, then he sighed. "Yeah, you know? I could be wrong. I…" He inhaled sharply, closing his laptop. "Got to be wrong."
Dean seemed to get an epiphany and he raised a finger, shaking it.
"Maybe, maybe not." He said.
Sam looked at him. "What?"
"I did a little digging-turns out both victims visited the same place before they got snatched."
"Where?"
Selena was mildly curious to know too. Where would two men who don't know each other and have nothing in common besides being family men possibly have visited?
Xxx
Selena glanced around, tuning out the annoying music playing over the loudspeakers and laughing kids as she and her brothers walked up to Santa's Village. Something felt off to her. She had noticed when she first stepped foot in the city, but she had paid it no mind, focused more on the case.
"It does kind of lend credence to the theory, don't it?" Dean asked, eyeing the place unimpressed.
"Yeah, but Anti-Claus?" Sam questioned, scoffing. "Couldn't be."
What was it?
Selena frowned, glancing around for anything to help her figure out what was wrong. The place felt dreary to her, but that could be because of the grey color of the sky. Cold. Check. Anything suspicious? Nope. So what was wrong?
:This is an easy one, Selena.: Cheshire purred. :I'm an enemy to many, but an ally to you. I give you life but to others, death. What am I?:
Selena absently walked beside her brothers as she tried to figure out the riddle. It didn't hit until she looked at the ground, eyes catching the small patch of ice spreading out from her foot.
'Ice?'
A chuckle. An image of a fanged grin flashed before her eyes.
:Close. So close.:
'...Snow.' Selena inhaled sharply. She hasn't seen a drop of snow in the time she spent here. This was Michigan. The state is famous for its large quantities of snow and Christmas was right around the corner. This place should be buried under the stuff, but there was no snow in sight.
First the sweet smell, now this. The hell was going on?
"-lena."
It was possible that it didn't snow today, but there should be remnants of the other snow days around. It wouldn't just melt that quickly.
"-elena." Selena tensed as a hand grabbed her arm, and whirled around only to see Sam and Dean looking at her with worried expressions. Sam was the one who grabbed her arm while Dean stood a bit farther back. "We've been calling your name."
"Sorry." She said, moving out from Sam's hand. "Lost in thought."
Dean walked up, coming to a stop beside Sam.
"Careful there, Selena. Don't want you floating off." He teased, smirking a little.
"Hn."
"What were you thinking about?" Sam asked as they resumed walking.
"...It's a pity it isn't snowing." She answered. She could feel the weird looks her brothers were throwing at her. Hm. Was this how people felt when they couldn't see her eyes?
"Ok?" Dean said after a bit of silence. "What do you think of celebrating Christmas, Selena?
"What is the point if we didn't celebrate it before?"
Sam held back a laugh at Dean's startled look at the answer. Quickly recovering, Dean threw the two of them a slight glare.
"You two are such Grinches." He went on ahead of them, leaving behind a confused Selena and an amused Sam.
"What's wrong with him?" Selena asked, looking at Sam.
He shrugged and Selena let out a mental sigh. Her impassive gaze swept over the area. Santa's village, in her opinion, wasn't anything to be excited about. It had probably seen better times and without the snow, just looked drained. How kids saw the appeal of it, she will never know.
"You'd think with the ten bucks it cost to get into this place, Santa could scrounge up a little snow." Dean complained as he walked up to them.
Sam blinked, looking a bit lost, and turned to Dean. "What?"
"Nothing. What are we looking for again?" They began walking.
"Um...Lore says that the anti-Claus will walk with a limp and smell like sweets."
"Great. So we're looking for a pimp Santa. Why the sweets?"
"Think about it, Dean." Sam said. "If you smell like candy, the kids will come closer, you know?"
Selena frowned slightly. If the anti-Claus went after kids, why take the adults? Another question. What was the anti-Claus doing with said adults? Killing them? Or something else?
"That's creepy." Dean replied.
Sam chuckled.
"How does this thing know who's been naughty and who's been nice?"
"I don't know." The siblings came to a stop in front of a small red building where children lined up to meet Santa. The aforementioned man sat in a chair and Selena could smell the stench of stale cigarettes and alcohol from where she stood.
"So, Ronny," the fake Santa began gruffly as a young boy was encouraged onto the small stage by his mother. "Come sit on Santa's knee." He picked up the child, setting him on his knee. "Ahh, there you go. You been a good boy this year?" The boy muttered a quiet "yes" and the Santa smiled. "Good. Santa's got a special gift for you." Selena eyed the Santa in disgust as he laughed creepily. Ronny's face changed to discomfort.
Dean tilted his head, gaze contemplative as he focused on the Santa.
"Maybe we do." He said.
Selena had seen enough. That man was not the creature they were looking for. She turned, stalking off in the direction they came from while her brothers were distracted.
Heading towards the Impala, a man joined her on her right.
"This brings back memories." Azazel said, smiling softly. "Remember? That time when I took you to visit Santa at the mall?"
Selena sent him a short glower, not in the mood for nostalgia. "I remember that I told you to stay away. Yet, here you are."
Azazel wasn't deterred by her coldness and continued.
"I hear you and Wyatt had an interesting first meeting."
She reigned in her bubbling anger. "Yes. He is persistent. I do not need a babysitter."
"You do. Especially since Lilith's gunning for you even more now after your display."
"She sent weak mutts after me." She said, coolly. "It's only fair I show her not to underestimate me next time." She paused, turning to face the demon. "Is that why you are here? Did she send you here to kill me?"
"No." Azazel said, tone harsh. "I'm not that heartless to kill one of my own children."
Selena stared at him, gaze revealing nothing of her thoughts. If Lucifer did rise, then she doubted he would let humanity live freely. Of what she researched, he had such an intense hatred of humans that he rebelled against God.
If he did rise...she did not know if death would spare her again, and at that thought, a troubled feeling settled in her stomach.
Shaking it off, Selena spoke, "We all have choices to make, demon. Better figure out yours before they are figured out for you."
Azazel chuckled.
"Interesting words from a child."
"Haven't been a child in a long time."
A flash of something went through Azazel's eyes, then he looked off to the side. Letting out an unnecessary breath, he looked back at her, expression serious.
"Lilith is not to be trifled with, Selena." He said. "Don't let your guard down.".
Selena let out a silent huff. She was aware of her strengths and weaknesses. She wasn't so arrogant to dismiss what was clearly a stronger predator than her-no matter how much she hated to admit it.
"Rather than warning me, demon, you should keep your own guard up."
Azazel smirks, eyes twinkling with amusement. "I have been, but I appreciate knowing that you care, kitten."
She sent him an irate glare. "Call me that again and I will gut you." No one was allowed to call her that but Crowley. Her threat was met with a laugh, which made her glare harder at the demon.
His laughter took a while to stop before he spoke. "Your imagination needs a little more work, kid. We'll work on that some more when we talk next."
"There won't be a next time."
"Trust me, there will be a next time." He made to turn only to pause and look at her. "Also visit Ramiel once in a while. He misses his niece."
"We're not related."
Azazel canted his head slightly, smirking.
"Technically, he is related." He said casually. "A small part of me is coursing through your veins, Selena. My blood mixed with yours, marking you as one of my children."
Selena's eyes narrowed, flashing dangerously.
"What do you mean, your blood is coursing through my veins?" She asked, voice soft. She could feel Cheshire's rising anger at the realization.
The insufferable demon had the gall to wink at her!
"How do you think Sam and all the others got their powers. How fortunate that Mary didn't walk in on us or else little Sammy wouldn't be alive."
"You-" Before Selena could finish, Azazel was gone. She snarled, startling a few kids that were near her. They shrieked and ran away, pushing past an approaching Sam and Dean. They looked at the children then her in bewilderment.
"Wonder what's gotten into them?" Dean questioned. Selena didn't answer, turning swiftly on her heel and stalking off. Dean blinked and looked at Sam. The younger brother shrugged. Who knows what's wrong with their sister now?
As they were driving back to the motel, it started snowing. Fat flakes falling slowly then gaining speed and multiplying as the day wore on. The wind howled lowly, making the snow sting any ounce of flesh it touched. Selena almost felt sorry for her brothers as they went outside to stake out the fake Santa. Keyword, almost.
Xxx
December 23, 2007
Selena's ear twitched at the sound of snow crunching under heavy footsteps. Without looking back, she could tell it was Sam. She saw him appear out of the corner of her eye.
"You know, Dean's gonna have a fit when he sees you sitting on his car." He said, throwing her a teasing smile. It faulted a bit when Selena didn't respond. "Whatever bothering you, you can tell me. Is it…" He gained an uncomfortable look, voice lowering a bit. "Your time of the month?"
Her head slanted towards him, giving him a look. Upon seeing his awkward wince, she looked forward.
"Is there a reason you're out here, Sam?"
"There was another disappearance last night."
Selena blinked, looking at him fully. Anti-Santa struck again, so soon?
:The jolly old man works fast.:
Cheshire's tone had admiration and interest coloring it. Selena couldn't fault the feline. Even she was a bit impressed. Excluding her and some others, most killers wouldn't kill back to back due to not wanting evidence to be found or actually had lives. The interest turned to something darker and a breeze picked up, swirling small flurries around. But Selena didn't notice as a thought surfaced.
What would Anti-Santa Claus taste like?