Hi everyone! Welcome to another chapter of The Guide and The Guard. This is legitimately my favorite story to write at the moment, and unfortunately that even includes my own non fanfic writing. I also have a DeviantArt account under the username SteampunkFairyCovers, where I have all the covers for my stories posted. I also have an AO3 account under SteampunkFairytale, where I'm working on cross posting all of my stories from here, for those who prefer that format.

I may or may not have forgone a couple hours of sleep in order to get this done tonight, so please forgive me if there are any grammatical errors that I missed in my readthrough.

WARNING: This chapter starts to earn its T rating for blood and descriptions of death. Though if y'all watch Supernatural, as I'm assuming you have if you're reading this story, you should be fine. I just figured I would give a heads up just in case.

The Road So Far

Then:

"Dean, look out!" Bella cried, shoving Dean hard as the shadow lunged. It missed Dean by mere inches, and Bella could feel a cold chill shoot through her body as she threw herself out of the way, crashing to the ground. The shadow circled on her, advancing as she backed away, crawling. A shot rang out as Dean was suddenly there, firing a gun as he hauled Bella up.

"Move." He commanded, dragging her away from the creature. The shadow continued on, unfazed by Dean's bullets. They both ran, the creature in hot pursuit. Bella stumbled, but with Dean's help quickly recovered. However the delay allowed the creature to catch up to them. Bella put a hand to her chest, crying out in alarm as the shadow descended, only for her hand to brush the charm she had made the night before. There was a flash of bright light, and the creature screeched in pain. When the light faded, the creature was gone, leaving only Bella and Dean, Bella a little scraped up from her falls, and Dean panting heavily.

"What the hell was that?" Bella exclaimed, fighting to regain her breath.

"No idea." Dean puffed, turning to her. "One thing's for sure though Bella, I think we need to have a talk." Lights started to turn back on, and Bella could see how serious his face was.

"You know Dean," Bella said, finally regaining her breath. "I think you're right."

Now:

The Guide and The Guard

Chapter Four - Genesis Part II:

Dean followed Bella back to the motel, keeping an eye out in case the creature decided to come back and attack again. There was no sign of it however, and Dean quickly and efficiently steered Bella into her room. Bella sat on her bed, and looked at Dean. He looked back at her, an eyebrow raised.

"You wanna explain what happened back there sweetheart?" He prompted, arms crossed as he stood over her. Bella took a breath, trying not to gulp nervously, and lifted up her sigil by its braided strap.

"Well, I have no idea what that thing was, but I think this is what got rid of it." Bella told him honestly. "This is a protection sigil I made last night." Dean studied it for a moment, brows furrowed.

"I've never seen that symbol before." He confessed. "How did you know that would work?"

"I...I didn't." Bella told him nervously. "I just found it while I was researching stuff, and I gave it a try. I had no idea there was even anything supernatural here that needed protecting from. Though I suppose the murders were kind of an indicator, but I didn't find out about them until this afternoon. I'm just trying to figure everything out."

"Hang on." Dean interjected, cutting off her nervous rambling. He sat down at the chair across from her bed, and Bella relaxed a bit now that Dean was no longer looming over her. "Start at the beginning Bella. You know about the Supernatural world, right?" Bella nodded. "How? And why are you in Genesis?" Bella tensed up again, thinking about how she was going to explain things. She had been specifically told to not mention or show The Guide to just anyone. Bella took another deep, steadying breath.

"It's a bit of a long story." She informed him, still somewhat nervously. Dean leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and getting comfortable. He fixed her with a steady gaze, and Bella was somewhat comforted to notice that his eyes were serious, but not hard.

"Good thing I have time then." He said, still looking at her. "Just start at the beginning. Tell me everything that's going on."

And so Bella did. She told him of being lured in by Edward Cullen and his family. Of the time she spent in Forks and the supernatural people she had encountered. Dean, to his credit, had mostly kept his mouth shut and let Bella talk. He had grunted disdainfully when Bella had talked about falling in love with a vampire and spending so much time with the Cullens, and had given her an incredulous look, but he still let her continue. She told him about her multiple near death experiences, and how might even still be marked by Victoria. All too soon, Bella got to the point where The Vampire had approached her in The Cullen House one day while everyone was out, and knew she had a choice to make. Hesitating briefly, Bella continued, leaving out the bit about The Guide. She told Dean how The Vampire had pointed out Edward and the rest of the coven's manipulations, and how Victoria would likely kill her family while trying to get to her, so she ran. Bella felt horrible about all of the half-truths she was speaking, but she kept hearing The Vampire's warning in her head. She mentioned how she was trying to research and learn as much as she could about the supernatural world so she could better protect herself from the world she had been thrown face first into, and how she had even run into a Hunter not too long ago.

"Is that what you are doing here?" She asked as she wound up her story. "The business you're here on? I was in the park this afternoon. I saw you with the police."

"Yeah," Dean confessed, rubbing his face. "There's been a string of suspicious animal attacks, which I'm assuming was caused by our little friend from earlier." They were both quiet for a minute, before Dean puffed out a loud breath.

"That's one hell of a story you've got Bella, and a mess of trouble you've got to go with it." Bella nodded, relieved that he seemed to believe her. Suddenly a yawn escaped her, and she raised her hand to try to stifle it. Dean noticed and stood, repressing a yawn of his own. "It's late" he said, making for the door that connected their rooms. "Or early, depending on how you look at it. We can talk more in the morning."

"Ok." Bella conceded, too exhausted from the stress of the attack, and reliving her painful past to press the subject. "Goodnight Dean." She smiled tiredly at him, and he hesitated for a moment, before returning it with a nod and a grim looking small smile of his own.

"Goodnight Bella." He said, before unlocking the door and passing into his own room.

Bella hadn't slept long before she awoke with a start. She shook her head, trying to banish the nightmare that had woken her up.

She had been running, with the shadow creature from the night before pursuing her relentlessly. Where was Dean? Suddenly the man in question was beside her, urging her forward as the creature gained. It reached out a dark, withered hand to grab her shoulder, and as it did the creature began to transform. In what simultaneously felt like milliseconds and years, the creature had transformed to take the shape of Edward. His golden eyes reproached her for leaving him.

"Bella." He said. "My Bella." Bella found herself faltering as she looked deep into his golden eyes.

Dean was there in an instant, wrenching Edward's hand off of Bella. He took Bella's hand, and they started to run again. Edward called out for her from behind, while ahead of them almost unearthly voices blended in with Edward's, all of them calling out her name. Suddenly Bella stumbled and tripped, falling into the blackness. She looked up, only to see a pair of red eyes staring down at her from above.

Bella took a shaky breath, shuddering. She rolled out of bed and made to take a shower. Hopefully the water would actually get hot enough to shake off the chill of the nightmare. She tried to make herself relax as she washed her hair. It was just a dream. She told herself. Only a dream.

Bella absently tidied up the room as she dried off, and was only just finishing up dressing for the day when she heard a knock coming from the door connecting her room with Dean's. "Just a moment." She called out as she pulled on a pair of leggings, going for comfort above all today. She tossed her still damp hair up in a messy ponytail as she walked over to the door to answer it. As expected, Dean was on the other side of the door.

"How do you not look nearly as tired as I feel?" Bella demanded, stifling a yawn as she looked him up and down. Dean looked relatively unchanged from the day before, though Bella noticed that the color of his shirt today made his apple green eyes stand out.

"And good morning to you too Bella." Dean chuckled, stepping into the room. "I'm used to not sleeping that much. Why, is the princess upset that she lost some of her beauty rest?"

"Ha ha." Bella deadpanned, closing the door behind him. The Guide was safely tucked into her bag still, which was hanging off of her bed's headboard. Dean plucked at the strap as he passed it. "You're hilarious."

"I thought so." He retorted with a grin as he turned and grinned at her. "I heard you moving around, so I figured I would see if you wanted to go get some breakfast." As if on cue, Bella's stomach rumbled. She blushed as Dean could clearly hear the growling. Dean snorted, but didn't say anything as he jerked his head to the door. "Come on, we'll head back to the diner." Bella smiled sheepishly at him, and followed him outside.

It was a beautiful morning. The sunlight streamed down with a softness that only an early spring morning could manage. The breeze was gently blowing through the grass as the two of them stepped out of the motel room, and the birds were twittering a lazy tune. Bella stiffened as a familiar chill crept down her spine. The breeze shifted, and a familiar metallic tang filled her nose, as well as something more sickly, more vile. Bella felt sick to her stomach as she ran to follow the scent.

"Bella, wait!" Dean called out as he ran after her. He had clearly caught and recognized the scent of gore in the air as well. Bella ignored him, the feeling of a hand constricting her heart as she rounded a corner. She stopped short, and was grimly taking in the scene as Dean caught up to her. "What were you thinking?" He chastised as he arrived at her side, but quieted as he too took in the scene before them. "Son of a bitch." he cursed, glowering as he looked at the blood splatter all around them. The victim was an old woman, and with a start, Bella realized it was the old woman from the diner who had claimed that the deaths were the work of a serial killer the night before. She covered her mouth in horror as she realized who it was. The creature had disemboweled her with extreme viciousness, as if it had been taking its anger at being thwarted earlier out on the poor woman.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Bella murmured, taking a step back. Frowning, Dean gently pulled her back a little bit more, as if worried that the dead old woman could possibly harm her. Something about the blood splatter caught Bella's eye though, and she stepped back forward. The smell hit her nose in a fresh wave, and she nearly retched, her head swimming. She waved Dean off as he made to pull her back again, and she pulled out her phone. She quickly snapped a picture of the blood splatter as she stepped back again herself, covering her nose with a hand.

"You should go back inside." Dean informed her, more of a command than a suggestion.

"I'm fine." Bella protested, removing the hand from her face. She rankled at the idea of being given orders again, like how Edward had done to her for so long. "I was just shocked, that's all. I want to help."

"I'm gonna call the police and report this Bella. If you're here when they get here, you might fall under suspicion." Dean informed her, shooing her away and back towards the motel. "We should avoid that if we can." Bella processed his logic, before nodding shakily. She started walking back to the motel, before she paused and turned back around.

"Wait," she said, stepping back towards Dean, who was taking out his phone. "You should take this." She started to take off the sigil necklace to hand to Dean, but he put a hand on hers to stop her.

"You should keep that." Dean observed. "The attacks only happen at night, and from what you told me, it may not even work for me." Bella hesitated, before nodding again.

"I'll make one for you later." She promised. Quickly, she bid farewell to Dean and swiftly made her way back to her motel room, taking extra care to lock her door.

Dean looked grimly at the body of the old woman as he waited for the police to arrive. She had been brutalized a lot more than any of the previous victims, the creature clearly displeased at missing it's first victim. Dean wasn't an idiot. Someone was clearly controlling this monster. He rolls into town to investigate the deaths, and the same day as the news starts circulating around town, he's attacked by the creature? Bella had merely gotten in the creature's way the night before. Dean had been the intended target.

The thought of the young woman had Dean recalling her story from the night before. She had clearly not told him everything, the girl couldn't lie to save her soul. He couldn't exactly blame her though, he reflected. They barely even knew each other, and despite everything, Dean found himself trusting her. Maybe it was her crap lying, or maybe he was just a sucker for a pair of big brown bambi eyes. Bella wasn't a bad person, that much he was sure of. She was a good kid who had gotten herself in way over her head.

She had been stupid to get caught up with Vampires, he thought with a shake of his head. He couldn't help but admire the sheer guts it had taken for her to leave though. She may have been naïve, but you couldn't say that the kid wasn't willing to do whatever it takes. His mind flashed to earlier, how she had wanted to stay and help, even though she had been freaked out by the body of the woman. Not to mention her story about being hunted in Arizona. The girl had given herself up to protect her mother without so much as a second thought. Bella had told that part of the story with a wince, embarrassed about how easily she had been fooled.

"Honestly kid, if I had been in your shoes there I probably would've fallen for that too." He had told her honestly. He could only imagine how he would react if his father was being held hostage. Or Sammy. Bella had huffed in objection at being called a kid, but didn't push it. Bella actually reminded him of his brother quite a bit, he reflected. Something about the quietly determined look in her eyes called to mind Sammy when he was about her age. Right before he left for college. He thought uncomfortably. Bella was about the same age Sammy had been when he left, and he couldn't help but see his baby brother in the girl sometimes.

He could hear the police sirens in the distance now, he noted. They would be there in a minute. He found himself glad that Bella had gone back inside. She was far less likely to get into any trouble with the locals as the girl who was only here as long as it took to get her car fixed, than as the girl who found one of the bodies. Any detective worth their salt would try to connect the stranger in town with the recent death, because the alternative was that someone everyone in the tiny town had grown up with had been the one to do it. He had seen mobs form over less, and the thought of those big doe eyes falling prey to an angry mob made Dean's stomach lurch uncomfortably. No, it was better this way. He was in the clear due to his fake credentials, and now all Bella would have to deal with was basic canvassing. Even her poor lying skills should be able to handle that.

The police arrived then, and Dean handled the explanations easily as the crime scene was cordoned off, and forensics flitted around gathering evidence. Luckily they were on pavement, so footprints were nothing to worry about really. The head detective on the case stayed with Dean, asking him questions as he directed the uniformed officers.

"And you were alone when you found the body, right?" He asked Dean, taking notes. "No one was with you?"

"Yep, you got it." Dean said easily, posture completely relaxed as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "All alone."

Bella had needed a minute to calm herself down when she had gotten back to her room. She had never seen a dead body before, and it had thrown her for a loop. The woman had been totally fine the night before, gossiping in the diner. One minute, she was alive, and the next minute...Bella shuddered as the image of her body seared itself behind her eyelids. She had been beyond torn up. Was this her fault? Bella felt bile rise up her throat, and she shuddered. If she hadn't made the creature angry last night...Bella shook her head, trying to clear herself of the thought. No good would come out of that line of thinking. Bella steeled herself, and went over to her bed.

As she sat, she reached over and grabbed the bag that housed The Guide. Carefully, she slid the book out and onto her lap. If she couldn't help that poor woman, the least she could do is try to help Dean figure out what the creature that did it was, so no one else would fall prey to it. No one else was going to die, she vowed to herself as she opened the book. No one else had to die, she could do this.

She could do this.

The Guide was warm in her hands, the now familiar weight soothing to her as she flipped through the pages, looking for the shadow creature. As she looked, she thought of Dean. He was actually a hunter then, like John. It made sense. Dean had a kind of air about him that reminded her a bit of John, brief though their interactions had been. Something about how they carried themselves. Maybe it was a Hunter thing. The safest she had felt in what felt like ages had been in the company of Hunters, so that may not be too far off the mark. She wondered idly how John was doing as she flipped, remembering the Hunter's page in The Guide, talking about how useful it was to have Hunters as allies. Speaking of...wasn't this supposed to be that page? It was the page right before the map, right? Bella turned the page. Yes, there was the blank page that showed where the map would blossom to life if held under candlelight. That meant the page before definitely should be the one on Hunters, except now it was a page on Redcaps.

Bella frowned, contemplating the implications of the page being different to what it had been before. It was entirely possible that she wasn't remembering things correctly, she allowed herself. That had been a stressful night, being right after her escape from Forks, and having taken care of that ghost with John in the graveyard. Ghosts on her mind, she started to flip pages again. Ghosts had been towards the beginning of the book, she remembered. The Map was towards the end. Bella randomly turned a chunk, and froze. There were the pages on ghosts. In the middle of the book. Frantically, Bella started searching in places she knew certain pages to be. Wendigos, gone. Ariels, gone. The fairies overview, gone. Unicorns, gone. In their places had been entirely new creatures. Dragons, their cousin creatures Wyverns, Church Grims. There had been a few pages straight just dedicated to listing all the known children of Loki, but nothing of what she had previously known. The Guide fell out of her hands and onto the bed. Bella let out a shaky breath. The Guide was changing.

Logically, Bella had realized that The Guide must've held some magic to it, what with the changing map and its shifting runes placed around it. However, The Guide had been the one constant in her life since it had been thrust upon her by The Vampire. To have that one constant thing turn out to be in such a state of flux was disconcerting to say the least. Bella's ears were ringing as she looked around her desperately, as if something in the room around her would suddenly make her feel better. If she hadn't been sitting already, she was sure she would be swaying on the spot. The room was spinning around her as all the actions of the past couple of days crashed down on her like a freight train.

She had left her home.

Nothing is certain.

She had left Edward.

You're all alone.

Edward didn't love her.

Unwanted

Victoria was probably looking for her

Why am I so cold?

The Cullens were probably looking for her.

Are my parents even safe?

She didn't know what she was doing.

What am I even doing? I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I...I

Bella was snapped out of her panic attack by a knock on the door connecting Dean's room with hers. Dean was back. Bella found herself able to breathe again after having been snapped out of it. Shakily, she stood. She felt so unsteady on her feet, and as she came down from the stress she started to crash. Tiredness was seeping into her very bones as she walked over to the door and opened it. Dean of course was on the other side of it, his grin slightly more strained after dealing with the police. He held up a to-go bag, the logo of the local diner they had gone to last night clearly marked on the side. "I brought breakfast." He said by way of greeting. He made his way into her room, placing the bag on the table. He sat down next to it, and looked at her for a moment searchingly. "You alright?" Bella took a deep, quivering breath and nodded.

"Just a little shaky I guess." She admitted when Dean's gaze didn't let up. He looked at her for a moment longer, before nodding in acceptance. As they ate, Dean filled Bella in with the details about the case that he had gotten from the police. The newest victim had suffered a far harsher attack than the previous ones. The police were chalking it up to escalation from the killer, but they obviously knew better. They just didn't know what the creature attacking all these innocent people was. Dean had been researching since before he even got into town, and though Dean didn't know where Bella had been researching herself, The Guide hadn't given her an answer yet. In fact, Bella was still rather rattled at the realization that the pages were changing, so it had been difficult for her to even concentrate for a good solid chunk of the conversation.

Since Dean was a bit more experienced in the whole hunting thing, he had taken charge of investigation while Bella carefully made Dean his own version of The Last Shadow Sigil. Dean already had some kind of amulet around his neck. It was a tarnished gold or brass figure of a head with horns. Bella hadn't gotten a good look at it, but it looked vaguely Tibetan, maybe Egyptian? Either way, since Dean already had an amulet around his neck, Bella made the new sigil as a bracelet. It took her less time to put it together the second go around, though Dean had distracted her a couple of times. He hadn't seemed all that interested in how anything was made, but he himself seemed to get easily distracted, and whenever he went down a rabbit hole, he naturally seemed to bring Bella down with him.

"I feel like I'm going to be seeing this stuff in my sleep tonight." Dean complained, rubbing his eyes as he stared at the computer screen. "Just little words floating all around my head. The damn wikipedia logo has been burned into my eyes or something." He pushed the laptop away from him with a groan. "I hate research." Bella looked up from her braiding, carefully wetting it again with the mixture.

"Sorry." She empathized. She knew her eyes burned after hours just reading The Guide, and Dean had been looking at a computer screen to boot. She held up the sigil she was working on. "This is almost done. You're going to have to drink the mixture though, and when I did it put me to sleep, so it might do the same for you. Maybe it'd be good for you to take a nap or something. I can take over research for a while."

"Honestly I'm not sure it'll do any good at this point." Dean grunted, eyes fixed on Bella's hands as she carefully wove the band for his sigil. "I've been over what feels like every website on the internet and I turned up with nothing. I think the only thing for it is to go back out tonight and try to get more information. It's the only way we'll figure out what this son of a bitch is." He got up from his perch on Bella's bed and stretched, his arms up over his head. Raising his arms had his shirt riding up a bit, and Bella caught a glimpse of his midsection. She turned back to her work sharply, feeling the heat of a blush rise up her neck. Well, he's certainly in shape. She thought to herself, fighting back the rising blush.

"Here you go." She told him as she held up her finished handiwork. Dean grinned at her, taking the sigil from her and picking up the mixture.

"Probably for the best if this puts me to sleep." He mused. "I'll head out as soon as the sun sets. Maybe I can at least keep the bastard from hurting anyone else tonight."

"I'm going with you." Bella insisted.

"Like hell you are." Dean grunted, glowering sternly at her. "You could get yourself killed out there kid."

"I'm not a kid." She snapped, standing and crossing her arms. "I know the risks Dean, but I can't just stay here while you go out and risk your life, and I can't let someone else get hurt." Because of me. She added silently to herself, thinking of the old woman from the diner. Dean stared at her intensely for a moment, indiscernible emotions swirling in his eyes. "Besides," she added "We both will have the protection sigils. We'll both be safer watching each other's backs." Dean looked at her for another moment, before rolling his eyes and looking away.

"Have you always been that cheesy Bella?" He joked, stepping away from her. "That could've come right out of some corny chick flick or something." Bella let out a sigh and relaxing her shoulders.

"When I have to be." She smiled softly.

"Yeah, yeah. Just wake me up before sunset." Dean grumbled, knocking back the potion and heading towards his own room. He left the door open though, and Bella felt somewhat comforted by that thought. He must not be all that upset at least.

Bella continued to research while Dean slept, despite his words against it. Of course she turned up nothing like he predicted, but there was little else for her to do. She reluctantly consulted The Guide again, on the small chance she would happen upon the right answer. Though she carefully marked every page she came across, trying to commit as much information to memory as possible, nothing indicating what the creature was came up. After a while, Bella's stomach growled. She started at that, looking at the clock. It was late afternoon, nearing dinnertime. Dean was sure to be ravenous when he woke up, if his eating habits from that morning and the night before were anything to go by. Dean seemed to eat like every meal was his last. Which, she supposed, could always be the case considering his line of work. There was a list of delivery places in the drawer of her nightstand, and Bella pulled it out. There was a pizza place at the top of the list, and Bella supposed that would do. You can't exactly go wrong with pizza after all.

Dean woke up when the delivery guy knocked on Bella's door. It wasn't a particularly loud knock, but she heard Dean start awake nonetheless. She could almost feel him hovering near the doorway connecting their rooms as she interacted with the teen that had delivered the pizza. The moment the boy left, Dean walked in with a yawn. He eyeballed the stack of food that Bella was struggling to balance, before going over and taking it from her.

"You know kid, while I like a woman that can eat and all, I hope some of this is for me." He winked at her as he easily deposited the food on the table. "Damn, you really don't skimp on the food, do you?"

"Sorry." Bella blushed crimson. She could even feel her ears getting hot. "Yeah, it's for you too, I figured you'd be hungry too, but I wasn't sure what you'd like, and I didn't want to wake you. You need your rest and all, since we're going out tonight and all, and…"

"Bella, chill out." Dean laughed, grabbing a slice of meat lovers and munching on it. "No need for the nervous babbling kid. Thanks for the food." Bella puffed out a breath in relief, and glared at him.

"What did I tell you about calling me kid?" She demanded, grabbing a paper plate and a slice of pepperoni.

"That it was manly and impressive?" Dean grinned, plopping himself onto her bed and taking another obnoxiously large bite of his food.

"Precisely, except the exact wording I used was don't." Bella deadpanned. She took a bite of her own slice of pizza. Not bad. Not the best slice of pizza she had ever had, but really in the end pizza was pizza. Dean huffed, and Bella almost had to restrain the urge to stick her tongue out at him. That certainly would do nothing to help her case though, not to mention that was just something she didn't do before, ever. I never would've even had the urge with Edward. She mused to herself. Something about Dean just made Bella feel younger, less middle aged woman stuck in a young body, and just a little bit closer to the eighteen year old she was supposed to be. Dean was surprisingly perceptive, and noticed her deep reflection. He rolled his eyes, and turned on the tv.

"Bella, I can hear your mystery girl brooding all the way over here. Just turn off your brain for a bit, would ya? Watch some tv or something." Bella started a little at his words, before thinking about it, he was right, she was overthinking things. Something lightly smacked into her face then, and she jumped, only to find it was Dean's napkin, which he had crumpled up.

"See? That was exactly what I was talking about. Cut it out and try to relax Bella." Bella sighed and walked over to her bed, nudging Dean in the shoulder.

"Scooch over then, you're hogging the bed." She pointed out.

"Yeah, I am." Dean grinned and took another large bite, not moving. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll just go move the chair over." She relented, turning around and making for her chair. Dean grunted, as if upset that she hadn't risen to the challenge. With a swift, easy movement he grabbed Bella by her arm and gave her a tug. As she stumbled backwards onto the bed he smoothly slid himself to the other side, making just enough room for her to fall onto the bed. Bella had just enough presence of mind to not let her food go flying as she fell, and when she landed she glowered up at Dean, who stared down at her with green eyes full of mirth.

"Wha-" Bella began, still holding her glare.

"There, made room for ya." Dean teased, still eating his food with gusto.

What a Jerk.

Sunset came all too quickly, and before she knew it the time had come to go out into the night. The two most recent attacks at least had happened relatively close to them, so they didn't drive anywhere, just started walking around the quickly darkening streets and park. Dean had tried to get Bella to stay in her room again just before they left, but she had held her ground. Now a part of her almost wished she had done as he wanted as the nighttime chill of spring started to set in. She wouldn't be daunted though, there was no way that she would let anyone else die on her watch.

Dean scanned the darkness constantly, his eyes practiced and his stance wary and ready for anything. It was kind of interesting to see him in his element, she noted. Dean always carried himself with a certain level of confidence, but in her average interactions with him he was arely this serious. It was kind of...well, attractive, Bella admitted to herself. Dean was handsome, and Bella was sure he knew it. Something about seeing the cocky grin turn into something more serious though had Bella turning and studying him in the dim light more often than not. More than once Bella had to mentally slap herself and redirect her attention to the darkness surrounding them. Watch that creature sneak up on them and kill them both just because Bella was distracted by ogling Dean. Not that she was ogling. He was just interesting, that was all.. Suddenly Dean stiffened and cocked his head to the side. Before Bella could ask what was going on though, he had grabbed her by the arm again and dragged her behind a tree in the park.

"Wha-" She began to ask, but Dean pushed her up behind the tree and clamped a hand over her mouth. As her eyes adjusted to the new level of dark, Dean put a finger to his lips, indicating that she should stay quiet. Bella nodded, and Dean lowered his hand from her mouth. He didn't step away however, and Bella was painfully aware of how close they were. Bella was almost a full head shorter than Dean, and he had used their size difference to almost fully cover her protectively. In the quiet night, she heard a car slowly coming down the road. Turning away from Dean slightly so she could look, she peeked around the trunk of the tree. She felt more than saw him shifting as well so he could get a good look himself. Slowly the car made its way around the corner, and as it passed the tree that they were hiding behind they both saw what it was. A police car.

"They must have upped night patrols." Bella whispered after the car had left their line of vision. "That was smart of them, all things considering."

"But bad news for us." Dean replied grimly. "It ups the amount of people who are out on the streets, so more people have the potential to get hurt. Not to mention we could get caught." Bella's breath hitched. She hadn't thought of that. They both seemed to realize at the same time that Dean hadn't moved yet. Bella could feel Dean's body heat radiating off of him, and as he breathed, she could feel the little puffs of air ticking the crown of her head. Dean stepped away quickly, and the early spring chill crashed back into Bella all at once. She shivered, which caught Dean's attention. He eyed her appraisingly for a moment, before stripping off his own jacket and handing it to her.

"Here."

"I'm not cold." She protested. The wind picked up, and she shivered again.

"Sure you're not."

"I'm-I'm not."

"Just put the damn jacket on, brat." Dean snapped lightly, glaring at her. She glared back for a minute, before the wind blew again and drew another small shiver out of her. She really hated the cold. Finally, she gave in and slipped the jacket on. It was still warm from him wearing it, and Bella couldn't suppress a sigh of relief as the warmth washed over her. Dean looked at her again for a moment, before nodding to himself and walking away, continuing their patrol.

An ear piercing shriek rang through the night, which got Bella and Dean moving instantly. They raced down the street, Bella not far behind Dean. Thankfully they were back on the paved road and not on the uneven dirt, so she mercifully didn't stumble. Another scream rang out from the right, and Bella saw the end of a blonde ponytail disappear into the trees of the park a ways ahead of them. Moments later, the creature crossed her line of vision. It had already found its next victim. How close did they have to be for their sigils to be effective? Bella had no idea. Either way, they had agreed earlier to wait as long as they could to activate them, to get as much information as possible. That was before the creature had locked onto another potential victim though. They both put on an extra burst of speed, Dean ducking into the trees, and Bella a few moments later.

The park was beyond dark, and Bella was forced to rely mostly on sound rather than sight as she chased after everyone. She caught her foot on an extended root and stumbled into a tree with a loud oomph as she crashed into the trunk. She collected herself and took off once more towards the sound of bedlam. More noises pierced through the night. Dean was firing his gun and...wait, was that two girls screaming? Bella burst into the clearing just as Dean activated his sigil. Like the night before, there was a blinding flash of light. Once again, the creature screeched in pain, before it disappeared once more.

Bella blinked rapidly, trying to rid herself of the white spots in her vision. She mentally kicked herself for getting there late as she took in the scene. Yes, there were in fact two girls there, clinging to each other. They were about Bella's age, and Bella could see that the blonde one was crying and clinging to her brunette friend. Dean was not too far, and was rubbing his shoulder and grimacing in pain. Had he gotten hurt because she had fallen behind? She made to go over and check on him, but he noticed her approach and waved her off.

"I'm fine." He panted. He then pointed to the girls. "Go check on them." Bella hesitated, before doing as he said. The girls clung to each other and sobbed as Bella approached.

"It's okay." She comforted them softly. "You guys are going to be fine, you're safe now." The brunette girl looked at Bella, trembling. "You're safe now." Bella reassured her. She smiled comfortingly at the girls, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder comfortingly. If she couldn't be there to actually help in the moment, she could at least comfort the survivors now. They had done it, they had saved the girls. A chill ran down Bella's spine then, and no sooner than that feeling of foreboding came, the brunette girl in front of Bella seemed to burst open, a shadow splitting her chest in two as the woman's blood sprayed onto Bella and the other girl.

The beast was already back.

"Bella!" Dean yelled from somewhere behind her. Bella dived to the side, dragging the once again screaming blonde with her. Suddenly Bella felt another chill down her spine, and she paled. There's two of them. Maybe even more. Could be that this wasn't even the one Dean's sigil had banished. The blonde teen got up and started running again, right into the woods.

"Wait!" She shouted after her. Who knew if there were more in the woods? One creature started to advance on Bella, only to be distracted by Dean, who had started shooting with his gun again. It dismissed Bella in favor of Dean then, advancing on him with a menacing hiss. The blonde girl's screaming from the woods abruptly cut off. The other creature must've gotten to her. The first creature batted Dean across the clearing, and Bella was about to activate her sigil when she thought of something. Why hadn't Dean activated his a second time? It could be that he had simply not thought of it, but...what if the sigils needed time to recharge or something, and could only be used once? If that was the case, and she used hers, they would be sitting ducks for the other one that had just killed the blonde girl. Wait, something in her hissed. Wait, it will come back for you. And sure enough, moment's later, it did. It careened into her, hissing horribly.

Wait.

The creature lifted her into the air with a shadowy hand. It seemed to sniff her.

Wait.

The creature started hissing again, and to her horror, Bella found that she understood the hissing where she previously had not.

"It is she." The creature said to the other. "The torch has been passed. The cycle begins again."

Wait.

"No." The other responded. "We can end this now. Come, they are weak."

Wait.

The other creature lifted Dean in a similar way. This was it, they were going to die.

NOW!

Bella slapped her hand to her sigil, activating it. There was once more a blinding light, and the unearthly screeching from the creatures, now doubled since there were two of them. Bella crashed into the ground as the creature dropped her as it disappeared, knocking the wind out of her. Bella coughed as she frantically tried to get her breath back. Dean was there then. He helped Bella into a sitting position, and placed a comforting hand on her back.

"Easy, easy." He offered, hand rubbing a soothing circle between her shoulder blades. "Take it slow. Deep breaths through the mouth." Slowly but surely Bella regained control of her breathing, and she took a deep, shaky breath as she looked up at Dean, who was crouched awkwardly before her. "Atta girl." He grinned, ruffling her hair and standing with a painful grunt. He extended a hand out to help her up as well, which she gratefully accepted. "You good kid?"

"Not a kid." Bella puffed irritatedly, before fixing him with a serious look. "I feel like I should be asking you that though. You did most of the work."

"Bullshit." Dean objected, slipping an arm around her waist as they walked in order to help keep her up. Pain blossomed in her chest from her hard collision with the ground, as well as everywhere else. Dean seemed to be in little different condition though. "Our asses would be toast if you hadn't thought to wait to activate your sigil Bella." Bella found little comfort in that though, but she didn't say that as she wrapped her own arm around Dean's waist, helping support him as he was doing her. They started back towards the motel, but both stopped abruptly as they came across the body of the blonde.

"I thought we had saved them." Bella grieved quietly. I thought no one else had to die.

She had been wrong.

So...there we go. Another chapter in the bag, and it was a LONG one. Albeit with a bit of a grim ending. We got to see some more action, and we know a little more about The Guide. You'll keep finding out more and more as the story goes on and Bella finds out more. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, anyone catch the little nod to Firefly in the dialogue? I personally disagree with Joss Whedon and his treatment of others, but Firefly has been one of my favorite shows since I was a kid, and I refuse to allow him to ruin it for me.

Anyways, if you feel so inclined, please drop me a review. I read and love them all, even any constructive criticism. That's one of the ways we grow as writers. I hope everyone has a nice day/night! Love you all!