Here's the next chapter, with another delay... really sorry about this. Anyway, I hope you'll like it :)
There is a soft knock on my door.
"Come in" I yell from my bed and put my laptop aside
"Hey" Sam enters and closes the door behind him, he staggers a bit "I wanted to talk to you"
"Okay" I shrug and move to make him place to sit on the bed "Sit"
"You're probably going to be mad at me for that but…" Sam starts "I never saw the right moment the last two weeks to give you this" he hands me a paper folded into two
I furrow my brows questioningly at him
"What's this?" I ask confused
"It's from Benny"
"Oh" I'm not sure how I feel about this so I just open the paper
"Sweetheart,
I can imagine you're really pissed with me right now. And I get it, I do. But I really have to do this. For you, and for me. The last weeks I had the best time ever in my life, thanks to you. But the truth is I never really felt right, I never fit in. Even with you by my side. Purgatory's familiar, I feel right here, pure. Don't grieve for me and don't blame yourself. It's all my decision to make and no matter how much I love you there is nothing you can say or do to change my mind. We both know your heart never belonged to me. But now you're free to follow it. Don't be scared, don't hesitate – go straight to Dean and tell him how you feel. You two deserve to be happy and I wish you all the happiness this crappy world has to offer you.
Goodbye, Braeden.
With love, your faithful leech
Benny"
I feel the tears as they fill my eyes. It's his goodbye letter. It's Benny's way to tell me he's been holding me back, that I'm better off without him. His way of letting me go and telling me I should do the same. Let him go. I bite my lips trying to stop the tears. I remember the first time I saw him. I was grumpy, covered in blood and mud and only God knows what else, all my happiness of finding Cas and Dean in Purgatory faded away at the sight of the vampire. I started calling him leech only to show him I didn't like him and I didn't trust him. It was so until we were attacked by a group of vampires. In the fight I lost my weapon and a vampire knocked me down, her fangs millimeters away from my neck when suddenly she was yanked away from me and I saw Benny decapitating her with no regret. I stood up, still a bit shocked to see who my savior was and before I could thank him, he walked away. It took me everything to admit I was wrong about him. But since then he had my complete trust. Soon the offensive "leech" I used to call him, turned into a pet name and our inside joke. He became a good friend of mine and I knew what Dean saw in him and why he trusted Benny.
A small whimper escapes my lips and I take a deep breath. Sam is patiently waiting for me to calm down. I can see all the regret and pity over his face. And I remember the conversation I heard not so while ago between him and Dean. They believe I was in love with Benny. A chuckle escapes my lips and I take a hold of myself.
"Have you read it?" I ask and point to the letter
"Braeden, I…"
"Have you read it?" I insist and look at him expectantly
"Of course, not" Sam shakes his head
"Then read it" I hand it to him
Sam hesitantly takes it and starts reading. I look closely at him – he looks terrible. Pale, weak, dark circles around his eyes… He's not well. But then he raises his eyes to meet mine. I can see the surprise there.
"Is it true?" he asks in astonishment "What Benny's written… about you and Dean?"
I make a face and rub the bridge of my nose and shrug.
"Yeah, it's true"
"Wow…" he huffs and leans back "But what about the kiss?"
"What kiss?" I ask in confusion, thinking how I gave Dean a quick peck on the cheek before running away
"Dean said you kissed Benny before…" he trails off, not finishing but I know what he's talking about – the goodbye kiss
"Actually Benny kissed me but it doesn't really matter…" I shrug
"It does matter to Dean" Sam raises a brow
"What?..." I ask puzzled and make a face "Why would he care about…" a knock on the door interrupts me; I grab the letter from Sam's hands and after quickly hiding it under my pillow I call "Come in, Dean"
He pushes the door open and sneaks in, holding his phone in hand. He's wearing an old shirt and sweatpants and he looks like he's been asleep and has just got out of bed. Then he sees his brother
"Oh, you're here, too. Good"
"Dean, what's going on?" I ask as I pull the covers closer to me
"Kevin just called me" he rubs the back of his neck "The kid's freaked out. And he's hidden his half of the tablet"
"What?" Sam asks with furrowed brows
"He thinks Crowley knows where he is…" Dean shakes his head "He's so scared, it's just ridiculous…"
I roll my eyes. Sometimes Dean can be a dick, without even realizing it
"What did you tell him?" I ask and cross my arms "That he needs more anxiety meds?" by the look on his face I know that's exactly what he's said to him "Really, Dean?" I huff in irritation and kick the covers off of me "He's just a kid and he needs someone to look after him" I look at Dean sternly
"What?" he asks in confusion and I hear Sam quietly chuckles
"Whatever…" I reach for my phone and dial Kevin's number
"Braeden?" he hesitantly says on the other end of the line
"Hey, kid" I gently smile "I hear you've freaked out, huh?"
"Yeah… something like that…" he says a bit abashed
"You know you can tell me everything, right?" I ask and pay no attention to Dean's raised brows
"It's Crowley" Kevin babbles out, I can hear the panic in his voice
"What about him?" I speak as calmly as possible
"He's in my head!"
"He's…" my eyes widen in surprise
"And you know what this means?" Kevin cuts me off "He knows where I am. That's why I hid the tablet and…"
"Ok, ok… It's fine" I reassure him "You want me to come?" I ask and stand up, only an oversized T-shirt covering my body "I can be there in a few hours if you want"
Sam and Dean look at me, surprise over their faces, as I go through my clothes and throw on my bed pair of jeans, shirt and a bra.
"If it's not a problem…" Kevin sounds unsure
"It's fine, Kev. I'm coming to get you. Just stay put and don't do anything stupid" and I hang up "What?" I ask seeing the Winchesters staring at me
"He's just distressed" Sam points out
"If Crowley was in his head, he'd do something worse than just messing him around" Dean shrugs
"And what if he's right?" I ask while putting on my jeans "What if Crowley's waiting for him to make a mistake and get him? What if he's deliberately messing with him, to make him weak and totally freaked out? This way it'd be easier to get what he wants from him"
The brothers exchange a look and Dean sighs.
"You're not going alone"
"We're coming, too" Sam nods
"You're gonna sit this one out" Dean cuts him off
"What!?" Sam almost shouts in disbelieve and quickly stands up, but he reels
"That's why" Dean gestures him
"But I…"
"Sam" I gently turn to him "Dean's right. You need to rest and recover from the second trial, ok?" when he nods in defeat, I continue "We're just gonna check on him and…" I make a face and turn to Dean "What the hell are we gonna do with him?"
"This is your idea," Dean raises his hands in the air "You figure it out"
"Great" I roll my eyes "We can't leave him there alone, he'll freak out for real. We need to get him somewhere he'll feel safe"
"This" Sam gestures to the bunker "is the safest place we've got. We can move him in here"
"Sounds like a plan" Dean shrugs
I pull the hem of my sleeping T-shirt and look expectantly at the brothers who give me back confused looks. I roll my eyes at them.
"I need to change" I say and pull up more of the shirt, exposing my stomach "Are you staying for the show or what?"
Both of them get these embarrassed faces and quickly leave the room. I find it strange Dean doesn't make a witty comment but… I chuckle while putting the bra and the shirt on.
"Oh, c'mon" I groan "What's taking him so long? I'm hungry"
"You whine like three years old" Kevin states and leans in the back seat of the Impala
We got Kevin from Garth's boat and quickly left, spending the next couple of hours on the road. Sam called to check on us and tell us he called Garth and asked him to take Mrs Tran to some other safe place and that Garth had already done it. Kevin looked relieved knowing his mother is safe. Then we stopped at a gas station and me and Kevin stayed in the car, while Dean went to pay. I asked him to bring me some snack because I'm starving. But he's there for a while now and I lean forward trying to see if he's coming. A bad feeling starts growing in the pit of my stomach. Everything's quiet, too quiet. We're the only customers at the gas station. Everything seems calm and… I purse my lips and pull out my gun.
"Wow" Kevin exclaims "What's going on?"
Taking another pistol from the glove compartment, I hand it to him. He looks confused and scared. As he should be.
"Stay here" I order him "If I'm not back in five minutes you start the car and get out of here. And call Sam. He'll tell you how to get to the bunker" and with this I step out of the car
As I approach the door I ready my gun and carefully walk in. The cashier's gone and for a second I don't see anyone around. Then I hear the familiar sounds of fight and warily move along the shelves to where the noise comes from. I'm just about to get a peep over the corner when someone grabs me and yanks my gun from my hands. I struggle and kick my attacker, then punch him in the face only to see pair of black eyes staring at me.
"Shit!" I curse and take a step back as the demon approaches me
Then I see Dean, trying to fight off three demons at once – two of them are trying to hold him while the other is ready to beat him. I pull out my angel blade and throw it at one of Dean's attackers, stabbing him in the back. For a second Dean's eyes focus on me and I just shrug as he nods. I get my attention back to the demon, which yanked my gun from me. He's grinning widely. And why wouldn't he? I just threw away the only weapon I had that could hurt him – stupid, stupid move. I take another step back and wait him to get closer. When in my range, I kick him and hit him as hard as possible, hoping he'll lose consciousness. I have no luck so I jump on him again, throwing punches and kicks. Meanwhile I hope Dean has managed to put down the other demons. I risk taking a quick look – he's fighting the remaining two demons… Suddenly I feel how my back hits painfully one of the shells as my attacker uses his demon powers on me. I hit my head and for a second everything is a blur. My body collapses and I fall on my fours when the stupid demon kicks me in the chest and takes away my breath. I choke trying to inhale. Pain rushes through me…
"Braeden!" Dean calls and I can hear the panic in his voice
I manage to raise my head only to see him trying to get to me when one of the demons he's fighting manages to hit him on the back of his head and Dean collapses unconscious on the floor. My attacker lands another kick on me and no matter how hard I try to stand up, I end up on the floor. Barely breathing and with blurred vision, pain all over my body, I manage to see how the three demons gather around Dean's unconscious body. I manage to stand up and pull a knife from my boot, making a face as my chest burns in pain.
"Leave him alone, you bastards!" I scream as I run to them
But before I can reach them, they all disappear, taking Dean with them.
"No!" I scream in anger and land my fist in the shelf, knocking down a couple of bottles
But I'm alone and there's no one who can hear me. This is all my fault… if Dean wasn't distracted by me he'd managed to kill the demons and he was going to be here now… I shake my head, trying to ignore the guilt and the dark thoughts. I have to find him, I have to tell Sam and I have to take Kevin in safety to the bunker. Still dizzy, I head to the car and then it hits me. Kevin! What if the demons were here because of him? I run to the Impala, yanking the door wide open. And there's a loud shot, I feel pain and everything grows dark. I reel as my body hits the ground and that's the last thing I remember before the darkness consumes me.
So... what do you think about this cliffhanger? Drop me a review and tell me :) Wishing you all nice Sunday.
