Hi, guys! :)) Here's the next chapter. Hope you'll like it! Happy reading!
The sunrise's beautiful, the shining disk gradually starting its path through the endless sky, throwing gentle shades of pink and purple. Slowly the warm hues of melted gold mixed with wonderful orange tints take over, lighting up every single surface touched by the sun. Glints of sunshine are covering every metal plane, making the salvage yard looks like a treasure chest. It's so breathtaking...
Then my eyes land on the burnt spot and the wreckage, where my home used to be. Damn Leviathans! Damn be, Dick Roman! I pull out a package of cigarettes and lit one up. I haven't smoked in years. Since I caught Ryan cheating on me. And this was really long ago. I let the familiar feeling envelop me, the smoke filling my lungs. The taste is just the same as I remember it. I relax, my nerves calming down. I exhale, the smoke going up, forming strange silhouettes in the air, leaving behind a trail of poison. I take a long drink from the Jack, the amber liquid burning my throat.
"Isn't it a bit early for that?" a familiar voice asks, sending me on alert as I reach for my gun.
"Sheriff Jody Mills." I sigh and put away my weapon, "You know better than going behind a hunter's back like that."
She arches her brows, a sassy smile playing on her lips as she approaches me.
"The last time I caught you smoking and drinking, I had an hour-long argument with your father," she says sitting on the hood of the car next to me "What are you doing here?"
"I can ask you the same thing." my answer earns me a well-knowing look from her.
"Well," she sighs "A neighbor saw you trespassing and called me."
"I'm not trespassing." I state, "This is my home."
"Is it now?" Jody softly asks so I turn to her,
"Did Dean and Sam send you?" I suspiciously narrow my eyes.
"No." she shakes her head, "Why?"
"Well..." I sigh deeply "It's a kinda long story." I raise the bottle and her gentle hand stops me.
"How about you tell me over a cup of coffee and some pancakes for breakfast?"
"So, you just ran away?" Jody asks after hearing me out
"I'm pretty good at that," I say, looking absentmindedly throughout the cafeteria window, "Running away from my problems."
"What about the coin? The curse?"
"I burnt it. I added some bone ash and cayenne pepper, just to be sure" I shrug "I figured it out just seconds before leaving the boys."
"Lucky them," Jody remarks dryly.
"Oh, c'mon. I checked on them. They're fine. Dean's not under the curse anymore."
"And how can you be so sure?"
"I talked to Kevin." I decide that it's better not to mention it was from a burner phone, "They're fine."
"Then why don't you go back?" Jody asks in concern and sympathy.
"That's the million-dollar question." I furrow at my reflection at the window and shake my head, "I just... I don't know..."
"Take your time" Jody smiles reassuringly at me and stands up "C'mon, you need a place to stay. I've got a spare room."
"What if Sam and Dean call?" I bashfully ask.
"Well, they might call, but ain't telling them you're here."
The nightmare has me tight in its grip, panic, and fear rushing through me, adrenalin rushing through my veins... A shriek full of terror echoes around... and then a loud slap.
"Ouch!"
"Wake up, girl." Jody shakes me, "C'mon, wake up!"
"I'm...Ouch!" I groan, "Awake, I'm awake, stop hitting me..."
"Good." she firmly states.
I rub my face, blinking at the light coming from the hallway. Jody's sitting next to me on the bed, concern on her face.
"God, I woke you up, didn't I?" I look away, to the window and the shadows the moonlight casts in the room.
"That's not the problem and you know it."
I sigh. She's right, and we both know it. This, however, doesn't make me more talkative. The last couple of days were... different. There was nothing supernatural around me for the first time in my life. Those days were quiet, peaceful, and full of housework and a lot of jokes. And emptying bottles of wine with Jody every evening, chatting about everything and nothing, carefully avoiding the reasons I'm here. It's a nice, unfamiliar experience, but I know that sooner or later, I'll start missing the hunting. I know it in my bones the same way I know I'm born to be a hunter. But for now, I just want some rest, to regain my composure, to get time to think... This is a bit hard since every night I get nightmares, and I wake up Jody with my screams.
I miss the feeling of a warm body next to mine while sleeping; I miss being cuddled; I miss not feeling alone. I miss Dean. And what's more, I hate that I left the things between us unresolved. At least with him around, I didn't have nightmares. I realize Jody's talking to me.
"... to decide what to do. You can't hide forever."
"I'm not hiding."
"Yeah, right" she gets that sassy expression worth a thousand words, "C'mon, there's some more wine left." and she heads for the door.
"You mean there's a wine we didn't drink?" I playfully ask, earning a laugh, "That's a mistake we must correct!"
"Wait, wait..." my stomach hurts from laughing, and I do my best not to spill the red wine from my glass, "You mean he actually kissed you?"
"Yeah." Jody giggles, "I was cleaning, my hands all in cleaning preparation. And he just comes out of the basement, all excited, and before I know it, he grabbed my face and kissed me."
"God, I wish I could've seen that." I chuckle, "That stubborn old man..." I shake my head and sigh deeply, my mood quickly changing.
"I miss him, too." Jody gently says, rubbing my hand, "Bobby was a great man."
"And a great father." I manage to choke out, holding back my tears, "I... I never had the chance to tell him that."
"Oh, honey, he was so proud of you."
"We had a fight..." I sniff, "and that were the last words we exchanged" I shake my head, "I didn't say my last goodbye with him... The stubborn old man couldn't hold just two more minutes so I can tell him how sorry I am..."
Now my tears are streaming down my cheeks as all the memories of the day Bobby died come back. And not just that. But every terrible thing that ever happened to me - a hunt gone wrong, a wretched death, the explosion that took away Ellen and Jo, the loss of Benny, heaven and hell's tortures... I'm feeling awful like there's a hole in me that's growing and growing. My heart aches, and I can barely breathe. All the misery and sadness, all the pain and self-hatred finally find their way out. The sensations are so strong and so deep, they are suffocating me, bombarding my mind, trying to blow up my skull. Everything's burning me on the inside. I realize I'm wailing, tears blurring my vision, severe headache disorientating me. Jody's there, but I barely register that. Until she hugs me, her arms enveloping me, her voice calmly whispering soothing words in my ears as she's rocking me gently, giving all the motherly care I never had in my life. I'm holding tight on to her, letting all my emotions bottled up with years to pour out in a vast huge wave of tears.
"It's okay." she whispers "It's okay, cry it out. Cry it all out. Everything's gonna be okay..."
After a while my sobs slowly fade away, leaving me with a sore throat and wet face. I try to wipe away my tears, taking deep breaths to calm down my beating heart.
"You never really mourned, have you?" Jody seriously asks, "Not until now. You never gave yourself the chance to feel bad for all the terrible things that happened to you..."
"No." I shake my head, gasping "Never. There was always something more important. Something... bigger."
"You need to take care of yourself, too. The world will survive a day or two without you trying to save it." she reasons me, "You have to know when to safe yourself, too."
"You realize it's easier said than done, right?" I choke out something between a laugh and a sob.
"Yeah, I know." she chuckles as she hands me a full glass, "That's why wine was created."
"Cheers to that!"
"Eventually, they'll find you." Jody says, buttoning her uniform up, none of us mentioning my break the night before, "You can't hide here forever, darling."
"I know." I sigh as I hand her the car keys.
"They already called twice today." she's carefully lacing her boots, "Sam and Dean can be many things, but they ain't stupid. They'll turn the world upside down to find you. And don't roll your eyes on me, missy." she wags her finger at me, "They're worried for you. So get yourself together and call them."
"I will." she arches her brows, "I will! I promise. First thing in the morning."
"Fine." Jody looks at me, "And it's my night shift so I hope I won't get a call you got yourself in trouble, young lady, because you hit a bar or something."
I straighten my back and salute her.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Very funny." she shakes her head and heads to her car, muttering under her nose, "God, you're just like your father."
So, what do you think? How about Braeden's time away from the boys? Drop me a review and tell me what you think!
