A/N: Hello my lovely readers! GIANT HELLOS AND HUGS to those of you who are new, I'm glad you enjoy the story enough to deem it worthy of following. Quick note, the town in this story is completely fictional. I have been to the state of Wyoming on more than one account so I'm going to stick as close as I can to the feel of most of the cities and towns in the state, but it's not based on any other one place that I know exists, so bare with me. Also there is need of a huge warning: there is talk of child abuse/minor torture in this chapter. It may get pretty graphic and I don't want to cause any problems for anyone! If you would like to skip that specific part, don't read after the Meanwhile… break and you can pick the story up after the following -A- break.
DracoPotter80: Your reviews always make me smile! In my head William is just this giant, teddy bear of a man and he will be popping up frequently in later chapters. Brandon is a guy from Ana's past, he's only been mentioned by name a couple of times but there is actually a section in this chapter that goes further into that. :) Thanks for the review.
"See I told you the second time wouldn't be as bad." Ana told Garth as they appeared in their second location, which happened to be a small, abandoned apartment building. The two story, four apartment structure was near the outskirts of town and it must have not done well tenant wise if the smell and emptiness of it was anything to go by, but with how small the town of Finch, Wyoming was it wasn't all that surprising. Her attention was focused on the small entryway the two nonhuman hunters were standing in, but when her eyes made their way around to look at Garth she was glad to see that he didn't look as shaken by this round of teleportation as he had the last one.
The older hunter was also looking around the building, taking in the dingy, white walls and the dust covered surfaces. "This one seems as empty as the last. You getting anything with your witch senses?" he questioned, adjusting the old trucker hat that sat on top of his head.
Ana shook her head, brushing a hand through her red hair as she continued to study the small space they were in. "I'm not sensing anything here at all. Let's do a quick sweep of the apartments and see if we find any signs of who or what was here." she offered, pulling her pistol out of the waste of her jeans.
"I'll take the two upstairs, you take the two down here. If you find anything, holler." Garth instructed as he pulled out his own weapon before making his way up the rather tall stairway.
Ana waited until he was at the top of the stairs before turning to the right, studying the door to the first apartment with calculating eyes. They had no idea what they would find here, if they found anything at all. The first location they had searched had been an old farm house about a mile out of town to the west, conspicuously located between Finch and Calvary Cemetery, but it had been empty as well. No sign of life or being lived in since the last owners must have died or moved out years prior. So to say the least, she was worried that if they did find something there it wouldn't be pretty. Taking in a deep breath she raised her pistol in her right hand and used her left to test the doorknob, finding it unlocked. With a quick shove, Ana opened the door and placed both hands tightly around the grip over her gun, ready to shoot down any attacker should one appear. Slowly walking into the small apartment, she checked in each room, behind every door, in any nook or cranny something or someone could be hidden, but there was nothing. The apartment was completely empty and though some of the dust that coated the counter tops had been disturbed by what seemed to be hands and other things, it was as if no one had been there since it had been closed down.
"Ana!" Garth's shout from the top of the stairs had her jogging out of the apartment, ready to protect her new friend and fellow hunter should he be in trouble. "You're going to want to see this." He told her from the top of the stairs, his firearm aimed at the ground, signaling there was no threat.
Lowering her pistol as she took the stairs two at a time, she was wondering what could have caused the shocked expression on the man's face, but when she walked into the open door of the apartment he directed her to there was no longer any question about it. Partially dried blood coated the walls and floors, the smell of death hung in the air and the feeling of the evil that clung to the room made the witch shiver. Taking her time to take everything in, she glanced over her shoulder at Garth, "Vampires?" she questioned, voicing the only thing that came to her mind.
"That was my first guess, but I don't think I've ever seen one be so messy." He answered, making a point to not enter the apartment again, but choosing instead to stand just on the other side of the door. "I haven't even gone into the other apartment." he added, looking across the hall at the closed door.
With a curt nod, Ana walked past him and opened the closed door, but after quick inspection there was no sign that anything had been there. "I only got through one downstairs, let's check out the other and then we'll call my dad and Sam to see if they found anything." Leading the way back downstairs, she raised her pistol again, taking precaution just like Sam and Dean had taught her, mentally preparing herself for what they might find in the last closed door. The sweep through the last apartment didn't take long with the two of them doing it together and when nothing turned up, the two hunters moved back into the entryway and Ana pulled out her phone, dialing her father's number.
"Hey, kid, find anything?" Dean asked, the sound of the Impala's engine could be heard through the phone and Ana assumed that meant they were on their way either to or from their first stop.
"If an entire apartment covered in blood is something, then yes, we definitely found something." Ana answered, her gaze flicking up to see Garth fidgeting nervously, "Other than that there's nothing here though. How're things on your end?"
There was a soft rustling sound and then Sam's voice filtered over the line, "The first place was a bust. It was just a small garage, but there was no sign of anything. What do you guys think about what you found?"
"Garth and I are both thinking vampires, but it's a lot of spilled blood for it to be a normal vamp attack. Something weird is going on here guys." While she was talking, she watched Garth become more and more agitated. "What is up with you?" she whispered at him, giving him a questioning look.
The older hunter shook his head, "Something doesn't feel right." he told her, glancing around the small room as if expecting an enemy to appear out of thin air.
"Something's going on with Garth, we're getting out of here." Instead of being met by either of the men's voice on the other end of the phone, she received silence. "Dad? Sam?" she questioned, wondering if their connection had been lost. Looking at her phone, it showed that the call had been lost, that her phone wasn't getting any reception. "What the hell?" She placed her phone back in her pocket and turned her attention to Garth who seemed to be reacting to whatever was going on in a bad way. "Alright, let's get out of here." As she grabbed his shoulder to teleport them out a rush of power filled the entire building in a way Ana didn't even know was possible.
"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, Anastasia." The light female voice carried from the top of the stairs. "Don't try to leave, you won't be able to." A tall woman in a fitted, navy blue suit came around the corner at the top of the stairs, brown hair pulled into a braid that fell over her shoulder and grey eyes the color of steel.
Ana glared at the being at the top of the stairs, "Of course. Angel gone evil, right?" she raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Garth, "Classic Winchester meets dick angel scenario. Though if previous encounters are anything to go by, this isn't going to go well for her." The older hunter just looked at her with a blank and slightly shocked expression.
The female angel walked down two stairs, each step deliberately slow, "The ego on you and your father…" she shook her head and made a tsking sound, "you think that one of you would have learned by now."
"You are aware that my father and uncle are the two that put Michael and Lucifer in the cage, right? How many angels have been killed by the end of an angel blade in the hand of someone from my family?" Ana smirked, "I'm sure adding one more on to the list won't be much of a hassle." If the younger Winchester had learned anything from her father, it was how to run her mouth to her advantage.
"I'm going to wipe that damn smirk off of your face." Came a second voice, this one male, from the apartment door they had left open.
As Ana turned to look at the second speaker, she almost rolled her eyes at the classic angel look. The suit didn't look half bad on the angel's vessel, but the look on his face made her want to shove her angel blade through his chest, "I'm really flattered that you think it's going to take both of you to accomplish whatever goal you have that involves me, but neither of you are going to make it out of this alive."
"Even a Good witch isn't a threat to us. Your filthy magic is nothing compared to our grace." The male angel sneered, obviously already living with a solid hatred for Ana.
"Yofiel, that is enough." The female angel spoke as she descended the rest of the stairs, "Anastasia knows she doesn't stand a chance, otherwise she wouldn't be running her mouth. You know that there's no way out of this for you, child."
The witch let out a sharp, short laugh, "On the contrary, I know I'm going to get out of this." she spoke before throwing the male angel, Yofiel, back into the apartment he had exited from with the wave of her arm. Using her powers to make her angel blade appear in her hand, she handed it to Garth before throwing a wave of power at the female angel and knocking her back on the stairs. This was going to be a challenge and Ana was fully aware of that fact, but she also knew that if she was smart that the angel would be dead before she could do any harm to either herself or Garth. The fight between the two women hadn't been going on for long when she reached out and grabbed Ana's arm, flying them out of the building while at the same time knocking the witch unconscious.
-A-
"What do you mean Ana's gone, Garth?" Dean snapped into his phone, "Where did she go?"
Garth pulled in a deep breath, "I mean one minute we're up against two angels, Ana gives me her angel blade and I go after one while she takes on the other, when I come back from killing the one Ana and the angel are both gone."
"Where are you?" Dean demanded, looking to his side to see Sam with a worried expression on his face, "Try calling, Cas." he instructed his younger brother while listening to Garth give him the address he was at. "Stay put, we're on our way to you." Once he hung up the phone, he took a sharp left and gunned it, pushing the Impala as fast as he dared on the residential street. With half of his focus on the road and half of it on the phone in his hand, he scrolled through his contacts until he came across the name he was looking for. Dean placed the phone to his ear and listened as it rang, waiting for it to be picked up.
"This is Connor." The male witch answered his cell phone as he handed a bottle of beer over the bar. The building was a little busier than they were used to for a week night.
Hearing the noise in the background, Dean realized where the kid was at, "Hey, it's Dean. Look, I know you're working, but Ana's gone missing… We may need your help on this one."
Connor froze as the words sunk in, everything else fading out of focus as he reached out to Ana with their weak, though still existent connection. When he was met by a wall on the other end, he quickly turned to look at William, "I have to go!" he yelled over the sound of the bar. A confused look crossed William's face as the large man walked over from where he had been standing by the front door, "The Winchesters were on a hunt and Ana's missing." he explained, his phone that was still connected to Dean in his hand.
"You make sure that girl is safe." William told his young friend as he moved to take Connor's spot behind the bar, "If you need anything, you let us know and we'll be there to do what we can." he offered up the entire coven's help. It hadn't taken long for them to include Ana in their group and he knew that they would all be willing to help.
Connor nodded, "Thanks Will!" he called over his shoulder as he quickly walked toward the exit, "Where are you?" he asked into the phone, not wanting to waste anytime using a spell to locate the Winchesters. After Dean gave him the exact address of where they were picking up Garth, he hung up his phone and walked down a dark alley where no one would see him teleport. When he appeared outside of the run down apartment building, he heard the surprised gasp of a man shorter than him who was standing by the only door leading in from the outside. "Are you Garth?"
"Who's asking?" The shaken up hunter questioned, bloodied angel blade in one hand and a pistol in the other.
"My name is Connor Mohr, I'm a friend of Ana's." He looked around, hoping that it wouldn't take Dean much longer to get there. "Dean called and told me she's missing, I'm here to help." Garth continued to look at him with an untrusting look and Connor realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with the man until one of the Winchesters showed up to vouch for him. Luckily it wasn't long until the sound of the Impala's engine came roaring down the abandoned street. Once the car had stopped, Connor was moving toward it, watching as Sam and Dean both exited the vehicle. "I can't reach her at all. There's something blocking out connection that I can't get passed."
Dean clenched his jaw, "Fucking angels." he swore as he moved around Connor and toward Garth, "What the hell happened in there, Garth?"
Sam glanced at Connor and signaled for him to follow them into the apartment, "Ana was talking about the blood you found in one of the apartments, why don't we start there while you explain." he offered, knowing that Dean was ready to lose whatever control her had left.
The smaller man nodded and led the group back into the building. As they started the stairs he began to explain what had happened, "After the call got disconnected the first one appeared at the top of the stairs. She and Ana went a couple of rounds with words, Dean your daughter has a mouth just like you." he commented off handedly. "When Yofiel appeared, there was a little more back and forth before Ana threw him into the downstairs right apartment and handed me this," he waved the angel blade in the air as they reached the top of the stairs, "I went to deal with him and when I came out of the apartment there was no sign of Ana or the other angel." He finished explained while directing them to the apartment covered in blood.
"This is too much spilled blood for it to be a vampire attack." Sam commented, looking around the room as he entered, followed by his brother and Connor. "Whoever was bled out here was tortured." he concluded, looking to Dean for agreement.
Dean simply nodded, eyes landing on Connor, "Got any witchy tricks up your sleeve that can give us a hand here?"
Connor thought for a moment, taking in the amount of gore around the room, "I can't do anything to figure out what this was, might be able to get a species from the blood, but I'm going to go ahead and assume it's probably human." he shook his head, what the hell had these guys gotten themselves into.
"Alright, well this can wait. No one is going to come through here anytime soon so let's focus on getting Ana back." Dean turned to Garth, "So the dead angel had a name, did you get one from the one that took Ana?"
Garth shook his head, "No, she didn't seem to want to brag about herself, just about getting rid of Ana." he answered, his stomach dropping at the thought of the young hunter at the hands of an angry angel.
"CAS! GABE!" Dean yelled, turning his chin up toward the ceiling, "We could use your help right about now!" The four men stood around in anticipation of a response, but when there wasn't one immediately, Dean turned to look at his brother, "Summoning spell?" he questioned, they had absolutely no leads and knew that they would need one of the angels help on this.
"There will be no need for a summoning spell, Dean." Castiel's deep voice came from behind him and when Dean turned around he saw the angel standing between himself and Garth.
A wave of relief fled through Connor, hopefully with Cas' help they would be able to find Ana. "An angel took Ana."
Castiel turned his attention to the blood on the walls, "We are aware. Gabriel is trying to track Ana and Laylah as we speak." he turned to look at the men before him, "Though we are not certain of her plan, we can be sure that it is not good."
Hearing his friend's words Dean wanted to yell or punch something, both would probably do, but there was no time to lose his cool. His daughter was missing at the hands of an angel who was doing God knew what and he needed to get her back as fast as he could, hopefully in one piece. "Why did they take her in the first place? This isn't something to do with that damn ritual again is it? I thought we put an end to that?"
"We did." Castiel assured the upset father, "I don't believe it is her blood that Laylah is after. Gabriel and I have been following a lead that a small faction of our brothers and sisters are trying to open a mouth to Hell. They would have Michael released, not caring either way if Lucifer is released as well."
Sam had to swallow past a lump in his throat, "Are they trying for another go at the apocalypse?" If Lucifer was free, he would come after Sam and then Michael after Dean. It would be a damn repeat of things they had dealt with years before.
"No, not the apocalypse, we're certain of that at least." Castiel's shoulders dropped, "Honestly there isn't a lot more we know other than that."
When it was clear that neither Winchester was clear headed enough to make a plan and that Garth wasn't going to step up and do it, Connor's mind began to process what would be best to do at this point. "Alright, this is what we're going to do. Castiel, go help Gabriel and see if you can track down Ana or Laylah. The rest of us will head back to where you guys are staying, I'll try a tracking spell, see if I can pick up anything that will help. We need to make sure we're prepared for anything, an attack, an exchange of some sort, a full on battle, whatever." All eyes were on him as he spoke, "We're going to get her back, whatever it takes. I'm not losing her again."
Meanwhile….
The memory was too vivid for Ana's liking. There was rough twine wrapped around her wrists, tied to handle in the backseat of a car, and an old snow glove was shoved in her mouth so that her screams were muffled, not that they would have been heard over the loud playing music over the car's stereo. Her small body was pinned at the waist by the weight of the older boy on top of her, "Are you ready to have a little fun, Ana?" he questioned and though the music was loud the sadistic words reached her ears. Though the four year old girl wasn't aware of exactly what was going to happen, she understood that it couldn't be anything good. She watched with wide, green eyes as Brandon pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, placed one in his mouth, lit it, and took a long drag. The hand that didn't hold the cigarette trailed across the hem of her shirt, with her arms raised above her head the tee shirt was pulled up just enough to bare a small portion of skin between the cotton fabric of the top and the denim of the shorts she wore. Placing the cigarette firmly between his lips so both hands were free, Brandon gripped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up so it revealed a wide section of her abdomen. The sixteen year old trailed a finger across the younger girl's skin, causing her to fight against the ties around her wrists in discomfort. Lightly pinching the cigarette between his pointer finger and thumb, Brandon brought it slowly from his mouth down toward the blemish free skin of her stomach, "If you fight against me, you'll get punished." he warned, before placing the red hot cherry against her skin, burning the flesh and causing Ana to scream out against the fabric in her mouth. Though her small body had no chance in fighting against the large one above her, the girl wiggled and squirmed as she tried to move away from searing pain, but the harder she fought, the more he pressed it against her skin. Finally pulling the cigarette away from her skin, Brandon smiled as a bright red welt formed in a small circle. Tears escaped from young Ana's eyes as he continued to torture her. After each turn with the cigarette against her skin, Brandon would have to relight it and then the whole process would start over again. A long drag from the filter, the burning in a new spot on her skin, and the long exhale of thick smoke accompanied by a chuckle far too dark for a boy of just sixteen.
By the time the cigarette was gone, Ana's eyes were red from crying and her stomach was marred by a dozen small, red welts. Little did she know that her nightmare was far from over. Reaching over the front seat of the car, Brandon pushed in the lighter that was housed in the dashboard and waited for it to pop out. "Aren't you having fun, Ana?" he asked, showing her the red of the small lighter before he placed it to a fresh spot of skin, causing the girl to scream out louder against the gag in her mouth. Over and over again he'd place the lighter against her skin, hold it there for a few seconds, and then remove it just to change the location. Time seemed to pass slowly as the fire was repeatedly returned to her stomach, but the front of her abdomen was nothing compared to when he forced her to turn over so he could restart the entire process on her back. Now not only was she being surprised by every touch of the cigarette or the lighter, but she was also forced to lay on the tender flesh of her stomach.
Fifteen years ago, when what she was remembering with frightening clarity had actually happened, there was a period of time where the pain had become too much for such a small body to handle and she had blacked out. Ana wasn't as lucky while she was reliving it; not only was she watching the torture occur, but she didn't have the blessing of being unconscious during it and she swore that she could feel the pain all over again. She had to watch, as if in a dream, as Brandon finished another cigarette on her back and then continued with the lighter. When he was finally finished he untied her hands, pulled the glove out of her mouth, and pulled her shirt down before picking her up and carrying her inside. It didn't stop there though, whatever was holding her in this memory started it over from the beginning. Once the door had opened on the house, Ana was forced to watch her worst memory happen on a loop.
-A-
Laylah stood back from the table that she had strapped the witch onto. Thankfully they had been prepared for the interference of the Winchesters and had already set aside straps that would not only hold the girl in place but would also bind her powers. Young Ana was helpless to the memory torturing her mind and while she was away from her family they would all be so frantic looking for her that they would no longer stand in the way of their plans. The angel smiled to herself at the thought of having her favorite brother back among them. Heaven was a wreck, angels were doing whatever they wanted, and there was slim order to things, but with Michael back everything would be right once again. Turning her attention from the whimpering young woman before her to the brother and sister standing guard at the door, she gave them each a stern look, "No one is to enter. If the Winchesters show up, you do what is necessary." Laylah instructed before flying away, ready to continue on with the next phase of her plan.
-A-
The four men had been trying anything they could think of to figure out Ana's location. Connor had removed the ash from the spell that Ana had cast just hours before and had tried many of his own, but each to no avail. Sam and Dean had both called every contact they had in hopes that someone would have an idea of what to do or where an angel would take a highly powerful witch to hide her, but there was no luck there either. It had been hours since the youngest Winchester had been taken and it was beginning to look like they weren't going to be able to find her.
After hanging up with the third contact he could think of, Dean tossed his phone onto his bed and swore. "I've got nothing. How is it that magic isn't able to help her and apparently Cas and Gabe haven't found anything yet? She's supposed to be extremely powerful, right? So why can't we find any trace of her anywhere?" he demanded as he began to pace the length of the room.
"I've tried everything I can think of, whoever has her must be blocking her power." Connor explained, "There's not much else I can do at this point." though he hated to admit it, all of his resources were used up and had turned up nothing.
Sam sighed and stood up from where he had been sitting at the small table in the room, "With Cas and Gabe doing what they can to find her, if they turn up nothing, you're kind of our only hope Connor. Think really hard, is there something you could have missed, something you haven't tried yet?"
The male witch frowned and sat down on the bed that he had been working over, placing his face in his hands as he thought over anything that could help them find Ana or at least give her enough power to fight against what was binding her to get a message out to them. "I've tried…" he was about to end that sentence with everything, but then an idea struck him, "There's one last thing I can try, but I'm going to need some help." he told them.
"Yeah, whatever you need, we'll do anything." Sam answered, a little hope filling his eyes.
Connor stood and shook his head, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do." he turned his attention to Dean, knowing that it was going to be him that would have a hard time with who he needed, "I need my coven, it's possibly our last chance of finding her."
Dean stood still at Connor's words, "If it will find my daughter, I don't care who you have to bring in. Just get it done."
The moment Dean had finished speaking Connor was pulling out his phone and dialing a number from memory, there was a soft mumble from the other end of the phone as the call was answered, "No, we haven't found her yet, that's why I'm calling. I need you to get everyone ready, I'm going to call Diane and have her teleport you all here." Connor paused as he listened to whoever was on the other end, his face falling at the man's words, "Pack everything for the power transfer spell and anything we may need." Another pause and a look crossing the witch's face that neither Winchester had seen before, "Damn it, William, I'm doing this. Just make sure it's all ready and get to the shop as fast as you can, there isn't any time to waste." he instructed before hanging up and dialing another number. "I need your help. William is calling everyone else, you need to get here as soon as possible." was all that was said before he hung up again and turned to the three men who were looking at him, "They'll be here soon. We need to find a space outside of town where we can do the spell, preferably outside."
Dean, Sam, and Garth all seemed to be frozen, but Dean quickly snapped out of it, "Alright, you heard the man. Let's get this show on the road." he ordered, grabbing the duffle that was on his bed full of weapons and walking out of the door. As Connor had said, there wasn't any time to waste and Dean wasn't about to spend another second doing nothing while his daughter was being held captive. Once everyone had piled into the Impala, he started the engine and pulled away from the bed and breakfast with a quick jerk of the wheel, the only thought on his mind was saving Ana.
A/N(2): Sorry for the second note guys, but I feel it's needed after the scene with Ana's memory of Brandon. I honestly never knew I could write something anywhere near that dark and it was actually extremely hard for me to get through, but it had to happen. It's a major part of Ana's backstory and something that I've wanted to explain in detail for a few chapters now. I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter as always. Thanks for sticking through that rather dark part. Honest apologies if I've upset anyone.
As always, thanks for reading.
Mercedes
