Chapter 2 Dead Man's Blood

I'm starting this chapter off with a little context, not too long after Lexi left Harvelle's, Sam and Dean also found out about Elkins in the diner scene from Dead Man's Blood. In this chapter flashbacks are in italics, present day is normal.

Winchesters

"What else you got?" Dean asked, sitting across from Sam in a diner in Nebraska.

"Manning, Colorado, a local man by the name of Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home," Sam replied.

"Elkins? I know that name" Dean said furrowing his brows in thought trying to remember why the name sounded familiar. He pulled out their dad's journal and started flipping through it.

"Doesn't ring a bell. Sounds like the police don't know what to think, at first they said it was some sort of bear attack, and now, they found signs of robbery. "

Dean continued flipping through John's journal mumbling a distracted, "Mm hmm." Then, finding what he was looking for, he turned the journal around toward Sam saying, "Here, check it out," pointing to the page where it said D. Elkins 970-555-0158. Sam looked and raised his eyebrows, looking back to Dean he asked, "You think it's the same Elkins?"

Dean replied, "It's a Colorado area code." Sam and Dean also decided to head to Colorado to investigate Elkins' death.

Lexi

As soon as I got to Manning I headed straight for the morgue to see for myself that Elkins was really dead. Unfortunately, he's really was gone and his "mauling injuries" definitely had vampire attack written all over them. So it seemed I was right about what killed him. Seeing him like that, dead and cold, actually did make me sad and angry though, he was a good man and a good hunter, he was good to me, he didn't deserve to go out like that. And, the police report suspecting robbery gave me a really bad feeling the Colt might have been taken by those nasty bloodsuckers. This was one case I was definitely taking personally.

After leaving the morgue, I headed to the local bar to ask around about Elkins and see if anyone knew anything more than what the police report said. The bartender Beth told me she thought "Mr. Elkins was a nice old man just a bit of a nut," she felt bad for him; that he lived all alone and kept to himself seemingly in his own little world. I guess hunting finally started to get to him in his old age, sounded like he must have lost a few steps; he probably should have retired from the life a long time ago. Beth also mentioned that Elkins ran out of there pretty quick after a group of four or five biker looking folks came in, and that group didn't stay too long either. Great sounds like Elkins was spooked, so still sticking with the vampire theory. As I left the bar I got this feeling like I was being watched, so I looked around as I got into my car but I couldn't pinpoint where someone might have been watching me from; the feeling faded a little as I drove away.

I pulled up the snow covered driveway and parked in front of Elkins' old cabin, getting out of my car I made sure I had my gun at my back and a machete in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. As I walked up to the door I couldn't help but think about the first time I ever met Elkins.

1985

It was fall and I was 6 years old the first time I met Daniel Elkins. Since I was born an orphan I was put into foster care. I had a pretty nice new foster family, a mom, a dad, an older brother, that I lived with since I was 4 years old until I was 6 years old, but being a supernatural magnet means nice things don't last. My foster brother and I were playing tag in the backyard of our house when heard rustling and heavy breathing coming from the woods at the edge of our yard. We both stopped and looked toward the woods I immediately had a bad feeling, like I knew something unnatural was out there and something bad was going to happen. My foster brother started to move towards the woods but I grabbed his arm to stop him just as a deranged looking man, who looked like he had been shot and stabbed and had blood dripping down his chin, stepped out of the woods toward us. He smiled evilly at us, showing off his way too many, way too pointy teeth. We turned to run back to the house, but the man grabbed my foster brother and bit him before we could reach the house. I turned back and tried to help my foster brother but the man just pushed me away and finished draining my foster brother. As I got back up and started back toward the house again the my foster mom came outside to check on us and saw the man feeding on her son, she ran toward him and I ran inside the house and ran into my foster dad and told him what was happening. We heard my foster mom scream and then silence I tried to beg my foster dad not to go out there but by then the man was in the house and attacking my foster dad too. I just stood there in shock and horror for a second as the life was drained out of my foster dad right in front of me. Then I ran for the stairs, I didn't make it very far before I was grabbed from behind and bitten on the neck. But, after the man bit me he stopped like my blood didn't taste good or something. The next thing I knew I was on the floor watching another man with a machete fighting off the bad man. After a few minutes of scuffle the bad man's head was cut off by the man with the machete and the rolled next to my foot. I just stared at it until the man with the machete asked me if I was okay, I turned to look at him and then back to the head on the floor. The man hesitantly came toward me to inspect my injured neck expecting me to scream or be afraid of him I think. But I just kept staring at the head until the man got right in my face and demanded my attention as he asked, "Hey kid look at me! You okay? Are you hurt anywhere other than your neck?" I finally made eye contact with him and shook my head no. He nodded his head and said, "Okay, good. I'm Daniel Elkins. What's your name kid?"

"Alexia," I replied. I looked to the head by my foot again and asked, "Wh- what was wrong with him? He- he didn't really look human and he bit us."

Elkins studied me for a long minute then seemed to come to a decision and said, "He wasn't human, at least not anymore, I guess he used to be at some point, but now he is, or was, a vampire. He's dead now. He can't hurt you anymore." He looked at me as if trying to gage my reaction to this revelation. I blinked at him a few times the repeated, "A vampire. So monsters are real?"

"Yeah kid 'fraid so. Pretty much all the scary creatures that nightmares are made of are real," he replied.

I stayed quiet for a minute and Elkins started to get up and look around.

"They're dead aren't they? My family. The vampire he- he killed them right?" I asked.

"I'm so sorry Alexia, but yes they are dead. Do you have any other family someone you could go live with aunts, or uncles, or grandparents?"

"No they were just my foster family I was an orphan, still am I guess. So what happens now?"

"How old are you kid?"

"I'm six and a half."

"You're only six! Wow you seem a little older than that and you seem to be handling all of this pretty well considering. How are you doing with all of this by the way?"

"Okay, I guess. Monsters are real, a vampire killed my family and tried to kill me, and you saved me. I'm not gonna become a vampire am I?"

Elkins gave me an impressed yet incredulous look and responded, "Yeah that sums it up. And as long as none of the vampire's blood got in your mouth you won't become a vampire. You didn't get any blood in your mouth did you?"

I shook my head no.

"Okay good, that's good." "Look kid, I hate to do this but we need to get out of here and make this look like a human broke in and killed your family because normal people don't usually handle the truth about monster so well."

As he helped me up off the floor I said, "You seem human and you seem to handle it well. How did you find you find out about monsters?"

He laughed a little, as he started to fix up the scene in the house he explained, "I am human, and thanks, but you seem to handle it pretty well too, a little too well maybe. I grew up with this knowledge; I come from a family of hunters, monster hunters of course. But how are you handling this so well? I mean you are only 6 years old for god sake! You're not terrified, traumatized, on the verge of tears?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "No. I mean I was scared while it was happening but and I am sad that my family is dead but, no, I don't really feel freaked out. I guess that is pretty strange huh?"

"Maybe, or maybe you are just the most well-adjusted kid on the planet," he smiled at me. After the scene in the house was fixed up we headed out to Elkin's truck. As we got in the truck Elkins turned to look at me and said, "So what am I gonna do with you?"

I stayed quiet for a minute then I turned to him and said, "You could teach me to hunt monsters like you do."

He looked kind of surprised and said, "But you're just a kid. You don't want this to become your life trust me!"

I replied, "Please! You already said yourself that I have handled all of this really well and I don't think I will ever be able to just forget about it and what's really out there and I want to be able to do something about it. I think I could be good at it, I knew something bad was gonna happen as soon as I heard that guy coming out of the woods. Teach me to be a hunter like you please, it's not like there will be anyone missing me."

He studied me again for a minute then looked up towards the sky and said, "I don't know who is crazier you or me, but okay fine, you can stick with me and I'll teach you to hunt because I get this strange feeling you might be right, you could turn out to be one hell of a hunter yourself one day."

I still wasn't entirely sure why Elkins decided to take me in and train me but I am glad and grateful that he did. I shake the memory away as I walk into the cabin.

I hope you are still enjoying this story let me know how I'm doing. I just recently got a new job in the last few weeks, not long after I started this story so I no longer have as much time as I planned to to write but I do not intend to give up on this story, I'm just not sure how often I will get to update because writing doesn't always come that easy to me and it takes me a while so be patient. Hopefully it won't be too long for the next chapter.