Time seemed to stand still for those brief moments after the understanding of what I had just said sunk in. The girl was already frightened, and who could blame her, her life had been turned upside down in less than a day.
But Anna was full of surprises. In the beginning I'd assumed she was just another character in the crazy story Sam and wrote while on our trip. We'd met tons like her, grieving and upset, forcing us to take them along wherever we went. But as we made our way through room after room in the old Franklin house, I discovered she was, actually, different. She was very intellegent, knowing exactly what we had to do when I told her about Michelle's possesion. And she kept her emotions in line better than I could. Never once did she shed a tear, even when she watched what she thought was her old friend murder her boyfriend. The chick was pretty damn good, I my opinion. And I was thankful to have her help me. She would frequently raise my spirits, promising me Sam was fine and that we'd get back to him soon.
My body was aching as we turned another corner on the second floor. It seemed that Michelle had left, leaving us no signs as to where to look next. Meanwhile my heart was tearing. It wanted so badly to go back to Sam. Every step away from his temporary prison caused my heart to break all over again.
As I waited in the hallway for Anna to use the bathroom I thought back to when I was fourteen. Sam was only ten, and we were living in one of ourworser apartements. Dad had brought us there to hunt a family of wherewolves, leaving us behind in a two bedroomed shithole. I remember it was late, almost midnight, and I couldn't fall asleep. I'd begged Dad to take me with him, but he insisted I stay and watch Sammy. I wanted to see one of those creatures so bad. I remember waking Sam up, telling him we were going on a walk. I made him carry a flashlight in one hand, and a small gun in the other.
I took him out in the woods behind our house. We walked for a long time, Sam had started complaining that he wanted to head back, but I was so damn set on catching sight of one of those beasts I didn't listen.
Then, something had jumped out from behind the bushes behind me. It had headed straight towards Sam. The kid was too scared to shoot. It was able to scratch little Sammy across the arm beforeI was able to hit its shoulders with a few rounds before it ran off.
Unfortunatly, Dad had heard the shots and found us on the ground, me cradling Sam, trying to stop his tears. I remember promising to him and to Dad never to lead Sam into danger. I promised on my life I would never let him get hurt.
Anna walked out of the bathroom. I tried to turn away, I knew she could see the tears that had brewed up in my eyes and threatened to fall.
"Dean, it'll be alright. This will all be over soon," Anna cooed, placing her hand on my shoulder. I knew that if the girl continued, I would surely be unable to keep my eyes dry. So I regretfully put on the act I had taught myself years ago.
"I know. But lets just get it over with." Shrugging her hand off I began the treck down the hall. Any feelings I'd had before had vanished. When hunting, I pushed everything aside. Thinking of what was happening around me usually led to mistakes. Something I couldn't afford to do.
We had discussed earlier what we needed to do. Every exorism chant was written in Dad's journal, which was locked away in the car. But Anna had reminded me that they weren't the only way to get rid of a demon.
There was always the original way. I was puzzled at first, but then the teenager pulled out a cross necklace she'd been wearing, promising it had been blessed by the local priest.
And after searching through several rooms we found a worn Bible in a desk drawer, it pages yellowed and dust covering the cover.
Anna had turned to me and said, simply. "It's going to be hard, but at least we got something."
I'd been nervous. The only secure weapon we had was the holy water, and even that only went so far. But looking into Anna's eyes and seeing that determination, told me we could accomplish it. The girl had so much faith, it scared me.
That was half an hour ago. Wherever Michelle was hiding, it was a pretty damn good spot. As we walked, a noise from below startled us. I thought it was Sam at first, freaking out. But then I remembered how far down he was, and knew he couldn't have made that big of a noise.
"The door," Anna whispered in my ear. "Someone just opened the back door."
My heart beat faster. I knew I had to be the strong one, to show Anna not to be afraid, but the thought of performing an exoricism made me alittle jumpy.
Walking with confidence, I began the decent back down the stairs, trying to be a quiet as possibe, but not getting very far with my heavy boots.
-----
"Dean," I croaked. My throat had gotten worse. It felt so dry. I had tried to stay sitting, but the dizziness in my head forced my to lie down. The room had become freezing, my body was shivering. It felt as if ice were being poured over my body. My eyes wanted to close, but I resisted. For I knew that if they did, I wouldn't be able to open them again.
My body continued to shake as I stared up at the door. Dean was taking too long. I could feel my lips turning blue. He needed to hurry. I had lost feeling to my left leg a long time ago.
A part of me wondered if Dean would make it in time. Even if he did, I didn't see how he could get me out. As with my feeling, my hopes of escaping alive had worn out.
Taking one last evil gare at the door, I slowly began to close my eyelids. Barely speaking, I whispered vengfully, "You got what you wanted out of me...You won."
----
My head hurt. The bastard had got in a good hit before I'd pinned her down on the living room floor.
It all happened so fast. With unkown confidence I marched into the living room with Anna trailing behind me. Michelle turned and faced me. Her eyes were pitch black and she was wearing an evil grin. She started to move towards me, and I, too, walked forward. She threw a punch, and almost made contact with my eye, but I managed to duck, and once regaining my stablilty, pushed the leather Bible in its face.
While the creature let out a piercing scream, Anna came up from behind and handed me two belts she had found in one of the closets. Quickly I began to hit it. But it wasn't easy. Screaming at Anna to get the water I attempted to remain strong, but the day was pressing on me and I was becoming tired.
Spraying the liquid on its chest gave me just enough time to tigh its arms behind its back. Then its feet.
Pushing it to the floor, I was surprised I'd been able to get that far. The creature was much stronger than I, and I was so tired.
Anna saw my exasperated look and took over. She pulled out the cross again, told me to hold it above its forehead, and continue pouring the water. As I did this, the girl opened the Bible and I heard her begin to mumble.
The words were so soft spoken I couldn't understand what she was saying, but whatever it was, the demon hated it. Pulling with all its might, I put the water down and held the beast's shoulder's, just in case. Forgetting I had the cross in my hand, I watched in slight horror as it burned the skin of the person it was possessing.
The entire thing lasted only five minutes, but to us, it felt as if it were an eternity. Anna had projected her voice across the room, saying such words that only a true believer could have come up. I watched in amazment. She had a confidence no one could match. Never once did she falter. Near the end, it was obvious she was using more than just words in a book. She was using her heart. She was letting all the pain that demon had brought upon her and the ones she loved speak for her. The look in her eyes showed she needed to do that, to finally put to rest what had kept her in such pain for too long.
When she spat, "Go back to hell!" I finally learned why Dad had done what he did all those years. Sure, I had been told the reasons, but a part of me never really got it. But watching Anna kill her loved one's murderer, explained it all. Dad wouldn't be at peace until he killed Mom's killer. He needed to know he'd done her justice.
And Sam felt the same way. Suddenly I felt like the outsider. Dad and Sam had a reason to hunt. The creature had killed the love of their lives. And although it was my mother, I still felt like I didn't belong. I tried to reason with why I was there.
But looking at Anna once again, I knew the answer. It was to protect them. They were wrapped in the cases so emotionally, that it affected their hunting sometimes. Me, I stayed in the mindframe. I kept them from getting themselves killed. And somehow, I knew that was what I was meant to do. To be the protector.
And at that moment, I wasn't protecting Sam. I'd let him get hurt. I'd managed to get him to catch of glimpse of death once more, just like the night in the woods with the wherewolves.
From beside me I heard Anna sigh. The job was done. Anna had done it. The demon was back in hell, where it belonged.
"Okay, on to Sam," she breathed, standing up.
I followed suit. "Anna, that was awesome. You were amazing."
She smiled. "Can we hurry it up? I wanna be back here when Michelle wakes up."
Nodding, I looked around. The rope would probably be in a shed somewhere. Stepping over the unconcsious girl, I walked out the back door and into the bright afternoon.
While we searched for the rope in the fairly large shed, I asked some things that were on my mind.
"Hey Anna, how'd you know about that place? Where Sam is."
The teenager halted for a barely a second. "The Franklin's were Michelle's grandparents. She used to live with them, her parents died in a car crash when she was three. When they passed on she moved down the street to her aunt's place."
"So, you guys just, stumbled across it one day?" I was being nosy, I knew, but the curiousity was overwhelming me.
"Not exactly."
I was rushing. The rope was in there, I knew it. "What do you mean?"
"The Franklins were...different. The used to hunt. Mr. Franklin, started off normally. He'd go out in the woods, kill something, bring it home and do all that other stuff. But then, he became alittle crazier. His wife had found that door while cleaning one day, they assumed it used to be used to hide people in during World War II. Well, as time progressed, Mr. Franklin started throwing his kill down in there. And not just little animals. Big things like deer. He even threw stray dogs in there. There used to be a ladder attached, I don't know what happened to it. But he had built in a camera on one of the walls and connected it to another room."
"You mean?"
"Yeah, he watched to creatures suffer to death. He installed an air conditioning unit to blow right in there, so they usually froze to death."
I put a hand over my mouth, disgusted.
"One day while Michelle, Jenna, and I were playing hide and seek, Michelle went and hid under that bed, and we discovered it. But Mr. Franklin made us promise never to tell anyone. And," Anna shivered. "He was such a scary man, we had no other choice."
As I listened to Anna's story, my heart rate increased. I wondered if the a.c. unit was still working. If so, Sam was surely freezing.
Reaching my hand on one of the top shelves I found a miracle. Pulling it out I discovered a long, thick rope. The kind used to hang up tire swings from a sturdy tree.
"Do you think that's all we need?" Anna asked, standing beside me.
I didn't want to waste any more time. While I was walking out the door, I peaked over my shoulder and remembered Anna mentioning a ladder. If Sam had gotten sicker, I would have to carry him out.
"Grab that ladder in the corner," I answered, storming back out into the daylight and towards the house, daring something else to try and stop me.
----
A/N: Almost finished! I already havethe next chapter wrote, but I figured it was too long to add on to this. Besides, so much occured in this one. And sorry to anyone who I promised that this story wouldn't be more than 15 chapters, it took a different direction and I felt like it was the better way to take. Hope you guys enjoyed, please R&R!