Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home

After a few days of driving and sleeping at cheap hotels, they had finally made it into the town of Blackwater Ridge, Colorado. Amber had barely spoken a word to anyone the entire journey back to her hometown and she had eaten less than a bird. Trees. That was all they had seen for the past six hours. Amber was familiar with the area,

"Dean, if you would like, I could take it from here, I'm familiar with the area and I don't know how you feel about backseat driving," Amber spoke up, saying more than she had the past two days.

"Sorry, sweetheart, no one drives this car but me, not even Sammy," Dean patted the steering wheel as if he was patting a dog on the head.

About an hour later they were at her house. The 67' Chevy Impala made a right down a shady path, trees on each side of the road. About a half-a-mile down the road sat a house, which appeared very tiny from a distance. The tires rolled across the gravel, crunching as it rolled. Amber loved that sound. The Impala came to a stop about 8 feet from the three story, white, wooden home. Each of them climbed out of the car, groaning as they stretched, arms reaching towards the heavens. With Amber's head thrown back, her hair reached the bottom of her butt.

Amber hesitantly walked up the rickety stairs to the front door of her home. She dug into her pocket for a house key, but remembered it had been devoured by the fire. She pulled her hand out of her pocket,

"What?" Dean asked when he heard Amber groan.

"I don't have the key, it's still in Key West," she rubbed her forehead with her left hand.

Dean was about to say something else when Amber walked over to the large glass window beside the wooden door, lifted her right leg and kicked the window. Glass shattered all over the front porch. Dean looked over at Sam, who grinned,

"Well, I guess that takes care of the key problem," Dean mumbled as Amber began to climb through the window.

Dean rushed over to help her into her living room. She grasped his strong upper arm as she climbed over the windowsill. She hopped down off the windowsill and walked over to the door and opened it form Sam and Dean. They stepped inside.

Directly in front of them, against the right wall, was a wooden staircase, leading to the second floor. At the top of the stairs stood a long hallway, leading to her parents' bedroom. Beside the first stairs on the second floor, was another set of stairs leading to the third floor, Amber and Nikki's room. Beside the first set of stairs was another shorter hallway leading back to the kitchen and back porch. The house seemed like a maze. To their left was a doorway leading into the dark living room. The wall facing the doorway held a large, stone fireplace filled with wood. On top sat pictures from various vacations and her parents' wedding years and yeas before.

Facing the fireplace was a large, forest green sofa and beside that was a couch with a footstool of the same color. A wooden coffee table sat in front of the couch, magazines and books neatly stacked on the top at each end. The magazines were mostly old Shape, Fitness, Vogue and Lucky magazines. She had applied at Vogue, as a photographer, weeks before the trip, but had not heard anything from them yet.

Dean and Sam looked around the house from where they were standing,

"Uhh...yyyeeeahh…so this my house," Amber bit her bottom lip, "make yourselves comfortable," Amber walked into the living room and turned to Sam and Dean, "I can take your jackets if you'd like," she motioned to the coat hanger next to the bookshelf in the corner.

"I'm good," Dean and Sam replied.

"How about something to drink?" Amber shrugged.

"Some water?" Sam asked.

"Sure, right this way," Amber smiled, opening the glass door with a forest green curtain hanging on it, and leading them into the kitchen.

In the center of the kitchen stood a large wooden table that could seat up to ten guests. A large counter lined the back way and side wall, cabinets two feet above the counter tops. An old-fashioned refrigerator sat at the end of the counter next to the oven. The kitchen was painted white with white cabinets and white wooden counters. To the right of the doorway was a green door leading to a large closed porch. Amber fetched them their water then headed up to her room on the third floor.

Amber climbed out of the shower in her bathroom and climbed into a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt. Her long hair was knotted. She walked into her room and sat down at the stool in front of her mirror, picking up the black brush which sat parallel to the mirror. A silver remote with gray and green buttons sat to the right of her right hand. She picked it up and pressed the power button, turning on the CD player on the nightstand to the right of her full size bed. The CD began playing,

"Your subtleties they strangle me

I can't explain myself at all

And all it wants

And all it needs

Oh, I don't want to need at all

The walls start breathing

My minds unweaving

Maybe it's best you leave me alone…"

Amber smiled sadly, starting to brush through her hair with no luck. She struggled, tugging and pulling at it, tearing through it, ripping some hair out.

"..A weight is lifted

On this evening

I give the final blow

When darkness turns to light

It ends tonight, it ends tonight…"