Thanksgiving Break 2002
I never heard a gunshot so close to me before. Sure, this is Texas, but the only shots I've ever heard before were from a rifle, and that was at a gun-range. The sound blisters in my ears. I can barely even process what's going on as my legs give out from underneath me. A sharp pain runs through my body as I hit the ground, darkness consuming me.
A muffled voice approaches me, speaking nonsense as far as I know. I look to see Sam standing above me, hands in the air, eyes wide as he pulls my broken form in front of him. His hand reaches out, softly touching my shoulder, and as I focus on him, his voice becomes clear.
"Hey," Sam looks at me with concern. "Do you remember me? We met at Joe's earlier?"
I'm silent. I'm trying to process what I just saw. What just happened? What was that thing? I can't focus on anything; I look around wildly. I meet his eyes; I can see the fear behind them as he puts on a brave face trying to keep me calm. Slowly, I nod my head, "Sam," I whisper.
"Right. Eliza, right?" I nod again, eyes wandering to the dead thing only a few feet away. "You're gonna be okay, Eliza, I've got you." His voice is soft. "Can you look at me, please?" he asks, bringing my attention back to him. "Are you hurt? Did it bite or scratch you?"
I can't move, let alone speak. I stare at the ground below me and somehow manage to shake my head. I don't even realize that tears are falling down my face.
"You're sure?" His hand comes to my face, and I wince before he even touches me. "Okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, Eliza. You're sure that it didn't hurt you?"
I look into his warm hazel eyes, but I still can't speak and shrug my shoulders in response. Everything happened so fast. I know that thing didn't bite me. But its claws were coming at me before I heard the gunshot. Monsters are real? Whatever that thing was, it wasn't an animal, and it definitely wasn't human.
I bring my arms together and flinch at the sudden pain in my forearm. I look down to see a trail of crimson running down my arm. I gesture to the wound with a nod, and Sam rips off a piece of his shirt and gently bandages the injury.
"I—I'm gonna need to look you over, Eliza, is that okay?" he tells me, and I nod my head shakily. "Do you think you can move?"
I can feel tears running down my face now, and know that I should respond, but I'm helpless to do anything but stare at him in shock.
"Shh…. It's okay. You're gonna be fine. Shh…"
He picks me up and moves me towards a bench under a lamp, taking me far away from the dead creature. He looks me over, "No one calls you Eliza…right?" he says, trying to distract me and make small talk. "My brother—Dean—likes to call me Sammy, but he's the only one who's allowed to," he offers a smile. "They'll be here soon—my brother and dad, we'll get you to a doctor, get a proper check-up for you."
"I-I-I j-just s-stood there," I stutter, "t-that thing—it c-came at me—and I c-couldn't m-move."
"Ella," he turns his head to face me, "is it okay for me to call you that?" I nod in response, and he continues. "You know it's not just 'flight or fight'?"
"W-what?"
"There's more to flight or fight," his voice soothes me, "there's a third instinct, freeze. That's how some people react in dangerous situations. It's perfectly natural, you were in shock, seeing something like that can make anyone shut down."
"What was that thing?" He seems relieved that I am speaking, "I've never seen anything like that before."
He sighed, clearly running something through his head. A low rumbling in the distance makes me jump, and Sam looks around nervously. He stands up in front of me, seemingly to protect me from whatever or whoever is coming towards us.
"Sammy!" A low voice calls. I hear a loud creaking of a car door opening and closing. "Son, what the hell happened? You were supposed to be three blocks over tracking the—"
"It's over there." I don't look up, but assume that he is referring to the dead thing which is now a few yards away from us.
"Goddammit, Sam. I told you to watch and report only!"
The voice sounds angry but controlled, and I realize that it's Sam's dad, John, as he continues. His voice grows louder until he's almost shouting, but I can hear the underlying concern. It's more fear for Sam than anger that has the man upset.
"This wasn't something for you to do on your own! You wait for either Dean or me; you know that!"
"Dad… he got it; it's dead," Another voice, Dean, says as he walks closer to us. "Sammy, you got some real balls on you, taking down a—"
Dean stops talking, presumably catching sight of me, a whimpering mess on the side of the road.
John apparently notices me also, asking, "What happened here, Sam?" as he steps closer to me.
"I was tracking it… for hours. It was following Ellie and her friend home," Sam explains. "When they split up down the block, it tried to attack Ellie. I had to act, dad. It would have killed her; it tried to bite her. I couldn't let that happen." Sam rambles, becoming noticeably upset. "I had to do something. I couldn't—"
"Okay, easy son. You did good."
I hear a soft pat as someone takes a step closer, and my body starts to shake uncontrollably at the thought of someone coming near me.
"It's okay, darlin'. I won't come any closer." John's voice is placating, soothing. "Do you know what happened?"
I shake my head; everything's a blur. I can't make heads or tails of anything.
"That's okay; you're safe now. We aren't gonna let anything happen to you, Ellie. Me and my boys, we're gonna get you somewhere to get you looked at." John steps away, and I relax a bit as he walks back to Sam and Dean.
"Is she hurt?" Dean asks. "Are you sure it didn't bite her? You know what will happen if it did."
"I don't think it did," Sam states. "Its claws were coming at her when I shot it. She's bleeding from her arm, but it's not deep. Besides that, I think she's physically okay."
"All right, you and your brother take her to a doctor," John orders. "I'll take care of the body."
"Yes, sir," the boys answer in unison. Sam walks back over to me, Dean only a step or two behind him.
"Ella, we're gonna move now, okay?" Sam says. I give him a nod to reassure him I'm okay, relatively speaking anyway. He holds out a hand to help me up. "Do you think you can walk to the car? Or do you want me to carry you?" he whispers so only I can hear him.
"I—I think I can walk." My feet are heavy beneath me, but Sam stays at my side, one hand wrapped around my waist, supporting me, the other holding my injured arm.
We reach the car, and I gasp at the sight of it. I don't know much about cars, but this thing is a beast, and I can tell that it is cherished by its owners.
"She's a beauty, huh?" Dean says, opening the door to the back seat, I smile weakly and nod. He cringes a little when he sees my arm. "Dude, make sure she's not bleeding," he huffs at Sam. "I just cleaned Baby out."
"Nice, Dean, real sensitive." I watch Sam shoot Dean a look that can only be interpreted as 'fuck you'.
"Come on, man! You know I'm not being serious!" Dean tries to laugh it off. Sam's not buying it.
"Dean! Cut the shit and take this girl to get some help!" Apparently, neither is John.
"Where's the hospital, Ellie?" Dean asks, getting into the driver's seat. Sam sits with me in the back seat, and I lean against his side, the only bit of comfort I have.
"The c-closest one is in the next town over," I murmur, now terrified about what could happen next.
"Fucking small towns," Dean grunts, turning back to face us. "That's too long a drive and if that thing bit—"
"Dean. I told you, it didn't. You're scaring the shit out of her man." Sam squeezes my hand consolingly. "Ella?"
"Is something going to happen to me?" I look up at Sam; even in a seated position, he is so much taller than me.
"No, Ella, we just want someone to take a good look at your arm," he reassures me. "Is there an emergency clinic or something?"
"Off of J-Jefferson and M-Main." Panic sets in, and I plead, "Sam; you won't let anything happen to me, will you?"
"Of course not, as long as me and my brother are here, you'll be safe, okay?"
"Sam?" His face softens, and his eyes are filled with concern. "What was that thing?"
Sam hesitates, he seems uncertain about what to say. Just as he opens his mouth, Dean's eyes meet Sam's in the rearview mirror, and he tells Sam to give me 'the talk.' Monsters, ghosts, things that go bump in the night, all of it, they're real. The three of them travel around the U.S., hunting them. Sam and Dean remain quiet and let me take in everything I've just learned as we drive to the clinic.
"M-my parents," I suddenly realize, "it's so late. They're gonna wonder where I am. What am I gonna tell them?" I'm becoming hysterical again.
"Don't worry about that Ella," Sam soothes me again. That's all he seems to have done for the last hour. "I'll call them when we get to the clinic, okay? Do you have a cell phone?" I shake my head. "That's okay, write the number down for me." He pulls a scrap piece of paper from his pocket and catches a pen that Dean tosses over his shoulder at us. Panic washes over me as I write my phone number down. What is he going to tell them?
"Don't worry," he says as if he's read my mind, "I won't tell them about it. It was an animal attack, coyotes maybe?" he offers, and I nod. They are uncommon but not unheard of; one or two attacks a year.
"Coyote attack," I confirm with him.
We pull into the clinic parking lot, Sam helps me out of the car, and Dean walks ahead to open the door. My legs still feel like jello, so Sam helps support me as we walk in. He tried to carry me, but I won't allow myself to be that helpless.
"Ellie Y/L/N?" the nurse, Teresa, says, looking at me as we walk in. The curse of small towns-pretty much everyone knows everyone else. "What happened to you, sweetie?"
I can't speak, I can't lie to this woman. Tears fill my eyes again, and I move back into Sam's side.
"Coyote attacked her," Sam answers. "Just got her arm, she may need some stitches, and someone needs to give her a full check-up, just in case."
"And who are you?" Teresa looks at him and Dean curiously, two strangers walk in with a wounded girl, there are bound to be some questions.
"Sam, Sam Campbell. My brother and I saw the attack and scared the animal away. Ellie asked us to bring her here." He rubs my back while I cradle my injured arm.
"Alright, Ella, can you come with me, and we'll get that arm looked at?" Teresa extends her arm to me to lead the way, and I flinch. I know she won't hurt me, but all I can see is a claw coming at me. I look at Sam, terror written all over my face, silently pleading with him not to leave me.
He smiles down to me, "it's okay, Ella."
"Can he come in with me?" I turn back to Teresa, "please?"
"If that's what you want, Ellie," she smiles, but I can sense that she thinks there's something wrong about me wanting someone she's never seen before to stay by my side.
"Will you, Sam?" I ask, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice. "I don't want to be alone, please don't leave me."
"Of course, Ella," His large eyes meet mine, and they are soft, green specs more prominent than before. "Do you want me to call your parents first?"
"I can have someone do that," Teresa says, gesturing towards the door that would lead to an examination room. I nod in agreement. It will be better coming from a member of the staff than a complete stranger.
Sam waves Dean off, and we walk towards an exam room where the doctor is waiting for us.
"Okay, Ellie, let's take a look at that arm," Dr. James says as I sit down, Sam still by my side. "Oh, yeah, that's gonna need some stitches. You said a coyote did this?" Teresa retrieves a suture kit and some antiseptic to clean the wound on my arm and gives it to Dr. James.
"It charged at her and then knocked her down. She was using her arm to protect herself. My brother and I, we saw it all happen, we scared it off, Ella-Ellie seemed really shaken." Sam tells her for me, and I am grateful. There's no way I could lie through this. One look into my eyes, and she would know something was not quite right with the story we're telling her.
"This isn't like any Coyote-related injury I've ever seen before." She's not buying our story. I can tell she doesn't like that Sam is speaking for me, and I can see Sam trying to come up with a way to explain the injury. "Ellie, is there something that you're not telling me?" She asks, looking directly at me. "Would you rather we speak alone?"
I know I have to say something. Sam saved me, and if I don't say anything, Dr. James will probably have the sheriff here in a matter of minutes. I run the lie in my head; they'd never believe the truth. Hell, it happened to me, and I barely believe it.
"No… It was a coy-coyote or maybe a wolf." I stammer. "It all happened so fast, it was clawing at me, and then the next thing I knew, Sam was there." I faintly smile as I look up to him. He offers a tight-lipped smile to Teresa. She seems to believe the lie slightly more.
"Alright, Ellie, it's my job to ask questions." The doctor continues to stitch up my arm-twelve in total. "Hopefully, there won't be too much scarring. Ellie, I'm gonna have Sam step out for a few minutes so that I can give you a more thorough exam, okay?"
I don't want Sam to leave; I feel safe with him around, but we'd only known each other for a few hours, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to stay.
"Okay," I agree. "Can he come back afterward?"
"Of course. Sam, you can go back out to the waiting room, I'll come and get you when we're done," Dr. James instructs.
"I'll be right out there, okay Ella?" he says as he exits the room, "I'm not going anywhere."
Dr. James steps out as Teresa helps me change into a gown. I avoid looking at myself, but I can feel Teresa's eyes scanning my body like she's making mental notes of things to tell Dr. James when she comes back. Teresa briefly leaves, allowing me a few minutes by myself, which I use to rehearse the lie in my head.
"Ellie, I know I already asked," Dr. James says, as she re-enters the room with Teresa right behind her, "but is there something else about the attack that you'd like to tell me?" I shake my head but don't look at her. "Because I don't think it was a coyote that hurt you, I think it was a person, and you're afraid to say something. Did a man attack you?"
"N-no," I struggle to say.
"Are you sure? Because your injuries look more like you were defending yourself from sexual assault than an animal attack. Whatever you tell me will stay between us. I'm not saying that your friend Sam is the one who assaulted you. Maybe it was someone else? Maybe you had set-up a date and things got out of hand? Again, we are not here to judge you. I know your parents can be a little strict and maybe you don't want them to find out. But Ellie, if someone hurt you in that way, I need to know so that I can give you the proper treatment. If you were assaulted—"
"I wasn't—" my voice was weak still.
"Ellie, how else do you explain some of your injuries? There are marks littered all over you, and it doesn't look like the work of a 'coyote.' Even now, you're showing signs of a concussion. An animal attack wouldn't cause that."
"I think I blacked out," I mutter. "It all happened so fast, one minute this thing was charging at me, and the next thing I remember is seeing Sam."
I curse myself for the way I phrased that. It would only strengthen her belief that this wasn't an animal attack, but that it was an assault by a person, specifically Sam.
"Sometimes, our brains do that to protect us from memories that may be too painful. Now, you're telling me that you blacked out; lost time." She looks at me with concern. "Is it possible that someone hurt you, and you've blocked it out? If someone attacked you, I need to run other tests, take other samples from you. Do you understand?" She pauses, waiting for my response, and I nod. "I'm going to ask one more time, and I'll believe you no matter what you say. That Sam person, is it possible that he hurt you?"
"No." I'm firm in my answer this time. "He wasn't there before the attack. I remember that much. He saved me, and he hasn't done anything inappropriate with me."
She nods, but I can tell that she still doesn't quite believe me, and at this point, I can't blame her. I accidentally catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my hair is disheveled, my arms bruised and scratched up, and there are several more bruises on my legs. She tells me that if I feel I need it, I will only have 48 hours for an emergency contraceptive to be effective. I reassure her I won't need it, but I understand why she is still skeptical.
I re-dress, and Teresa invites Sam back in. I pull him into a hug as soon as he is within reach, he's my only source of comfort now. Teresa explains that in a few weeks, I will need to have the stitches removed, while Dr. James writes me a pain-med prescription.
Sam and I walk into the waiting area and find Dean pacing in front of the chairs as he mindlessly flips through the pages of a magazine. He sees us and puts down the magazine and smiles.
"How you doin' Ellie?" he asks with an unexpected softness in his voice, miles away from the cocky guy I had met less than a day ago.
"I'm okay," I smile. "I'll be okay," I say with slightly more confidence.
"You're a tough girl," Sam says. "You'll be alright."
"You ready for us to take you home?" Dean asks, and I nod.
As soon as we reach for the doors, mom and dad come charging in.
"Lizzy! Thank God! We were so worried about you!" Mom is all but running at me, tears streaming down her face. "I knew I should've sent your father to pick you up! It's too dangerous for you to be walking home alone at night! Look what happened!"
"Lizzy… they said that a coyote attacked you?" Dad reaches out, and I freeze. I tuck my body closer into Sam's, wrapping both my arms around him. "We couldn't believe it when they told us, are you okay, honey?"
I give him a weak smile, but remain silent. Dad glances at Sam as he studies us. I can see frustration taking over his thoughts.
"She's been pretty quiet since it happened." Sam's arm is on my waist, partially holding me up as I begin to shut down again. "She had to get some stitches, but mostly she's just shaken up." He explains to them, bringing his hand up around my shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm sorry," Mom looks at us, unsure of what she was seeing. "Who are you? I don't believe I've seen you before."
"I'm Sam… Sam Campbell." He extends his free hand out to dad for a handshake. "We've been tracking the recent animal attacks—"
"Well, Sam Campbell," Dad's voice becomes louder, and his eyes harden as he notices Sam's arm back down on my waist, still helping support me. "Would you care to explain why the hell you've got your arm around my 16-year-old daughter?"
Teresa must have told them that they didn't believe the animal attack story. I can see it all over dad's face. Dean steps up to Sam's side, quickly becoming defensive over what dad had been implying. He stands to his full height, even puffing his chest out, ready to go to bat for his brother.
"My brother saved your daughter's life," he states coldly. "He hasn't left her side since it happened. And if you bothered to take two seconds to look at your daughter, you'd be able to see that she's terrified. Not of my brother, not of me, but you. Right now, my brother is literally the only thing keeping her on her feet. Most people go with 'thank you' when a person they loved is rescued, but far be for me to tell you what to do."
I have never heard anyone talk to my dad in such a manner and watch as his pupils go wide. He looks like he's ready to fight when Dean starts in again.
"And if you want," Dean steps closer to dad, "we can—" Dean is cut-off when another voice joins the foray.
"Alright, that's enough," John declares, stepping between Dean and my dad. "Dean, the man just learned that his daughter was the victim of a vicious animal attack; he has a right to be defensive. You know better." he reprimands, trying to diffuse the situation.
John turns to my dad and extends his hand. "Forgive my son; I raised him better than that. I'm John Campbell. My sons and I helped Ellie out after the attack. I'm so sorry we didn't catch the animal sooner."
"Rob Y/L/N, this is Sarah," dad extends his hand in greeting, then turns to Sam, "Thank you for saving our daughter."
"Lizzy is our world." Mom chokes back her tears and looks to Sam. "Thank you so much. I don't know what we would have done if we lost her."
"It was really no problem, ma'am, I just happened to be at the right place at the right time." His voice is low and soothing as he smiles at her.
Sam carefully lifts his arm from around me, before pulling me into a final hug, "You're gonna be okay, kid. If you need anything," he pulls a piece of paper out, numbers scratched on it hastily, "or you wanna talk, vent, whatever, call me, okay?"
I nod, taking the paper from him and slip into my pocket as dad slips an arm around my shoulders, maneuvering me away from Sam.
"Come on, Lizzy, let's go home." He looks back at Sam and Dean, "Again, thank you."
Mom steps up on my left, sandwiching me between them. "Do we need to get you anything, sweetie?"
"Dr. James wrote me a prescription for some pain meds," I say, and I can sense the relief coming from my parents that I'm finally speaking.
"Okay, we'll stop at the pharmacy on the way home."
I look over my shoulder, catching Sam's eyes and mouth, 'thank you'. He nods and waves goodbye to me.
Our drive home is mostly silent, grumbles coming from dad every few minutes. I don't like being apart from Sam. He saved me. What if something happens, and he isn't there to help? What if there are more of those things out there? What if they come back for me? I feel panic and fear rising within me, and I take deep breaths as I stare out the window trying to calm myself.
"Let's get you up to your room, Lizzy," dad says, helping me into the house. "I'm gonna call Joe tomorrow and tell him you'll need the rest of the break off," he says as we reach my room. Normally I would protest, but now, I don't care. All of this is too much for me to wrap my head around.
"Do you need me to help you change?" mom asks, appearing in my doorway.
"Please," I whisper, somehow my arm hurts even more now, and it will be too painful to change by myself.
"Okay, Rob, give us a minute," she says, shooing dad out of my room.
"Oh, sweetie, I can't believe this happened. Maybe you should tell Joe you can't work after dark anymore."
"Mom…" my voice is still weak, "can we not? Please?"
"Lizzy," her tone changed, "When Teresa called, she said you'd been attacked. That you said it was an animal, but she thinks—"
"I… p-please… I really don't want to t-talk about it…"
"Was it that boy, Sam?" she asks. "Did he do something to you? You can tell me, sweetie; he's not here, he can't do anything. Your father and I, we'll make sure that he goes away for a long time."
"S-Sam helped me, he saved me, he stayed with me the whole time afterward," I whisper, "He's a good person. He didn't do anything to hurt me. Please, I just want to sleep."
"You know your father has seen them around the neighborhood for the last week or so, he says they're always acting funny, asking strange questions. He also heard the brother-Dean?-say they never stick around one place very long; they might be gone in the morning."
No. They can't leave. Sam can't leave. I need him. What am I going to do without him here?
"What?" I nearly cry at the thought of him being gone.
"I want you to stay away from him, Lizzy."
Dad re-enters my room as I climb into bed. "Boys like that only want one thing, and if he ever touches you, I'll kill him."
"Dad," I try to keep the desperation out of my voice, "He makes me feel safe."
"You don't even know them, Lizzy," he speaks firmly. "They probably do something like this in every town they go to. They find some vulnerable girl, and they make her believe she needs them."
"Rob," Mom can see how dad's words cut through me, that can't be true. "What your dad is saying is—"
"Those boys are bad news. You aren't to see them again, especially that Sam person."
"They saved my life, and now I can't even speak to them?" I glare at him. "Not even to say 'thank you'?"
"Lizzy, they've done a good thing, but those Campbells are bad news."
Mom leans down to kiss my forehead, followed by dad, and they leave me alone in my room.
I think about everything that has happened in the last few hours. Sam, Dean, and John couldn't be bad news; they saved my life. I close my eyes for a moment, but all I can see are the unnatural gold eyes peering through the darkness and fear courses through me. 'It's dead. He killed it. Sam killed it.' I remind myself. Sam. Just the thought of him immediately calms me. I picture his warm kaleidoscope eyes and allow myself to get lost in them as a drift asleep.