Chapter Eight

"Cas, when you're done helping Bobby, I need you here. It's about Christina..." the prayer echoed in Lark's mind as she fell asleep on the couch waiting for Castiel to appear. During the night however something made her jerk awake. She didn't know what woke her up but grew worried when Castiel was not there. Checking the time she found it was half past two in the morning and she waited for a few minutes trying to calm herself down but when she heard something land on the floor upstairs. She decided to check on her friend to make sure she was alright, and to find out what made that noise.

She carefully climbed the stairs as she was afraid of what she might find. She carefully opened the door and shivered as the air was cold in her room. As she pushed the door opened wider she noticed the window was open and she jumped thinking there was a ghost floating nearby but relaxed when it turned out it was just Christina's blinds. The storm had passed and the moon's light had illuminated a from in their bed. But Lark knew it was Christina by the way the hair was draped across the pillows. Christina's soft snores were rhythmic and were genuine. But she had to find out what fell to the floor and didn't want to startle her friend.

"Christy?" Lark whispered softly and watched to see how her friend reacted. She slowly walked towards her friend's nightstand and couldn't find the pill bottle at first and a small twinge of fear shot through her, thinking her friend must have lost her pills until she saw them just underneath her bed. She bent down and grabbed the pills only to freeze when the pills made a loud noise. Lark glanced up at her friend and looked at Christina curiously. Strange markings, looking a lot like cuts, appeared on Christina's skin making her look like how she was when she was rescued out of Owens' house.

Lark was curious as why the moon made Christina looked near death as the shadows made her look pale and her eyes bruised. Lark glanced down at the pills seeing the directions, amount that had been given to her and a number to call in case of questions; suddenly Christina made a gasping sound and shot out of bed her arms out and hanging in midair as if being held in place. Her eyes were wide open and Lark dropped the pills to the floor and rushed to her friend's side. However as soon as she touched Christina's shoulders, Christina simply fell back into bed the markings, the paleness vanished as Christina turned onto her side and fell back to calming sleep as if nothing happened.

Lark's eyes scanned her friend quickly before retrieving the pills that were once again just underneath the bed. She stayed put for an extra three minutes before quietly leaving her friend's room leaving the door slightly ajar to be able to hear another outburst if there ever was one again.

~DSCWIN~

It was quarter to six and Lark had recounted the pills that she had taken from Christina's room. She had spent most of the early morning hours counting the pills, checking her phone for any text or missed calls and checking on her friend. Every time she did she saw the pills, which had 31 inside, was down to 29; there had been no texts or calls from anyone; and her friend was fast asleep but in a different position. Lark saw that there weren't any refills but the directions were straight forward. For her own satisfaction she knew her friend was indeed taking the pills.

The sun still hadn't risen quite yet, although there were a slightly bright color in the sky, but two pairs of headlights reflected against the back wall until she saw them vanish. She stood up making sure the pills she had been counting were back into the bottle before moving towards the entry way just as the door swung open and Dean, Sam, Bobby and Castiel walked in all looking tired and worn out from their trips. Lark raced over and hugged each one of the men that came in happy to have someone familiar and potentially helpful in her current state of uneasiness.

"Lark..." Dean said after she let go of him. "What are you doing up?" he had checked his watch and was amazed at how early she was awake. He knew that if she wasn't on a hunt she would spend most of that time asleep.

Lark was going to answer Dean but she looked down at the pills she held in her hand. "Cas, you need to go check on Christy...she's...different. I'm not sure what it is, but...just go."

Castiel nodded and headed for the stairs carrying the pill bottle Lark handed him it as he passed her to put back on Christina's nightstand. She didn't want her friend to think she was snooping into her private affairs.

"What...what's wrong with Christy?" Dean asked looking confused.

"I...I don't know how to explain it really." Lark sighed and looked up at Sam and Dean as though their presence just registered her tired mind. "Why are you home early? Not that I'm not happy that you're finally here, but did something go wrong?" She had moved back into the kitchen to start some coffee for all four of them.

"Oh, we followed the trail back here for that hunt." Sam said quickly looking sheepish. "Turns out it was a werewolf that attacked three people in Iowa, but found out it was heading this way. We followed and wanted to make sure you two were okay before hunting it and taking it down."

"So you saw the article in the paper too?" Lark asked. "Christina did too."

"About a judge in town killed with his heart ripped out? Yeah, we knew you two were alone and wanted to make sure you were alright." Dean said placing his bag on the side of the stairs.

"Well you can stop looking, we took one down late last night. Well basically Christina did most of it." Lark said. She led the small group of men outside to where the pole was still sticking up in the middle of the yard. The body of the werewolf was looking extra crispy and Dean looked both shocked and disgusted at the same time.

"You two took this down by yourselves?" Bobby asked and Lark nodded. "You know that was a damn fool move on your parts...It could of ripped both of you apart. I'm just glad that neither of you got hurt."

"Well, yeah..." Lark smiled and all four of them headed back inside the house. "So I take it your guys are gonna take some RR?"

"Yeah, that's our plan." Dean said walking to the cupboard grabbing four mugs for coffee.

"That's great...Dean I have to leave for a while." Lark said quickly just as Dean handed her a mug. She quickly poured her some coffee and started to mix the way she wanted. "I need to grab a few thing from a friend out of state."

"Alright, how long will you be gone?" Dean asked handing Sam a filled up mug of coffee who took it graciously.

"Just a few days...At the most a week. I don't think there'll be any problems or anything."

Dean nodded understandably. "Okay."

"Really?" Lark was surprised that Dean sounded so calm about her choice and that he didn't want to talk her out of it or decide that he was going along too. "You're going to let me be by myself?"

"Yeah. I mean...I'm not happy with you leaving of course, but I do know you need your space and we're still trying to decide on what we want. Like I told you, I'm wanting to change and not hold on so tight."

"Thanks..." Lark said when she could see that he was trying to be brave and do what she asked. "But I can't leave until I get a new vehicle."

"Let me help you with that. I'm sure Bobby won't mind you taking one his old cars. We can fix up yours and it wouldn't cost you nearly as much." Bobby was even nodding with agreement.

"Dean I can't let you do that."

"Look, this isn't a way to make you come back. We understand you need a car to get from place to place. Go ahead and take one and come back when you want to. We won't come after you. Or we can try and find you a new car of your own."

"You'd do that for me?" Dean nodded. "Alright. But I'm going to help you find a vehicle too. Then I'll leave." Lark wrapped her arms around Dean and took a deep breath of the smells of the open road, fast food and gun powder that was only Dean.

~DSCWIN~

The sun was high in the air when Castiel and Christina came down the stairs. Castiel was quiet while the youngest Winchester almost ran down the stairs before tackling Bobby and both her brothers. "Thank God you guys made it back!" She squealed before running into the kitchen to grab herself a bottle of water from the fridge. "How did the trip to Wyoming go Bobby? Lark mentioned that Castiel had to help you with something." she was asking questions at record speed as she bounced around not able to stand still.

"Yeah, got my hand stuck in the two hitch. Was by myself and figured he would be the fastest help and heal at the same time." Bobby explained showing everyone in the room a whitened scar on his hand. "Cas, then was too tired to go back so he stayed with me."

"Well I'm glad it wasn't very bad on that hand." she replied and then looked over at Lark and smiled brightly. "So we still on for a movie today? Since we couldn't yesterday? Or do you need to do some more clothes shopping?"

"I'm sorry I can't today." Lark said hoping Dean and Bobby were seeing the changes in her. "But I'm going to help Dean with finding a new car for me."

"Nonsense." Christina smiled wrapping her arm around Lark's shoulder and walking towards the front of the house. "There is nothing we Winchesters can't fix. Dean and I managed to rebuild the Impala with parts we found around Bobby's scrap yard. It's a treasure trove of possibilities out there!" Lark glanced over at Bobby and Dean who both looked confused at the amount of energy Christina had and the hint of desperation in her voice. It was like she was trying hard to make them believe she was fine. "Dean come on. Let's see if we can't fix Lark's car so that it's as good as new or even better."

"Christy, that's not going to happen. It's not like the Impala where it was just pushed off the road and got banged up and windows broken." Dean gently pulled his sister away from Lark and pointed to a badly wrecked vehicle still attached to the tow truck. "I like your enthusiasm but this can't be fixed. It would be cheaper to purchase another car or truck."

Lark could see Christina's shoulder slump slightly as Dean led them all back to the house. "Besides you're still recovering from what happened. I mean it's almost noon and you just now getting up. You used to be the first one up and down here having breakfast."

"I've been up since six-fifteen this morning, no offense but you guys are loud when you get home."

"We got home at quarter to six." Sam said as he noticed a subtle change in his sister's facial expression when he corrected her. He shot Lark a look silently asking if she'd meet up with him later to answer a few questions. Lark nodded once and they both turned to look at Christina. "What have you been doing since you woke up?"

"She and I have been talking." Castiel answered before glancing up to the ceiling. "Excuse me I'm needed elsewhere." With a blink of an eye Castiel was gone, leaving everyone to stare in awkward silence.

"Since you want to get a new car..." Christina turned and looked at Lark her eyes wide with a child like pleading. "Would you mind if I scrap parts from your old one? It would save me a bunch of money if I can salvage parts off it."

"Sure go ahead." Lark said and Christina smiled and headed for the tow truck to move it to the scrap yard next door. "Dean...Sam..." Dean turned and looked at Lark. "I need to talk to you about what happened here while you were gone. Maybe it'll help you to better understand my concerns."

~DSCWIN~

Lark had been tearing a napkin into small pieces that she had grabbed to calm her nerves and give her some courage to tell them the events that had happened in the space of three days.

"It all started the night you guys left." she started clearing her throat as as bubble began to form. "Christina had come down with I started to clean the kitchen from my dinner. She had given me some more clothes since I didn't have any. I was trying to apologize for leaving and not keeping in touch when she turned around and flat out told me...she'd kill me if I left you Dean." Lark said looking directly towards Dean who was busy making a few sandwiches for a quick lunch and to take one to his sister who was still working outside.

"Really?" Sam asked trying not to sound like Lark was lying. He knew she had no reason to and frowned trying to come up with a reason why Christina would say something like that. "That...that doesn't sound like Christy."

"Tell me about it." Lark said taking a swig. "But then yesterday...she apologized about what she had said. She decided we needed to go into town and hang out and she had an errand to run. She went to the parts store to see about buying things for her motorcycle, while I went to the Internet Cafe to look for a used car, and help with your case. Afterwards, we went to the diner had some coffee and then left to buy some clothes for me. She seemed like herself, sort of. She was doing a crossword when I came in the diner, but she never finished it. She only solved like three of them and that's not like her. She's like you Sam, she can quickly do them, but it was like she was struggling with it. I didn't mention anything about it as I didn't want to upset her."

"Did it seem like she couldn't concentrate on it?" Dean asked sitting down with the plate of sandwiches.

"I'm not sure, I think she was just keeping busy waiting for me. When I came in she handed me the newspaper with the article of the judge that was killed and his heart torn out. We both knew it was probably a werewolf and she wanted to hunt it down. But because of the storm that hit around here we decided to cut the trip short and head home and was going to wait until the storm let up to look for the werewolf. She and I got into some clean dry clothes, made some chili for dinner, and was playing cards for chores when I noticed her sleeping pills. They're very strong stuff."

"She told us about them when she came back with Bobby." Dean said looking over at Sam who nodded in agreement. "But when we asked why they were needed she clammed up and changed the subject."

"Well, I don't know why she wouldn't tell you, but they're strong experimental pills for those suffering from insomnia. Was she struggling with insomnia?"

"No idea." Sam admitted. "She hasn't really talked to us about this. We had been dealing with other cases and thought she was tired from the extra work, the pushiness from Dean...sometimes from me too...but we also think she's still having traumatic experiences from what had happened to her. I mean, both Dean and I have died once and I don't think I ever felt like what she's going through. Have you Dean?"

"Maybe in like the first month or so." Dean said taking a small bite of his sandwich. "But...I'm thinking that Cas isn't telling us everything."

"What really concerns me is those things are experimental and the side effects are not really known. I looked them up and I'm not sure why a doctor would prescribe them to her. Christina sensed something and went out in the storm. It was like she needed that surge of excitement and adrenaline you get just before a kill. It was like she didn't care if she got hurt and to be honest...the way she stuck the metal pole in its body to fry it was unnerving. She showed no emotions what so ever like it was an every day occurrence for her..."

The front door opened and Christina walked in looking greasy, sweaty and very happy with herself. All three turned to look at her, each eyeing her with different concerns.

"Heyo everyone!" she said picking up one of the sandwiches on the plate and took a large bite out of it. "Lark, you are amazing!" she swallowed quickly and set the partially eating sandwich on the table before taking out her wallet and handed her six one hundred dollar bills. "For the parts I got off of your car."

"But I don't want your money. The car was totaled and of no use to me. I'm glad you could salvage anything off of it." Lark said not wanting to take the money. "If that car can't be fixed then it's no use to me." Lark took the money she had been given and handed it towards Christina, but froze when she saw something dark flash in her eyes and saw Christina made no move to take the money back.

"No, think of it as an apology for what I said a couple of days ago." She insisted and smiled over at her brothers before heading out the house without another word, leaving the sandwich on the table.

Sam glanced over his shoulder as she disappeared and picked up his sister's sandwich. "I'll be back." he said leaving the house a few seconds after Christina. He wanted to see if she would eat more then just a bite. Now that he thought about it, it seemed she hadn't been eating very much at all lately.

Dean scratched his head trying to think of what to say. "Well, I'm gonna go get myself cleaned up and when I get back down we'll look for your new ride." he said dismissing their discussion of his sister.

"Okay." Lark said her voice trying to sound happy. "Dean, I'm sorry...Not trying to think bad of your sister you know, and I'm wanting to help...But I'm scared of her and for her. I don't think those pills will be good for her in the long run."

"I do get it." Dean said sounding like he was alright with what Lark had said. "But let's not think about it right now. You know people have to adjust to new medications when they start taking them, so maybe she's just adjusting. She seems happy right now and I'm good with that."

The front door swung open and Sam entered looking confused and was still holding Christina's discarded sandwich.

"Christy left I guess. She's not over at the scrap yard or the garage."

"She could be going to pick up some tools or something." Lark suggested giving Dean the benefit of the doubt that she wasn't planning anything. "Is her motorcycle still here?"

"I didn't check. Let's hope that's all she's doing." Sam mumbled giving Dean a look that meant he thought something was suspicious with the youngest member of their family too. All of them knew it wasn't like Christina to head off without telling anyone why she left.