The rain was relentless for the next few hours after her fuel up as Riley drove east. It was nearly midnight when she pulled off the highway for the night into some budget motel whose half lit neon sign was flashing vacancy. She got out of her truck and jogged into the office, her hoodie pulled up over her head. The twenty something kid at the desk gave her a room and she paid in cash.
No way she would risk using her credit cards now, knowing damn well that Sam was already watching for activity. She got back in her truck and drove around to the back of the building to park near the door to her room. Once inside, she locked the door and leaned against it, her heart pounding away in her chest. Her bag was discarded on the table near the door. She took a couple deep breaths and let them out slowly, trying to calm her nerves. Riley blinked back tears and her hand came up to push away the one that managed to escape down her cheek.
She did this for a reason.
To save Dean.
Riley took another deep breath and moved to the table where she'd tossed her bag. She shuffled through it and found some sleep attire to change into. Her jeans had bloodstains from both her and Dean and luckily the kid at the desk hadn't asked or noticed them. She froze for a few seconds when she saw the cell phone in her bag. It was still shut off so they couldn't locate her.
Riley flopped on the only bed after changing her clothes and closed her eyes, trying to relax, knowing that a few hours of restless sleep at the crappy, rundown motel wouldn't really do much for her emotional exhaustion. Her mind was racing and memories of her late nights with the eldest Winchester haunted her like no other. She could picture him so clearly, laying next to her and gazing at her with those impossibly green eyes of his as they cuddled close in the wee hours of the morning.
By 4am, she'd given up on sleep and checked back out, bag in hand. The rain was still coming down, but with less intensity now, as if mother nature were sensing she needed some sort of reprieve. Across the street sat a lonely two pump gas station and Riley had pulled her truck across the deserted road and near the side entrance. The coffee she'd gotten had helped calm her nerves immensely.
An extra large coffee with four caffeine shots and some hazelnut creamer oughta do the trick, Riley thought to herself. Then I'll be there by daybreak.
She'd paid for her coffee and a few snacks before pushing out the smudged, fingerprinted glass doors back out into the dark parking lot as another patron passed by her. She scanned her surroundings quickly before she unlocked her truck and slid back inside, locking the doors again.
Riley turned over the engine and got out of there, one hand on the wheel and the other holding onto her coffee cup, the warmth bringing her some semblance of comfort, even though her world was falling apart for the millionth time.
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Meanwhile, in the Impala...
It was nearly 3am when they'd arrived at Bobby's house. They'd driven straight to his home from the bunker after Sam had come back with the pizza to find Riley gone and Dean out like a light in her bedroom next to the bowl with the ingredients of a powerful spell to transfer the Mark of Cain.
The boys were in the living room, the rainstorm a steady thrum on the roof above them as they turned on their laptops. "I'm looking up her credit cards again... see if there's any activity, withdraws..." Sam sank onto the chair, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him.
Dean was still standing there, in a state of shock. "Sammy, why'd she do this?" His voice was hushed.
"She wanted to save you Dean." A sad smile tugged at his lips. "You know what? When she was making you dinner the other night, Riley promised me that we'd find a way to save you."
Dean's throat worked to swallow. "She did?"
"Yeah," Pause. "I was teasing her about spoiling you and she laughed and told me she didn't care, that she was just glad to have you back." Sam saw Dean wipe his eyes with the heel of his hand and turn away for a moment while he gathered his emotions before they spilled over. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose before moving behind the wooden chair where his brother sat.
"Anything?" Dean asked, leaning over to read over Sam's shoulder.
"Nothing."
"Sonovabitch..." There was defeat in his voice and Sam sighed.
"She didn't leave anything else behind? Nothin' that would clue us in to where she went?"
The older man began pacing across the worn floorboards underneath his boots. "Riley planned this out, Sam. She's not stupid. She knows we'll track her. She straight up ghosted our asses."
Sam shifted in his chair to look up at his older brother. "Dean, I'll put an alert on my phone so if anything pops up, we'll know. If she so much as runs a red light, we'll know." He saw Dean close his eyes defeatedly. "We'll find her, brother."
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Three hours and forty minutes later, she pulled into the crumbling driveway and cut the engine. The morning was still somewhat dark and quiet, the sun not yet peeking over the pine trees that overshadowed the little house from the backyard. Riley slid out of the truck, suddenly nervous for showing up unannounced at this early hour.
Her wobbly legs carried her up to the front porch. Riley pulled open the screen door with a hell of a lot more confidence than she felt and took a deep breath before she rapped sharply on the thick wood door. She turned to look behind her out of habit but saw no one in the quiet stillness of the morning.
Ten long seconds passed and Riley was just about to knock again when she saw a small light turn on in the dark house. The porch light turned on a few seconds later and the white curtain covering the stained glass window were pushed aside with the occupant's index finger before a pair of tired eyes met hers.
The heavy door unlocked and was pulled open. A tear slipped down her cheek without her realizing it. "I know it's early and I didn't call, but I had no place else to go..."
The door was held open and she was waved inside. "Come in here. Tell me everything..."
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Sixty miles west and a couple hours later...
"There's a store about five minutes from the cabin. Just stop there and grab the rest. Let the tap run a little when you get there. Haven't been up there since last summer."
Her friend had made her a sandwich for the road and packed her a plastic bag with some groceries from her own pantry. When Riley was using the bathroom, the woman slipped a fifty dollar bill under the plastic lid of the coffee can, pinning it between the foiled seal and the lid. The toilet flushed and Riley reappeared before hugging her friend goodbye before watching the brunette climb back into the two tone truck and back out of the drive, waving before she pulled away.
The drive there was fairly smooth and she let the radio play softly as she drove, a small smile playing over her features as Riley looked over at the plastic bag of groceries. What a great lady, she thought. Maybe there still is a chance for humanity after all. Before she knew it, the road came to the the tiny store and Riley parked in the nearly empty ten space lot before she cut the engine and got out, closing the door, her purse on her arm.
A friendly greeting was called out as she pushed open the door, the bell above her jingling and she flashed the kid behind the counter a small smile before she she meandered through the half dozen aisles, scanning the prices and putting items into her basket. Riley knew to make smart choices and she eyed the bottle of lavender body wash longingly before settling on a simple bar of soap that was much more inexpensive. Riley moved to the only register and her items were rung up and placed into plastic bags.
"Thank you." Riley smiled a little at the male teen aged clerk as he handed her back the change. She'd gotten some pantry staples from the tiny grocer that proudly stated they were in business since the forties. They'd opened shortly after the area was turned into a state park and people started building cabins there and an RV park opened up there year round. It was secluded, he'd mentioned, so there was no room for competition.
Riley knew she only had limited funds, so she had to make the food she had last. She had no credit cards or anything, so cash was king. She'd bought some oatmeal, milk, canned tuna, rice and some pasta to get her through the next couple weeks.
The daylight was fading slowly as she drove through the woods to her cabin and parked before going inside. There was no television there, but she'd brought a couple books to pass the time. Riley's stomach suddenly growled and she realized she hadn't eaten today other than breakfast as her friend's home that morning. It had taken her about an hour to get from her friend's house to the McIntosh Woods State Park where the cabin was.
The cabin was small, maybe 600 square feet and had a tiny kitchen, a sitting/ dining area and one small bathroom and tiny bedroom. But it would suffice, Riley reasoned. All she had to do was survive for four months before contacting the boys.
In other circumstances, this would have been the perfect weekend getaway. But in this case, it would provide Riley privacy and time for the Mark to dig in its claws. Dean said it had taken him about four months to feel the full affects and that terrified her. What would happen if she couldn't control herself as well as Dean had?
Riley shook those thoughts away and focused on unpacking the groceries she'd bought. The oatmeal tasted bland with only milk, but she hadn't bought any sugar and she cursed herself for that. After her afternoon meal, Riley brewed a half pot of coffee and poured herself a mug before stepping out onto the deck facing Clear Lake. It was cooler than usual for this time of year, maybe in the mid forties and she was thankful for the cool air. Riley curled up on a well worn wooden deck chair and cupped her hands around the warm mug, her eyes on the water.
The boys must be worried sick, she realized. She knew Dean must feel betrayed, and for that, she was sorry. Riley remembered her bag in the corner of the bedroom with a sigh. The only item inside was the one thing she hadn't unpacked and hadn't been able to look at since she left the bunker.
Her friendship lamp.
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Good morning lovelies!
Thank you to ButterflyAlley, jloh217 and my unsigned guest for your reviews on the last chapter!
Hope y'all enjoyed this! Have a wonderful day!
CitrineMama