SEVEN DAYS

Thursday

7:10 AM

Mornings suck.

That's what I thought to myself as I ignored the time displayed on the alarm clock and closed my eyes again.

They really fucking suck.

9: 45 AM

By the time I woke up again I had missed most of my morning classes. Second period was already well underway. Even if I managed to leave the motel now I still wouldn't be able to make it for more than the last five minutes. There really was no point... But I knew my dad would be pissed with me if I missed a full day of school, and I needed to ask my English teacher for an extension on my assignment. I didn't need him calling my dad again, letting the man know I had lied to him.

I took my time getting up, swinging my legs onto the floor and sitting on the edge of the bed for awhile. Looking around the motel room, at the cracks in the ceiling and the tears in the wallpaper, I recalled Bryce flopping onto the bed, stating that the place wasn't half bad. I would have chuckled at the memory if it wasn't for the headache that pounded through my skull.

I hadn't slept well, but I couldn't remember what I had dreamt of last night, or if I had at all. The bedsheets had been wound around my legs when I had woken up, probably caused by me twisting and turning, but as hard as I tried to remember my mind turned up nothing. Sometimes that happened. Sometimes I was given respite for no reason, and I wondered what I had done to be granted relief for two days in a row.

Standing up reluctantly, I made my way to the bathroom, noting that I still looked like hell as I glanced at myself in the mirror. Despite the sleep I had received, dark circles encompassed my eyes, making my face look sunken. Or maybe that was the lack of eating on my part. My appetite wasn't what it used to be. My skin was as pale as a ghost from lack of sun, and my hair needed a cut. As I rubbed my morning shadow I wondered if I should shave but eventually decided to keep the stubble. After all, it had only started growing in recently, and chicks seemed to dig it.

I splashed some water on my face and smoothed down my hair, trying to look at least somewhat presentable for school. Dressing in a pair of jeans and a Metallica t-shirt, I didn't even bother to grab my backpack. I left it sitting in the corner of the room as I locked the door behind me, my phone in my jacket pocket along with my wallet. I didn't need anything else.

It was half-way through lunch by the time I made it to school. The east gate was open for students, so I walked in without a problem, not having to resort to scaling the wall to avoid a scolding. I paid a quick visit to the admissions office, using my charm to convince the woman working there that a family emergency had caused my lateness, and that a call to my father wouldn't be necessary. Then I made my way to the cafeteria and my spot next to Katie.

She was sitting with two of her friends when I arrived, a girl I didn't recognize and another one I remembered only barely from stats class. They were shushed away before I could even reach the table, and when I sat down Katie took my arm and batted her eyelashes at me. "I was worried you had caught that nasty flu going around when you didn't come to school yesterday," she said, her blue eyes focused on me. "Are you okay?"

I would have felt flattered that she cared so much if I didn't see her worry for what it truly was: a prod to see whether or not I was showing disinterest in her. Just like her complaints when I didn't sit with her at lunch, she was on the lookout for any signs that I was going to dump her, because she couldn't risk being the dumpee. No, she always had to be the one who did the dumping. It wouldn't do to have it the other way around. That was a stain on her reputation she could not afford to have.

"I'm fine," I told her, giving her my best impersonation of a real smile. "Just had to help my dad with something yesterday. It's all good now."

That seemed to satisfy her, because she stopped asking me about my absence and began to fill me in on all of the gossip I had missed in the past twenty-four hours. As she twirled her long hair around a finger, I heard all about how the Kellogg twins were dating the same guy, and how it had been revealed that Kimberly Treese was bulimic, though Katie had always suspected.

I didn't see Bryce until Katie took a moment to stop talking and actually take a bite of her lunch. I was surprised when I spotted him sitting at the table with the group of girls he had been with Monday afternoon. I hadn't seen him in the cafeteria since that day, and I idly wondered if one of the girls had caught him before he had slipped outside, or if he had simply decided to join them out of his his own free will.

Maybe he had decided to lie for once.

I watched as his eyes shifted from the lanky brunette sitting beside him to my table. When his eyes met mine, I found I looked away without meaning to. It was a reaction I couldn't stop, and I wondered if it was because of what had happened yesterday. Bryce had seen a side of me that no one at this school ever had, and I wasn't exactly thrilled about that. Not even my dad or brother had witnessed one of my attacks.

I focused on Katie again as she went into detail about how her friend Sydney had heard Kimberly throwing up in the girl's second floor bathroom. I wondered how Katie could eat her pasta as she talked about human vomit, and all along I watched out of the corner of my eye as Bryce rose from his seat and excused himself from his table.

The guy was heading in my direction, and I wondered if he was on his way to speak with me. I cursed beneath my breath because I didn't want him asking questions about what had transpired yesterday, especially not in front of Katie. I didn't need my own personal business being broadcast to the entirety of Kimberley Trenton High School.

When Bryce was halfway to my table three figures suddenly blocked him from my view. I swivelled my head around to see what was happening, and discovered that the three guys from the convenience store were blocking Bryce's path. I was worried a fight was going to break out right in the middle of the cafeteria, but then Brad and his friends were moving along, walking passed Bryce with only a few shoulder collisions delivered. I didn't know if they had exchanged any words, but I almost sighed in relief. If something had gone down I probably would have gotten involved, and what I really didn't need right now was a call to my dad from the principal, telling him I had been suspended for fighting in school.

Bryce stood still in the aisle for a moment, maybe wondering if a fight was worth it after all, but then he seemed to think better of it and continued on his way to mine and Katie's table.

"Hey," he greeted me as he reached us.

Katie's non-stop chattering abruptly halted, and I watched as she turned her head slowly to look at the intruder, a look of utter non-belief on her face.

"What's up?" I asked casually, trying to use my eyes to signal Bryce to run.

"What are you doing?" Katie asked in the bitchiest tone possible. It was as if she couldn't believe Bryce had the balls to approach her table, let alone interrupt her.

Bryce glanced at Katie before returning his stare to me. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said, suddenly unsure of his words. "After... yesterday."

"Yesterday?" came Katie's high-pitched voice. "What happened yesterday?"

"Nothing," I said roughly, but it was too late. Katie was a magnet for gossip, and I knew it wasn't in her capabilities to let something like this go. She would get to the bottom of this story if she had to tear it out of us with her manicured hands. Sometimes I thought facing a vicious Black Dog was less frightening then facing a determined Katie, but I didn't dwell on that idea for long.

"Are you two friends or something?" She looked back and forth between me and Bryce, focusing on me, piercing me with a warning gaze. "Are you friends with him, Dean?"

I didn't know why Katie disliked Bryce so much, but I knew what she was capable of. I knew she could make Bryce's life a living hell. Was I supposed to stand up for him right now? Was I supposed to put him on Katie's hit list and then transfer in a week, leaving him to fend for himself? That didn't seem right.

"I barely know him," I said, scowling. "Why the fuck would we be friends?"

God, his expression. Like I had betrayed him or something. But then the look of hurt was gone and it was replaced with... nothing. An expressionless mask, like the one he had worn the first day I had met him.

"I'm sorry, I..." he looked away from me, his words directed to Katie. "I was confused. I thought... Yeah, I don't know him." Then he was walking away, probably headed towards the library to continue reading Lord of the Rings. Maybe to the east gate where he'd wait out the rest of lunch, away from the girls who pestered him so much.

I didn't watch him go. Instead, I ate a bit of the pasta on Katie's plate, barely tasting it.

"God, what a freak," Katie said as she turned back to the table, having watched Bryce leave the cafeteria. She took her fork from me but then tossed it on her plate again, leaning back in her chair. "Made me lose my appetite. Why would he even come here and talk to us?"

I didn't say anything, really just wanting to get up and get as far away from Katie as possible. Her words were harsh, unneeded, and I fought the urge to tell her off. Who the fuck was she to call Bryce a freak? She didn't know the guy. She hadn't eaten Korean food with him, or watched SNL reruns at three in the morning. She probably didn't even know he had a sister who loved elephants. She had no right to judge him.

Then again, I had done the same thing when I had met him, hadn't I? I had lumped him in alongside all of the other naive, self-involved teenagers that filled this school's hallways. He had been nothing but a weird kid who liked to scale walls and date girls for a week. We all judged. We were all judged. It was a never-ending cycle that couldn't be broken. Not until you really got to know someone. Even then, our judgements were very often wrong.

"What time should I be over tonight?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Katie's mood seemed to lighten after that, as she went into details about what to expect at her birthday party. Her parents were already in Barbados, where they would be staying for the weekend, and I was welcome to sleep over for multiple nights if I wanted to. I wondered if Katie really was willing to lose her virginity to me, a guy she wasn't even really dating, but I didn't dwell on that thought for long either.

Instead, I kept thinking about that look of betrayal on Bryce's face. Did he really think we weren't friends anymore? Had he not understood that I was just protecting him, that my words had been harsh for a reason? The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me, until I couldn't stand sitting at this table any longer.

Telling Katie I needed to use the washroom, I got up and brought her tray to one of the garbage cans, dumping the remaining pasta before making my way to the east gate. I wasn't sure if I would find Bryce there, but I got lucky. As I exited the building I saw his bag sitting on the ground just outside the gate, and I picked it up as I rounded the corner.

"You've really got to clean this thing," I said as I began to brush the dirt from it. Bryce was looking up at me where he sat crouched in the same position he had been the other day, his mouth not smiling, his eyebrows pulled down into a frown. "What, you think it looks better with the mud stains?" I asked, giving the thing a dubious glance. "You trying to turn it into a camo bag or something?"

He stood up suddenly, snatching his bag away from me and making his way back into the school.

"Hey, whoa. Hey. Look at me." I managed to stop him by grabbing his arm and forcing him to face me. "Tell me what's going on. What's wrong?"

"Like you fucking care."

"Are you pissed at me or something? Because of what happened back there with Katie?" He glared at me, but he didn't say a word. "Oh, come on, Bryce. Who cares if Katie knows if we're friends or not? It's none of her business anyway."

"Exactly," he stated. "Who cares? But you do, obviously. I thought you were different. I really did."

I was taken-aback. "Different? What does that mean?"

He gestured at the school. "They're all the same. They're all blind to what's out there. They're all stuck in this little world they've created, where the worse thing that can happen is you fail a chemistry test or your crush starts dating someone else."

I looked at the school and then back at Bryce. "Yeah, so they're all morons."

"And so are you," he blurted out. "I thought you were different, that you didn't care about how they saw your or what they thought of you, but I was wrong. You're just like them."

I frowned, not liking the idea of being compared to people like Katie or Brad. "I don't give a fuck about what they think, Bryce."

"Then why did you lie?"

I was getting angry. This was why I stayed out of peoples' business. This was why I didn't make friends. I try to help Bryce and he accuses me of deceiving him? "Because I knew if Katie found out we were friends she would make your life a living hell," I explained.

"You mean you weren't afraid she'd dump you?"

"Dump me?" I almost laughed. "We're not really dating. I don't even like Katie."

He looked at me like I was insane. "Then why do you hang out with her every lunch? Why do you play the part? Why do you put up with everything she says and does?"

I opened my mouth to respond, to defend myself, but I suddenly realized I didn't have any words to say.

He scoffed. "Yeah, you are just like them. You go around ignoring everything that you don't want to deal with, comfortable in your own little world, never daring to peek outside, even just a little, even if it's what you want. You probably do just want to sleep with her."

"Bryce-"

"No, I don't want to hear it. You might think what you did back there was you protecting me, but I don't need your help, Dean. I don't need you to be friends with me. I don't need anything from you."

He stomped away and I fought the urge to go after him. What the fuck did I care what he thought? I had been stupid to call him a friend. How could Bryce be my friend if he didn't even know the most important thing about me? I could never tell him that I was a Hunter. He could never know that I was more different from the people in this school than he could ever imagine.

I didn't have friends for a reason. And I didn't need friends. All I needed was my father and my brother and I was set.

But you don't even have them right now, I thought to myself as I watched the school door swing shut behind Bryce. I thought about going to fourth period English, to ask my teacher about that extension, but I suddenly didn't give a fuck whether or not he called my dad. I wanted to get as far away from school as possible.

9:43 PM

By the time ten o'clock was rolling around I had spent most of my day sharpening knives and cleaning pistols. I knew my dad would have wanted me to keep the equipment he had left at the motel in tip-top shape, and I wasn't about to let him down. I would skip school and fail assignments, but there was no way I would deliberately disappoint him when it came to hunting.

As I finished with the last knife, its edge a gleaming masterpiece, I placed the duffel bag of weapons in the closet and I considered my options for the rest of the day. I didn't really feel like going to Katie's party, but the thought of spending another night in this motel room alone was enough to drive me insane. That and the non-stop complaining I knew would await me at lunch tomorrow if I missed Katie's birthday celebration.

So I got dressed for the event, trading in my Metallica t-shirt for a green button-down shirt. It wasn't much of an improvement, the shirt wrinkled as hell, but I wasn't concerned about meeting dress codes. Then I grabbed the whiskey bottle I had left alone the other night and took a few swigs, eventually deciding to bring the thing with me. If the police decided to stop me for public drinking, so be it.

Katie and her parents lived near the boardwalk, and I got a few strange glances on the bus ride as I continued to sip from the whiskey bottle. By the time I reached my stop I was already feeling a little buzzed. I'd like to say the alcohol was the reason why I had gotten off at the wrong stop, but I knew there was another reason.

I looked around, realizing that I had exited the bus three stops too early. This was where Bryce and I had gotten off when we had decided to go see a movie the other day. Had we played hooky only yesterday? It felt much longer than that. Maybe that was because we had gone from friends back to strangers again in that time.

I glanced down the street at the theatre, willing myself not to follow through with my plan. It was a stupid idea, for the promise I had made yesterday on the boardwalk had become null as soon as Bryce had told me to fuck off. Yet even with all of these good reasons to turn away and head to the party, before I knew it I was standing in front of the movie theatre. I made my way passed the ticket booth, being ignored by an employee who clearly didn't care enough about his job to stop me, and then to the claw machine by theatre four.

I knew I was already late for the party and Katie would be pissed, but I didn't care. I was just glad that the stupid purple elephant was still there, hanging by its trunk like it was hanging on for dear life. It took me fifteen minutes, seven bucks, and a string of curses, but I eventually got it off of the ledge, the stuffed animal finally falling into the box and into my hands.

Stuffing the elephant into my jacket pocket, I quickly left the theatre and continued my journey to Katie's place, sipping from the whiskey bottle until it was almost half empty. I eventually made it to my destination, impressed by the building's clean image and the presence of a concierge dressed in a funny little uniform in the foyer. Not to mention the fancy elevator that took me up to the penthouse. This was no rundown motel.

I could hear the music blaring before the elevator doors even opened, and I didn't bother to knock on the front door, knowing no one would hear me over the din. As I let myself in I was surprised by the amount of people I saw in the apartment. I had thought Katie was only going to invite a 'select few' individuals, but it looked like half the grade was here. The birthday girl didn't seem phased by the amount of people, however. She greeted me with a kiss when she saw me, clearly drunk enough to not even be pissed that I was late.

"Dean!" she shouted over the music. "You made it." She hugged me, spilling a bit of her drink on my shoulder, and Bryce's words echoed through my head.

"Why do you play the part?"

I looked around at the party-goers, at the teenagers I thought I was so better than, and suddenly I was wondering if Bryce was right. Was I part of the cliche? Maybe I was the guy who put up with Katie's crap just so I could get laid. The asshole who separated himself from everyone else, thinking he was special, when really he was just like them all. Did knowing about the Supernatural world really give me some magical pass?

I felt a wave of self-loathing wash through me as I gently pushed Katie away, about to tell her I was leaving. But then she kissed me again and the self-loathing transformed into self-destruction as I felt my body respond to her and my mind spiral away from any noble notions I may have had. If I wasn't drunk myself I probably would have had the self-respect to break away, but as she slipped her tongue into my mouth my mind stopped thinking.

"What's in your pocket?" she asked as she suddenly drew her lips away, looking down at my jacket. She was reaching into my pocket, drawing out the stuffed animal. "Aww. Is this my present? It's so cute! I love it."

I felt the urge to snatch it away from her, but I fought it. I didn't even know why I had gone through the trouble of winning the stuffed animal. It wasn't like I was planning to give it to Bryce or anything. Still, seeing it in Katie's hands bothered me.

Before I could ask Katie to give it back, there was the sound of the door banging open and I looked over my shoulder, watching as Brad entered the apartment like he owned the place. The redhead was dressed in a navy blue polo, his hair in disarray, and I could tell he was drunk out of his mind. The beer can in his hand was just a confirmation.

He came up to us, blowing on one of those party blowers, yelling happy birthday at the top of his lungs. Then he noticed me. "What the fuck is he doing here?" he asked, a stupid expression on his face as he jabbed a finger at me. I was about to tell him to fuck off when Katie spoke up.

"I invited him here, Brad," she announced. "God, what's your problem?"

Brad grunted, giving me a once over before seeming to accept my presence. "Whatever."

Suddenly the rest of his gang were pushing themselves into the apartment, already drunk as well. "Yo, guess who we just saw outside," Andrew called out as he used Big Guy's shoulders to hoist himself up into the air excitedly. "Bryce fucking Caldwell."

I narrowed my eyes at the trio, not liking the idea of three intoxicated bullies cornering Bryce outside.

"Ugh," Katie exclaimed. "Please don't tell me you guys picked a fight with him again,"

"Nah," Brad said before he drained his beer, crunching the thing in his hands and tossing it to the side. "Looked like he'd already gotten a good beat down. Wasn't much left for us to do."

The three of them laughed as they pushed deeper into the apartment, towards the keg where they would fill their cups and resume getting pissed drunk. I pushed back my own intoxication, going over their words, trying to make sense of them. If Brad and his little gang hadn't beaten up Bryce, then who had?

I turned to Katie, to ask her if she might know, when I was stopped by the expression on her face. She looked guilty, her eyebrows pulled down in worry, her mouth a thin line, her eyes glossy. A very bad feeling settled in my stomach, swishing uncomfortably around with the whiskey.

I took her arm and led her into a hallway, away from the crowd. "What the fuck are they talking about, Katie?" I asked her as we regained a small amount of quiet.

She looked startled by my words. "You never heard?" she asked softly as she looked up at me.

"Heard what?" She glanced away, her expression crumpling. I leaned forward, locking eyes with her as I tried to fight for my sobriety. "Tell me."

"It was... quite a while ago," she began, her words slurring together only a little. "The Caldwells had a daughter before they adopted Bryce. Her name was Marina and she was my best friend growing up. I still remember how excited she was when she told me she was getting a baby brother. I think there was something wrong with Mrs. Caldwell, so adoption was their only choice. For the next year they were, like, the happiest family. But then something really awful happened."

She looked down at the ground as if she couldn't bare to continue, or maybe she was just trying not to throw up. I wasn't exactly sure how much alcohol she had consumed before I had shown up. I reached a hand out to touch her arm. "Tell me, please."

She seemed to gather her strength before continuing. "It was an accident," she said. "Marina was seven, Bryce was only five. They were just being kids. Bryce dared Marina to climb the tree in their backyard. If you had known her, you'd know that Marina never backed down from a dare. She even ate a worm once when I dared her. So she climbed the tree, but on her way down she slipped and she fell. She hit her head and she… she died."

I felt my body grow cold.

"It wasn't really Bryce's fault, but the Caldwells… Especially Mr. Caldwell, he always blamed Bryce for Marina's death. It drove the whole family to the brink. Mrs. Caldwell began taking prescription pills and now I hear she's useless. She just lies around in bed all day in some kind of drug coma. Mr. Caldwell lost his job and he spends most of his time at the bar. Bryce still lives with them, but I've heard such awful things… They don't treat him like a son. They blame him for what's become of them. When Mr. Caldwell gets really drunk he gets really mad too, and when Bryce is home… He usually does a good job of covering the bruises and pretending that everything is okay at school, but everyone knows."

I didn't realize I'd been clenching my fists until I felt my nails dig into my palms. "Everyone knows?" I asked. "Then why hasn't anyone stopped it?" I couldn't believe that an entire community was capable of ignoring something that was so wrong and so very obvious. Maybe the students, but the teachers? The principal?

Katie looked guilty. "People have tried, but Bryce... Bryce never admitted that he was being beaten. He would just always make excuses. Lies."

I don't lie. Bryce's words were like a brick hitting me in the head now, sobering me up. I should have known that only a liar would ever claim such a thing.

"Why didn't anyone try harder?" I snarled. "How could you just stand around, making fun of him, knowing that all of this was going on?"

She had tears in her eyes but I didn't care. "He wouldn't let anyone help," she said quietly, pleading with me to understand. "After awhile we all just gave up. If he didn't want help then why should we keep offering it? We all just thought he was weird for taking the abuse. I'm sorry. I-"

I grabbed her by the arms, shaking her, the anger in me too much to control. "Did you not ever stop and consider why he was taking the abuse? Did you not think that maybe, just maybe, he felt he deserved it? That he was punishing himself for Marina's death? Did that never occur to you people?"

Katie was crying now, tears mixing with her mascara and running down her face in black rivulets. "What could I have done?" she sobbed. "Marina was my friend. I know it wasn't really his fault, but if he had never been adopted then she would still be alive."

I let go of her like she was suddenly a live wire and took a step back. I understood what she was saying, but to punish someone for something they could not have foreseen... To allow them to believe that it was their fault for killing someone they would have done anything to protect... It was basic cruelty.

"Where is he going?" I asked, my voice cold.

"I- I don't know."

She was hesitating. "Katie, please tell me. Bryce doesn't live around here. If he passed by your building, where could he be going?"

"I'm not positive," she stated. "But he could be going to the graveyard."

"The graveyard?"

She nodded her head, her eyes sad. "To visit Marina. To see his sister."