Author's note: Hey guys! Please bear with me because this chapter doesn't have much action, but chapter 3 definitely will (already 1/3 of the way done at the moment). Also don't forget to write some reviews! Tell me what you think will happen, what you want to see, how you like it/ dislike it! I would love to hear feedback from readers! Okay now back to the story….
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up." I state shaking my head. "Just give me a minute to let all this absorb."
I hear Dean drag the dead bodies into the alley way to hide from the public's eye and open my eyes to watch him. I highly doubted that hiding the corpses there would be a good idea, but I make no comment to correct him. When he finishes with his work, he grabs my arm and tugs me with him towards the way of the motel, his eyes scanning the street for anymore intruders.
"You want to take the time to figure this all out now? The last couple of minutes should've made it clear to you that it's not safe to stay here."
"Wait, why am I even trusting you in the first place?" I retort, pulling away from his grasp on my arm. "I mean, I know, you saved my life about 10 times now, but I don't even know you Dean. Who you are, what you're doing here, how you found me? How do I know that you aren't here for all the same reasons those demons are, huh? How can I even trust anyone anymore?" I declare in frustration. "Ever since that night you found me, my life has been difficult to say the least, but now I'm where I want to be and you just want me to drop everything I've ever worked for? I need answers and I need them now before I go through more of this- this craziness!"
Dean watches me for a long while, probably deciding whether to knock me out or not, since my big mouth didn't bring such nice of company from our last argument. "You know you were a lot easier to handle when we first met." He sighs deeply. "Look, I get it. I really do, but not here. I'll tell you everything you want to know back at the motel, but we got ears listening out here. Anything we say could be too much of a risk. Just humor me until I get you there." His green eyes plead.
"Fine, but I request one thing." I demand. "You tell me who you really are. How the hell do demons even know you by name anyways? Because I'm pretty sure all the people I've encountered haven't met a demon in their entire life!" I close my eyes, willing the pounding in my brain to stop. I rub my temples and try to speak less harshly. "Really though Dean, for all the things you and your brother have done for me, I can only give my honest gratitude, and I'm sorry if I'm being difficult here, but my life is getting taken away from me- again. It's like the world is trying to outcast me and I'm sick of it." I confess.
He eyes the scowl on my face and awkwardly places an arm around my shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry. Really, but this, " he gestures around me, "This is you're life now. You just gotta live with it. And lemme tell you, with demons in the mix it's only going to get worse. I've dealt with them too many times to count."
My eyebrows rise in interest. "...How many times we talkin'?"
"Since I was a kid." He admits, shoving his hands into his pockets. He begins to lead the way, walking ahead of me, looking distracted with his thoughts.
I have to run to catch up with his long strides. "Since you were a kid? How does a kid happen to come across something like that?"
"Well, it wasn't out of nowhere." He proclaims. "My childhood was actually pretty normal until we lost my mom to a demon. I was only four years old and Sammy was just a baby. It put my dad in a bad place and he took it hard on himself. All he could think about was revenge on the son of a bitch. Heck, Sam and I practically learned how to use guns and knives before the age of ten. We searched for the demon responsible and the job just stuck. We began hunting down all kinds of monsters you wouldn't believe."
"What are you?" I ask in awe. "Some kind of specialized Ghost buster?"
"I guess that's one way you could put it, but we call ourselves hunters. We save people from the things that they have nightmares about. Me and Sam travel across the country to keep my dad's legacy alive and have been hunting monsters ever since." The way his eyes avoid mine as he tells me about his family catches my notice. Under the dim light of the lamp posts, he looked vulnerable. Like a man who has seen things no one should ever see.
"I'm sorry to ask," I apologize. "-but did you find it? The one that killed your mother...?"
"Yeah." He confirms. "A couple years back." I didn't need to ask to know the demon was dead. The look on his face told me it was well taken care of.
"And your father? What happened to him?" I question curiously, mesmerized by his life story.
"H-he died to save me." His voice almost comes out as a whisper. His eyes scan the concrete as I scrutinize him. My heart breaks with all the pain him and Sam have had to go through. All the sacrifice they gave just to save people they didn't even know. It changed the tough man I once saw before me into a lost boy.
Dean doesn't continue so, I drop the subject for his sake. "Okay, that's all I need to know for now." I see him quietly sigh in relief. "But, if you don't keep your promise-" I threaten.
"Yeah, yeah. You'll hit town runnin'. Got it." He cuts you off, his voice taking on his usual cocky tone again. "Let's get off the street. We're here."
We soundlessly walk to some shabby looking motel, the lights spelling out 'The Comfy Hut' in ugly yellow letters. It looked anything besides comfy.
Dean's eyes keep sweeping the area, his hand inside his jacket to pull out his knife if necessary. As we reach one of the doors on the bottom floor, he knocks rhythmically on the wood. We hear a shuffling come from inside before the door opens to reveal a ruffled looking Sam.
"Sam!" I surprise myself by hugging his waist. As much as I liked to deny it, deep down I trust them completely. Yeah, I might be lying to Dean to cover my own ass, but who was I kidding? If they really wanted to hurt me they would have done it a long time ago.
"Whoa. Hey, there." Sam stumbles back as his huge arms awkwardly wrap around me. "Nice to see you again." He quickly smiles down at me. "Well, I guess I see what took you so long Dean." He chuckles.
"Holly here has got a couple of fans from down under. I had to gank a few demons just to get her here in one piece." He reports. I glance at him in surprise for using the name Rebecca gave me. He must have noticed my name tag.
Sam pulls away from my embrace to face him fully. "Dean! I thought we agreed to wait until we could explain things to her." He huffs, looking disappointed.
"Sammy, cut me some slack alright. I obviously didn't want her to find out like this either, but it's probably better this way. Now she has seen with her own eyes what those douche bags are capable of. This just made our job a whole lot simpler. " He responds with a shrug and winces slightly in pain from the action. As he tries to cover up the movement, I remember his body was used as a demon's personal punching bag not too long ago.
"Dean is hurt. He got pounded pretty bad by a couple of demon Hulk men." I quickly tell Sam, ignoring Dean's whine of objection.
Sam walks up to Dean to assess the damage, but Dean slaps his hand away when he tries to lift up his shirt. "Stop being such a wuss. Let me see if I need to stitch it up or not."
Dean throws a glare in my direction and I roll my eyes at him in return. When Sam reveals his chest, I let out a gasp. The area across his abdomen is scattered with purple and blue. I could actually see red imprints of the guy's fist on his chest. Sam goes to touch a particularly black bruise and Dean hisses in agony.
"This could be bad, Dean. They could have broken a few ribs, ruptured an organ, or something. Are you sure you're okay?" He observes him carefully.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing I can't handle." He brushes him off, pushing his shirt down. "I've dealt with worse."
Sam eyes him sternly before pulling his attention back to me. "Wait, Dean just called you Holly right? So, is that your real name?"
"Actually, no. It was given to me. That officer we met that night when you both found me, Rebecca, she named me Holly." I proclaim, my heart aching a little from missing the woman. "She took me into her home and gave me a new start. Treated me like her daughter. She took good care of me until I moved out on my own."
Sam beams warmly at me. "I'm glad she kept her promise with us then. At least you have one person you can trust out of all this mess." He sighs. "Speaking of trust…I guess we should tell you why we're here."
I sit down in a chair folding my legs under myself, waiting patiently for one of them to speak. As they falter in uttering a single sentence, I speak up for them. "To make things simpler, maybe I should ask the questions." I say and continue when they both nod. "So...have you both been following me around or what?"
"I wouldn't say following. More like taking an extra precaution." Dean defends.
"Precaution? What for?" I ask incredulously. "Well, besides the fact that I was almost killed four times tonight." I add with a wave off my hand. "Anyways, nothing has happened since the last time I saw you guys. My life was completely normal, or as normal as it gets. Why would I need to be looked after?"
"If this is going to become a game of fifty questions, then I'm going to need a beer." Dean answers with a grumble, rising from the bed, a hand rubbing his stubbled face. He strolls towards the mini fridge located in the front of the small room.
Sam instantly frowns. "Don't mind him. Sometimes he gets a little crabby if he stays up past midnight." He adds, causing me to giggle.
"I heard that." Dean retorts as he bends down to grab a Bud Light. "You guys want one?"
"Might as well. My life has already been threatened enough for one day. I think that should be good enough a reason for alcohol, right?" I state as he goes to throw me a beer. I catch it easily and pop the top open with the wood armrests of the chair I currently occupy.
"Now, there's something I'll agree with." Dean smiles proudly, pointing the tip of his bottle towards me in respect.
Sam rolls his eyes as we take a long swig before continuing. "Ever since we found you, weird things have been happening. Cow mutilations. Mass murders. Abductions." He goes on. "We didn't think that it had to do with you until it was reported in the papers that an imprint of a body was found in a crater that very same night. You don't know anything about that, do you?" His eyes search my face.
My eyes take interest at the ugly green carpet on the floor. Great, a blast from the past. I thought it would be all behind me by now, but I guess it had to come back around sooner or later.
"Look, I promise you I definitely didn't know about any kidnappings, cow killings, or murders." I tell them firmly. "I will admit though, that the crater might have something to do with me." I see them wanting to interrupt and quickly cut them off. "Let me finish! Can you please think of this from my point of view please? I had no clothes, no memories, and no contact of anyone. Add that to lying in some giant hole in the ground and it sounds like the beginning of an X-Files episode. I don't know how I got there or who put me there. All I remember is being scared out of my wits and running away, only to pass out and wake up to you guys. I swear I have told you guys nothing, but the truth since the beginning."
Dean purses his lips before speaking. "Mhm. Well, I'll be damned. Have we ever heard about anything like this before Sammy?"
"I don't think so. Maybe we should call Bobby. Find out anything that's sounds similar to this kind of case. You know we could also call-"
"No." Dean interrupts him. "Let's not bring bird boy into this right now. You know how he is."
I stare at them curiously. "Know how who is?"
"He's uh- some guy that might be able to help us, but I highly doubt you would want to meet him. Trust me. He ain't much of a people's person and I think you've had enough surprises for one day." Dean cocks his eyebrow.
"Well if he can help us out, then why not? I think I can handle a couple more surprises." I insist, crossing my arms across my chest to show them I mean business. "We already got the ball rolling so let's just keep it that way."
Sam and Dean gaze at each other, silently communicating between themselves. I see Sam nod and Dean lets out a long groan. "Alright, we'll call him. Just- don't bother him, okay? He's a stubborn- guy."
"So, he's not a people person and is stubborn. Got it."
"Okay, here it goes. Castiel?" Dean calls, closing his eyes and putting his hands together in some weird prayer-type fashion. "Hey. We need you here man. We kind of got a problem on our hands and we need your help. Cas? I know you can here me." I stare at him incredulously as he speaks to the ceiling.
"What are yo-" The room begins shaking making my mouth close. Once the room comes to a standstill, I notice another body has joined us.
"Hello, Dean. Sam. What do you want?" A man in a trench coat grumbles. He doesn't seem to notice me until I quickly get up from my seat.
"Who-How the heck did you get in here?" I ask my eyes wide in confusion. My eyes widen further as he suddenly pops out of sight. "Okay, what the hell is going on!?" I search for the trench coated man and fail in finding him.
"Holly, it's alright. He's a, well, a friend." Sam proclaims.
"I believe the term ally is more appropriate." That same deep voice appears again, but behind me. I turn around to find him inches away from my face. I flinch away from his nearness as he observes me with his big blue eyes. "Who is she?"
"Well, it's a long story…" Dean fades off.
"Dean this is not a game." The man turns to him. "There is something about her. She feels...different. A power radiates within her, but I cannot decipher it."
"Power...?" I muse in confusion. "Listen to me...sir..." I waver under his steely gaze. "I don't know what kind of magic crap you just pulled, but I promise you I'm the least from powerful you can get. Talk about a human form of a cabbage patch baby."
Sam and Dean stare at me in amusement as Castiel's eyes squint at me in irritation. "Then, what are you?"
"I don't know. A human being? What are you?" I glance at him, my eyes trailing down his coat and suit. "A tax collector?"
His eyes turn into slits. "No, this is my vessel."
"A vessel...? Is that supposed to be some fancy suit brand like Armani?"
"Who is Armani?" He questions, turning to Dean, confused.
"Okay, will you both knock it off? If you guys go at it any longer I'm going to get a migraine." Dean complains, shaking his head in annoyance. "Cas, Holly. Holly, Cas. Cas here is an angel." He quickly introduces.
"An angel." I repeat sarcastically. "Seriously? Angels are supposed to have halos and wings, this guy-" I stare him up and down. "-does not look like an angel.
"I am angel of the Lord." Castiel declares, his chest puffing out in anger. "You should show me some respect."
I ignore his remark, turning to Sam and Dean. "So, we have angels, we have demons, and we have monsters. What are you going tell me next? That Jacob and Edward are BFF's at Monster High?"
"Who are you talking about? I don't know a Jacob and Edward." The angel's head practically tilts all the way to his shoulder.
"Actually..." Sam cuts in," vampires and werewolves are real…just so you know."
"Okay, and that's where I cross the line." I quickly surrender. "I'm sorry. I just can't do this! I thought I could handle it, but this was the tipping point for me. I have seen-" I halt mid-sentence as two fingers touch to my forehead. My vision fills with black and I slump to the floor, hitting the carpet face first.
It seems like I've been out for hours, but it's really only been a couple of seconds. I try to open my eyes, but I feel a blackness pulling me back into unconsciousness. Despite being completely paralyzed from movement, I could vaguely hear the trio arguing away in the room.
"What the hell Cas?!" You hear a gruff voice yell, Dean. "You can't just put people in comas. You know how pissed she will be when she wakes up?"
"You should be cautious of her more than anything else." Another voice states, void of all emotion, obviously Castiel. "She is not...human, Dean. Something that could be a threat to us all. She might even be the cause of Heaven's total chaos. You have to get rid of her."
"Please, she's hardly a threat to anything, but herself. When we came across demons, she chose a math book as defense." Dean scoffs. "You think that is what we should be scared of? A girl who makes pancakes and pies for a living, and uses textbooks as a weapon of choice?"
"He's right Cas. She's been nothing, but normal whenever we checked up on her. Yeah, it was weird when we found her in the woods, but that doesn't mean she's anything dangerous. Besides, we can't just leave her to fend for herself. If the demons want her then we have to keep her safe. Either we have her on our side or she's left to them unprotected." Another voice adds reasonably, Sam.
"Two out of three. Sorry Cas, but no need for debate on this one. She stays put." Dean confirms, not allowing the angel to speak further. "Now, wake her up so we can deal with this."
I hear silence for a couple of moments before feet shuffle closer to me. I feel a hand lay on my shoulder and wake up instantly. I groan, holding my head in my hand and peer up at Castiel standing above me. "What the hell just happened?" I grumble, getting up from the floor and rubbing my back.
"I put you into slumber because you were being arduous." He states simply.
"Well, don't do it again." I murmur furiously, putting emphasis on every single word. "Seriously, what is wrong with you? I thought angels were supposed to be all Alleluias and sunshine, you sure proved that to be wrong."
He glares at me in frustration. "The Winchesters should not be helping you. You will only bring them harm. I have kept them as safe as I possibly can ever since my rebel and the apocalypse. I will not let some girl be the cause of their obliteration."
I glance to Dean and Sam for an explanation. "I guess you guys forgot to mention the world coming to a never ending doom too? Must've just slipped your minds." I snap sardonically.
"Holly, look." Sam begins. "It's a really long story and not the most important thing we got going on right now." He cuts me off as I'm about to interrupt. "We will tell you what you need to know if we have to. The rest of our history is long and complicated and I highly doubt you want to hear the whole thing."
"So, the apocalypse is just another night out? Am I missing something?"
"No, but it's behind us." He clarifies as I try to calm my spinning mind. "You weren't even here when it happened. We found you six months after. It's been almost a year in total."
"Besides," Dean adds in. "It was total crap on Earth. It's nothing worth mentioning, trust us."
I roll my eyes, falling down into my chair again, covering a hand over my eyes. "I'm starting to hear that a lot lately."
"Sam, Dean." Castiel abruptly speaks. "I have to leave, but I'll be in touch. Call me if there is anything you need help with." We all jump at the sound of his voice, completely forgetting he was there. He turns to me, his eyes squinting once again. "I hope I don't see you again. Once was more than enough." He spits, his blue eyes piercing.
"Nice meeting you too." I respond cynically, sticking a hand out for him to shake, but he pops out of sight instead.
Sam sighs, sliding his fingers through his long hair. "Well, that went well."
"Tell me about it." Dean speaks up, pulling out his car keys. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved. I'm gonna go get some grub. You guys want anything?"
Sam and I both shake our heads. "No, I'm good." Sam says.
"Not hungry." I add in.
"Whatever, your loss. We'll talk more when I get back." He hollers behind him before walking out the door and slamming it shut.
The silence lengthens after Dean drives away from the parking lot and you clear your throat awkwardly. "Sam...can I ask you something off topic?"
"Yeah, shoot." He states as he walks to his bag grabbing out a laptop.
"When Castiel was talking about the apocalypse, he also mentioned something about rebelling...What did he mean?" I question curiously.
"Well, believe it or not Cas used to be an even bigger dick when we first met him, but his time here made him change. He became more of aware of humans and their feelings rather than being like the other soldiers from Heaven. He even sacrificed his position in the garrison to help me and Dean stop the apocalypse and we kinda grew into a team because of it. You have to give him credit though. He already died for us once." Sam spoke highly of him, respect shining in his eyes. "Of course there is a lot more to it, but like a said, long story."
"Wow." I say in surprise. "I can't believe that's the same guy I just met. You think he would respect me more if I just jumped off the face of the Earth?"
"Maybe, but there is no way Dean and I are letting you go without a fight. We're still hunters. We have a duty to protect people and you need our help now more than ever." He declares. "We promise we won't let anything bad happen to you."
I smile slightly at his declaration. "Thanks. It means a lot for you to say that, really. I just hope what the angel said was wrong." I look down to the ground, scraping the tip of my shoe against the carpet.
"That he was wrong about what?" Sam asks confused.
"He said I was a threat to you. I don't want to cause any more trouble than I already am. It seems that everywhere I go, I mess things up. You and Dean have done so much for me. You don't deserve that kind of responsibility added onto your shoulders. You got enough on your plate as it is."
"Holly-" Sam begins, but the sound of my phone ringing interrupts him before he says anything else.
"Sorry, could you give me a minute." I apologize, pulling out my phone to see Rebecca's name flash across the screen. "It's Rebecca." I tell him before accepting the call.
"Hey, Rebecca." I answer. "What are you doing up so early? It's like one in the morning." I laugh lightly, but I hear no response. "Um-Rebecca?"
I hear a shuffle in the background and a shaky breath sound on the phone. "H-Holly?"
"Rebecca...? What's wrong?" My voice laces with worry. I see Sam get up from his seat and walk towards me with an anxious expression on his face.
"Holly." Her voice trembles with terror. "You aren't safe! Get to the police station now!" She speaks before a loud slap echoes from the phone, followed by a loud thump in the background.
"Rebecca!? Rebecca are you alright!? Talk to me!" I yell into the receiver, but a different voice responds instead.
"Holly, nice to hear from you." A male voice purrs, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "Looks like you're becoming more of a pest to find so I thought I'd pay your little friend here a visit." He chuckles darkly.
"What are you doing to her?! Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with me!" I yell at him as Sam tries to listen in.
"Oh, but she has everything to do with you." He says smugly. "Looks like you made a nice little home with this bitch. Too bad the walls will be painted with her own blood very soon." I could practically hear the smile in his voice.
"I'll kill you if you touch her." I threaten my voice low and deadly.
"Please." He laughs. "You can have me all to yourself when you get here, but if you decide to stay hidden, then she will be the one to pay." He declares before the phone clicks dead.
I drop the phone out of my hand, feeling like my heart was stuck in my throat.
"Holly? Holly!" Sam shouts, looking at me earnestly. "What's wrong?" His hands lightly shake my shoulders to bring me out of my shocked state.
"S-Sam." I choke out, my eyes filling with tears. "He has Rebecca. A demon has my mom." I lean towards him sobbing into his shoulder. "He said if I don't meet him then he'll kill her."
Sam grabs me tightly to his chest. "Shhh…..It's going to be alright." He says soothingly, pulling me back to look me in the eye. "We need to call Dean, right now."