sorry to everyone for the long delay, life has been beyond crazy. thank you all again for the great reviews, i hope everyone enjoys the newest chapter. :)
NOT ALL AS IT SEEMS
Chapter 6
For a fraction of a second, Kerri stood frozen to the spot, fear running through her in torrents, pounding in her ears, and seizing her heart. She couldn't do anything but stare at the bloodthirsty eyes before her, the beast's saliva dripping down by her sneakers. An instant later her brain kicked back into gear, Kerri holding Jake for all she was worth as she ran back through her room, taking a small staircase off the back of her floor. Her house was built like a maze, and she prayed to god that it would help her as she ran.
She couldn't hear the Korrigan, but that didn't meant it wasn't chasing her. It was a shape-shifter, and lord only knew what form it had taken after the first encounter. She rounded a corner at the bottom of the stairs, slamming the door to an old office closed behind her, just as the creature's nails pierced the old wood. She needed something to keep it away just long enough for her to get to her car.
She rubbed Jake's back as she searched the room for a weapon, anything that she could use against the Korrigan. Jake cried into her shoulder, his little fists holding onto her shirt for dear life. She scanned the dust covered desks, the room around her being one that she did normally use. It wasn't beyond the salt barriers like most of the rooms in her house, but it still wasn't a space she was all that familiar with, and that made it a little hard to find things.
The Korrigan's claws ripped into the door again, a fresh cry resonating from Jake at the sound. They were running out of time. Kerri pulled the baby closer still as the door buckled and bend beneath the force of the creature. Finally, after what felt like hours of searching she found what she was looking for. Shoved in the back of the drawer was an old letter opener Brian had given her a lifetime ago, engraved with her initials and the date of their first date. But, what was more important to her at the moment, was that it was made of pure silver.
She moved quietly to the back of the room, knowing there was a hidden staircase that lead to the back of her kitchen. It was narrow and hadn't been used in well over two years, but it was the only way out of the house that didn't involve playing chicken with an angry monster. She wasn't at all sure how it got into the house, but that wasn't at the top of her list of concerns at the moment. She would let Dean yell at her about it later, first things first, she had to get to him.
They were in Colorado, so really, all she had to do was make it to her car. But that seemed to be easier said than done. She pulled open the old door, cobwebs covering the dark steps. She took the steps as fast as she could, careful not to stumble in the near total darkness, Jake still crying on her shoulder. 'The keys were on the counter.' She told herself, trying to calm her breathing, her heart beating faster with each step she took. 'Get the keys, get the car, get to Dean and Sam.'
She crept out into the kitchen, her eyes drifting between the two other staircases that lead down from the upper floors. Oh yeah, times like these, her house was way too big. She spotted her keys, her heart beating fast as adrenaline coursed through her body. She many not have considered herself a hunter, but she had been around it long enough to know that if something seems too easy, then it probably is.
She tightened her grip on both Jake and the silver blade as she made her way cautiously across the large kitchen, her senses on high alert. She stilled when she neared the middle of the room, the hairs on the back on her next standing on end. Something was there, behind her, she could feel it. She dropped down to her knees a fraction of a second later, spinning and lashing out with the weapon. She hit her mark, the creature screeching as the silver pierced its leg, the Korrigan falling back at the force of the blow.
And Kerri didn't waste a second. She was on her feet before the creature had even begun to stagger, scooping up the car keys as she headed to the basement. She took the stairs three at time, hitting the dirty basement floor at a dead run, her left arm still wrapped around Jake, right arm throbbing painfully as she clutched the silver knife. She had probably done some damage to her still healing arm, but at that moment she didn't care. It was either that, or be ripped to shreds by something that wanted an innocent child.
Kerri made it to her car in record time, pulling open the door and dropping Jake down in the seat beside her. She gunned the engine, her heart stopping when she glanced in the rearview mirror. The Korrigan was only a few meters behind her and closing in fast. She bit back a gasp of pain as she held Jake in the seat with her right arm, pulling the firebird out onto the drive at lightning speed. But, no matter how fast she drove, the Korrigan wasn't losing any ground.
"Damn it." She cursed, twisting back in the seat to check behind her, the car skidding and swerving as she sped down the road that lead to her house. She turned back around, taking a corner faster than she knew was wise, but she didn't have any choice in the matter.
It was a race to save the life and future of an innocent child, and Kerri wouldn't let anything, not even physics stand in her way. She had been jilted out of a normal childhood, had been lost to the world at far too young an age, and there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen to Jake.
She turned back towards the rear window, scanning the fields behind her. The Korrigan was nowhere in sight. She glanced back to the road for a fraction of a second before turning back towards the rear of the car; she needed to know where the thing was, and fast. She had been up and down that road thousands of times, knew every bump, every turn. But, what she wasn't expecting was another car to be traveling down it.
She was brought back to the moment by the sound of a car horn blaring, breaks screeching as the older car shot around the corner at breakneck speed. Kerri spun in her seat, her right arm holding Jake into his seat, car sliding off the road as she spun out. The car screeched to a bone rattling halt a few feet from the tree line, Kerri's head hitting the side window, hard, when the car finally stopped. This was so, so not good. The Korrigan was still after her, and now she'd been run off the road by someone. She could hear Jake crying in the seat beside her, hear voices just beyond the window, but her mind was swimming, darkness creeping into her vision.
It was the Korrigan, it had to be. She'd been so sure it was behind her, so sure she was beating it, that she never once thought to look in front of her, even as she sped down a narrow mountain road. And now she could feel it pulling at her, shaking her, her mind slowly shutting down as voices rose to her ears.
"Kerri?" The voice asked. It sounded so far away, but she could feel it right there beside her, holding her, pulling her from the car.
"Jake." She forced her eyes open. She wasn't going to let that thing win without a fight. "No, you can't have him." She tried to fight off her attacker, fumbling for the silver letter opener she had placed in her pocket.
"Ker, calm down." The voice spoke again, strong arms wrapping around her entire body, pinning her arms to her side. But it wasn't trying to hurt her. She could feel a soft breath at her neck, hear calming words, the arms pulling her closer in, protecting her.
"Dean?" She asked, her vision clearing slightly. She was sitting on the ground beside her car, Dean kneeling behind her, holding onto her, as much to keep her safe as to keep her from trying to stab him. "No, it's here. We gotta go." Kerri tried to fight him, but she was no match for the elder Winchester. Dean just held her tightly, trying once again to calm her.
"What's here." Sam asked, holding a terrified Jake in his arms, his brown eyes scanning the wilderness around them.
"The Korrigan, it was in the house. It was right behind me."
"What?" Dean asked, his grip tightening as he pulled Kerri to her feet. "I thought your house was sealed against the supernatural."
"Yeah, well, it was a surprise to me, too. Please, Dean." Kerri whispered the last part, her body beginning to shake as the adrenaline left her.
She was beyond tired, her run from the Korrigan having taken up all of her limited energy, and her head wasn't helping matter's either. All she wanted to do was sleep, just lay down and let the world wash away. She felt safe with the brothers around, found comfort in Dean's heartbeat, Sam's voice. She was just so exhausted, so tired of running, so tired of being broken.
"Kerri?" Dean asked, and Kerri was surprised to see him standing in front on her. She was sitting in the passenger seat of the impala, feet still on the grass, her throbbing head resting against the cool leather. When had she gotten in the car? She blinked owlishly up at Dean, her vision swimming again. "You still with me?"
"Not really."
"Do you think you can hang onto Jake?"
"Huh?"
"Alright." Dean began, his voice hardening a bit as he spoke. "Sam's gonna take your car, I need you to hang onto, Jake."
"Where're we going?" Kerri asked, as Dean shifted her legs into the car. "And why the hell won't the world stand still?"
"Well, trouble, you hit your head pretty hard on that window. I think you have a concussion."
"Trouble." Kerri mumbled, smiling at the nickname. "I haven't heard that one in a while."
"She alright?" Sam's voice broke through the haze, but Kerri for the life of her couldn't seem him.
"Let's hope so. Ready?"
"Yeah, the other car's ok."
"Alright. You try and see if you can lead that thing away, we'll meet back in Colorado."
"Yeah, ok. Be careful."
"You too, Sam."
A few moment's later Kerri felt something heavy being placed on her lap. She pushed her eyes open a little more, her gaze clearing just enough to make out the brown haired little boy that was holding onto her for all he was worth. Kerri wrapped her good arm around Jake, the toddler burying his face into her shoulder as he continued to cry. This hunt was going from bad to worse, and fast.
"What are you doing here?" Kerri asked after a short while, her mind clearing a little more as they drove. Sam and Dean were supposed to be in Colorado, so what were they doing running her off the road on her own property?
"I'm driving." Dean answered, concern lacing his voice. He reached a hand over, feeling the bump that was forming on her head. "What's your name?"
"Dean, that's not what I meant."
"Humor me."
"Kerri Harrison."
"Birthday?"
"March 23, 1979."
"Best car ever?"
"'69, pontiac firebird."
"Well, two out of three."
"I think I got all three, and I meant why aren't you in Colorado."
"I just, had a feeling."
"You tapping into the psychic friend's network?"
"No!" Dean barked, making Kerri jump.
"I was joking."
"It wasn't funny."
"Alright, I'm sorry."
"How're you feeling?" Dean asked a few moments later, the silence between them broken only by Jake's soft snores.
"I think I'd feel better if I jumped off a cliff."
"You're head that bad?"
"My all of me's that bad."
"Ok." Dean began absently, pulling out his cell phone.
"Who're you calling?"
"Sam."
"Why?"
"Change of plans, I'm taking you to the hospital."
"Dean, that's over kill."
"You're whole body hurts, Ker. That's way more than a head wound."
"It's not from the accident, Dean."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been tired and achy for weeks now."
"What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to worry about it."
She turned to Dean when she was met by nothing but silence. His hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight, she was sure he'd break it in two. He was staring out the window, his green eyes fixed on the horizon, jaw clenched.
"Just forget it, Dean."
"It's still from the paining, isn't it?"
"Yeah. And my head really hurts, so can we please not go into who's fault it is or isn't right now?"
Dean was saved from answering when his cell phone began to ring, the hunter taking one more look at Kerri before staring unblinking out the windscreen. "Sam? What'd you got?"
"No sign of it?"
"Alright, dude, grab what we need and head out. I don't want any of us there till we know it's safe."
"Let me guess, the Korrigan's gone." Kerri began after Dean ended the call.
"No sign of it."
"What about the claw marks all over the kitchen?" She asked sarcastically, but Dean didn't even flinch. "Dean?"
"Like I said, nothing."
"You don't believe me."
"I didn't say that."
"Sounded like you did to me."
"Look, Ker, why don't you get some rest. I'll wake you in a little bit."
"Fine." Kerri began weakly, sliding down into the seat. She was beyond tired, her mind swimming, brain barely able to comprehend the spinning world around her. But she had seen the Korrigan, she was certain of it. So how was there absolutely no sign of it at all?