Emily spent the next few months with Jim Murphy. She learned a lot from him. She's still terribly shy but she's learned that not everyone should be feared. Jim got her to open up to him, tell him about her father, and to tell him about Dean. Dean was the first person she remembered that ever cared for her, really cared for her safety and her feelings. Sure she had teachers that worried but no one ever did anything. Dean was the first person that ever showed that he genuinely cared what happened to Emily.
Emily spent most of her days in the basement of the church. She wasn't much for socializing and to be honest the people that came in scared her sometimes. There was a feeling she got with some of them that made her nervous. It was only nerves though. That is until one day about three months after she had been there. Emily was down in the basement; she was walking up the stairs to find Jim. Emily stood in the back and stopped when she felt this feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt as though she were going to be sick. Emily had never felt that before.
When she looked up she saw a young woman walking up to Jim. There was something about this blonde that Emily didn't trust, but she was too frightened to do anything. She froze, standing there and staring. She watched for a moment until she saw the girl's eyes turn black. Then, with a speed she didn't know she had Emily ran down the stairs. Jim had set up a small space in the corner of his weapons room that Emily could hide in. She was small enough to fit and no one would see her unless they knew it was there. Emily ran down into the room and hid in her little hole.
She was trembling terribly and she shut her eyes. Then she heard footsteps. Emily opened her eyes and saw Jim run into the room. He took out a knife and threw it at the woman. She caught it and Emily wasn't really sure what happened next. She heard the woman speak but was so frightened she couldn't understand it. Emily sat there and watched as the woman slit Jim's throat. Emily almost screamed but she knew better than that. The woman stood over the body for a moment then looked over in Emily's direction. She swore that the woman was looking right at her but eventually she left. Emily stayed there for hours afraid to come out in case the woman was still there.
She stared at the body and watched as the blood flowed to the floor and into the hole she was sitting in. She tried to keep it from getting in her hair but was terribly unsuccessful. Emily sat there, hugging her knees to her chest replaying the events over and over in her mind. The sound of his final breath echoed in her mind. She could have done something, stopped it somehow. Why hadn't she done anything? Jim took care of her she should have protected him. She was just starting to like Jim. She hadn't smiled or laughed so much in her entire life. She rocked back and forth and it wasn't until late that night that she finally left the hole. She walked across the room and stood next to Jim's body. Her hands trembled as she slowly closed his eyes.
Emily stood there for a long time, unsure of what to do. She didn't have anywhere to go. Her hands shook terribly as she slowly made her way up the stairs to the small bedroom she had in the back of the church. Emily curled up in her bed and stayed there for two days. Finally she remembered where she put Dean's phone number. She called but got no answer. Emily looked down and noticed a small note on her table for her. It was written in Jim's handwriting. The note read: "Sam and Dean are in Salvation Iowa. They're safe and their father is with them. Don't you worry. Sam says hi."
Emily looked down at it then she quickly ran over to her closet. She gathered her clothes together and threw them into a small backpack. Then she stood and looked down at a picture she had of Sam and Dean. Jim had given it to her; it was a picture of them when Dean was about fifteen. It was all she had of them. Emily grabbed it and threw it in her bag, along with a cell phone that belonged to Jim.
Emily walked out of her room and back down to where Jim's body was. She stood there for a moment. "I'll find them," she whispered. The Emily turned and headed out of the church. She wasn't sure where she was going, or how she was going to get there. But she knew she would find Sam and Dean. She walked along the highway for several hours before calling Dean's cell phone again. Still there was nothing. She was getting tired and she hadn't eaten in at least two days. Emily was exhausted and hungry but she wouldn't give up.
It wasn't until early the next morning that she noticed a truck stop ahead of her. She walked passed it and stopped when she got to the front. "You need a ride miss," the man asked. He was a younger man with dark hair and dark eyes. His skin was tanned and he looked as though he hadn't shaved in a couple days. Emily stood there for a moment. She didn't trust people in general she wasn't sure if she should trust this man either. She had packed a gun and several knives before she left so she was ready to defend herself if need be. Emily nodded slowly and the man opened the door of his black pick-up truck.
Emily climbed in and sat down on the seat. She hugged her knees to her chest and stored her bag on the floor by her feet. Emily looked over at him and she closed the door. Then he pulled back onto the road. He glanced over at her and smiled. "Name's Tristan," he said with a smile, looking over to the girl.
Emily glanced over at him but she didn't say anything at first. She looked down and then glanced over at him once more. "Emily," she whispered.
"Emily, that's a nice name," Tristan said with a smile. He looked over at her and noticed that she was rather pale. She was trembling too. "If you're cold there's a coat behind you that you can wear," he offered. "I got some sandwiches in the cooler down there too if you're hungry. Some stuff I picked up for dinner last night but didn't eat."
Emily leaned down and opened the cooler. Inside she found a cheeseburger that hadn't been eaten. She picked it up and looked over at him. He nodded and she smiled. Emily took it out of its wrapper and took a few small bites. She didn't want to make it too painfully obvious that she was hungry. "Thank you," she said quietly.
"So," he asked quietly. "Where ya headed?" The man had a small accent, hardly even noticeable. His voice reminded her of Dean's. He glanced over at her and smiled. She seemed so nervous, he felt bad. Tristan didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He saw her walking and she looked so fragile. He couldn't just leave her to walk.
"Iowa," she said softly.
"Really," he said with a laugh. "I'll be damned. I'm headed to Des Moines, meeting some family there." He laughed and smiled at her. "Where you headed in Iowa, I might be driving through."
"Salvation," she whispered.
"Salvation, Salvation," he said to himself. "Hold on." Tristan pulled off to the side and Emily looked over at him. He leaned behind her to grab something and she backed away. He glanced up and smiled. "Relax," he said quietly. "I was just getting this," he said taking out a map. He looked through it and then looked over at her. "I was checkin' to see if we go through Salvation on the way." Tristan looked at the map then he folded it up and put it back behind her. "Well, we don't go directly through it but it's not that far off course. You want me to drop you off there," he asked.
She looked at him, still nervous. She didn't have the bad feeling she got with the blonde woman though. She nodded slowly and eventually smiled. "Thank you," she whispered again.
Tristan simply smiled and pulled back out onto the road. "It'll take a day or so," he said glancing over at her. She was sitting and staring out the window. He smiled and looked back ahead of him as they drove down the highway. After a while he glanced over at her and noticed she was asleep with her head against the window. He noticed her shivering and he reached behind her and grabbed a blanket then he carefully managed to keep driving and wrap the blanket around her at the same time. He looked over at her and smiled.
Several hours later Emily woke up as they pulled up to a hotel. Tristan ran inside and got a room, with two beds and then drove around to find a parking spot. He parked the pickup truck and the two got out and walked into the room. She looked around then back at Tristan. Emily smiled and he smiled back at her. She was strange, in his mind at least. He didn't know what to make of this girl. She was quiet, it was almost creepy but he didn't get any creepy vibe off of her. Emily sat down on the bed and opened up her backpack. She took out her cell phone and tried once more to call Dean. Still there was nothing. Tristan watched as her face turned from a normal, blank one, to a look of disappointment.
Tristan sat down next to her on the bed and looked over at her. "What's wrong," he asked quietly.
"Dean won't answer his phone and he hasn't called me back yet." Dean promised that he would call her back if she called. She had called several times by now and still heard nothing from him.
"Who's Dean," he asked quietly. "Is he your… your boyfriend or something?"
Emily looked up at him she was smiling and obviously trying not to laugh. She shook her head slowly and hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. Her long brown hair fell in front of her face but she didn't notice. What was Dean? She had never really thought about it before. Then it came to her, though she wasn't sure how Sam felt about it. "Brother," she whispered with a smile on her face.
"Oh," Tristan said softly. Emily couldn't see it but he was smiling. He looked over at her and tucked her hair behind her ear. It caused her head to whip around and she stared at him. "Sorry," he said quickly. She simply smiled and he looked down for a minute. There was a long awkward silence then he stood quickly and looked over at her. "I umm… I'm gonna… I'm gonna get a shower," he said quickly.
Emily looked at him confused he was acting weird. It didn't make her worry though it only made her laugh. He seemed nervous or something. She smiled and looked down as he gathered some clothes from his suitcase and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and after a moment Emily heard the water start. She lay back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. She had come so far in the last few months and she wanted Dean to see her progress.
She was lost in thought, her memories of Dean and Sam. She looked up when she heard the door open and sat Tristan walk out with only a pair of flannel pajamas pants on. He wasn't bad looking at all. Emily had come far enough to notice that. She never really noticed Dean's looks but she was so afraid her father would find her she didn't notice much of anything. She noticed this man though. His dark curly hair hung in his eyes a bit. His skin perfectly tanned, it reminded her of Dean's skin tone. He was tall, she hadn't noticed that before but she hadn't seen him standing. Tristan's eyes were dark, but not menacing. They were soft, almost inviting. His smile was comforting as well.
Tristan stopped when he saw her looking at him and smiled, he was actually blushing. He walked over to his suitcase and found a black t-shirt and put it on. "Sorry bout that," he said quietly. "Forgot a shirt." He laughed and sat down on the other bed, facing Emily. Emily sat up and faced Tristan, hugging her knees to her chest. There was silence for a long time. After a while Tristan finally spoke. "So this Dean… is he uh… is he in… in Salvation?"
Emily looked over at Tristan. She knew she shouldn't say yes just in case but she was going there and she already said she couldn't get a hold of Dean. "Maybe," she said softly. That was the best answer she could think of. "That's the last place I knew him to be," she said quietly. "I haven't seen him for a few months."
"Oh," he said quietly. Tristan looked down then he looked back up at her. "You look tired," he said quietly. "You should get some sleep, I plan on leaving early tomorrow." Emily nodded and lay her head down on the pillow, pulling the covers over her. "Good night Emily," Tristan said sweetly as he turned out the light. Emily smiled and looked over at him. He was already asleep. She smiled and closed her eyes.
Emily fell asleep quickly and slept peacefully through the night. The next morning she was awoken by a soft shake. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Tristan sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at her. He smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Morning beautiful," he said with a smile.
Emily turned the brightest shade of red imaginable when he said beautiful. She knew it probably meant nothing, just a casual greeting but no one had ever said that to her before so it meant a lot. She sat up slowly and accidentally bumped his head. "Sorry," she whispered. Tristan laughed and rubbed her forehead gently. He stood and packed up his suitcase. Emily stood and did the same with her backpack. It didn't take long for the two of them to be ready to go.
"You wanna get some breakfast," he asked with a smile. "There's a small diner down the street." Emily smiled but it quickly faded. She didn't have time for this she had to find Dean. "I don't have time, I'm in a hurry," she said softly.
"Well I'm driving and the driver won't get far without food so what say you that we stop for a little bit to get food?" Emily sighed and nodded. Tristan smiled and lifted her head to look at him. "Besides you look like you could use some food," he said with a smile. Emily smiled and followed him to his truck. They climbed inside and Tristan took off out of the parking lot. He stopped in the drive-thru of a McDonalds. They got some food and continued on the road.
Tristan told Emily that they should be in Salvation by the end of the day. That made her happy. Emily was quiet for most of the drive but every time she looked over at Tristan he was smiling at her. After about four hours of silence Tristan finally spoke. "You're different," he said simply. He laughed as he said it. "That sounds so stupid but I mean it in a good way." He smiled at her and they were silent again.
Several more hours passed and they came to a hotel in Salvation Iowa. Tristan pulled into the parking lot and Emily looked over at him. She thanked him and he smiled at her. As she was getting out he grabbed her arm gently and looked at her with a smile. "Hey, Emily," he said quietly. "Do you think maybe…. Maybe I could have your phone number or something? I'd… I'd like to keep in touch."
Emily smiled and nodded. Tristan handed her a piece of paper and she wrote down the number then handed it to him. The half of the paper that hadn't been written on Tristan used to write his number. He smiled and handed it to her and as he leaned over he placed a small innocent kiss on her cheek. Emily smiled and turned bright red. "It was nice meeting you Emily," he said with a smile as she got out of the truck. Emily smiled and nodded as she closed the door. She watched as Tristan reluctantly pulled away and she was left alone outside the hotel in Salvation, Iowa. There was now a new quest ahead of her. She had to find Dean.