Well, not a lot of action to be had this time around, but we get to learn some of Aiyla's history. I'd planned to have Sheriff Mills make her appearance in this chapter, but it got a little long, so next chapter she'll show up for sure.

Chapter 7

The hunters walked out of the panic room, leaving Aiyla to rest. Sam and Dean supported Cass between the two of them, and shuffled awkwardly up the stairs. Dean muttered a creative expletive when all three of them tried to go through the doorway at once. Dammit Sammy, go through sideways!"

The hunters finally made their way into the kitchen. Sam and Dean dropped Cass unceremoniously into the nearest chair with twin grunts. Cass leaned forward, dropping his head onto the table with a light thud. "My head is pounding. It is not unlike the time I drank the liquor store."

Bobby rolled his eyes, "Oh boo hoo, suck it up buttercup." He grabbed a beer from the fridge, taking a swig.

Sam plunked a bottle of aspirin in front of Cass. The angel raised his head, peering at the medication, "Thankyou Sam." He popped the cap and downed the whole bottle. Looking around, his eyes landed on Bobby. He plucked Bobby's beer from his hand, downing that as well.

Bobby watched the angel in disbelief, "Ah, Your welcome!" Sarcasm dripped from his voice like a leaky pipe.

Dean tossed Bobby another beer, "So…question…what the hell are we planning to do with this girl once we get her healed?"

"Aiyla, Dean. She has a name." Sam pointed out.

"She will be hunted wherever she goes," Cass speculated, "She must be protected. Until we know the full extent of her abilities, we should keep her close."

Bobby rolled his eyes, "Oh great, here it comes…I should just quit huntin' and start up a blasted boarding house!"

Dean grinned, "Bobby's Bed and Breakfast, kind of has a ring to it…Ow!"Dean rubbed the back of his head, where Bobby had smacked him. "Relax gramps, I was kidding."

Sam shook his head, "No, Bobby is right guys. She'll be safe here…and besides, what other option do we have?"

Cass nodded, "We can proof the house for Demons. Crowley will inevitably come looking for the gi…" He glanced at Sam's reproachful gaze, "…Aiyla. This is the safest place for her to be."

Dean smirked at Bobby, "So what time is the continental breakfast?" He barely managed to duck the punch that flew at his head.

SUPERNATURAL

Aiyla started from her sleep with a distressed gasp. Eyes darting around frantically, she relaxed slightly when she realized she was still safe in the Hunter's House. Crowley wasn't here. She wasn't still lying broken in the dark, with a demon as her only companion. She'd dreamt she had finally given Crowley her soul…Aiyla shuddered. As she had so many times while in captivity, Aiyla banished her nightmares the only way she knew how, escaping into the past…remembering the bitter-sweet beauty of what her life had once been.

She grew up with the witch Amerielle, her aunt Amee. From a very young age she had known she was loved, she knew she was different…and she'd also known her aunt was terrified of something. They lived deep in the mountains, making their home in a hidden valley full of greenery and life and simplicity. Their water came from a well, and their food came from a garden they tended themselves. Light burned from candles made of beeswax and their clothes were simple, hand-sewn garments produced from bolts of cloth Amee kept in an old trunk. Aiyla had never so much as seen a pair of shoes, let alone worn a pair. Their modest cabin was sturdy and weathered. It's walls were covered in strange symbols from floor to ceiling. As a child she had thought them mere decoration…later she learned they were warding symbols.

Aiyla had never met another human being other than Amee. She had never encountered an automobile or used electricity…but she had knowledge of them. Amerielle was a gifted storyteller and spoke often of her experiences before their life in the valley. So it was through her aunt, that Aiyla knew of telephones, of airplanes, and of places where people flocked to shop for all manner of wondrous things. She knew about running water and schools and best friends. Amee had a wall of books that detailed the stories of people and places of the past and fairly recent present and Aiyla devoured the knowledge they held with greedy wonder.

Amee taught her about creatures that walked as humans but drank blood, changed shape, and sang people to their deaths. Aiyla knew about ghosts and banshees and specters. She knew of demons and angels and religion.

She knew of so many things…but they were also utterly foreign to her, because she had never experienced any of them. She had a vivid imagination, and spent hours pretending she lived in that world. But at the end of the day, each and every bit of her knowledge of the outside world remained just that…knowledge. The world beyond the valley was as distant and elusive as the stars. There to dream of, but never to touch.

So, Aiyla grew up in the company of animals, trees, and a witch. She developed an affinity for the natural world from an early age. Plants that were near death flourished under her loving care. Animals let her approach them without fear.

At the age of 6, a wounded deer had staggered into the clearing, it's right hind leg mangled and useless. It had limped up to Aiyla where she played by the creek, looking at her with pain filled chocolate-brown eyes. Amee had gently told a distraught Aiyla that the beast would not survive. Tears streaming down her young face, Aiyla had shaken her head in denial, "No Auntie! She came here for help!"

Before her aunt could stop her, Aiyla ran up to the beast and threw her little arms around it's lowered head. In a brilliant flash of blue light the deer's leg re-knit. Flesh grew anew. The animal bounded off into the forest with unhindered grace and speed. Aiyla spent the rest of that summer hobbling about on crutches Amee had painstakingly fashioned from an old felled tree. Her own leg had taken on the deer's injury.

The older Aiyla grew, the more she came to realize that they were in hiding. Amee was frustratingly tight lipped about why they had come to live as they did. No matter how much Aiyla pestered her, she would not talk about it. When Aiyla turned 14, Amee began to teach her young charge about sigils and wards, hex bags and old magic. Each time Aiyla asked why she had to learn of such things, Amee had simply shrugged, "For protection my angel…peace never lasts forever. Such is life."

And that is how she spent the first eighteen years of her life, in the quiet simplicity of nature and love, and dreams. She contented her restless spirit with plans for the future, dreaming of the day that she would leave the valley and explore the world she had heard so much about.

Amerielle would look at her with sad eyes whenever Aiyla spoke of leaving, "One day angel, one day you will see the world…but today is not that day. Relish the present my dear, for I fear the future will not live up to your expectations."

Amerielle had been right… peace never lasts forever.