Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or the characters of Dean and Sam (pouts). I do own the character of Aidan though.
A/N: First I just want to say how stoked I am that is allowing us to put icons in our profiles!! If you haven't checked mine out yet you should. I think some of you will enjoy it. Next I want to say how thrilled I was to see that almost every review I got from my last chapter talked about the text conversation between Dean and Aidan. It was also one of my favorite parts!
"Dead? Was it a natural death?" I asked looking up at the house. Dad hung his head and shook his head. Of course it wasn't natural. Nothing was natural with us.
"So what do we do now?" Sam asked with his hands shoved in his pockets.
"Were going in and continue to search the house. I got this off scratches on the floor. Aidan you're going to go check it out." Dad handed me a piece of paper with three letters and six digits. It was a location and a combination.
"Alone?" I asked making sure that I wasn't misunderstanding Dad. Before he disappeared he never let me do anything alone. Dad nodded. I turned to Dean and held out my hand. He rolled his eyes and reached into his pockets.
"Be careful with her." He said dropping the keys to the Impala in my hands.
"You're the one that can't drive." I said turning to Dad for further instructions.
"Stay there when you're done. We will meet up with you." I nodded and got into the car.
It wasn't hard finding the location. I did the combination and opened the box. It was empty except for a letter. I looked around before pulling the letter out. It was addressed to J.W. I wondered if it stood for, John Winchester. I got back into the car and waited like Dad had instructed. I locked all the doors. It was habit now, since the time I had dealt with Blake Swanson's ghost. I flipped the letter in my hands a couple of times wondering if Dad would notice if I opened it. I knew he would notice, this was Dad we were talking about. I reached back in the backseat and pulled out my flashlight. I held up the letter and shined my flashlight on it. I made out some words like dead and gun but nothing that really made sense. A knocking at the window startled me. I held my hands over my chest and turned to see Dean peering in the window. I unlocked the doors and moved over to the passenger seat. Dean got into the front and Sam and Dad got into the back.
"Jesus Christ, you scared me." I said, my heart still pounding.
"What do you got?" Dad asked. I handed the letter back to him.
"What did you guys find out?" I questioned looking at each of them. Dean shook his head and laughed a little. I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"What we do know is that whatever killed Elkins took the gun." Dad answered vaguely for me.
"Do we know what killed him?" I was still confused by Dean's random outburst.
"Vampires." Sam said. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Like Dracula, I'm going to suck your blood vampires?" Dad gave me a warning look before going back to his letter. "I thought they only existed in the movies."
"Apparently not." Dean said.
"Apparently." I mumbled.
"I thought they were extinct. I thought that Elkins and the other wiped them out." Dad paused for a moment before continuing. "I was wrong." That must have been hard for Dad to admit that he was wrong.
"What do we know about vampires? There is a lot of lore about them." Sam asked. Dad stuffed the letter from Elkins into his jacket.
"Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them, and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust—that part's true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late." Dad explained.
"Well, that's extremely comforting." I said sarcastically.
"I totally agree." Dean said giving me a high five.
"Can you two be a bigger smartass about this?" Dad scolded.
"Sorry." Dean mumbled looking down sheepishly. I just tried not to laugh.
"We have to pick up their trail. Follow me." Dad got out of the car leaving us all confused.
We ended up getting a motel room. Dad said it would take patience to pick up their trail. Dean, Sam and I decided to get some sleep. I was woke up by Dad slapping my foot. So that's where Dean gets it.
"A couple called 911. It's the vampires we have to go." Dad started to pick up whatever he would need.
"How do you know?" Sam asked.
"Just follow me." Dad left the room.
"Vampires, gets funnier every time I hear it." Dean mumbled to me. I smiled and walked out of the room with him.
We drove separately to the area where the 911 call came from. This time I got to ride with Sam and Dean, avoiding any more awkward sex talks from Dad. When we got to the spot Dad insisted that he talked to the cops alone. I sat on the Impala's hood next to Sam who was leaning against it.
"I don't see why we couldn't go with him." Sam complained. I rolled my eyes and head toward him.
"Sam, stop it." I warned.
"Don't tell me it's already starting." Dean said
"What?" Sam asked playing dumb. I rolled my eyes again as Dad walked back toward us.
"What'd you find out?" I asked when he walked up to his. Dad looked at me disapproving and shook his head before answering.
"It was them, all right. Looks like they're heading' west. We're going to have to double back to get around that detour." Dad explained.
"How do you know?" Sam asked. He was a hypocrite always calling me difficult.
"Sam." I snapped at him.
"I just want to be sure were going in the right direction." He said throwing his arms in the air.
"We are." Dad was beginning to lose his patience with him. Dean stood back watching everything happen.
"How do you know?" Sam asked.
"Sam!" I snapped again. Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a tooth.
"It's a fang." Dean said taking the tooth from Dad.
"Not a fang-teeth. The second set descends when they attack." Dad corrected then turned to Sam. "Anymore questions." Sam stayed silent. Good choice. "All right, let's get out of here, we're losing' daylight." Dad started to walk to his truck.
"Sounds great." I hopped off the car.
"Hey Dean, why do you let your sister sit on your car. She's going to scuff it up. You should get it touched up before it gets rust too. I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it." Dean and I shared the same shocked/offended expression while Sam just stood there and laughed about it.
I used Sam's laptop to see what other information I could find on vampires. Just for giggles I looked up what Google Images had for vampire pictures.
"What did you find out?" Dean asked from the passenger seat. I brought up a web page that I had been looking at.
"Vampires nest in groups of eight to ten. Smaller packs are sent out to hunt for food. Victims are taken to the nest, where the pack keeps them alive, bleeding them for days or weeks. I wonder if that's what happened to that 911 couple." I closed the computer and leaned forward between them.
"That's probably what Dad's thinking. Of course, it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks."
"Sam seriously you need to stop that. We have been looking for Dad for a year. Now you want to start fights with him any chance you get. It's not fair to us." I leaned back into the seat pointing to Dean and myself.
"No! You want to know what's not fair? It's just the way he treats us like we're children. He barks orders at us he expects us to follow him without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal. Maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, all right? Not after everything we have been through. I mean, are you telling me you're cool with just falling' into line and letting' him run the whole show?" Sam yelled.
"You done bitching?" I asked completely annoyed with him at his point. Sam rolled his eyes at me. "You know how Dad works Sammy. He does what he does because he thinks he is keeping us safe that way."
"And if us falling in line is that it takes then so be it." Dean said looking out the window. We all fell silent. There was a lot of tension in the car which driving me insane. Thankfully Dean's cell phone broke the silence. I could tell it was Dad from the way he spoke.
"Pull off on at the next exit. Dad thinks we got the vampires trail." Dean said as he closed his phone.
"How?" I was ready to give Sam another punch in the face.
"He didn't say." Dean answered. Sam suddenly stepped on the gas, passing Dad's truck. I clenched the seat in front of me as Sam cut Dad off. Sam pulled over, as did Dad. I was never riding in a car with Sam driving ever again! All of us got out of our cars. Dean met me at the back of the Impala.
"Here we go." He mumbled. He had been waiting for a Dad/Sam fight for a while now.
"What the hell was that!" Dad was seriously pissed. I leaned against the car not wanting to be involved in this.
"We need to talk." Sam yelled.
"About what?" Dad asked stepping up to Sam.
"Everything! Where the hell are we going Dad?" Dean leaned next to me at the car and let out a long sigh. I gave a nod, telling him that I understood.
"Get in the car." Dad gave Sam a shove backwards. I waited to see if Dean would intervene soon. He made no sign of moving right away.
"What the hell is going on?" Sam took a step toward Dad. Sam was angry. I wasn't really sure about what though. Dad had told us about the gun, Elkins, and what he knew about the vampires. What more did he want? I figured that Sam just wanted to fight with him for old time sakes.
"Come on Sam. We can ask as many questions as you want after we kill the vampires." I yelled from the car.
"Your sister's right. Now get back in the car." Dad started to walk toward the truck.
"That's just like you, take her side." I sneered at Sam's immature response. Dad slowly turned around, furious. Dean took that has his cue to step in.
"This is not about sides Sam. Now get in the car." Dad pointed to the car for effect.
"I said no!" Sam yelled.
"All right, you made your point, tough guy. Look, we're all tired. We can talk about this later. Sammy, I mean it, come on." Dean started to push Sam back toward the car. I started to get in until Sam decided to mumble,
"This is why I left in the first place." I knew that would set Dad off.
"What did you say?" Dad grumbled through clenched teeth.
"You heard me!" Sam spun around to stare down Dad.
"Yeah. You left. Your brother, sister, and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam, you walked away!" Dad grabbed onto Sam's shirt. Dean tried to step between the two men.
"Stop it both of you!" He tried to yell to them. His yells fell on deaf ears.
"You were the one who said don't come back, Dad. You're the one who closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off you couldn't control me anymore!" Sam shouted. I shook my head and looked to the ground. I waited for a punch. Oh wait that would have been from me. Dad would never hit one of his kids and Sam would be too afraid to hit Dad.
"All right, stop it, stop it—stop it, that's enough!" Dean finally pulled them apart, then turned to Dad. "That means you too." Dad and Sam got back into the cars slamming their doors shut angrily. I looked at Dean exasperated. He shared the same look with me.
"Terrific." We said at the same time and got back in the car.
The next morning the four of us waited behind a bush that sat in front of building where Dad thought the vampires might be. We saw one pull up as another stepped halfway out the building.
"Son of a bitch. There really not afraid of sunlight." Dean griped watching the two vampires.
"No, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill them is by beheading. And, yeah, they sleep during the day. It doesn't mean they won't wake up." I scrunched up my nose. This was not going to be a cakewalk.
"So what's the plan?" I asked staring hard at the building.
"Were definitely not walking right in." Dean said stepping back from the bush.
"Actually that is the plan." I made a face of disgust. I did not like the sound of that. It was going to be a bitch to walk around that place without disturbing them. We headed back to the car to prepare before we went in.
"Dad, I got an extra machete if you need one." No he didn't. I turned to see what machete Dean was holding.
"Dude! That's my machete." I took it from Dean's hand and held it to my chest, claiming it.
"I got it covered anyways." Dad said holding up his own machete that looked a lot newer then mine.
"Woah Dad!" I said completely impressed. I ran over to get a better look at it. "Trade you."
Dad laughed throwing an arm around my neck. "No thanks baby girl."
"Everyone all set?" Dean asked looking around. He was itching to get in there and get the job done. We shared a determined look and started toward the vampire's nest. Dean and Sam went in through a window, while Dad and I went in through the front. We searched around, machetes ready just in case. We saw two sleeping on a bed together. Next to them was a leather case with the colt. Dad and both froze when they rolled over but didn't wake.
"Stay here." Dad instructed as he started to make his way down the stairs toward the bedroom. By time Dad reached the gun, we heard a horrifying scream echo through out the building.
"Get out of here!" Dad yelled. I hesitated before running. I met Dean and Sam in the woods.
"Where's Dad?" Dean asked looking behind me. I turned to see he wasn't behind me like I thought he was.
"I don't know." I stammered.
"Dad?" Dean called out. There was no response. "Dad!" He called again. We finally see Dad come running through the woods. Whew! Relief. Dean would have skinned me if Dad were killed on my watch.
"They wont follow. They will wait until tonight. Once a vampire has your scent it's for life." Well at least I smelled good.
'What do we do now." Dean was more terrified then he was letting on.
"Find the nearest funeral home." Dad said confidently. Dean, Sam and I shared a confused expression.
Dad, Sam and I went back to the motel room while Dean went to get some dead man's blood. Sam stood up and began to pace the room. Dad was sitting at the table doing some research and I was sitting on one of the beds, sketching in my journal.
"It shouldn't be taking this long. I should go help." He looked out the window.
"Sam, anyone ever tell you that patience in a virtue and a hell of a lot less annoying." I said not glancing up from my drawing.
"Dean's got it." I peered over my notebook when Dad went silent. "Sammy."
Sam stopped pacing and looked at Dad. "Yeah?"
"I don't think I ever told you this, but…. the day you were born, you know what I did?" I furrowed my eyebrows at the question. I was as curious as Sam.
"No." Sam said sitting back down across from Dad.
"I put a hundred bucks into a savings account for you. I did the same thing for your brother. It was a college fund. And every month, I'd put in another hundred dollars, until." Dad trailed off a bit. I knew exactly what that until meant. Sam did too. "Anyway, my point is, Sam, that…. this is never the life that I wanted for you." Dad continued.
"Did I get a college fund?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer but I thought I would throw it out there for kicks.
"No." Dad answered quickly and turned his attention back to Sam. I shrugged and turned on my I-pod. I could make out bits and pieces of there conversation. I smiled slightly when I heard them share a laugh, a good laugh. Dean came in shortly after.
"There is a lot of protection for a bunch of dead guys." I got off the bed and walked to the table.
"Did you get it?" Dad asked. Dean smiled and pulled a brown paper bag out of his pocket. He opened it and pulled out a jar of blood. "You know what we got to do."
Dean pretended to have car trouble as the rest of us hid, waiting for our moment to attack. The lady vampire from the bed walked up to Dean. I got my arrow soaked with dead man's blood ready. My fingers twitched in anticipation to shoot. When I had an opening I shot. I hit the other guy square in the chest. We ran out of the bushes.
"Doesn't even sting." She taunted.
"Give it time sweetheart." Dad said.
"Dead man's blood." I taunted back. Her smile fell from her face as she fell into Dean's arms.
"Load her up. I will take care of this one." Dad instructed. Sam and I helped load her into Dad's truck. I shivered at the sound of Dad's machete going through that guy's neck.
We drove back to the woods. We built a fire. We learned that the vampire's name that we kidnapped was named Kate.
"Throw this in the fire." Dad tossed me a small bag. I put the back of my hand over my nose.
"What is this stuff?" I said trying my hardest not to gag.
"Saffron, skunks, cabbage, and trillium—it'll block our scent and hers until we're ready." Dad explained walking over to Kate to check on her.
"Stuff stinks." Dean crumpled his nose in disgust.
"I'm pretty sure that is the point." I replied sarcastically. Dean gave me a light shove in the shoulder before walking away.
"Make sure you dust your clothes with those ashes. You will have a better chance of not being detected." I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. Damn it, these were my favorite jeans. I was never going to be able to wash that smell out of them.
"You sure they will come after her?" Sam asked looking at Kate.
Dad nodded. "They mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon. So you don't have a lot of time."
"Probably about a half hour." Sam said.
The plan was for Dean, Sam and I to go back to the nest and to finish off the vampires while Dad drove Kate around trying to get the leader to pick up her scent. We snuck into the nest ready to attack. Dean immediately beheaded one of them. I instantly felt sick watching it happen. I started to back away, heading back to the front entrance.
"What are you doing? Get in there." Dean hissed. I tapped my fingers on the handle of my machete. These vampires looked too much like people to me. I just don't think I could do it.
"I can't." I whispered hoarsely.
Dean cocked his head at me surprised. "What do you mean? This is a job, a hunt. Get in here."
"I'm sorry." I walked out of the nest and leaned against the Impala trying to catch my breath. I didn't realize that I was holding my breath. I tried to swallow away the wave of nausea that was sitting like a brick in my stomach. Dean and Sam came out a short while later.
"Come on. We have to go find Dad." Dean didn't look at me; he just got into the car. I hesitated a little. "Come on or I will leave your ass." He protested. I sighed and got in.
We got to Dad just in time to see him get hit by the leader and then thrown into the door of his truck. He looked to be unconscious. We shot our arrows at them not really caring where we hit. I stayed back a little as Dean and Sam went in for the kill. The leader turned and hit Sam causing him to fall to the ground. Dean instantly got his machete ready to behead him. The leader picked Sam off the ground and began to choke him. Dean went to lunge at him.
"Don't I will break his neck!" He sneered. Dean gave in and dropped his machete. I snuck up behind him to hear Sam gasping for breath. I quickly place my machete over the leaders neck.
"Let him go." I hissed in his ear. I felt him swallow against the blade.
"You don't scare me." He laughed a little. I ran my machete to the left causing his blood to trickle down my hand.
"Let him go." I said with a slow and even tone. He threw Sam to the ground. I raised my blade from his neck. Without warning he spun around and grabbed me by the throat. I dropped my machete struggling for air while trying to pull his hand from my throat.
"You people—why can't you just leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do." He cried, tightening his grip. I heard a gun shot, causing his grip to instantly loosen enough for me to escape. I fell to my knees taking in large gasps of air. Dean ran over to me and kneeled down in front of me. I fell into him, weak from the lack of oxygen. I saw that the leader was dead on the ground with a gunshot wound in his head and the rest of the vampires had scurried off.
We went back to the motel room for a good nights sleep after everything was all said and done. I was still a little surprised that Dad had used one of the bullets on that leader but he insisted that it was damn worth it.
"You three are all I got and it scared me to death to think that anything bad could happen to you." Dad said the next morning as we were packing our things.
"Were just stronger as a family." Dean said.
"That we are." Dad agreed.
A/N: I know this was pretty long. I just didn't want to stop. Review!