Just as they had predicted, aside from the directions she gave to her house, Maddy was silent in the back of the Impala as they drove. She had wrapped her hand with a bar towel, assuring them that she had plenty supplies back at the house.

Dean found himself slowing down for once on the country roads with the limited light and deep ditches by the side of the road up to the house. It was a relief when he pulled up outside the lightless building. He turned to see Maddy staring at the back of Sam's head, no doubt replaying the night's events in her mind. She had been thrust into a new world she should have been safe from, and now she was questioning everything she knew. Dean had seen that thought-process in too many people's eyes.

"Maddy. This it?" Sam asked.

She snapped back to reality at the sound of her name. She had to look around to see where she was, and frowned. She probably didn't remember leaving the bar. She hadn't been very responsive since.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, this is it."

"Big place," Dean remarked.

"Suppose."

They climbed out, Sam and Dean slowing down to allow Maddy to climb the steps to the porch and open the door. She flipped on the lights and headed straight for a door to the left. It opened onto a set of dark stairs.

"The light's broken so just be careful," she said, leading the way down.

There was another door at the bottom, so small that they had to duck to get through. By the time they were inside, Maddy had turned on the light to reveal a large basement separated up into a small kitchen, sofa, bed, wardrobe, bookshelf, and desk area.

"This is mine," she said, throwing down her bag on the table. "Make yourselves at home. We'll have to stay in here. Jackie will know if we've been in any of the other rooms."

"Jackie?" Dean questioned.

"My mother."

"You don't call her 'mom'?"

"No."

With a small hiss of pain, she shrugged off her coat and laid it over the back of the sofa, wincing as it caught her hand.

"Are you two hurt?" she asked.

"No, we're good," Sam said.

"I'll get you some ice for that eye."

She crossed the room to her wardrobe, digging around to pull out a suitcase. She unzipped it and pulled out a white gel-filled pack. She chucked it to Sam.

"Throw it in the fridge. It'll be ready in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks," he said, sounding a little confused as he did what he was told. "I'll be fine though."

She ignored him, bringing out a light blue box and sitting down at the table with it. With her right hand, she tied up her hair, so that only her brown fringe remained on her face. Dean sat opposite her, curious. Sam also paused in the kitchenette.

Unaware of the attention of the two men, Maddy popped open the box and took out a bottle of surgical disinfectant and a cotton pad. She tipped some of the solution on the pad and held it to the wound on her hand. She inhaled sharply, Dean subconsciously doing the same. That had to hurt.

She just closed her eyes, breathed, then began to clean, dragging the pad through the cut to remove any debris. Once it was sufficiently blood stained and her wound clean, she discarded it and went back to digging in the box with her good hand.

When she brought out the needle and thread, Dean intervened.

"We can do that for you, you know," he said.

She jumped a little, forgetting they were there.

"It's fine," she said with a more genuine smile than she had given since the attack. "I'm good at this. I wouldn't have needed it if I hadn't opened it up further back there."

"It's just - "

Maddy threaded the needle and pierced the side of the cut closest to her, levelled the needle, then pulled it through the other side. She did it all without so much as a wince, so focused on the procedure that she didn't fully register the pain. She repeated the process over and over until she reached the end of the wound, just between her little and ring finger. She finished it off with a knot and a tight bandage.

Once done, she sighed to herself, then stood up and moved past Sam to the fridge. She took out the cold gel pack and handed it to a gaping Sam. He took it silently.

"You're one tough chick," Dean said, impressed.

"I'm going to med school in the fall, I'm going to have to be," she said as she began to tidy up her supplies. "Anyway, the closer you get it to the edge of the cut, the less it hurts. And a sharp needle helps. As does leftover shock. I've been practising on fruit for years."

"How come you have all that stuff?" Dean asked.

"Med student."

"Yeah I know, usually they provide the equipment."

"Never know when you might need it. Good job I had it anyway."

"Yeah," Sam said before Dean could say anything else.

There was a hush as Maddy scrubbed the blood from the table and changed her shirt in the bathroom.

"I've got beer," she said, pointing to a cooler beside Dean.

"You're only eighteen."

"I'm English - I'm of drinking age there. Besides, you see anyone here trying to stop me?"

"Fair enough."

He took two bottles out, throwing one to Sam and taking one himself.

"You want one?" he asked her.

"Pass the tequila."

Raising his eyebrow, he handed over the bottle, watching as she unscrewed the cap and took a swig. Her face contorted with the taste as she handed it back.

"Thanks."

She sat down on the couch facing them as Sam took a seat beside his brother at the table, holding the ice to his face.

"Do you, uh, wanna talk about what happened tonight?" Sam asked. "You'll have questions?"

She shook her head, offering him a smile that said 'don't worry about me' and turning onto the couch arm.

"Okay," Dean said. "So what's our next move?"

"Well the nest's on the outskirts of town and - "

Maddy tuned out. She closed her eyes, ignoring the throb in her hand. She was always fine when she was working - whether on a person or practicing on fruit or meat - it was always after that things came back into focus.

And this was something she had never experienced before.

Vampires.

Vampires.

Freaking vampires.

She had seen them. One had touched her, another tried to kill her. She had played a part in cutting off their heads. She replayed that moment over in her mind's eye. The sound of the blade severing his cervical vertebrae and spinal cord. The way his head tumbled down his chest to her feet. The bright red of arterial blood and the deep dark purple of the venal blood.

It was a good job she wasn't squeamish.

At least I know I can handle a Friday night emergency room now, she thought positively.

But then a much darker thought filled her head. If vampires existed, what else did? Who else knew about them? Were they coming after her now? Could this Sam and Dean really be trusted?

Maddy studied them through her lashes. They were in rapt conversation, their faces drawn in concentration. Every few seconds, Dean would take a swig of his beer and Sam would re-read a page from a book they had taken from the bag in the Impala. They seemed to have forgotten she was there.

Oh, Jackie if only you could see me now. Inviting strangers I met in a bar back to my little bedsit.

It would make the time she used the upstairs kitchen seem like a tantrum.

Michael would probably just be jealous of the fact she got to ride in a Chevy. If they were going to murder and dump her in a ditch, at least she would go out in style.

Maddy snorted lightly at the thought, but loud enough so that it garnered the attention of the men at her table.

"You okay?" Sam asked a little warily.

"Yeah," she hurried to assure them. "Yeah, yeah. Just, uh, just carry on."

"Uh, actually I think we're as far as we're gonna get. We'll wait until tomorrow and hit the nest. We'll be more prepared than we were tonight, I promise," Sam gave her an apologetic smile. "We would never have come near if we knew they'd tracked us."

"We've been a little preoccupied lately," Dean admitted, though not without a grunt of displeasure. "Sloppy. We're sorry."

Maddy looked at them blankly, "Are you serious?"

Sam frowned, "Uh…"

"You guys just saved my life and you're apologising?" she shook her head at them. "You two need some group therapy or something."

"Probably," Dean shrugged. "So, what, no burning questions?"

Maddy looked down at her lap.

"I don't think I have any I actually want to know the answers to," she mumbled.

"You don't need to, if you don't want to," Dean said, finishing off his beer. "We'll be out of here soon and you can pretend all of this didn't happen if you can."

"I can't," she replied instantly, then grimaced. "Sorry, that was snappy."

"You can afford to be snappy," Sam smiled.

"Yeah, we're snappy all the time," Dean added. "Specially him. I think it's the hair."

Sam sent his brother a look that managed to make Maddy laugh lightly.

"Nice bitch face," she complimented.

"Oh, he has it down to an art form," Dean rolled his eyes. "Mind if I get another beer?"

"Knock yourself out."

Maddy sat forward on the sofa, a frown settling on her face. She pursed her lips, deciding to go for it.

"So… look, I'm just gonna say this before I lose my nerve - what else is real?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look which held an entire silent conversation. It looked like a grim one.

"Actually, I don't want to know," she rushed out.

They both raised their eyebrows at her.

"Okay, I do… NO!" she grasped her hair under her woollen hat. "This is completely crazy… Are ghosts real?"

"Yes," Dean said.

Alarm flashed across Maddy's face but ironed out as she took a breath, "I suppose that explains Toronto."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, I'm projecting," she dismissed. "Okay, so what else?"

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, not unkindly. "Because once you know this stuff, you can't un-know it."

Maddy chewed the inside of her mouth, thinking. Without a word, she stood up from the couch and walked behind the table to her kitchen cupboard, taking out two whiskey tumblers. The whiskey followed suit, which she placed on the table in front of Sam and Dean, along with the glasses. She then disappeared behind the kitchen counter.

"Are you having some?" Dean asked, impressed by the girl's alcohol supply.

Maddy straightened up from cupboard in the counter, holding a Winnie-the-Pooh mug.

"Of course."

She sat opposite them, pouring a generous amount into her mug and pushing the bottle towards them.

At their incredulous look, she elaborated.

"I don't entertain much. No need for three whiskey glasses. Besides, everything tastes better out of a mug."

Maddy took a gulp of her drink and winced.

"Okay, I'm ready. Spin me a tale of the supernatural," she said wryly. "And then depending on whether I'm able to function afterwards, I'll set up a couple beds for you guys."

Forty minutes later, Maddy had finished an entire mug full of the whiskey. She listened almost in silence except for the occasional question, while Sam and Dean took turns explaining the part of the world Maddy had completely overlooked. Some things made sense - like that time in Toronto - some terrified her, some made her wonder how she hadn't noticed before, but there was a dutiful acceptance that settled in her once they had finished. There was no way she could deny it when she had seen them up close and headless.

"Okay," she said quietly, rising from the table. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to use the bathroom. Unlimited hot water."

She gave them a half smile and headed upstairs.

Once she was gone, Dean turned to Sam with a haggard look.

"I hate that conversation."

Sam nodded in silent agreement. It was just another innocent person who now knew too much, because of them.

"Listen, we'll be gone by tomorrow," Sam said. "We won't be anywhere near her. She seems strong, she might just be able to put it behind her, go to college, be normal."

"She better," Dean muttered. "People don't fair well around us."

"I know," Sam said, gaze falling down to the scar on his upturned palm. "We won't let that happen."

"We shouldn't have come here," Dean insisted.

"Maddy's blood is at the scene. The other vamps go to find out what happened to their buddies, smell her, and find her. The safest place for her right now is with us until tomorrow when we can hit the nest, just in case."

Dean grumbled and took another drink.

"Fine."

When Maddy returned, she had an armful of bedding almost bigger than her. Nevertheless, she had managed to navigate down the dark steps down to the basement, carrying them with no issues. She dumped them down by her bed and began to wrap three duvets up to make a mattress. She then put two pillows at the top and laid out a comforter over the top.

She stepped back and motioned to her bed and the makeshift one.

"You can fight over it."

"Where are you sleeping?" Dean asked, looking around for a second bed he might have missed.

"Oh I'll take the sofa."

"No, we can't do that," he protested.

"I usually do anyway," she said. "I don't really like the bed."

It occurred to Dean then how neat the bed was, compared to the slight clutter around the rest of the room. The decorative pillows were crisp and pointed upwards at the exact same angle, the corners of the comforter tucked tightly down against the mattress. Maddy noticed him looking and chuckled.

"Jackie did that. I don't see the point of pillows you can't lie on," she said.

Her mouth twitched to the side in thought for a moment. A small grin worked its way onto her face as she turned to the bed and threw the pillows against the wall with a dull thud. With one movement, she threw the double duvet back, messing up the perfect creases down the side.

Blowing her chestnut hair out of her face, she motioned to the bed again, grinning widely now.

"Is that more inviting?"

"If you're sure?" Dean asked, but he was smiling at the display.

"Honestly, I haven't slept in this bed for three years. It's just to keep up appearances."

Dean shrugged and held out a fist to Sam. Sam rolled his eyes and held out his own. On the count of three, Dean pulled scissors while Sam, rock.

"I don't get why we even have to do this anymore," Sam said, flopping down on the bed and sighing heavily in satisfaction. "Maddy, you're missing out. Is this memory foam?"

"I don't remember," she said, crossing to her wardrobe and pulling out a blanket and pillow.

Dean laughed more than he should have.

While Dean took a shower, Maddy curled up on the couch. Sam watched her, canting his head. The couch was much too small for her to stretch her legs out. Instead, they were closely tucked up to her chest, one arm wrapped around her stomach and the other dangling off the side. She had switched the orange hat for a chunkier yellow one, which was pulled down past her her eyebrows. It complemented her light brown skin.

She wasn't asleep, he could tell. She was pretending. At every little noise, her eyes would twitch beneath her eyelids and her fingers would clench together ever-so-slightly.

When Dean returned from the shower, dressed in sweats, her eyes snapped open, focused on him for a moment, then went back to pretending.

It was an issue of trust, and not uncalled for, Sam reasoned. She still didn't know if they were going to hurt her. It had been reckless enough for her to invite them back, sleeping around them would be even more dangerous. He cursed himself again for putting her in this situation.

Nevertheless, he and Dean needed a few hours sleep if they were going to be on top form to take out the nest, and they could leave Maddy and Nebraska behind. It couldn't come soon enough.

The Next Morning

"Thanks again, Maddy," Sam said as they gathered their stuff together. "Best night's sleep I've had in a long time. I'm not lying! Honestly, use that bed."

Maddy laughed, "I might now you've hyped it up enough. I'd offer for you take it if it could fit in that Impala."

"I can barely fit in it."

"There," Dean said, handing her back her phone. "It's got our numbers in now. We'll text to let you know we're okay, even though we will be."

He said that pointedly but Maddy had insisted. She knew she'd never be able to stop thinking about it if they took off after some vampires and were never heard of again.

"Thanks."

She stored her phone in the pocket of the knitted cardigan she was wearing over her clothes. Her eyes were heavy and rimmed with dark lines. She hadn't slept at all last night.

"What will you do about school?" Sam asked.

Dean rolled his eyes.

"I'll take a sick day," Maddy said flippantly. "I'm a bit of a special case so I have some online stuff set up. Are you sure I can't make you something to eat?"

"We'll hit up a drive thru on the way," Dean said. "You're a vegetarian."

"Oh, I see how it is. And I'm pescatarian."

Dean shrugged, "I like real food."

Maddy shook her head exasperatedly, "Get out."

"We're going," Sam said, pulling Dean by the shoulder down the steps to the Impala. "See you, Maddy."

"Stay alive," she replied somewhat lamely.

"We'll try."

Sam leant against the Impala bonnet as Dean rifled in the trunk for the weapons they would need. His eyes glazed over as he thought. That feeling was crawling through him again. A mixture of overwhelming guilt and dread. He'd forgotten for a whole day. Forgotten that he'd freed Lucifer. That he could cause so many people to lose their lives. People who don't deserve it.

"Sam?" Dean's voice cut through his thoughts.

Sam lifted his head, trying to clear his head. He gave an unconvincing smile.

"I'm fine."

Dean nodded, just as unconvincingly.

"Hey, for the next twenty minutes, the Devil doesn't exist, capiche?"

"Twenty minutes? That's optimistic."

"Just the kind of guy I am, Sammy," Dean said with a smirk. "This isn't another Big Bad. Just a vamp nest with an inflated ego. I bet we'll be out in under twenty."

Sam just rolled his eyes, ready to reply when he froze, eyes fixed on something just over Dean's shoulder.

"What?" Dean asked, seeing the shift in his brother's expression.

"I thought I just saw a…" Sam narrowed his eyes at the edge of the parking lot. "I…"

"It's daylight," Dean said.

"But Dad said daylight doesn't do all that much."

"Still hurts 'em. Look, they wouldn't be out here if - "

"There!" Sam pointed.

Dean whirled around, gripping his machete tightly.

"Where?"

"Over - "

But Dean had seen it. The flash of movement too quick to be human, darting behind the cover of the trees lining the parking lot.

"Okay, I stand corrected," Dean grumbled. "But they won't be able to come out in this light, they'll have to stay in the shade… right?"

"Uhh."

Sam's mind was whirring to catch up. Dean had been right. They were so focused on their Big Bad that hunts had taken a backseat. They just didn't seem that important anymore, and now they were going to pay for it. He was scrabbling to pull that information to the forefront, casting everything else back. It was easier said than done.

"Yeah, I think - "

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" a voice too close to Sam said.

Both he and Dean spun to face it, eyebrows raising at the sight of one of the vamps from the nest, standing dressed in all black in full sun. The skin around his mouth and eyes were already starting to glow red, but he seemed unaffected by the pain.

"That's gotta burn," Dean pointed out.

The vamp shrugged, "I might feel the effects afterwards. I'll think of it as a hangover. Worry about that later, right now is time for fun."

He reached out his gloved hands and clapped once.

By instinct rather than foresight, Dean managed to catch one of the vamps hurtling towards him by the throat, lashing out with his machete and taking off her head in one swift movement. He didn't have time to celebrate as another jumped on him, pinning him against the Impala in time for Dean to see Sam be taken on by three others, blood already flowing from a gash on the side of his head. Sam swung out an arm, succeeding in throwing one off him and towards Dean, who wriggled free enough to take it down.

As the vamp fell, the one holding him let out a raw shriek. Dean realised, with a wince, that she must have been his mate.

Freaking great.

He turned Dean's face towards him, knocking the machete out of his hand, and glowered. His mouth twitched, no doubt wanting to rip him apart. Instead, he thrust Dean's head back into the door of the Impala, knocking him immediately unconscious.

"Dean!" Sam yelled, eyes wide at the prospect of being alone against all of them. He didn't have a chance.

He lashed out again but one of them gave a powerful kick to the back of his knee, sending him to the floor with a shout. His head hit the pavement. Vision swam.

The machete was still in his hand as a female vampire rolled him over onto his back, standing over him. Clenching his jaw, Sam brought the machete up towards her with as much force as he could.

She caught the blade in her hand.

"Ouch," she said nonchalantly, then gripped it tighter until blood ran down her arm in a dark red river.

She ripped it out of his hands and before he could even try to move, she had brought the handle down against his temple.

Sam joined the blackness with his brother, both of them knowing even in their unconscious states that they had royally screwed this one up.

Maddy knew in her caffeinated, sleep-deprived state that she had royally screwed up this one up, too. European history was usually an okay subject for her but the reading was sometimes a little difficult if she wasn't completely focused, as she wasn't that night. She had mixed up the kings she was supposed to be writing her essay on, having read the stimulus material wrong. Of course she would only notice after she'd finished, referencing and all.

"Damn you, dyslexia," she growled, slamming her hand down onto the stack of paper on the table.

She flinched as she jostled her forgotten stitches. Then her mind, as it had been doing the entire day, wandered to Sam and Dean and the… vampires. The fact of their existence had begun to sink in. The other stuff they had told her about - demons, werewolves, wendigos, rugarus, leviathan, angels - had yet to fully conceptualise. Hopefully it never would.

With a sigh of frustration, Maddy slammed her history text book down and got up to make herself a drink.

The TV was droning on about the state of the economy. The dodgy radiator was making a rattling noise.

The feeling was coming back.

Swallowing, Maddy reached for her iPod and turned on the Monkees, closing her eyes until the music started.

"Oh, I could hide, beneath the wings, of the bluebird as she sings," Maddy murmured quietly. "The six o'clock alarm would never ring."

The soft instruments and Davy Jones' gentle voice overrode the other noises and Maddy focused on that, taking breaths in time with the music.

'But six rings and I rise

Wipe the sleep out of my eyes

The shaving razor's cold and it stings.'

Maddy went to her wardrobe and switched her red knitted hat for her favourite, the yellow-brown coloured one, as she always did when she felt herself getting like this.

"Cheer up sleepy Jean!" she joined in for the chorus. "Oh, what can it mean to a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?"

For the rest of the song, Maddy sang along, feeling the tightness in her chest unknot slowly. She knew it would be back soon. The only thing that really worked was leaving and she knew she had to stay until Sam and Dean texted back to say they weren't dead. If anything, her splitting town after the bodies of the men she had been seen with last night at the bar turned up would raise a little suspicion.

Daydream Believer had finished for the third time when Maddy's phone began to ring. She dived for it, answering and putting it to her ear before even checking who was calling.

"Are you okay?" she demanded.

"Whoa, I'm asking you that!"

The sound of Finn's voice made Maddy's face fall.

"Finn? Why are you asking if I'm okay?"

"Mads, the bar was broken into last night. The place is completely trashed. They said they found blood and I know you were the last one there so I just panicked and - "

"I'm fine, I promise."

"Is it your blood?"

Maddy stopped herself before she could deny it. The local police department weren't exactly FBI-standard but they could test the blood found and trace it back to her if they did their jobs properly.

"Yeah - "

"Oh my God. I'm coming over. What happened? Are you badly hurt? Why haven't you said anything?!"

"Finn!" Maddy snapped. "I'm fine. I cut myself on some glass as I was locking up. I was gonna clean up the blood on my next shift, I was just knackered and wanted to get home. I know nothing about a break in. Was anything taken?"

That was a question oblivious people asked, wasn't it?

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Maddy said, annoyed at his concern despite knowing he was well within his rights to worry. "Look, I have to go. I'm waiting for a call."

"I'm still coming over."

"Please, Finn, stay at home. It's nearly midnight. I'm just going to bed."

"No."

"Finn! I promise you, everything is okay. If someone needs comfort, it's Janine. It is her bar, after all."

Finn was quiet on the other side of the phone. Finally, she heard him heave an irritated sigh.

"You're difficult when you want to be, Maddy Bradford."

"Yeah, it's been said," Maddy replied tonelessly.

"I didn't mean it like that… Look, is there anything I can do for you at all? Just to make myself feel better? I can't see myself getting any sleep any time soon."

Finn suffered from insomnia. Maddy knew from the few nights she had spent with him how he would lie awake while she drifted off beside him, and how he just wanted to be doing something to take his mind away from his inability to sleep.

"Actually," Maddy bit her lip in thought. "Can you still do that thing with the phones?"

"What, tracking? Yeah, that's what I did my extra credit for in computer science last week. Why, you stalking someone?"

"This girl last night gave me her number and said she'd call when she got home. She was worried about taking a cab. It's just, she hasn't called yet and I just want to see where her phone is to see if she got home. Can you do that?"

As always, her lying talent was flawless. Whether she should exactly be proud of that, Maddy liked not to think about.

"Yeah, don't see why not. I still have a version of Mr Gregor's software before he takes it off me for, you know, legal reasons."

"How illegal is this?"

"Meh."

"Are you okay with 'meh'?"

"Duh. Now give me this number and let me be useful."

As ever, this chapter is available on Fanfiction, Wattpad, and AO3, and linked on Twitter at you_haventmetme