Damn. I hadn't even noticed I accidentally posted the same chapter twice. Oh well, not it's fixed. Sorry the final part to this is taking so dang long
"Quit looking at me like that." The siren snapped.
"I can't help it," Sam replied, his gaze not wavering. "I've exactly seen a siren before."
"And I've never seen a human up close. But you don't see me gawking do you?" For having such a sweet voice, she really had an attitude.
"Sorry." Sam answered bluntly.
He tried to look away, but his gaze still found its way back to her. At first glance, normal eyes might not see what made her different. But Sam knew most non-human races were as either far from human as a snake or almost identical, of which sirens were the latter.
She had deep brown hair with fell in waves to her mid-back. The irises of her eyes were crystalline turquoise blue and shone in the light of the evening. Her skin was pale and appeared to be wet every time she moved.
Sam's mind went into overdrive as he remembered everything he had ever heard about sirens. Their skin was cut into little sections, like scales on a fish, invisible till you got really close. Together they were about as strong as chain mail, but they needed to be constantly moisturized and polished by salt grains, lest they shrink and dry out exposing the siren's insides.
They had two sets of eyelids, like a shark or a crocodile. One was translucent and used to moisturize and clean and the other was as strong as their skin to help protect them when in a fight. Because of this, they appeared to never blink.
A thin, retractable, rice paper thick webbing connected their finger and toes. It made them adept swimmers.
Sirens admitted piercing cries, with changed pitch under water to a sweet, soothing sound. They often used this for hunting, driving birds and other animals insane and forcing them into the sea where they drowned themselves, listening to the siren's lullaby. Whales and other sea mammals would refuse to surface and also drown. Fish became slow and sluggish, easy for them to collect
It really was a brilliant hunting method. But there was one hitch. Humans would hear it and they too would follow the same reactions. And it was this the many myths on sirens referred to. Most cases were mere accidents, though there were a few who were jealous and drove men into the sea out of spite.
The siren before him cleared her throat, only speaking when Sam had quit looking her over. "Adrya." She said, gesturing to herself. She tossed Sam thick folder. "And I believe this is why you are here." Sam glanced down at it and was amazed. It was everything he and Dean had collected on the case so far and then some.
"You have something to do with this?"
Adrya shook her head. "But I know who does."
She knelt over, her face just inches from Sam's. He could make out every detail on her scaly face, but it was her eyes that really had him transfixed.
"I need you to do a little something for me, Sammy."
"It's Sam." He said without even thinking.
Adrya backed off a little. "Whatever. I need your help."
"Why should I help you?"
"Because I know something that you really need to know."
"What could you possibly know?"
"A little secret about a little demon friend of yours."
"Ruby?" Sam asked softly.
Adrya smiled. "Well, yes, now that you mention it. But it wasn't her I was referring to." She answered.
He glared at her. Why didn't she just tell him now?
"What was her name?" She asked, moving closer to him. "Oh ya. I think she goes by the name of," Then, so quietly he would not have heard if she wasn't practically making out with his ear, "Lilith."
Sam drew his knife and caught the siren's chin, pressing the blade to her neck. "Tell me now." He hissed at her.
"Nope, sorry. No can do." He pushed it further in, sending a trickle of blood down her neck.
"Tell me now." He demanded.
"Why?"
"Tell me or I'll-"
"Kill me? Please. You should know better. Tisk, tisk, tisk. Sirens don't die the normal ways."
"Tell me or I will."
"Do it. If I die, though, the secret will die with me. I promise. I am the last living being whom knows the full truth, save Lilith herself. And I don't even know if she remembers." Sam released a little and Adrya gave a gleeful smile.
"Besides, my little favor I want'll benefit both you and me. So you win more then I do." Sam took another long moment, glaring at her. She seemed unfazed, as if he was a little kid with a toy gun.
Reluctantly, he released her. She gave him a little mocking smile and flexed her jaw. "There's a boy." She said. She clucked once.
"I've been there, Sam. Revenge. It's a sour thing. Even years after what happened to you is over, you still want it, still need it. But most of the time, people don't come back from the dead. Feel lucky for that Sam."
"No, no one could understand. No one can ever understand what that bitch did to me. How fucked up I am on the inside…" Sam looked to Adrya; a sudden thought had hit his mind. "Why did you try to kill me?"
"Excuse me? I saved your life." Adrya raised her brow at him, her voice disgusted by his accusation.
"Back there, on the dock, a siren started singing. Nearly made me throw myself off the dock."
"Well, if you would let me explain instead of cutting me off every five seconds." She snapped.
"Sorry."
She raised her hand at him, her palm to his face. "Shut up." She shifted slightly. "Now, we both know why you're here. There's a group, known only as Neptune's song. And they want Crate."
Sam raised his voice to speak, but Adrya's glare and palm rising once more stifled his words. "They've been slowly destroying the town, as you can see. But that's not slow enough. Otherwise you wouldn't be here. They are blowing our cover. Sam, sirens are supposed to be extinct. And we almost are…"
Adrya sighed, cradling her head in her hands for a moment before running them through her thick hair. She looked away, out to sea. "Sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by idiots…Humans have such great numbers. In no time at all they could wipe us off the face of the earth. The only reason why we haven't is because we've managed to blend in. But that won't last if Neptune keeps at this…" She gave a cynical chuckle.
"And what am I supposed to do about it?"
Adrya met his eyes with soul-piercing intensity. "Take them out. Before more hunters arrive."
"Why me?"
"Because I knew you might sympathize with me. Most other hunter, if I'm not mistaking, aren't exactly a fan of you either. If they come here, you know deep down they will destroy me and any other siren that they come across. Just as they would destroy you, even after all the good you've done." Sam nodded, not saying another word.
Adrya looked surprised. "What?" Sam asked.
"Nothing. I just heard you were a bleeding heart. That my case would be lost on your ears the moment you knew I wasn't human and that I was asking you to kill without any further proof of true evil. Thought you'd be at least a little harder to convince."
Sam shook it off. "Times change."
"No. They stay exactly the same. It's people that do the changing." Her eyes flashed as she watched him, snapping up and down. He shifted, uncomfortable, under her gaze.
She grinned, a look of satisfaction on her face. Like she was happy to make him uncomfortable.
Sam flushed a little. "Where can I find them?"
"You? Alone? I don't think so. I'm coming." She turned towards the road. "You'll need proper weapons and this wouldn't hurt either." She tossed him a small bag filled to the brim with a collection of starfish, sea urchins, and shells. It stunk of a sort of old mildew and salt. "Brine's Mute. It'll tune your ears out of siren music."
She turned to face him. "Stay out of the water at all cost. Sirens are at their most dangerous. It's our element, but it's also our curse…"
Sam stood finally, at his full height, he towered over Adrya. She seemed still unfazed and turned toward the road and the wall of deep, milky fog before them. "We need to go. There's no telling if Neptune's Song knows you're out here and we've lingered far too long."
Before Sam could say a thing, Adrya was off, quickly disappearing into the depth of the whiteness. "Wait!" He yelled after her, plunging in. The mist was soupy and thick. Sam almost felt as if he was swimming. He looked around, hoping to see Adrya, but he couldn't even see his own feet, much less anyone besides him.
"I'm here." Her voice was right beside him, though all he could see was a shadowy, dreary outline. "Follow my lead." She said. "And be careful."
Sam let out a yawn, breaking the silence that had ensued between them for a mere moment. His feet seemed to weigh down on him, forcing him to drag them along. So much had happened with in the last twenty four hours, Sam hadn't noticed till now how heavy his eyes felt.
They were half way through town by now, faint figure of buildings lightly outlined by their mask. Sam tried to let go of his thoughts, hoping for sleep when they arrived back to the hotel.
But as soon as they neared the hotel, Sam knew something was wrong. He could feel his hairs rising on the back of his neck and his sense of danger felt as if it was on fire.
Cut into the fog was a horrible scene, well for Sam anyway. The line of salt he had so carefully laid across the door line was cut, the door hanging agape on its hinges.
With out sparing another moment to thought, Sam raced in, ignoring the flustered cries of Adrya behind him. He quickly past through the empty lobby, barely noticing the flurry it had been sent into.
A chill raced down Sam's back as he sighted the open door. Every defense Sam and Dean had put on the room was destroyed, even the devil's trap overhead. He glimpsed into the room, not liking what he saw. Many of the drawers hung open, some even clear off the hinges. A small amount of fog slipped in through an open window. Sam and Dean's clothes were scattered about and-
Sam froze.
Inside, there was a soft rustle. He slipped behind the wall, glancing over his shoulder. A black-shrouded figure stood, rifling through some papers on the desk. Like Adrya, Sam could not see the face or any other details about it.
He didn't think. He just did. In a flash, Sam drew his knife and rushed it, letting out a yell. At the last second, the figure turned and with inhuman swiftness, lent back, leaving the blade to cleave the shroud, sending the clear sound of a rip through the room.
With one hand, the figure caught Sam's fist, surprising him by the swiftness and strength of the cold fist's embrace against his. His fist shook with effort as he tried to regain control.
With the other hand, it retaliated, knocking its fist deep into his gut. Sam gasped falling to his knees. It wasn't a bad injury, but it would leave a nice bruise and hurt like Hell. He gaped, panting, his stomach in a swirling knot.
By the time Sam managed to catch his breath and was ready once more to fight, the figure was half way across the room.
Sam rushed him, catching him on the shoulder. The pair was sent sprawling to the floor. Sam took a big gulp of air and pinned the man down. The man wriggled under his embrace.
He shot out his knee with a sudden jolt, sending Sam across the room. He hit the wall, cleaving a low-hanging painting and could feel a bloody cut form where the corner sliced into his skin.
Sam recovered quickly and was once more on him, the two rolling across the floor, and both vying for control of the situation.
Sam raised his knife as he got on top once more, pressing the blade to the throat. He let out a loud grunt. The head flipped over toward the entrance and Sam followed his gaze, thinking there might be more.
Before Sam even had the time to take in that it was just Adrya, the figure had slipped out of his grip, racing for the window. Sam ran at it.
Just before the figure managed to slip out, Sam caught up to it. One leg hung out the sill. In a last ditch effort, he lunged at it, driving his knife into tough skin. The leg then dropped out of view and with a savage cry of pain, Sam's fight was over.
Sam panted, taking in precious air. "Neptune's?" he asked wearily. Adrya glared at him.
"You are one stupid son-of-a-bitch, you know that! What if that siren had buddies? I'll tell you what! They'd have you both right now and I'd have to save both of your sorry little asses."
"What would you have me do? Let them kill Dean?" Sam yelled back.
"Do you want to die or something?"
"I should have saved him!"
"There'd have been nothing you could have done!"
"I could have tried!" Sam fell to his knees. "I'm not loosing him. Not again. Not because of me…" His voice trailed off.
Adrya placed her hand on his shoulder. In a much gentler, tenderer tone, she said softly to him. "You're okay, Sam. If it's any conciliation, they want you, Sam. They won't kill him. Not if they want to get to you…"
"Story of my life." Sam mumbled, rising and turning over to the corner. "All of my life, things have been centered around some power I don't even understand." He turned, facing her. "And I don't want it anymore. My family died for it. My mom, my dad, even my grandparents. And that was before I was even born. Dean's died for me. It doesn't matter that he came back; it wasn't me that did it. I promised him I'd save him. I promised him. Promised. Such a fickle word. But I failed. It seems that is what I am best at. Dean saves me on a regular basis and I fail him just as often." Tears had weld up in his eyes by now, but he didn't care. Nor did he pay attention.
Till she smacked him, grazed her palm to his face with terrible force. Sam grunted. Adrya glared at him.
"You want to know why you fail? It's because of stuff like this. I'm not sorry. Sam you need to realize something. While you are standing here, crying, we could be doing something about it." She shook her head. "But no. You have to make a speech about it. Just shut up now and pay attention. Dean never thinks about stuff so much. That is how he manages to get anything done. If he thought about this shit half as much as you, you would be dead by now. Several times over. So we need to get going."
Her sudden outburst took Sam, by such surprise that he almost couldn't reply. He just stood there, listening, his face written with shock.
But she didn't stop there; she looked to him and asked. "They were looking for something. You know what it was?"
Somehow, Sam found his tongue. "Probably Ruby's Dagger."
Adrya nodded and began gathering random odds and ends. "Are you just going to stand there like a statue or are you going to help me save your brother?"
Sam nodded. "What do I need to do?"
--
Pain.
That was the first thing Dean felt as he became aware of himself once more. An unbelievable stinging coming from his head. That and an extreme need to itch at it.
He let his eyes flicker open, though he barely knew they were. It was dark, lit only by torch hidden around the bend. It only cast enough light to lighten the hue of the dark ever so slightly, barely a hundred shades over the color it was when his eyes were closed.
But for Dean it was enough. He glanced around, noting the bars encasing him and the stony roof over head. The dank smell was the final clue that made him realize he had to have been in a cave. A faint smell of salt wafted in from the left passage, foretelling that he was close to the ocean.
But how had he gotten here?
More importantly, where exactly was here?
His memories were muddled as the toxic waste dumps found off shore. Flashes of scenes hit him, half-remembered scent, fragmented memories, jumbled thoughts, and broken sounds. Nothing really made sense.
Nor did the pain coming from his head. He reached up to the back of his head and was surprised. It was wet, his hair caked down in a layer of something. He pulled away his hand and smelled it. Coppery. It assaulted him at once.
Blood.
And with that, his memories light ablaze. A crash echoing in his room. Him waking with a start. Fog misting into his room. Four shadows at the door. A piercing screech. Something hitting his head. Being dragged off as he lost his consciousness.
Dean shifted uncomfortably. Something was poking him in a rather unpleasant place. And then he remembered something else.
He reached into down to his belt. No surprise. It was gone. But then he reached bellow that, into his pants. It was still there. Ruby's dagger. He pulled it out, examining the wrapped blade. Now for the first time he was glad he had been smart enough to tuck it in a different spot.
He pounded his fist down. They had caught him with such ease. Why had he been so stupid as to not accept Sam's offer and get some sleep and-
Sam!
He glanced around the cell, half expecting to see his younger brother. "Sam?" He called softly. "Sammy?" There was no reply. A wash of relief and worry hit him. He wondered where he was. Normally, it was Sam who got captured more often. So to Dean, not seeing him here was a sign of possible doom.
Just then. Foot falls. Coming toward him. They were light and Dean was sure few men could even be that light. No this had to be a woman. He looked over and wasn't surprised to see he was right.
Carrying a torch which half eliminated the cavern was a young woman. She looked mid twenties, though Dean was sure his eyes were betraying him. Her hair was a light, Sunkist copper, her skin a smooth beige. Everything about her Dean could see made her someone he would normally try and pick up. Normally. But her eyes told Dean all the more he needed to know. They were a translucent, icy blue.
"Siren." Dean hissed at her. A smile hit her shell-shaped lips.
"Dean Winchester. Nice to see you."
"I can't say the same to you." He replied bitterly.
"Really Dean. Do you have to be so harsh?" Dean only let his distaste for her appear for a moment on his face. It wasn't the first time he'd met one of her kind. He knew what to expect. Years before, before Sam had joined him in what seemed like a lifetime ago, he'd hunted one down. He and his dad.
"That's me." He said laughing coldly.
"Short, muscular, witty, everything a girl would want." Something about her…about the way she spoke…seemed almost…familiar.
He bought his time; trying to figure out what it was…"What do you want from me?" He asked
"Oh Dean. We don't want you."
"Then why keep me alive?"
"Are you complaining? Besides, as I had said, we don't want you."
Dean caught what she meant in a moment. "Don't you touch a hair on his head. You hear me. You do and I'll kill you. I'll hunt you down and I'll kill you. I promise."
"Relax Dean." She closed her eyes. "Breathe in, breath out. Don't have a heart attack." She opened her eyes once more, unveiling black irises. "Why would I hurt him?"
Dean went to the front of the cage, hissing. "Demon."
"Now, now. Don't be hasty. I'm doing you a favor Dean." She moved close to him, just barely out of striking distance of his knife. She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm killing two birds with one stone here. Eliminating a threat and catching your brother." She looked down at her cuticles, oblivious to the death stare Dean gave her. "He needs help with his changes."
"You lying little bitch."
"You know it's true Dean. I can see it in your eyes." He averted his gaze. "You know you are loosing him."
"He'll never join you." Dean whispered harshly.
"I wouldn't be so sure Dean. I have…ways. He'll turn. I assure you."
"What makes you think you can? Yellow Eyes couldn't. What makes you so sure you can?"
"I know something he didn't. Something, a weakness in Sam that he'll never rid himself of."
"What?" Dean asked, already knowing her answer. He adjusted Ruby's blade behind him.
Just as he thought, she leaned in to answer. "You." The moment she spoke it, Dean lunged at her, firmly getting a hold on her neck with Ruby's dagger pressing against her chilled skin.
"Go ahead." She whispered. "Do it Dean. Kill me, and you're brother's just one step closer to his destiny."
"What do you mean?"
She laughed cynically. "Now there's some valuable information." Dean pressed the dagger closer, slitting her neck ever so slightly. Sparks danced from the wound. A little more pressure and she'd be dead.
She breathed in deeply. "I missed your smell Dean." Her crystal eyes glimmered.
Dean froze, a sting of recognition hitting him. That's why she was so familiar. "Bella?"
"Nice to see you again Dean. But if you don't mind, I have things I need to attend to." His grip on her only tightened.
"I thought it takes centuries for a person to turn…"
"Normally, yes. But take a look around, Dean. This isn't exactly 'normally.' Lucifer… turned up the heat I guess you could say. Between the coming of the Apocalypse and your own escape from Hell, he didn't want to loose any demons."
Dean shuddered. Bella pushed away as he did and Dean willingly released her. She smiled. It was eerie how little she'd changed. The way she moved, the way she spoke, her every posture and gesture.
As she left, Dean knew how little she'd changed. It was obviously a sloppy change. As messy and unruly as they come. She was still the same Bella, with the same strengths and the same weaknesses. Just a different package…
A long chapter and a lot of talking, but hopefully you guys can forgive me. I just needed to set up my own plots a little. But that is besides the point. Give me your imput. What do you guys think about Adrya and the sirens? What about Bella's return? I promise you she's back to her normal tricks.
Now that the set ups are done, here comes action! I won't be leaving the next update for a while though. I need to draw my inspiration from somewhere...