Walking unsteadily, Big strode up to the tree and placed a hand on some of the damaged bark Rois' feet scraped up and then looked up right at her with a low growl. "You, bitch! Who's with you? WHAT is with you? I'll chew on your guts while you watch for what you did to them!" Big was getting more worked up by the second and gripping the tree fiercely with his clawed hands. It would be a small effort for Big to get up to where she climbed, even Rois figured that.
Desperate, Rois clenched the hat like some kind of safety blanket and cried out with her now hoarse voice "I'm alone! I've been up here! Go away!" Big was not satisfied with the answer, as if any answer could've pleased him, and stabbed at the tree with his claws and started climbing.
"Jay, Marks, Ed and Halford, they were my pack half an hour ago and now they are all dead. This is your doing, and you're gonna pay for it." Rois realized that she had not climbed up nearly as high as she thought. Big was almost close enough to make a grab at her dangling legs, but she only had enough energy to tuck them up and get ready to kick at him. "Back off!" It was a weak threat, and ignored.
As Bigs black clawed hand reached up to grab at her leg, Rois crawled out farther on to the branch like a caterpillar, eyes wide and fearful. In Rois' peripheral vision a dark shape emerged through the mist below and she bit back an audible response- it was the hat guy! Big did not notice him, not until it was too late. One pertinent detail she did not see before was that the hat guy had a big fucking weapon.
With a nimble leap, far beyond what your average man could do, hat guy grabbed Big's ankle and ripped him off the tree like a bug. Bigs had only a second to react as he landed on his ass, raising his hands up defensively and snarling "NO!" There was clear recognition in his expression and his features remained stuck that way as, in one clean movement, hat guy separated his head from his shoulders and kicked it away like a soccer ball.
Big's corpse lay there twitching as hat guy casually looked up at Rois, who was white as a ghost and gaping like a fish, and held out his free hand "Thanks for holding my hat, darlin'. You can come down now, It ain't safe here."
Rois was ashen faced and feeling sick as she couldn't help but stare the corpse, ignoring her savior until he tactfully stepped in front of it and gave his hand a wiggle, eyebrows raising slightly. Being cut off from the sight helped, and Rois looked dimly at him for a moment before tossing his hat to him as best she could. He caught the hat easily and placed it back on his head with a warm, white toothed smile. "That's better darlin', come on now. Need a hand? Just jump down and I'll catch." He placed his weapon down, balancing it on the side of his leg so he could still grab it while standing, and raised his hands up to catch her.
"Yes, thank you." Taking a slow breath and trying very hard to ignore the stench of death that wafted upwards, Rois slowly lowered herself from the branch until she was hanging by her arms and then let go. There was no reason not to trust this man right now, he just saved her life. He caught her deftly by the waist and planted her on the ground briskly, picking up his weapon and warily looking around with vivid blue eyes. Standing face to face with him this time, Rois took in his features intently, focusing on him to not think about the cooling corpse a foot away. He had short brown hair under the hat, a dark blue coat that was looking ragged and bloodstained, a white t-shirt that was also torn and filthy and his beard had a little bit of white in it.
"You have a lot of questions right now I'm sure, so do I," He tapped her upper arm lightly to make sure she was actually hearing what he was saying instead of just staring blankly "but right now you need to follow me and keep as quiet as you can, we're not safe. I'm holed up not far from here, lets go darlin'."
Rois didn't argue, nodding quickly and keeping her eyes locked on his back as they started walking, if he had some answers she was going to do whatever was necessary to get them. If that included having to go to the bat cave or wherever, then fine. There were several times where, in the fading fog, he gestured to stay still, watching dark shapes move in the distance and waiting minutes before moving again. By the time they reached a large grassy incline, Rois didn't know if she was going to make it up. Thankfully, her savior stopped at the base of the hill and crouched down, feeling around for something until he slipped his hand into the dirt and lifted the grass, and dirt it was attached to, up like a flap. A hole big enough for someone of his width to crawl into was there and she couldn't see very far into it.
Losing patience with her staring, he made a quick gesture for her to start moving her ass and she looked at him warily for a moment before complying. Crawling on her scraped hands and sore knees was torturous, but soon she had gone far enough in to be followed by him and what little light had been coming through the entrance was snuffed when he crawled in backwards and pulled the flap of grass down again.
Without sight to guide her, Rois ran her hands over everything ahead of her and settled for moving a few more feet and sitting against a cool earthy wall with a tired huff, closing her red eyes wearily. A grunt and scraping sound made her quirk a brow until it dawned on her that he was putting something heavy in the way of the entrance, maybe a rock. Rois was not sure whether that was comforting or not.
"It has occurred to me that I forgot to give you my name, it's Benny." His voice was muffled and there was some shuffling, but he did manage to not bump into her at all. When he spoke again it sounded like he had come to sit across from her, making the size of this place bigger than she had first expected. "And yours is?"
With a start Rois realized what he was asking and chimed in automatically, maybe her mind was just thankful for some kind of normalcy at this point "I'm Rois, thank you for the save back there." With a quick thought she held her hand out for a shake and was surprised when he grasped it and gave a firm squeeze. So he can see fine in the dark.
"My pleasure. Couldn't let some werewolf mutts tear up a little lady like you, after all." Benny chuckled mirthfully, much more relaxed now that he didn't need to watch out for anything.
Rois' eyes popped open and widened incredulously.. "I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. Werewolves? Benny, where am I? And, if I may ask, what are you? These past few hours have been nothing but confusing and, quite frankly, scary as hell." Rois waited while rubbing absently at her sore legs.
Benny studied her profile in the dark quietly as he thought about how and where to even start answering her questions. She was completely disheveled, but her heart rate had slowed to a relaxed thumping, no longer racing like a horse and reminding him of the hunger that plagued him on earth. Her blood had since dried or been caked over by the dirt she was sitting against, but Benny was still thankful that there was no true hunger in Purgatory, it smelled delicious. She had straight reddish brown hair that was almost past her shoulder blades, dark green eyes with a thick rim around the iris, giving her a naturally piercing stare that she was leveling in what she thought was his direction while waiting for his delayed response. Her clothing was simple: a black sleeveless t-shirt, some pretty casual gray sweatpants and her feet were bare. Making up his mind, Benny responded.
"One question at a time, sugar. I have some of my own as well."
"Fair enough."
"First things first. You are in Purgatory, monster heaven. All those monsters you've read or heard about over the years? Yeah, odds are most of them are real." Benny took a little pleasure in watching her distressed look, entertainment was so sparse in Purgatory and he'd been all but wild for so long now.
"Humans ain't supposed to come here, their souls go elsewhere- heaven and hell. So you being here, that is not normal. My turn. How did you die?"
With a grimace, Rois mumbled with her hoarse voice "I was camping with my best friends, Mary and Lisa. We were out in the woods, everything was fine, but we split up to get some fire wood and that is when Mary disappeared. I went to look for her and then heard Lisa scream." Pausing for a second, clearly upset, Rois rubbed at her eyes angrily when they teared up. "I ran back as fast as I could, I had my hatchet in hand, and I saw Lisa disintegrate in front of his tall guy in a suit. The guy grabbed for me and I hit him in the head with the hatchet, then ran as fast I could. He caught up, though. I cornered myself at a cliff and he grabbed me again. I started to feel like I was burning, and I couldn't look away from his eyes. I tripped him up and sent both of us over the cliff and as we fell I saw myself crumbling away. I felt like I had been detached from myself and there was this white light that he was absorbing, then we hit the ground and in a blink I was here with him. That is everything, I swear."
Benny watched her emotions and gestures as she described her experience, frowning. When it was clear that she had finished, he chimed in. "Truth is, I don't know much about other monsters. I'd be lying if I said I had any idea what that guy was and what he did. Normally if you see someone here you just kill and don't bother asking questions." For a moment he scratched his stubble thoughtfully as her face fell, like someone had kicked her puppy. "Doesn't mean we can't find him though." she perked back up immediately, making him smirk. "As for what I am? Why, I'm a vampire honey." He was glad she couldn't see his hurt expression when he heard her heart rate spike in fear. "Haven't taken a sip of you yet, have a little faith would you? There is no hunger in Purgatory and I swore off drinking people a long time ago, even before I died."
Rois let out a small laugh, giving him a surprise. "A vampire, eh? Are we talking count Dracula or more like Blade vampires?" Straightening her legs out, Rois leaned against the wall and linked her fingers together over her stomach, smiling so genuinely Benny could see it in her eyes.
"Don't know about this Blade character, but definitely not Dracula darlin'. Don't matter anyway. Surprised you didn't ask but I'll tell you, there is a way out of Purgatory for humans." This Rois character was certainly not Dean, there was no suspicion in her eyes, just pure hope. Her mouth even dropped open slightly.
"What? But I'm dead."
"Yeah, sounds like you either splattered or got dusted too, but you'll either be whole when you get out or you'll get your ticket to heaven or hell. Have you been a good girl?"
"I'm no angel, but I don't think I'm hell-worthy either. I'm just a nerd who likes gaming and the outdoors." Rois smirked.
"Ah, youths these days." Benny quipped easily.
"Youth? I'm 26 and dead, I hardly feel youthful at this point. What are you then? You didn't look that old, maybe your 40s? I saw that gray in your beard." Chuckling softly, Rois tapped her chin where she saw the gray on him teasingly.
"Try somewhere around 250, you stop counting after a while."
"Jesus."
"Wasn't old enough to see him, lets not exaggerate too much here darlin'."
As much fun as it was to just sit and talk, Benny decided to steer the conversation back where it needed to go. "Anyway. I know where the portal is and, for getting you there, you can take me back with you."
"That sounds simple. Which means it can't possibly be that simple, right?"
"Well I do have to get you there alive somehow. Otherwise yes, it is. A nick on your arm, a few words and you can hump my soul to the other side."
"A soul train. Awesome." Maybe she was like Dean after all. "As for getting me there alive, if I can rest a bit and then get my hands on a weapon I can be not quite worthless. I do have some experience in fighting; Not for my life of course, but you work with what you've got..." Benny rolled his eyes.
"You can rest for a while. As for weaponry, I'd rather you didn't try. Better you just keep close or hide like you did before while I take care of it." Her dislike of that was clear, but he was given a grudging nod.
"Good girl. Rest up, I'll keep watch."
Rois was already closing her tired red eyes again, chin dipping down against her chest as she mumbled "Thank you, Benny." and entered an exhausted sleep.
Benny watched as she slept. It was strange how he kept bumping into humans and how they complicated his existence even in death, but he wouldn't have it any other way. At least he had found a few humans over time who didn't try to kill him immediately, not like all monsters in Purgatory. He couldn't even have temporary friends here. Sighing and fingering the hilt of his curved bone and ebony weapon, he thought on where to go from here and what path would be best to get to the portal. It had been hard to get Dean and Sam to the portal and they had exceptional fighting ability and experience. Rois had none of the above, he was risking his neck for no reason other than a chance at Earth again.
Rois' heart betrayed how long it really took her to fall into a deep sleep and when it finally calmed to a very slow rhythmic thumping it began to spike and race, setting Benny on edge as he watched her writhe in a nightmare and pant like she was running for her life again.
When a cool hand clasped over her mouth, Rois came awake with a jump and a muffled yell, flailing her hands at Benny's hand until she realized what was going on, half closing her eyes and thumping her head back against the soft earth behind it with a sigh.
"Sorry about the hand darlin', needed to wake you up and didn't want you screaming for every boogeyman to hear."
"I understand, thanks. Think that is about all the sleep I'll be getting anyways. Should we get moving?" Planting her hands on either side of her, Rois rose to a kneeling position as Benny backed up so they wouldn't bash faces.
"Yeah, 'bout that time. Wont be able to hole up anywhere for long with you, you're like a beacon in this place." Or a special snack, that went without saying.
Benny pulled the big rock out of the way of the entrance with no complaint and crawled out first to check things out before gesturing for Rois to follow. Even the dim gloom of Purgatory felt bright after however many hours of perfect darkness and she was left blinking owlishly when she crawled out of the hole and stood up. As soon as the hideout was hidden again, Benny was gripping his crude weapon grimly and keeping a vigilant eye out, all business. His pace was brisk, but the pain Rois had felt before her rest was dull and she couldn't help but think it had something to do with the nature of the place itself.
They were trudging through a murky swamp, not long after Benny decapitated a Shapeshifter who tried to lure Rois away by looking like him while he was scouting the area, when Benny started talking. "So, Rois. Never heard a name like that, where do you come from?" Rois appreciated his calm voice, maybe he realized she was a bundle of nerves and getting more wired by the minute.
"Just from a baby book I think. Read up about it once, it either means Rose in Gaelic or Horse in Irish, something like that." Both of them chuckled amiably "I'm actually Canadian, born and raised in Ontario."
"Huh, a Canadian. Never been up there, I was from Louisiana."
"Oh cool, you definitely have an accent."
Their conversation died off as they trudged out of the swamp, moving up a slow incline of leaf littered grass. The trees around them were lined up so nice, as if they had been planted like that, to make something like a corridor into the dark forest ahead. Unfortunately the stench of decay and half eaten, rotting bodies littered the way up as well. Benny and Rois were on high alert as they trudged, Rois keeping as close to Benny's back as she could without stepping on his shoes. There wasn't much else to do but try and not vomit.
Stepping out from behind each tree all around them were perfect, silent copies of a warmly smiling Benny. The broad vampire himself was not saying anything, or stopping either. Nervous, Rois piped up. "Benny, are you seeing this?"
"Yeah. Doppelganger. Can copy what it sees and also what's in your head. Likes to pick things you're afraid of." There was an accusation in his tone that she did not miss. "But they are weak, it won't attack."
"There's only one?"
"Yeah, can hear its heart."
"That is becoming a very underrated ability." Rois was poised to say more, but the shape of each Benny slowly transformed. Benny actually stopped for a second to gawk and she bumped into him.
"Are you really afraid of that?"
"It's from Ghostbusters..." Rois defended weakly. The stay puft marshmallow man did not follow them any farther.