Warnings/Disclaimer: Just the usual that applied in the first chapter.
Cerberus sat up as Elizabeth practically danced through the door a book in hand, throwing multiple "Thank You's " over her shoulder to her mother who hadn't even made it out of the car yet. It had been nearly a week since her arrival on Earth and she'd admit that she'd become a bit complacent in her role as the family pet. Which saddened her, because it meant that she had to be moving on soon, she actually really should have left by now. But she found herself attached to this family, she enjoyed their company, even though they thought her no more than a dog.
In a weeks' time she had completely won over the hearts of the family, though they might change their minds if they knew that she shifted into human form every few nights just to get used to the different form again after so long as a canine. She had also completely exasperated Sherry and Dave with her refusal to eat the slop they called dog food. Elizabeth though took pity on her and fed her real food when they came down for their now daily midnight snack. If the parents were suspicious about the food disappearing from the refrigerator they made no comment about the matter. Elizabeth and Cerberus had grown very close and so she happily followed the young teen up the stairs and into the girls room.
Elizabeth turned around with a ridiculously wide happy grin on her face,
"I got it Shadow!" She held out the book and Cerberus practically went cross-eyed trying to read the title because it was so close to her face. She rolled her eyes and deemed it insignificant once she'd read the series title, "Supernatural" didn't sound very important or interesting to her. Didn't even really tell you what the books were about. Whoever this author was, he wasn't very creative. Elizabeth seemed happy enough to gush over the book though,
"It's about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who hunt monsters like demons, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and such." Cerberus had been mid leap onto the bed but faltered when she heard the name Winchester, landing awkwardly half on the bed and half off. Elizabeth snorted slightly trying not to laugh,
"Sounds interesting doesn't it? This is the last book that is rumored to be published for a while and from what I've read online it's the one where Dean's demon deal finally reaches its end and he goes to hell." Cerberus by now had overcome her shock and was listening carefully as Elizabeth explained while reading the back cover of the book.
"But I can't let Dad know that I read the series either, he's cool about most things, but he would flip if he knew I was reading something so opposed to what he preaches on Sunday mornings." Elizabeth said as her fingers brushed across Cerberus's fur. Cerberus wasn't surprised by this either, if those books detailed the lives of two hunters, especially hunters like the Winchester family, then they definitely would not sit well with Dave. He was a pastor at a small church, and for some reason Cerberus couldn't decipher, was wary of all the teen books coming out about paranormal romances, Cerberus didn't think he'd deal with a book about the existence of all the creatures that go bump in the night really existing, very well at all. Dave was a good man but he had his faults as did all humans, a slight paranoia/fear of all things supernatural was one of them, he went with the philosophy if you ignored things like ghosts, vampires, and werewolves, that they didn't exist.
Cerberus snorted slightly in amusement, if only he knew of who was living underneath his roof with him and his family. She turned her attention back to Elizabeth who was now reading the book happily using Cerberus as a pillow. These books though were slightly worrying. It really couldn't be fun for Dean and Sam to have their lives published like that, likely some minor prophet who was tuned into the brothers and had decided to use their story as a way to get some money out of the deal. Not that she blamed the guy, the life of a prophet wasn't exactly fun from what she could tell of the few she had met, visions were often painful and you had no control over what you saw.
Judging from the fact that the publishing hadn't stopped she assumed the boys didn't know and she sort of wished she could see the looks on their faces when they found the series. For now the series wasn't a threat to her, though the next book had better not include her involvement or that damn prophet would have hell to pay, archangel guardian or no. She relaxed slightly and watched Elizabeth's reaction to whatever drama was unfolding on the pages. She eventually dozed off and was therefore startled when Elizabeth sat up suddenly when the front door shut downstairs signaling her father's return home from work. She stuffed the book behind some other books on her bookshelf and walked calmly down the stairs, leaving Cerberus on the bed watching curiously.
She stood and jumped down from the bed after a few minutes, especially after smelling the spaghetti cooking downstairs. She paused at the doorway in shocked realization of what she had just spent the past few hours doing, acting as a furry pillow! She was more comfortable here than she had originally thought. She would need to leave, very soon. She was no pet no matter how nice life was here. She was Cerberus. She was the Guardian of the Gates of Hell. She would not become content living a life as some family's dog, she refused to become like so many of the other creatures had over the centuries and give in to the rise of humanity. If she continued down this road she would eventually become that which she pretended to be. Her powers would slowly slip away along with her intelligence and she would actually become just a dog. She shuddered in horror at the thought, she was leaving tonight. It would likely break Elizabeth's heart, but when her only other choice was to lose everything, well the feelings of one human child were insignificant. Or at least that's what she tried to tell herself.
As they ate dinner and spent the evening together Cerberus started to distance herself from the family. She lay on the floor beside the couch rather than on it with them, walked a few feet in front of or behind them instead of right next to, small things but the humans eventually started to notice. Dave stopped in the kitchen on his way up to bed, Elizabeth had gone to bed an hour or so ago, and Sherry was just finishing putting away the night's dishes. He leaned down and touched her head slightly, looking in her eyes,
"You okay Shadow?" He asked in slight concern, she looked up at him with sorrowful eyes before walking away and laying down in the corner of the kitchen. The cold tile a far cry from the warm soft bed she usually shared with Elizabeth or the comfy dog bed that lay in the living room. From here though it would be easier for her to leave out the front door once the family had gone to sleep. The couple hovered over her for a bit in concern but eventually climbed up the stairs to sleep, shooting worried glances over their shoulders the entire time. Cerberus lay still for a good two hours after and then stood carefully mindful of how slippery the tile could be. She was almost to the hall door when she remembered what she had wanted to do before leaving. She could not leave the family unprotected, if the angels presence in hell had been any indication, all hell was about to break out on earth, literally. The three of them had been kind to her, they deserved something in return.
Swiftly she climbed the stairs, feet carefully placed with each step so that her claws didn't make a sound on the hardwood flooring. She entered Sherry and Dave's room first. She concentrated her eyesight on their wedding bands, She'd only done this a couple of times, though instinctually she knew how. Ever so carefully she wove a charm of sorts into both bands, if anything supernatural came near them, or if they were in mortal danger, Cerberus would know and would be able to return to aid them. Once she was done with the adults she moved silently to Elizabeth's room and did the same to the girls purity ring and also her favorite necklace just for good measure. It was the least she could do for them.
She wasted no time in descending back down the stairs and changed into her human form once in the kitchen. She unclipped the dog collar from around her neck and lay it down on the counter, let them wonder how that had happened, she didn't want the thing. Despite her changing forms every few nights it was weird to have to wear clothing again, though she was glad she was able to keep her clothing with her when she changed back and forth between forms. She glanced down at what she had on and figured it would have to do for now, it was way out of fashion but she wouldn't be able to find anything else until morning and she refused to steal from the humans upstairs. She walked into the hall and was about to exit until she saw her reflection in the mirror. She cursed silently, her ears and tail had translated over, she concentrated again and hated the feeling of pressure as they were hidden. It was uncomfortable but necessary to hide her appendages. Blue eyes stared out at her from a pale face framed with short black hair that barely brushed her shoulders completely hiding her now human ears from view. It was still so weird to look at her human form and think of it as herself. She'd spent most of her time as a dog even when she was on Earth. The face staring back at her now reminded her to much of who she used to be, and that naïve scared little girl didn't exist anymore.
Cerberus snapped her eyes away from the mirror angrily, she was leaving, she didn't have time to sit here and brood over what could have been. She was free now, her past didn't need to haunt her any longer. She certainly didn't miss being human, the day that the duties of Cerberus were passed over to her from her predecessor was one of the best of her life. That is until she had learned of that stupid contract with Hell. Her fingers clenched slightly around the doorknob now in her hand leaving slight indentations behind when she opened it silently and slipped out into the night.
The door closed just as quietly behind her and Cerberus focused her thoughts on the journey ahead of her, truly not certain where to begin. First it would probably be best to catch up on all the little things she would need to know to pass as normal in this new century and if she was honest new world. She traveled through the city all night combing the streets for spare bills and change, sometimes having to use her limited abilities to summon it from the depths of drains and sidewalk cracks. At the end of the night she had around $400. Come morning she would stop at the local thrift shop and pick up some clothing that would stand out less as well as a backpack. Preferably one small enough that it would be able to change forms with her like her clothing did. A dog walking around with no owner and a backpack would look suspicious even to the dullest of humans. Then she would start her search for the Winchesters and the angel Castiel. Once she found them, well she'd see where it would go from there.
AN:/ Sorry for taking so long to update, in my defense I started college and life has been hectic. Here's this chapter though, and hopefully another one will be out in the next couple weeks. Enjoy, Hopefully Review, and have a wonderful rest of the week. :D -Robin