Warnings/Disclaimer: Same as in First Chapter.
Society had changed a lot since she had last been topside, hell everything had changed since she'd last been topside. Cerberus had thought she had come to this realization in her time with Elizabeth and her family, but it was driven in with a large hammer of uncertainty and confusion over the few months she had been travelling. She'd learned quickly that she was not going to simply hop over a few towns and find the Winchesters, the world was a much bigger place now. One thing being stuck in Hell for so long did give her though was a sense of patience.
So she took it slow, meandering along different roads and to different cities, from city to city, sometimes staying somewhere for a few days or even weeks. The path she took to get to this small town of Stratton Nebraska probably would have made the new website she had found on the internet- and she was still trying to figure that out—cringe. Google Maps was it? She'd played around with it in a library in Omaha Nebraska, where she'd spent almost three weeks reading up on the history that she had missed here up on earth. That's what she'd spent a lot of time doing actually when she wasn't walking to a new place. She knew how behind she was, still is, and knowledge was power. The downfall of many a supernatural creature was secluding itself from society and humanity, but being found by that same humanity as they expanded, not knowing how things worked, not being able to adapt was fatal. Even those who had learned to adapt still had certain tells that lured hunters to their location like siren song. Humans knew what to look for now, or at least some did, and so the mythical were a dying breed.
Paws flattened the grass that grew along the highway and gravel crunched under sore and aching paws. Cars rushed past her, some of the human drivers glancing at her in concern, but that was okay, she preferred those to the drivers that tried to swerve and hit her. Dodging out of the way was unpleasant, and in her current state of exhaustion she doubted she would be able too. Something though told her that she had to make it to the next town that the green signs had been advertising for miles now, Stratton Nebraska. This innate sense hadn't lead her astray so far, was what made her accept the position and title of Cerberus from her predecessor actually.
The increase in the amount of cars, and the decrease in their speed alerted her to the town first, though the smell of fried chicken from a small diner was the initiative for her to pick up her dragging feet and move forward at a slight trot. If there was one thing that she had come to love in this new world, it was the easy abundance of delicious, crispy, greasy, fried chicken. This town was small enough to lack a KFC, but this diner would have to do. She let her nose lead her to the back of the restaurant, and she changed quickly walking into the diner and straight to the bathroom. She washed up quickly, removing the layer of dirt that had accumulated on her face and arms throughout the day, sometimes having your alternate form be that of a dog could be annoying. You were constantly washing up after changing forms because fur picked up dirt like nothing else, and your hands were your front legs and paws, thus constantly touching the ground and getting into things. It was gross, and she was most certainly not eating with that layer of Nebraskan road dust on her hands. She'd have to find a community center or something soon to actually bathe, the last one had been in Lincoln a few days ago.
She sighed as she stared at her reflection in the smudged mirror, she looked like hell. Many of the scars from her time in hell translated over to her human form, The collar mark around her neck and on her wrists and ankles from the shackles, looked like horrible healing burns, small thin white scars from various cuts lined her face and arms. The scar from her wound while freeing Dean Winchester actually looking the least recent due to the healing grace of the angel, Castiel. She turned away in slight disgust, wishing she could stay in her dog form all the time, her black fur hiding the marks of her former imprisonment. She received many stares as she walked out into the main lobby and sat down at a table by the window. The waitress was wary of her as she came over with a menu and a glass of water. Cerberus smiled at her,
"I'll just take an order of fried chicken and the water thanks." She ordered politely as the woman set down her water. The brunette smiled slightly, or tried to, before taking her order to the kitchen. She was in there a long time, no doubt being interrogated by the rest of the staff over the strange scarred foreigner who had waltzed into their small town and diner. Cerberus rolled her eyes, letting out a loose growl under her breath. The rumble of an engine drew her attention though as a sleek black old style car drove into the diner parking lot. Two men got out of the car and entered the diner, immediately being greeted by the waitress who had turned into a charming young lady upon the entrance of the admittedly handsome, for humans, young men. Cerberus rolled her eyes slightly at the display, and restrained another growl when the two were seated three tables down from her in the vacant diner.
The waitress took her time attending to the two men, Cerberus could see her order up on the serving line, slowly growing cold, less and less steam coming off of the chicken. The waitress finally skipped back to the kitchen and brought out her order. Cerberus stared at in distrust, the gravy on the potatoes had formed a skin and the green beans looked frigid. She glanced back up to complain only to find the waitress again at the table with the two young men, who were starting to look frustrated with her constant interruptions. They waved her off politely, and Cerberus took a reluctant bite of the chicken, luckily while it was slightly cold, it was also amazing. She mourned slightly over the fact that she hadn't gotten to try it fresh out of the fryer. She was almost finished with the chicken and had started to debate over whether or not digging into the other items on her plate was worth it when the conversation of the two men behind her caught her attention. She focused and the words sharpened, though she was very careful not to let her actual ears come out, that would only spell disaster.
"I know Dean, but it's best to wait until dusk before we deal with the ghost. That's when the old man was killed, and it obviously wasn't active this morning when we were there." The taller of the two explained to the man sitting across from him. The other, Dean huffed slightly in response,
"That family better have taken our advice then Sam, I won't have their blood on our hands because we didn't take care of the problem sooner!" Sam shifted slightly and Cerberus could hear the concern in his voice,
"You really need a break Dean, we both do. We've been hunting almost non-stop since early October, it's December Dean, it's only gotten worse after the conversation. You can't keep going on like this, I don't even know what vestiges of energy you're running on right now!" You could hear the irritation clearly in Deans reply,
"We're Winchesters Sammy, hunting is what we do!" Sam made some reply along the lines of 'not like this!' but Cerberus was no longer listening but had turned around to look at the two in shock. They were just finishing up their meal and Sam handed the waitress the bill back paid, Cerberus though was looking at the shorter one, eyes unfocusing as she looked deeper to see his soul, holy mother of the undead, after months of searching she had finally found the Winchesters. She unfocused her eyes quickly as they approached her, no need to alert them to anything else supernatural in the town besides whatever it was they were hunting. She hadn't sensed a ghost or the trails they left behind, anywhere in the town that she had passed through so far though, and Sam had said it wasn't active this morning, if the two were mistaken about what they were hunting, it could be deadly for both of them. Cerberus did not drag Deans soul out of hell itself only to have him die because he was being careless and stupid.
She headed to the small town library and grabbed a computer, searching for whatever it was in the town the boys thought they were hunting. The article about the closed door murder in the farm house sounded like a ghost, but she'd passed it on her way into town and had felt nothing except a deep sense of despair echoing from the house, but no ghost. She growled in annoyance, it didn't appear as if she would actually be getting that much sleep tonight. Leaving the library she changed forms behind some old trash bins and trotted out onto the main street and through town back to the farm house.
Upon arrival she noticed the family the hunters had spoken of moving in, idiots, though she supposed she wouldn't believe the two strangers if they told her such a stupid story either. She decided to wait, and not draw the attention of whatever was in the house, or the happy-go-lucky family dog. She found a small spot under the roots of a tree that had been partly blown out of the soil by a storm. From here she could see one side of the small shed and half of the house. Now to wait. The cold winter sunlight floated in through the cracks in the roots and as her body heat filled the chilly space she slowly felt her eyes closing, if anything happened she would be able to hear it right? With that thought she fell asleep as the sun began its slow descent towards the horizon.
AN:/ Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, let me know?
Also to respond to one of the Guest Reviews:
Cerberus despite her identity as a dog right now, was originally human, and despite the ability to change forms, is still human. Therefore any relationship she has with anyone will not be bestiality as she is for all intents and purposes: human. She just identifies more with her dog form as she did not like her past human form.