Grace walked down the sidewalk hurriedly, looking beaten and tired. Her breath and heart rate had sped up, and she kept glancing back over her shoulder worriedly. She thought that she'd seen him. The one who caused her all that pain. She couldn't believe that coming to America had lead to that: two years of torture and misery... she'd never be able to forget what happened with Drew.
Three years earlier, Grace had come over from Ireland to America. Originally, she had been born here, but her father put her up for adoption after six months. She'd always just assumed he didn't want her anymore, but she was always confused because she had a twin as well as an older brother- at least that's what her mum had told her. Why send your daughter away when you still have two sons? Even though she never met them, she always hoped her two brothers-by-blood were alright. When she was adopted she was brought over to Ireland where she grew up into the life of a hunter.
Fun, right?
One problem though. Her adopted father never wanted her around, and her mom was always hunting farther off in places like England and Wales. Felix was always nice to her though. He was her adopted brother. She'd never been closer to anyone- not like Grace got the chance to anyways. He was the only thing that kept her sane through her father treating her like an outcast, beating her when she did something wrong, and never getting any praise when she did something right.
So going to America seemed like a great idea.
Even if she was leaving Felix behind.
But wait.
It got worse.
When she'd gotten to America, she met a boy that she started going out with. Drew seemed nice at first. Then something changed. He turned out to be a demon. Grace never knew if he had always been like that, or if he had been possessed at some point in their relationship. She was holed up inside, and there was no way for her to get out, but oh she tried. She didn't do anything but try to get away, but she was always dragged back. The three most miserable months of her life consisted of being tortured, beaten and raped. Then she escaped- it actually seemed like Drew had gotten bored of her, and he let her go- and she's been running ever since.
Sure, she'd been hunting along the way. That's how she'd gotten so beat up that night, but other than that, the hunt had been a success.
Grace closed her eyes tightly, pushing the terrible memories away again. Through her thoughts, she hadn't exactly been watching where she had been going until she ran into a tall man, falling back on her bum.
"Oh, sorry!" She muttered, her accent still as strong as it was three years ago, frustrated with herself for not noticing him. Grace had to tilt her head up to see his face. He was tall. Like- really tall (then again, Grace was fairly... not tall). He had medium-brown hair that was longer than usual on a guy, but it didn't make him look bad, and he was pretty well muscled.
The man shook his head. "No, it's my fault," he said as he held out his hand to help her up. He frowned at her. "Are you alright?"
Grace winced as he pulled her arm to help her up, but she nodded anyways. "I'm fine," she said curtly, dusting some dirt off of her jeans, only then realizing that she had some blood running down her leg. Damn.
He shook his head again. "No, I really don't think you are. Why don't you come with me? My friend's a nurse."
Grace looked at him suspiciously. Having gone through what she did with Drew would really give someone trust issues, but his words seemed genuine. Oh yeah. That's another thing- she had some weird psychic powers to some extent. Sometimes Grace would have premonitions, other times she'd just barely be able to read someone's mind. That's why she began to trust him ever so slightly.
She still hesitated a moment before saying, "Alright, fine," with a slight sigh.
He began leading her back the way she had come from. Even though his legs were much longer, and he was in a much better condition than she currently was, Grace didn't have a problem keeping up.
"So do you mind me asking how you got so beat up?" He asked her.
Grace shook her. "Not as long as you don't mind telling me your name."
The man laughed a bit. "Alright then. I'm Sam."
Grace nodded. "I'm Grace, and I was uh... working." She loved thinking of creative new ways to explain hunting to people who didn't understand it.
Sam's eyebrows knitted together out of... concern, was it? Maybe confusion. "Working?" he repeated, as if he hadn't heard her right.
"Yeah. Working. I uh... I fell while I was putting some silverware away." Well that was just about the worst excuse she had ever come up with.
She could tell Sam was doubtful, but before he could ask her anything else, another girl ran into his shoulder. Literally ran. Was that something that happened a lot to him? Strange girls just ran into him all the time? How often was it on purpose? Grace took back that thought when Sam started talking to her as though he knew her.
"Woah, hold on a second!" he said, taking her wrist as she looked back up at him. She was taller than Grace too, but still shorter than Sam. Everyone was shorter than Sam. The girl had long brown hair that was darker than his, and she had bright blue eyes.
She looked as if she was going to ignore him for a second, but then the new girl sighed. "What is it?" she asked patiently, but Grace could tell that she wanted to get somewhere fast. It was the mind-reading thing. The new girl also had a different accent- it was American, but Grace couldn't place it at the moment.
"Where are you going?" Sam asked her, letting go of her wrist.
The girl secured the backpack on her shoulder. "Dean said we could have messed up on something during the hun-" she broke off as her eyes fixed on Grace, and she looked back up at Sam as if she was asking who this stranger was.
"Uh- Copper, this is Grace." He introduced Grace to, who she assumed to be, Copper. Sam's look became a little more desperate. "Now go," he insisted. Copper gave her head a little nod before running off again.
He turned back to Grace when the other girl was gone. "Uh, you might have to wait a few minutes at the motel... that was my friend."
"The nurse?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
Huh. She didn't seem very nurse-like to Grace, but then again, she'd gone to school to be a cop. Not a doctor.
"What was she talking about?" Grace asked him, wanting to know.
Sam shook his head and laughed a bit. "Oh, it's nothing."
Liar, Grace thought, but she didn't say anything.
Funny enough, Sam was staying at the motel that Grace was staying at. Their rooms were pretty close too, so she wouldn't have to walk far to get back.
Sam opened the door for her, and as Grace walked in another man looked up at her from sitting on the bed, looking puzzled.
"Who's this?" he asked Sam.
"Dean, this is Grace-"
"Woah-" Dean began, taking in the state Grace was in at that moment. "What happened to you?"
Grace stifled a sigh of frustration. "Nothing."
Dean glanced up at Sam who gave a slight shrug. He still didn't believe the silverware story yet.
"Then why are you here?"
Before Grace could snap back a reply, Sam stepped forward.
"I told her Copper could help fix her up," Sam explained.
Dean nodded and looked back to Grace. "Well, hold up just a moment. She'll be back in a few minutes."
Grace nodded and sat down in one of the chairs at the table in the kitchen, and she watched the two of them carefully. Any funny-business from either of them, and she'd be up and out of there in a heartbeat.
Sam walked over and sat next to Dean, speaking in a hushed voice. "Why'd you send Copper out?"
"I wanted her to double-check how we took care of the hunt. It just didn't seem right- like it was uh... more than a spirit."
Sam narrowed his eyes questioningly. "You sent Copper to go find something you think that we've never dealt with before?"
Dean shrugged defensively. "Sam, she's not a bad hunter! She wouldn't be in any more danger than you or I, no matter how much you worry." Dean's expression turned into a teasing smile when he said that. He always teased his little brother about liking Copper a bit more than a friend. Granted, Dean thought of her more than a friend, but in a different way. He and Copper were more like brother and sister than anything else.
Sam rolled his eyes, and he got up to grab the remote, turning on the TV. He collapsed back on the other bed, letting out a sigh. This had just been one of those long, exhausting days. Then putting the job of a hunt on top of that had left Sam tired. He wasn't sure if or when he fell asleep, but suddenly he heard the door opening and closing and sat up.
"So, what's up with the Irish?" Copper asked, directing the question at Grace. She wasn't being mean when she called her Irish, she was just teasing her in a friendly way. Copper was usually friendly to everyone that she talked to, and Grace could tell.
"Watch it, cowgirl," Grace retorted, finally realizing where Copper's accent was coming from.
Copper walked over to her. "Really, not that I have a problem with it, but why are you here?"
Grace shrugged. "I dunno. Your moose over there thought you could help me."
A laugh escaped Copper, and she slid her bag off her shoulder. "Maybe." She glanced over Grace, her eyes resting on the source of the blood-stain on her legs. She frowned a bit, reaching into her bag and pulled out a small first-aid kit. "What happened?"
"I fell while carrying some silverware."
Copper laughed, and a doubtful grin crossed her face. "Don't lie to me. Someone stabbed you." She said softly, making sure the two brothers didn't hear her. "What happened?"
Grace sighed and shrugged. "I got in a fight."
Copper nodded, peeling the torn denim back from the wound and frowned. "No kidding. Did you call the cops?" She asked, beginning to clean it up as well as she could.
Grace winced a bit, but at least the girl was gentile. "No, the cops wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."
Copper nodded, understandingly. "If I had a nickel for every time I've been in one of those situations, I'd be living on a yacht in Italy," she laughed, bandaging it up as best she could.
Grace looked at her, a little confused, a little admiringly. "Not a lot of other people are able to say that."
"Yeah, well, the three of us aren't exactly 'other people.'" Copper said, putting her extra supplies away, and handing Grace a bottle of ibuprofen. "Take some of those in the morning- they'll help with the pain."
Grace took them, looking back up at her curiously. "Okay, but why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why would you just help me like that?"
Copper shrugged. "It's kinda my job to help people. It's just... I dunno. I care about people."
Grace stood up, stretching a bit. "Before I go, can I ask what you three are doing here?"
Dean looked over at her. "We're just visiting for a bit. We've been traveling around the country for a little while."
"Doing what?"
"Call it an extended, national hunting trip. We're just kicking back for a bit, waiting for open season." That was Copper's answer. She pretty much could tell anyone the basic truth, but twist in just a way that most people wouldn't even think twice about it. That's what she grew up doing, anyways. She'd always been a hunter- just not one for supernatural creatures. Her dad taught her game-hunting as soon as she was old enough to hold a gun, so she pretty much had every date of every season memorized.
But Grace wasn't a person to ignore a coincidence like that. "So you three are hunters, huh?" She asked, thinking about how she would word the second part of her question. "You wouldn't happen to know what a djinn is, would you?"
Everyone in the room fell silent.
Dean was the one to eventually brake the silence. "You're kidding."