Disclaimer: All characters appearing in any of the stories posted here are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. I do not, in any way, profit from any story posted here and that all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).


Chapter Six


Logically she'd known since the beginning, that the vampires in town weren't the ones that she'd known, but just the thought of seeing them, meeting them again was enough to through her off.

To know with absolute certainty that the creature was completely unknown to her was a pleasant feeling.

Bella could remember the nights she'd spent wishing they would return. Not just Edward, but all of them. She'd missed them all so much and those first few nights had brought nothing but shaking sobs and a painful ache that she'd thought she would never get rid of.

But it had changed.

As much as she hadn't wanted it to, things had changed. The throbbing ache that would start to boil beneath her skin, left by their overwhelming absence gradually ebbed and in place a slow creeping, haunting numbness had shrouded around her and began to seep into every pore. At first she had welcomed the numbness, embraced it like nothing she had before.

And time had continued. It's slow, agonizing drag of hours and minutes, left her bereft and fighting with herself to hold on to the memories that caused so much pain, or to let go and move on, something that had left her terrified.

Forbidden to remember, unable to forget.

It had only been a few weeks after the 'event' happened that Charlie had tried to sooth her with an awkward hug and some cliche words...

time heals all wounds

The bitter resentment had bubbled up inside her. Time didn't heal anything. It prolonged the suffering. And then even more cruel, it faded your precious memories, distorted them to just hazy images. Bella had known then, looking up at her fathers face, that it was just a matter of time before those memories would slowly fade. She had clung to her memories with everything she had, they would not go easily. She would remember.

Now...

Now she didn't want to remember.

Expelling the thoughts of the past from her mind, Bella shifted within the scratchy blue sheets and resumed flipping through the channels. They had followed Gordon and they, well mostly Dean and Sam, had saved him and had quickly taken care of the vampire. Gordon had invited all of them back to the bar they'd visited hours earlier but she'd declined and opted out for lounging back on the bed and trying to entertain herself.

It was just a short time later when the door opened and Sam walked through, his posture a bit slumped.

"Hey," she greeted with a small wave. With a half smile and troubled eyes Bella could tell something was bothering him.

"Hey," he replied and dropped the keys on the small table. With a sigh, he sat down heavily and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling, his jaw clenching.

Bella bit her bottom lip and flipped the television off and moved to set up on the edge of the bed, her feet resting against the scratchy carpet.

"Everything okay?" she asked with a bit of awkwardness. She wasn't sure exactly what got him so tense and despondent, but if she had to guess, she would say it had something to do with Dean.

She could tell they loved each other, and that they would do anything for each other but, she could also see that they could quickly drive the other mad.

Sam let out a long huff of breath. "Yeah," he started and then let his head fall back down. He cast a glance at her then shook his head, almost to himself, his dark bangs falling forward and skimming his cheek. "No," he spoke again. "Dean is just... Dean. I... Gordon isn't a good guy." was what he eventually went with. Bella nodded her head with a frown on her face, showing that she was listening. "I called Ellen to see if she'd heard of him, she had. She said we shouldn't work with him, that he's dangerous." he finished and let out another long sigh.

"Well if he's dangerous, Dean will see that." she added trying to be helpful.

Sam shook his head, "I'm not so sure, and its not just that."

"What is it?"

"The way he's handling things... with dad..." he spoke lowly and Bella felt her heart ache for him.

"Everyone grieves differently," she tried, knowing it was true. She looked at him and saw the completely heartbroken look on his face.

"I know"

Bella took a breathe and looked away from Sam and instead focused her eyes on the hideous wallpaper, "I completely shut down. I wouldn't talk, I wouldn't eat, I just sat at Bobby's and just...existed." It was a hard time to remember, a time that she know looked back on with shame. She shook her head to herself and looked back to Sam.

"How did you deal?"

She laughed, thinking back to the gruff, concerned, yet determined faces, "Your dad, and Bobby, they didn't give me another choice."

"I can see that." he chuckled a bit as well.

"He'll get better Sam. It will just..." Bella hated the words she was about to say, but she had to say them nonetheless, "it just takes time." she then gave him a small smile, "Everything will work out. Even if Gordon is dangerous, there's you, Dean, and me." she nodded her head in a sure motion and stood to make her way to the bathroom.

Sam threw his head back and let out a hearty chuckle, "Yeah."

"What, I'm tough. I could take him... maybe" she grinned.

"Sure you could."

With a slight grin on her face Bella, in a rare moment of being freely childish, she stuck her tongue out at him and continued her way to the bathroom.

Opening the bathroom door, Bella didn't have enough time to react when she was violently pushed back. Loosing her footing she tripped backward and landed hard on the carpet. She gasped deeply, the air having left her when her back collided with the ground and her head awkwardly collided with the coffee table. After that, there was only black.


Swirling shadows and brief hints of lights played before Bella's eyes as she started to come to. She was dizzy and the familiar rolling nausea started to churn in her stomach. Her head ached, and as she tried to press her hand to her throbbing head, Bella found her hands immobile. She was also vaguely aware of muted voices, as if she were underwater.

"Wait! Step back, Eli." the woman's voice spoke, the sound becoming clearer with each syllable. Bella tried to fight off the rising panic building within her.

Blinking her eyes furiously, she swallowed thickly and looked around to the moving shadows that had also started to take form.

A large man, with a strong build moved a little, backwards, away from her direction. No, not her direction. As the shadows melted into normal shapes and forms, Bella recognized Sam tied to a chair next to her. Her fear spiked even more when she saw her friend gagged.

Wildly Bella looked to her captives and tried to tug against her bonds. The woman began to walk forward to Sam. Bella pulled harder against the ropes and mumbled through the gag around her mouth as the woman tugged the cloth from Sam's.

"My name's Lenore, I'm not going to hurt you. We just need to talk." the woman, Lenore, spoke calmly.

"Talk? Yeah, okay, but I might have a tough time paying attention to much besides Eli's teeth." Sam bit out, shooting a glace to Bella, then back to Lenore. Bella on the other hand had let her gaze stray to the large man, Eli, and looked at his mouth. When he sent her a grim smile, showing his razor teeth, Bella cringed.

"He won't hurt either of you, you have my word." Lenore's words were calm once again. Soothing. Bella tore her eyes away from Eli and to her. The brunette vampire looked harmless enough, but Bella didn't quite trust her appearance.

"Your word? Oh yeah, great, thanks. Listen lady, no offense but you're not the first vampire I've met." Sam bit out. Bella pulled harder on her restraints.

"We're not like the others. We don't kill humans, and we don't drink their blood. We haven't for a long time." Lenore spoke earnestly. Bella momentarily stilled her course of action. The words were so familiar.

Not just the words, but the way Lenore spoke the words.

Bella didn't doubt Lenore one bit.

She believed her..

'What is this, some kind of joke?" Sam questioned, his face disbelieving.

"Notice you're still alive." Lenore pointed out.

"Okay, uh, correct me if I'm wrong here, but shouldn't you be starving to death?" Sam asked, while shooting Bella another look. Bella had stopped struggling and only watched the interaction.

"We've found other ways. Cattle blood." Lenore stated, and Bella felt relief.

These were good vampires.

Like them.

"You're telling me you're responsible for all the -" Sam started but was cut off.

"It's not ideal, in fact it's disgusting. But it allows us to get by." Lenore said as she straightened up and walked over toward Bella. Bella only tensed briefly as Lenore removed her gag.

"Okay, uh, why?" Sam asked the question she'd asked so long ago.

"They don't want to be monsters." Bella offered in a quiet voice, her mind drifting back to the day when Edward had told her just that. Her words caught Lenore, Eli, as well as Sam's attention. Lenore nodded sagely with a curious look passing over her face.

"In a manner of speaking," she said before turning back to Sam, "Survival. No deaths, no missing locals, no reason for people like you to come looking for people like us. We blend in. Our kind is practically extinct. Turns out we weren't quite as high up the food chain as we imagined."

"Why are we explaining ourselves to these killers?" Eli asked suddenly, his expression one of dark anger. He moved a step forward.

"Eli!"Lenore barked her chastisement.

"We choke on cow's blood so that none of them suffer. Tonight they murdered Conrad and they celebrated." Eli continued, his hard expression never faltering.

"Eli, that's enough."Lenore spoke softly once more, before turning to Sam and Bella once more. "What's done is done. We're leaving this town tonight." she finished.

"Then why did you bring us here? Why are you even talking to us?" Sam asked as he nodded his head to Bella.

They want to be left alone...

They just want to live their life in as much peace as they can..

"Believe me, I'd rather not. But I know your kind. Once you have the scent you'll keep tracking us, it doesn't matter where we go. Hunters will find us."

"So you're asking us not to follow you." Sam asked locking eyes with Lenore.

"We have a right to live, we're not hurting anyone." she said with a sadness that Bella had seen before.

Bella swallowed and look down at the dirty carpet beneath her feet. Yes, Lenore and Eli were a different kind of vampire then the Cullens, but still, they strive to be different. To overcome the very nature of the monster they were suppose to be.

"Right, so you keep saying, but give me one good reason why I should believe you." Sam questioned once again.

"I do." Bella said, not bothering to look at Sam. She wasn't sure what she'd see there so she kept her gaze on the floor. There was a small silence before Lenore spoke again.

"You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to let you go. Take them back. Not a mark on them." she said before two more vampires entered the room. Bella looked up only to see a bag placed over her head.


The ride had been silent and Bella had only that much more time to think about things. What would she do if they insisted on killing them? What would she say? Would she go along with it? Better question was, could she?

When they'd been let go in front of the motel, the bags removed from their heads and their bonds cut, Bella threw Sam a glance as they walked a little closer to the room, unsure what she would find.

Would he think less of her because she believed the vampire?

All she could see as she stood to right, as Sam walked into the room, was determination.

But surprisingly, she couldn't bring herself to care.

She believed Lenore. Bella knew that Lenore was good. Just as she knew that she would try with everything she had to help them. Because that's what she was attempting right? Trying to learn how to be a good hunter?

Well, Lenore was innocent and she wasn't about to let anyone try to kill her.

Bella felt her body tense as she saw movement, and heard footsteps, but quickly calmed when she saw Sam and Dean.

"Dean, maybe we've got to rethink this hunt." Sam started as they met up with her. Bella nodded her head, relief washing over her as she realized Sam must be on her side.

"What are you talking about? Where were you two?" Dean asked as he shoved his hands in his dark leather jacket pocket.

"In the nest." Sam explained with a shrug. Dean's eyes widened and his forehead wrinkled, as he began shooting glances from Bella to Sam.

"You found it?" he questioned.

Sam shook his head negatively. "They found us, man."

"How'd you get out? How many did you kill?" Dean's eyes were now wide and curious.

"None." Bella put in, she hoped her face held a firm resolve, but she wasn't quite sure.

Dean looked at her with even more confusion marring his face. "Well, they didn't just let you go." he said matter of fact.

"That's exactly what they did." Bella said as she pursed her lips and nodded to Sam, as if for him to back her up. Sam nodded.

"All right, well, where is it?" Dean wanted to know.

"We were blindfolded, I don't know." Sam answered with a sigh and a hand through his hair.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Well, you've got to know something."

"We went over that bridge outside of town, but Dean, listen. Maybe we shouldn't go after them." Sam reiterated once more, but Dean was already shaking his head.

"Why not?" he asked as if he were speaking to a child.

"Because they're not like other vampires, they're not killing people." Bella explained as she looked up at him imploringly. He had to realize they weren't evil.

"You're joking. Then how do they stay alive? Or undead, or whatever the hell they are." Dean obviously didn't buy it. Bella worried her bottom lip and kicked a pebble.

"The cattle mutilations. They said they live off of animal blood." Sam tried once more.

Dean looked at both of them in disbelief, "And you believed them?"

"Look at us, Dean. They let us go without a scratch."

"Wait, so you're saying... No, man, no way. I don't know why they let you two go. I don't really care. We find 'em, we waste 'em." Dean said it in a way that it should have been obvious, it only made Bella clench her jaw.

"Why?" Sam questioned, his voice gaining volume.

"What part of 'vampires' don't you understand, Sam? If it's supernatural, we kill it, end of story. That's our job." Dean ordered, the harsh lines etched onto his face becoming even harder. Bella couldn't take it.

"No, that is not the job. The job is hunting evil, and if these things aren't killing people, they're not evil!" she said her voice raising, her face flushing with passion of the words she spoke.

"Of course they're killing people, that's what they do. They're all the same. They're not human, okay? We have to exterminate every last one of them." Dean met her glare and sent her one right back. He took a step toward her but Bella didn't budge. Her eyes shot daggers.

"No you don't! You don't know anything about them!" Bella stomped her foot and pushed back her hair.

"and you do?" Dean asked leaning down in her face, his hazel eyes dark and hard like flint.

"Yes I do!" she responded, her look matching his, she hoped.

A small silence settled over the three. She could feel Sam's eyes on her as well but she didn't move from her stare down with Dean. Dean tilted his head to the side.

"What?" she heard Sam question, and decided to explain just a bit.

"I knew vampires before I knew about the rest of the supernatural world. Before I met John and Bobby. These vampires were good. They didn't kill anyone..." she paused to take in a gulp of air. She spared a glace to Sam, then looked back at Dean, her eyes pleading, "They saved me... They... Their not killers Dean. People like this, they're just dealing with what life gave them and trying to be better."

"Well these Angel Vampires that you "knew"," Dean leaned in so close she could feel his breath on her face, "they're still vampires, which still make them monsters, and we gank monsters sweetheart, not make friends with them." he finished and pulled back to look at Sam. Bella tried to control her anger, boiling and racing through her veins.

Sam shook his head and gave Dean a look, "No, Dean, I don't think so, all right? Not this time."

Thank goodness someone was on her side...

"Gordon's been on those vamps for a year, man, he knows." Dean informed them. Bella rolled her eyes at the mention of the man.

Sam scoffed. "Gordon?"

"Yes."he nodded.

"You're taking his word for it?" Sam asked, surprise lacing his tone. Bella only glared at Dean. Just when she thought that he had some decency, some humanity in him he just had to change her mind.

Dean nodded once more, tilting his chin up, "That's right."

"Ellen says he's bad news." Bella bit off.

This wasn't the way a hunt was supposed to go. They were supposed to go in, get the bad guy and go on their way. They weren't suppose to debate killing innocent people. Bella shuttered and clenched her jaw once more.

Dean gave her a look of disbelief and anger, "You called Ellen?" Bella shook her head no when Sam answered.

"I did."

"And I'm supposed to listen to her? We barely know her, Sam, no thanks, I'll go with Gordon." Dean scoffed at the idea.

"Right, 'cause Gordon's such an old friend. You don't think I can see what this is?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He's a substitute for Dad, isn't he? A poor one." Sam delivered the low blow, and Bella saw Dean wince.

"Sam," Bella whispered wide eyed.

"Shut up, Sam." Dean ground out. Bell aback away from them.

"He's not even close, Dean. Not on his best day."

"You know what? I'm not even going to talk about this." Dean said, his voice dropping lower.

"You know, you slap on this big fake smile but I can see right through it. Because I know how you feel, Dean. Dad's dead. And he left a hole, and it hurts so bad you can't take it, but you can't just fill up that hole with whoever you want to. It's an insult to his memory." Sam got out, his voice wavering. Bella closed her eyes momentarily.

"Okay." was all Dean said before punching Sam, hard, across the face. Bella froze, unsure of what to do. Sam only looked at him with unreadable eyes.

"You hit me all you want. It won't change anything."

Dean glared at Sam and sent Bella a withering look, "I'm going to that nest. You don't want to tell me where it is, fine. I'll find it myself." he finished before turning, and walking away.

Bella found herself sprinting to catch up, his chucks, fumbling against the gravel.

"You're not going to kill them! They didn't do anything!" she tried to put as much of a demand into her tone as she could as she caught up with him and stood in front of him. Glaring at Dean she panted.

"Move out of my way Bella," Dean growled out, Bella could see the tick in his jaw.

"No. You're not going to kill innocent people!" she stuck to her ground, even if her heart was pounding furiously and she felt ready to be sick.

"They're not innocent. They're monsters!" he snapped.

Bella snapped and placed her hands against his chest and shoved as hard as she could, which only moved him back a step or two. She could feel her throat burn and her eyes start to sting.

"If you kill them, you'll be the monster, not them" she ground her teeth together and pointed her wavering finger in his face.

Dean only glared and walked into the room.

Bella watched him as he disappeared, and shortly after watched Sam disappear behind him.

She needed a moment. She was too angry to go in there and be of any help to anyone. But, why couldn't he see.

Its not all back and white, there are shades of gray.

Especially in hunting.

Maybe this was all just a big mistake. Maybe she should have just continued doing what she had been. Visiting Bobby when she could and being the unofficial 'Doc' as some of them put it. She was good at that. That didn't have gray area's. That didn't have two bickering brothers fighting like cats and dogs, all the while grieving for their father at the same time, and then trying to teach her how to hunt.

Maybe this would be her last hunt with the Winchesters.


Sitting in the back seat, Bella kept her mouth shut and eyes firmly glued to the Impala's floorboard. There were so many things she wanted to yell at Dean, as well as so many things she wanted to throw at his head. The man was insufferably stubborn, more so than anyone she'd ever met, even compared to John. Even compared to Edward.

So in order to avoid an argument, she kept her lips firmly closed.

Dean and Sam had come out just a short while after they'd went in. Apparently Gordon had snatched the key's to the Impala and Dean was now trying to hot-wire his beloved baby with a sour grimace on his face.

"I can't believe this. I just fixed her up, too." Dean mumbled under his breath as the car rumbled to life, "So the bridge, is that all you got?" he asked look to Sam for an answer. He hadn't even spared Bella a glance since they'd all piled in the Impala.

"The bridge was four and a half minutes from their farm." Sam answered, his face turned to look out the window.

"How do you know?"

"I counted." Sam said as he looked at the map that lay in his lap. "They took a left out of the farm, then turned right onto a dirt road, followed that for two minutes slightly up a hill, then took another quick right and we hit the bridge." he finished explaining and laid his head back against the seat.

"You're good. You're a monster pain in the ass, but you're good." Dean said with a small smile. Bella looked away from them and out the window, watching the scenery pass by.

Anxiety rose within Bella with each passing moment that they grew closer to their destination.

What was she suppose to do? She knew she had to try and stop Dean or Gordon from hurting the vampires, but she knew, up against them, she wouldn't win. Of course she now had her gun, but she would never shoot, or even threaten to shoot Dean.

How was she suppose to do this?

Sam was on her side, that had to count for something. And maybe Lenore had gotten away in time. Maybe they were already safe somewhere.

But a slow churning in her stomach told her that she wasn't safe. Bella worried her bottom lip as she thought about Gordon arriving before they did. He would kill her, Bella knew that much.

Why couldn't they see that Lenore didn't want to be a monster? That she just wanted to live her life.

It would be like someone killing Esme, or Alice.

They'd done nothing wrong!

She hated Dean's attitude, so similar to Jacob and his blind prejudice. She remembered the arguments that they'd had, his fervent disgust for the 'Cold Ones'.

Stopping dead, Bella shook the memories from her mind and bit the inside of her cheek.

If this is what hunting is... I don't think I'm cut out for it...

Feeling the car slow, Bella focused on the brothers, and tried to prepare herself for what may lay inside.


The inside was just was run down and dirty as she imagined, but the only thing that Bella could see was Gordon dipping his knife in a jar of blood. Lenore tied to a chair, cuts covering her sallow skin.

Bella clamped down on her tongue and held back shouting at the horrible man as he took the bloody knife and made a long gash across her chest.

Bella gasped as Lenore did.

She felt her blood boil, and for once in her life, Bella could see herself hurting another human being.

"Sam, Dean, Doc. Come on in." Gordon welcomed with a wicked grin. Bella gripped her gun from her waist band and held it in her hand, not pointing it yet. She cast a look to Lenore.

She's so scared...

For a moment, Bella could see Esme there, Alice, and even Rose. Her grip on her gun tightened.

"Hey, Gordon. What's going on?" Dean asked nonchalantly.

"Just poisoning Lenore here with some dead man's blood. She's going to tell us where all her little friends are, aren't you? Want to help?" Gordon offered.

"Look, man-" Dean started, and Bella began to hope that he'd changed his mind.

"Grab a knife. I was just about to start in on the fingers." Gordon interrupted, his face full of pleasure.

Slowly he drug the knife across Lenore's arm, eliciting a strangled whimper from the vampire's lips.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, let's all just chill out, huh?" Dean tried again. Bella's heart took off in relief.

He was going to help!

"I'm completely chill."

Sam took a hesitant step with his hands raised, "Gordon, put the knife down." he started to try and reason when Dean stopped him with a hand on his chest. Bella looked on, and moved with them, standing right beside Dean, her gun in her white knuckled grip.

"Sounds like it's Sam here needs to chill." Gordon said with a cocked eyebrow as he pointed the bloody knife in Sam's direction.

"Just step away from her, all right?" Sam said, his voice firm.

"You're right. I'm wasting my time here. This bitch will never talk. Might as well put her out of her misery." Gordon nodded in a friendly way before he pulled a larger, scarier looking knife. "I just sharpened it, so it's completely humane." Bella's eyes widened and she pointed the gun at Gordon, her aim slightly wavering.

Sam moved quickly, stepping in to block Gordon from Lenore. Bella flexed the muscles in her hand, licked her lips and darted her eyes to Dean. He was watching his little brother with a tense face and concerned eyes.

"Gordon, I'm letting her go." Sam said, drawing her attention once again. But Gordon's knife held in front of his chest stopped his movements.

"You're not doing a damn thing." Gordon hissed.

"Hey, hey, hey, Gordon, let's talk about this." Dean tried, from where Bella stood she could see the harsh rise and fall of Deans chest as his heartbeat quickened. Bella took a step forward, gun in hand.

"What's there to talk about? It's like I said, Dean. No shades of gray." Gordon informed before turning his attention to Bella. "And what are you gonna do sweetheart? Shoot me? I don't think so." he grinned at her and looked at Dean once more.

Bella was so close to pulling the trigger and shooting him and not caring, that her finger itched to just 'pull'.

The quick, and violent thought, startled Bella.

"Yeah. I hear ya. And I know how you feel." Dean tried to placate the dangerous hunter.

"Do you?" Gordon questioned, his head tilting a bit to the right.

"That vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but this one..." Gordon cut Dean off with a bout of dark laughter, Dean, Sam and Bella looked at him confused.

"Killed my sister? That filthy fang didn't kill my sister. It turned her. It made her one of them. So I hunted her down, and I killed her myself." he said proudly. Bella fought back the urge to shutter.

In all her time around monsters and the supernatural, this was her first time around a man who was a monster, because he chose to be.

"Why would you do that?" she couldn't help but questioned as she envisioned a thin mocha skinned woman getting murdered by her own family.

"It wasn't my sister anymore, it wasn't human. I didn't blink. And neither would you," he started by looking at Bella, then moved his harsh stare to Dean.

"You're a monster." Bella stated as she pointed the gun more firmly at him, but he didn't even glance her way.

"So you knew all along, then? You knew about the vampires, you knew they weren't killing anyone. You knew about the cattle. And you just didn't care." Sam asked astonished.

"Care about what? A nest of vampires suddenly acting nice? Taking a little time out from sucking innocent people? And we're supposed to buy that? Trust me. Doesn't change what they are. And I can prove it." Gordon spoke before making a move toward Sam.

Without even realizing what she'd done, Bella's finer squeezed the trigger narrowly missing Gordon and imbedding into the far wall. She almost lost her grip on the gun in her own shock but hardly had the time to process it when Gordon grabbed Sam and let his blade cut across his flesh before pressing it against Sam's throat, pulling him toward Lenore.

"Bella." Dean's voice stopped her from moving forward. She looked at him, his gun also drawn, he shook his head no and with the harshest look she'd ever seen on his face he took a step toward the hunter who held his brother hostage. "Let him go. Now!" His voice was deep, angry and the promise of violence dripped from each word.

"Relax. If I wanted to kill him he'd already be on the floor. Just making a little point." Gordon gloated as he held the cut on Sam's arm over Lenore.

A slow steady drip of crimson liquid began to fall onto the vampires pale face.

Lenore hissed, her fangs extending.

Bella held in a gasp and try to dispel the ball of nausea that tumbled around in her stomach.

"Hey!" Dean shouted, but Bella couldn't pull her eyes away from Sam and Lenore's face.

This wasn't fair...

"You think she's so different? Still want to save her? Look at her. They're all the same. Evil, bloodthirsty." Gordon yelled at them with a satisfied look coating his face.

"No!" Bella shouted back, "She'd not evil! Your the only evil monster in this room, not her!" she could feel the mist of tears burning behind her eyes when Lenore's face grabbed her attention.

The lovely brunette vampire shut her eyes, retracted her fangs, and with an almost animal sound, turns her face away from the blood before shouting, "No. No!"

Yes!

"You hear her, Gordon?" Bella asked a shaky grin crossing her face, "She said no."

"No! No!" Lenore cried out again only backed up Bella's words as Sam shoved Gordon away from him.

"We're done here." Sam spat at him.

"Sam, Bella, get her out of here." Dean ordered, but when she looked at him, his eyes were on Gordon. With a nod Bella moved toward Sam who was busy untying Lenore.

The woman was exhausted, that much Bella could tell, and as she and Sam led Lenore outside, Gordon went to take a step to follow but Bella watched as Dean nodded to the gun that was still trained on him. That the was the she saw of him as they made it outside.

Slowly they sat Lenore down against the Impala, Bella grabbing her bag before taking a seat next to her on the damp grass.

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't have any more." Sam said before rushing off Bella nodded anyway, knowing he wouldn't see it.

Opening her green rucksack Bella pulled out a few wipes and a few bandages, and looked up at Lenore's sad eyes.

"Thank you." Lenore breathed. Bella shook her head and began to wipe away the blood on Lenore's face, first.

"I didn't do anything. Sam and Dean are the ones to thank." Bella replied, grabbing a metal bowl from her bag, setting it down on the cool dirt, and tossing the small bloody rag in, and lighting it ablaze, just as she'd seen Carlisle do so long ago.

"You believed me from the start." Lenore spoke again, Bella looked at her, her face softening and nodded her head. Turning around to grab a new rag for the cut on her chest, Bella turned back around to find Lenore gone.

Placing the rag down, and letting her hand thread through the blades of grass, Bella couldn't help but feel that today at least, she helped someone.

Vampire or not, she helped.

Soft foot falls grabbed Bella's attention and looking up she saw Sam sprinting back over.

"Where's Lenore?" he asked, his breathing labored. Bella smiled a little.

"She left." she replied.

"You think she's going to be okay?" he asked as Bella grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit where Lenore had just been, take his arm and with the new rag, start to clean his wound.

"I know she will." she replied softly.


Dean emerged from the building a short while later just as Sam was rising from his spot on the ground, a new white bandage covering the cut on his arm. He moved to meet his older brother.

Bella couldn't hear what they were saying while she burned the bloody rags, and after just a moment Sam had moved to take his seat in the Impala while Dean leaned against the prized car.

"Thank you." his low voice startled Bella a bit as she had starting packing up her supplies. She looked up at him, squinting against the new morning light.

"What for?" She asked.

"For trying to protect Sam. You almost shot Gordon." he said before leaning down and grabbing her rucksack. They both stood, Bells unsure of what to say. "I know you're knew to hunting, so shooting something, especially a human's gonna be hard... but thanks." he finished before walking around the car and placing her bag in the trunk. "but try to have a little more practice before you go shooting that thing."

Bella smiled slightly as she too got in the Impala.

Things had turned out for the best.

Lenore was okay, and so were Dean and Sam.

Bella looked down to see her finger absentmindedly running over her scar, bringing a small frown to her face. On impulse Bella moved forward and leaned against the front seat in between Sam and Dean. They both tossed her a glance.

"The vampires I knew..." She spoke, and looked at the two men that had become her friends.

"Yeah," Dean nodded and looked at her curiously, as did Sam.

"They really did save my life. They were my friends. There was a vampire that came into town and caught my sent. He wanted to hunt me. My friends tried their best to stop him. In the end he found a way to get to me." She tried to speak of the past without emotion, but a deep sadness still crept back in to her voice, and her face echoed that emotion.

"What happened?" Sam asked the question. Bella looked at him and saw his face, so open and trusting, she hated herself for not telling them the whole story, but she wasn't ready yet.

She didn't know when she ever would be, but she knew it would happen one day.

"He bit me." she said looking forward at the blurring yellow lines.

"What?" Dean asked as she saw both of their heads jerk in her direction. Bella continued to watch the yellow lines.

"These vampires aren't like the vampires we just saw. They're different. Once bit and you start to turn. It's like a venom." she finished with a sigh, her finger still tracing the scar that would forever remind her of that time her life.

"But I thought he bi-" Sam started but Bell cut in nodding her head.

"Yeah, he bit me, he beat me up and then bit me, when my friends got there and killed him. One of my...friends... he saved me..." With a long expelled breath, Bella lifted her arm and gives her wrist to their eyes. She saw Dean eye the scar with a tense mouth, and flinched a tad with Sam touched it gently. "He sucked the venom out. He didn't drain me, he stopped when the venom was out." she explained before finally looking at both of them. "They didn't ask for what they are, it just happened to them. Like your life happened to you." She finished and laid her head against the seat in front of her. Dean still taking quick glances at her wrist, and Sam still prodding the white chilly scar.

The low hum of 'Simple Man' whined lowly and Bella for the first time in a long time, felt fine.


A/N: Sorry for the wait! I hope this extra long chapter will be enough! I seriously can't tell you guys how awesome you are. Weather you're leaving a review, or just following the story, I'm so glad people are enjoying this! You guys are the best readers ever!

I do want to say, this is going to be a slow burn kind of story, so if your looking for a hook up to happen soon, I'm sorry, but that's just not in the cards for my Bella and Dean. I have an idea of where I want this story to go in the end, as well as some arcs that I want to add, and all I can say is that I see this being a long journey for Bella, Dean, Sam and Bobby, as well as a few more characters you will recognize. And maybe one has already appeared, but you just don't realize it yet. ;-D

Thanks again for being such awesome readers, I never thought this story would go so well.

More to come soon!