PRESENT DAY

The blocky numbers on the digital alarm clock read 5:02 AM as the door to the motel opened and Sam, completely awake, showered and dressed stepped into the quiet, dark room with a cardboard drink tray containing several Styrofoam cups filled to the brim with steaming coffee. A large paper bag was under one of his arms and he walked to the small table, setting down the tray of drinks and the bag from which came the enticing smell of bacon and fresh biscuits and hash browns. He walked over to Castiel, who was still slumped in the chair, his elbow leaned against the arm of the chair and his head resting in his hand. "Cas, wake up," Sam said as he gave him a little shake. Castiel blinked slowly, lifting his heavy eyelids and looking at Sam blankly a moment before he lifted his head and looked about the room. "Want something?" Sam asked as he moved back to the table. Castiel nodded slowly, his eyes half closed. "Something... something to eat would be nice." He said quietly. Sam nodded and brought him over a wrapped biscuit with bacon before he walked over to the other beds. Castiel slowly peeled away the wrapper and began to eat, dozing slightly in between bites. "Rise and shine, everyone! I brought breakfast." Sam said loudly as he gave the others a little shake to wake them.

Ella groaned quietly, jerking the covers up over her head. Dean slowly lifted his head up to look at the alarm clock. "Five in the morning, are you kidding me, Sam?"

"Nope, we need to get started," Sam said as he walked to Ella and pried the covers away from her head, leaning down to give her a little peck on the lips. "Come on, El." He said with a little laugh before walking around to Dean and Oshea's bed. "Your food is going to get cold, Dean. I even went and got you one of those personal sized apple pies from the convenient store a couple blocks over." Oshea moaned slightly and buried her head under her pillow. Her head was pounding and it made his voice sound as if he were shouting instead of talking normal.

Dean had laid his head back on the pillow, but when the words "personal sized apple pies" left Sam's lips, his eyes immediately shot open and he was across the room within moments, digging into the bag, but the pie was nowhere to be found. "Dude, you do not joke about having pie. You just signed your death wish," he said with a glare.

Sam chuckled as he shook his head, "I had to get you up somehow. Besides, I did bring you breakfast and coffee. And I wasn't lying about there being personal sized pies at the convenient store. We can stop by there on our way back from the cemetery." He said, walking to the table to grab his cup of coffee. He took a sip of it and glanced over to Castiel, who had fallen asleep again, with the biscuit half in his mouth. Sam stepped back over to him. "Cas... Cas!"

Castiel blinked and lowered the food from his mouth, looking up at Sam before shaking his head and looking down at the food again. "I'm sorry." Oshea groaned and pulled her head out from under the pillow, leaning her elbow against it and holding her head in her hand.

"Would you all please stop shouting?" She said lowly. She was sweating a little and there were bags under her eyes.

"Fine, fine, I'm up," Ella grumbled, dragging herself out of bed. She yawned and then slowly made her way to the bathroom, the door slamming behind her.

Oshea flinched as the door slammed and held her head in both hands, curling her fingers about her hair. Her head was throbbing as if someone was taking a hammer to her temples. She could barely see straight it was hurting so badly. She realized she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep feeling this way and she swung her legs over the side of the bed, leaning her elbows on her knees and doubling, still holding onto her head.

Dean glanced up from the bag of food over at Oshea, looking worried. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" Oshea lifted her head and looked up at him, shaking her head slowly. "Nothing... I'm okay. It's just a headache."

"You sure?" Dean asked, arching a brow and walking over to her.

Oshea forced a little smile as he approached her and nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. It'll go away soon."

Although still not completely convinced, he nodded and smiled at her. "Well, since your sis is hogging the bathroom, how about some breakfast?"

xx

The headache did not go away. Even after she ate breakfast and took medicine for it, it only seemed to get worse as the day wore on. The pain was so bad that little black spots were dancing across her vision. She pretended she was fine, not wanting Dean or the others to be suspicious. As they were walking back toward the hotel after spending most of the day picking through the local cemetery and the surrounding ruins of buildings, they passed by an old bar with a group of young men standing outside next to a few motorcycles and talking while they smoked and drank. As soon as they started by them, Oshea stiffened and glanced out of the corner of her eyes toward the young men, focusing on one in particular. She could see the thin spider-webbing veins just under the skin of his neck and wrists and began to hear a loud rushing in her ears. It drowned out the sound of the other's voices and she felt herself salivating. She had to force herself to keep walking; everything in her was wanting her to turn around and go back, to satisfy the craving. She could hear the creature's heartbeat like a drum in her ears; her head began to throb with the rhythm. When everyone else had gone to bed, Oshea laid on her back on the bed beside of Dean, staring up at the ceiling while her head continued to pound until she felt ready to tear out her hair. She climbed from the bed and pulled out her cell phone, hurriedly finding Jonah's name and dialing as she stepped down the hallway. As she held the phone to her ear, her other hand combed through her hair repeatedly in a fidgety manner. "Pick up, Jonah... pick up pick up pick up..."

"Your call has been forwarded to an automated voi-" Oshea nearly screamed as she snapped the phone closed. She pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead and staggered back against the wall. Her fingers were trembling as she flipped open the phone again and pressed redial. The pain had grown so intense that she was feeling sick on her stomach and her eyes were watering. "Jonah... please... please... answer me..."

Jonah shook his head, grinning. He answered this time. "Hey, O, 'sup?"

"Jonah? Why didn't you answer the first time?" She said, trying to keep her voice steady. It was difficult, even the sound of her own voice brought a fresh pain to her skull. "Jonah... I need your help... please..."

"So you need my help? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me, I thought you could handle this on your own," He replied with a scoff.

"Jonah, please... this isn't funny... I feel... I feel like I'm dying...," She said weakly. "My head is pounding... I could... I could actually hear a demon's heart beating... it's blood pumping through it's veins. I'm going crazy, Jonah..." She sighed, rubbing her watering eyes. "Where are you...? I'll come to you..."

Jonah chuckled. "Go outside," and then he hung up.

Oshea's brows furrowed as she looked down at her phone. She shut it and pushed herself away from the walls she had been leaning against, staggering toward the door. She pushed it open and shivered a little in the cold night air. She hovered just outside of the door a moment before she stepped further out unsteadily. She felt as if she were going to pass out. "Jonah...?"

Jonah stepped away from the wall and appeared in front of her. "Boo."

Oshea gasped slightly, looking up at him startled. She sighed. "Jonah..." She took a step forward and swayed, falling against him. "Jonah, make it stop..." She gripped the front of his shirt as she started to sink to her knees. "Please... I can't take it anymore..."

Jonah quickly gripped her wrists and pulled her back to her feet, staring her in the eyes for a few long moments before he nodded. "Let's go."

Oshea nodded, leaning against him as he started to lead her from the hotel. She kept one of her hands against her head as they walked. "Where are we going?"

"My place," Jonah said with a wink.

xx

SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER

xx

Sunlight pilled between the thick black curtains and the translucent cream colored lace curtain that fell between them. It pooled on the floor and spread onto the elegant four poster bed. Dust danced in the beam of light. The amber rays illuminated the two figures resting beneath the thick comforter and sheets. Oshea's red hair was falling in slightly messy waves onto her bare shoulders. She was laying on her side, facing the window and the sunlight. She blinked in the bright light and squinted as her sleepy eyes adjusted to the harsh light, she wasn't ready to face the day just yet. Yawning, she turned onto her other side, scooting closer to the other figure in the bed. She laid her head against Jonah's shoulder, resting a hand on his bare chest.

Jonah's arm was wrapped around Oshea, his hand resting on her back. As Oshea became still again, he carefully moved her head off his chest and slid out of bed. He picked up his clothes that were scattered about the floor of the room, and quickly put them on, and then he was out the door. Oshea opened her eyes and her brows furrowed as she saw the empty space beside of her, her hand resting on the pale, cool sheets instead of Jonah's warm chest. He had been gone a while, the heat from his body had left the covers. Sighing, she drew her arms around herself and brought her knees to her chest. After a moment, she grabbed her clothes off of the floor, put them on, and stepped from the room, going through the large house toward the door.

Jonah stepped out from the shadows of the large living room, his dark button up shirt unbuttoned as he held a clear glass to his lips, drinking out of it. "Where are you off to?"

Oshea turned quickly and smiled a little as she shook her head. "Must you keep doing that? You're going to give me a heart attack one day." She said before brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was actually going to go back to the hotel. My sister is probably wondering where I am."

Jonah rolled his eyes, taking another sip of the drink as he turned away from her, walking back to his mini-bar. "Actually, I had a better idea... why don't we try out those special powers of yours. You had enough blood last night, so you're probably ready. Besides, it's pretty early, I doubt your sister is even awake."

Oshea lifted her brows a little as she stepped forward from the door. "You really think I'm ready?" She said, feeling a little excited. "Alright, just tell me what I need to do."

Jonah led Oshea down the stairs into the basement of the large home, flipping on the light switch as he stepped through the door. A light flickered for a moment, and then remained on. In the middle of the room, a scrawny balding man was tied to a chair. A Devil's Trap was drawn neatly on the cement floor under him. Oshea followed him down the stairs and into the basement, squinting and blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. Her brows furrowed as she saw the man sitting in the chair and the Devil's Trap beneath him. "What do I do, Jonah?"

Jonah pulled her over in front of the man, and then stood behind her, holding out her right arm in front of her, and then stepped away, leaving her standing there with her arm outstretched. "Concentrate, and pull the demon out of him," He said simply, with a shrug as he leaned against the wall.

Oshea glanced back over her shoulder at Jonah as he pulled her in front of the man and lifted her arm. She stared at the man a moment before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her brows furrowing as she concentrated as hard as she could. After a few moments, she gasped and staggered, grimacing as she brought a hand to her head. The man in the chair just laughed at her. Oshea panted heavily, lifting her slightly shaking hand to her nose, finding a little blood had dribbled from it toward her upper lip. "Am I... doing something wrong?"

Jonah just rolled his eyes. "You didn't expect to yank the demon out on the first try, did you? Just try again."

Oshea brushed away the blood from beneath her nose and straightened, stepping forward again and lifting up her hand. She took in a deep breath before she closed her eyes again tightly and began to concentrate harder. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she grunted softly, her brows furrowing deeply. A thin stream of blood began to run freely from her nose and over her lip.

The man's eyes turned black for a moment as he laughed bitterly. In mid-chuckle he began to choke, smoke started to slowly fall out of his mouth and fell down to the floor, circling around him. After a moment, Oshea's concentration weakened and the smoke started to slowly jam itself back into the man's throat.

Oshea grunted, feeling her concentration waning. Her arm jerked and fell to her side again, but she lifted it up quickly and pushed harder. She gritted her teeth, pursing her lips together. She was determined and she wasn't going to stop this time until she succeeded. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead and dampened her brow.

Just as quickly as the smoke had started flowing back into the man's throat, it went in reverse, until all of the smoke had formed in a circle around the chair by his feet, and melted through the floor, burning through the concrete until it disappeared. Oshea's eyes opened sharply and she gave a ragged gasp as her arm fell again to her side and she sank down to her knees on the floor, panting heavily. She felt a little dizzy and her head was throbbing. Licking her lips, she tasted blood and sniffed, bringing her hand up to her face to wipe at the blood that had slipped from her nose.

Jonah smirked a bit as he watched her for a moment, and then walked past her to the man tied up on the chair, checking his pulse. Oshea looked up, watching him as he moved to the man. "Is he alright?" She asked quietly, pushing herself up to her feet.

"Nope," Jonah said, pulling his hand away. "He's a goner. Probably been dead for weeks now."

Oshea frowned, shaking her head a little. "That poor man...," She whispered. "Is it always going to be this difficult for me to pull demons out?"

Jonah shrugged nonchalantly. "It'll get easier over time."