The girl behind the counter looked up as Hailee walked into the store. She couldn't have een much older than seventeen, Hailee reckoned, with long blonde hair that was fully volumised and tousled wrapped in a fishtail braid that ran over her left shoulder and down the front of her uniform. The required company cap as perched on top of her halo of golden tresses.

Hailee smiled at her before turning to wander don the two cramped aisles, picking things up as she went. By the time she was sure that she had everything that they needed she was carrying bottles of water, cans of soda, cold coffee and energy drinks, and various snack foods to restock the Impala's diminishing supplies.

Heading up to the register, Hailee laid her items on the counter. The girl immediately began scanning the bar codes.

"What else can I get for you?" The girl asked, once she had finished.

"I'm at pump number four," Hailee said, as she began eyeing the menu that hung on the wall above the girl's head. "I'll also have three coffees; one flat white, one black and an iced black Americano." She paused as the girl continued to hit various buttons on the cash register, watching the total sum up on the customer-side screen. "And two breakfast rolls, please."

"Alright," the girl murmured softly as she turned away from Hailee to lean down and retrieve the rolls from the fridge under the counter behind her. "Would you like those heated?"

"Ooh, that sounds good. Yes, thank you."

The girl nodded, sliding both into a sandwich press and setting the timer. She then returned to the register and took the card that Hailee slid across the counter. Handing back the PIN machine to Hailee, the girl began packing the items neatly into paper bags. Handing Hailee her receipt, the girl went to make and pour the coffees, before collecting the rolls as the timer went off.

...

She had taken over driving from Dean at around two that morning, as his head began to nod towards the steering wheel. He had bumped a drowsy Sam into the backseat, sliding across the bench seat to fall asleep with his temple resting against the passenger window.

Hailee had always loved driving at night. Enveloped in the darkness on the quiet roads, it would have been easy to believe that they were alone in the wide expanse of land around them. She turned the radio on to a low volume, relishing in the otherwise silent car, and pushed the engine a little harder.

She had not been sleeping well - if at all - since the brothers had found her, and though she was aware that it showed on her face and that it was beginning to worry both of the boys, she knew that trying to close her eyes would result in repeated visuals of her family falling apart.

But the feel of the road beneath the wheels was soothing; it was as close to peace as she had ever come.

...

Dean hadn't really been aware that he had fallen into such a deep sleep after Hailee had offered to take the wheel in the early hours of that morning, until the driver's side door of the Impala slammed closed and waft of coffee and bacon reached his senses.

"Mmngna," was his first word of the day as his eyes fluttered open and his hand reached out towards Hailee. She understood and, having fought his cup out of the travel tray, she handed him coffee.

Dean took a gulp of the drink, relishing in the warmth that it trailed down to his stomach, and began looking for the food that he could smell. Hailee handed him the smaller bag and he reached in to grab a roll. "You're a life saver." He mumbled around a mouthful of breakfast.

"That's delightful." Hailee replied, raising her eyebrows at his lack of manners as she ripped open the wrapper to a breakfast bar.

Dean turned slightly in his seat to take in their surroundings. They were parked on the edge of a run down gas station, whose 'open' sign was blinking in the desperate need for new bulbs, and the paint on the walls couldn't seem to break away fast enough. Over the brow of the hill, he could see a small town, that was completely dead in the early sunlight.

"Where are we?" Dean asked.

"Bertrand, Nebraska. A few hours drive south of the I80."

Dean let his head fall back a little. "This is going to be a long trip."

"Oh, you can bet on that. The whole thing takes about six days, maybe more."

"Well then, wake up Sam. He can drive for a while. You get in the back and sleep, okay?" He knew she wouldn't, that she would spend her down-time leafing through the pages of one of her battered and dog-eared novels, but that wasn't a fight for right now. "Come on. Let's go."

...

It took them days to make it to the edge of the Black Hills and even Hailee, who had before been reasonably fond of Dean's taste in music, was sick to death of Metallica. The three of them had taken it in turns to drive, which surprised Sam who had not expected Dean to hand over the wheel so easily - especially not to a young girl they barely knew.

Finally, Dean brought the Impala to a halt in an empty parking lot. As they got out of the car, Hailee looked around for the first time in a couple of days. Trees towered above them, dark green and luscious, almost blocking the already fading sunlight.

"This as far as we can drive?" She asked, to which Dean nodded. Hailee sighed. Great, she thought, I've always hated hiking. There were a few camping trips that jumped straight to the forefront of her mind at this thought. They had not been pleasant experiences; her brothers had always insisted on sleeping under the stars, claiming that it was all part of the fun - but really it had just been that they were too lazy to carry the extra weight. The bitterly cold nights, shrouded in complete darkness, huddled round a small fire pit while trying to block out the ghost stories had haunted her for years after. Stupid, she knew, considering her line of business, but all the same, any small child is going to freak in the middle of nowhere with no one but their unsympathetic brothers to comfort them.

Dean yanked open the trunk, the screech snapping her back into the present. "Right," he said. "I don't know how long we're gonna be out there, so we'd better stock up. Food. Weapons. Everything. But nothing we don't need."

They were starting down a dirt path in a matter of minutes, Hailee's backpack slung across her shoulders while Sam and Dean had stored everything within the layers of their clothes. They walked in silence, eyes constantly peeled for anything that could clue them in as to where to find the home base of the vampires.

...

The three of them must have been on the move for closing on four hours. The trees had steadily grown closer and closer together as they went deeper into the forest, twisting their roots and branches around each other - almost in a attempt to battle for the remaining air. The thicker layers of leaves and knotted branches had blocked most of the light, even before the sun set. But by now there was no denying that they were stranded in perfect darkness.

It didn't take long for the trio as a collective to deduce that they were successfully traipsing around in circles.

"I swear to God," Hailee muttered through clenched teeth, trying to control her breathing as she teetered on the edge of absolute frustration. "If I see that fucking tree again, I'm going to kill something. And as we have dick from all this, it's going to have to be one of you."

"Patience, grasshopper," Dean chuckled dryly, barely masking his own disappointment at the lack of outcome from their trip.

Sam stood a few steps back from them, running his hand distractedly through his hair. With the onset of the night and the fact that none of them had any clue where they were, his senses were on edge: a leaf moved in the slow breath of wind and he was jumping ten feet up. He played with his lower jaw for a second, swinging it rapidly from side to side, then sucked in his cheeks; there was nothing left to do.

"Look. Let's take a breather okay?" He thrust his hands into his pockets. "We've been out here for god knows how long and we have nothing to show for it. It's been a long night; I say we call it."

Hailee's eyes widened as she swung round to ace him. "Are you freaking kidding me? We were in that goddamn car for seven days! There is no way in hel that we are going to give up now." She pulled her backpack from her shoulders, reached in and threw a Snickers bar to Sam. "You're cranky, that's fine. Have some sugar, take a moment and we'll get going again, okay?"

It seemed as though Sam was about to object so Dean stepped in, placing his hands on Sam's shoulders. "Sammy, it's going to be fine. Just eat the candy. You're a real diva when you're hungry, Princess."

Sam smiled and nodded back at his big brother. "Sure."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Sam sighed and leaned up against the nearest trunk. Dean followed suit, pulling a jumbo bag of M&Ms from his jacket and pouring a handful into his mouth. Hailee went to sit on the floor, when all of a sudden the ground beneath her gave with a resounding crack.

Plunged further into darkness, she closed her eyes a split second before she landed hard on her back, all the air knocked out of her lungs.