Her slumber was disrupted most of the night with nightmares. Sam, Dean, Castiel, and the Demon all took their turns in her abuse or they did it all at once. She didn't even want to sleep after her last nightmare. She sat up in bed. Only a few hours had passed. She sighed heavily and stood slowly. She hoped to find some sort of pain medication to help her with her pulled muscles. She unlocked and opened the door to her room. Sam's body fell through the opening door. He hit his head on the floor and groaned. He had been sleeping against the door.
"Sam?" She asked surprised "Are you okay?"
She knelt down next to him and he sat up.
"Yeah I'm fine." He said rubbing the back of his head. "Are you?"
She nodded slowly and tears stung her eyes. "You're you?" She asked
"Apparently I would be trying to rape you if I wasn't." He answered completely aggravated with himself.
Willa's hands covered her face and she cried. Her chest heaved as the tears fell. She moved her hands and regained some control of herself. Sam reached to touch her and then hesitated not know if she ever wanted to be touched by him again. He moved his hand down by his side and found tears in his own eyes. If he had just stayed in the hotel instead of venturing out cause he was angry.
"I can't take it back Willa." He said sadly. "I've assaulted you, nearly raped you and I can't take any of it back."
Willa saw his tears through her own.
"It wasn't you Sam." She said trying to reassure him as well as herself
"I did things to you that you won't forget." He said tears spilling over his cheeks.
He was right. Willa would never forget being assaulted by a demon. She leaned forward and kissed him. She didn't want to see him so torn up over this. He hesitated to return the kiss not knowing if it was what she really wanted. She leaned away confused by him. She stared at his tear streaked face hating to see him that way. She moved closer to him and wiped away his tears from one cheek and kissed the other. He turned his head away angry.
"All I can see is the hurt in your eyes and know that I've done it." He said loudly.
"It wasn't you." Willa said again.
Sam shook his head again. "If it wasn't me it's because of this life."
"Touch me Sam. Touch me like you want to. Like Sam." She said. Until he wouldn't touch her she didn't realize how bad she wanted him to. He soothing hands on her was all she wanted at the moment.
"You really want me to?" He asked with his hopeful hazel eyes.
She moved to him slowly and straddled his hips. Sam kissed her soft lips and touched her cheek gently. She didn't back away and didn't flinch as he thought she would. She leaned forward and rested her head against his chest. He let his hands explore her back gently massaging her the way he knew she enjoyed. His touch was like magic. It illuminated her soul and seemed to set her free of everything evil in her life. She breathed in his relaxing scent and sighed heavily. She wouldn't have this forever. Only a few more days if she was lucky.
With her head still resting on his chest and her arms securely wrapped around him she spoke to him.
"I heard what you said to dean this morning, about just trying to get in my pants."
His hands went motionless.
"No don't stop." She begged "Don't ever stop."
"I didn't mean it." He said and continued. "I only said it to make Dean think I wasn't getting close to you. He knows better though. I haven't felt so strongly about someone in a long time."
Willa sighed. She was tired exhausted even. His words and his hands relaxed her.
"Me either Sam." She said
"I'm scared of you and for you." Sam said softly
She leaned back and his hands slid to the small of her back.
"Dean said that's how you felt. I was talking to him…" She paused trying to find the right words. "Before everything happened."
She felt like she could stay like this forever. It seemed like everything would be right and everything would be good. There was no world outside just the two with their eyes locked on one another, feeling and absorbing one another's pain. She touched his cheek and stared into his hazel eyes.
"You're tired." He observed seeing her heavy eyelids
She nodded and stood slowly. She held out her hand to help him up and he laughed at her. He stood on his own. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"I'm too big for you" He said.
She stuck her tongue out and headed to the kitchen where she took the pain medication she had originally been looking for. Sam was still standing next to the bedroom door when she walked back. She grabbed his hand and pulled him in the room. Just as he always did, she locked the doors and then checked the locks again. He laughed seeing this.
"Get in the bed." She ordered
"Okay." He said holding his hands up in defense.
She slid under the covers and watched him. She didn't want to stare but there he was taking his clothes off in front of her. First his flannel shirt, then his belt, then his shoes, then his jeans. This left him in a light gray v-neck shirt and black boxer briefs. He smiled when he caught her looking. He turned the light off and joined her in the bed. He stared at the ceiling and let out a frustrated sigh. Willa cuddled to him and placed her arm around his chest. He squeezed her close to him and began drawing invisible circles on her back until she fell asleep. His mind traveled to earlier in the evening. He was so close to hurting her. It was the exact reason he couldn't stay with her. Only pain was part of his life. His first girlfriend was killed before he even started hunting. Now there were so many other creatures out there wanting revenge. He couldn't put her in this situation anymore. He sighed again and tried to force his mind to rest but sleep wasn't easy.
In the morning Willa awoke to find Sam gone. She stretched and went to the bathroom where she ran a brush through her tangled hair and headed out to the living area. Dean was eating breakfast.
"Mornin'." He said "I ordered room service I didn't think you'd mind."
"Not at all. Get whatever you want. Booze, food, porn." She replied with a shrug.
"I wish you had told me that last night." He said
"You got a show alright." Willa said joking but the situation had been embarrassing.
"Not on purpose." He said defending himself. "Buuuut I do remember what I saw. I just have to push out the image of my brother." He shuddered
"You're awful" Willa said
"What? Too soon?" He asked laughing
"You're just lucky you're cute." Willa said flashing him a smile
"Huh." Dean laughed and paused. "My mom used to say that."
"I'm sure she meant it." Willa said with a roll of her eyes
Dean looked at her thoughtfully.
"You know Willa there's something about you." He said sincerely.
Willa cocked her head and waited for him to continue.
"The effect you have on Sam, Me,…..hell even Cas treats you differently."
Willa thought about this but again it reminded her that she was potentially different.
"I don't know what to tell you I'm just me." She said
"No, there's something and I'm sure it has something to do with you being branded." Dean said
"It couldn't just be that I'm awesome?" Willa joked
"No definitely not that." Dean said with his twinkling green eyes. Willa stuck out her tongue and picked up the phone to order room service. When she hung up the phone she watched Dean enjoy his food.
"Cas told me you like pie." She said
"Yes thank you." He replied grateful
"Where is it? And where's Sam" She asked
"Sam's running and the pie is gone." He said
Dean smiled and leaned back rubbed his stomach. Willa nodded at him and walked away laughing. She got herself ready quickly knowing the food would be there soon. When she came back out Sam was back wearing a track suit that was stained with his sweat.
"I ordered room service. There should be enough for both of us." She said
Sam thanked her and headed for the shower. When room service came Willa ate quickly. She was starving from not eating the day prior. After Sam ate they packed in the car and headed to her home. She knew the day was going to be emotional and it would be a draining day.
The house was quiet and nothing looked like it should. She stood in the doorway where the butler had lain. The blood was gone. She didn't question it but mentally thanked Sam and Dean for doing something so thoughtful.
"If I ask you guys for something out of my room will you get?" She asked
"Of course." Sam replied
She was sure she wouldn't be able to go in the room where she found her parents dead. After leaving salt lines throughout the house they split up. The mission was to find out what was going on with Willa and why the demons wanted her pregnant. Willa also had plenty of phone calls to make. She went to her mom's office where she found her book of contacts. Willa immediately began making calls. She made an appointment with the family lawyer for the next day as well as phoned their accountant. He assured her everything was in order for her to take over the family's finances. She was the one who would decide what to do with the property, it was all hers now. She would give it all up in a heartbeat to have her parents back in the world. After finding out the funeral arrangements had been previously taken care of Willa called the funeral home to make sure everything was in order. Her mother wished to be buried with the rest of her family and her father wished for his body to be donated to science. She was a bit surprised by the decision but it sounded like something her father would choose to do. He was a thoughtful man and knowing he would help after he passed was just like him.
Knowing Dean and Sam were busy looking for something that would give a clue to solve her mystery she began looking about the room. She needed to know why someone would take the time to shield her from angels. Weren't angels good? She felt her head pound with the stressful thought of evil angels. The surprise of this new life was wearing off quickly.
She searched through drawers and underneath of drawers but found nothing that gave her any clues to solve this mystery. Just as she began looking through her mother's bookshelf she could hear music coming from another part of the house. She stopped knowing it was her father's acoustic guitar. She could pick that sound out from anywhere. She remembered many days of hearing her father play. He swore if he had a nice singing voice he would've been a rock star instead of a doctor. She followed the sound that came from the direction of her father's office. As she neared she could hear a voice singing softly. She had no idea either of the two men had the talent in them. Outside of the office she listened for a few moments before entering. Dean stood in front of the desk strumming the guitar. He jumped when she entered and he saw her.
"I'm sorry." He said taking the guitar off and putting the guitar away.
"No please play. I want to hear more." She begged
"I'm no good. It's just fun." He said
"Please Dean." She gave him a pleading look.
He could see the tears in her eyes and couldn't deny her. She sat in a chair a few feet away from him and waited while he picked up the guitar. He pushed the strap over his head and cleared his throat. Clearly he wasn't accustomed to having and audience. Seeing this confident man uncomfortable made Willa smile. He began playing and Willa was taken to another place and time with her father playing the instrument. As a young child he would play her favorite nursery rhymes. When she grew older he would learn her favorite songs and impressively play them for her. Her teenage years were riddled with begging him to stop cause he was ruining her favorite songs. On this day she would give anything to be able to hear him tune a guitar much less to play a song. Tears rolled down her cheeks but she wasn't sobbing. Hearing the music comforted her in a way. She felt as if her father was there with them. When Dean stopped she was disappointed and brought back to this reality.
"You were singing." Willa said hopeful.
Dean shook his head. "Oh no you can ask Sam I can't sing." He said
"I heard you." She said and sniffed.
He frowned at her but began playing and eased into a beautiful song about and Angel and a man who would never be good enough for the angel. Dean was a very lovely singer no matter how hard he would try to deny it. It soothed Willa hearing the purity in his voice. Her tears still fell as she listened to him though she enjoyed every second of it. When he stopped she wasn't sure if her tears were of sadness or happiness but had a feeling they were a combination of both.
"My father wrote that song." He said as he put the guitar away.
"It was lovely." Willa sighed
He knelt down in front of her as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Things are going to be okay." Dean said taking her hand
She nodded in response knowing he wasn't lying to her but she wanted things to be right, right now. She was tired of the tears and tired of having new reasons for tears. Dean stood and then leaned over and hugged her. Just as he was pulled away Sam entered the room.
"Hey." He said and looked at the two of them.
"How's the search?" Dean asked
"There's a locked chest in your parents room. Do you have the key?" Sam asked
"Yeah I'll come up." Willa said and stood.
The three headed up stairs to her parent's room. Entering the room hit her hard but she held it together and focused on the task. Behind a painting there was a safe that contained a few important documents and the key to the chest. She entered the code in the safe and retrieved the key. She made her way back to the "Hope" chest. She knew of a few items that were inside but didn't know of everything. There were mostly Willa's old baby clothes on top. As they moved those aside they found what looked like an old journal and some jewelry that wasn't worth but had a lot of sentimental value.
"What are these?" Sam asked pulling out the gold and silver branding pieces that had been passed down for generations. It never occurred to her that being branded at the age of five was a strange thing. Her mother and father were both branded and they told her stories of other family members with the branding. She touched the back of her neck feeling for the scar. More frantic she moved both hands to the back of her neck. The men looked at her strangely. She looked at her arm which would normally have a scar from a softball injury when she was very young. The scar was gone.
"When Castiel heals you, do your scars go away as well?" She asked
"Mostly yes." Dean replied
She cursed.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked
"This is the symbol of my family." She said placing the two blades against one another. "When you are branded, this symbol will protect your body from harm. I was very young when they did it."
"How old are these." Sam asked
"I have no idea, very old." She answered shrugging
"We need to look into these." Dean said "Can we keep them for a while?"
"Just make sure I get them back."
"Of course." Dean said
Willa handed Dean the blades and picked up the journal. She flipped through a few pages but didn't pay a lot of attention to it. She kept it to read later. They found a few newspaper clippings that seemed to interest the men but she wasn't sure why.
"What is your heritage?" Dean asked
"Indian and Greek. What a combo, huh?" She answered
Sam smiled but she could see behind his eyes his mind was racing with questions.
"Your religion?" Dean asked
"We don't really practice but Hindu has long been practiced in my family for years. Even my dad was into it." She answered
The brothers seemed to be satisfied with the questions for now so they continued to search through the chest but didn't find anything more that would clue them in on Willa's family.
"Can we see the journal?" Sam asked
"Actually I would like to look at it first." She replied
Sam and Dean agreed with a nod. She could feel their hesitation but she didn't care whether it bothered them or not. It was hers and probably only supposed to be for her eyes.
They stood to leave the room and Cas appeared.
"Dean, where did you get an angel blade?" He asked
"Hello to you too." Willa said
"Angel blade?" Dean asked holding the silver and gold items in his hands
Castiel glared at Dean.
"That." Castiel said angrily pointing at the silver blade in Dean's hands. "Is an angel blade."
Sam and Dean's eyes widened with surprise. They looked at Willa who had no idea what was going on. Castiel was baffled by this girl's story.
"Do you see this?" Castiel directed his question at Willa. He held the silver blade in his hands that he had held to Willa's throat when they first met. Willa swallowed and nodded.
"If I find out that you're lying I will rip you into shreds." He said forcefully but never moved towards Willa. As quickly as he appeared he was gone again. His words stung. She knew he had seen her soul. How could he think she would be lying to him? She looked to Dean and Sam and was disappointed to see the skeptical look on their faces. She stepped towards Dean to take the branding symbols away from him but he moved them out of her reach.
"Sorry Willa. No way am I letting you have these. Someone would have to kill an angel to take this blade and I'm sure it was someone in your family." Dean said
Willa's eyes moved to Sam. "Help me out here." She pleaded
He shook his head and looked at her sadly. He had to agree with his brother. She spun on her heal and left the room. She needed air so she headed out of the house. She stopped by the pool hoping the rippling water would calm her. This change in her life, the events that were unfolding confounded her. Everything was happening so fast. How was the happening? Demons, Angels, and other beings? What was happening? Her anger was overwhelming her but she wanted to keep calm. She needed no Angel showing up and making her pass out again. She decided to get in the pool hoping that would calm her nerves. She was done for the day enough had been drained out of her so she headed for the pool house knowing there were extra bathing suits in there. People always left suits after swimming or staying the night in the guest house. Inside the pool house she opened the dresser where the suits were kept. First she was looking for a sensible suit but decided on the skimpy yellow suit she came across. She wanted to look as vulnerable as possible to the men. The triangle bikini would compliment her dark skin in contrast. She changed in the room and looked at herself in the mirror. She was shocked at the change in her body. She was so much smaller than the last time she had seen herself in a bathing suit. The demon made sure she was fed but it was never enough. She had light bruises on her neck and wrists. Feeling as though the demon had left his mark tears stung Willa's blue eyes. She shook them away. She held the book in her hand and tucked the knife in one side of the string on her hip. She grabbed a towel and headed out to the pool. Dean and Sam were just coming out of the house looking as if they were arguing. She gave them a glare and they stopped in their tracks. Willa kept walking passed them and went to the pools edge. There she sat with her calves dangling in the water. She opened the journal and flipped through a few pages. It was then she heard their oncoming footsteps and she stopped.
"You can't be out here without us." Sam scolded
She stared straight ahead at the water. "Apparently I'm dangerous enough to kill angels so I don't need your protection."
"Be reasonable." Dean said more forcefully
She snapped her head towards them. "You be reasonable! Do you think if I could kill and angel I would have been locked in hell with a demon for a month?" She asked
"That wasn't hell." Dean said and Sam elbowed him
"We don't want you out here without us." Sam said
"So take a damn break and join me. There's beer in the fridge and suits in the guest house." Willa said nearly shouting at them. She went back to her book. She was over this for now. Something needed to be normal. The pool was normal.
She could hear their footsteps as they walked away. The journal was old, very old. It was entirely handwritten and some spots were hard to read. Each seemed so delicate. She was very careful not to tear any of them. There were stories and accounts of demon attacks, as well as stories that seemed to instruct on how to kill a demon. As she continued reading she realized these were not stories. This was more like an instruction manual on how to kill a demon. The death of demons was explained in detail. There was a chant similar to the one Sam told her to read out loud in the hotel but it was in another language. She was shocked realizing this all was too real. She looked up and stared across the water processing this new found information. She heard a noise behind her and looked to see Sam and Dean looking uncomfortable in swim trunks. Sam's seemed to be a little short but she didn't mind the extra skin showing.
"You are joining me." She said excitedly
"I couldn't resist. Yellow is my favorite color." Dean said giving her a wink. Sam jabbed him in the side to which Dean jumped back laughing at his brother's distress.
"I'm going to grab a couple beers. You want me to grab you something." He asked Willa
"There should be some wine. Thanks." She answered
Sam nodded and headed inside. Dean climbed the ladder closest to Willa and got in just to his knees.
"Anything interesting?" He asked
"Yes." She paused. She didn't want him to take the book from her as he had the blades. "There's a lot about killing demons in here."
"No angels?" He asked
"No." She answered with a roll of her eyes.
He let the rest of his body fall playfully into the water. When he came up he had a beautiful boyish grin on his face. It made Willa happy to see him smile this way.
"I haven't been swimming on purpose in years." He said
"You're welcome anytime." Willa said to him
She began reading again. There were chants on ways to exorcise a demon, how to expose a demon, and how to expel a demon from its vessel. The small phrase used to identify a demon by touching them and chanting interested Willa. After saying the chant the vessels skin would glow and the demon would generally leave the body.
Sam joined Willa setting the beverage between them. He looked at her with questions in his eyes and she worried what he was about to ask.
"So you have branding to hide you from and angel as well as branding to keep harm from your body?" He asked
She shrugged her shoulders and gave Sam a helpless look. She wanted to know where this was all coming from as well.
"Someone or something is going out of their way to protect you. Is there anything else you can think of that we need to know?" He asked
"I'm so confused by all this. I never gave it a second thought that I had branding on my skin and never knew about the branding on my ribs. I guess I should be questioning everything" She answered truthfully.
Willa noticed the two men's matching tattoos as Dean swam up to take a swig of beer. She vowed to get a tattoo like that within the next few days. She looked at Sam who was quietly drinking his beer with his calves in the water. She remembered that he went into the house by himself. Not expecting anything to happen but being careful at the same time. She touched his hand and then lightly wrapped her fingers around his wrist.