A/N: Hi guys. This month is looking horribly for me academically so updating will probably be a lot slower than usual. Sorry! But Summer is literally a month away which means three months of free time! Updates will be faster I promise. So don't give up on me just yet (; Also, in this chapter you're gonna learn more about Allie's past with Chris Hanson, which I'm very nervous about, so please review or PM me your thoughts and feelings. Because Allie and Chris are my own story plot, I'm interested to hear what you guys have to think. One more thing, thank you for the kind reviews you guys have been leaving me. They're literally so sweet, it makes my day. You guys are the cutest thank you!
Disclaimer: I only own Allie and Chris. Shocker, I know.
Episode: Shadow
Sam found us a case in Chicago, Illinois. There was a case posted in a local newspaper about a woman being killed in her own apartment. However, the alarms never went off and there was no sign of struggle, so Sam instantly thought it was our kind of thing.
Once again, I was left to hang back as Dean and Sam posed as people from the alarm center company. They said that three people posing for the alarm center would be too suspicious so they told me to wait outside the apartment complex until everything was cleared for me to go in.
So here I was waiting around in the impala in the middle of Chicago waiting for a call from Sam and Dean. As I waited, I stared at my phone that was lit up with a text message Chris Hanson. After we saw him in Minnesota, he has texted me twice about wanting to talk.
I screwed up, but I think we should talk.
I know you hate me, but I want to work things out.
Both messages pulled at my heartstrings, twisting my heart like an awful cramp and even giving me physical pain. Chris and I had a history – a secret history that was purposely kept away from Dean. But that history ended in heartbreak. Then the man I once loved turned into the man I hated…at least I wanted to hate him. But after seeing him in that bar a couple weeks ago, I knew I still had love for him deep in my heart. Despite how much he hurt me.
I debated whether to answer his messages – whether it was to tell him to stop texting me or actually listen to what he has to say. But either way, it was too risky. Dean wouldn't leave me alone ever since that demon broke into my motel room and ambushed me at the diner. So even if I wanted to talk to him, finding a private moment to speak would be hard.
I was so deep in thought I almost jumped out of my skin when my phone rang with its familiar ring tone. It was Dean.
"Head up. We're in room 326." He said bluntly and then hung up before I could even reply.
I stared at the phone and rolled my eyes. Short and simple just how Dean liked it.
I pushed myself out of the car and walked towards the apartment complex. When I reached the dead girl's room, Sam and Dean were walking around the place each holding an EMF meter. From the looks of it, the meters were going off and beeping. Looked like Sam was right.
"It reeks in here," I said as I walked in through the door.
"The landlord didn't find Meredith for a couple of days." Sam explained, walking around me. "Said it looked like she was mauled by some animal."
"So, a killer walks in and out of the apartment – no weapons, no prints, nothin'." Dean said.
"I'm tellin' ya, the minute I found that article, I knew this was our kind of gig." Sam said. His EMF meter beeped frantically at the spot above the splatter of blood.
"I think I agree with you," I said when the meter started going off like crazy.
"So, you talked to the cops?" Sam asked Dean.
"Uh, yeah," Dean smirked and walked towards the living room area. "I spoke to Amy, a, uh, charming, perky officer of the law."
"Yeah? What'd you find out?"
"Well, she's a Sagittarius. She loves tequila, I mean—wow. Oh, and she's got this little tattoo—"
I rolled my eyes. "Dean!"
"What?" Dean turned around and coughed. "Yeah. Uh, nothin' we don't already know. Except for one thing they're keepin' out of the papers."
"What?" I asked.
"Meredith's heart was missing." Dean said.
Sam stopped in his tracks. "Her heart?"
"Yeah, her heart."
"So, what do you think did it to her?" I asked. My first thought was a werewolf.
"Well, the landlady said it looked like an animal attack. Maybe it was a werewolf?" Dean said, thinking the same thing I was.
"No, no werewolf, the lunar cycle's not right. Plus, if it was a creature, it would've left some kind of trace. It's probably a spirit." Sam said.
Dean stopped by the blood again and observed it for a couple seconds. His head tilted sideways and he pursed his lips in concentration.
"Do you see something?" I asked.
He nodded, "See if you can find any masking tape around."
I went through Meredith's apartment, opening every drawer and cabinet looking for masking tape. It felt weird going through a dead person's things. Like I was violating her privacy as if she was going to come back and catch me.
Eventually I found some in what I assumed to be her junk drawer and tossed it to Dean.
Dean stretched out the masking tape, using it to make a picture out of the pattern of the splattered blood. When he was finished, the three of us stood over it and tried racking our brains for any familiarity of the sign. It was a circle with two curved lines coming out of the top and bottom.
"Ever see that symbol before?" I asked. It was more directed at Sam since he was the only one out of the three of us who read books and liked to do research.
"Never," Sam said.
"Me neither." Dean agreed.
The three of us exchanged a look. It was good to know that this case had turned legitimate but it stunk not knowing what to do next about it.
That night, the three of us went to the bar that Meredith waitressed at. Dean was in charge of interviewing the bartender but from the looks of it, he was asking more questions about the bartender's personal life than Meredith's.
I sat at a table in the back, nursing a beer and continuing to stare at my phone. It wasn't like me to get this wound up over a guy. I felt like a stupid teenage girl, like the one in sappy movies. The ones that made me wanna puke. But I loved Chris, and I hated to say it, but I did miss him.
I didn't even notice Sam sit in front of me. He pulled out Dad's journal and a couple newspaper clippings that reported Meredith's death. He paused to stare at me, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.
"What?" I asked without looking up. It wasn't hard to tell when Sam had something on his mind.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.
"Talk about what?"
"You've been acting strange ever since Minnesota." Sam said. "And I have a theory but don't get mad at me when I say it."
I narrowed my eyes, challenging him to continue. "Throw it at me."
"You changed when Chris came over to say hi to Dean at the bar in Minnesota."
My body snapped up at straight. I was honestly really surprised that Sam hit that one on the nail.
"How did you – "
"Call it a twin's intuition," Sam smirked. "Don't worry, I don't think Dean picked up on it."
I looked down at my beer to avoid eye contact. A wave of guilt rushed over me, thinking about Dean finding out about Chris and I.
"Yeah, well, I think it would be made pretty obvious if Dean knew so…"
"What happened between you and…" He trailed off and I looked up at Sam who had an expression of realization written over his face. "Oh."
"It wasn't like that." I said, cutting him off. I didn't want Sam to think that Chris and I just had a random hook up and I've been crazy about him since. I wasn't that emotional and crazy.
Sam's eyes grew wider. "Oh my god. You lied to me back in Ohio – when I asked if you've ever been in love before."
I rolled my eyes but didn't lie again and tell him he was wrong. Because he was right and it was finally nice to have someone to admit that to.
"If I tell you what happened, you have to promise not to tell Dean." I glanced behind me at my older brother who was still preoccupied with the bartender. "Or make fun of me for being such a girly wimp."
"Wow, first Dean and now you falling in love…oh how the world has changed." He said teasingly.
I rolled my eyes, "Never mind I'm not saying a word."
"Sorry. It's just – "
"Its not a joke, Sam!" I said sternly. I didn't know what came over me. I knew Sam meant well and that he was just shocked that both Dean and I, the two people who swore they could never fall in love, eventually did. Yeah, it was ironic, but in the end I got hurt and I didn't want to situation to be ridiculed.
"Okay, okay," Sam said more seriously, getting the gist that I was getting worked up. "Sorry. I'm listening."
Although it felt weird finally telling my secret out loud to someone, I knew I had to do it for my sanity, and Sam was the perfect listener because he would keep this confidential and also give some pretty good feedback and advice.
"About two years ago, Dean and I were on our own in some town in Washington while Dad did his own thing. We picked up a hunt that turned into a werewolf case. During that hunt, we ran into Chris and his two friends, Jack and Liam. They had followed the same case and so the five of us were working the same hunt. So instead of fighting for the case, we just decided to work together, and it was a good thing we did because there were four werewolves, not just one. Anyway, by the end of the hunt, Dean grew to really like these group of guys and we went out to have drinks with them. They talked about previous hunts, cars, women, you name it. I was easily forgotten about and busied myself playing pool in the back to get some money. Later, Dean got their numbers and then we left to go find Dad."
"Okay, so how…"
"I'm getting there," I sighed. "After that, Chris or one of the others would occasionally call Dean to get his help on a case. He would leave me with Dad and drive to wherever the group was calling from and be gone for a week or two. Soon enough, those guys became Dean's best friends. Obviously they're not the average person's definition of bff, but it was the closest thing a hunter could get for a good friend. And I was happy for Dean. Hell, even Dad was happy to see Dean have a good time."
"So where do you come in?"
"Dean wanted to go meet up with his friends in Oklahoma for some demon case. But Dad said I had to go with him because he was going to Vermont to follow his own case that most likely revolved around mom and he didn't want me to be apart of it. Dean obviously wasn't happy about it, but since it was Dad's orders he had no other choice. It was that hunt that Chris really noticed me. He talked to me most of the trip, made sure I was safe, and even bought me a drink at the end. We didn't do anything that night obviously since Dean was there, but we exchanged numbers and would talk every now and then without Dean knowing. Chris was afraid that Dean would kill him for talking to his little sister, and honestly so was I. But I really liked him so I thought it was worth the risk."
"Ah, so now I know why you don't want Dean to find out."
"Chris would always find a way to see me at least three times a month. I would tell him where we were staying and the next day he would be there. I had to be sneaky, but it wasn't that hard since Dad was away most of the time and Dean was doing his own thing with a tramp from a skimpy bar."
"Some things just never change," Sam smirked, glancing back at Dean.
"Yeah," I scoffed. "Then Chris and I got more serious. It wasn't just random hookups. He would buy me dinner and we would stay up all hours of the night just talking about anything that came to our mind. I don't know how Dean didn't notice because I was gone most of the time whenever Chris rolled in to town. Soon enough, Chris and I became exclusive and I considered him to be my boyfriend. It was hard keeping our relationship in the dark, but somehow we made it work. He told me he loved me first and the second those words slipped his lips I knew I felt the same. But I couldn't help this guilty feeling as if I was taking away something from Dean. But I pushed those feelings to the back of my head and continued dating Chris for about a year."
"A year?" Sam asked, shocked. I couldn't blame him. A yearlong relationship was really long for a hunter, especially since we didn't see each other very often.
"Yeah," I pathetically chuckled. "He listened to me complain about Dad and Dean, he was there when there were days where I was really missing you, and he always came to see me after I got hurt on a hunt. He wanted to check up on me himself. I thought he was being dramatic, but deep down I also thought it was cute."
"So when did it all go south?"
"About a month before Dad went missing." I nervously swallowed. "All of a sudden he stopped answering my texts and calls. I thought maybe he was just in an area with no service or something. But then a month went by and I still hadn't heard from him. At this point, I was getting worried that something happened to him. I tired asking Dean nonchalantly if he'd heard from his friends, but he wasn't much help since he said 'no' like it wasn't that big of a deal. Another month went by and I couldn't take it any longer. I was ready to burst with anxiety and worry and blow our secret to Dean so that he could take me to find them cause I really thought he was dead. It kept me up at night for weeks. And on top of that, Dad went missing so I had that to worry about as well. So basically February was just an awful month."
"But he's not dead." Sam said.
"No shit Sherlock, he's not." I took a big gulp of beer. "The day I was ready to go look for him, he showed up at the motel. Luckily, Dean wasn't there. Like I said, he liked to get his own fun with random girls. So he was preoccupied somewhere else." I cleared my throat. I didn't realize talking about the memory would make me choke up or else I never would have opened my mouth. Damn emotions. I swallowed back the tears and licked my lips. "He looked different. Guilty even. I instantly started yelling at him and cursed him out for ignoring me for as long as he did. And he just stood there and took it. That's when I knew something was wrong. So I calmed down and told him to tell me what happened." My cheeks flushed with humiliation as I thought back on what he did and how I might look to Sam. I felt ashamed and stupid. I mean, in the end this was all my fault and now I was just being sorry for myself. "Never mind forget it."
"Wait, no. Allie." Sam stood up and brought his seat closer to mind. "It's okay. I'm not going to judge you, just tell me what happened."
"It's not even that big of a deal," I brushed it off and blinked away the tears that stung my eyes.
"It is if you feel this hurt," Sam validated.
I looked over at my twin brother and felt extremely comforted. His eyes were soft and filled with understanding. He pushed my beer bottle away from me so I could focus on him and the story.
"He told me I was only a bet. Jack and Liam made a bet that Chris couldn't sleep with Dean Winchester's little sister without getting caught. He had a month to seal the deal and win 100 bucks. Once he did that, Jack and Liam wanted to see how long it could last. So if he made it to a year without Dean ever finding out, Jack and Liam would give him 500 dollars."
I took a deep breath, thinking back to that moment that Chris told me. I could tell he felt guilty, but his guilt meant nothing to me after how I felt. I was humiliated, embarrassed, ashamed, and confused. I was a joke, nothing more than a couple hundred dollars for someone else's entertainment. I couldn't look in the mirror for days, hating that what I saw was a pathetic girl who let her walls down and became the laughing stock of a couple hunters. I didn't talk to Dean for a while. If I did, I knew I would crack and tell him what happened, and by doing that, I would be taking away Dean's three best friends and I couldn't do that to him.
I continued, "He was M.I.A for those last couple of months because he was eaten up by guilt after the year mark passed. He didn't accept the money from Jack and Liam because he said his feelings were true even if the foundation of our relationship wasn't. He told me that he did love me and he never meant to hurt me. I was so in shock I didn't know what to say. I told him to leave and to never talk to me again. He tried putting up a fight, but seeing that he messed up, he left. Seeing him in Minnesota was the first time since that day that I saw him."
A moment of silence passed between us. Sam was letting the information sink all in as I was trying my hardest not to become a blubbery mess.
"Wow," Sam finally said, sitting back in his seat and thinking about everything I just said. "What a jerk!" Sam's eyes went from soft to cold real quick. His hands clenched into fists and his breathing turned louder and heavier.
"It's fine, Sam. It was my fault anyway for being so naïve. I should have seen that coming. God, I'm so stupid."
"What? No! Allie, this is in no way your fault. Chris and his friends are a bunch of assholes who took advantage of you for a couple bucks. No one could have seen this coming. You are not stupid. You fell in love. You let your guard down and that's okay. That's what love is. I had to do the same with Jessica. It's natural."
"He's texted me a couple of times since Minnesota," I admitted.
"Don't answer." Sam said.
"Really?" I thought Sam would be all for me calling Chris back – to talk things through and maybe get some closure.
"He's not worth your time. He doesn't deserve a second with you. Not after what he did. I swear to god if I see him again I'm going to kill him."
"Sam –"
"I'm serious Allie. And I think you should tell Dean too."
"Are you insane? No way!" Did he not just listen to my story?
"Dean wouldn't want to be friends with a couple of jerks who hurt his little sister. Trust me."
"Yeah, but there would always be that tiny bit of blame he'd hold over me. It was my fault for sleeping with him in the first place, therefore it was my fault for ever jeopardizing Dean's friendship."
"He's not going to blame you." Sam said. He glanced behind my shoulder and cleared his throat. "He's coming. Just think about it."
I took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm my racing heart. If I didn't get myself together Dean was going to know something was up and I couldn't deal with that right now.
"I talked to the bartender," Dean said, taking a seat next to me.
Sam coughed, "Did you get anything?"
"Besides her phone number?" I rolled my eyes.
"Dude," Dean glanced at me like I was crazy for suggesting it. "I'm a professional." Both Sam and I gave him a knowing look. He chuckled to himself and held up a napkin with a number written down on it. "All right, yeah."
"You mind doin' a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?" Sam laughed.
"Look, there's nothing to find out. I mean, Meredith worked here, she waited tables, everyone here was her friend. Everybody said she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died, so—what about that symbol, you find anything?"
"Nope, nothing. It wasn't in Dad's journal or in any of the usual books. I just have to dig a little deeper, I guess."
"Well, there was a first victim, right? Before Meredith?" I asked. I had to get mind off of Chris and on this case. Or else we were going to be really screwed.
"Right. Yeah." Sam fiddled through his newspaper clippings and handed me an article about another man's death. "His name was Ben Swardstrom. Last month he was found mutilated in his town house. Same deal—the door was locked, the alarm was on."
"Is there any connection between the two of them?" Dean snagged the article out of my hands to look at it.
"Not that I can tell—I mean, not yet, at least. Ben was a banker, Meredith was a waitress. They never met, never knew anyone in common—they were practically from different worlds."
"So, to recap, the only successful intel we've scored so far is the bartender's phone number." Dean smirked.
Sam's eyes locked on to something behind Dean and I at the bar. He was clearly distracted now so I looked behind me to see what he was looking at but didn't see anything or anyone particularly eye catching.
I turned back around and Sam's eyes were still fixed. "What?"
Sam got up and walked away without saying anything.
"Sam?" Dean called out.
Again, Sam ignored us and approached a woman talking to a couple men near the bar area. She was about my height with short blonde hair and big eyes. Dean and I glanced at each other before following Sam.
"Sam! Is that you? Oh, my god!" The woman stood up and hugged my brother. I tried reading Sam's face, and something was a little off. He didn't portray anything bad or something like that, but he just seemed slightly confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just in town, visiting friends." Sam lied.
Meg looked around for these so called friends. "Where are they?"
"Well, they're not here right now, but what about you, Meg? I thought you were goin' to California."
"Oh, I did. I came, I saw, I conquered. Oh, and I met what's-his-name, something Michael Murray at a bar."
I didn't know what it was about Meg, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to like her. My skin felt hot standing next to her – and not in a good way, but an angry, rageful kind of way. I figured it was just because I was already annoyed from talking about my past relationship that it was passing on to this moment too.
"You're in from Chicago?" Sam asked.
"No, Massachusetts—Andover. Gosh, Sam, what are the odds we'd run into each other?"
Dean cleared his throat to try to gain Sam's attention, but it didn't work. They continued conversing like we weren't even there.
"Yeah, I know, I thought I'd never see you again."
"Well I'm glad you were wrong," She smiled flirtatiously at Sam. Dean cleared his throat again, louder this time, and it finally caught Meg's attention. "Dude, cover your mouth." She said rudely.
Dean was taken back by her rudeness and I was shocked by it too. Yup, definitely didn't like her.
"Yeah, um, I'm sorry, Meg. This is, uh—this is my brother, Dean and my sister, Allie."
"This is Dean?" Meg asked.
"Yeah."
"So, you've heard of me." Dean cockily smirked and shuffled on his feet.
"Oh, yeah. I've heard of you. Nice—the way you treat your brother like luggage." Meg snapped.
My eyebrows scrunched in confusion and Dean faltered. "Sorry?" He asked.
"Why don't you let him do what he wants to do? Stop dragging him over God's green earth."
I stepped forward, even more pissed than I was now. Now I was livid. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Dean grabbed my wrist and stopped me from moving closer and taking a swing at her.
Meg just stared me down. She cocked her head to the side and watched me with such distaste. As if she knew me and I did her wrong somehow.
"Meg, it's all right," Sam said.
The four of us stood there awkwardly. Dean whistled lowly and I couldn't remove my glare from the side of Meg's face.
"Okay, awkward. I'm gonna get a drink now." Dean said and patted me on the back. "Allie?"
"Yeah," I said, looking Meg up and down one last time. "Right behind you."
Dean and I walked towards the bar and each ordered a shot of whiskey. We didn't say much. Our eyes were trained on Sam and Meg now exchanging numbers.
"You think Sam really thinks that way about me?" Dean asked.
"I don't know. But I don't like her." I glared.
"Another shot?" Dean asked.
"Definitely," I swiveled around on my bar stool and rounded my finger in the air for the bartender to get us another round.
"Who the hell was she?" Dean demanded as the three of us walked out of the bar.
"I don't really know. I only met her once. Meeting up with her again? I don't know, man, it's weird." Sam shook his head.
"And what was she saying? I treat you like luggage? What, were you bitchin' about me to some chick?"
"Look, I'm sorry, Dean. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. But that's not important, just listen—"
"Well, is there any truth to what she's saying? I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Sam?"
"No, of course not." Sam said.
"Did you say anything about me?" I asked. Meg may have not said anything, but her facial expression said she wasn't fond of me either.
"What? No. Would you listen?"
"What?" Dean said.
"I think there's something' strange going on here." Sam said.
"Yeah, tell me about it. She wasn't even that into me." Dean scoffed.
"Seriously?" I stopped by the car and gave him an incredulous look.
Sam ignored us, "No, man, I mean like our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead."
I narrowed my eyes and shuffled on my feet. "How so?"
"I met Meg weeks ago, literally on the side of the road. And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar? I mean, the same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don't think that's a little weird?"
"I don't know, random coincidence. It happens." Dean shrugged it off.
"Yeah, it happens, but not to us. Look, I could be wrong, I'm just sayin' that there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on."
Dean smirked to himself. "Well, I bet you'd like to. I mean, maybe she's not a suspect, maybe you've got a thing for her, huh?" Sam rolled his eyes but actually laughed. "Maybe you're thinkin' a little too much with your upstairs brain, huh?" Dean mocked, pointing to his head.
"You're a child." I scolded.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Do me a favor. Check and see if there's really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts, and see if you can't dig anything up on that symbol on Meredith's floor."
"What are you gonna do?" I asked.
"I'm gonna watch Meg," Sam said.
Dean laughed, "Yeah, you are."
I rolled my eyes.
"I just wanna see what's what. Better safe than sorry." Sam shrugged.
"All right, you little pervert," Dean laughed.
Literally no matter what I say, Dean will never get his head out of the gutter.
"Dude." Sam warned.
"I'm goin', I'm goin'." Dean took the hint and nodded at me to follow him.
Dean and I walked back to the motel room and Sam took the impala to tail Meg for the rest of the night. Dean used Sam's computer to check out this Meg Masters and look up anything he could find about that symbol from Meg's apartment.
"Feel free to offer a helping hand anytime soon," Dean said sarcastically to me.
I was laying on one of the motel beds thinking about my conversation with Sam. I didn't expect him to get mad like Dean would. It got me debating whether texting him back was an actual bad idea or not.
"What am I supposed to Dean?" I said. "Hover over your shoulder and help you spell out Meg Masters?"
Dean stopped what he was doing and looked at me with raised brows. "What crawled up your ass?"
I sighed, "Sorry."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, Meg just rubbed me the wrong way I guess." I lied. Well it technically wasn't a lie. She did get on my nerves and I definitely didn't like her but she wasn't what was on my mind at the moment."
"Yeah, me too. At least she didn't snap at you like a crazy ex girlfriend."
"True, but the way she looked at me…I don't know how to describe it but it gave me the creeps."
Dean picked up his phone and dialed Sam's number. "Let me guess. You're lurkin' outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?" – "You've got a funny way of showing your affection."
"Put it on speaker," I said.
Dean placed his phone on the table for both of us to hear. "Sorry, man, she checks out. There is a Meg Masters in the Andover phonebook. I even pulled up her high school photo. Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading, or whatever it is you do, huh?"
"What about the symbol? Any luck?" Sam ignored another one of Dean's many sexual innuendos.
"Yeah, that I did have some luck with." Dean looked down at his research. "It's, uh—turns out it's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva."
"What's a Daeva?" I asked.
"Maybe if you helped me with the research you would know," Dean said in a snarky tone. "It translates to "demon of darkness". Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic, you know, nasty attitudes—kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls."
"How'd you figure that out?" Sam asked.
"Give me some credit, man. You don't have a corner on paper chasin' around here."
"Oh, yeah? Name the last book you read."
I smirked as Dean struggled to come up with an answer. He sighed defeatedly, "No, I called Dad's friend, Caleb. He told me, all right?"
"Yeah," Sam said, believing that answer more.
"Anyway, here's the thing—these Daevas, they have to be summoned, conjured."
"So, someone's controlling it?" I asked. Yeah, I should have paid more attention to Dean's research so I wasn't so useless.
Dean gave me a look that said the same thing. "Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'. And, from what I gather, it's pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms, and torsos."
"So, what do they look like?" Sam asked.
"Well, nobody knows, but nobody's seen 'em for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient? Someone really knows their stuff. I think we've got a major player in town. Now, why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?"
"Bite me."
"No, bite her," Dean retorted. "Don't leave teeth marks though – " The sound of Sam hanging up on him cut him off. "Sam? Are you-" He sighed and snapped his flip phone shut too.
"Smooth." I said sarcastically.
"Shut up."
I walked over to where Dean was sitting and took the seat across from him. He gave me a weird look and I gestured for him to hand me some papers he dug up on the past victims.
"You want me to help, so let me help," I said.
Dean huffed and tossed me a couple files. For the next couple minutes I flipped through the illegally obtained files and picked up on something Dean must have missed. I sat up straighter and blinked a couple times to make sure I was reading this correctly. This fact was huge – how could Dean have missed it? The words made my heart drop to my stomach and my palms profusely sweat.
Dean noticed my change in posture and asked, "What?"
"Look." I passed the files and showed him what we were missing.
The past two victims were both born in Lawrence, Kansas.
Sam came back to the motel about an hour later. The second he walked through the door, both he and Dean said, "Dude, I gotta talk to you." And I gotta say, it was on point.
Sam went first. He told us how he followed Meg to some abandoned warehouse. She had an altar set up with a bunch of dark demonic objects and a cup filled with blood. In the cup, she spoke about the three of us. About how we were in town and she didn't know. So basically, she's the one that brought the Daeva here and it somehow knew who the three of us were.
"So, hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva?" Dean said.
"Looks like she was using that black altar to control the thing." Sam said.
"So, Sammy's got a thing for the bad girl," Dean chuckled to himself. "And whats the deal with that bowl again?"
"She was talking into it. The way witches used to see into crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with someone."
"With who? With the Daeva?" I asked.
"No, you said those things were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's comin' to that warehouse."
I glanced at Dean and thought back to those files. "Holy crap."
"What?" Sam looked between the two of us.
"What I was gonna tell you earlier—I pulled a favor with my –" Dean cleared his throat. "– friend, Amy, over at the police department. The complete records of the two victims—we missed something the first time."
"What?" Sam walked over to the table to take a look himself.
"The first victim, the old man—he spent his whole life in Chicago, but he wasn't born here. Look where he was born."
"Lawrence, Kansas." Sam read.
"Mmhmm," Dean hummed. He tossed Sam a second file. "Meredith, second victim—turns out she was adopted. And guess where she's from."
Sam's mouth dropped open in complete shock. "Holy crap."
"Yeah." I nodded.
"I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom. That's where everything started. So, you think Meg's tied up with the demon?"
"I think it's a definite possibility." Dean said.
"But I don't understand. What's the significance of Lawrence? And how do these Daeva things fit in?"
"Beats me. But I say we trash that black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation." I suggested, smirking at the thought of threatening her with a gun.
"No, we can't. We shouldn't tip her off. We've gotta stake out that warehouse. We've gotta see who, or what, is showin' up to meet her." Sam said.
"I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we should do this alone." Dean said, glancing between Sam and I. I immediately knew what he was talking about and a frown formed on my face.
Dad.
I went out and grabbed a soda while Dean made the call. I gave up on calling Dad a while ago, so now every time Dean tries to call, I step out of the room because I'll just get sad. And when I get sad, I feel pathetic.
I walked back in as Dean was finishing up the call. "We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mom. So, uh, this warehouse—it's 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can."
"Voicemail?" I asked, not surprised.
"Yeah." Dean sighed.
I glanced over at Sam who was now supporting a large ass chunky duffel bag. "What the hell did you get?"
Sam chuckled, "I ransacked that trunk. Holy water, every weapon that I could think of, exorcism rituals from about a half dozen religions. I'm not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything."
Dean handed me a gun and naturally I began loading it silently. The three of us were quiet, deep in thought about how tonight was going to go. I was nervous. This was one of the biggest hunts we've done in a while and it actually meant something. It could lead us to Mom's killer – it could even be the end of this entire pain in the ass obstacle course.
"Big night," Dean commented after a while.
"Yeah," Sam said. "You nervous?"
"No. Why, are you?"
"No. No way." Sam said.
I glanced between both of my brothers and was half tempted to call them out on their bullshit. There was no way that none of us were just okay with how tonight was going to be.
Sam sighed, "God, could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing? That demon?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, all right?" Dean said, reading my mind.
"I know. I'm just sayin', what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I'd sleep for a month. Go back to school—be a person again."
I stopped focusing on my gun and looked up with furrowed brows. I figured after we found Dad and killed Mom's murdering demon, we would continue on as a family and continue hunting together. I wasn't ready for that plot twist.
"You wanna go back to school?" I asked.
"Yeah," Sam shrugged like it was no big deal. "Once we're done huntin' the thing."
"Huh," I glanced over at Dean, trying my best to hide my disappointment from Sam. From the looks of Dean's face, he was thinking the same thing I was.
"Why, is there somethin' wrong with that?" Sam asked.
"No. no, it's, uh, great," Dean coughed. "Good for you."
"I mean, what are you gonna do when it's all over?" Sam asked, looking between the two of us.
"It's never gonna be over. There's gonna be others. There's always gonna be somethin' to hunt." Dean said.
I looked back at my gun and figured it was best if I tried to avoid this conversation.
"But there's got to be somethin' that you want for yourself—"
"Yeah, I don't want you to leave the second this thing's over, Sam." Dean snapped. He picked himself up from his position on the bed and walked across the room towards the dresser.
"Dude, what's your problem?"
Dean stayed silent for a moment, getting his thoughts in order before speaking. "Why do you think I drag you everywhere? Huh? I mean, why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place?"
I bit my lip, remembering my conversation with Dean before he decided to drive to Stanford. I didn't want to go and get him. I knew Sam was having a good time at school and wanted to avoid being trapped in the hunting life again. But I sucked it up and trailed along with Dean because – well I didn't have any other choice – and because I knew it would make Dean happy if we tried. When Sam left, I noticed something missing in Dean. His mind was always somewhere else and his thoughts were always revolving around Sam's safety.
"'Cause Dad was in trouble. 'Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom." Sam shrugged.
"Yes, that, but it's more than that, man." Dean sighed. "You and me, Allie and Dad—I mean, I want us….I want us to be together again. I want us to be a family again."
"Because obviously I'm not good enough," I joked trying to ease the tension that is continuously thickening in the room. However, neither of them thought I was funny.
"Dean, we are a family. I'd do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before." Sam said.
"Could be," Dean said sadly.
"I don't want them to be. I'm not gonna live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you're gonna have to let me go my own way."
Dean and I shared a look, frowns evident on both of our faces. That was not what we wanted to hear.
Sam directed us to the warehouse where he followed Meg earlier. The ride was silent and uncomfortable. I didn't realize how much Sam and I would reconnect during this crazy journey in finding our dad, but now that it was all coming to an end, I was sad that I would have to see him leave again.
Sam showed us the way into the warehouse. We climbed up an elevator gate to get to the top floor. I peeked through the gate and saw Meg standing by the alter Sam was talking about, speaking a language I didn't recognize. Dean tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to follow them. Quietly, we squeezed through the space between the gate and the wall. Our guns were raised as we hid behind some stacked up crates. Dean and I were on one side of the room while Sam occupied the other.
"Guys." Meg spoke loudly. My head snapped in Sam's direction with wide eyes. How the hell did she know we were here? "Hiding's a little bit childish, don't you think?"
"Well that didn't work out like I planned." Dean said.
Meg turned around to face our direction. "Why don't you come out?" Sam nodded at me to do what she said and I followed my brothers from behind the crate but I didn't lower my weapon. "Sam, I have to say, this puts a real crimp in our relationship."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Sam said.
"So, where's your little Daeva friend?" Dena asked.
"Around," Meg smirked and narrowed her eyes at me. "You know, that shotgun's not gonna do much good."
"The shotgun's not for the demon," I glared.
Meg's smirk quivered, and I knew I made a dent in her ego.
"So, who is it, Meg? Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?" Sam asked.
"You," She grinned evilly.
A black shadow appeared on the wall out of nowhere. I didn't have time to react when Sam was knocked to the ground and Dean was thrown into the crates. The Daeva tossed me against the wall and slashed at my chest, right underneath my collarbones above my tank top line. I gritted my teeth, trying to hold in my squeal. My skin was burning, my head was throbbing, and my heart was racing. The Daeva came at me again and threw me into the crates where Dean was laying unconscious. My head hit the concrete ground and everything went black.
I woke up tied to a post from across the altar. Sam and Dean were tied to two other separate posts. My chest stung with every move I made as I struggled against my restraints and my head was in excruciating pain.
"Hey, Sam? Don't take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend...is a bitch." Dean commented.
"This, the whole thing, was a trap. Running into you at the bar, following you here, hearin' what you had to say. It was all a set-up, wasn't it?" Sam glared. "And that the victims were from Lawrence?"
"It doesn't mean anything. It was just to draw you in, that's all." She shrugged.
"You killed those two people for nothing," Sam spat.
"Baby, I've killed a lot more for a lot less."
"You trapped us. Good for you. It's Miller time." Dean smiled. "By why don't you kill us already?"
"Not very quick on the uptake, are we?" Meg snickered. "This trap isn't for you."
I narrowed my eyes and tried to understand what she was saying. Here my brothers and I were tethered up to a couple of posts yet this wasn't for us…
"Dad," I said as the realization hit. "It's a trap for Dad." She smiled at me, proving my theory.
Dean shook his head, "Oh, sweetheart—you're dumber than you look. 'Cause even if Dad was in town, which he is not, he wouldn't walk into something like this. He's too good."
"He is pretty good. I'll give you that," Meg walked over and straddled Dean's lap, batting her eyelashes seductively and leaning in closer to my brother. "But you see, he has one weakness."
"What's that?"
"You." She grinned. "He lets his guard down around his kids, lets his emotions cloud his judgment. I happen to know he is in town. And he'll come and try to save you. And then the Daevas will kill everybody—nice and slow and messy."
My ears perked up after hearing Dad was in town. Did this mean Dad actually listened to Dean's voicemail and was going to help? My heart raced at the thought of Dad putting himself in danger because of us. How we set him up for this.
"Well, I've got news for ya. It's gonna take a lot more than some….shadow to kill him." Dean said.
"Oh, the Daevas are in the room here—they're invisible. Their shadows are just the only part you can see." Meg said.
"Why you doin' this, Meg? What kind of deal you got worked out here, huh? And with who?" Sam yelled.
"I'm doing this for the same reasons you do what you do—loyalty. Love. Like the love you had for Mommy—and Jess."
Oh, I knew that had to sting.
"Go to hell," Sam snapped.
"Baby, I'm already there," Meg slid off of Dean and took the same position on Sam's lap. She combed her fingers through Sam's hair and leaned in close to his ear. "Come on, Sam. There's no need to be nasty. I think we both know how you really feel about me. You know, I saw you watching me—changing in my apartment. Turned you on, didn't it?"
Seeing the position Sam was in made my blood boil. I pulled at my restraints, hoping to break free and rip Meg's hair out. I definitely couldn't wait to kill her.
"Get a room, you two." Dean scoffed.
Meg ignored Dean and kept her eyes trained on Sam. "I didn't mind. I liked that you were watching me. Come on, Sammy. You and I can still have a little dirty fun." She leaned forward and started kissing his neck.
I scoffed and looked over to Dean. I thought I was going to see the same look of disgust on his face, but he was concentrated on something else. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head back to look behind his post. Somehow, Dean pulled out a pocketknife from one of his pockets and was trying to cut through his ties while Meg was distracted.
"You wanna have fun? Go ahead then. I'm a little tied up right now." Sam said. Meg smiled and continued kissing up and down his neck. I pulled harder on my ropes, ready to rip her head off.
Dean's pocket knife made a clanking sound on the concrete floor. I grimaced at the noise because I knew Meg had heard it too. I rolled my eyes to myself and my head fell back on the post. We were so close…
Meg paused from sucking on Sam's neck to glance over at Dean. She got off of Sam and walked over to Dean, looking behind his post and found the pocket knife. She silently took it away and tossed it to the corner of the room. Dean chuckled guiltily when Meg looked down at him.
Meg walked back over to Sam and sat on his lap again. "Now, were you just trying to distract me while your brother cuts free?"
"No." Sam smirked. "No. That's because I have a knife of my own." Meg leaned back to look at Sam confused. Sam snapped out of his ties, grabbed her by her shoulders, and knocked his head against her. She fell to the floor and Sam groaned in pain.
"Sam! Get the altar!" Dean yelled.
Sam ran to the altar and pushed it on its side. The wooden altar crashed to the floor with all it's contents that was sitting on top of it. Right after, the Daeva appeared again on the wall as a shadow figure. My heart dropped thinking it was going to try and tear me in half again. However, the Daeva made a surprising move and dragged Meg across the floor and through the window and onto the street.
Sam walked over to Dean and I, freeing us from our ties. The three of us walked to the window and looked down. A couple stories down, Meg was sprawled out on the road, unmoving with her eyes closed.
"I guess the Daevas didn't like being bossed around," I said, still staring at Meg's dead body. I wished it was me who killed her but whatever. At least the deed was done.
"Yeah, I guess not," Dean agreed and looked at our brother. "Sam?"
"Hm?" Sam hummed.
"Next time you wanna get laid, find a girl that's not so buckets-o'-crazy?" Dean walked away with a smile.
This time I cracked a smile, feeling a weight lifted off my shoulders now that Meg was dead and there was no immediate threat to my family.
Dean drove us back to the motel. We got a couple of weird looks from the motel staff as we walked through the hallway. Every step I took still made the slashes on my chest sting and my headache was still throbbing. I couldn't wait to get patched up and take a long ass snooze.
"Why didn't you just leave that stuff in the car?" Dean asked Sam. Sam was trudging our hunting duffel bag through the halls back to the room, which seemed kind of pointless since we were leaving tomorrow.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again—better safe than sorry." Sam said.
Dean unlocked the door and my eyes instantly got heavy. Thinking about my head on a pillow was pleasure on a stick.
As soon as we walked in I spotted the silhouette of a man by our window. I grabbed Dean's elbow in a tight grip and that's when he saw the man too. My first thought was 'great another demon wanting that freaking weapon'.
"Hey!" Dean shouted at the man.
Sam switched on the light and the man turned around.
My heart fell to the pit of my stomach and my jaw dropped when I saw who it was. My dad grinned at his three kids, and all I could do was stand there stunned out of my mind.
"Hey, kids." Dad grinned.
Dean was the fist one to walk over to him and embrace in an emotional hug. I felt pathetic because tears began to sting my eyes. But to be honest, I didn't know if I was ever going to see my dad again. That's how it was looking anyway. So seeing him here in our motel room felt so surreal and I was overwhelmed with this relief feeling because now I knew for sure that he was safe.
Dad looked at me next when he and Dean pulled away from each other. I couldn't help myself; I ran into my dad's arms. My dad chuckled into my shoulder and lifted me off my feet and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge daddy's girl despite everything we've been through and all the fights we've gotten into throughout the years. But I knew Dad looked at me differently than he looked at Sam and Dean. I was his little girl – I was always going to be his baby in his eyes. And although that sometimes got annoying, I appreciated it more than I disliked it.
I was so happy, I didn't even feel the pain from my chest.
Dad let me back down and finally looked at Sam. I stood by Dean watching the somewhat awkward and tense encounter. Although Dad had been keeping an eye on Sam for the past four years, they haven't spoken since Sam and I were 18. The thing about my dad and Sam was that they were both stubborn when it came to what they wanted and neither of them were willing to give up their opinions.
"Hi Sam," My dad said softly.
"Hey, dad," Sam said with the same tone. He dropped the duffel bag to the floor but neither of them made the move to hug each other.
"Dad, it was a trap," Dean turned to Dad. "I didn't know, I'm sorry."
"It's all right. I thought it might've been." Dad sighed.
"Were you there?" I asked. I remembered Meg saying he was in town, and Dean called him earlier to tell him when and where we would be.
"Yeah, I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?"
"Yes sir," Sam and Dean said at the same time. That was one thing I didn't agree with. I didn't like calling my dad 'sir'.
"Good." Dad nodded. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before."
"The demon has?" Sam asked.
"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell—actually kill it."
My face went stone hard thinking about the weapon the demon was talking to me about. A weapon that could be real harmful to every demon out there. I wondered if there was any correlation between the two…or if they were the same thing.
"How?" I said more sternly than I meant to.
Both Dean and Dad gave me a weird look but didn't question me tone of voice. Dad just grinned at me, "I'm working on that."
That wasn't what I wanted to hear. But I felt a discreet hand on my back most likely from Dean that told me not to question it. Now was not the time.
"Let us come with you. We'll help." Sam said.
I saw Dean give Sam a warning look.
Dad shook his head, "No, Sam. Not yet. Just try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in a crossfire. I don't want you hurt."
"Dad, you don't have to worry about us," Sam defended.
"Of course I do. I'm your father!" Dad paused. "Listen, Sammy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."
Sam licked his lips and nodded, "Yes, sir."
"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time."
"Too long," Sam agreed.
Finally Sam and Dad embraced in their long overdue hug. I smiled at the encounter, feeling happy about the relationship that is in the works of becoming better. I looked over at Dean who was also watching the emotional reconnection. I sarcastically stretched my arms out to motion for Dean to hug me too, but he just looked at my arms and pushed my shoulder back with a scoff and an eye roll.
The moment was short lived however. Dad was tossed back into the wall by the kitchen area, and at the same time, I saw that freaking Daeva appear again on our motel wall. I didn't have time to think of reasons of how it followed us here since Meg was dead. Or so we thought.
All I could hear was Dad's painful cries as I too was thrown into a wall near Sam. The Daeva slashed at my thighs as I tried pivoting away from it. I squealed in pain. The claws on those things were similar to a wendigo's and they went in deep to the tissue. I was screwed if we somehow got out of here because I wasn't going to be able to walk on my own. Dammit why do these bastards keep attacking my legs?
I'm thrown again into the kitchen table where it shattered underneath me. The wind was knocked out of me and I could barely move. If I thought my headache was bad before…
"Shut your eyes!" Sam shouted. "These things are shadow demons, so let's light 'em up!"
Sam lit a flare from the duffel bag and the room is instantly filled with smoke and an excruciating white light. I heard the squeal of the shadow demons as they disappeared. My lungs filled with smoke and my throat was getting scratchy from all the smoke inhalation.
I tried feeling around for one of my brothers or my dad. The light made it hard to see anything, but I heard all of them groaning from the pain they were in.
"Dad!" Dean shouted.
"Over here!" Dad shouted somewhere by me. I heard Dean's heavy footsteps walk towards him. "No, no! Get your sister!"
"I got her," Sam walked over to me.
He moved my arm so that it was wrapped around his shoulder and helped me limp out of the motel room. We walked as fast as we could to our cars that were parked around back. I looked around the streets for anything suspicious but they were completely cleared.
"All right, come on. We don't have much time. As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back." Sam said, tossing the duffel into the back seat.
"Wait, wait. Sam, wait." Dean said and looked back at Dad. "Dad, you can't come with us."
"What?" I coughed.
"What are you talking about?" Sam said at the same time.
"You boys—your beat to hell. And look at Allie!" Dad motioned towards me.
"We'll be all right." Dean said.
"Dean we should stick together. We'll go after those demons—" Sam argued.
"Sam! Listen to me! We almost got Dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop, they're gonna try again. They're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He's—he's stronger without us around."
"Dad, no." Sam passed me off to Dean as if I was a purse that was getting in the way. He placed his hands on Dad's shoulder, pleading, "After everything, after all the time we spent lookin' for you—please. I gotta be a part of this fight."
I watched them sadly because I knew how this was going to pan out. Dad was going to leave, Sam was going to be pissed, and the whole thing was just going to be emotional.
"Sammy, this fight is just starting. And we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son. Okay, you've gotta let me go." Dad said.
We stayed silent for a moment, letting this moment really sink in. Just when I thought our dad was going to come back into our lives…only this time, I understood why we couldn't be together, which made this separating a little more bearable. Dad took a couple steps back towards his pick up truck parked in front of us. Dad and I shared a look as well as Dad and Dean. When he got to his truck, he turned around one more time and nodded. "Be careful kids." He hopped into his truck and drove away.
"Come on," Dean said softly when Dad's truck was out of view.
Dean helped me get into the car where we all just said in silence for a couple of seconds. Without a word, Dean started the car and sped off around the corner. It was going to be a long night, and I knew I wasn't going to the sleep I hoped for.