Apologies if the description of a new character is perceived as racist.
"Hey, welcome to day two of hell, Cas." Reno greeted with a sly smile, sitting in his usual spot behind the boulder with his laptop opened. I swear he was wearing the same clothes yesterday. It was the usual group again; DareAnne was messing around putting some powder stuff on her eyes, Hannah and Mary reading thick text books. Reno's ice blue eyes looked up at me sternly. "Now listen, today, you have gotta go to choir class. I already bailed you out yesterday, but today, ya gotta go. Got it?"
"Um..." The thought of going to a class in a foreign place sent an uncomfortable chill soaring throughout my body. Not just because it was something I was hoping to avoid, but I wanted to be done with today ever since I woke up just outside the cornfield.
Thankfully, I managed to sneak inside and down to my bedroom just as Bobby turned on the kitchen light. I didn't want to start the day on the wrong foot with him, especially after yesterday's fight and our discussion about 'house rules'. After Bobby and I talked about some house rules last night, it seems as though everything had changed. Even though the rules seem simple enough; I gotta make sure to talk to him by some phone every day after school, my bedtime's at 10, he would wake me up when he got up every morning, I do some of the housework while he works. It still felt awkward to be around him, and as though nothing had changed.
When I leaped into my bed and curled underneath the blanket, I waited for Bobby to wake me. Ten minutes passed, and he hadn't even walked in the direction of the stairway. When I got sick and tired of waiting, I shot out of bed, went to make breakfast and Bobby had already made egg's and bacon. He had finished eating and was heading out the door right as I got to the top of the stairs. After I had eaten whatever was left, I saw that I was gonna be late. As quickly as I could, thus tripping down the fuckin' stairs and slamming the back of my head into the wall, I dressed in clothes I wore yesterday; sweaty hoodie with an equally sweaty jeans and socks.
I had enough time to slip on my rosary before Bobby started shouting at me to move my ass and he drives like a damn maniac to the school, which I have no idea how he knew how to get there. I couldn't wait to get out of that car, as a matter of fact, I expected to spend the entire day behind the boulder. I wanted to tell Reno 'no', that I was already having a bad day and didn't want to make it worse by going to any class. But I have a feeling DareAnne or one of these guys would be daring enough to throw me over their shoulder and carry me to class.
After a moment had passed and I had hardly said a word, Reno spoke and elbowed my chest, knocking into my rosary. I gasped and clasped my hand around it as if he had damaged it. "Hey, come on, man. Look, I got that class, too. Just walk in with me. There are, maybe, five people who will sit in between us. But, seriously, nothing to worry about."
"I think he should, also, attend his other classes." Hannah encouraged, sitting beside me in much more shabby and tight clothes, something I could tell she was not comfortable wearing. "We're already missing first period, but we do have the same second period class together. So, in a couple of minutes, we have better find your locker and get you ready."
That's when I saw her. Behind Hannah in the thick trees was the woman who had helped me the day before. This time, she was wearing a purple blouse with a hot pink jacket and a denim skirt. Her eyes were pitch black and her kind smile was more of a menacing sneer. Something inside my gut was telling me to run, but something was so familiar about this that was just too compelling. Slowly, she moved behind the tree and vanished.
"Who's that?" I whispered to Hannah, who was looking in the same direction as I only with a more stern expression.
"Holy shit!" Reno shouted, nearly dropping his laptop as he shot straight up and brought a pocket knife out of his back pocket. I scooted back along, shocked. Reno's eyes wide and frantic, he pointed to the direction where the black-eyed woman stood. DareAnne and Mary looked at each other with uncertainty. I looked again, expecting to see the woman appear from behind the tree. A few, seriously, intense moments passed before Reno spoke. "Did you see that!?"
"Isn't that the substitute for the one of the office girl's ?"DareAnne asked, reaching into her bag with a firm look in her eyes and her head glued to the trees.
"Damn right it is." Reno said again, closing up his laptop and put the knife back into his back pocket. "That's a demon, man. You know what demon's are?"
"Demons? Yeah. Bad, scary, jump out of the surface of hell kind of things. What else is there to know?"
"Well, they're real. I mean real real." Reno grabbed my arm and hoisted me onto my feet. The five of us started heading towards the school, I kept looking back to the trees waiting to see her. "And that woman you just saw was one of them. Time to bring the heat."
"Let's go meet up with Mike. He'll have to know about this if we are to do anything." DareAnne suggested, wrapping her arm around my waist and I yelped.
Why the hell did I yelp? I mean, I kinda like it. At the same time, it sent a chill up my spine from her gentle touch.
"Mike?"
"Yeah, he's in your first class, we'll catch him just outside the door." Reno looked back and pulled me harder. "Walk faster, Cas. Demons run like a bunch of hungry teenagers."
The halls were huge and bright.
Classroom doors were open.
Some students walked past us, some had ciggarette's in their hands, some reeked of some kind of smell.
DareAnne and Mary went down the right hallway. Reno, Hannah and I stuck together with Reno leading the way. He stopped at every corner to peer around, then quickly dash away pulling me behind him. He stopped at the stairs, which was a thank God moment! I became overwhelmed by all that was going on with the demon thing, and now Reno's dragging me around. I couldn't even remember where we were just seconds ago!
Then, a heard a soft vibration. Hannah dropped my hand and grabbed at something around her neck. Dangling off a thick piece of rope was a ring made out of twigs and a auburn gem glowing like ember, vibrating like a flies wings. Before I could touch it, Hannah had grasped it and shoved it underneath her shirt.
"It's close." She whispered to Reno. In no time at all, Reno dropped my hand, ran to the corner we just popped out of, ran back to us and pulled us up the stairs so fast I'm surprised neither of us fell. When we came to the top of the stairs and to a set of glass doors, Reno came to a sharp stop.
"Wait right here. Shit!" Reno jumped and covered his mouth as a young girl with bright blond hair and tight fitting clothes popped around the corner. She jumped back and covered her mouth, equally as shocked as Reno. "Damn you, Reagan. The hell are you doing sneaking around like that?"
"Could ask you the same thing, Reno." Reagan mocked, then she noticed me and started adjusting her hair. "Gettin' the new kid into trouble already are you? You know, Roman is going to kill you double time if he finds out about this."
"Piss off." He said, shoving her shoulder. "Look, you know that office girl who wears the weirdest outfits? The new one."
"Yeah. What about her?"
"Demon."
She gasped and started jumping up and down, while something things on her chest, also, started bouncing. "Knew it! Wait, before I ask you anything else, need help? Remember, you're not the only one who's a whiz hacker in this family."
Family? They're related? As they spoke, I analyzed Reagan, searching to find out how they were related.
"If I did, it won't be from you." Reno sang with a sneer.
"Oh, come on!" She shouted, receiving a 'shush' from all three of us.
"Besides, aren't you working on that Meredith Wilson Footbridge project?"
"Bridge project?" I asked.
"Another time. We gotta catch Mike." As he said that, a loud bell ran near by and students filed out of the rooms. Reno ran pass Reagan and stopped at a classroom on a corner across from the bathroom's. A muscular, tall, African-American man walked out carrying his books in one arm and a school bag over his shoulder. And if it wasn't for that school bag, I would have thought he was a teacher. He looked like he was way older than Reno or myself! He looked down at us with large, brownie eyes.
"Ditching class again, Reno Matsi?" Mike asked, moving to stand in front of us. He eyed me, I cringed and back away. Man, this guy's intimidating! Then, he looked back at Reno. "And setting a bad example, I see. Honestly, Reno, will you ever learn?"
"Good question for another time, man." Reno patted Mike's large shoulder's. "I got a big problem."
He put up his finger and began digging through his pile of books. He sighed and pulled out a spiraled book with a large, red and black 'M' on the front. With a sharp whistle, he turned the pages to, apparently, today. "It's not the start of a new month, I don't owe you any favors."
"It's not for me, personally." He leaned forward, ensuring no one else would hear. "It's a supernatural thing."
"Oh, seriously?" The intimidating look showed more.
"As the plague, man." Reno raised his hand.
Mike sighed again. He looked up at the time, and then at me. "Look, new kid, get to class and we'll meet up at lunch. Hannah, get going."
Before I could object, Hannah had grabbed my hand and made a mad dash into another room directly across just as the bell rang again.
"Well, never mind your locker. Come and sit by me." Hannah guided me to the farthest corner and sat me down in front of her. She sat in her desk and dug out on the books I saw her reading earlier. "So, get out a notebook and pencil. This is an Intro. to Science class, he'll give you a textbook, pay attention to the white board, copy the kid ahead of you and you'll do just fine."
The desk was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever parked my ass in. Hard and cold as cement! The teacher walked past me, introduced himself and handed me a thick, beat up textbook. He stood up at the front of the class and started fiddling around with machines.
Time seemed to slow down at that point and time. Actually, it seemed to be that way with my next few classes. And with each class, my chest grew tighter and tighter. Not only was I expecting every adult to be either a teenager in disguise or a demon, but when I was alone in one of my classes, I took the farthest desk and was told to move since it was already claimed. So, I ended up clear on the other end behind one of the smelly kid's from earlier. I was thankful beyond belief that the class before lunch was with Robby. When he saw me, he walked over to me and put me in a seat right next to me. The same smelly kid wanted me to move so he could sit there. As I was getting up to leave, Robby grasped my forearm. The kid took one look at Robby and ran to the other side of the room.
So far, school's been about traveling, bullies and a ton of this thing called 'homework'.
I have no idea how much time had passed before we were cleared for lunch. Robby wrapped his arm around my shoulder, silent as a security guard, guided me down the stairs and down a couple of more replicated halls before we reached a much larger room filled with tables and chairs. The smell of a variety of food filled my nostrils and my stomach started grumbling.
"You've got your card?" Robby asked.
"What card?"
"A card with your picture on it."
I remember getting something like that just before I started school yesterday. Thankfully I'm smart enough to stick it in my pocket because, apparently, that's what pays for your lunch. I watched Robby throw a hot chicken sandwich on his tray, two cardboard plates of fries, mashed potatoes and a carton of milk. Since I didn't recognize any of the food, I just copied him.
As we went to take our seats, I kept my eye out for the demon and was relieved when I didn't see her. Robby stopped suddenly and sat down. I sat in the empty seat next to him, a wave of relief washed over me when I noticed we joined Reno and Mary.
"Alright, so what do we know?" Mike asked. Wow! This guy's got twice as much food as Robby! "Oh, Mike Olsyn." He held out his hand, not tearing his head away from his plate.
"Cas Winchester." I took his hand and he shook it.
"Welcome." He greeted with a mouthful of food. And after a loud gulp, he continued. "And I'm guessing since you saw her first, we'll have to include you in our little secret society."
"Secret society?" I asked as I started picking at my food. I couldn't smell anything, none of it looked really appetizing. But, I have no idea when I'll be eating again...
"Unnamed group of hunter's, as it were, and we kill everything from ghost's to demons." Reno answered, sneaking a swig of the yellow-green soda Dean bought for me at the grocery store. "You name it, good as dead."
"How many people are in our little group?" I finally took a bit, guess it's not all that bad.
"Some of Reno's siblings, DareAnne, Hannah and us four." Mike counted on his fingers.
"So, what are we going to do?" I asked.
"Like Reno said, hunt and kill."
"I get that, but how?"
"That's what we're going to work on with these last 15 minutes."