TW: Child abuse
Mack pulled her hoodie down further over her face to hide the black eye blossoming over her cheek and the various little cuts there. She tried to not make her limp obvious as she headed into the local library of the town she was currently staying in with him. There'd been some strange reports he had found in the newspaper and so he'd dragged her here and then ordered her to do the research on what they were dealing with. He almost made her wish she were possessed by Lucifer again. At least there had been a foreseeable end while she had been possessed. She had no idea how long she would be with him.
It had already been nearly eight months. Her birthday was next week. She wondered how her father was coping without her. Was he finally happy with Lisa and Ben? Or had he left them to look for her? Was he frantically criss-crossing the country searching for any sign of her and her whereabouts? Or had he given up? Maybe he just assumed she was dead somewhere with no hope of finding her body. She felt a tear slip down her sore cheek, but didn't bother wiping it away.
She tugged at the heavy front door of the library, slipping into the quiet, air-conditioned building. The smell of old books hit her nose, instantly making her relax. That smell reminded her of Grandpa Bobby's. Discreetly limping toward the computers, she noted the two librarians standing near some shelves talking to each other about something quietly. They looked like they could be siblings with the same jet black hair and green eyes. The male was taller and his eyes were more of a vibrant bottle green, while the female was shorter and her eyes were a duller shade of green than the other one. The male looked like he was chastising the female for something.
Ignoring them, Mack sank into one of the cushioned swivel chairs in front of a computer, pressing the button to turn it on. While she waited for it to load up, she did another cursory sweep of the library with her eyes. Besides the librarians, several patrons were scattered throughout the library amongst the shelves. There were two kids a couple computers down from her that were playing some game with each other online. Other than them, no one was anywhere close to her, which was perfectly fine. The less attention she could draw to herself, the better.
The male librarian had left the female to go back behind the counter while the female had resumed her task of reloading the shelves. Mack once again focused on the computer screen, pulling up the Google search bar. He had given her a list of what to look for after going and checking out the dead bodies himself. Something was killing vampires, but there weren't any other hunters in town. It was Mack's job to figure out what. She stayed there for several hours, looking through page after page of vampire lore- most of it bogus- trying to figure out what hunted them besides hunters.
"Excuse me, miss? The library is closing," the female librarian- Tegan, according to her tag- told her. "Okay," she nodded, closing out of her research. This was the part she was dreading- having to return to the motel room empty handed. She just prayed he would be passed out from drinking already so she wouldn't have to be subjected to his anger. Stifling a yawn, she made her way out of the sanctuary of the library and began the long trek back. Cas, I don't know if you're even listening, but if you are, please come save me…
She lingered outside the door of the motel room, building up the courage to enter. Right when she reached out to put her key in the lock, the door swung open and he stood there, towering in the doorway as he glared down at her. "About time," he growled. She could smell the alcohol on his breath- her father had come home smelling like that enough during those first four months at Lisa and Ben's for her to recognize it. This was about to get very ugly. Before she could even open her mouth to reply, he'd grabbed her roughly and threw her into the room.
She yelped as she crashed to the floor, landing heavily on her already injured foot. He slammed the door, rounding on her. "Well?" he demanded. "Find anything?" She whimpered, staring up at him with tearfilled eyes. "N-not yet…" she replied, voice timid. Anger flashed in his eyes and she cried out as he backhanded her across the face. "I gave you one job," he growled at her. "Useless little bitch. Dean should have listened to me and gotten rid of you the second your mother dropped you off." Mack sobbed, trying to shield her head as he kicked her in the stomach.
He left her there, curled up in a fetal position on the floor, heading over and laying on the only bed. He was passed out in seconds. Mack stayed there, her ribs screaming in pain while she cried. Cas… As soon as her tears subsided, she half-crawled, half-dragged herself over to sit in one of the chairs at the kitchenette table. She looked over at his sleeping form in the dark, terrified that he would wake up at any moment and decide to start round two. She pulled all the handwritten notes he'd made toward her, studying them and trying to find something that could help her figure out what they were dealing with. She fell asleep there, using her folded arms as a pillow on top of the table.
"Wake up!" Mack yelped as the chair she was sitting in was pulled out from under her, sending her crashing to the floor. "Since you didn't find anything yesterday, you have to go back to that library and keep looking today." Her entire body was sore; protesting any sort of movement whatsoever. "Yes, sir," she gave the automatic response he'd drilled into her within the first couple days of them being together. She dragged herself to her feet, one arm cradling her ribs as she headed out the door.
It took her longer to reach the library today compared to yesterday, due to her fresh injuries. She kept her gaze downward, and noticed a strange looking lizard on the sidewalk. Its scales were a mottled brown and green pattern and it had yellow and black stripes on its shoulders that kind of looked like dragon wings. If she didn't know any better, it seemed like it was following her all the way to the library. But when she arrived, the lizard just completely vanished. Weird. Luckily, she didn't have to attempt to open the heavy door today because somebody was exiting as she was entering. She mumbled her thanks to them, making sure not to let them see her face and injuries.
She was afraid if somebody saw, she'd get in even more trouble with him, and that couldn't happen. She headed to the same computer she had been at yesterday. The male librarian was talking with Tegan again and this time, she could have sworn they both glanced over in her direction multiple times during their conversation. She decided to try a new tactic today. Instead of trying to figure out what was killing the vampires, she decided to see if she could figure out where the nest was. If any of them were still around, then maybe she could use them to figure out what they were hunting.
Tegan came over while she was looking up information on the geography around town, trying to figure out where the best place the nest might be holed up. "Sweetie? Are you alright?" Mack looked up at Tegan in surprise. The librarian was staring at her with concern in her jade eyes. "I-I'm fine," she immediately responded, internal alarms going off in her head. "Are you sure? Do you want me to call somebody for you?" My dad. "N-no," she shook her head, fighting not to wince at the movement. "T-thanks, though…"
She looked back at the computer, studying what she thought might be the place where the nest would be hiding out. It was an abandoned factory on this side of town. She wrote down the directions so she could find her way there, and then shut the computer off again. Making her way out of the building, she followed the directions on the paper. She didn't notice it this time, but that strange lizard was following her again. Eventually, she reached the abandoned factory and snuck inside.
Inside were three people asleep in sleeping bags. The last three vampires in the nest. Swallowing, she turned to leave, intending to head back to the motel and let him know what she'd found. But at that moment, one of the vampires woke up. "Well, well, well. What's this?" he asked. "Lunch." The other two vampires woke up, all three of them advancing on Mack. "N-no, please," she begged, backing up as fast as her injuries allowed. Without warning, a thought that wasn't her own ran through her head. Get down.
Mack dropped to her feet just in time for a blast of fire to go over her head and hit one of the vampires. The other two dove out of the way, narrowly escaping the flames. Mack gaped as Tegan came to her side, dragging her out of the way as the male librarian continued his attack on the vampires. He created fireballs in his hands out of thin air, blasting them at the other monsters. His skin was covered in mottled brown and green scales and she could see black and yellow stripes like dragon wings on his shoulders- just like that lizard. "W-what are you?" Mack asked curiously, looking up at Tegan. "Obsidian Perierunts," Tegan answered. "Stay hidden."
Mack's eyes widened at Tegan's skin also turned scaly, hers more brown than green, and she joined the other one in fighting the vampires. Mack thought they looked kind of like Madam Vastra from Doctor Who. Dean hadn't let her watch very many episodes, but she had seen a few. She decided to call them Vastras instead of that thing Tegan had said they were. It was less of a mouthful, and easier to remember. The vampires tried to escape the Vastras' attacks, but it was no use. They didn't stand a chance. As soon as the last two vampires were dead, their skin returned to normal.
"You can come out now," Tegan called over to her. Mack got to her feet, making her way over to the creatures curiously. "Are you alright?" Mack nodded, "I'm fine. T-thank you." The male Vastra frowned, "Why did you turn down our help before? That man shouldn't abuse you like that." She froze up, suddenly terrified. "I-it's not a b-big deal," she stammered. "P-please don't tell anyone." He seemed upset by her response. "Someone needs to know," he insisted. "N-no. They don't. P-please," Mack begged, shaking her head despite the pain. "But-"
"Tyler," Tegan chastised him and he immediately shut his mouth. "You aren't going back to the motel now, are you?" she asked Mack gently. "I-I have to… H-he… He's w-waiting for me to come back w-with news. Y-you guys are in danger. H-he wants to kill you." Tegan and Tyler exchanged a look. "I'd like to see him try," Tyler said. "We're incredibly difficult to kill, unless you happen to have an obsidian blade with you." Mack frowned. She didn't think he had an obsidian blade in his arsenal. But just in case, "Y-you should still get o-out of here. H-he's extremely resourceful."
"We are immortal, child. We have been around since the time of creation," Tyler informed her. "I think we'll be just fine staying right where we are." Mack frowned, "I-immortal?" Tyler nodded, "We don't harm humans. Our prey consist of shapeshifters, werewolves and vampires. We've wiped out all of the dragon race." The young girl was very confused, listening to Tyler spout off random facts about the Vastra race. "W-why can you turn into a lizard, but Tegan can't?"
"Tyler's a pure-blood," Tegan explained. "I'm not. It's kind of complicated past that." Mack frowned curiously, "Why are you telling me all this? A-aren't you w-worried I'll t-tell him about you?" Tyler snorted, "Feel free to tell him, it won't matter." But, as it turned out, it would matter. That small group consisting of one scared little girl, and two immortal beings as old creation just didn't know it yet.
John Winchester was fed up with Mckinley. Shortly after he'd kidnapped her to help him hunt, he had finally remembered her real name. It had been tough, training her to hunt. Dean clearly hadn't done her any favors in that department, which upset him to no end. Winchesters were fighters. If they didn't know how to hunt and defend themselves against monsters, then they were useless. That's why when Sam decided he'd rather run off and go to school, John told him never to come back.
He did the bare minimum he could on hunts, usually going to look at the dead bodies or interviewing a witness or two before making Mckinley do the rest. She would never learn how to be a proper hunter from being coddled. When he caught wind of their latest case, it stumped him. The combination human and vamp murders along with the fact that he hadn't heard of any other hunters in town, was bizarre. Naturally, he put Mckinley in charge of figuring out what they were dealing with.
While she went to the library to do research, he laid in bed at the motel, drinking and watching whatever meaningless show was on TV. The little research he had bothered to do himself was spread over the table in the kitchenette. He passed out there for a couple hours, waking up after dark. There was still no sign of Mckinley. He turned off the TV, finishing off the bottle of whiskey in his hand and watching the window for any sign of her return.
Finally, he saw a small, hunched over figure pass by the curtain and stop on the other side of the door. He waited for her to come in and give him her report, but quickly realized she was lingering outside. Overcome by a drunken rage, he stormed over to the door and wrenched it open moments before she could do it herself. He couldn't even remember what he said to her, he just remembered throwing her around and yelling before passing out on the bed again. When he woke up the next morning, she was asleep at the table over his research.
He crossed over to her, ripping the chair out from underneath her and ordering her to go back to the library to get the information she'd failed to find the day before. Today, instead of drinking himself into a stupor, he decided to follow her discreetly to see what he could find out. At the library, she hunched over a computer, seeming extremely concentrated on her work. One of the librarians went over and talked to her at one point. He could see the look of terror cross Mckinley's features as she protested whatever the librarian had said to her.
He followed her to an abandoned factory in town, watching as she snuck in alone. Shortly after she entered, he noticed the two librarians, the male's skin covered in reptilian scales, enter the building as well. He discreetly entered after them, making sure to keep out of sight, while still keeping close enough he could hear what was going on. The male reptile thing was shooting balls of fire at a couple of vampires while the female helped Mckinley to safety. That made John see red. She was a Winchester. She shouldn't be hiding like a coward.
"W-what are you?" he heard Mckinley ask the female. "Obsidian Perierunts," came the reply, the female's skin changing into the same reptilian scales as her male companion. Obsidian Perierunts? He'd never heard of such a creature. The name was Latin, and meant perished by obsidian. Even as he figured that out, the creatures had finished killing the last of the vampire nest. Then came a conversation that made him angrier than before. "You can come out now," the male Obsidian Perierunt called out. Mckinley limped over to them. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. T-thank you," Mckinley told him. He frowned at her, "Why did you turn down our help before? That man shouldn't abuse you like that." John was livid. These monsters had tried to help her? That must have been what the female had been talking to her about at the library when she had protested so fervently. "I-it's not a b-big deal," Mckinley stammered, frozen in terror. "P-please don't tell anyone." At least the girl was smart. He may not have to punish her as severely. The male Obsidian Perierunt seemed upset. "Someone needs to know."
"N-no. They don't. P-please," Mckinley was shaking her head. "But-" the male began. "Tyler," the female cut him off, and he shut his mouth. The female addressed Mckinley gently. "You aren't going back to the motel now, are you?" John awaited her response: this is what would really determine her punishment. "I-I have to… H-he… He's w-waiting for me to come back w-with news. Y-you guys are in danger. H-he wants to kill you." So close. If she had just kept her mouth shut, and hadn't tried to warn them… "I'd like to see him try," the male, Tyler, said. "We're incredibly difficult to kill, unless you happen to have an obsidian blade with you." So, their name was telling of how to defeat them. That was good to know. "Y-you should still get o-out of here. H-he's extremely resourceful."
"We are immortal, child. We have been around since the time of creation," Tyler informed Mckinley. "I think we'll be just fine staying right where we are." John had heard enough. He snuck out of the building, heading to the library to do some research of his own. He found one article about the Obsidian Perierunts- they were almost unheard of. Just as the male had said, they were immortal and had been around since the creation. It was thought that they were extinct. They hunted shapeshifters, vampires, and werewolves, which explained the dead vampires in town. They were prey to demons and something called a Leviathan, whatever that was.
They were affected by sulfur and obsidian, and killed by an obsidian blade. When harmed by either, their skin turned scaly. He figured that was like what he'd seen them look like while they were fighting the vampires in that building. Their abilities included telepathy and pyrokinesis, which also lined up with what he'd observed at the vamp nest. Pure bloods could shapeshift into any reptile, and all Obsidian Perierunts could turn their skin scaly. They all had black hair and green eyes and all pure bloods had yellow and black lines that looked like dragon wings on their shoulders.
He hadn't gotten a good look at the two creatures with Mckinley, but from what he could tell, he thought that the male had been a pure-blood and the female had not. After searching for a real obsidian blade online and ordering one to be shipped to their motel room overnight, he printed out the article on Obsidian Perierunts and headed back to the motel. Mckinley still hadn't returned. He drew up a chair, glaring at the door and waiting. Unlike last night, he waited until he heard the sound of the key in the door and she had entered to begin her punishment. He started subtle, seeing if she would lie to him or would tell him the truth.
"What did you find out?" he asked. She swallowed, looking down at her feet. He hated that. A real hunter wouldn't be afraid; would look him in the eye when delivering news. "I-I still d-don't know what's killing t-the vampires," she lied. "I d-did find where t-the nest was, b-but they're all dead. W-whatever it is m-must have wiped them all out b-before we got here." Another lie. He was seeing red again. "You little bitch," he spat. "I saw you at the nest with those creatures. Stop lying to me." He got to his feet and she whimpered, cowering away from him.
He grabbed her roughly, slamming her against the wall, and she cried out in pain. "I know the vampires were killed by the Obsidian Perierunts. I know that they can be killed by an obsidian blade. And I know they tried to help you get away from me." She was shaking her head, tears streaming down her bruised face. "N-no… I-I didn't…" He shook her hard. "Stop," he slammed her into the wall again. "Lying." He dropped her unceremoniously to the floor where she crumpled. "T-they d-did offer to h-help me, but I said n-no," she whimpered, staring up at him. "I-I didn't let them."
He backhanded her across the face, making sure to strike the bruised side hard. She cried out in pain again. "Consider that your punishment for lying to me," he growled. "Luckily, I did what you could not and found the information on those creatures. As soon as my new blade arrives, I'm heading to that library and I'm killing them both." Mckinley was curled up into a ball, shaking as she leaned against the wall for support. "I'm heading out. Don't bother leaving this room. If you do, there will be a far worse punishment."
He didn't wait for a response, heading out the door and slamming it behind him before heading to the nearest bar. Inside the room, Mack sobbed, praying audibly for the first time in a while. "Cas… I need you… Please… I just wanna see my daddy again…" Just like every other time she'd prayed in the past year, no angel in a trench coat came to save her. The next morning, true to his word, John headed off to the library and killed the only creatures she'd ever met to show any sort of kindness. Part of her wished she had taken up their offer of calling someone for help. Then maybe this living nightmare would have ended much sooner.