Well hello any and all who are sticking around/made it this far! I've got a super busy life so updating has been really hard for me, but a miracle has happened and I was able to get a chapter in today. Any feedback on this story will only help push me to want to work on this story more, so if you ever feel inclined to leave a review know I would very much appreciate it! Supernatural is a loonnggg show and I plan on weaving Ariella into almost all of it, so it'll be a long slow ride, but I really do hope you're enjoying it/will continue to enjoy it! With that said, I'll let you get to this chapter! Xoxo-NickyLynn

Blackwater Ridge, Colorado. That was where the coordinates John had left led to. Unfortunately, however, Sam wasn't willing to make the journey. He had been adamant that he return to Stanford, and though Dean was upset with his refusal to help keep tracking down their dad, he had obliged to Sam's wishes. They had driven through the night once again and were currently stopped at a gas station just outside of town, making one final stop for fuel before they reached the apartment.

Ariella had been struggling with her inner thoughts throughout the entire drive back and was at a complete loss on what to do. Sam had every right to throw in the towel in the search for John, and while his decision to go back to school filled Ariella with relief, it also left her feeling immensely conflicted. Dean wouldn't be giving up in the pursuit of his father anytime soon and the thought of him having to track John down alone left a sour taste in her mouth. Afterall, Dean was right. Something was wrong…..and despite the mountain of problems between them all, Ariella could never just abandon them when it mattered most. At the end of the day, Ariella owed her entire life to John. If something was truly wrong and he was in danger….then she had an obligation to help. She couldn't just walk away.

She had just finished using the restroom of the gas station and had come back outside to find Dean leaning up against the side of the Impala as he filled up the tank, looking nearly as lost in thought as she had been. She let out a sigh as she walked closer to him, pulling his eyes over to her as she came to a stop beside him. "Look, I know-" she began to say before letting out another sigh as she raked her fingers through her hair. "I know you came all the way out here for Sam's help, but if you're dead set on going after John, then I think I should go with."

"I don't want your help." He told her briskly, eyes sweeping back towards the gas pump as he pulled his arms up across his chest.

Ariella gave a roll of her eyes at his standoffish attitude before leaning up against the car next to him. "Whether you want my help or not is irrelevant." She told him. "You need it. Whatever John's gotten himself involved with reeks of something bad."

"And I'll handle it." Dean maintained, still refusing to look at her. "I don't need you tagging along and messing things up. What I need is for you to stop pretending like this has anything to do with you."

"Okay." Ariella said in response, drawing in a stabilizing breath as she worked to control her temper. "Let me rephrase that….I'm going with you to help find John." She declared, finally pulling his hardened eyes back onto her.

"No." he responded instantly. He, too, refusing to budge in his stance.

"Yes." Ariella shot back, pulling her own arms across her chest defiantly.

"What the hell is your problem?" Dean asked, anger rising to the surface alongside hers.

"What's yours?" Ariella countered with a huff. "I get it, okay? You hate me…but this isn't about you, Dean! I owe everything to John. Without him I would still be locked up in a nut house somewhere rotting away, and despite everything that's happened between us all, that's a debt that can't go unpaid. If he's really in trouble, then I'm going to help find him. I owe him that much."

She watched Dean's jaw twitch for a moment before he responded. "I can handle this alone."

"Look, I'm going after John with or without you." She told him with a shake of her head. "Now, we can either work together and get the job done, or you can keep playing this lone wolf card and see how far that gets you. Personal feelings aside, you and me both know that hunting alone never ends well. I'm not saying we have to hold hands and sing kumbaya or anything. All we have to do is tolerate each other long enough to figure out what the hell is going on. Once we find John, we can both go our merry ways and you'll never have to hear from me again."

Dean was silent as he watched studied her then, and Ariella swore she could hear the thoughts churning in his head. Neither of them were keen on working with the other, but this was bigger than any of the problems still festering between them. The clinging of the bell to the gas station door sounded behind them then, pulling Dean's contemplating eyes away from Ariella for a moment as Sam came walking towards them. His eyes quickly fell back onto her as he pulled the pump from the tank. "Fine." He nearly growled as he turned to hang the pump back up. "But don't think I won't leave your ass on the side of the road if you piss me off."

"Such a gentleman." She tossed back at him with a roll of her eyes before pushing away from the car with a huff. "Let just get it done and find John."

She slipped back into the car as Sam did, letting out a heavy sigh as she stretched back out in the backseat. "Jess has been worried sick." Sam said, the sound of him clicking away on his cellphone hitting her ears.

"Well, you're almost home." Ariella told him in response, catching a glimpse of the lengthy text message he was writing from over his shoulder. "Your life can get back to normal soon enough."

"I'm sorry, did you just put the words 'my life' and 'normal' in the same sentence together?" Sam asked with a huff of laughter before snapping his phone shut and giving her an amused look as Dean pulled his door open and slid inside.

"Normal-ish." She amended with an amused roll of her eyes.

It took them no more than twenty minutes to make it back to Sam's apartment complex, and the tension that filled the air by the time Dean pulled up to the curb and put the car in park was nearly stifling. "Well…" Sam said, letting out a sigh as he reached for the doorhandle. "Let me know when you find him." He told Dean as he pushed his door open.

Ariella pushed her door open as well, stepping outside alongside Sam. She reached out and stopped Sam's door from closing, however, drawing his confused eyes down onto her as she stepped up beside him to take his spot in the passenger seat. "What are you doing?" he asked, brows drawing in together.

"Something I'm probably going to regret." She answered with a shrug.

"Wait, you're not seriously going with him, are you?" Sam asked, eyes sweeping from her back to Dean in concern. "You two are more likely to kill each other than solve this case together."

"Wow." Ariella said as she slipped around Sam to slide into the passenger seat. "Your faith in us is astounding." She snipped dryly before pulling the door shut behind her.

"I'm serious." Sam said, leaning down to talk to them through the rolled down window. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"It's a terrible idea." Dean said, sounding just as unenthused as he rolled his head to the side to give Ariella a look of unhappiness.

"Ari, you're still healing and-" Sam began to say before she cut him off.

"I'm fine, Sam!" she bit out more harshly than she intended. "We're fine." She then added, eyes moving over to Dean. "We're going to find John and then we can all go on with our lives again." She said curtly. "Just…" she said, letting her head fall back against the headrest as she turned back towards Sam. "Go inside….go to your interview….everything's going to be fine."

Sam's eyes flicked between her and Dean for a moment before he let out a long sigh and straightened fully. "Just…be safe." He told them before turning and heading back towards the apartment building with a shake of his head.

"You sure about this?" Dean asked, pulling Ariella's gaze away from Sam's retreating back and onto him. He was watching her with those hardened eyes of his, studying the lines of her face. The truth was she wasn't sure. She had been fighting the feeling of knots in her stomach since they had pulled up to the apartments, and had honestly considered backing out….of going back up to Sam's apartment with him. But she did her best to convince herself it was irrational. She couldn't let her irritation with Dean outweigh her duties as a hunter.

"Are you?" she instead countered with a lift of an eyebrow. Dean's answer came in the form of him reaching forward and shifting the Impala into gear. "Okay then." She said as he pulled them away from the curb, settling herself against the leather seat. "To Colorado it is then."

Her gaze flicked over to the rearview mirror as Dean began driving them away, eyes falling on the window she knew Sam's apartment would be. The knots in her gut returned as she watched it grow smaller, the voice in her head still insisting that she should have stayed. She let out a breath, reluctantly pulling her gaze away, and instead letting her eyes slip shut. It would be nearly a thirty-hour drive to reach Blackridge, and she just hoped she could sleep for the majority of it.

She did her best to ignore the trepidation swirling inside her and instead grounded herself in her decision. When her eyes crack open again, however, her heart nearly stopped in her chest. There was something standing in the window of Sam's apartment….something with the same yellow eyes that haunted her most terrible nightmares. "Stop the car!" she screamed as she jolted forward out of her seat, quickly spinning around to look out the back windshield.

"What!?" Dean shouted as he slammed on the brakes, bringing them to an abrupt halt as he, too, spun around in alarm. Ariella's heart was pounding away in her chest as she stared at the window of Sam's apartment. However, the form she had just spotted standing within it was nowhere in sight. "What, Ari!?" Dean pressed again, not being able to see what had gotten her so shaken.

"I saw…" she began to say, mouth going dry as a storm of thoughts began circulating through her head.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Something's wrong." Ariella said, prying her eyes away from the window for a moment to look at Dean. The knot in her gut was now screaming at her to go back, and, after years of hunting, she had learned to trust her instincts. She didn't wait for Dean to turn them around. Instead, she swung her door open and, in the next moment, she was running.

She could hear Dean shouting behind her as she took off like a bat out of hell, quickly followed by the sound of tires squealing on the pavement. She didn't stop to see if he was following. She ran as fast as she could, and as the smell of smoke hit her nostrils, her worry morphed into sheer panic. She made it to the complex within seconds, slamming herself against the gate to the side entrance before bolting up the stairs as quickly as she could.

As she drew closer to Sam's apartment, she could actually see smoke in the air. It seemed to grow thicker the closer she got, and as she made it to Sam's door, finding it locked, she threw her fists against the wood of it. "SAM!" she screamed as she pounded against it, feeling it rattle in the frame. "SAM, OPEN THE DOOR!"

"MOVE!" came Dean's voice behind her then, causing her to spin around in surprise. She quickly moved out of the way, however, and in the next second Dean was kicking the door open. Smoke billowed out of the apartment as soon as the door splintered open, quickly saturating the air in a dense layer. "SAMMY!" Dean yelled as he and Ariella rushed inside.

Ariella nearly choked on the air as she rushed into the apartment, the thick smoke irritating her throat with each breath. "SAM!" she yelled as she desperately searched the room, having to fight off a cough as the smoke seeped into her lungs. The sound of Sam's screaming had her running again. She made it to the doorway of Sam and Jess's bedroom, but the sight she stumbled upon had her coming to a sudden halt in shock. Sam was laid out on his bed, hands held over his head in fear as he stared up at the ceiling. On the ceiling was Jess….blood saturating her nightgown and surrounded by fire.

"SAM!" Dean screamed as he pushed past Ariella, quickly rushing towards Sam to get him out of the quickly growing inferno. Ariella forced her feet to move, rushing in to help Dean pry Sam onto his feet. Sam seemed to be fixated on Jess, suspended above them, and it took all of Dean and Ariella's combined strength to haul him onto his feet.

"GO!" Ariella screamed as soon as Sam was upright and Dean had a firm arm around him. "Get him out of here!" she yelled over Sam's desperate screams for Jess, giving him and Dean a shove towards the door. She whipped around then, eyes landing on Jess, and was stepping up onto the bed as Dean pulled Sam out of the room.

"H-help me…" Jess pleaded in a strained voice as Ariella used the bed to reach for her. The fire was sweltering, however, the heat from it biting into Ariella's hands as she reached for her friend.

"I've got you!" Ariella screamed as she latched onto Jess's outstretched hand, her vision wavering out of focus between the amount smoke and tears hindering her sight. As soon as Ariella went to pry Jess away from the ceiling, however, the flames fanned out with such an explosive force that it sent her soaring across the room. The heat slammed into her like a wall, sending her flying back into the hall. As her back hit the floor, a wave of bright flames spread out in the air over her as a round of coughs involuntarily crept up Ariella's throat. "JESS!" she screamed, pushing herself up on the elbows as she watched the bedroom become engulfed in impenetrable flames. "JESS!"

In the next moment Ariella was back on her feet. She was then pulled backwards through the apartment as her eyes remained glued to the flames, and it wasn't until she hit the kitchen that she realized it was Dean's arm around her that was pulling her along. She wanted to scream at him….beg him to let her go and to save Jess…but she found that no words would slip past her burning throat. Tears washed down her face instead as he continued to haul her away, and by the time she fell against the grass outside, she was overtaken by uncontrollable coughing.

She was left on her hands and knees, desperately trying to even out her breathing again, feeling as if the smoke itself had settled into the base of her lungs. She could hear Dean shouting something next to her, asking if she was alright, but she could do no more than hack away as her eyes drifted back up the side of the building. Flames were billowing out of the windows of Sam's apartment, the brightness of it blanketing them all in its orange glow. The sound of sirens began to pierce the air in the distance as she watched the flames, and as her eyes fell onto Sam, sitting in the grass not even twenty feet from her, watching the flames as well, she scrambled towards him.

"S-sam…" she gasped out as she reached for him, grabbing hold of either side of his face to pull it towards her. His wide eyes fell on her as she forced his gaze upon her, and the fear she saw laced in them drove a dagger through her chest. She searched his body for any sign of injury, needing to know he was okay, and when she was nothing but minor burns, she nearly collapsed into him. "I-I'm sorry…" she sobbed as her hands fell away from his face, eyes drifting back towards the fire as a crowd of people began to form around them.

"Ari, your hands…" Dean's voice cut in over the sound of growing chaos around them, pulling her and Sam's eyes down to them as well. The sight of them churned her stomach. The skin was raw and peeled back, deep burns marring them from her fingertips down to her elbows. They shook as Ariella turned them over, the pain only now beginning to register in her. The blistered flesh was nothing, however, compared to the pain blossoming within her.

"I t-tried but I couldn't…" she said in a pained voice as her eyes locked back onto Sam's, her heart breaking for the pain she found shining in them. "I'm sorry!" she gasped out again as a fresh round of tears fell from her. "I couldn't….I couldn't save her!"

Emergency services were there within minutes. Paramedics quickly began administering medical attention to Sam and Ariella while the firefighters worked on getting the flames under control. They were able to quickly limit the damage, keeping the fire from spreading to other apartments, but the damage had been done. Jess was gone. Ariella had lapsed into silence as the paramedics tended to her in the back of the ambulance, only letting out the occasional hiss of pain as they worked on wrapping her hands. The truth was, her mind was far away….stuck on the image of the yellow-eyed form she had witnessed standing in Sam's window. She would go back and forth between wondering if it had all been a trick of her mind…if there had been nothing there at all…but a ball of uneasiness had formed in her gut every time she pictured those yellow eyes.

After she had been given enough oxygen to clear out her lungs, while one of the paramedics was finishing up her second hand, Dean had popped his head around the back of the open doors. He drifted closer with his hands dug into the depths of his jacket pockets, watching as the bandage was secured into place. "Hey." He greeted, propping himself up against the corner of the vehicle.

"How's Sam?" Ariella asked, pulling her oxygen mask down enough to speak. Her voice came out scratchy and barely above that of a whisper, but she found herself thankful she could speak without coughing at least.

"He's giving the cops his statement….he's fine." Dean answered before turning towards the woman working on her. "Do you mind if we have a minute?" he asked, nodding over towards Ariella.

"Of course." She said, standing up and removing her gloves before tossing them away and stepping towards the back of the ambulance to wash her hands. "Just make sure she sits with that oxygen a bit longer yet before going anywhere." She instructed before slipping out of the back past Dean. He watched her go for a moment before letting out a sigh as he stepped into the back of the ambulance, dropping himself down in the seat she had just vacated next to Ariella.

"You okay?" he asked, tipping his head down towards her freshly bandaged hands.

"Peachy." Ariella bit out, letting herself drop down against the bed she had been laid out on. "I'm not the one you should be worried about." She said then, eyes sliding over to him in worry. "How is he, Dean?" she asked again.

"Quiet." Was his honest response, letting out a sigh as he pulled a hand from his pocket to rub his forehead.

"Dean…" Ariella began, head shaking back and forth as she pictured the terrified face of Jessica. "This wasn't just a fire." She nearly whispered.

"I know." He said, eyes moving back outside where the lingering smoke was still drifting up through the air. "It was just like…" he began to say before shaking his head. "Back in the car…" he said then, eyes sweeping back over to her. "You said you saw something."

Ariella pulled her eyes away from him and instead studied the fabric of her bandages. She and Dean both knew that Mary, Dean and Sam's mother, had died the same way….stuck to the ceiling and consumed by flames. And the bastard that had done it was the same one who had wreaked havoc on Ariella's own life. But what Dean didn't know…was that Ariella knew who did it…..a demon with eyes an unmistakable shade of yellow. But John had sworn her to secrecy over it. He had made her promise not to say anything to the boys…that it would be best if they didn't know, he said.

She drew in a breath as John's voice echoed in the back of her mind, not sure what to say. "I don't know what I saw." She told him somewhat honestly. "It…it must have just been some flames or something….but Dean, whatever happened here tonight…" she said, mind switching back onto Sam. "It'll break him." She said, tears filling her eyes again as she brought them back up to meet his. "He loved her."

Dean was quiet for a moment before he let out a long breath and stood. "We're going to find whatever did this." He vowed lowly as he stepped through the back of the ambulance, jumping down onto the ground again. "And we're going to make it pay for it."

Ariella watched him walk away, presumably to find Sam again, before she pulled the oxygen mask back over her face and stared up at the ceiling. Dean was right…they were going to find the monster responsible. Ariella had made that vow to herself long ago…when it had taken her own mother from her. Now she had even more reason to hunt the bastard down. She was going to find the yellow eyed demon….she was going to send it crawling back to hell….but first….first she had to find John Winchester.