Chapter 5: What Happened Next
The next six months went without much action. I received two smaller spankings and countless reminder swats. Dean didn't always feel that he had to wait to administer swats anymore. He was starting to accept that I didn't see the immediate outburst as abusive.
As we came on the year of my joining the boys, I was getting a little restless. I wanted more. More attention from Dean. More praise. More chances to prove myself. More of a relationship. So I started testing my limits. I was more careless. More daring. More stupid. I even earned a few swats from Sam during one hunt. He wasn't as harsh as Dean with his warnings, but he definitely made it last longer.
And Dean seemed to be creating distance no matter what I did. I almost felt like he wished Sam would just take over with my punishments. I assumed it was because of me, and when acting out didn't get his attention I was starting to reach my wits end. It was becoming too painful to pretend I didn't want more from him anymore.
Finally, one hunt brought us to my hometown. Not the town I had been saved a year previously, but the town where I grew up. The town I should have stayed in. The town where my parents' house stood without their love. The house that I entrusted to my friend Mike.
I realized that I hadn't heard from him in almost five months and figured since we were there anyway; I'd just go check it out. I really just wanted to see someone who cared about me unconditionally. I needed love without the attachments. Looking back I understand that if I would have just taken a step back I would have clearly seen two men that loved me. But fear makes us blind.
So one night after we had all been researching the strange reports from my town late into the night, I waited for the boys to fall asleep and took the keys to the car. Hopefully I could stop by the house and be back before they even noticed I was gone. I mean, it was only about a 10 minute drive from the hotel. I figured it was too early for Mike to be awake, but if he was I'd just message the boys. And if he wasn't, I'd come back later to visit.
I gave one last look at the brothers passed out on the bed, still in their jeans, and quietly shut the door. I put the car in neutral and pushed it a little further from the window in hopes that they wouldn't wake up when the engine roared to life. I started the car and took off towards the center of town. As I reached my parents' turnoff, something felt terribly wrong.
I looked at my clock and saw that it was nearly 5 a.m., and the sky was starting to turn gray with light. There was illumination at the far end of the house and more than one body moved around. Maybe Mike had a girlfriend now who lived there. I mean, I was clearly awake at this ungodly hour, so who's to say it's weird for them. Still, something was off, and I went with my gut to stay hidden. As I quietly let myself in, I paused to listen to the voices. It seemed to be two men arguing about something. I stepped closer and a dog ran towards me.
At first I couldn't tell if it was being aggressive, but as it came closer it seemed to be protecting me. The dog pushed me towards the garage door, and I heard one of the men calling out.
"Heeeeerrrreee Mikey. Come on, Mike. Be a good boy for us. "
I frowned as I looked down at the Golden dog and back towards the direction of the strange men in my parents' house. I desperately wanted to go to them and ask them what the hell they thought they were doing in here, but the strange familiarity and urgency of the dog kept me smart.
When I got into the garage with the dog, two more dogs ran over to excitedly greet the first dog. Then they cautiously smelled me for a moment, and after deciding I was alright, they began licking me and wagging their tails before returning to their beds in the corner. I looked down at the strange dog again and saw the most peculiar collar. It almost looked like it was a machine wrapped around its neck. The golden dog seemed very deliberate in trying to get the collar off, but as I reached down to help him I felt a sharp kick in my side.
Somehow the two thugs had gotten into the garage without any of us noticing. I must have left the door open behind me since I was too focused on the strange dog. I mean, I was still fairly close to the entrance so I guess it wasn't that much of a surprise.
I quickly rolled and got back up, ready for a fight. As I turned to face them the larger one that had kicked me yelled to his buddy.
"Joe! What are you doing?! Get her! I've got Mike."
Again, the name Mike threw me off and as the man named Joe lunged at me I failed to react. Luckily the familiar dog jumped and took a bite out of this Joe guy.
"Damnit, Ricky! Get this mangy mutt off of me!"
As Joe yelled to his friend, I dropped down kicking his feet from underneath him. When I stood, I met Ricky with a fist to the face. I took the moment to analyze my situation. There were two frightened dogs in one corner, the golden dog was bleeding from one leg and seemed to be knocked out, and the two familiar thugs were getting back to their feet. As they both came at me I dove towards Joe so I could get close to the knocked out dog and check on it. As I passed him I drove my elbow into his kidney then tucked into a roll landing by the dog.
As I sat there I again noticed the strange collar and put my hand on it. At my touch the dog opened his eyes and withdrew himself, leaving an empty collar in my hand. I turned to look at my now naked friend Mike lying where the dog had been. I was too distracted by my friend in place of a dog to notice both Joe and Ricky coming at me. Luckily, at that exact moment Sam and Dean slammed the side door open and each took a man down. I barely noticed the other four men in the room with me. Nothing in the lore had prepared me for this moment.
"Mike?... What the hell... ?"
I couldn't think of anything else to say to him. I just sat there staring at him and felt the breeze of someone passing by me.
He looked up at me, trying to cover his privates while stopping the blood coming from his arm.
"Hey, Stella. Long time. Uh, you mind tossing me a blanket to cover myself?"
I laughed uncomfortably as I became exceedingly aware of his nakedness. When did he get so... ripped...? I shook my head and stood, narrowly avoiding Ricky as Dean threw him past me. Again, I felt that these thugs were familiar as I watched him fly by and robotically replied, "Right. Blanket."
I took a chance to glance up at Dean and Sam as I went to the storage. Both of them were focused on their chosen thug, but they both looked pissed. I retrieved the blanket and tore off a piece to tie on Mike's arm as I maneuvered my way back across the garage. When I handed him the blanket I squatted down to tie the fabric around his arm and help him up while reaching down to grab the strange collar again. I pulled him into a tight hug which he returned before speaking.
"Uhhh, Stella? Your... friends...seem to have taken care of things."
Shit. I immediately tensed and turned around. I forced a smile and stood partially blocking Mike in a somewhat protective stance. How was I going to explain my naked friend who had just been a dog and the two idiots they had just beat up all while surviving the fact that I stole the Impala and left without telling them? I needed time to analyze the mess I had just thrown myself into.
"Sam. Dean. Uh. Thanks for coming. I'm gonna take Mike inside to get some clothes and treat his wound. I assume you'll meet us there?"
My words were awkward and quick. Yet everything seemed to be moving super slow. I laughed uncomfortably as I made my way to the door with Mike.
Dean looked as if he would go up in flames from anger at any minute. His jaw was clenched. His knuckles were white from the tight fists he was making. Even Sam looked disappointed and angry. I guess I wasn't as quiet as I had thought. I would have to remember to ask them how they found me so quickly later. Maybe when they weren't planning my imminent death. I quickly pushed Mike back inside through the door behind us.
"Go get dressed and meet me in the main bathroom so I can take care of your arm."
Mike nodded and quickly dashed away but shot a concerned look back at me just before I was out of sight. I realized I was still holding the strange collar and threw it on the kitchen counter. I sighed and went to the main bathroom, trying not to think about what deep shit I was in. I gathered alcohol, cotton balls, gauze, and medical tape. I didn't think Mike would need stitches, but there was super glue in the garage if he needed it.
When he got to the bathroom, he was still shirtless. I somewhat distractedly cleaned his wound. He hissed slightly and pushed up his glasses as they fell down his nose. The cut wasn't deep, but it would probably bruise. It looked like Joe's belt buckle had got him. I thought about Joe and tried to place why he was familiar but found myself distracted by Mike. Again, I marveled at his toned body as he flexed against the pain of me dabbing his wound. After I had finished cleaning and dressing the wound, Sam and Dean came in with the bound bandits.
"Ok, Mike. Explain," I quickly said, trying to distract the attention from myself.
He looked at me and sighed. "It's kind of a long story, but these guys have been bullying me for a while."
"Wait", I interrupted. I suddenly remembered why I knew them. "They're the ones... I'm so sorry, Mike."
I looked over to them, passed out and tied back to back. I realized I knew them from my college days. They had tried to rape me while I was out for a run and Mike stopped them. He was much scrawnier back then, but that was the start of our friendship. It was also what got me into martial arts. I turned my attention back to Mike as he spoke, trying to release the tension from my body.
"It's not your fault, Stella. When you asked me to watch the house, they were harassing me again. So I started working out. Doing IT work made it easy to go to the gym whenever I wanted, which usually meant avoiding most human contact and going in the middle of the night. Anyway, so as I buffed up, they found new ways to step up to the challenge."
"Ok. But can you explain the collar?"
I wasn't sure exactly what Sam and Dean had seen, but I could definitely sense Dean's quiet impatience behind me.
"Right. Well. I'm not sure where they got it. But basically, they put it on me, and I would turn into a dog. I was fully aware of everything, but I couldn't speak and I couldn't get it off. So, for the past five months I've mostly been a dog. Usually they left me alone, but tonight for some reason they decided to follow me home."
"So what do you suggest we do with these two?" Sam chimed in from behind me.
I jumped slightly when he spoke. I could hear the disappointment in his voice. And I knew he wasn't really asking to ask, but he wanted to get things moving a little faster. I was definitely going to die.
Mike replied first, "Well, actually, I'd like to ask them where my girlfriend is. Kelly has been missing for three months, and I think they have something to do with it. I was hoping to find her in my dog form tonight, but I just followed a false scent back here."
"Are you sure it was false? Maybe these idiots hid her here because they figured you wouldn't look as hard." Dean's voice was hard and laced in sarcasm as he spoke.
Mike shuddered a little and then shot up. "The basement! I never go in there. Oh my God."
And with that he ran to the basement and threw open the door. Sam and I followed while Dean stayed behind to keep an eye on the assailants. When we got down there, we found a cage with another dog. It had to be Kelly. Mike ran to the cage and threw it open. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the chocolate dog as he pulled off the collar.
Both Mike and Kelly immediately fell into each other's arms and cried. I was filled with even more rage at the two men upstairs. They needed to be sent to jail and probably worse. The whole reason we were here was because people had gone missing and around the same time dead dogs had been found near the missing people's homes. Now it all made sense. And hopefully we had just saved two of those lives. I felt a cloud of guilt for not being able to save the others.
"Mike. Do you think you can get these two charged with murder?" I asked.
"Probably. The bodies should change even once the heart stops beating. I'm friends with the coroner and vet and a dog was just found yesterday. Hopefully nothing happened to him yet. Maybe I could give them both a call. It's almost 7:30. They should be awake. Would you mind helping me explain all of this?"
I glanced at the clock and realized that I hadn't slept in 30 hours. I suddenly felt exhausted. Dean must have noticed because he spoke up again.
"Sam and I will help you. Is there somewhere Stella could sleep for a bit? She's had a long day and I have a feeling she'll need to rest before we finish this up."
The entire time he spoke, he kept an icy glare on me. Not once did he turn to Mike. I shuddered a little bit and tried to avoid his glare.
"Well, yeah. I mean her room is still the way she left it. So I'm sure she could go there." Mike replied with a hint of worry in his voice.
Dean twinged slightly when Mike spoke. I watched him clench his fists and jaw while Mike replied.
"I'll go with you, Stella. I need to get some sleep too. And I should probably get some actual clothes," Kelly quickly spoke up, trying to break some of the tension with a forced laugh. She followed me down the hall silently and stood at my door before leaving. "What's with the hard ass? He doesn't hit you, does he?"
I laughed a little. Somewhat from the delirium setting in and the adrenaline wearing off. She looked genuinely worried. I remembered Kelly from grade school. It had been years since we spoke. She was always such a sweet girl.
"He treats me great. He just cares a lot, and I betrayed his trust tonight. And I kinda stole his car while he was sleeping. When he's worried it tends to come off as anger. We'll be fine. Thank you. We should both get some rest." I smiled at her as she nodded.
"Oh. I guess I'd be kinda pissed too." She seemed to want to ask me more, but I had already lain down and could barely keep my eyes open.
"Sweet dreams, Stella."
When I woke, the sun was high and bright. I panicked a little when I realized I was in my own home. But I quickly shook it off. I went to my drawers, happy to see I still had clothing there, and rushed to the shower. I wanted to rinse off as much of the night as I possibly could. When I emerged I went back to the living room. Joe and Ricky were gone. I sighed out some of the tension and saw that Sam and Dean were sitting in the kitchen eating. And Mike was on the couch watching TV alone. I went to sit by him. I still had so much more to talk about. Especially now that he was clothed.
As I sat I said a pleasant hello to the room. I tried my best to pretend that I wasn't in deep shit, but the look on the boys faces said otherwise.
"Kelly still asleep?"
"Yeah. I just checked on her a little while ago. She's had a hard few months. How are you feeling?" Mike asked.
"Sore. But fine." I looked at the clock and saw that it read almost 3. I couldn't believe I had slept for 7 hours. "How are you, Mike? How's the house? Is everything still working out ok?"
"I'll be fine. The house is great. I don't need anything more from you. That's your money. I have been meaning to talk to you about Kelly moving in with me. It's not really an option to move in with her unless you're here to stay, and I'd like to take it to the next level."
"I'm not staying, Mike. It hurts too much. Eventually I'll let you make the house your own instead of just keeping it up. Kelly is more than welcome to live with you here. If you want to change my room into an office, don't feel like you can't. I can't thank you enough for all that you have done for me. I don't know what I would do without you in my life." Tears began to fill my eyes, and I fell onto Mike's chest. He held me and comforted me.
"Stella. Things are fine. This house is huge. I don't plan on changing anything. Your parents made this house into a home that anyone would be lucky to live in. The office your dad used is fine. I'm not taking your room away. Please don't beat yourself up anymore. You know that I love you, and I would do anything for you."
"I know, Mike. I love you too. Thank you for everything." As I sat up and wiped my eyes, I saw Dean storming out of the house. I looked to Sam who just shrugged and got up to follow him.
"Is he ok?" Mike asked.
"I would assume he's pretty pissed at me." I cleared my throat and shifted before talking again. "Did you guys get everything taken care of?"
"Yeah. Joe and Ricky will be charged with 4 counts of murder, 1 count of kidnapping, and 2 counts of attempted murder. They're not going anywhere for a long time. You should have seen the vets faces when I was trying to explain the collars. Some kind of witch magic, I guess." He paused to laugh a little then he looked back at the brothers. "They're not going to hurt you, are they?"
I smiled and shook my head. "No. They're just a little pissed. I kind of stole their car and snuck over here without telling them. I'm sorry if they treated you unkind in any way. They really are great guys." I watched Dean and Sam in a somewhat heated conversation outside and sighed. "I should probably get back on the road with the boys. I might see you again soon. Maybe for a more pleasant visit. Please stay in touch. And tell Kelly goodbye. Let her know she can contact me if she needs to talk. I know we're kind of just leaving her in the dark here. But she has you. And I know she'll love the ring you picked out for her."
Mike blushed and looked a little frazzled. "How? Where? Did you see it?!"
"Come on, Mike. I grew up here. I notice when things are different." I winked at him and pushed him playfully.
He laughed and we both stood. We walked over to the door and he gave me another hug.
"Stay safe out there. Don't be such a stranger, Stella. You know I'm always here for you for whatever crazy thing you may need to talk about. Especially now that I understand more about the life of a Hunter, I think you owe it to me to give me a call and just let me know you are alive after slaying a vampire or whatever it is you're up to that day."
We both laughed and he leaned in to kiss my forehead.
"Keep being a badass. And let me know how things end up with you and Dean. Just make a damn move already, woman!"
I laughed again and kissed his cheek.
"Now who's being nosy?... Goodbye, my friend. Be safe."
And with that I left my parents' house behind, this time feeling less anger and pain. I was almost able to find closure and accept that they were gone. But I was also feeling immense dread as I got closer to Sam and Dean. They had stopped their conversation to watch me walk towards them. When I reached them at my old swing set, I sighed and held out the keys to Dean. This was not about to be a fun drive back.
