Chapter Text
I sat on my sofa in my cozy little apartment, watching netflix on my computer. It was loud through the headphones. I had an old knitted blanket thrown over my legs, a glass of Sprite on the coffee table, and my cat curled up in front of the portable heater. It was my favorite show- a crime procedural that had been on way too long in most people's opinions, but was providing a great marathon for my currently lonely nights.
My cat, Mildred, got up at some point and began stalking back and forth in front of the lone living room window. I ignored her- Mildred was always being strange, this was nothing new. The cat meowed louder and louder. “Mildred, you know I don't let you out.” I frowned, pausing the show and getting up to go look out one of the windows. There was nothing but black outside.
The single light in the parking lot of the apartment building had been burned out for months, so all that I could see was the reflection of my dimly lit room staring back. Still, the darkness seemed oppressive tonight, and I double checked my locks and closed my curtains against it. Deciding that maybe watching a drama about murder and sex crimes wasn't a great idea for that particular evening, I shut off the computer, double checked the doors and windows, and headed to my room. After a quick shower, I took two of my sleeping pills, read for a while, and eventually dozed off. Soon, I was in a deep, dreamless sleep.
* * *
“BAM BAM BAM!”
I jumped at the sudden noise. Light drifted lazily into the room through thin curtains, and I swung my legs off of the bed and got up. Someone was pounding and shouting at the door.
“Miss Miles, are you in there? Are you all right?” A male voice shouted, followed by more pounding at the door.
“Yes, yes, I'm here.....” I peered through the peephole and saw two officers, a man and a woman, standing at my door. They looked visibly shaken. I opened the door but left the security screen closed. “I'm fine. What's the problem..” I trailed off, opening the door and stepping out onto the walkway. “What the fuck?” I whispered. The apartments in front of my own were demolished, completely flattened. I spun around. Every apartment in the complex was destroyed, utterly and completely, except for mine. Even the one on top of mine was just... gone.
I looked at the officers. They both looked visibly shaken. One was a small but robust looking Asian woman, and the man was tall, with dark skin and short cropped hair. “What the fuck happened?” I asked them. “My neighbors? Are they all right? Did any of them escape? Was it an earthquake?”
“Calm down, Miss Miles. We... aren't sure what happened. But as you can see, the fire department is doing their best to clear this and find survivors. We... we need you to come down to the station with us, please.” The female officer, Officer Liu, spoke gently to me. I nodded.
“Okay, okay, of course. But... why?”
“Well, Miss Miles... as far as we can tell, you're the only survivor.” Officer Liu looked sad.
“Oh my God.” I wandered back into my house, but the other cop, Officer Benson, stopped me.
“Miss, we can't guarantee the structural integrity of your apartment. We can't let you go back inside.
“My cat's in there. And my clothes... and my purse and phone. I...” I trailed off.
“I'll go get your things. Do you have a cat carrier?” Officer Liu asked.
“Liu, you shouldn't go in there either.” Benson warned her.
“Jesus Christ, Benson. The building stayed up all night while God knows what was happening. It'll hold a few more minutes.” She clapped him on the shoulder and went inside, returning minutes later with a set of clothes, toothbrush, purse, and a very upset cat in a carrier. “Let's just go.”
* * *
“Hey Dean. I think I found something.” Sam looked up from his computer and at his brother, who was lying across the couch, his arm thrown over his eyes, groaning. He muttered something unintelligible.
“I said I think I found something, and to be honest... it's really weird. Even for us.” Sam continued, ignoring Dean's mutterings. Dean had been out too late the night before, and returned back to their motel this morning reeking of whiskey and cheap perfume. Really cheap perfume. Sam hadn't asked- it was usually the same story.
Dean wearily pulled himself to a sitting position. It was pretty obvious he was nursing a bad hangover.
“Good night, eh?” Sam smirked at him.
“You could say that.” Dean gave himself an amused smile and lifted an eyebrow, as though he were remembering something spectacular. “It's not every day you meet a gymnast.”
“Jesus, Dean. TMI.” Sam rolled his eyes. “So this job... possible job. You want to hear about it or should I let you wallow for a few more hours?”
Dean got up and stretched, his henley shirt showing off a brief hint of chiseled abs before he put his arms back down and came to sit across from his brother. “Yeah, shoot. I'm already awake.” He got right back up and went to the cooler. “I need a fucking beer first though. Jesus. Do you know how much gymnasts can drink? Holy God. And then still keep their balance.”
Sam ignored him. “So last Tuesday, in Ridgecrest, CA, basically, an apartment building collapsed. It appears there may have been some arson involved because of the “strange charring patterns on the wood.”
Dean took a long drink of his beer, opened one eye, and peered at Sam. “An earthquake. And?”
“Annnnd, all except ONE apartment was destroyed. All residents dead. Except one ground floor unit with no structural damage, and the occupant, and her cat, were unharmed. Didn't even hear anything.”
“Think she did it? Witch maybe?” Dean got a disgusted look on his face. “I hate witches.”
“Could be. I guess we'd have to talk to her. I really can't see how anyone could sleep through the destruction of their entire apartment building.” Sam sighed. “Guess we're going back to California.”
Dean peered at his little brother. California was where all of this hunting had begun again, back in 2005. When Dean had needed his help, selfishly dragged him off on an “adventure”, and set in motion events that had alternately destroyed them both. They didn't often get back to California. They let other hunters take it. “You sure you want to go back, Sammy?”
Sam took a breath, rubbed one hand over the back of his neck, and nodded. “It's been over ten years, Dean. And it's not even the same part of the state. I'll be fine. Besides, this woman either needs our help, or needs us to get rid of her.”
“How hard can it be to gank a little old cat lady? Even if she is a witch?” Dean chuckled.
“Paper says she's a 30 year old retail manager named Mina Miles. So, I guess that depends.”
* * *
After three days straight on the road, the brothers pulled into a ramshackle motel on the outskirts of Ridgecrest. It was a moderately sized town in central California, known for a few wineries. The motel, appropriately called “The Grapevine”, was a two story yellow stucco building with rooms accessible from outside. The windows all had purple fake shutters surrounding them, and the forlorn neon sign read “Vac_ncy”.
“Home sweet home.” Dean got out of the car, pulling his knapsack from the back seat. Sam angled out of the Impala more slowly. At 6'4”, he had a few inches on his brother, and since hitting his thirties, springing out of such a confined space wasn't as easy as it had been so many years ago. They checked in with the front desk, got their room keys from a cigarrette-smoking receptionist with a beehive named “Barb”, and found their room. Bottom floor. The inside wasn't too bad. Tan carpet, two double beds with black and white checked comforters on them, a small table with two chairs, and a small bathroom. The tile in the bathroom matched the bedspreads.
“So do we know where this “Mina Miles” is now?” Dean asked.
Sam shook his head “no”. “We'll have to check with the local police, but I'm going to bet she's with her parents. I think we should check out her apartment first, though.” Sam tapped onto his keyboard. A photo of a pretty blonde woman popped up. She had wavy shoulder length hair, and, as typical in DMV photos, she had an awkward half smile. “This is Mina Miles.”
Dean nodded in appreciation. “She's hot. Not a bad start to a case.”
“We'd better get started.” Sam reminded him.
Dean was on the same train of thought. “You go to the police, pull the Fed thing, and get some idea of what's going on. I'll go check out the apartment. Call me when you find anything.”
Sam nodded, pulling his suit from his bag to iron. “This one is weird, Dean. I can't put my finger on it. But it feels weird.”
Dean shrugged. “Just another hunt, Sammy. They're all weird.” He smiled at him, and headed out the door to Miss Miles apartment.
* * *
As Dean approached the apartment complex, his jaw slowly dropped. He'd seen plenty of destruction before, sure. But this was different. This was epic. It looked like a giant fist had come down from the sky and smashed all of the buildings flat. Except one, which stood to the left of the courtyard parking lot. A cheery pink block with a few flowers by the door, in the midst of a warzone.
He parked a few blocks away, double checked his fake ID in his pocket, grabbed a flashlight and a few weapons, and headed out. It was getting toward evening now, and long shadows cast themselves across the cracked and splintered sidewalk.
Tearing down the crime scene tape across the door to Mina's apartment, he picked the lock and was in within seconds. He stopped to listen. All was silent. He'd expected dust, or some kind of damage to the inside- shining his flashlight along the floors, walls, and ceilings, he could see nothing. The interior was unscathed. Nothing was even knocked off of a shelf, no glasses had fallen out of a cabinet, nothing. Whatever catastrophic event had happened out there, had not happened in here.
He did a cursory check of the small home, finding it empty of anything living or dead, and started investigating closer. He looked through all of her books. Murder mysteries, Intro to French, an impressive array of fantasy novels, some Sherlock Holmes... Nothing weird except maybe the true crime books. Her dvd collection proved the same. No hex bags anywhere. He sighed and stood by one of the the livingroom windows, which faced out, away from the parking lot and destruction. The sun was setting over a small stand of trees about half a mile away.
Frustrated, he turned around and looked at the room. Something caught his eye. At the very edge of the throw rug underneath the coffee table, he saw an almost imperceptible smudge. Flipping the coffee table, and throwing back the rug, he wasn't sure what he was even looking at. It was so hard to see. He shined his flashlight on it, but it didn't help. It was nearly invisible. “Friggin of course!” he muttered, stalking out of the house. He jogged back to his car, found what he was looking for in the trunk, and returned.
He flicked on the black light, aimed it at the floor, and gasped. Then he aimed it around the walls, windows, and ceiling. “Fuuuuck.”
* * *
Sam entered the Ridgecrest PD through the front door, straightened his tie, and approached the counter. The young officer there held up one finger to let him know he was on the phone. Sam waited, looking around. It was a small precinct, with walls painted the tan puke color of most DMV's. He was pretty sure that if he had to go look at any autopsies, they wouldn't be here, they'd be at another facility farther away. Maybe the hospital.
The young officer, who's name was Officer Brown, hung up the phone. “Can I help you Sir?”
Sam flashed his badge. “Agent Kottak, FBI. I'm here about the Miles case.”
Officer Brown nodded. “Oh yeah, THAT one. That's freaking weird, man.” He stopped. “What exactly are you here for though?”
Sam sighed. “Well, Officer Brown, the FBI also thought it was “freaking weird, man” and decided to check it out. You know, homeland security and all that.” Officer Brown nodded. “Can I please speak to whoever is in charge of the investigation?”
“Sure thing, but Detective Sweeney isn't in until tomorrow at nine. Should I pencil you in?”
It took a lot to get Sam angry, but Officer Brown was annoying him just a bit. “Sure, pencil me in for 9am. In the meantime, I'd like to look at whatever files you have on the incident.”
Sensing that the FBI agent was getting irritated, Officer Brown nodded. “Of course! Come right with me. I'll put you in the empty office and get the file, right away, Sir.”
Soon Sam was in a small room furnished only with a table, two chairs, and a file cabinet. He was pretty sure he was not in an empty office, but an interrogation room, and that Officer Brown was working front desk because he wasn't playing with a full deck. But he had the file, and a cup of decent black coffee, so he settled in to peruse the case. After about an hour, his phone rang. It was Dean. He picked up.
“What's up?”
“Dude, you have GOT to get over here.”
“Is everything all right?”
“I'm not getting my ass kicked or anything, but shit is definitely not all right. This whole thing just took a turn for the very weird. Get your ass down here now.” And Dean hung up.
Sam got a copy of the police file, and headed over to the apartment complex via a “borrowed” car. He parked behind the Impala and walked around the block. When he arrived, Dean was in the doorway.
“What did you find?” Sam asked. Dean didn't answer right away. He lead Sam into the room and illuminated it with his blacklight. “Seriously, Dean, if you brought me all the way out here to see semen stains...”
“Dude, no. Look.” Dean pointed into the room. Sam stepped in.
On every wall, floor, ceiling, cabinet side- basically everywhere- was every kind of warding symbol they had ever seen. And some they had not. Devil's traps, protection against Demons, Angels, and everything in between. They were all down the hall, in the closets, bedroom, and bathroom. Anywhere that there was a physical way into the house, was covered in sigils.
“What the?” Sam let out a breath. “Do you think she did all this?”
Dean shook his head. “I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it. I've never even seen half of these before, have you? Like what the hell does that one mean?” He pointed at a square symbol behind the TV.
Sam shook his head. “I recognize a lot, but not all. Where did these all come from?”
“If they came from her, she's hidden her occult library somewhere else. All she has here are bad mysteries and true crime theories on Jack the Ripper.” Dean looked a little shocked, and by this time in his life, it was hard to shock Dean Winchester. “Her laptop is gone so who knows about that.”
“Wherever they came from, someone was going to a lot of trouble to keep something out. Basically everything out.” Sam stated. “We really need to talk to Mina Miles.”
* * *
I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard a knock at the door downstairs. Throwing on my short terrycloth robe, I went to answer it. Through the front window I could see two men in suits. One was massively tall, very handsome, with long dark hair. The other was shorter but still not short, ruggedly attractive, with sandy blonde close cropped hair, and a look of confidence about him. I sighed defeatedly. More cops, I was sure. Or insurance people. Or vacuum cleaner salesmen, if I was lucky.
I opened the door, and the two men flashed their badges in unison. “Hi, Ma'am, I'm Agent Kottak” the tall, handsome one said, and gestured at his partner. “This is Agent Roth.” The attractive sandy haired agent nodded at me.
“What can I do for you... agents?”
“Well, we need to ask you a few questions about the incident at the Valley Apartments last Tuesday. Would you mind if we came in?” Agent Roth smiled at me, showing a row of perfectly straight teeth. I stopped myself from smiling back, instead looking to Agent Kottak. He was the size of a car, but he seemed a little more approachable. Crap was so messed up right now, and they'd decided to send the two best looking Feds to my door? I wasn't sure if this was a blessing or a curse.
“I already told the police everything I know, which is basically nothing.” I dejectedly told them. “But I guess if you need to, sure.” I held the door open for them. “I just got out of the shower. I'm going to go put some real clothes on. I'll be right back. Make yourselves comfortable.” I pointed into the sitting room of my parent's house, and went upstairs.
* * *
“You need to stop checking her out, dude. Seriously.” Sam scowled at Dean. Dean shrugged.
“Sorry man, she's kinda hot.”
Sam rolled his eyes. He had to admit it though, she was. She was like a woman from an old movie. Curvy, not like the rail thin girls Dean usually always picked up at bars.
They looked around the room for a few minutes. Family photos from different years were on the mantle, showing Mina, her parents, and a younger boy who they assumed was a little brother.
“If we're at her parents house, where are her parents?” Sam whispered.
“Maybe she killed them.” Dean shrugged.
* * *
“Maybe they're on vacation.” My voice made them both jump. I had entered the room, now in lounge pants and a hooded sweatshirt.
“Um, sorry, Miss, we have to consider all possibilities.” Agent Kottak stammered.
I shrugged, sitting down on an armchair. “You can call them if you'd like. They're in France right now for the winter. Mom wanted to fly home when she heard about what happened, but I told her no. It's fine. Once the crime scene is cleared, I'll get some friends to help me move... back here, I guess.”
Agent Roth sat down opposite me, on the sofa. “Miss Miles, what DID happen last Tuesday night?”
“You can call me Mina.” I paused. “I don't know what happened. Everything was normal. I watched my shows, the cat was being weird, I took a shower, and I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, everything except my house was destroyed.”
“And you didn't hear any of this?” Roth pressed. I shook my head. “Nothing? Buildings were falling around you and you didn't even wake up?”
“I take two sleeping pills at night. I was pretty out.” I thought about it. “Though I never thought they'd knock me out so much that I would sleep through something like that.”
“That is a pretty deep sleep.” Kottak admitted. He crouched down near me. “What we really need to know, though, are what all of the symbols painted around your apartment are for.”
I'm sure I gave him a strange look. I felt like I did. What was he talking about? “Symbols?”
Roth produced his cell phone, where he had captured a few images of the glowing inscriptions.
I shook my head. “Those weren't there when I left.”
Roth gave me a hard look. “Are you sure? This is under blacklight. You painted these so no one could see them. To protect yourself from what?”
“I have no idea what those things are.” A feeling of panic was rising into my throat. “I swear, I've never seen them before.” I looked from Agent Roth's suspicious eyes to Agent Kottak's more puzzled ones. “Wait... protect me from what?”
Kottak took a deep breath. “Everything, as far as we can tell.”
“What kind of FBI Agents are you two? Is this like, X-Files shit or something?” I was not happy about this sudden new development.
“No, the X-Files is a show. This is real life.” Roth said drolly, like he'd had to explain this a thousand times before.
“I... I think I need some time to myself, gentlemen. If that's all for tonight.” I stood up. Roth started to speak. “I'm not leaving town, if that's what you're going to say. I have a job I sort of need to keep. To pay rent on an apartment I technically don't have.”
“I was going to say to stay safe. If anything weird happens, call us.” Roth handed me a business card. The two agents left.
* * *
They had made a quick stop back at the motel to change into regular clothes, and were back out in the Impala, staking out Mina's parent's house, within the hour. They could see lights being turned on and then shut off between rooms, and everything appeared all right.
“I don't know, Dean. I got the feeling that she didn't know much about what was going on.” Sam rifled through the police report. “According to this, the whole building went down at about 3am. It took several days for fire to get to all of the bodies, but even the ones who had made it outside before the building fell were dead.” He flipped over some photos. “You'll probably want to see this.”
Dean glanced over at the picture. “Jesus, man. Warn me before you show me something like that!” He winced, yet reached over and took the stack of photos. Every person appeared to have either been torn to shreds, or their necks very obviously broken. “These aren't crush injuries. These are hell hounds and, I'd assume, demons.”
Sam nodded. “So a bunch of demons demolish a building full of people to get to one woman? That's a little, well, grand, for a few demons, don't you think? They usually just wait and try again later.”
Dean chewed the inside of his lip. “Maybe they went after her first.” He paused, thinking. “They obviously couldn't get in, got pissed, hulked out, and destroyed everything around them. Or at least killed the humans. I'm not sure how some demons could knock out a building like that.”
Sam was thoughtful. “Maybe Cas would know.”
The sound of feathered wings rang through the car, and a man dressed in a dishevelled trenchcoat appeared in the backseat. “Hello Dean. Sam.” The man said in a slightly monotone voice, nodding at them both in turn.
“Cas.” Dean said, while Sam nodded back in acknowledgment. “Uh, we seem to have a small problem we could use some help with.”
“I'll see what I can do. What is this problem?”
“I'd better just show you. It's at the Valley Apartments-” and with that, Sam was left alone in the car, as Cas vanished, taking Dean with him. He didn't have to wait long. They returned in a few minutes, transported back into the car.
“This is not good, my friends. Not good at all.” Cas shook his head. “That girl is in serious danger. Those sigils and symbols- some of them are ancient. Someone took a great deal of time to protect her from every evil they could think of. Angels, too.”
“How did you see them then?” Sam asked.
“Dean showed me the photographs on your cellular phones.” Cas stated matter- of- factly. “And I peeked from the door.”
“So what do we do? How are we even sure she didn't paint those herself, and she's hiding something bad? And what had enough power to destroy a friggin building?” Dean was looking tired and pissed off at the same time. “How do we know she didn't destroy the building?”
“I really don't think she did it herself, Dean. She seemed really freaked out.” Sam pointed out.
“Sam, we can't just assume the best about her because she doesn't look like a horrible, evil, son of a bitch.” Dean shot at him. “We've both had that problem before, remember.”
“Let me go see her.” Cas said.
“Dude, you will freak her the hell out if you just poof into the room in your Columbo coat.” Dean shot Cas a look.
“I was going to wait until she was sleeping to look.” Cas looked puzzled. “Obviously not while she's awake. That would be unwise.”
* * *
Three hours later, they decided it would be safe for Cas to have a visit. All of the lights had been off for over two hours, and they figured her sleeping pills would have kicked in by now. Sam was asleep, leaning against the passenger side door.
“Now you know, she knows things are after her. If you jump in there and she isn't asleep, you're going to have to think really quickly.” Dean told Cas as he was preparing to jump.
“I'll tell her I'm an angel of the Lord.” Cas replied, as if that were the most reasonable answer in the world. Then he was gone, before Dean could tell him that was not a good plan.
About ten second after that, they heard screaming coming from Mina's parent's house, a light flicked on, and gunshots rang out.
Sam jolted awake. “Is Cas in there?”
Dean nodded. “Shit, shit, SHIT!”
They both leapt from the car, and bolted into the house. Sam kicked down the front door and they raced up the stairs.
* * *
“Mina? Mina, it's Sam, uh, Agent Kottak! Don't shoot!” He peered around the bedroom door. I was backed into a corner, a shotgun aimed at the man in the trenchcoat, who was still standing in the middle of the room. He'd taken the buckshot like a champ and was still standing, barely phased. I saw Agent Kottak's face and was both relieved and suspicious at the same time.
“Come in here with your hands up.” I growled. He obliged. “And the other one. Agent Roth.” Agent Roth followed sheepishly, though I noticed he had set his shotgun against the outside of the door jamb just in case.
“What the FUCK is going on? This pervert got into my house somehow and I shot him, I fucking shot someone...” I trailed off, not sure whether to feel badly or triumphant at shooting the intruder, and the agents looked at each other, horrified. They probably thought I was going to cry. But I pulled myself together. “But he didn't DIE. Who does that?? Why aren't you arresting him?”
“Well, our hands are up and you have a gun on us.” Sam/Kottak shrugged. “And-”
“I'm an Angel of the Lord.” The trenchcoated man said. “I already told you. I'm here to figure out what to do with you.”
I looked at the two agents. “See? He's fucking nuts, and he's in my room in the middle of the night.”
“He actually is an angel.” Roth said sheepishly.
“What?”
“He's an angel. Cas is an angel.” Roth said louder. “You know... X-files stuff.”
“That's... ridiculous.”
“You said yourself, he should be dead by now. He took two shotgun blasts from three feet away.” Sam pointed out. He edged towards the bed, hands still up. I looked at him suspiciously, but didn't shoot. “You're out of shells. That won't do you any good anymore.”
He was right. I sighed and thrust it into his hands. “Fine. Now what? I have two agents and a fucking angel in my room, devil signs painted all over my apartment, and... and what? What the hell is going on? Will someone please tell me? Because until today, I thought I was the only non victim of a really weird earthquake or something.”
The FBI agents gave each other a look. Sam turned back to me. “Give us a minute, okay?” They retreated to the hallway, Cas in tow. I could only hear muffled voices. I scrambled to the edge of the bed and grabbed my knife from under the mattress.
* * *
“Well?” Dean asked Cas.
“Well, what? I got shot. It stung a little.”
“Not that. Is she a demon or something weird?”
“No, she's not a demon. But... I sense something uncommon about her. I don't recognize it.”
“Is she dangerous?” Sam questioned.
“Not to us.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Dean frowned.
“She doesn't know about any of this. She doesn't know what she is, whatever she is. She's very much a victim.” Cas explained.
“Great.” Dean put his hand to his forehead. “Something has her in their crosshairs, and we don't know who she is, what she is, or why.”
“I think we should tell her who we are, Dean. We can't just leave her here. They'll come for her again. I'm surprised they haven't already.” Sam whispered.
“Like, blow our cover?”
Sam nodded. “We need to protect her. Which may mean keeping her with us for a while.”
Dean thought this through. “I guess it's the best choice we've got.”
* * *
The three walked back into my room. They saw that I had replaced the shotgun with a surprisingly large knife and was back in the corner, eyes on the door.
“Calm down Princess, no one is here to hurt you.” Roth sighed and took a seat on the rocking chair in the corner. “You gotta listen to us though, because shit is getting weird and it's going to get weirder.”
Sam leaned against the wall near the door. “Listen, I... we aren't FBI agents. I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean. And... you met Cas.”
I took this all in. “That makes sense. “The Scorpions” aliases were a little weird.” I paused. “So why are you here?”
“We hunt things.” Dean said, seeming amused that the mucisian names hadn't gone unnoticed. “Things that hunt people. Evil things.”
“And something is hunting you.” Sam said. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to get into your house and paint all of those symbols, or you'd be dead right now.”
“So, what, you catch bad guys? But you aren't cops?”
Dean shook his head. “No. We hunt monsters. And sometimes angels, if they're dicks.”
Suddenly, there was a sound on the steps of the house. We all turned towards the hallway.
“Demons.” Whispered Cas, stepping into the hallway and immediately getting thrown against a wall. He got back up, grabbed the demon by the face, and threw it to the ground as it's head lit up and exploded.
“What the FUCK?!” I shrieked from the bedroom as Dean raced into the hallway.
* * *
Dean made it into the hallway. There were four more demons on the stairs, their black eyes taunting. “Two for you, two for me” Dean looked at Sam. “Seal the doors and windows!”
Dean launched himself over the first two demons on the stairs, tackling the last two onto the floor and sliding across the tile into the foyer. He pulled out his knife. “Time to die, assholes.” They both lunged at him, and he ducked, jamming the knife up into the jaw and through the skull of the first one, a tall white guy with curly ginger hair. His body glowed orange and he slumped onto the ground. The second demon, this one wearing the meatsuit of a small mexican man in a trucker hat, grabbed him from behind and threw him across the room. He hit a mirror, shattering it, and fell to the floor. Before he could get up, Cas had dispatched of the demon.
* * *
Upstairs, Sam had locked himself in the room with me. As the demons tried to knock down the door, he hastily scrawled something called a Devil's Trap on the floor in a pink magic marker he'd found in a drawer. When they finally burst through the door, they found themselves stuck, apparently. He dispatched them with a long string of latin; black smoke billowed out of their mouths and their bodies hit the floor with two resounding thuds. My eyes nearly fell out of my head.
We heard the window smash open, and turned around to see a large, black-eyed man climbing in. I did the only thing I could think of- I leaped on the intruder, jamming the knife I had been holding deep into it's throat. The massive demon stopped and looked at me with his black eyes. He smiled, pulled the knife out slowly, and tossed me against the wall. I fell onto the floor, the wind knocked out of me. Sam charged at it, tackled it, and shouted “Dean, KNIFE!”
Dean was at the door in a flash. He only hesitated a moment, to make sure he stabbed the demon, and not his brother, and thrust his apparently magical knife into his side. Once again, orange light flashed through the body and it fell on top of Sam, it's hands falling away from his throat. He pushed it off of him. “We'd better go.”
I nodded. I threw some clothes and a laptop in a bag, pulled on some boots, and we hightailed it to the Impala, my cat carrier in tow. When we were all sitting inside, I looked around. “Where's Cas?”
“He went to check on a few things. He'll be fine.” Dean reassured me. “He's pretty fast... did you seriously just bring a cat into my car?”
* * *
We'd been driving for hours, back to some “bunker”, and I was, to be honest, way too tired to even wonder who these strange men were and where they were taking me. Everything had happened so fast, and they had saved my life. If they decided to become maniacs and kill me now, at least I hadn't been killed by demons.
They had been trying to explain to me exactly what they did, how it was the family business, how monsters existed. I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, having seen a man appear in my room who was immune to shotgun blasts, and a total of six men with black eyes who seemed to not be able to be killed except with a special knife or some weird latin exorcism. What was really confusing me, though, was why anyone was after me at all, and who had tagged my home with weird ass symbols.
“So you're telling me that someone got in, spray painted my house with weird shit, and left, and I never knew?”
“It could have been something, not someone. A benevolent being maybe?” Sam suggested.
“A benevolent being? Are you hearing yourself Sammy?” Dean groaned. “This isn't “Touched by an Angel.”
“So like, something Toothfairied into my house then?” I was growing impatient.
“Noooooooo NOT like the Tooth Fairy!” Both brothers said in unison, shaking their heads emphatically.
“You're kidding me. There's a Tooth Fairy?”
“Two, that we know of. And you do NOT want to run into them.” Dean shuddered.
“You two killed a Tooth Fairy???” I really wasn't prepared for this. I sold lingerie for a living. I'd seen a lot of weird stuff, but this was new terrirtory.
“No, technically we never saw him. We saw his handiwork though.” Sam told her.
“Him?”
“That one was a “him”, and believe me, if you lose a tooth, just throw that shit off a bridge or something.” Dean shook his head. “Tooth Fairies are dicks.”
I nodded. “But you guys don't know why this... entity... would have put protection spells around me? Or why things would be after me in the first place? Like, no idea at all?”
Sam and Dean exchanged sideways glances. I thought I saw Dean shake his head “no”, almost imperceptibly, but I may have been mistaken.
“We aren't sure yet.” Sam turned around to look at me reassuringly, pushing a lock of brown hair behind his ear. “But we'll find out. We have a library in our bunker. I'll find out for you. I promise.
* * *
After being forced to drop my cat off at a friend's house in the middle of the night, without any explanation other than that I “had to leave town quickly”, I had fallen asleep in the backseat of the Impala. I didn't know how long we'd been driving, but when I opened my eyes, light was pouring in the windows, and both men in the front seat were awake. They had changed places, and now the tall, shaggy, handsome one, Sam, was driving. Dean looked tired, his profile showing drooping eyelids on his chiseled face. He turned to Sam. “We need to get some breakfast, Sammy. And coffee. A lot of coffee.”
Sam nodded. “I'm pretty sure we're far enough away. Not sure how long it'll take for someone to find those bodies.”
Like clockwork, my cell phone began to ring. I looked at the screen- it was my mother. I was about to answer it when it was snatched out of my hands. Dean gave me an exasperated look, took the battery out of it, and threw it out the car window.
“What the hell did you do that for?” I asked him. “That was my mom! She's probably worried now. I'm sure someone has called them to tell them there are like, 6 dead bodies in their house. And that I'm NOT in there.”
“You think whoever is looking for you can't trace a call?” Dean snapped.
“I have no idea what demons can and can't do. None at all. Because until yesterday, they didn't exist.”
“Calm down, guys. There's a town a few miles ahead. We'll get breakfast, coffee... everyone will feel better.” Sam didn't even look at either of us as he drove. He just sighed like he was speaking to a couple of misbehaving children. “But really, you can't call your parents on a cell. We'll get you a new one, to talk to us. But payphones only, and only as we're leaving town, for anyone else.”
“You guys sound like spies.” I shook my head. “It makes sense though, I guess. But those guys back at my house didn't seem very smart.”
“They don't send the smart ones to the front lines, Sweetheart. They send the dumb ones. They figured five or six morons could handle one female alone in her house.” Dean leaned back against the seat, closing his green eyes. “They'll send more next time. Probably a lot more.”
“Because I had people with me?”
“Because you had us with you.” Dean still had his eyes closed. “We're sort of...”
“Infamous.” Sam completed his sentence. “We're on the demon's most wanted list.” He paused, taking an offramp. “She held her own pretty well.” he added to his brother, glancing back at me through the rearview mirror.
“Some freak was climbing through my window. What else was there to do but stab him?” I asked.
Dean opened his eyes. “You tried to gank a demon?” He raised his eyebrows. I nodded. Dean thought about this for a few seconds. “Good girl. At least we don't have to worry about you freezing up.”
Sam chuckled. “Plus, she pumped a few rounds into Cas.”
Dean smiled. “We'll also have to be careful not to startle her. Ever.”
I just sat back, watching the miles roll by. I figured we were in Nevada somewhere, judging by how ugly it was. I was glad the guys didn't think I was a weenie, but really... they lived this way? Day in and day out? Sure, I watched detective shows and action movies, but this was ridiculous. No one actually did all of this stuff in real life. Not more than once anyway. And demons ? What the hell was going on?
We drove a while longer, and pulled up to a small diner on a dusty main road. Getting out, we entered the diner and found a seat. The brothers sat opposite each other. I sighed. I had to sit next to one of them. I slid into the booth next to the big one. I felt like he was a little more even-keeled than his brother.
We all ordered coffee, and Sam pulled out his laptop and set it on the table. After a few minutes, he let out a low whistle and gave the screen a disheartened look.
“What?” Dean and I asked in unison.
“Well... they didn't find the bodies.”
“That's good, right?” I asked.
“Not really. They think you're missing. And demons cleaning up bodies from a crime scene is just... weird. They never do that.” Sam scanned the article. “They say it looks like you were abducted.”
“They'll figure out I wasn't pretty quickly. I left my cat at Sharon's.”
“Then they'll think you're running.” Dean got quiet as the waitress brought the coffee. We all ordered, and she walked away. “Either they'll think you're running because you're scared, or because you did something wrong.”
“They'd better not. Something demolished my apartment complex, killed all of my neighbors, and then tried to kill me!” I was getting upset. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“About that... your neighbors...” Sam trailed off. “We don't think they died when the buildings fell.”
“More demons?” I asked. Sam nodded.
“And hellhounds.” Dean added. “Which are exactly what they sound like. Only they're invisible.”
“Because of course they are. Invisible dogs. From hell.” I muttered to myself. Like this could get any weirder. Sam put a reassuring hand on my back. A tingling sensation shot up my spine, but I ignored it. Now was hardly the time to flirt.
“I'm sorry, Mina. This sucks, I know. But we'll figure it out.”
“You know I've never done anything that would make anyone want to kill me. At least I don't think so. Sure, I may have a short temper, and I might have hit that guy in that nightclub once. But he grabbed my friend's ass...” I took a breath and continued, knowing I was rambling and not caring. “I manage a lingerie store at the mall.” At that statement, Dean seemed to perk up a bit. I ignored it. “I pay my taxes, I only have one speeding ticket. I had a Ouija board when I was like, ten. But fucking demons??? I can guarantee you I have never screwed over a demon.”
“You never made a deal at a crossroads?” Dean asked.
“What? Like in that Ralph Macchio movie from the eighties?”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, kind of exactly like that. Only with more kissing.”
“And way less epic guitar solos.” Dean added.
I looked from one brother to the other strangely. Apparently thinks could get weirder, with kissing crossroads demons. “Um, no. I haven't made out with any demons at a crossroads.” I waited while the server set our plates down, gave us a strange look, and left. “You have to kiss a crossroads demon? Crossroads demons exist?”
The two men nodded. “How do you think Robert Johnson got all his fame?” Dean asked.
“He was dead before he got famous. And I didn't actually believe that legend.”
“Apparently the deal didn't get specific enough.” Dean dug into his plate of eggs and bacon. “Oh my God, Bacon, I've missed you.”
“Dean, you had bacon yesterday morning.” Sam pointed out. He had ordered oatmeal with a side of fruit.
“It's been too long.” Dean replied.
I ate my french toast in silence. Were these two for real? They seemed like nice guys, but their banter made them seem a little... incompetent. If they hadn't saved me the night before, I wouldn't be betting anything on them.
* * *
We'd been driving a few more miles when Cas suddenly appeared in the backseat next to me. I jumped and nearly spilled my soda.
“Hey! No scaring the passengers!” Dean yelled gruffly, eyeing Castiel through the mirror. “And no spilling drinks in my car” he added to me.
“Apologies, Miss.” Cas turned to me. “I have good news, and bad news.” With that, he sat, staring at me.
“Ummmm.” I furrowed my brows at him. Was there something wrong with this man? Angel?
“Cas is still getting the hang of the whole being normal thing.” Sam amusedly explained, turning to me.
“Give us the news, Cas. Come on.” Dean said.
“Very well. I have it under authority that humans like hearing bad news first, so that the good news can then alleviate the bad news.” He grinned. “There are angels hunting you as well.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Fucking WHAT?” I gaped at him. “Why are angels hunting me? Aren't you guys the good ones?”
“No, angels are friggin' dicks.” Dean muttered under his breath.
“I heard that Dean. And while I do not condone many things my bretheren do, I can't in good faith let you keep calling them.... no, you're right. They are what you call “dicks.” Cas turned to me. “However, the good news. I can shield you from their sight.”
“How?”
“NO!!!!!” Both brothers yelled in unison. Dean slammed on the breaks and Sam lunged over the backseat to try to grab Cas, but he had already pushed his hand through the skin on my ribs. His hands were inside my flesh! White hot fire shot through me, and I heard myself begin to scream. Then everything went black.