Monachopsis

Chapter LVII: One For All

(Disclaimer: Long chapter ahead)

Turns out burning vampire flesh smells the same as burning human flesh. And despite my assurance to Sam that I would get a handle on my emotions, I found myself plugging my nose with pieces of tissue to block out the stench. I packed my nostrils with paper, but the smell just lingered on my tongue instead.

The fire was small, because we were only burning the head. As the flesh melted off the skull, the vampire's dead eyes stared at me. I stared back, watching as his charred skin and dark eyes twisted and morphed. My mother's eyes were blank like his. As the fire consumed them, I struggled to stay in the present. I flexed my stiff fingers to make sure they were still there, and not burning like I felt like they were.

"You okay?" I forced my eyes away from the burning head. Sam stood across from me, the fire flickering between us. The black and orange shadows danced across his face as he watched me.

I felt like I'd been asked that a lot lately. I swallowed passed the lump in my throat and nodded. "Yeah."

A few feet away, John and Dean were talking in hushed tones. "Toss this on the fire," John was telling Dean. He handed him a bundle that I couldn't make out. "Saffron, skunks cabbage, and trillium--it'll block our scent and hers until we're ready."

The two of them shuffled over to the fire. As they did, Dean wrinkled his nose and coughed. "Stuff stinks," he declared.

"Well, that's the idea," John said. Dean released the bundle, and a ball of leaves crashed into the flames. As they did, I caught a whiff of rotten eggs. I wrinkled my nose. "Dust your clothes with the ashes and you'll stand a chance of not being detected."

"What about Gray?" Sam asked. "The vamps got her blood. Will it work on her?"

"The vamp that scratched her is dead," John told him. "We just gotta hope that he was the only one that got a taste. Once they realize we have one of their own, they'll come running."

"You sure they'll come after her?" Sam nodded his head to the vampire behind John, groggy and tied to a tree.

John nodded. "Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is gonna wear off soon, so you don't have a lot of time."

Dean left the fire to join us. Already, he stunk of rotten eggs and smoke. He handed Sam his machete.

"Half-hour ought to do it." Sam sheathed his blade.

"And then I want you out of the area as fast as you can," John said sternly.

Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "But--"

"Dad, you can't take care of them all yourself," Dean protested.

"I'll have her," John said. "And the Colt."

"So what if you have the Colt?" I demanded. "If we're gonna use this gun to take out the demon, we can't be wasting bullets on a bunch of vampires. We don't even know for sure how many there are."

"That's for me to worry about," John said. "Once the leader sees I have her, he won't risk her getting hurt. He'll hand it over."

"But after," Sam said pointedly, "we're gonna meet up, right?" When John didn't reply, Sam pushed further. "Use the gun together, right?"

John stayed silent, his jaw clenched like he was fighting the words in his mouth. He looked away from us, focused on the ground. Realization dawned on me.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I glared at John. He looked at me but said nothing. I spat, "Seriously?! After everything that's happened in the past few days, you still wanna screw us over?"