The End | {BOOK 5}

28| Returning Home

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Sam, Dean, Jack, Cass and I stood in a clearing by a boathouse beside a lake. It had rained recently, leaving the ground wet and muddy.

"Alright, gang's all here," Dean nodded.

"How many are inside?" Sam asked.

Cass furrowed his brow, concentrating for a moment.

"I can hear three. Wait, maybe- maybe four. They're talking about whether Kylie Jenner would make a good mother. The consensus is no."

"Yeah, well, that's why I'm a Khloe man," Dean smirked.

"Alright, we're talking werewolves," I got us back on topic, "which means..."

"Silver bullets," Jack finished.

"That's right," I confirmed.

"So, you know the play," Dean continued. "Let's do it."

We all made our way to the boathouse. A man exited, struggling to light a match for his cigarette. When he turned back in our direction, Cass killed him using his angel blade. While he killed the werewolf, the other boys and I bust into the boathouse. Jack used his powers to hold the wolves inside back while Sam, Dean and I shot and killed them. When we got back to the Bunker, I headed off to check on Maddie and Zep with Dean.

"Kid did great," he made small talk.

"Yeah, no kidding," I smiled a little.

"I mean, he keeps this up, and..."

"And what?" I stopped, turning to face my husband.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Hey, you remember... remember when we talked about whether or not we could stop it? All the evil in the world?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, wondering where he was going with this.

"If we could... really change things? Well, maybe with Jack, we can."

"Maybe you're right. But then what would we do?"

"Mm. Yeah. This," Dean held up the beer in his hand. "A whole lotta this. But on a beach somewhere, you know. Can you imagine? You, me, Sam and Cass, toes in the sand, couple of them little umbrella drinks. Matching Hawaiian shirts for the guys, obviously. Maybe you could dress like a hula girl... And of course Maddie and Zep would be there, too, building sandcastles or whatever."

"You talking about retiring?" I asked. "You?"

"If I knew the world was safe? Hell, yeah," he nodded. "And you know why? 'Cause we freaking earned it, Ellie."

"Yeah, no kidding."

I leaned up, giving Dean a lingering kiss before continuing down the hall to Maddie and Zep's rooms.

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My mom and Bobby had found Maggie dead in the woods. The weird thing was, it didn't look supernatural. It looked like someone beat on her until she died. When we interrogated one of Maggie's friends, she told us Maggie was talking to a boy that worked at the store on Route 281. She had snuck out to go visit him the night she died. Jack flew ahead to the convenience store, so Sam, Dean, Cass and I hurried after him.

When we arrived, Jack had the boy, Nate, by the throat.

"Jack! No!" Cass yelled.

He put a hand on Jack's shoulder, but Jack used his powers to throw him back into the aisle.

"Jack?" I asked.

"Let him go," Sam encouraged.

"Alright," Dean muttered, grabbing his gun out of his waistband.

"Jack!" Sam tried again.

Sam and I froze as Dean shot Jack three times in the back. The Nephilim dropped Nate, turning back to face us.

"You... you shot me," he stated in surprise.

"To get your attention," Dean defended himself. "You're acting like a psycho!"

"Jack," Cass began.

"He killed Maggie!" Jack argued.

"Maggie?" Nate asked. "Maggie's dead?"

"Jack, listen to me," I spoke gently. "He didn't kill Maggie. Look at him."

Jack turned back to look at Nate's sorrowful expression at hearing that Maggie was dead.

"I'm sorry," he shook his head.

"Jack!" Cass called, moving to rush after him.

Dean grabbed Cass's arm, holding him back.

"No, hey, just- just let him go."