EBONY • SPN

28

By the time she had left the motel, there had been over ten suspicious disappearances in the area, with all victims having been involved in crimes and cases. She also had to pay the manager for all of the damages she'd inflicted on the room - a shattered window, snapped chairs, a slashed mattress and dents in the wall. Not one piece of furniture in the room had been left unscathed. Even after all of that, Ebony still felt the soul engulfing desire to collapse to her knees. The only thing that had changed was that her hand had been severely bruised, cut and torn. 

No words were exchanged on the journey back to the bunker - they had no clue what had happened, and they knew if they pressed her about it she'd implode. They only had a slight idea of what went on, and that wasn't enough to quench their curiosity. 

Her head was lent against the window, eyes wandering aimlessly at the passing scenery. She didn't even realise that this was the first time they had driven her back to the bunker without taking any crazy routes with too many turns to remember, or with a blind fold. Even if she was paying attention, she was too tired to even care. Her mind had tuned out the constant droning of eighties rock, focusing on the blissful silence. 

Dean's eyes flitted back to her slumped form in the back. He threw a concerned glance at Sam, who only shrugged and continued scrolling through his phone. Unable to handle the quiet, Dean spoke up. "So, I heard about a case." 

Ebony's ears perked up, and without knowing she lifted her head off of the window. Sam's gaze snapped to Dean, him turning his phone off and sliding it into his front pocket. Dean said nothing else, enjoying seeing the two of them waiting in anticipation. A few beats passed, and a new song murmured out of the radio. 

Sam twisted in his seat so he could see both Dean and Ebony at the same time. "Care to elaborate?" He thought that he'd heard a small snicker pass Ebony's lips, but it was gone as soon as it had come, making Sam think that maybe he was hearing things he wanted to believe. 

Dean tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, grinning widely. "Eager, aren't we?" He laughed when he saw the straight expression on Sam's face. "Well, turns out people have been dying suddenly, and they've all been linked to either police crimes or old hunts." 

Sam and Ebony sat, looking at each other in disbelief. "Is that it?"

"Pretty much, only other thing is it was around the town you were staying at Ebony." Her entire body froze. She pasted a frown on her face, forcing some words to climb out of her mouth. 

"I didn't see anything weird when I was there." The boys didn't hear her pause, or her slow words. They only nodded, debating between themselves whether or not it was worth looking into it. She needed them to stay away, she couldn't have them knowing who she really was - a monster, just like Rebecca said. 

"Is there any point in going?" They stopped their discussion, Sam's full attention on her, and Dean concentrating mostly to the road but listening to what she was saying. "I mean, we just left there. The bunker is pretty far away, and I'm just thinking that it's kind of pointless making the trek again for something that could possibly be nothing." 

Sam pointed a finger at Ebony, exclaiming. "Aha! See, Ebony knows this is stupid. Can we just relax for once Dean?" 

His fingers were no longer drumming the beat of the music, becoming clenched and whiter by the second. "We've relaxed too much already."

"Dean, we'll have plenty of time to take down monsters. Let us relax, even if it's for a few days. If you want, we can keep an eye on this town, and if anything else pops up, we'll drive down. Agreed?" 

Dean huffed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, Rapunzel." 

Ebony let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.