The Joys of Being a Winchester

Chapter 18

Jayde jolted awake, hitting her head against the glass window and accidently punching Dean in the arm.

"Whoa! Calm down there kid! It was just a dream!" He put up his hands in surrender, Jayde rubbing her head and apologising through a mumble. Dean rubbed his arm gingerly, Jayde only realising he had both hands off the wheel because the car had stopped at the end of the road.. "Sorry I woke you from... well whatever that was, but I think we're here." Dean was eyeing her suspiciously but Jayde shrugged him off, getting out of the car and pretending it was just a normal nightmare; not that she had ever heard of a normal nightmare for an anxiety-ridden hunter.

The Impala was parked on the edge of a thick wood, hundred of trees stretching down the hill that dipped in the valley below. It seemed never-ending, but Bobby said that there was an opening in the forest, the pocket revealing the haunted town. Jayde followed Dean to open the Impala's trunk, picking out a few extra supplies in addition to a flashlight, the gun in her waistband and the silver knife in her back pocket. Throwing a shotgun, rounds of rock salt, an iron bar and a small bottle of holy water in her duffle, Jayde joined Bobby who was examining a more detailed map of the area.

"We good to go?" He asked, nodding at Dean who closed the trunk, the thud echoing through the night and reverberating against the trees. The three started walking, immediately having to struggle through thick clumps of leaves and tread over countless fallen branches and leaf litter. Two rays of light shone down on the path ahead, both Jayde and Dean directed the light's position with their flashlights. Jayde walked not far behind the two men, taking time to not only watch her step, but admire the wood itself. The hundreds of trees stretched as far as the eye could see on both sides, some adorned with spiderwebs, birds' nests and other sides of animal life. It was slightly reassuring to know that wildlife lingered in the area, even when the town so close was notorious for grizzly deaths and horror. She was prepared for anything however, every step signalled through the crunching of the forest floor made her cringe slightly. Dean broke the anxious silence, trying a lame attempt at a general conversation.

"Seemed like you had a bit of a restless sleep huh?" Being in front of Jayde he didn't see her scowl, but her tone must've reflected her demeanour.

"Just a nightmare about something or other, nothing serious."

"Yeah, but I mean-"

"Dean, how can you expect me not to be a little freaked out by all this? My subconscious is just a tiny bit worried, and it seems to need to tell me in my dreams. That's normal, right?" Jayde was only irritable because it was easier than spilling all the truths that Yellow-eyes had told her, but she couldn't help feel guilty when she heard Dean mumble something and disband the conversation idea altogether. There was no way she would distress her brother any more, as despite his strength, one man could only handle so much painful discovery in a single day. It wasn't like she would hold onto the secret forever, just until they found Sam.

It hard hardly been 20 minutes since they started walking, but already they started to encounter some problems. Most likely under Yellow-eyes control, three demons appeared out of nowhere, standing in front of the path leading to the town. Jayde and Dean shot their shotguns at the same time, two of the demons managing to dodge whilst one suffered a few fragments to the arm. Bobby started with the exorcism, yelling the Latin as he tried evading attacks from left and right. Jayde gave up on shooting the demons and started hitting the one who immediately ran up to her. She swung the flashlight with one hand and jabbed him in the nose with the shotgun's handle with her left, knocking him backwards but not enough to knock him over completely. After a staggering hesitation he ran at her again, this time Jayde swerving to dodge and hitting the demon trying to attack Dean. Her brother had managed to punch him hard enough to split his lip, a small amount of blood dripping down his chin. He kicked her to the ground whilst Dean tackled with the demon Jayde previously fought, Bobby still trying to get through 50 words of exorcism. Jayde had lost both her gun and flashlight in the scramble, leaving her to try kicking the demon in the stomach from the ground, the monster thwarting such plan by grabbing her foot and twisting it until her ankle stung. With no other option she pulled her other leg up and kicked out his knees, his weight buckling and sending him into a heap next to her. At the same moment Bobby finished reciting the incantation, black smoke suddenly billowing from all three figures' mouths, escaping into the dark sky and in between the trees.