About a week goes by and still no sign of the banshee. Michael's wounds are starting to look a lot better, but he's definitely not healed enough to do anything.
"Em," he says. "I can do this. I have enough strength back."
I glare at him. "No," I say. We have been arguing about this off and on for the last couple days.
"Emma," he says.
"Michael. I'm serious. This is serious. I understand that you just want to take care of it and get it over with. But I can't lose you," I say, tears welling up in my eyes. "Not like I lost my mom. I don't think I could go through something like that again. Not this soon."
He sighs and puts an arm around me and I lean into him. "I know. I know. But Emma," he says. "You act like I'm going to truly be alone. I'm not. Dean, Sam, and Hannah will all be nearby to make sure I don't get hurt."
I push my head farther into his chest. "I still don't like it," I say, but my words are muffled by his shirt.
I feel Michael relax a bit and he gives me a squeeze. "Emma, I know. Just-"
"Why didn't you tell me about my mom?" I ask, sitting up. I have been avoiding asking him this all week because I knew it wasn't the right time. But I couldn't keep it up any longer. I needed to know.
Michael looks down and removes his arm from around me. "She told me not to," he says.
"That's not an excuse," I say, tears starting to roll my cheeks. "I had no idea and you... You knew. She told you that she was a hunter. She told you who my dad was. And yet, you still didn't say anything. You acted surprised when I said Dean was my father. This entire time you've been lying to me. Why?"
"Because I know the Winchesters," Michael says. "I've heard some pretty awesome stories about them, don't get me wrong. But I've also heard some pretty nasty stuff about them. Dean knocked up your mother and then left, not once looking back. Do you think he really cared about her, Emma? I didn't want him to leave you like he left her."
I scoot away from Michael as I feel my heart start to break. "He would never do that. I'm his daughter."
Michael gives a cruel laugh. "Yeah. He probably will. They don't exactly care for tie downs. Ask all the other women Dean has been with."
"Stop it," I say and put my face in my hands. "Why are you being so cruel?"
"Because I'm trying to get you to wake up, Emma. The Winchester's are bad news. If they don't get you killed, they'll abandon you," he says, standing up and looking down at me.
I look up at him. My heart can take much more of this. "Why are you saying these things?"
He sits down and takes my hands. "Because," he searches my eyes and takes a deep breath. "Emma, I'm falling in love with you. And just... I don't want you to get hurt."
My whole world freezes and I feel myself slipping away from Michael. I remove my hands from his and stand up. "Don't talk to me, Michael," I say and look away. "I'll let Dean know that you're ready to take on the banshee. Then we can get out of here and never see each other again."
"Emma," Michael says, but I ignore him and make my way up to my room.
***
"Just stay in your room," Dean informs me. "This hopefully won't take too long."
I nod and close my door. It was almost midnight and the plan was to have Michael sit on the couch in the living room watching TV. Hopefully the banshee will appear and then Michael will be able to kill it. If anything went wrong, though, Dean, Sam, and Hannah were hiding in the shadows, ready to put on a fight. Me? I was to stay in my room where I would be safe. I may have been practicing my hunting skills and I was able to take on that ghost back in Valentine, but I was not prepared to take this on.
And Michael said that Dean didn't want to keep me safe.
I snort and sit on my bed. How dare he though? He tells me all that because he's falling in love with me? Ever since Bobby's and that kiss, I wanted him to tell me that he loves me so that I could say it back. But I never wanted it like this.
I feel my eyes begin to water and I rub at them. It hurt. It hurts that he told me all those things. But it also hurts because there's apart of me that knows that he's right. He left my mom without looking back. He's probably been with several women after he left my mom. What made her so special? He probably had forgotten about her until I said something. And what would stop him from leaving me?
I shake my head. No. He would never do that. This case was different. I'm his daughter, not some random girl he met at a bar. He's locking me in my room to keep my safe. He cares about me.
I lay down and look at the ceiling. I keep listening for all hell to break loose, but after about an hour of nothing I sit up and peek out the door. I can hear the TV is still on and I notice Dean sitting at the top of the stairs, a bored expression on his face.
I creep out and sit next to him. "Anything yet?" I whisper.
Dean sighs, but gives me a smile. "Nope. Not yet."
I lay my head against his shoulder. "Do you know how much longer this will take? The anticipation is killing me."
He laughs and fingers one of the few golden weapons we were able to find previously this week. "Nope. No idea. There's not even a chance of it happening tonight. Wouldn't be surprised if it was smart and knew an ambush was in store for it."
I laugh and we sit there a for a bit. "Why did you leave my mom?" I ask after a bit.
I feel him freeze and then sigh again. "I never stay in one place for long," he says. "Every where I went, I would sleep with some girl from whatever school Dad stuck us in for the week. But I remember your mom."
I sit up and give him a confused look. "You do?"
He laughs. "Yep. That was one of the funnest hunting trips of my teenage years. And I remember that you're mom was very beautiful. I had some minor feelings for her and I feel like if we had stayed in Dallas, there could have been something more between us."
I laugh. "Yeah. Like me."
Dean looks at me now, completely serious. "Exactly. If we had stayed, I would have known about you. I would have been there with you, watching you grow. You can't even begin to comprehend how much I regret not being there for you, Emma."
"Dean," I say and put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand. You couldn't. My mom had the option to go looking for you, but she didn't. She ran into you at a diner and had the option to say something, but instead she left."
He shakes his head and looks down. "That's besides the point, Emma. I'm your father and you were a little girl growing up without her daddy."
I feel my throat close up. "I know. Trust me, I know. I used to get made fun of not having my father around when I was younger. None of the other kids could understand why you weren't there and why I didn't even know who you were. I started telling them that you were dead so that the teasing would stop. I was even able to convince myself that you really are and Mom was just sparing my feelings."
Dean wraps me up in his arms and gives me a big hug. "I am so sorry, Emma."
I hug him back. "Dad," I whisper. He squeezes me and I allow myself to cry into his shirt. All those years not having him around was hard, but he's here now. And that's all that matter. Sure, I might me eighteen and he missed all of my childhood, but he can be here for me now and help me become an adult. He can help me become the hunter I have always been destined to be.
Dean nudges on me and I sit up. He looks into my eyes, his own filled with tears as well. It's so unreal how much they look like mine. Smiling, he says, "You should get back into your room where it's safe. I'll let you know if we end up calling it a night."
I nod and give him one last hug before standing up and going back into my room. I close the door and smile. Michael was wrong. I knew he would be... I'm just glad I was able to make sure.
About ten minutes pass and still nothing. Boredom begins to creep its way back into my mind and I give out a loud sigh. "Just hurry up already," I say aloud.
Then, it starts. At first, it was faint, something soft and I thought it was just my imagination. But about two minutes later the screeching intensifies and I cover my ears. I feel like my head is about to explode.
I stand up and give a scream. It was getting louder. I shut my eyes and get down on my knees, the noise starting to become unbearable.
"Emma!" I hear somewhere off in the distance. I open my eyes and see the door knob to my door shaking. "Emma!" I hear again. It was Dean and he was trying to break my door down, but something was keeping that from happening.
"Winchester," I hear a whisper through all the screams and I look up and see her for the first time. Sunken eyes look at me and she opens her mouth and louder screeching come out.
I scream again and stand up. I stumble around the room, my hands not leaving my ears. "Dad!" I scream. "Dad! Help!" I close my eyes again as tears begin to pour from them. This screaming was driving me insane.
Without thinking, I begin to hit my head against the wall. "Stop!" I scream. "Please! Make it stop!"
"Emma!" I hear again. This time it's Sam. I stop banging my head up against the wall, my vision going black and I feel something warm ooze down the side of my face. The lights flicker like crazy, but through it all I see Sam outside the bedroom window. He brings his foot back and shatters the glass.
He's able to throw his golden dagger into my room before an invisible force knocks him back. "Sam!" I scream. The screaming gets louder and I scream along with it. I fall to the floor and begin whimpering. I just want it to stop. I sit up and start hitting my head against the wall again. "Make it stop," I say over and over again.
"Emma!" I hear someone call again, but I don't know who. It knocks me out of my head banging stupor though. I look up and see the banshee standing over me and I glare at it. With the little bit of strength that I have left, I crawl across the floor to the weapon that Sam had thrown in.
I hear the banshee give a shrill shriek and I turn on my back in time to see her charging at me. I bring the dagger up and she evaporates, giving one final scream.
And then, it was quiet.