Chapter 4: Move Along
I stared at the fallen angel, somewhat taken aback. If they were from a language only known by the angels that was made for the angels; why was it appearing in my newly found visions?
"Why would I be seeing symbols meant for angels? And I felt a weird sense of déjà-vu... But I've never seen the symbols before in my life."
"You cannot possibly be a prophet seeing as Kevin is still alive and-," but I cut him off.
"Kevin's a prophet?" The brunet nodded.
"A prophet of the Lord, yes. Only one can be alive at a time, so that takes away that option... You said you recognized them?" I nodded.
"I've never seen them before though-not until yesterday." This seemed to puzzle him a bit. He actually looked almost helpless. Glancing at me again, his eyes narrowed.
"Have you ever come into contact with angels before?" I looked up, startled by the question. I suppose it would make sense, but I hesitated. It was weird. Although it had caused my mental stability to decline, I had managed to tell Dean with relative ease about my parents, but when it came to Cas, even though I had known him just as long as I had known Dean, the words seemed to settle on my tongue, unable to pass my lips in fear of being scattered and compromised.
"Grayson," Cas said gently, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts.
"I have, as a matter of fact," I replied quietly, averting my gaze when he attempted to make eye contact with me. There was a long pause.
"I am assuming it is a touchy subject," he asked a little while later, taking his seat beside me again. I nodded, sighing.
"If you need to know what happened to figure this out, I'll tell you-- just don't bring it up or ask about it again."
"I promise this will be-," just then the door on the upper landing flew open. We looked up just as Dean and Sam came flying in, bags dangling from their hands, but something was up.
Sensing the tension, I stood up, catching one of the bags as both brothers threw them down causing most of them to go sliding across the table.
"What'd we miss," I asked rummaging through the bag in my hand. It was filled with bags of M&M's and at the bottom sat a cherry pie.
"We have a case," Dean replied hastily taking the bag from me, checking on his pie. I rolled my eyes.
"Or, well, we have a case," Sam said motioning towards himself as well as his brother and Cas. "You need to rest."
"What? You think I'll hold you back," I asked glaring at him. "I can hold my own. I'm perfectly fine."
"Stand up straight then." I hadn't realized I had started to lean on the table. My legs felt weak and I was shaking again. The faint throbbing in my head had returned as well. I pushed myself up, attempting stand, but I nearly collapsed again.
Dean caught me, gently guiding me towards the closest chair. Sam raised an eyebrow. There was a long pause. I sighed.
"Alright, look. I may be a little tired, but I can keep up. I promise. I know what I'm doing," I said pushing myself out of the chair and turning on my heel, heading towards the door. "Just give me like ten minutes to get ready." And with that I left them, heading down the hall, leaning on the wall, using it to support my aching body. Maybe staying behind wasn't such a bad idea after all.
I shook the feeling off, swinging by Dean's room to pick up my bag before stepping into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Everything started spinning again and I leaned forward, grabbing the edge of the sink. It soon faded and I turned the water on, splashing water in my face, eventually moving onto fully washing it and attempting to get off my makeup from yesterday.
Drying my face off, I quickly put makeup on, returning to Dean's room when I was done. Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out my black skinny jeans and my loose purple tank-top. I slipped my clothes off and placed them gently in my bag, slipping on my jeans. Then the door swung open. I jumped, whipping around. Dean was standing there smiling like an idiot with a plate in his hand.
"Bad time," he asked laughing lightly.
"Have you ever heard of knocking," I asked rolling my eyes.
"Yes, but we don't do it very often-mostly because bursting in unexpectedly is kinda our thing," he replied smiling. I shrugged. Most hunters were like that. Hell-I was like that.
"Well next time at least announce you're coming in," I suggested. "So I have somewhat of a heads-up."
"Sure, princess," the hunter replied extending the plate. It had half of a bagel with cream cheese spread on it. I smiled, taking it gratefully, thanking him.
"Any time," he replied turning, but he paused, glancing back, his eyes roaming my body once more. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" I gave a small nod, blushing slightly, reaching for my shirt, slipping it on. I saw disappointment flash in his eyes.
"I'll be fine," I said taking a small bite of the bagel. "Just let me brush my hair and we can go." He nodded, heading back down the hall. I grabbed my brush out of my bag, running it through my tangled, wavy hair. Although it took quite a bit of effort, I managed to brush it all out, braiding it over my shoulder afterwards.
Slipping on my combat boots and lacing them up, I grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder, heading out the door, shoving what was left of my bagel in my mouth. I headed back into the main room again, throwing my paper plate away and then grabbing my leather jacket and slipping it on before heading up the stairs and outside.
The brothers were loading the Impala. Cas was sitting quietly in the front seat, staring off into space, seemingly lost in thought. Sam looked up as I approached, annoyance flashing in his eyes.
"You sure you're alright," he asked shutting the trunk. I nodded.
"Stop babying me. I'm fine," I sighed, walking over to my Camaro, placing my bag in the trunk and closing it before opening the driver's side door and climbing in. To my surprise, the younger brother came walking over, motioning towards the passenger side door. I nodded, starting the car as he climbed in.
"Do you mind," he asked quietly. I shook my head.
"Not at all." A small sigh of relief seemed to pass his lips. I glanced at him, but he avoided my gaze.
A little while later we were flying down the empty Kansas highways, my window open. It was quiet, so I turned on the radio. 3 AM by Matchbox Twenty was on. I saw Sam mouthing the words and I smiled.
"I didn't expect someone like you would know this song," I said turning it up a little. He smiled.
"Well, when Dean's your brother you know a mix of rock songs. And it's catchy," he replied. I nodded.
"You're brother has a fantastic taste in music," I laughed. The younger hunter rolled his eyes, singing along quietly with me. Turning my attention again to the road ahead, I caught Dean's eye in the rear view mirror of the Impala. He smiled, winking at me. I rolled my eyes in return, but a small smile graced my lips.
"What were you guys singing along to yesterday morning," Sam asked once the song was over. I giggled.
"Shook Me All Night Long by ACDC."
"Of all the songs," Sam laughed quietly.
"Could've been worse," I replied, but stopped. "Okay, maybe not, but hey, it's a good song." The younger brother nodded in agreement. Silence settled between us again.
I don't know how long we were on the road. Song after song played on the radio-most of which I sang along to. Thankfully the highway continued to stay relatively empty. The wheat fields that lined the road waved gently in the wind, the only thing disturbing them being the movement of flocks of birds flying in and out of their stalks, pecking at the golden grain.
"Sorry about earlier," Sam said a little while later, interrupting the silence. I glanced at him.
"Hmm? Oh, that," I said sighing. "It's fine. I was having second thoughts when I nearly passed out again, but I'm feeling better."
"It's just we've lost a lot of people. I didn't want to put your life at risk just because we were being ignorant about your condition." I shook my head.
"It will most likely be my own ignorance that brings my demise. I would never hold you responsible for something that wasn't your fault. I wouldn't have come if I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up or if my condition would put everyone's life at risk. I'm still working through the second part of that statement." The younger brother let out a huff of laughter.
"Well, we've got your back if anything goes wrong."
"Same goes for you," I replied. "I feel kinda bad for barging in though. Dean sorta just welcomed me in. He never really talked it over with you guys."
"Ah, well, girls come and go among us-most usually only spend a night and then disappear. Either that or they end up... well, dead, to be completely honest. And as far as we know most of them weren't hunters," he replied.
"There aren't a lot of people like us left-and almost every girl that's passed by wasn't nearly as pretty as you." I let out a huff of laughter.
"Nice to know," I giggled. "At least something's working for me-wasn't expecting it to be my looks, but that works."
"I'm pretty sure it's been working since the moment Dean first set eyes on you."
"I think that was more fate than my beauty," I laughed, flipping my bangs dramatically out of my face. Sam rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say."
"Anyway-where are we going?"
"Chamberlain, South Dakota. Two men were out camping and never came back. The police found them ripped to shreds and their remains strung up in the trees above their campsite. They think it was a bear, but..."
"Bears wouldn't go through the trouble of stringing their victims up in trees. If anything they'd eat as much as possible and leave what was left in its original place and if they hid it, they wouldn't hide it in the trees. They'd be better off burying it."
"Exactly. We were thinking werewolf, but there wasn't a full moon last night."
"Any other ideas?" He shrugged.
"Hopefully a few will come to us when we investigate the crime scene and talk to the locals." I nodded, leaning back in my seat a little more. Silence fell once again. I turned back to the road ahead, watching Dean and Cas argue in the Impala; however, soon even they fell silent.
Another hour passed before we came to the outskirts of Chamberlain. It was a relatively large town, not quite a city yet. Houses crowded the streets which were packed with people shuffling back and forth in the evening air. The sun was setting, staining the sky red and orange which slowly was fading to black.
That was when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my back pocket, looking at the caller I.D. I didn't recognize the number.
"It's Dean," Sam said glancing over.
"Put it on speaker." I nodded, tapping the 'Answer' button and then tapping the 'Speaker' button.
"How'd you get my number," I asked raising a quizzical eyebrow.
"Sam hacked into your phone when you were asleep this morning," Dean laughed. I looked over at the hunter sitting beside me, glaring. He cracked a smile.
"I swear that's all we were looking for," the younger brother said innocently.
"You could've asked," I retorted.
"That was too easy," Dean shot back.
"I told them not to," Cas intervened. I rolled my eyes.
"Anyway," Dean continued. "Since we got a late start I figured we might as well just find a motel and wait until tomorrow morning to start on the case-see if anything else develops."
"Works for me," Sam and I said in unison. "Lead the way." And with that, the call ended. We followed the Impala to the Oasis Inn on the outside of the town, parking out front. Dean got out, walking up to my open window.
"Hey, princess," he said as he approached.
"Honey, you should see me in a crown," I joked. "Now, don't ever call me that again."
"Of course, your majesty," he retorted, a small smirk gracing his lips.
"Now, you're asking to be punched," I pouted. He laughed, running the back of his hand across my cheek gently. I smiled slightly, flicking his hand away playfully.
"Do you want your own room, or do you mind sharing with us," he asked looking down at me.
"I'd rather stay with you three, so I can make sure you stay out of trouble," I replied sassily. The older brother smiled, nodding and turning, but I grabbed his arm.
"Take this," I said pulling back my phone case and pulling out my credit card, handing it to him.
"You sure," he asked taking it. I nodded. Returning the nod, Dean turned and headed up the stairs and inside the Inn. He came walking back out a few minutes later, tossing me my credit card and a room key. Sam and I got out. I grabbed my bag from my trunk before closing it and locking my car, following the boys inside.
A/N: Here's the next chapter! It's more of a filler chapter than anything. I was focusing on developing relationships. I apologize if it was boring. I promise the next chapter will be much better.
Oh, and I made a reference to another show in this chapter. If anyone can tell me what line the reference is in and what show I'm referencing, the first person to get it will have the next chapter dedicated to them!
~SilverRaine/Hannah