The above photo is Jesse
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As the "reporters" left, Cole turned and went back down stairs. A young man in a grey suit sat on the couch, legs kicked up on the coffee table.
"Are they gone?" He asked, not turning to look at Cole.
"Yeah, they're gone...You were right about them." He smirked at Cole's statement.
"I'm always right."
"What now?" Cole asked, his tone stern, "You said you'd help."
"Hey, patience is a virtue. You have to give me some time. Trust me, the girl with the green eyes, she'll be back. I guarantee she's calling her dear old dad right now."
"Jesse-"
"Do you want my help or not." Jesse snapped, staring down the boy across the room. Cole didn't say anything, he lingered in the doorway. "That's what I thought." He turned his attention away from the boy. "Remember, I'm the one who can actually help you here. It's your own fault for selling your soul to that bitch."
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"I don't like it." Dean said across the phone, "It's too risky and you're too far away."
"Dean, I'm not asking for permission." I state calmly, "I know we can help these people. This Cole kid could be our shot at stopping whatever is going on here. How bad could one demon be?"
"That's a stupid question and you know that!" He stated, "Rachel-"
"Dean, I swear I will take every precaution." I say when he paused. "Please.... He lives in my house...I can't let it happen again..." Dean doesn't say anything for a while.
"God dammit." He sighed under his breath, "Okay. If you're going to do this you need to know some things. It's probably a crossroads demon, which means it can be killed with the angel blade, but because if it taking it's victims before their expiration date, you gotta think about hell hounds."
"Hell hounds..."
"Yeah, They can be kept at bay with goofer dust, devil's shoestring, and salt. Bentley should have some of the goofer dust, but devil's shoestring you may need to look for. It's related to honeysuckle. Sam!" Dean called away from the phone, "Send Cassidy the Devil's Shoestring stuff." He returned to the phone, "Goofer dust is used for graveyard dirt, which is usually the primary ingredient along with snakeskin and sulfur. It will keep hounds at bay but it won't work on demons. Double coat both sides of your goofer," Dean grumbled under his breath about what a stupid name it was, "line with salt, that way whoever is racking in souls won't break the line."
"Thanks Dean."
"And whatever you do," He paused, "and I mean this Rachel. Whatever you do and whatever happens, you do not sacrifice yourself if shit hits the fan. You drop everything and run. Do you understand me?"
"I understand."
"Pay attention and stick together." He stated. I nodded in understanding.
"I promise we will Dean."
"Please be careful."
"I will. Trust me." He didn't say anything for a long time.
"Okay, I gotta go. Call us if you need anything."
"I will, talk to you later Dad."
"You'd better." He said with loving sternness before hanging up. I turned back to Cass and Bentley who were busy researching and sharpening knives. Why'd it have to be demons?
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It took us a day and a half to get all of the things that would mostly keep us safe. That night we pulled up in front of that house. The lights were off. The curtains drawn. There was something eerie on that street tonight. Or maybe it was just the ghosts of my own past lurking around in the shadows of the streetlights. Tomorrow was the anniversary of the start of all this. I licked my lips in anticipation.
"Let's get this over with..." I murmured. The three of us slipped out of the truck, heading for the door with hopes to be in and out by the end of the night. I tried to give Bentley and Cassidy a reassuring nod, but honestly, the closer I walked towards that dark house, the more I saw that night flash before my eyes.
My hand knocked against the door. Nothing at first. Then softly, on the other side of the door, I heard voices. Slowly, the handle turned and Cole opened the door.
"Hey Cole, sorry to bother you, but do you have a minute?"
"Uh now's not a good time." He blocked any view of the house with his body.
"Dude, you should really make time for this..." Bentley said.
"Please, it's important." Cassidy added.
"Dude what's taking so long?" Another guy's voice came from inside the house. It wasn't much older than Cole by the sounds of it. Someone pried the door open, another guy. "Who're your friends?" He asked slurring slightly, looking me up and down with a smirk. I frowned and raised an eyebrow.
"No one, Mac. They're just leaving." Cole's tone was irritated. Mac laughed drunkenly.
"Come on man, let them in." He said with a smile, in a poor attempt of a whisper he said, "She's hot!"
"Yeah man," I said, pushing my way into the house, "Let us in!" Cole stood baffled by the door as the three of us entered the house. A blank look of worry on his face. Laughter and voices came from the direction of the front room. I could hardly see, the dim lighting making shadows turn the hall into a tunnel of dancing silhouettes. Mac was talking at me with a drunk smile, but I was focused on looking for the signs. I glanced behind me. Bentley had a tight, protective arm around Cassidy. We exchanged curt nods of understanding.
As we entered the front room, I noticed it was lit with candles and dim lamps. About 16 people sat or stood in the room. Beer cans and box wine cartons decorated the coffee table and end tables. They were all teenagers. Cole stood just behind me on the left hand side. He looked uncomfortably sober. Mac went forward and greeted a few people, introducing us without our names. Everyone yelled a slurred hello. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Hey, where is your restroom?" I asked, turning to Cole. Disgruntled, he told where it was, which I already knew. Second floor, second door on the right. Smiling through my teeth, I went to "find" the bathroom.
The noise died down as I made it to the stairs. Hesitantly, my hand grabbed the railing and I ascended. Pulling out the EMF detector, I swept the hallway. A steady stream of activity is revealed by the detector. Tucking it back into the bag, I pulled out the jar of goofer dust and container of salt. I lined the hallway as Dean instructed, double salt. As I reached the end of the hallway, I felt my heart stop. It's my room. I bit my lip nervously, but couldn't help myself. I softly gripped the doorknob and entered the room.
It's walls were still a soft purple. The wood floor polished and shining in the reflection of the street light, streaming through the window. A wave of emotions struck me, making me lose my sense of balance. I closed the door behind me. They had turned it into an office room. A wide oak desk sat where my bed had once been. The closet was closed. I made my way towards the window. I placed my hands on the window seal. Memories overwhelmed me. I felt the wood seal shift slightly. Curiosity controlled me as I pried the window seal up. In a hollow space, below the window, the last remnants of a salt line spanned the window. I smiled bitterly. She had always been trying to protect me. I filled the space with the dust and salt once more, in her honor.
My EMF detector spiked suddenly.
"Isn't that sweet." A voice said behind me. I turned, pulling the angel blade from its sheath inside my jacket. Jesse, as suave as he was when I first saw him, sat in an arm chair I hadn't seen prior. It was tucked into the shadowed corner of the room. He stands tossing me a book, Peter Pan. "I can see why it's your favorite." How does he-What does that have to do with anything?!
"Why are you here." I demand.
"You really need to work on your manners." He said, making a tisk noise at me. "It's just rude." I walked towards him, he seemed honestly surprised that I approached him. He stood between me and the door at this point, and taking a quick stride, I pushed him back into the closed door. Blade drawn to his throat. My heart racing with anger.
"Oh kinky."
"Shut up." I snapped, digging the blade in slightly. His eyes flashed with surprise. "Are you behind all of this?"
"Well you see-"
"Answer the damn question." I snapped, pressing harder on the blade. He hissed as it broke the skin, just a small scratch. He studied my face.
"No."
"Liar." I hissed.
"I'm not lying." He snapped back. "I'm here to help." I'm taken aback by his statement.
"Help? What could you possibly do to help." His eyes betrayed the smirking expression that he held on his face. I dropped the blade from his throat, but kept it ready to strike at any moment.
"More than you think." He replied, placing a hand to his throat. "God, you really need to work on your people skills you know that?'
"Bite me." I state, walking back to the window. This was just another thing I didn't need.
"Ya' know, you and I are a lot alike." I snorted at his comment. "I'm serious." I turned to look at the boy, he was standing a few feet behind me.
"Yeah?" I remarked, letting the bitter sarcasm smother my question. "And how is that, Jesse."
"I can see it in your eyes. The hatred. The anger. The disgust. You hate what you're becoming, and there is nothing the "Hardy Boys" can do to change that." I frowned, but he continued, "You lost everything once, and you've sworn it won't happen again. Meaning it's either her or you, and there won't be prisoners of war." His face was dark with anger. "You're becoming your worst nightmare. But, I can help you with that. All of it."
"Sure you can," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
"I mean it. Out of everyone on this planet, I'm the one person who can help you."
"God, do you know how many times my father has heard that same thing. I call bullshit. Get help from the Anti-Christ, no thanks." I go to move around him but he blocks me from the door.
"You aren't as tough as you act Rachel."
"Move," I demanded.
"One simple thing could wreck your whole life..."
"Is that a threat?" He stepped forward, coming face to face with me. For whatever stupid ass reason, I seemed rooted in the spot.
"For each person there is a sentence- a series of words- which has the power to destroy them." He hissed in my ear. He pulled away from me, "And I know exactly what that sentence is." He smirked.
"Don't pretend you know me, " I retorted sharply. I hated him. I pushed past him and he grabbed my arm.
"Don't pretend that I don't." His reply was threatening in an unusual way. Like he knew something I couldn't quite understand. I looked him dead in the eye.
"Stay away from us." I spat the words at him. A scream echoed from down stairs. Jesse's grip on my arm tightened.
"She's early..." He mumbled, mostly to himself, staring at the closed door behind me. I ripped my arm from his grasp, flinging open the door I went into the suddenly pitch black hallway. Taking the stairs 2 at a time I ran to the front room. One of the lamps had fallen and broken on the floor. A girl, right around my age was saying she was sorry over and over again to Cole, who looked furious. She was attempting to pick up the shards of broken ceramic but had already succeeded in cutting open her palms.
"God, pay attention!" He snapped at her. She took in a sobbing breath. "Do you people think this is a joke!" He demanded, looking around the room at his guests. He ran a hand through his hair, his expression distraught. Murmurs went around the room. "It's almost time..." Cassidy pushed past me with a wet towel in her hand. She was at the girl's side in a few steps, wrapping her bleeding hands in the towel. She looked at Cole, anger in her eyes.
"What do you mean it's almost time." Her voice filled the room, quieting the murmurs. Cole looked at her, an expression of disgust and guilt on his face.
"I told you all that if you came tonight, you could make your wildest dream real." He looked around the room at all of us. "Well you can-"
"What did you do?" I asked coming forward. Cole stared at me for a long moment. Mac, the poor drunk idiot, stood up suddenly.
"Oh my god, you're the girl from the photos!"
"Shut up, Mac." Cole said glaring at his friend.
"What?" I asked.
"Dude, dude," He said, stumbling, he put a hand on Cole's shoulder. The other boy went tense. "She is! Dude, she's the chick from the photos in your attic! Ra-Rache-Rachelle!" My eyes grew wide. A cold, familiar, dark feeling started to sink in.
"Rachel." Cole corrected. Not breaking eye contact with me.
"And didn't your therapist-girlfriend say something about her-" Therapist-girlfriend...No... I went to speak but the words died on my lips.
"I said shut up!" Cole exploded, pushing his friend off of him. Mac tumbled to the ground, cracking his elbow on the coffee table. A howl of pain, escaping him. No one moved. No one spoke. No one breathed.
"I said you could make your dreams come true!" Barked Cole with livid anxiety, "All it takes is a kiss! One kiss and you each get your freaking "dream" bullshit and I'm home free!" He looked at the clock on the wall. "She'll be here any minute." I moved before I even realise it. Slamming Cole backwards into the wall, I knot my first into his shirt, my knuckles turning white.
"What did you do!" I screamed at him. I heard Cassidy and Bentley yell at me, but their voices are dull and distant to my ears.
"15 more people! That's what she said! 15 more and I could have her back!"
"What did you do!" I yelled again, slamming him against the wall again. I hear a person behind me start crying. My shoulder blades begin to ache. Cole's eyes are feverish and dilated.
"15 and my life would get to be normal." The room was getting freakishly cold, "15 and I would stay cured! Safe! Get to go to college and get them back! Lily said I only needed fifteen more!" I froze, an empty pit filling my insides. It was the same feeling I had when I dreamed of drowning in the smoke. The boy sobbed, blood started to run out of the corner of his mouth, "I didn't want to but she told my dad and he...hated it...called it evil and...and then he was gone! I just wanted them back."
"Why! What is she doing?" I pressed harder into him, he was sobbing.
"Rachel!" Cassidy yelled at me. Panic in her voice.
"Get out." I said, my voice cold and foreign to my own ears.
"Rache-"
"I said get out!" I yelled turning my head. Cassidy stared at me wide eyed, I could see the reflection in her eyes. Bentley reached out and took her gently. Jesse was there, behind them. As Bentley passed Jesse, a look of angry confusion passed through him. The three of them led the small group of scared civilians out of my house. I turned back to Cole. I trembled with the angelic power going through me. My eyes were dilating, giving me a headache.
I tried to study his face but something was different. He was no longer sobbing. His mouth was still bleeding. I hissed as a wave of brutal heat went through my veins, forcing the air from my lungs. Cole stared at me, a small smile on his face. Slowly his eyes turned black.
"Now that we're alone...she has a message." I slammed my arm into his throat, he only winced. "She is coming for everything you love. And she is going to take back what you stole from her." He laughed, "and you won't be able to stop her this time."
I was vibrating with anger. The familiar glow was coming off of me. The house trembled.
"What is she planning?" I growled through clenched teeth.
"She's coming..." He said looking up to the ceiling. I let out a scream of rage. My fist went forward.
There was only light around us. An ear-splitting ring brought me to my knees. I couldn't breath. The smell of smoke hung in the air and when I found the strength to look up, Cole was gone. A thick, black, scorch mark left where he had been against the wall. Everything was burned, tossed aside like a bomb had gone off.
Distantly I could hear screams and sirens. I felt hollow. My eyes stared blankly at the spot before. My fist burned. In my foggy state, I looked down at my hand, it was blistered and burned, like a marshmallow left it in a camp fire for too long. My arms and clothing were covered in what looked like ashes and smeared with soot. I tried to close my eyes against the pain that started to creep through my body, but the darkness behind my eyelids only amplified the thunder in my head.
"Oh my god..." I mumbled, staring at everything but nothing at once.
"What have you done?" The question was barely audible. My head twisted in the direction of her voice. It was Cassidy.
I tried to stand but I only staggered. Whatever I did, it took more than just Cole's life.
"Cass," I slurred, "Cass-y...I, I don't know what-"
"Oh my- Rachel!" I felt the disapproval in her gaze. "How could you do this?" She was so angry. I tried to respond but I only managed to start crying. She came forward and grabbed my shoulders.
"What did you do?" She looked at the scorch mark behind me, " My god...You killed him... Rachel, he didn't deserve to die!" I could only sob. She went into the kitchen, returned, and wrapped my hand gently in a damp cloth. "You can't keep doing this..."she whispered, "I know you're stronger than what she has made you..." Her eyes locked into mine, "You aren't going to kill for them...you aren't a monster..."
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The paramedics repeated the instructions of how to care for the burns giving me an inquisitive glance once again. The police gathered it had been an attempt of "a mass homicide" and that Cole had somehow drugged us before making our mistake. Boy would that be a plot twist from the last headline he was in...All of the other party goers seemed to agree with what the police had stated.
I stared blankly at the house in front of me. Broken glass scattered the front yard, reflecting the street light's dim glow and police lights. The mass assumption for the "explosion" was that Cole had rigged the front room to detonate at a certain point...hence my burns... A bomb...They all thought that Cole was going to kill me...making me a hero having emerged unharmed. Personally, I think they were all out of it before they got to Cole's house.
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I stared forward at the marble stone. I'd been sitting here for a good two hours. With the orange colors of fall, the cemetery was bright but peaceful.
"Hey Mom," I said, staring at her name carved in the marble, "I'm home...I, I swore I wasn't going to come back here, but...well here I am." I spoke softly, just above a whisper. "Mom...I, I know you told me not to let this life weigh down on me but...I messed up...I took someone's life...not a monster, a person. I'm scared...I'm becoming something different." I wiped the tears from my eyes. "I miss you so much. I wish you were here...Anyways, it's umm, it's good to see you." My voice cracked slightly, "Happy birthday..."
"Rachel?" I turned. Dean stood a few yards behind me, a cardboard box in his hands.
"Dean? What are you doing here?"
"Bentley, he called me the second you forced them out of your house..." He looked at me, subtle sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry that that had to happen..." He looked passed me at my mom's grave. "Especially at this time of year..." I smiled softly. He approached and sat beside me.
"What's in the box?"
"Stuff that belongs to you. The police kept your file open, had some stuff left in the attic, had the rest down in their evidence locker." He handed me the box, which was heavier than I thought it would be.
"How'd you get it?"
"Told them the truth, documents and all."
I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"
"You'd be surprised what truth money can buy." I laughed at his statement. It was true, and in this line of work, we could use the occasional "truth".
I opened up the box and took a deep breath. There were many things in the box, old shirts, photos, Mom's wallet. But on top of all of it, was the little blue dolphin key chain. My breath came out ragged. Dean put a hand in my shoulder.
"Thanks Dad." I lifted the key chain out of the box and rolled it in my hand. "Thank you so much..." I held it for a while before placing it down on the grave.
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OH MY CHUCK! I UPDATED!!!!!!!
AND HOLY CRAP THE SEASON 11 finale!? Don't post any spoilers but like What?!
Anyways, love y'all happy summer to many of you, happy almost summer to the rest! I'll be updating more (hopefully) now that I'm out of school!
#AKF
, Rachel