Winchesters and company arrived outside the cemetery gates within ten minutes of the locked signal. A heavy silence weighed down upon the hunters. Castiel met them outside the boundaries of this hallowed ground.
"The warding is stronger now." The angel confirmed. Frustrated, Castiel stared at the invisible wards that surrounded the cemetery. "I have no way of joining you all." Jodie and Krissy exchanged worried looks. Cassidy put a hand on Castiel's arm.
"It's okay Cas. Just be here for us when we come back out." She looked back at the rest of the Team. "Are we ready?" Nods responded to the question. She looked at the Winchester Boys. "We will follow your lead."
--------------------------
I felt the concrete scraping up the entirety of my back. I was being dragged, and the fuzziness had returned to be brain. My skin felt like it was covered in bruises. There was nothing I could focus on, and my mind was swallowed by the darkness.
I was awake, here in the black. It was familiar. A chill ran down my spine, I had been here after Lily had tortured me. It was sort of Limbo. Biting my lip, I tried to focus my energy to my surroundings. Another shiver rocked my focus.
"Come on, Rae. Remember what Cas taught you." I murmured closing my eyes tightly, "Remember." Another shiver ran down my spine, but this time, it wasn't from the warding. My eyes snapped open, my mother's words from a month ago resonated in my ears.
Remember. "What! What am I supposed to remember!" I was trying to think of the millions of things that she had said to me, messages from the dead were always so cryptic.
"Remember. Have hope because it means: hold on pain ends. You are smarter than you think, stronger than you seem, and braver than you believe." The words were were whispered, barely audible. I turned towards the voice. Like all the times I had needed her before, there she was.
"Mom..." She smiled at me, she was hard to see. Her apparition was transparent and kept flickering in and out. "You flipped the quote again." I breathed the words, a hurt smile and tears in my eyes.
"Remember." She whispered again, before flickering out of my vision. Unlike the last time she had said this to me, leaving me in a dark void, I was not afraid. I was reassured.
When I reopened my eyes, the dark textured walls of a cinder block room greeted me. Groaning, I sat up, feeling the electric burns under my skin. My mind felt like a bowl of melted ice cream, when suddenly it hit me again. Cassidy.
Jumping to my feet, I immediately went to find the door. There was just enough light to determine the shape of the room. My journey was cut short as the shackles on my wrists reignited. An overwhelming wave of rage blinded my sense. I grabbed onto the chains and ripped at them furiously. When the rage subsided and the chains didn't budge, I yelled "You bitch," to no one in particular.
The burn of the sigils lit me up like a Christmas Tree. Breathlessly, I pulled the chains once again before sitting down on the ground with a huff. "Piece of shit." I mumbled. I needed a plan, but my mind was actually fried and I was too frustrated to come up with a plan that would successfully get me out of here.
"Pulling on those won't do you any good." A female voice emerged from the darkness. It was unfamiliar to me, but in a world where shifters are around me, that didn't mean shit. My eyes narrowed at her slightly condescending tone.
"And why is that?"
"Because they are made of iron and angel blades. And watch your tone. Just trust me, I've been trying to break them for days." There was a slight movement near the wall directly across from me. "Besides, whatever is carved into them, doesn't seem to agree with you." The shuffle of chains on the floor, and the scuff of feet were accompanied by the appearance of dirty blonde hair and a very bruised face. She knelt down in the semi-circle of light that created the space between us.
"What are you anyways?" The stark blue of her eyes were instantly recognizable. My mouth must have fell open, because she shot me a look. "What the hell are you staring at." Blinking I tried to regain me composure.
"Claire?" It was her turn to shoot an apprehensive look at me. "You're Claire Novak, right?"
"What's it to you?"
"Oh my god," I laughed harshly, "This is a whole new level of cruel. Nice try you jack asses." I shouted out again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. "Tell me, "Claire", what do you know about the Winchesters?"
"I knew it," she snapped back, " Nice try." She went to move back into the darkness. "Just another freaking ploy." My eyebrows furrowed. That was not the reaction I was expecting.
"Ploy?" She scoffed.
"Cut the act. Natalie, you have already tried this bullshit. You must be getting desperate now."
"What are you talking about? You're the ploy!" I stated defensively.
"Whatever." I could feel the eyeroll from here. The frustration I felt seemed irrational.
"Whatever." I mimicked, leaning back against the bare frame of the cot. We remained in frustrating silence for only a few minutes before she spoke again.
"Stop insulting me and just leave." She scoffed, "Either that, or drag me back to the arena you crazy bitch."
"Damn, who pissed in your cheerios?" I retorted. She didn't respond. "Look, at this point I don't even care if you are the real Claire Novak, in fact that cage fighting freak is the least of my problems now." Turning the chains over and over in my hands, their weight seemed to double. Like always, Lily would be called and be here in a matter of time, and then my family would bust through the door in a blaze of glory. One of us would barely make it out, and then Dad would tell me how stupid I had been but hug me like it was the end of the world. We'd go back to Bobby's and it would all start all over again. That was the theme. The plot. The plan that some force in the universe had set for us...but this time...It was different. Lily was here, and she took my sister from me. Leaving me with the unrelenting guilt that I wasn't able to save her. God only knows if anyone else was hurt, or alive for that matter.
Claire or "Claire" hadn't said anything in a long time. There was a shuffle in the darkness before me.
Again, she came into the crescent of light that seemed to split our cell. The blue of her eyes felt like a long lost breath of fresh air, a reminder of color in this dark situation.
"Come here." She barked.
"Why, so you can kill me?"
"So I can see you dumbass. God, don't be so arrogant."
"Can't you see me from here?" She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. Rolling my eyes, I clambered to my feet. I made it to the ring of light, pulling the chains just enough that the skin on my wrists cracked open again, sending another electric pulse through me. Shuddering in pain, I looked back of at Claire.
There was approximately four feet between us. A single stretch of light that could be crossed in one stride, ending a life in the blink of an eye. Her eyes narrowed at me for a moment, studying my face in excruciating detail. When our eyes locked, it was like all other doubt was immediately destroyed.
"Who are you?" She asked, unsure as to whether or not she wanted to know the answer.
"Rachel." I coughed, as my throat suddenly felt like sandpaper, "My name is Rachel Winchester, and I was here to save you." For some overwhelming reason, I was hit with this wave grief that filled me to the top with pain for the girl before me. Claire Novak, she was the counterpart, the reflection of who I am. Two girls, each with their lives torn apart by angels, left to fight the monsters in the dark, each with the haunting reflection of the eyes of our fathers.
"You, you have Dean's eyes." She smirked. I smiled, it was my favorite compliment. "What did they do to you?"
"What haven't they done?" I coughed bitterly. "How are they keeping you alive? That vamp nearly had you tonight..."
"They have this shit-show of a witch that heals the winner's post fight. You were there?"
"Jesse had this plan to find-" The words fell short on my lips. "Oh my god, Jesse..." I murmured mostly to myself. I looked up at Claire, mouth hanging open like an idiot. "Jesse, he was with me. How did...Where?"
"Whoa, whoa, who are you talking about?"
"Jesse, he was the guy that got us here. He...shit!" Fury took over again. "He sold me out!" Claire watched me with an apprehensive expression. "I should have known..."
"Calm down there, Sparky." She said, raising both hands. "Look, if this Jesse guy sold you out, he wouldn't have made it past the last level, no one gets in or out of this joint unless Nyx says so."
"Nyx." I seethed, "that Fae bitch." Closing my eyes, I tried to find a place to focus. "It all makes too much sense. Sells me out to that piece and then get's his "just deserts". Serves him right...So then Nyx is the one who is responsible for giving me to Lily...and for killing Cassidy..."
"Okay..." Claire acknowledged my micro-rant, "So...is the rescue party coming for us or?"
"They're dead Claire." I breathed. "If I'm here, and Cassidy is dead. They're all gone..." I wilted to the floor, placing my face in my hands. "I...I..." I hiccuped, "Claire, I'm so sorry." A hollow, abandoned sense of dread, filled my heart.
"Rachel, what, what are you talking about!"
"My family!" I shouted at her, "Your family. They're gone don't you get it! There is no one coming, Claire. It's over." My hands were shaking. "No one is coming."
She sat down across from me. "No, that's, that's not how they work. They, they do the whole "Ohana, nobody get's left behind" thing. You're wrong..." Our eyes met again. "You have to be..."
"Claire, when I was sixteen Sam and Dean saved me from being tortured to death. Castiel healed me. It took them less than 24 hours to get to me and I was halfway across the country. But they still saved me. Last year, Castiel nearly killed himself sending me to another freaking dimension so that I could be safe, and they still saved me." My words were cold and empty, "Claire, my sister is dead. I watched the same demon that nearly killed me rip her life from her body while she screamed my name. I was ten feet from her, and I couldn't save her...and that...that is how I know they aren't coming Claire. Because, I can feel them missing. I have never felt that before."
Eyes filling with unbelieving tears, Claire looked away from me. "Then we need to get ourselves out." I couldn't help but laugh callously.
"How! You've been here for almost a week and haven't made it out!"
"Yeah ,well whatever the hell you have going on could be the key to us breaking out." She snapped. "We decide when to give, we are not forced to." She stood up off the ground.
"Claire, even if I knew how to use whatever shitshow of powers I am cursed with, there is too much warding here, it won't help us."
"Negative Nancy, will ya shut up for just a moment? I'm trying to focus." I pressed my lips together in a firm line of silence. The clink of chains and the murmur of curse words echoed in the cell. The sound of chains hitting the stone floor boomed in the room.
"What did you just do?" I asked, squinting into the void before me. Claire emerged from the dark , two bobby pins in hand, free of her chains.
"I finally picked the lock!" She beamed with pride. My jaw dropped in surprise.
"How?"
"I've been trying to pick it for like five days, but between breaking bobby pins and not being about to tell which part of the chain I was holding, it has taken forever. Now stand up!" I raised both of my wrists and Claire set to work freeing me. When my skin cracked, I tried to suppress the shudders of pain. The final lock released and I clutched my wrists, the burned skin was hot to the touch. Smiling wearily at Claire, I was beyond grateful.
"Okay, MacGyver, What's the plan?"
"There is a portal on this level, but it's heavily guarded and requires a talisman which would be too risky to get. But there is a manual entrance on the first level, I think that if we play our cards right we can make it out that way. Most everyone here uses the portal entrance and they should be pretty close to closing up for the night."
"Okay, so how do we get out of here?" Claire smiled.
"Guards come in with a bowl of water and bread every night before they officially close up. It should be within the next ten to fifteen minutes, I think."
"So we are going to jump the guards?"
"Now you're getting it." She replied clicking her tongue. We each need to hide on the sides of the door. Then attack together."
"Using what!"
"The chains, stupid!" Voices echoed down the hallway, "Quick!" We each too the chains in our hands and waited in agonizing silence. The bolt creaked open and and light illuminated the darkness.
The figure stepped into the dark chamber, hands holding what looked like two bowls. The door, open wide behind him. We counted to three and lunged, taking him down quickly we ran from the room.
"Turn!" Claire barked, gripping the railing as we flipped around a corner. My lungs burned, but I knew that I could push myself harder. There was a metaphorical light at the end of this hunt. I had to break through.
Jesse...I knew he could take care of himself, and if he did indeed sell me out, I only hope that he got what he deserved.
We scrambled up the last of the steps, we were on level one. Almost out. Claire cracked the chains against the skull of a being with their back turned to us, crumpling them like paper. Just a bit further. We took the next corner.
The crack of thunder ruptured my determination. Filling the claustrophobic space with electricity and flashbacks. My body stopped dead in its tracks. Claire. Just before me, leading the way out, collapsed, stumbling backwards at the impact. I bolted to catch her before she hit the ground. My knees grinded across the coarse floor. A cry of distraught hanging from the edge of my mouth.
The paleness of her forehead bubbled with streams of blood. Her blue eyes cast upward, mouth open in a warning that was too late.
"No." I gasped, "No!"
"Pathetic." The voice cut through my like frigid wind, my tear-filled eyes looked up and towards the menace before me. Long auburn hair standing stark against the black trench coat and violet eyes. I clutched Claire's cooling body close to me. Placing a hand over her forehead I prayed.
I can save you. Claire, I can save you!
Nothing happened. "Claire." I begged, "Please, I can save you." The shuffle of feet came forward. "No." I wrapped my arms tighter around her. "No!" My arms were pulled away from me, torn from the girl as if pulling a rag doll from the arms a child.
"No! Claire!" I screamed, my voice cracking and echoing in the hallway. I kicked and flailed and willed the angelic energy that coursed through my veins to get here. "No!" I shrieked, tears seeping from my eyes. I felt the burn rise up in my body, but it puttered out, leaving me empty.
A familiar sting ripped its way across the left side of my face. A leather gloved hand gripped my chin. "Stop crying." I closed my eyes tightly. I would not look at her. "Look at me!" She snapped, hand clenching into my jaw, pressing my cheeks painfully against my teeth. My eyes flicked open in pain. "It's over, Princess." She smiled, eyes sinking into black, "What do you have to fight for anymore?" She snapped with her other hand, and one of her cronies stepped forward, handing her a pistol. She raised it up so I could see it. The ivory grip sealed the deal. The strength in my legs abandoned me. The gun was Dean's. There was a smear of blood on the barrel of the pistol. I choked on my tears, eyes shutting once again.
"Chin up Princess, or the crown slips."
---------- One year later------------
I stared at the hollowness of my reflection. The vibrant green and amber that had once created a gaze of defiance, now held a dull shine against the backdrop of the dark circles beneath them. Tarnished by the hours of torture, relentless training, and endless berating, I saw nothing but the occasional spark that reminded me I was alive. I pulled on the grey t-shirt, staring at the crisscrossing scars that covered my body, chest to back.
She never understood why I didn't just heal them, she said that "I was too pretty" to be so scarred. It was her motto to "make it look pretty, but train it to kill." For the longest time, the scars used to be how I remembered that a part of me was still human. That my body couldn't be completely controlled by her. Now, well, now it was like putting a slash through the date on a calendar. Another twenty-four hours till the next task, the next breath, the next brutality. It was a living account of the damage I had inflicted upon this small corner of darkness, and the lives that I was responsible for stealing. There was no glory in these scars, only painful resentment.
I flinched as the now familiar shock fizzed up my arms from my wrist. The sigiled cuffs that cut into the constantly bruising skin of my wrists acted as a type of insurance for Lily. Apparently, Evangeline had always accounted for my instability.
My hair was pulled back from my face, tied into a long braid. Leaning forward, I braced myself against the antique dresser. Hands gripping the smooth stained edges, I pressed my forehead to the mirror. For second, I felt part of my soul ache.
"You are smarter than you think, stronger than you seem, and braver than you believe." The whimper of the words sounded more like something a child would say as quote than a monster would say as a prayer.
I recalled one of the first things Lily did when we had arrived here. She had torn my mother's silver cross from my throat, forcing me to watch as she donned it. Her grin, stretching the edges of her mouth in a cruel celebration of victory.
"Thanks for the welcoming gift, Princess. You really shouldn't have." My head lulled, dizzy and unfocused. My parched lips only quivered in response. "You want to know something, Princess?" I met her eyes in response. I still had hope back then. "This meat suit was one of the religious types, and she used to scream her prayers inside of me. Begging for god or angels to free her from "this unholy plague". But with time, she finally fell silent, hell I thought she had finally died, but no. Just now, when I put on your lovely gift, she stirred a little. And do you know what she said?" I watched her, lost in the pain. "She said, "Burn it, there is no hope here. There is no god." Maybe you should listen to her..."
The scraping of the lock came from the door. I turned, opening my eyes as Marissa, a low-level crossroads demon, poked her head in the room.
"She is waiting for you." She stammered, clutching her angel blade close to her body. Her gaze was just above my head. Turns out, demons could see my wings and it set most of them on edge. I wouldn't know, I hadn't seen them since the night Jesse sold me out. I nodded in response, approaching. Lewis, still a piece of shit as ever, and Eric entered the room, taking me gruffly by the arms. Egg salad, I thought, How could I have been so stupid back then.
Lily's love for grandeur never ceased to amaze me. We left my suite, a new sigil being painted on the door as we left. Prison is still a prison, no matter how beautiful the cell is. Descending the marble staircase, we entered into the private study.
Lily, dressed all in dark blue, sat at the edge of her oak desk. "Oh good morning Princess." She chimed, grinning ear to ear. "As always I hope you rested well!"
"Peachy." I stated, as my shackles were attached to their chains. Sometimes these chains meant I was the victim, sometimes I was the villain. It was a constant gamble, depending on the day.
"Now, now don't be tart." She hissed, tapping the sides of my face, like a disobedient puppy. Perhaps in her eyes, that was all I was. A disobedient puppy who had the power to smite the vicinity of a football field...or so I was led to believe anyways. "I have a surprise for you today!" She was giddy, it was disturbing. "You've made so much progress, and I finally think you're ready to move onto the next phase!" she sighed, "Evangeline would be so proud." This time, her hand caressed my face gently, which made my skin crawl. The flinch couldn't be resisted. Stepping to the side, Lily nodded to Lewis.
Crossing to the door, Lewis pulled them open to reveal three people. The two on the outsides held a slumped figure between the two of them. I furrowed my eyebrows, catching a glimpse of Lily's psychotic grin beside me. This isn't going to be good... My eyes never left the man in the middle. He was grimey, and obviously wounded. I will be fast in ending his misery. The men supporting him, released him, and he crumpled to the floor with a forced exhalation of air.
The longer I looked at the man before me, something seemed to pick at my heart. There was a familiarity to him. He tried to push himself up, but his arms kept giving out. With a frustrated sigh, Lily motioned for him to be assisted.
"Oh Princess, what a gift for you today!" I turned my head and looked at her curiously.
"How..." the voice ripped me from my gaze. Eyes wide, I snapped back to the man. My mouth fell open, eyes flooding with tears. Through the streaks of blood, dust, and overgrowth, I saw him there. Those familiar brown eyes that seemed like a long lost dream. "Rae..."
"No..." I stammered, "No you...it can't..."
"I thought you were gone..." His voice cracked, like it did that early morning on the porch at Bobby's. I turned back to Lily, eyes shining. Eyes alive.
"No. Please. Not him." My voice shook, bringing the room to a stand-still. I blinked through the tears that blurred my eyes, struggling to remember what this felt like. "Please, anything but this..." Lily only smiled, taking the spellbook in her hands.
"Rachel..." The way he said my name broke me. I hiccupped a sob and turned back to his eyes. Bentley stared at me looking for an answer I couldn't give him even if I tried. "Are the others...?" I shook my head, staring at my feet, desperately trying to regulate my breathing. He looked so much older than I remember him being. His face was creased with lines, a scar cut across his right eyebrow.
"Rachel." Lily's shrill voice sent shivers down my spine. "Do as you're told." I looked back at Bentleys, trying to figure out how this was an illusion. It had to be a shifter! But I knew better.
The way he looked right through me, I knew it was him.
"Now." I didn't move. "Now, Princess."
"I won't." I whispered. Bentley watched me, I could see the tears in his eyes. "Not him."
"Rae-" He attempted to speak, but was cut short from a punch from Lewis. A feeling I was all too familiar with. My muscles flexed and I tried to step forward. Lily tisked, disappointment and excitement flooding her every word.
"Oh Princess, I thought you were ready for this. I guess you'll just need a little... help..." Lifting the book of incantations, she began the control spell. I cried out, it was always the same. A suffocating burning sensation would take over my body, and soon I would lose my control over my body.
"No!" I cried, my legs moving forward against my resistance. "Please!"
"It's okay Rae." Bentley's words caught me off guard, "I know it's not you, not the real you..." I sobbed, "It's okay." There was a blade in my hand.
"Close your eyes." He stared up at me, I was so close I could hear his shallow breathing, "Benny...Close your eyes."
"I love you Rae." He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, his eyes never left my face.
"Forgive me." I sobbed, arm raising the blade above him. I was shaking, I couldn't fight it.
The blade came down.
----------
"Come back! Rachel!" I heard it first. I felt it first. "Rachel, please!" I was shaking, more like convulsing, tears streaming down my face. The voice... It....It couldn't be...
The fog left my eyes, and a breath of fresh air hit my lung as if I hadn't breathed in a lifetime.
She hugged me tightly, a cry escaping her as she wrapped me tightly in her arms.
Cassidy.
I collapsed into the hug and cried. "You...how...I watched you..." She held me closer.
"You were poisoned. Rae, it was all a dream."
"But it..."
"It's okay. Guys!" She yelled, filling the cell ,where I swore I had watched her die, with the sound of her voice.
The echo of feet on concrete bounced off the Zoo, but our family soon appeared in the doorway. Chrissy was supporting the body of a familiar blonde, and Sam had a very bruised and disoriented Jodie wrapped protectively in an arm. Dean and Jesse stood side by side, eyes wide, and both covered in blood. Jesse's eyes looked empty, void of any thought beyond the current moment. I stared at him for a long time, and as much as I wanted answers, I knew there would be a later time for such questions.
Dad's face softened, and he came to help Cassidy get me to my feet.
"It's going to be okay." He said softly, "You're safe now." I choked down a cry, but nodded my throbbing head.
------
Claire and Jodie had both been held captive in the Zoo. Apparently it was a shifter all along, well, a few of the actually.
Nyx spilled all the information she could when the raid happened. She gave Sam all he needed to know about busting the warding, freeing the few captives that were left, and how to bring Jesse and me out of the hallucinogen. More importantly, she gave Winchesters and Co. more information about what Lily was planning, and the bounty she had set out on us. Sam wanted to spare Nyx's life, to get more information, but from what he had said, Jesse wasn't so merciful.
Jesse sat next to me on the stairs, we were looking out into Singer Salvage Yard. Castiel had thankfully healed us all up before we got the hell out of Tulsa. Shutting down the Zoo was the best thing we could have done, but it sparked up a lot of backlash in the magic community. We left as soon as we could.
Since our bodies were healed, it was only the mental effects that needed time to wear down a bit. I can still see Castiel's face when Claire stumbled through the gates of the Cemetery. I had seen that look on my father's face before, and it hurt.
"Look," Jesse stated, breaking the silence, "you and I have to stop this bullshit fighting." I looked at my hands.
"Whether you like it or not Rachel, we are more similar than we are different." Glancing up, our eyes met.
"I'm sorry for treating you like the villain."
'I'm used to it...people have to pretend you're the bad person so they don't feel guilty about the things they did to you. God forbid they be accountable for their bullshit..." My face warmed with shame. "You have no idea what it's like out there. Something always chasing you, but at least you've got this." He motioned to the house, "When I was a kid, and my parents-both sets- died, I didn't know what to do, who to trust or where to go. All I heard over and over again was that I was a monster. I taught myself how to control what I was born with."
"How?" I asked, "How did you do it without hurting anyone!"
"I didn't." His words were hard and cold. "I tried to save a lot of people, and a lot of people tried to save me. Mostly kids like us." I was taken aback by the statement.
"What do you mean kids like us?"
"So naive," He shook his head, "Rae there are a lot of beings out there that tether themselves to kids. Creating beings like us, fused blood, half-breeds, clairvoyants, you name it. I met so many of them as I tried to figure shit out, like my weird and their weird drew us to each other. Like you, most of them had family, people to help them or protect them. But it never worked out." His face was lost in darker times, "I had this friend in Venice a few years back, one of the best guys I'd ever met, he was half-fae. Trying to avoid the bounty hunter that had been placed on his head...one night, we were held up in this abandoned office building and the Bounty Hunter came for him. I tried to protect us by shielding us with fire, but something went wrong..."
I waited for him to continue. "I killed him, he burned alive and I couldn't stop the flames. When it was over, the Fae smiled at me and said, "I knew what you were from the beginning. I could smell the blood. You were born to spill blood boy." I was thirteen." Jesse stared down at his hands, "What you did in Elko is minor to what could happen. And whether Feathers and the Hardy Boys want to admit it, you need to be training with someone who gets it."
"I'm scared of what I am becoming."
"Damn right. You should be. You're dangerous, but even more so if you don't learn to control it. It takes time, and hours of misery. But with time, you will learn to control it. Not suppress it, you do that and you're just a bomb waiting to fall into the wrong hands." I pursed my lips, but I knew that Jesse had a point. I had seen what that future was like. It made my skin crawl.
"You've got to learn to trust me. We are one the same team, I promise."
"Dude, I don't even trust myself."
"Well then, that's where you need to start." Jesse and I turned around to see my dad leaning against the door frame. "There is food in there if you're hungry Jess." He motioned to the two plates of food in his hands. Jesse nodded, getting the hint that Dean wanted to talk to me, alone.
Dad sat down beside me, handing me the other plate.
"Thanks." We didn't say much at first. "Dad?"
"Yeah kid?"
"You all realize I'm going to snap one day...right?" Dean didn't respond to this. He set his plate aside and ran a hand over his face.
"Rachel, we are all going to snap someday. It's part of this life." I opened my mouth to speak, but he raised a hand, "Let me finish." I obliged his request. "Rae, you need to stop this hero's sacrifice bullshit, yeah I get it trust me I do. But it doesn't and hasn't done you any favors so far." He looked at me with that fatherly authority that made me slightly roll my eyes. But I knew that he was right. Like usual, Dad could see straight through me. Sometimes it felt like we were the same person.
"This war that you keep trying to fight on your own, is changing you. When was the last time you drew? Danced in the kitchen with Bentley? Actually laughed?"
"I..." What was I going to say? I couldn't answer that. Since I had been back, all my focus had been on stopping Lily. Training harder than ever. Trying to control the curse. And all that it had resulted in was my misery and lack of control.
"You're right." I ran a hand through my hair, setting my plate aside. "About everything." I looked over at the impala. "Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't want this." My throat was closing off and I felt my breath hitch.
"What do you mean?"
"This." I waved my hand around us. "I want to eat melting ice cream on a hot summer day. I want to complain about homework and tests with my friends. I wanted to learn how to drive with you! I want to embarrass my little sister on her first date...I want a normal life, not this. Anything but this."
"Rae, you know it's hard to get out-"
"Dad, I'm not looking for an excuse. After this, whatever this is with Lily, I'm done. Whether that means I have to die to get it, or not-" He began to protest, but I returned the hand raise, "I can't become what I am becoming." Dean stared at me for a long time, lost in contemplation.
"Okay." He replied, somber and determined. "I promise you, as soon as that bitch is dead, we walk. All of us. I can't speak for Bobby or Bentley or anyone else for that matter. But you and me, we will walk away." The tears were falling from my eyes before I realized they were there.
"Shh, don't cry kid. It's okay." He pulled me into a tight hug, which of course just made me cry harder. "I've got your back no matter what, got it?" I nodded. "We're going to be okay."
_______________________________________________________________________
Author's Note:
Oh my chuck!
Folks, Daughter of the Legend (book one) just reached a million reads, and I am freaking the hell out!!!! Thank you guys so much for all of your love and your support.
Four years ago when I started the journey, I wasn't expecting anything to come out of this. I can still remember the first comments, the first reads, and definitely the first followers. All of you, new and old mean the world to mean I am so thankful to have your love and support. Thank you for never being cruel or sending me hateful comments or messages. Truly, you are all wonderful!
We are starting to pick-up the pace now! What did you think?
Up next: The contest winner's chapter will be published August first! Thank you once again to all who submitted their works! Other winner's works will be published in "To My Amazing Followers" On August 1st as well! Along with those will be reviews of their work and some more shout outs through out the month!
I love you guys! Carry on my wayward siblings!
-Rachel Winchester
PS. If any of you watched The 100, you know that Bentley is Finn. I never realized how that there are quite a few parallels between Rae and Bentley and Clarke and Finn. So, I found this really amazing video that basically captures what Rachel felt when she had to kill him in the Dream-World. It made me super emotional so I hope you enjoy it.
I cried...