CLAIRE WINCHESTER WAS BORN without her biological father knowing anything about it.
It wasn't how Alicia Holden wanted things to go - it was all wrong, she wanted Dean by her side, she was scared, she didn't know what to do, and she didn't even know how she was going to take care of this baby all by herself. She ran away from home, from the people whom wanted her to give her baby away, and her short lived romance had ended long before the baby was welcomed into this world. The woman thought about it for a long time, whether or not she should try and search the hunter down, to tell him that she was bearing his child.. But she couldn't. With the knowledge of what that boy did, and what his life would be, she just couldn't drag her daughter into that lifestyle.
Obviously, she wanted her daughter to have her father in her life, who wouldn't want that for their child? But the dangers he would bring to them, was just not worth it, and Alicia just couldn't bring herself to go searching for the Winchester boy. They were both young, it was a short romance, with both of them knowing that he had to leave town the second his hunt was complete. When he left, Alicia knew that it was for the best, in the end.
Dean Winchester wasn't a family man, the boy had even told Alicia that one night when they had snuck out to watch the stars. He didn't want a family, he didn't want any children, and the poor girl felt like she would have ruined his life if she told him that she had his child inside of her.
So she did it alone.
She moved towns, away from her toxic family, away from all of her friends, and away from the place she met the love of her life - she started new. She found a decent job, found an apartment, and begun to bring her daughter up on her own.
Claire was an amazing baby. She wasn't too difficult to care for, she wasn't a fussy baby at all, she never fussed, and she was easy to please. Alicia knew that she had hit the jackpot with an amazing baby like hers, and she couldn't be more happy that she had ignored her family's pleas to get rid of her, and took matters into her own hands.
It was difficult, to bring up a baby girl all on her own, but she managed, and Alicia couldn't be more proud of herself because of it. She went against all odds, and she won.
Alicia received more promotions, and she climbed to the top, even managing to buy a nice, small home in a lovely neighbourhood in a small town, living a white picket fence life, as Dean liked to call it. Every now and then, her thoughts went back to that boy, and she wondered what he was doing - if he had found someone else, if he had gotten out of the life he hated so much.. But she tried to stop herself, because she realised that he wasn't going to come back, and she was on her own, she had to move on, just like he had.
When Claire started to age, she started to ask questions.
Why don't I have a daddy? Did he leave us? Does he not love me?
Alicia found it very difficult to find ways to steer her away from the subject of her father, she couldn't tell her why he wasn't here, and she definitely could not tell her that he didn't want her, which was why she ran away from him in the first place. She gave no answers.
After her mother had avoided so many questions about her father and why she didn't have one, Claire realised that it was no use to ask anymore. At such a young age, she had to learn to face the fact that she just wasn't going to be like the other kids, she wasn't going to have a large family with a father, with siblings, or with any nanny or grandad, like a lot of the people she knew, had. Sure, it upset her, but she had adapted to a life with just her mother, and since it was all she knew, she didn't miss him like she used to.
Alicia on the other hand.. It killed her.
The questions flown at her reminding her that she had fled from a life Claire could have had, flown from a father she could have grown up with. She had no doubt that John wouldn't have let Alicia run with his grandchild, whilst that man wasn't the greatest father to his kids, he did care about his family, and he would do anything for them. Alicia met him once, and she could read him immediately, along with Dean's descriptions of the man, she felt like she knew him personally. She believed he would have been a good grandad to Claire, and secretly, she wished that John had never taken Dean away from her. Away from the normal, happy life he could have had.
Whilst Alicia and Claire were living a normal life, Dean was suffering, taking care of Sammy like he was his own, and obeying his father's every single demand. It was no life to live, and Dean wished every single day that he had gone against his father and stayed with the one girl that made him feel like he was truly alive.
She was doing fine without him. Dean would think to himself. He would imagine that she had another boyfriend, maybe even married young and started a family, just like he knew she wanted, and she didn't need him in his life.
But no matter how many times he told himself that, it never got any easier.
When Claire was four years old, she had completely forgotten about her father, she stopped asking about the man when she realised there was no point in doing so, and she started to appreciate her mother more and more every single day with how well she took care of her, and how she loved the girl so much, it felt like she had two parents loving and caring for her.
She was doing great at school, she had made friends, she was smart, smarter than any other four year old child in her year group. Alicia knew that the girl didn't get it from her, and as much as the man always denied it, Dean was always very smart when he wanted to be. Claire acted so much like him even at such a young age, that it scared Alicia, it took her back in time to a place she wanted to forget about. So, no matter how much Alicia tried to forget about the Winchester boy, he always managed to find his way back in.
Alicia was finally happy with the way hers and Claire's life was headed, she had a great job, a great house, and a very happy child, what else could she possibly need?
It was like the world was saying a huge screw you, at this point when it all went to hell.
Claire didn't often wake throughout the night, she was always a deep sleeper, since the moment she was born she would sleep throughout anything, she wouldn't fuss, and she would just fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow, and four years later, nothing had changed.
But tonight, she woke up.
At four years old, Claire shouldn't be as self aware as she was, she was too smart for her own good, she knew more than any other four year old, and she could handle a lot more situations than any other four year old could. So, when the girl woke up in the middle of the night, she just knew that something was wrong, the child could feel it in her bones, that something bad was happening, and she didn't like it. Her small, little feet touched the cold wooden floor of her room as she pulled herself off of the bed and jumped onto the floor, hugging herself tight as she felt like it would protect her.
She didn't call out for her mom, she didn't know how, but she knew that something was wrong, and she was telling herself that she had to stay quiet. How she knew this? She didn't know. But she trusted her gut, and she quietly tiptoed out of her bedroom and into the hallway.
A horrible sulfer smell hit her nostrils as the child nearly gagged at the horrid smell.
"Mummy?" Claire whispered, slowly walking towards her mothers room which was pitch black - the door was wide open, which was strange in itself, as Alicia usually slept with the door shut, or at least pulled to. That's when Claire realised that something was seriously wrong.
The four year old was terrified. She was shaking head to toe as she was frozen in the hallway, her body feeling ice cold as she slowly made her way towards her moms room, not exactly wanting to, but knowing that she had to. Claire couldn't keep her eyes off of the room in front of her as the pitch black became more visible, the empty room coming into focus as she stopped by the door, peering in as she clenched her hands in fear - she had never experienced anything like this before, and she didn't want to go into that room.
But she had to.
Taking a deep breath in, the child put one step into the room, before putting another in front, and slowly, she made her way inside, only to be met with an empty, dark room, which looked like it had been abandoned. The smell was stronger in there, to the point where Claire's face was scrunched up at the horrific scent she had never smelt before.
Claire thought that nothing was in here, and that maybe her mom had gone downstairs to get a glass of water, but the feeling in her tummy was telling her otherwise, and she just could not move.
The bed was empt, as was the en-suite, but the little girl knew someone was in here, which was the scary thing about the whole situation. Something inside of her was telling her to run, to get out of there and save herself, but her feet were glued to the spot, not even out of fear, but out of determination to find her mom.
Before she could even utter another word, the girl had decided to look up. And boy, would she regret that for the rest of her life.
Her mother, on the ceiling in her pyjamas, a pained look on her face as a circle of blood was stained on her stomach, the woman's eyes open wide and looking straight at her daughter, as if pleading for her to leave, pleading that she wouldn't see her like this. But the little girls eyes were stuck on the sight before her, and her mouth glued shut, too afraid to make another sound. She didn't understand what had happened, but she knew if wasn't normal, how her mother was on the ceiling, and how she was as quiet as anything, as if unable to make a single noise.
But as a fire began spread, a single, loud scream could be heard from the Holden house.
And that was the last time Alicia Holden was seen alive.