𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞―𝐒𝟒 𝐄𝟏𝟎: 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥
❝︎My heart can't possibly break when it wasn't even whole to start with...❞︎
𝟷𝟽𝚃𝙷 𝙽𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟾
LILY EXPLAINED THE STORY OF A time where she had come across a hunter that told her that the Winchesters were in the possession of the Colt. She saw it as her chance to get it. She knew that if she went up against them that she would have lost easily, so she decided to simply ask for it. Instead, she had found out that a woman, Bela Talbot, whom I had the pleasure in getting to know, almost nine years ago, had taken the Colt from them. That had been long before I had told Lily about the supernatural. We bonded over the fact that we both had made crossroad deals. I knew her past and how she had made her deal for her parents to stop abusing her. It ended up with both of them dead. Both doomed to hell, we managed to have made great friends as we tried our best to come up with ideas on how to find a way to get out of the inevitable. Of course, with no luck, we parted ways but still managed to come across each other a few more times. I have not seen her in five years, however, and I didn't get to see her in hell. I felt bad, knowing she was strung up on the chains I knew all too well.
Instead, after meeting the Winchesters, Lily's intentions managed to change for the better. In March, two months before Dean's time was up, Lily tried her best in an attempt to get Dean out of his deal. Of course, at first, the Winchesters didn't believe her when she told them she wanted to help but eased around her when she told them she had an older sister that made a deal and was unable to find a loophole in time. Despite the time Lily had known Dean, she didn't want him to go to hell. So, for two months, she fought alongside Sam and Dean trying to save him from the pit.
Spending every day of his last weeks trying to track down Lilith in the form of desperation, they wasted no time and did not hesitate to face her head-on. Inevitably, they failed, and Lily tried to do her best to be there for the younger Winchester, but eventually, they both parted ways. However, this only lasted a month because none of them completely severed their ties with Ruby. Sam was going through the same process that Lily had gone through after I died, and with me being gone for six months at the time, Lily found it practically impossible to bring me back and focused on seeking revenge on her own time. She never did give up hunting, though. Lily managed to fit in a couple of hunts, saving people along the way, which made me proud to hear.
Of course, there were more stories, but things were cut off when Sam had knocked on our door, dressed and ready to get back to Ruby, informing us that she had gotten back to them about her whereabouts. I sighed and told Sam that we would be ready in fifteen minutes to head out. Turning to my little sister, I gave her a look that read that she wasn't done informing me of everything I missed.
"GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT," RUBY greeted as all four of us stood in front of the door of the cabin. All of us walked in. First, Sam and Dean, followed by Lily and myself. Both Lily and I walked in the sync motions of our feet, our heels echoing against the floor at the same time. Lily stopped in front of Ruby, wondering what her next move was. I, however, walked around the room, searching to see if Ruby had anyone else hiding here, amongst other things she might have up her sleeve.
"Yeah, thanks," Sam said as the door closed behind us. I turned to Anna after I noticed that nothing seemed out of place, concern clearly written across my eyes. "Anna, are you okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. I think so. Ruby's not like other demons. She saved my life." She replied with a bright smile on her face. I rolled my eyes at how everyone thought that Ruby had a heart of gold, and she just wanted to help out, but I knew there was something that she was keeping from us. It seemed likely that a demon would know more about the situation approaching than we did. Her reaching out to both Lily and Sam after I died, and after Dean made his deal was not a coincidence at all. It couldn't have been. I just wasn't able to shake the hunter feeling that we shouldn't trust a demon to begin with and that she was gaining something more than she was leading on from helping us out.
"Yeah, I hear she does that," Dean said with a sarcastic tone in his voice before turning to Ruby and suddenly growing serious. Oh no, not this. "I guess I...you know." Dean continued, stumbling upon the words he wanted to say, however, felt too unnatural just to blurt out. Never would I ever think I would ever see Dean Winchester thanking a demon for something. Ruby, however, didn't catch on to what Dean was trying to say. My arms crossed over my chest, and I leaned against the wall watching Dean struggle to find the right words.
"I guess I owe you for Sam. And I just wanted...you know..." Dean stuttered, still unsure of what to say, but felt inclined to say it anyway.
"Don't strain yourself."
"Okay, then. Is the moment over?" Dean asked Ruby, who then, in response, nodded. "Good, cause that was awkward." He said as the moment passed. Everyone turned to me as they expected me to do the same, but I was not going to kiss her ass just because she kept an eye on my sister. I thought my sister would have been better off without Ruby, in my opinion. The last thing I would have expected was to come back from hell to see my sister being friendly with a demon, knowing that everyone in her family died at the hands of one. She knew better than to follow some random demon just because they had a revenge fantasy. I taught her better than that.
Demons were manipulative, and it was evident to me that Ruby had something planned when Lily was telling me the story of what had happened. For me, it was easy to point it out as I went through many guys who thought they could get something from me. I guess I blamed myself for not letting my sister be normal and go to college as she wanted. I thought back to when I told my sister about the monsters that were out there. I had blamed myself for bringing her into the crusade of searching for as much justice as I could back when what I knew was still very limited.
She had been starting her senior year in high school and had her whole life planned out. I wanted her to be safe. I wanted her to know what was out there so she could protect herself, but what I didn't realize was that I was crushing her dreams at that very moment. She told me she wanted to help out my years-long crusade of revenge, and despite how much I knew she wanted to attend medical school and marry her boyfriend, she dropped all of it and followed me along to the hunt. My eyes shifted to her. The girl beside me was not the same one I had left behind and not necessarily in a good way. I found myself very on edge around her, unable to figure out what my sister was now capable of. And I blamed Ruby for it.
Despite, what the others were thinking I would do, I did the opposite as I pinned Ruby to the wall and took out the demon-killing knife that I had tucked in the band of my black jeans. I held the knife to her neck and pressed it hard enough to cut across her skin. I glared at her, my anger directed at her and only at her. I was no longer upset with my sister as I understood it must have been challenging to get on without me―all she's ever had for ten years. It didn't mean I was okay with what she was doing, but I would have that discussion with her later on. Right now, I was angry with Ruby.
"Uh, Audrey―" Sam tried to say, wanting to stop what was going on, but afraid to intervene. Lily, as much as she wanted to save Ruby, she knew better than to interrupt me when I was angry. From the corner of my eye, I watched as Lily grabbed Sam's forearm, and as he turned to her, she shook her head as a way of telling him not to get involved.
"I know you're up to something, so don't expect me to praise you like you are some sort of saint." I barked at her. She struggled in my grasp, but there wasn't much she could do. One wrong move and she could be dead.
"You think you know what's to come? Whatever the demons have planned is nothing compared to what's coming your way." She breathed out, withering in my grasp. Ruby lied about a lot of things, but I believed her when she said that. I knew whatever was coming was severe, and for some unknown reason, the angels rescued Dean and me from hell, so it didn't come to a surprise that something big was coming for us. "I know things―" She choked as I pressed the knife deeper into her neck. "You need me."
"If there's one thing you must know about me, it's that demons killed my family. I hate demons." I spat at her, my voice getting harsher by the second. "You have no redeeming qualities. I've been hunting demons for over ten years and dated for even longer, so don't try to convince me of anything because I know when someone is trying to manipulate me." I said, emphasizing the word know, scoffing at Ruby. "Here's what I know. You know more than me, sure. And that's also how I know you have ulterior motives. You haven't been telling us everything, and that's fine, keep your secrets..." I continued as I lifted the knife and positioned it right above her head before stabbing her through the palm of her hand, orange sparks flying out of her wound as I did. "But don't presume that I need you. I don't need anybody." I concluded, looking straight into her eyes as I pulled the knife out of her hand, still glaring at her.
I turned away from her to face Dean, Sam, and Lily. I looked down at the knife that was now covered with Ruby's blood. I reached into my long navy blue winter coat and pulled out a handkerchief and used it to clean the blood on the knife. "I spared your life. Now, we're even." I said as I finally looked up to see the three of them staring at me. Lily, not so much surprised, but was slightly disappointed on how I handled myself.
"That was hot," Dean blurted out but was followed by a smack in the head from Lily.
"Hey, Sam, you think it'd be safe to make a quick call, just to tell my parents I'm okay? They must be completely freaked." Anna asked shyly, trying to get the attention away from what I had just done. Although, I wished there was something else that would have taken away the attention off of me. I sighed, knowing that now we had to deliver the horrible news to her. Everyone looked around for the right person to do that. My eyes landed on Lily, who eventually sat down, and anybody could tell she was not about to tell her she won the lottery.
"Anna, your parents..." Lily said, easing her into the news, but there was no right way to tell someone that their parents were dead―murdered in search of you.
"What about them?"
"Look, I'm sorry." She stated, and with that tone in her voice, it was easy for anyone to understand that they didn't make it.
"Why is this happening to me?" She inquired, upset as her head fell into her hands. All five of us stood there watching her cry, not exactly sure with what to say, given the circumstances.
"I don't know."
Suddenly, her head lifted, and she wasn't crying anymore. "They're coming." She said, obviously terrified of what was going to happen. The lights began to flicker, and everyone in the room started thinking of something we could do.
"Backroom," Dean suggested as he pointed to the door. Sam and Lily led her to the room as Ruby and I focused on shutting the door. After we sealed it as much as we could, Dean handed Sam the shotgun as some form of protection, even though it was practically useless. Suddenly, the opposite door flew up, and Castiel and Uriel barged in, uninvited.
"Please tell me you're here to help. We've been having demon issues all day." Dean confessed, alluding to the troubles we had getting away from Alistair after we found Anna.
"Well, I can see that. You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?" Uriel asked, referring to Ruby. Hell, if I was asking myself the same question, Uriel.
"We're here for Anna." Castiel interrupted, skipping the small talk and getting straight to business.
"Here for her like...here for her?" Dean repeated, making sure we clearly understood their true intentions with the young girl.
"Stop talking. Give her to us." Uriel commanded.
"Are you gonna help her?" Sam asked, hoping they would be able to figure out what was up with her, and we wouldn't have to deal with both sides fighting over her, but of course, we were just that unlucky.
"No, she has to die."
"You want Anna?" Sam repeated, confused about why the innocent girl had to die. The truth was, we had all been thinking the same thing. Why was she able to hear angel radio? Why was she so special to the angels? Because we already knew why she was a target for the demons. "Why?" He asked, thinking he was going to get a response, but for as long as I had known the angels, they had never made it easy to get answers from them.
"Out of the way," Uriel demanded. I rolled my eyes at the thought of them thinking that we were going to make things easier for them at all. We were hunters; we never made it easy for anybody.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, I know she's wiretapping your angel chats or whatever, but it's no reason to gank her." Dean complained, explaining that they couldn't kill her given their inconvenient circumstances. I, for one, was not going to stand by and watch them kill her. I had not yet to see any reason why she should be killed. She seemed almost as innocent as they come. Hell, if I was going to stand by and watch her die without a fight.
"Don't worry. I'll kill her gentle." Uriel said with false reassurance. I scoffed at his comment. I was starting to hate him. I think I hated him just a little bit more than I hated Ruby, however, another word from his mouth and I actually wouldn't mind punching him in his ugly angel face.
"You're some heartless sons of bitches; you know that?" I finally spoke up. I wanted to respect the angels more than anything because I knew they could help, but they were making it very difficult for me not to say anything about their little care for humankind. And besides, it seemed they cared more about killing innocent people than preventing the apocalypse. If it was any consolation, I thought humans trumped angels; at least we cared about the wrong we did―well most of us did anyway.
"As a matter of fact, we are," Castiel stated. "And?" He added as if there wasn't a problem with that.
"And? Anna's an innocent girl." Sam explained. We all knew the angels were a little nutty in the head when it came to making decisions, but I never saw them as the type to kill an innocent girl for no rational reason. I thought they were above that.
"She is far from innocent," Castiel said, giving us no further explanation and reasoning as to why they thought Anna wasn't innocent. The four of us exchanged looks of worry, thinking they probably knew something about her that we didn't, and we wanted to know who exactly we were trying to protect.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked. I realized that Lily was still standing there in disappointment and fear. She was used to dealing with demons, but this was the first time she had come face-to-face with angels, and they didn't exactly fit what she thought they would be.
"It means she's worse than this abomination you've been screwing. Now give us the girl." Uriel commanded, gesturing to Ruby when he was speaking to Sam. All of us considered what he said, thinking maybe we didn't know the story behind it. We didn't understand everything the angels did, but we were not about to hand her over unless we were sure that she had done something worth dying for. As far as we knew, she was more innocent than all of us were. Looking at each other in the eyes, we all came up with the unsaid conclusion.
"Sorry. Get yourself another one. Try JDate." Dean said sarcastically.
"Who's gonna stop us? You four? Or this demon whore?" Uriel teased accusingly as he threw Ruby against the wall. With a tight grasp on her neck, Ruby tried her best to escape. Because she was not in the best condition after the beating I gave her, it was difficult for her to do anything to fight back. I decided that if Ruby was going to die, I wanted to be the one to kill her, and as soon as I came to that conclusion, I grabbed a wooden bar and used it to hit Uriel. As expected, it presented to be a failure when he grabbed hold of it, dropping it to the floor. In the form of desperation, I used my fist to throw a punch, but his grip was firm on my hand as I almost fell to the ground.
"I've been waiting for this," Uriel stated as he began to punch me several times in the face. To say my consciousness was fading pretty quickly was accurate, but I still managed to see Dean about to attack Uriel from behind. However, before he did, a white flash engulfed both Uriel and Castiel, and they both disappeared. That brought Dean to fall right on top of me. Imagining this happening a handful of times since we had gotten out of hell, I didn't expect it in this context.
"What the..." Dean said, trailing off, his forearm breaking his fall and from crushing me. What a perfect day to not wear a bra, I thought.
"Hey, Dean. As much as I love this position, I think you should probably get off now." I said, panting from all the punches I had previously taken from Uriel. He gave me a slight smirk before standing up and lending a hand to me. After I grabbed it, I leaned on Dean for a few seconds trying to regain full consciousness. He put his arm around my waist as my head was lying on his shoulder. I stood there for a few seconds longer than I needed to, just breathing in the cologne he was wearing.
After that lovely moment, I walked to Ruby, who had been lying on the floor, bleeding from Uriel's attack on her. I lended her my hand to help her get up. As she grabbed my hand, I said, "I saved your life twice today. Now you owe me one."
Not more than a minute later, a man walked through the doors. His eyes immediately studied the room and the damage that was clearly done. "Ruby, what the fuck did you do while I was gone?" The unnamed man asked. I observed him. I was very on edge about him before I even had the opportunity to know him or who he was. He knew Ruby. That wasn't a great sign to me. He was a handsome man. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, much like Lily or Sam, and although I was aware that Ruby was a 680-odd-year-old demon, she, too appeared to be in her mid-twenties. He had styled brunette hair, alluring brown eyes, and model-like facial hair. He stood at a solid six-foot. And I might have just met him for the first time, but he radiated darkness and dominance. I automatically assumed he was a demon. And I wasn't wrong.
"Angels found their way here when you were gone. What took you so long? You were just checking to make sure we weren't followed." Ruby approached him as she spoke to him familiarly. She looked a little angry with him, but it was clear to me that she was holding her tongue. I wondered why she would. I haven't seen her do that before, at least before tonight with the angels. I knew if I were to speak to her that way she wouldn't waste any time talking back to me. It had then clicked in my mind. It was evident to me that Ruby was scared of whoever this person was.
Before the man even opened his mouth, I turned back to him, observing his reaction. "I'm sorry that I clearly know how to do my job better than you." It was a simple statement, but I could tell it meant more to Ruby than it did to us. He then turned around, his eyes stopping on Lily. "Are you alright, Angel?" He asked as he approached her, his fingers pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear as he searched into her eyes with something that appeared to be a genuine concern filling his own.
I noticed a slight blush on Lily's face. I lifted an eyebrow at the scene in front of me. There were a lot of questions going on in my mind. Who was he? Was he a demon? If not, how was he connected to the supernatural? How did he know Ruby? Why was Lily looking at him like that? A lot of these questions repeated in my head and I wasn't sure where to search for answers. He appeared to be quite important to Lily, yet she never bothered to bring him up to me while we were speaking earlier. I didn't know who the man was, but based on the way Lily acted around him, it wasn't much of a question of Lily was sleeping with him. I knew her better than to think that they were just friends.
"And you are?" I asked the mysterious man, whom had yet to introduce himself to me and to Dean, who I knew also reluctant to put his guard down around him just yet. I still didn't trust Ruby. Despite Sam and Lily's blinding loyalty to her, I didn't think I ever would find it in myself to trust Ruby even a little bit.
He laughed as he pulled away from Lily. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that Lily began to grow quiet given the situation she was placed in. "Malakai. And you must be the big sister, Marissa. You're very popular downstairs. You and Dean are practically all the demons talk about." He indirectly confessed to his true demonic nature.
I turned to Lily for a brief moment, glaring at her. Trusting Ruby was one thing, but sleeping with a demon? It appeared Sam wasn't the only one off his rocker when he made the decision to do just that. I, then, turned back to Malakai and lifted my hand that was still holding onto my demon-killing knife. I clutched it in my fist, my anger becoming more evident as I wrapped an arm around my chest, and placed my elbow on it as I waved it back and forth as I followed up, "And what are you doing here?"
He quickly brought his hands in front of him as a way of saying that he meant no harm. Although, I highly doubted that. "Hey, I'm a team-player. I'm here to help you guys out. Don't kill me yet, babe."
I took a few steps closer to him, stopping right in front of him, as I looked into his eyes and said, "Don't tell me what to do." I, then, walked off, but not before I made sure to bump into him on the way to the opposite side of the room. I wanted to get as far away from anything demon related, and at that moment, it included my sister, as well.
"SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK?" DEAN asked the four of us after we exited Anna's room and seeing a blood spell on the frame of her mirror. We were all still unsure of how Anna knew that was how to send the angels away. One thing was certain, though; she sure was getting more interesting by the minute.
"I think Anna's getting more interesting by the second," Sam said, equally taken back at the fact that she was capable of doing something like that. For someone who was dragged into this by chance, she seemed to know even more than we did about angels, that was for sure.
"Yeah, I agree. And what did they mean by 'she's not innocent? '" Lily pitched in. We all knew there was something else going on, something we didn't know about, especially with the type of knowledge that Anna had.
"It seems like they want her bad, and not just cause of the angel radio thing. I mean, that blood spell―that's some serious crap." I added as I thought of the sigil that Anna drew with her blood. Her knowledge on angels was uncanny. I couldn't even think to know how someone like her could know all this stuff.
"Something's going on with her. See what you can find out." Dean said, agreeing with me. At this point, we were all just hoping that any one of us could put the pieces together. Demons or angels―any one of them was probably looking to find us right now and we had no idea who we were protecting.
"What are you gonna do?" Sam asked, lifting his eyebrows at his brother.
"Anna may have sent the angels to the outfield, but, sooner or later, they're gonna be back. We got to get ourselves safe now." Dean explained, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Bobby's place.
𝟷𝟾𝚃𝙷 𝙽𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟾―𝚂𝙸𝙾𝚄𝚇 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚂, 𝚂𝙾𝚄𝚃𝙷 𝙳𝙰𝙺𝙾𝚃𝙰
THE NEXT DAY WE WERE AT Bobby's place. Dean and I were with Anna as she was sitting on the comfy chair inside of Bobby's panic room. I was leaning on the back wall, my coat guarding my bareback against the salty walls, my legs crossed, and all of my weight was pushed onto one heel. My arms were crossed over my chest before I picked up one of my hands and placed it on the walls, "Iron walls drenched in salt. Demons can't even touch the joint." I informed Anna with a big smile on my face. She returned it just as enthusiastically.
"Which I find racist, by the way," I heard Ruby's voice as my eyes shifted to where she was standing by the opened door.
I stood tall, walking away from the wall and toward Anna. "Write to congressmen," I said, smirking at her.
I, then, leaned back on the arm of the chair that Anna was sitting on as Ruby threw me and Dean hex bags. "Here."
"Hex bags?"
"Extra-crunchy. They'll hide us from angels, demons, all comers." Ruby elaborated. I glanced at the hex bag in my hands before I tossed it over to Anna.
"So, Anna, what's playing on angel radio? Anything useful?" Dean asked her as he walked to the desk, staring at the wall in deep thought.
"It's quiet. Dead silence." She answered quietly.
"Good. That's not troubling at all." Dean muttered, not meaning for Anna to hear him and worry more than she needed to.
"We're in trouble, huh? You guys are scared?" Anna inquired, picking up on Dean's emotions. I rolled my eyes at the terrible timing for him to express how he was feeling.
"Nope, not really," I said, half-serious and half-lying. I've been through a lot worse than angels and demons fighting over some girl. But if there was one thing that I was afraid of was the angels' capability. I knew if Dean and I got on their wrong side, they probably wouldn't hesitate to throw us back in the pit. "We've been through much worse than some angels and demons fighting over a piece of treasure," I elaborated, winking at Anna. She smiled.
"Hey, Dean! Audrey!" Sam yelled from another room. I stood up from the arm of the chair and began walking out and upstairs to see what Sam had found.
In the library, Lily held a folder that was filled with information about Anna. She opened it up and placed it on the desk in front of us as she straightened out her outfit. She was wearing a rather cute pink two-piece athletic wear with three-inch nude booties. "Her parents were Rich and Amy Milton―a church deacon and a housewife." She said reciting from the papers. All that told us was that she had a religious background, and we already knew that. It was nothing special, but we were trying to figure out why the angels wanted her in the first place, and this was the best lead we got.
"Riveting."
"Yeah. But there is something here in the report. Turns out this latest psych episode wasn't her first." Sam jumped in.
"When she was two and a half, she'd get hysterical any time her dad got close. She was convinced that he wasn't her real daddy." Lily added. Dean and I leaned in to take a look at her folder where this was all stated. I furrowed my eyebrows upon hearing that. It seemed like a pretty heavy thing to hold onto at that age. I couldn't even remember anything from when I was that young. I found it very odd that she was going on about how her dad wasn't hers and what would possibly make her think that. I knew it had to mean something because that wasn't something an average two and a half-year-old would be going about just saying.
"Who was? The plumber, hmm? A little snake in the pipes?" Dean suggested, chuckling at his joke. I rolled my eyes at his comment. Of course, only he would be thinking of porn right now.
"Dude, you're confusing reality with porn again," Sam said, bringing Dean back to reality. "Look, Anna didn't say. She just kept repeating that this real father of hers was mad. Very mad―like wanted-to-kill-her mad." Sam elaborated on the serious topic. My eyes widened at the words that Sam had said. I was taken back, for sure. I couldn't even begin to wonder why such a young girl would carry that kind of a burden. But as we saw results to a paternity test that confirmed it, we were sure that the deacon had been her true biological father. We were still left unsure of why she would think otherwise.
"Then I'm surprised he hasn't come for her yet." I heard Malakai's voice behind me. I turned to see that he was looking right over my shoulder at the file laid out on the table. I narrowed my eyes at him. I still haven't spoken to him since I had yesterday. I made it abundantly clear I didn't care for him or anything that he had to say. He, then, noticed that I turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "What? If I was so angry with someone that I wanted to kill them, I would be coming for them." I hated to admit that Malakai had a point. I sighed. Why didn't he come for her then?
I raised my hand to my face to massage the sides of my head as a migraine started forming. "Kind of heavy for a 2-year-old," I stated.
"Well, she saw a kid's shrink, got better, and grew up normal," Lily added, catching us up.
"Until now. So, what's she hiding?" Dean asked rhetorically. I sighed again; I was wondering the same thing. The girl had to know something about why the angels were after her. Her uncanny knowledge of angels and her having problems growing up amounted to something the angels were willing to kill for. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this all.
"Why don't you just ask me to my face?" We heard Anna's voice, surprised that we hadn't heard her enter the room, we all turned to her. I wanted to ask her why she was keeping something from us because with that many angels on her ass, she had to know something. Because as much of dicks as the angels presented themselves to be, they wouldn't kill someone without reason, whether it was crappy or not.
"Nice job watching her," Dean said to Ruby.
"I'm watching her," Ruby replied, mumbling as she gestured to Anna, who had been standing right next to her.
"No, you're right, Anna. Is there anything you want to tell us?" Sam asked her politely, giving the girl a chance to speak up about what she might know.
"About what?" She followed up, cluelessly.
"The angels said you were guilty of something. Why would they say that?" I asked her, scrunching my eyebrows together to show my confusion. I thought it was possible that she knew more than she was leading on. It was not like any sane person would lead with their most gravest sin. I certainly didn't.
"You tell me. Tell me why my life has been leveled, why my parents are dead. I don't know. I swear. I would give anything to know." She spoke, and as she did, I grew to believe she was just as clueless as we were. I sighed for the third time that day, upset that the only source we had for leads didn't remember a single thing.
"Okay. Then let's find out."
WE STAYED IN BOBBY'S BASEMENT AS we waited for Dean to come back with Pamela. It was quite a few hours, but it gave me time to relax because I knew that until Pamela did show up, there was nothing else we could do. Lily and I had divided ourselves from Anna, Ruby, Malakai, and Sam. We picked a room―one with a bed at that. Diving into it was the first thing I did when I got the chance. As my body touched the bed I heard somebody walk in and close the door on their way in. The most prominent person that would be was my little sister, who was still aiming to hear about my time in hell and had more than enough to explain to me.
"What do you want?" I asked mumbling into the pillow that laid on top of the bed. I sighed into the pillow and then flipped my body over to lay on my back. I was dreading this moment for as long as I could. The last thing I wanted was for my sister to know that I was not the same fearless older sister she always knew. The sister that wouldn't hesitate to take on any challenge and would never hesitate to walk into the line of danger didn't exist anymore. She died when I was in hell. I was a completely new person and I had to try my best to hide that. I was going to put on a brave face and try to fake it for her. You know what they say: fake it till you make it.
"I told you about what happened when you were gone. Now, are you going to tell me?" She demanded rather than asked. She thought that me talking about it was going to help me get over it, but I didn't see myself ever moving on from the worst nine months of my life―well death to be more accurate.
"No," I answered bluntly. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the sound of my beating heart. I tried to focus on the fact that I was out of hell, and I wasn't going to go back, but even I had a difficult time believing that. I knew that the next time I died that I was going right back there and that scared the holy crap out of me. Although, I thought back to the years following the deal I had made and remembered that in the ten years on the job, I had managed to survive. I knew I was good at what I did. All I had to do was hold on for as long as I could. I was not going to go down without a fight―not this time. I sighed at the thought; I wondered if Dean ever felt the same way I did.
"I just want to make things easier for you. I just thought it would be better if we talked about it." She suggested. I shut my eyes again, but this time my mind took me back to when I was hanging on the chains, unable to move, forced to look at my captivator in the eyes. Suddenly, my eyes shot open, and it became the last thing I wanted to talk about, especially with my little sister.
"I don't remember anything, Lily. Just let it go." I said with slight venom in my voice. I knew she caught onto it before I could silently curse to myself.
"You know, I'm not stupid." She began. I could tell she was rolling her eyes at me right now. I picked my back from the bed I had been laying on, and I looked at her. She seemed pretty irritated, but I knew it was none of her business. I was never going to tell her what it was like to be stuck and tortured for nine months, that felt like ninety years, in the most creative way possible by the person you grew to care about and trust, thinking you were never going to get out of there. There are no words to explain that to someone, and the last person I would consider telling was my little sister, the person I went to hell for in the first place. She would probably feel guilty beyond measure. Hell broke me in ways I wasn't even able to explain, and I would never be the same person again.
"You used to be so reckless. You would see a nest of vampires and not even hesitate to walk in and slaughter them until your dying breath. You would walk into a burning building to save someone even if you thought it would collapse. You never thought twice before walking into danger. And yet, you've been so on edge since I bumped into you at Anna's house yesterday. So, yeah, you changed." She elaborated. I closed my eyes as I listened to her words. Everything she was describing was everything I wish I could still be. "I know my sister." She said as she took a seat next to me on the bed.
I, then, opened my eyes, looking at her as she studied me. I wasn't going to open up to her. I didn't care that she knew I was lying. She didn't need to hear it. I cared about her too much to put her through that. So, I decided to change the subject. "You're sleeping with a demon." I stated. I didn't ask her. I knew the answer. I knew she would lie to me if I asked her, but I wanted to let her know that I knew.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She denied my previous statement, much like I knew she would respond to it. But I wasn't going to push her, at least not at that moment. I knew if I did, she would not stop pushing me about my last eleven months. And that was the last thing I wanted her to do.
"Okay."
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door to see Ruby as she opened the door. "Pamela's here." She said as she eyed both of us suspiciously. I got off the bed and straightened my black ripped jeans before heading out, the sound of my heels echoing in the near empty room, leaving my sister sitting there in her own thoughts.
As we walked into Bobby's panic room I saw Anna lying on the bed and Pamela over her guiding her through the whole process. Dean was sitting on the desk and Sam was sitting on a cabinet. I watched as Lily took a seat on the chair between the two brothers. That left me with leaning against the wall adjacent to the bed that Anna was laying down in. I sat down on the floor and put my head into my hands, having to push every negative thought away that had recently came back to resurface.
"Now, Anna, tell me...How can you hear the angels? How did you work that spell?" Pamela asked, throwing two questions her way.
"I don't know. I just did." She answered, relaxed. I took a deep breath, observing Anna. So, she had no idea. Who would've thought?
"Your father...What's his name?" Pamela followed up.
"Rich Milton," She recited the name that appeared on her file. I looked down at my nails that I had gotten done two weeks ago, painted in navy blue. My nails began picking at each other as I waited for Anna to try to remember something.
"All right. But I want you to look further back...when you were very young...just a couple of years old."
"I don't want to," Anna said, appearing to be a little afraid.
"It'll be okay. Anna, just one look―that's all we need." Pamela reassured her.
"No..." She mumbled as she began shuffling in her position.
"What's your dad's name? Your real dad. Why is he angry at you?" Pamela asked more specifically, careful to never let her voice rise.
"No. No! No." She kept repeating as suddenly the lights flickered on top of her and her whole top half jumped out of bed as if she was in immense pain. "NO!" She screamed again.
"Calm down."
"He's gonna kill me!" She yelled even louder this time as she began tossing and turning and never stopping. As her screams got louder, the door slammed, and the lights exploded over her, sparks and glass flying around the room and shattering. Pamela used the sound of her voice to soothe her, yet it wasn't doing much. Dean saw it as a chance to get up and see if she was alright, despite Pamela's orders not to. Even I knew that it was a bad idea before he got hit and slammed against the wall, breaking a chair on his way down.
I, instantly, got up and made my way over to him. He was groaning in pain. I kneeled to him and placed a hand on his cheek as I asked in a low voice, voicing my concern for him, "Dean, are you alright?" He groaned in response, but placed his hand on top of mine. He opened his eyes and I looked into his sparkling green eyes. I think I froze for a second when he suddenly smiled. Those were the eyes I would end up dreaming about when I went to sleep that night.
"Wake in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5," Pamela counted as Anna finally calmed down. "Anna...Anna? You all right?" She asked, following with Anna opening her eyes, looking perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened.
Anna sat up on the bed as she said, "Thank you, Pamela. That helps a lot. I remember now."
"Remember what?" Sam asked.
"Who I am," She simply stated as she turned to Sam to answer his question.
"I'll bite. Who are you?" Dean asked as he grabbed my hand it removed it from his face as he placed it on his lap as he intertwined our fingers. I looked down on his lap where our hands held each other and a smile grew onto my face.
"I'm an angel."
"DON'T BE AFRAID. I'M NOT LIKE the others," Anna announced after we gathered into the library to talk about the problems we had to face now that we understood better what was going on. Sam, Pamela, and I were leaning against Bobby's desk as Dean was sitting on the arm of a chair. As the conversation started, my eyes drifted to Lily, leaning against the doorway on the opposite side of Ruby with Malakai leaning against the wall beside her.
"I don't find that very reassuring," Ruby stated.
"Neither do I." Pamela agreed.
"So, Castiel, Uriel―they're the ones that came for me?" Anna asked as she paced back and forth with her hands stuffed in her back pockets.
"You know them?" Sam inquired.
"We were kind of in the same foxhole." She explained.
"So, what, were they like your bosses or something?" I asked as I ran a hand through my hair. To me, it seemed as if she was afraid to face them. She must have disobeyed them or something to have them chase after her with the intent to kill her.
"Try the other way around." She corrected me as a small grin appeared on her face.
"Look at you," Lily added in a slightly lighter manner, probably thinking the same thing we all were: what the hell happened?
"But now they want to kill you?" Pamela questioned, wondering how exactly that came to be.
"Orders are orders. I'm sure I have a death sentence on my head." Anna stated as she continued to pace back and forth in the room. My eyes narrowed at her. I knew she was different from the other angels; that much was apparent, but I think she was a lot more like them than she would care to admit. And I think inevitably that would screw us over.
"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the powerless angel in front of me and crossing my arms over my chest, getting ready to hear her story.
"I disobeyed...which, for us, is about the worst thing you can do. I fell." She explained as she turned to face me.
"Meaning?" Dean interrupted, not understanding what she meant by fell. I rolled my eyes at his comment. It was clear he didn't do any research about the angels since we first discovered their existence. It had been obvious that I was the only one that bothered to research angels. I had been a believer in things beyond what I saw everyday hunting―same went for my sister. And after I found out angels were what saved me, I read a ton of lore on them, increasing my knowledge on them immensely. "She fell to earth, became human," I explained, recalling something I had read from the lore after I turned to face Dean. He looked surprised to hear that, surprised that I had known that.
"Wait a minute. I don't understand. So, angels can just become human?" Sam asked, turning his attention from me to Anna.
"It kind of hurts. Try cutting your kidney out with a butter knife. That kind of hurt. I ripped out my grace." She answered metaphorically.
"That sounds like fun." Malakai commented as he stared into the distance, perhaps thinking about trying it out. I shivered at the thought of it.
"Come again?" Dean questioned as if she had spoken a different language.
"My grace. It's energy. Hacked it out and fell. My mother, Amy, couldn't get pregnant. Always called me her little miracle. She had no idea how right she was." Anna explained the concept of grace, although I already knew what it was, that it was what gave the angels their powers. It was what made them beyond human. My eyes drifted into the distance as I began thinking of the things that we would have to come across to keep Anna safe from both the angels and demons. The task seemed difficult enough with just the demons on our ass, but now protecting her from angels―it appeared as if it was a task nearly impossible, but that never stopped us before.
"So, you just forgot that you were God's little Power Ranger?" Dean asked, catching on.
"The older I got, the longer I was human, yeah." She answered as she nodded her head.
"I don't think you all appreciate how completely screwed we are." Malakai cut the discussion short. As much as I hate to agree with a demon, we were on the same page. I couldn't even begin to decide what to do now. We had a fallen angel in our possession. And to make matters worse, she was wanted by the demons and wanted dead by the angels. I felt that inevitably one side was going to get what they wanted, and there was no way to stop it.
"Malakai's right. Heaven wants me dead." Anna said, only dipping her toes into the problems we were now forced to face because of her.
"And Hell just wants her. A flesh-and-blood angel that you can question, torture that bleeds. Sister, you're the Stanley Cup. And sooner or later, Heaven or Hell, they're gonna find you." Ruby added. My hands found my forehead, holding my head in my hands as a headache was starting to form. Ruby was right, and we didn't have a lot of choices for the matter. We couldn't take on both of them. It seemed as if we stumbled upon a war that was going to end bloody for all of us. It was at this moment I truly appreciated what it was like to be an ordinary monster hunter.
"I know. And that's why I'm gonna get it back." Anna stated. It? Was she talking about her grace?
"What?" Sam questioned, confused.
"My grace," She answered quickly, confirming my assumptions.
"You can do that?" Malakai asked, lifting his eyebrow in interest.
"If I can find it."
"So, what, you're just gonna take some divine bong hit, and, shazam, you're Roma Downey?" Dean narrowed his eyes, taking a wild guess.
"Something like that."
"All right. I like this plan. So, where's this grace of yours?" Lily asked. I sighed. It looked like we were going along with the plan. This was not going to be any easier―looking for the grace that had not been seen in twenty-three years, yet we all knew it was the best plan we had.
"Lost track. I was falling about 10,000 miles per hour at the time." She said with a sly smile on her face.
"Wait. You mean falling, like, literally?" Sam asked, slightly taken back by the term falling being literal, probably as we all were.
"Yes."
"Like the way a human eye can see? Like a comet, maybe, or a meteor?" He added.
"Why do you ask?"
After an hour, we were lucky that Sam had managed to find something useful. We all gathered in Bobby's library to see what he found. He pointed at the news article that way laying on Bobby's table, "Union, Kentucky. Found some accounts of a local miracle." He presented the best lead he had at finding Anna's grace.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. In '85, there was an empty field outside of town. Six months later, there was a full-grown oak. They say it looks a century old, at least." Leaning over the table, Lily and I took a look at what Sam mentioned.
"Anna, what do you think?" Lily turned to her to see if she thought it could have been her grace.
"The grace. Where it hit, it could have done something like that, easy." She said effortlessly.
Lily looked over to Anna, making sure she got this right because it seemed that we were all thinking the same thing. "So grace ground zero―it's not destruction. It's..." She began slightly hesitant with her words, unsure if she was going at it the right way until Anna confirmed her own assumption.
"Pure creation."
𝟷𝟿𝚃𝙷 𝙽𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟾
UNFORTUNATELY, THE LEAD FOR ANNA'S GRACE turned out to be a bust. We were all cooped up in the cabin, pulling at straws for our next move. I sighed, knowing things were not looking to be in our favor. Lily and I walked through the door of the cabin to see Dean and Ruby arguing. It wasn't a surprise to me; it seemed that Dean and I were on the same page about her. I assumed that he shared the same feelings toward Malakai. I was willing to work with them and not kill them, but I did not like them―in fact, I hated Ruby. With enough time, I'm sure I'd hate Malakai, as well. I only respected the fact that my little sister trusted them, despite her better judgment. I was barely keeping myself from killing them, but an argument was the last thing we needed now. This situation was an all hands on deck, and for some reason, Ruby and Malakai were proven to be helpful.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey. Stop it." Sam said as he entered behind Lily and me, trying to get Dean and Ruby to stop arguing.
"Anna's grace is gone. You understand? She can't angel up. She can't protect us. We can't fight Heaven and Hell. One side maybe, but not both. Not at once." Ruby raised her voice at Sam. I leaned back on the wall behind me as I ran a hand through my hair. I sighed; Ruby was right again. Getting in between a war between angels and demons was probably one of the stupidest things we had ever done, but there was no going back, not now.
"Um...guys? The angels are talking again." Anna interrupted the conversation softly, staring into the distance.
"What are they saying?" Lily asked, walking a little closer to her.
"It's weird...Like a recording a loop. It says, "Dean Winchester and Audrey Blake give us Anna by midnight, or..." She repeated as she suddenly stopped. I was afraid of what she might say. It had been my biggest fear since the moment I had gotten topside. My hands fell to my thighs as I wiped the sweat on the legs of my black ripped jeans.
"Or what?" Dean asked, beating me to it. I knew he was just as afraid as I was, maybe even more. That place had turned him into what he saw as a monster with no humanity. I didn't think he would be able to survive another day there. My breathing was slowing down and remained unsteady. I could feel the coldness reach to my face as the blood flow to my brain slowed down. Suddenly, I felt freezing. My hands were shaking with nervousness. My legs were no longer able to hold my body up, and I had to lean against the wall; however, it did not give me any aid at all when I heard the words that came out of her mouth. My legs gave out, and I fell to the ground and into the world of unconsciousness.
"'...or we hurl them back to damnation."
~
Word Count: 9707
Questions: Put yourself in Marissa's position, would you have reacted like she had when she attacked Ruby or like Dean had when he thanked Ruby for looking out for Sam? Why? And did you like that scene? Why or why not?
Put you and your sibling or best friend in the same position Marissa and Lily are in, who would more likely be the one to sleep with the demon?
What do you think about Malakai?
Put yourself in Marissa's position, Lily is pushing you to talk about hell, would you lie and say you don't remember it, be honest say you do, but don't talk about it, or talk about what bothers you? Why?
A/N: I still do not own Supernatural if I did, it would have a more reoccurring badass female character. Oh wait, that's Jody. I loved writing the scene with Ruby and Marissa. I thought it added a lot of character to Marissa. She most certainly is a badass. She's also definitely on edge and very hesitant about working with Ruby and Malakai. I think Malakai gives me an opportunity to portray Lily in a romantic way. Naive of her to get involved with him, don't you think? Same goes for Sam. Let me know how you guys think Marissa and Ruby's relationship and Lily and Malakai's relationship will play out. And as for Lily trying to get the truth out of Marissa―that doesn't seem likely.