Secrets Will Kill You

I saw blood splattered on the walls, dripping down into massive puddles on the floor…there was nothing else...just blood, smoke and fire. The smell of the blood was so erratic, it was giving me chills…and I almost puked. I didn’t even like the sight of my own blood. I stood there…mortified at the sight. Then I felt more drops fall onto my face…I stared up, hesitantly and there…my stepmom and dad were pinned…bleeding just like my sister. Then…I could’ve sworn I saw my father have a tear slide down his cheek…and that fell onto my face as well…and then they were engulfed in the flames and I shrieked.

I shot up in bed, feeling the sweat on my forehead and it had seeped onto the sheets. I sat just sat there, calming my heart rate and slowing down my breathing. “You okay? You had another nightmare” Brittney asked as she came out of the bathroom in a towel and sat on my bed.

Brittney was my best friend…my sister, really. We’ve been friends…since…well since she was born 5 years after I was. Our parents were friends…our siblings were in a relationship…and in the blink of an eye…our family…was gone. She’s all I have…and I’m all she has. A demon caused it…it killed the people we loved. All my life, I grew up as my father’s prodigy. He was the best of the best. I feel like I had an okay life. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t perfect. I never liked hunting…and I never liked the idea of having the power to spill blood…I still don’t…but I had big shoes to fill. People were expecting things of me. My father…he was the best dad ever. We had a kind of bond that no one understood. He took me on these crazy ass cases…but nothing too extreme for me. We hunted together…I usually just helped with the wounds of the people we saved and I helped with keeping them safe as he took care of the rest. I didn’t like the idea of killing something…even if it was a killer and deserved to die…I just never had it in me to finish the job…no one knows that. But, that’s where Brit comes in. She wasn’t always a hunter…but two years ago…when the incident happened…she just turned 18 and I was 23 so I taught her (what I knew) how to hunt. When it comes to being up close and personal, like driving a knife into something and having blood squirt everywhere, I try to have her do that kind of stuff. She wanted to be a doctor anyway so she has no problem with blood…the only problem is that she’s taking lives away instead of saving them.

I may be some prodegy but i still have my own issues. I dont like doing it myself because the smell of the blood hurts my nose and i can tatse it in my mouth...it's pretty selfish of me, to be honest. I had to follow in my fathers footsteps and take charge…but I couldn’t just leave without Brit…I couldn’t leave her period. I first told her about demons, vampires, werewolves…the supernatural…when we were ten and we were at this slumber party. She wanted to say Bloody Mary but I wouldn’t let her because even though I never had any confirmation that Mary existed I was still afraid she did…and once Brit saw how serious I was, she agreed not to…but our friend Haylie did…and sadly, she did not make it. Dad was on the case for a while but never found Mary. So…here we are now…in another crappy hotel…ready to face another crappy day.

“Mel?” Brit's voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Umm yea…yea I’m fine…lets head out, I’m thirsty for a beer” I said, standing up, nodding.

She stood too and just stared at me, eyeing me carefully. I bit my bottom lip and then made a popping noise with my lips. “Yea” I added as I grabbed some clothes and head toward the bathroom. I got in the shower and felt the cold water fall over my head.

“Hey!” I heard Brit say from the other side of the door.

“What?” I snapped and made a noise that came from the back of my throat and she just laughed.

“Your latest drawings are pretty good…are these the actual Winchester brothers?” she laughed a little more.

“Hey! That’s the section you’re not supposed to look at!”

“But it’s in such a vivid detail…we’ve never even met them in person”

“I know…”

“Are you dreaming about them too? Man I wish I could have your dreams…” she said but then there was a silence.

I think she realized what she had just said…because there is no way in Hell that she wants my dreams. “Sorry” she murmured.

“It’s alright. Just put my book down and get ready to head out” I told her and shut the water off.

I sighed and stepped out, wrapping the towel around me. I had a feeling inside me…like something was going to happen today. I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad…it was just a weird feeling…almost like something was going to change…things were going to be different from here on out…but what made today so special? Guess I would find out.

~~~~

We got to the closest bar and walked in. It was filled with random men, sitting at the bar and at tables. The air was filled with talking and crackling. “Hey girls, I’ll get you the usual” Joe, the bartender, said. “Thanks Joe” I said.

“I will be right back” Brit smirked and walked over to the pool table to hustle some guys.

I laughed to myself. Brit and I…well we were good at hustling. Mostly because we show some cleavage, convince men to do it our way, we collect our money and we leave…we have to make money some how. It’s not like this job pays.
I looked out the window and saw a beautiful Impala drive into the parking lot but turned away from the window when Joe gave me mine and Brit’s beers and smiled so I smiled back but his smile faltered when the bell rang, cuing someone was walking in and she looked up to see who it was. I was curious so I just glanced over my shoulder and saw it was the Dean and Sam Winchester. My eyes widened a little as I looked down at my beer and Joe walked over to talk to them.

“…and do you know someone’s crap of a pick up truck is in your parking lot? It’s just a disgrace to the environment with it’s presence” I heard Dean said and that got me steamed.

No one talks about my truck like that. I glanced over at them again and Dean looked up at me so I quickly looked away and squeezed my eyes tight, hoping he wouldn’t come over…but he did.

He came up on my side and leaned on the bar. “Hey there little lady…what’s a girl like you doing in a nasty bar like this…” he started but Joe smacked him upside the head with a newspaper and I snickered.

He glared at him but then looked at me again as I was still looking down at my beer. “You’re a hunter?” he asked.

“A hunter? What do you mean?” I looked up at him with innocent eyes and a tone that made me sound like some ditsy girl.

“Well, Joe was just telling me…and you‘re here…” he started, unsure of what to say next.

“Yes I am…that doesn’t mean I kill animals, I heard that Joe’s bar was a great establishment, what kind of irretentive, narcissistic girl do you think I am” He exchanged a look with his brother and I looked up at both of then with innocent eyes.

“I uhh…”

“Excuse us” Sam filled in.

I laughed a little as they walked away and right over to Joe on the other side of the bar. I smirked. My sensitive hearing let me listen in on their conversation. “Joe I thought you said she was a hunter…that girl is saying she doesn’t know anything about what I’m talking about” Dean pointed at me as I still pretended to mind my own business.

“Her? Boys, she’s Melissa Stern”

“Wait, as in…the daughter of William Stern?” Sam asked, incredulous.

“The one and only. She’s one of the best…hell of a liar too” Joe chuckled.

Sam covered his mouth as his jaw dropped and he was laughing and Dean glared at him. “Dude you got schooled by Melissa Stern!” Sam claimed quietly but I could still hear him and I laughed.

“I did not get schooled by her Sam” he spat.

He spun back around, and I could feel him eyeing me, irritated by the fact that he fell for my act. He walked over to me and I looked up at him, smirking, swallowing my drink. “Yes?” I batted my eyes.

“You know what I’m talking about. You are a hunter” he established. I spun around in my seat and put my elbows on the bar, leaning back.

“Oh you’re good” I nodded, very sarcastically and Sam laughed as Dean sat on the stool beside me.

“You waiting for someone?” Dean nodded at the two beers in front of me.

“Oh, no, they’re both for my friend, she’s heavy on the drinking” I joked but seemed serious. “She’s over there, hustling some guys in pool” I nodded over at them and they both looked over at them.

“So, what are you doing here…” Sam started as he sat on the other side of me but held his eyes on Brit as she leaned over to hit the white ball and all those guys stared at her as just something they wanted to tap.

I smirked, rolled my eyes and I spun back around to lean on the bar. “Yea…I mean no offence but I didn’t picture you to be Melissa Stern. You‘re dad’s a legend. Where is he?” Dean laughed warily to himself.

“He’s away…and I’m going to take that offensively…” I told him and his smile vanished as his lips formed a straight line and Sam snickered, hiding his laugh. I looked at him. “But apparently I’m here to disgrace the environment with the presence of my truck…” Sam’s grin grew wider.

I looked at Dean again “That is what you said…right Dean?” I smirked. “Oh yea, I know you guys too and I have to say, you guys seem even more incompetent and ignorant in person” I said perkily.

“Hey! We are not…” Dean started but stopped when my eyes and my whole expression turned dark and I got up in his face.

“Don’t. Diss the truck. Like your Impala is any better” I rolled my eyes at him.

I know I said the car was beautiful…and it was…but I wasn’t going to let him know I thought that.

“Hey! That car is a classic!”

“And so is that truck!” I yelled back and we just sat there, inches away from each others faces.

“Well aren’t you just sweet like candy” he quipped and managed a smart ass smile.

“Oh yea, I can be” I nodded and smiled a smile that you smie at kids who are mentally slow. “But, you don’t want to make fun of the truck honey, it wont end pretty” I told him as I stood up and I realized Brit left the pool game to head over to us.

“Do you think that since you’re Melissa Stern, that you get to just run your mouth? I’m sorry to break it to you sweetheart but you’re lucky I’m such a gentleman” he said, standing up as well, smirking with fake pride.

I scoffed. He was only a little bit taller than me so I had to look up but I stood my ground, glaring up at him. “Dean chill out, lets just leave her alone” Sam tried to pull him away but Dean stood his ground as well.

“Mel…back down” Brit whispered as she grabbed onto my arm but my eyes never left his and his eyes never left mine.

“Okay, that’s enough, the two of you!” Joe ordered, getting in between us. “This is for your own good Dean, just don’t mess with her, she’ll take you down…” he added.

“What?” he asked in disbelief of the fact that Joe just said that. I smirked in satisfactory.

“Am I going to have to kick you out?” he asked, looking from me to him.

“No, that’s okay Joe, we were just leaving” I told him. “Coming Brit?” I asked as I headed toward the door.

“Yea…she’s sorry…” I heard her tell them.

“No I’m not!” I called to them, walking out the door.

Brit soon came out after me and caught up. “What was that about?” she asked.

“How dare he diss my truck” I mumbled.

“Do you know that was Sam and Dean Winchester? We were just talking about them this morning! Mel this might be why you’ve been drawing them!” she grinned. I stopped in my tracks so she did too and we faced each other

“Dean Winchester called my truck a disgrace to the environment” I informed her, angrily. She was silent.

“Oh…what a douche” she made a face.

“Thank you”

We continued walking and I hit a button on my keys to unlock the truck. “That dick head doesn’t have the right to diss my car” I mumbled, throwing my foot up onto the step and swinging my body into the drivers seat. Brit got around and into the passenger seat.

“Ya know…the tall one…Sam…he was kinda cute” she said and I scoffed, looking at her. “What? He was” she said, quietly.

I rolled my eyes and started it up. I backed up and barely, ‘accidentally’, tapped the Impala as Dean and Sam came out.

“Oops!” I said loud out the window so he heard as he was fuming and Sam looked like a deer in head lights, having to deal with his brother’s ranting.

“Son of a bitch!” he yelled as I sped off, laughing.

I glanced at Brit to see her giving me a look. “Was that really necessary?” she questioned but I could tell she was smirking.

“Umm yea…he was mean to my baby!” I claimed.

“Oh just get a room already” she groaned, looking out the window.

“It’s okay baby, she’s just jealous of what we have” I said and she rolled her eyes again. I laughed. “Oh come on Brit, why so serious?” I joked.

She just shook her head and started going through my tapes.“Why do you even go through them if you’re not even gonna find anything you like?” I asked.

“I like some of your music…I just think you need to update it a little…like to CD’s maybe?”

I just rolled my eyes. “You’ve put up with it all this years so shut it…” I said, taking the box of tapes from her and putting it in the back seat.

I put a tape in and Bon Jovi’s voice came through the speakers and I started shouting the words.

Shot through the heart
And your to blame
Darlin you give love a bad name!

I was banging my hands on the steering wheel and dancing in my seat and I was shaking Brit’s arm and hitting her, trying to get her to join in. She started laughing but joined in.

Theres no where to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

I started laughing as we continued shouting the lyrics to the song. I put on the masquerade to keep her mind off of the Winchesters because she was bound to start thinking about them again, but I couldn’t even help myself from thinking about them. Truth is…I think Brit may have had a point. What if…my drawings…were telling me something. What if…the Winchester’s have something to do with the gut feeling I was having this morning. One of the rules to hunting is to trust your hunters gut. It’s the hunter’s instinct, you’ll never know when it will save your life…the most important rule is don’t get yourself killed, don’t even get close to dying especially if you’re more of a loner because most likely…no one’s going to come looking for you. Family comes first though to most hunters…so another rule to remember? Don’t mess with other hunters family members, it probably wont end well for you…unless they had a broken family. Brit and I weren’t broken…our family past is broken but we’re our own family now…and that’s all we need.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I think Dean had a thing for you” Brit said.

“Brittney, focus” I scolded.

Right now, it was close to midnight and we were out in the woods, being cautious and ready to strike as soon as we saw what we were hunting: a werewolf.

“I am focusing…I’m just saying…I think he may have had a thing for you. That’s all”

“We’re talking about Dean Winchester, Brit. He’s an arrogant player who thinks he’s hot shit”

“Hmm well you two are perfect for each other”

I stared at her in shock. “Ouch. That one hurt, Brit”

“I’m just kidding…but you don’t exactly know him. It’s just from what you heard and you are the one who said you only believe things you see” she countered.

She got me there. I was about to protest in some way but then we both heard a howl. We both turned around slowly and looked up to see the werewolf standing, hovering over us. I pointed my gun up immediately even though we weren’t going to use our weapons on it but it was faster anyway and smacked it out of my hand. It flew Brit into the air, flying a few feet away and then threw me into a tree and I landed on a few rocks. The monster stalked toward me.

“Hey!” a voice yelled and shots came after it.

I snapped my head in the direction and saw Dean shooting at it as Sam ran to Brit’s aid. Then, the werewolf dropped to the ground as it whimpered one last time. It was dead. I stood up, brushing the dirt off as Dean walked over to me with a smug smirk.

“I just saved your ass…”

“You idiot!” I yelled at him. “Great, now you’ve done it” I picked up my gun and stormed off toward Brit and Sam.

“Excuse me?” Dean asked, keeping up with my pace.

“You shouldn’t be here. You should leave” I told them both, giving Sam a more gentle look.

“Not until you tell us what you’re talking about. We just saved you both from…”

“From nothing. You didn’t save us from anything. We wanted it to come after us”

“What? Why?” Sam asked.

“Because it has a nest and we were going to use it to lead us to its nest to kill the babies before they were born but since you killed the mother first, we’re probably going to be eaten alive by her young” Brit explained, being calm like it was no big deal…that was her being sarcastic.

“I’ve never heard of a mother werewolf before” Sam stated.

“Because there’s only been a legend of it and my father was the only one who has ever even laid eyes on it…he was actually teamed up with your dad when they went looking for it…” I explained.

“You knew our dad?” Dean asked.

“Well not personally but our dads were on and off friends…but besides the point!”

“Wait, so how long until the babies come and how many?” Sam asked.

We all heard howls and spun around to look into the distance. “Umm thirty seconds…and I think there might be…fifteen…maybe thirty…” Brit answered as we all lined up side by side with our guns ready.

Dean was on my other side as Sam was on the opposite end, on the other side of Brittney. I saw Sam and Dean’s faces actually looked kind of nervous.

“Yea, are you happy you saved our asses now?” I spat.

“Okay, okay” Dean grunted. “How do you kill the damn things?”

“Same way…just don’t let them scratch you, they don’t have to bite for you to turn, they just have to draw blood when it’s a full moon…and you turn” Brit explained.

I didn’t take my eyes off the distance as my look was hard and I was almost panicky but I tried not to show it. I noticed Sam and Dean looked up to the sky and saw the full moon and that’s when the young started racing toward us and we started firing.

“Split up! It’ll be easier” I ordered and we all spread out, running in different directions.

Of course, I got the most chasing after me. I shot a few and they fell to the ground but then my gun was jammed and I couldn’t re-load.

“Great” I muttered as I kept running. “Shit, shit, shit, shit…”

“Melissa!” Dean yelled as he was nearby.

He threw me his gun as I threw him mine. He was crazy! I spun around and as one of them was in mid air, ready to attack me, I shot it and it fell to the ground and I shot a few more. I saw Dean smack my gun on a tree real hard and he fired it at a few of them. I continued running and I ran up a tree, did a back flip off it and shot a few more. I saw Dean staring at me but when I stared back, he went back to shooting. I shot the last one and I was breathing hard.

We all met back together and we were all breathing heavily with dirt covering us. We kind of just stood there for a long moment in silence.

“I think we should start over and properly introduce ourselves. I’m Sam and this is my brother, Dean” Sam said, shaking my hand and then Brit’s.

Dean put on a smug smile and only shook Brit’s hand but we glared at each other, having a silent battle with our eyes. “Melissa” Brit scolded quietly as she nudged me. I grunted.

“I’m Melissa and this is my friend, Brittney” I introduced shaking Sam’s hand but pulled my hand back to my side, sticking both hands in my pockets. Brittney shook Dean’s hand and gave me a look.

“We’ll walk you girls back to your truck” Sam offered and Brit and I just nodded politely as Dean muttered under his breath and Sam nudged him as they followed us.

During the walk it felt much longer getting back to the truck than it did coming into the woods. I was looking down at the ground with a frown on my face as Sam caught up with us and started walking beside Brit.

“Hey” He gave an I’m adorable smile. “Hey” Brit replied as she gave her I’m a flirt smile.

I was glancing at Sam, grinning as he was glancing at me as well. I started to slow my pace down and I realized I was walking side by side with Dean.

“You know, you’re really an ungrateful bitch”

“I’m not ungrateful, just annoyed”

“Why? Because we thought you girls could use some help?” he snapped.

“Because you interrupted our mission that was going just fine, you got in the way, you think you’re the shit…and…” I spun around to face him. “You dissed my truck” I smirked.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa hold up sister, you really want to get into this?” Now, we’ve stopped walking all together.

“Yea, lets get into it right now”

“You hit my car with your truck!”

“You deserved it!”

We continued arguing and it just turned into yelling because as I was trying to yell over him while he was trying to yell over me. “Hey! You two! Shut it!” Brit yelled as her and Sam came back over to us.

“You’re both acting like two year olds…you better start getting used to each other” Sam said.

Dean and I gave them strange looks. “Sam and I were talking and we thought it would be a good idea for us to hit the road with them for a little bit” Brit started.

“Yea, Brittney was saying how you guys don’t know much about the whole hunting thing and that you could use some help on your skills but you two also know things that we don’t know. We can teach each other. Plus we made a pretty good team tonight”

"We know plenty" I said, stubbornly.

"But not enough to keep us alive" Brit gave me hard eyes.

“Are you two serious?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Yea, Sammy, I mean…” Dean started. He didn’t want this as much as I didn’t.

“We’re going to be traveling together weather you two like it or not” Brit folded her arms.

“Yea, but we’re telling you now, it might make things easier if you learn to like each other” Sam said and I folded my arms.

Dean and I looked at each other and we both made grunting noises. “Whatever...dick” I muttered. “Bitch” he muttered as well.

Then, we both gave each other smug smiles but then I just narrowed my eyes at him, frowning and he continued to smile. I looked away and at Sam. “We’ll follow you” I said as Brit and I started to walk toward the truck.

“Good thing, wouldn’t want that monstrosity’s exhaust smelling up my car!” Dean called after us.

“It doesn’t need my truck’s help, you already do that yourself!” I called back, not turning around and at first I thought he was going to call me some name but then I heard Sam smack him upside the head as they started to bicker a little.

I pulled myself up into the drivers seat and glared playfully as Dean narrowed his eyes at me before getting into the Impala.

“I cant believe you thought this was a good idea” I murmured, shaking my head as I started up the truck.

“Hey, this could be good for us, give us a chance to actually interact with other hunters longer than just an afternoon…and you know how good they are”

“Yea, good at almost getting us killed”

“That was just an accident. They thought they were helping…”

“You only want to do this because you want to get closer to Sam” I muttered as I started to drive, following behind Dean.

“Not true!” I glanced at her and gave her a look. “A little true…what? Can you blame me? He’s cute” she cooed and I rolled my eyes. “Come on Mel, cheer up, you know you want to get closer to Dean”

“No, I’d rather face a whole nest of vampires by myself” She rolled her eyes this time.

“Well I don’t care what you think, it’s about time we made some friends on the job”

“They are not our friends, they are acquaintances. They’re teaching us and we’re teaching them, that’s all. This is only temporary”

“Whatever…” she fell silent after that.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. I had a gut wrenching feeling…this was just the beginning of a long…long…road ahead of us.