Secrets Will Kill You The Sequel

My POV

We all got back to the church with the supplies and we started teaching these people their way around a shotgun. “You know your way around a shotgun at all?” I asked this guy named Austin.

He looked at me, then at the shotgun in front of him, on the table. Then, in mere seconds, he dissembled the shotgun very expertly. I nodded my head, impressed. “Hm. Where'd you serve?” Dean asked, equally impressed.

“Fallujah. Two tours. Got back a little over a year ago. Takes one to know one. Where'd you serve?”

“Hell” Dean replied and I saw how he smirked humorlessly. I tensed slightly and kept my head down.

“No, seriously” Austin said, amused.

“Seriously. Hell” Dean said and I felt him glance at me.

Austin looked at me as well and I made eye contact with him before walking away. Dean was quickly at my side. We saw Brit and Sam on different sides of the room, looking deeply in thought. I nodded my head at Dean and then at Brit. But, he gave me a look. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Fine” I huffed and walked over to her.

She was leaning against the wall so I did the same, right beside her. “Hey…what’s up?” I asked her, eyeing her, carefully.

She continued to look down. “At the store…those demons were possessing teenagers. I mean, I had to slit some kid's throat”

“You had to Brit”

“I know…it’s just…I wish I could save people like I used to”

“When you were doped up on demon blood?” I questioned but I heard the venom in my voice. She looked up at me. “It’s not what I said” she shook her head, glaring at me. I glared back at her.

“I’ll be back” Ellen spoke and the four of us closed in on her. “Where you going?” Dean asked.

“I can't sit here on my ass. My daughter's out there somewhere. I'm not back in half an hour, go. Get these people out of here”

“No, wait. I'll go with you” Sam volunteered. “Whoa, hold on. Can I talk to you for a second?” Dean asked and dragged Sam out of the room.

The door was still open as Ellen, Brit and I all looked over at them and I was about to listen in but then Brit took a step toward Ellen. “I’ll go too”

“What? Seriously? You’re going to go out there again?” I asked her.

She faced me completely. “Sam and I will go and cover Ellen while you and Dean stay here and get them ready”

“Why does it have to be you two?”

“Why not? Oh, right you think I’m going to take one look at a demon and fall to my knees, as if I haven’t learned my lesson”

“Well have you?” I questioned and I saw how she was ready to lunge at me.

But, there was a loud thump and we spun to look at Sam pinning Dean to the wall. We walked over to them, taking long strides. “Sam” I said lightly and grabbed his arms to pull him off Dean.

He let go of his brother and just stood there. He made eye contact with me and just stared at me. “Come on, Sam” Brit spoke and pulled him away, back to Ellen. I took one quick look at Dean and then we walked back in as well.

Ellen, Brittney and Sam loaded their guns and then headed out. Some time passed by and I was pacing a little as the priest and some of the others were praying together and I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic in this room but I had to keep myself busy so I decided to sit in front of the pregnant lady and make sure she knew how to shoot a shotgun. She actually seemed really young to be pregnant. I was still unfocused though, in my own thoughts.

“Is he your husband?” she suddenly asked.

I saw she was glancing over my shoulder at Dean doing some of his own pacing. “What? Oh, no…”

“Boyfriend?” She looked back at me and I looked back at her. “I’m just curious because of the way he looks at you when you’re not looking…like he’s making sure you’re still here”

I felt my face get hot but I pushed it away. “Umm…I cant really explain what we are…”

She nodded, placated with my answer. “I get it”

I looked over my shoulder at Dean and I stood to my feet and I walked over to him. He stopped pacing to face me and I stared into his green eyes as he stared into my blue ones and we didn’t speak a word. We just stood there…staring at one another…sending telepathic thoughts to each other. Before we could continue our silent conversation, there was a knock at the door. Our heads snapped at it and he walked over to it as I took two steps toward it. He looked through the peep hole and then opened it. In walked Ellen…alone.

“Where are Sam and Brittney?” Dean asked.

She just shook her head and sat down beside the pregnant woman. I felt my heart start to race a little and I felt my body want to hyperventilate but I wouldn’t let myself.

“They took them? Demons took them? Oh my god. What if they're in here? The demons?” the pregnant woman started to panic. “Could they get in?” the pastor asked.

“No. Everybody sit tight. I got to…” Dean started toward the door with his shotgun.

I started to follow him out but instead of following him out, I grabbed his wrist. “Dean…” I said lightly. He stared into my eyes. “You know I would love to just head out and get Sam and Brit back…but…” I started and just gestured to the others in the room.

He looked at all of the other people who were depending on us. Him and I had to take charge and be the responsible ones. These people were counting on us. He looked back at me.

“Okay, we need to get a plan together. Tell me everything” he said, directing it mostly to Ellen but addressing all the people in the room.

So, Dean, Ellen and I sat down at a table to try and come up with some kind of elaborate plan…and you could only imagine how well that could’ve went…we were all at a loss for what our next move should be.

“Guys, one of them's in Jo. We got to get it out without hurting her” she said and I gave her a sincere look. Then, she scoffed. “It called me a bitch”

“Bruise a little easy, don't you think?” Dean inquired.

“No, that's not what I meant. It called me a black-eyed bitch” she said and I saw Dean considering what she just said. “What kind of demons are these? Holy water and salt roll right off. My daughter may be an idiot, but she's not stupid. She wears an anti-possession charm. It's all kind of weird, right?”

“This whole thing is just off” I commented.

“What's your instinct?”

“My instinct? To call Bobby for help. Or Sam and Brittney” I sighed.

I saw Dean agreed with me as he held his head slightly. “Well, tough. All you two got's me, and all I got's you two. So let's figure it out”

“Alright” Dean nodded, looking up at her.

She smiled. “Do you know why Rufus came to town? Was there a specific omen?”

“He said something about water. That's all I know”

“Padré, you know what she's talking about. The water?”

“The river. Ran polluted all of a sudden”

“When?” I asked.

“Last Wednesday. And the demon thing started up the next day” Austin answered. “Anything else? Anything” Dean urged.

“Maybe, but it's pretty random”

“Good. Random's good”

“Shooting star. Does that count?" Ellen, Dean and I all exchanged a look. “Real big. Same night. Wednesday”

“That definitely counts” I told him as I stood up and walked over to a book shelf.

I took out a bible and walked back over to Dean and Ellen and placed it on the table. I started to flip through the pages as Dean stood, looking over my shoulder. “So, uh, you think that all this comes from outer space?” Austin said.

I rolled my eyes. “This isn't X-Files, pal” Dean and I both said.

We looked up at each other, shared a look for a moment and then looked back down at the bible. I finally found the passage I was looking for.

“'And there fell a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell upon the river, and the name of the star was Wormwood. And many men died.’” I read aloud.

“Revelation eight ten. Are you saying that this is about the apocalypse?” the pastor questioned.

“You could say that. And these specific omens, they're prelude to what?” Dean asked.

“The Four Horsemen” I answered, before the pastor could, keeping my eyes on the passage I read. “And which one rides the red horse?”

“War” I let the pastor answer that one.

“That cherry Mustang” I said, looking at Dean. “Parked on Main” he added. We looked at Ellen and she nodded.

“You can't think that a car…” the pastor started.

“It's the way I'd roll. I mean, think about it. It all makes sense” Dean said. “If War is a dude and he's here, maybe he's messing with our heads” I finished. “Turning us on each other” Ellen added.

“You said Jo called you a black-eyed bitch. They think we're demons, we think they're demons. What if there are no demons at all and we're all just killing each other?” I suggested.

“Wait, just back up. It's the apocalypse?” the pastor asked, unsure what to think.

“Sorry, Padré” Dean said and I saw how the pastor was in disbelief.

He’s a follower of the catholic religion…and we just told him it was the apocalypse…how would you take it?

“So now you're saying that there are no demons and war is a guy” Austin said. “You believed crazy before” Dean stated.

Then someone was pounding at the door. Austin went to answer it. “Open up! It's Roger!” a voice yelled. He opened the door and in walked a man who seemed to be breathing really hard. “I saw them, the demons. They know we're trying to leave. They said they're gonna pick us off one by one” he spoke and I had a ping in my gut.

It was a weird feeling…a hunters instinct kind of feeling…and my senses went a little wild. I eyed Roger. “Wait, wait, wait. What?” Dean’s the one who spoke.

“I thought you said there were no demons” Austin said.

“There’s not” I said, sternly. “Where did you go?” Dean asked.

“I thought someone should go out and see what's going on!”

“Where did you see the demons and what did they say exactly?”

“We just sit here, we're going to be dead. They're gonna kill us unless we kill them first” he said, ignoring Dean’s questions.

“No we’re not!”

“Dean…” I whispered and gripped onto his arm to bring his ear to my lips. “Something’s not right about this guy” I whispered, still eyeing the panting man.

He started to eye him as well. “Hold on…” he said slowly but it wasn’t addressed to me.

He was trying to stay un-phased, addressing everyone in the room but he kept his eyes on Roger. “No, man, we got people to protect. All right, the able-bodied go hunt some demons” Austin said, handing one of the other guys a shotgun.

“Hold on a second!” I snapped. “This is not a demon thing” Dean added.

Then, I watched as Roger started to smirk and my eyes went to his hands as he started to twist the ring around his finger. My eyes widened. He wasn’t Roger…he was War.

“Look at their eyes! They're demons!” he yelled.

Ellen, Dean and I all looked at the others. The pregnant lady gasped and the pastor raised up his shot gun, pointing it at us. “Go, go!” Dean yelled as he took my hand and grabbed a hold of Ellen and we all bolted out of the room as shots were fired at us.

We all raced outside and started walking once we were a safe distance away from the church. “I wish I knew Roger was War before we opened the door for him” I muttered.

“Don’t worry about. Right now, we have to go save Brittney and Sam from Rufus and Jo” Dean assured me, staring into my eyes. I nodded. “They’re this way” Ellen said and we followed her as we started running again.

Ellen led us to this two story house and we started to scope it out. We got up on this big porch and we were going to use the window but I stopped Ellen from opening it. I put a finger to my lips and then pointed to a small trip wire I noticed.

“Ellen and I will go around and find another way in, you trip the wire to create a distraction and then we’ll take it from there” I instructed.

They nodded and Ellen and I headed around to the other side of the house, staying undetected. I found a window that was already opened slightly but it was only a little high up. I looked around and then brought over a thick tree stump and then I ran, jumped up on the stump and placed a foot on the wall to push myself higher up and I reached for the windowsill. I gripped onto it and easily pulled myself up and slipped in quietly. I stuck my head out to look at Ellen as I held out my arm to her.

“I’m just going to use the ladder” she said, pointing to the ladder to the side. I looked at it, blankly. “That works too” I said.

Then, I heard the explosion and I walked to where it was. I saw Rufus and Jo armed, looking at the now, broken window. Then, Rufus was pulled through the window and I knew it was Dean. “Rufus!” Jo yelled but then I lunged forward and grabbed Jo from behind. She tried to shoot at me but I pointed her gun to the ceiling and then kicked her back and ripped the gun out of her hands, throwing it across the room and I slammed her up against the wall. “You listen up, Joanna Beth Harvelle” Ellen spoke as she walked in. her eyes flickered to her mother and then back at me in a panic.

I grabbed her face with one hand and made sure she was looking into my eyes. “Listen to me Jo. I am not a demon. There are so many omens to look at. The polluted water, the shooting star, the red Mustang. I'm telling you, it's War. The Horseman, War. This is all part of the apocalypse. You have to see past the spell War is using on you” I said sternly, yet gently at the same time.

She lightened up a little and looked at Ellen. “She’s right, Joanna. You’re hallucinating and you need to snap out of it right now”

“The Horseman, War? The Apocalypse…” she said slowly. “Yes” I said and let go of her.

She stared at me for a moment. Then…she hugged me tightly. “I was so worried about you” she whispered.

“Yea…I tend to do that to people” I whispered back, glancing at Ellen.

We let go and looked at Rufus and Dean as they came in. “We all on the same page?” Ellen asked. They nodded. “Hi, Jo” Dean spoke. “Hey”

“Okay, we got to find War before everybody in this town kills each…” But, he was interrupted as we heard gunshots and we all hit the floor, ducking and I don’t know how he did it but Dean was at my side, covering my body with his arms.

“Where are Sam and Brittney!” I yelled over the shots. “Upstairs” Rufus answered.

Then, I shot up and as I covered my head with one hand and I put my other hand on the wall for support I raced toward the stairs and Dean was on my tail.

We raced up the stairs and I listened hard for two sets of breathing. Dean followed me as I swung a door open and Brit and Sam was sitting there, tied to chairs, soaked in water and they had salt all over them.

“Dean, Melissa, it’s not demons” Sam spoke. “It’s War” the four of us said at once. “I just don’t know how he’s doing it” Dean said.

"It’s the ring” Brit and I said at the same time as Dean and I freed the both of them.

“The ring. The ring…that's right. He turned it right before he made everybody hallucinate and go hellbitch”

“Right” Sam said. “We got to move. Come on” Dean said and we all raced out of the room.

There was no way we were going out the front with all the shooting that was going on. We all got downstairs and used the ladder that Ellen had used to get in and we all got down quickly, heading in the direction of where we saw the red Mustang earlier. I could see it now and I saw War going to open the door as he was grinning. I picked up the pace and reached him, I kicked the door shut, held his hands behind his back and Dean helped me keep him still as Sam took out the knife, ready to kill the bastard.

“Whoa. Okay. That's a sweet little knife. But come on. You can't kill war, kiddos”

“Oh, we know” Dean said.

Then, I threw his right hand onto the hood of the car and Sam slammed the knife down on his hand, cutting off four of his fingers. The ring fell to the pavement. Then, War and the Mustang vanished into thin air. We all spun around, looking for any sign of them…there wasn’t. We all just exchanged a look and Brit and I held each others gaze for a moments and we let out a huff of air at the same time.

~~~~~

The four of us got to a picnic table and Dean and I sat on one side as Sam and Brit sat on the other. We were all pretty silent for the most part. I was playing with a piece of grass as I had my forearms laid out on the table.

“So, pit stop at Mount Doom?” Dean spoke first, holding up the ring. None of replied at first.

“Dean…” Sam started.

“Sam, let's not”

“No, listen….both of you, listen” Brit spoke. My eyes went up to meet hers. “This is really important….we know you don't trust us…” My eyes went back down to the piece of grass in my hands. “But we don’t trust ourselves either”

My eyes snapped back up to look at the two of them. I saw how Sam and Brit exchanged a look and she nodded slightly at him. He looked back at us. “From the minute I saw that blood, only thought in my head…” he started but stopped himself to re-think about his word choice.

“…I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it, it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath...I just miss the feeling…”

“We know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up we are. Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood, not really. I mean, what we did…we can't blame the blood or Ruby or...anything…”

I analyzed her eyes and I saw how she was just talking to me now. “The problem's us. How far we'll go. It's something that means...it scares the hell out of me, guys” Her eyes flicked to Dean.

“You guys have talked about this before I’m guessing” Dean assumed. They nodded. “What are you guys saying though?” I asked.

“We’re in no shape to be hunting. We need to step back, 'cause we’re dangerous. Maybe it's best we just…go our separate ways. You and Mel in one way with me and Brit in the other” Sam explained, making eye contact with me, then Dean.

I eyed Brittney. I didn’t know what my facial expression was showing but I felt myself start to give her a sad look…but I recomposed and kept up my poker face. My insides ached at the thought of being separated from Brittney…but I guess at the moment…it was for the best. Possibly the best idea we’ve had in a while.

“Well, I think you're right” Dean spoke.

“I was expecting a fight” Sam said in an almost shocked tone but his voice was still light.

“The truth is I spend more time worrying about the two of you more than about doing the job right…and we all know both of your safety clouds Mel’s head so it means she’s not doing the job right either which adds to my list of worrying and I just…I can't afford that, you know? Not now”

They both nodded. I didn’t say a word. “I'm sorry, Dean”

“I know you are, Sam”

Then, Brit had that look on her face where she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. “I know you both are…we know you both are” Dean spoke for me.

I couldn’t even find my voice at the moment to talk. I guess everything was moving too fast for me to keep up. All I did was look at Dean who was eyeing me and then my eyes went back to Sam and Brittney. Still, nothing came out.

They went to stand up. “Hey, do you, uh, wanna take the Impala?” Dean asked. “It's okay” Sam said.

“Wait…uhh…” I stammered a little as I stood to reach into my back pocket. “Here, take the truck” I said, handing Brittney the keys.

She didn’t take them though. She was just staring at me. “Please…take the truck” I requested again.

She continued to just stare at me. She knew very well what it meant for me to just give up my truck to her for however long they would need it. We eyed each other for a good moment, having a silent conversation…like we used to…but then my eyes flickered to Sam. He slowly moved his hand to my hand and he took the keys, nodding.

“Thanks, Mel…take care of yourselves” he said, eyeing me, then his brother.

“You too, Sammy…”

Brittney and I didn’t say a word…I kept staring at her as she stared back at me. “Hey Short Stuff!” Dean grunted slightly so her eyes moved to him. “Watch his back” he instructed.

“Obviously...tough guy” she tried to smile but it was kind of a pathetic attempt to be honest…and I know if I said that aloud, we both would’ve laughed…but it just couldn’t make its way out of my mouth.

So I stuck with something else. “Keep an eye on her, Sammy” I murmured, trying to focus on making my words come out and I was still keeping eye contact with her but then I made eye contact with Sam.

“You know I will, Mel” he nodded.

Then, they both started to walk over to the Impala. Sam got his backpack out of the Impala and the two of them got into the truck that was sitting right beside them. Sam was in the drivers side while Brit was in the passenger side and he started my beautiful truck up. They both avoided our eyes as Sam started driving down the road. I sat back down slowly, beside Dean as we watched them drive off. We stayed silent. He wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me closer to him and I wasn’t paying attention but he was whispering comforting words to me and trying to sooth me…I realized I had slow tears sliding down my cheeks.