Killing Me Slowly

Our next stop was the morgue. We checked out the most recent dead body in town and his apparent cause of death was blood loss. He had a lot of puncture wounds at the femoral arteries and carotid. Right after that, though, Dean called informing us that Frank had found out the numbers Bobby gave us were coordinates to some land Dick bought. Dean and frank were now surveiling the area. Now we were in the motel room, seeing what to do next. Sam was going through John’s journal and Mel and I were laying side by side on one of the beds, just staring up at the ceiling. Then, all of a sudden, she stood to her feet and took my hand to pull me up as well.

“We’ll be at the car, Sam” she said to him and he just watched us go as I shrugged back at him. It was weird. When it came to Sam, she told him exactly where she was going but with Dean…nothing.

We got to the car and got in the back seat. We sat in silence for a moment as I watched her carefully and she just kept her eyes foreword. “Mel…please tell me what’s going on with you and Dean…if not that then just tell me what’s going on with you”

“I could’ve saved him…I could’ve saved him and I didn’t…” she began to cry.

“Who? Bobby? Mel…there’s was nothing you could’ve done”

“Yes. There was. He was alive again…but…he wanted me to let him go…and so I did” she shrugged but then sobbed.

I honestly didn’t know how to respond. So I just slid closer to her to wrap my arms around her. “Okay…it’s okay” I soothed as she cried into me. She was finally letting it all out. She needed to. It was eating away at her. She and I both knew it. It was only a matter of time.

It was probably a half hour before she finally calmed down and was able to wipe her face. Then, she began to go into this long story about how she was able to stop time and bring Bobby back to life but at the cost of her own life. But then he told her that it was time for all of us to let him go. Then she began to tell me how I started to crash as well and no one was thinking that I was going to make it so she was trying so hard to save me, but Dean was holding her back and she almost broke his nose for doing so. But it wasn’t necessary anyway because I came through. Then she told me about Dick Roman showing up. I mean, how much can you really miss when you’re in a coma?

“Geez all of that happened?” I asked.

“Yep” she sighed, laying her head back.

“And I’ve been dying to tell you. I just…I can’t tell Dean, ya know? He’ll be more pissed than he is now because I almost killed myself”

“But you did it for Bobby” She gave me a look. “No you’re right. It’s Dean. He’ll hate you for even thinking about it”

“Exactly…and if I told Sam…well…he’s Sammy. To tell him that Bobby actually had a chance?”

“But you’re here. You don’t think he’d prefer you?”

“Probably not. If it was between you and Bobby, now that’s a different story” she smiled. I liked seeing her actually smile after all this time.

“But you should know that if you saved me and you weren’t here right now I would be so pissed at you”

“I think you would’ve gotten over it”

“Melissa” I scolded.

“What? I wasn’t just going to let you die”

“Maybe you should start thinking about yourself for a change”

“I was. I was thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to survive without you”

“Awe you mean that?” I cheesed.

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up” she nudged me. “You’re my best friend, Brittney. I love you”

“And you love Dean too”

“Ugh!” she groaned, which made me laugh.

“Just apologize to him!”

“For what? For doing what I thought was right?”

“He obviously doesn’t see it that way and it’s causing you two to fight about every little thing” She didn’t respond.

Then, Sam came out to us and opened the door. “Hey. You girls ready? I think I know what we’re hunting”

Apparently Krissy’s dad was hunting a Vetala. John had taken one down back in the day. Silver knife to the heart, twist and they’re down. They like to knock a guy out, drag him home and feed slow so Krissy’s dad has a good chance of being alive. So our next stop was a diner. Sam wanted to go in alone and not attract so much attention, so Mel and I watched him talk to a waitress and then he was coming back out to talk to some girl who looked like a hooker.

“Don’t get jealous now, Brit” Mel teased. “Shut up” I rolled my eyes at her.

But then he started to follow the girl in between two trucks and it was really dark so Mel and I got out to follow. But the next thing I knew, Mel wasn’t at my side anymore. She was being thrown into one of the trucks. So I spun to see I was face to face with the waitress Sam was talking to. Her eyes looks like a snakes and her teeth were sharp. It was instinct, I guess, when I threw my leg up and kicked her in the stomach so she stumbled back.

“Sam, get the girl out of here” I ordered.

“I don’t think she wants to leave” he said.

So I turned my head and saw she was another one of these things. Then, I looked back at the chick in front of me and saw her fist flying toward me…and that was that.

My POV

I was sitting in my car with a huge red black and blue on the corner of my forehead from that chick smashing my head against the bumper of the truck. I could barely process anything at the moment but all I knew was I had to stay awake in case I had a concussion. I couldn’t believe they had taken Sam and Brit. And could you believe the only thing on my mind was the fact that Dean was going to kill me? I had driven away from the diner but I stopped along the side of the road because I felt myself dozing off. I had to call him.

“Melissa?” his voice came through in a panic.

“Yea…”

“Thank god” I was able to hear him mutter. “I just got off the phone with the girl and said she hasn’t heard back from you, Sam or Brit”

“Damn it, kid. She was supposed to call me first”

“She said she’s been trying. Is everyone alright?”

“Not exactly…Dean, I need you to come get me” I said and it was almost inaudible.

“Where are you?” he asked, sternly.

And that was it. He was coming to the rescue. Like always. I hated that he just did that. That he just made me feel relief to know he would be the one to rescue me.

“I don’t know. Somewhere down the street from her apartment. On I-90 maybe. I think I have a concussion. Just come get me, alright” I snapped at the end.

“I’ll be right there” was all he said and he hung up. I sighed as all I could do was wait now.

I put on some music to try and keep me awake. The events that happened at the hospital kept replaying in my head…especially what went down between me and Dean. I think the worst part was that we can’t even look at each other because our fighting had never escalating to that point before…or, at least, it hadn’t escalated to that point in such a long time. I shouldn’t have to be the one to apologize first. He’s the one who’s being stubborn and a bitch….

Sooner than I thought it would take…Dean was pulling up behind me. He got out of his car to come get me but I got out of my car before he could reach me. He didn’t say anything about it. He just followed me back and got back in the drivers seat as I got in the passengers seat. We drove for a long while in silence.

“Are you alright?” he finally asked.

“Do I look alright? Just drive okay? Don’t talk to me, don’t even look at me” I noticed he gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Fine by me” was all he said.

We got to Krissy’s place and I introduced Dean. “Did Sam and Brittney tell you where they were going?”

“That's what we’re trying to figure out”

“I thought you were with them” she looked at me.

“I know but then I got called for something else”

“And you think being back here again will help you?”

I nodded. “It could. Maybe taking another look at your dads room might help trigger something for me”

She started to lead us to the room. “Are you bipolar or something? You’re much nicer than last time you were here…even though it’s not saying much” she said to me.

“She gets that a lot” Dean said, not even looking at either one of us. I rolled my eyes at him as we walked inside. “Look, we really don't have time to hold your hand here, so…” he started.

“What are you saying?”

“I'm saying go wait in the living room. Your dad may not want you to know every single thing about him”

But she just put a hand on her hip and leaned against the doorway. I looked at Dean and nodded my head over to the closet. But when he opened it, everything was gone…except a little piece of a map. I snapped my eyes back at the girl.

“Where is it?” I demanded.

“You mean everything about the job my dad was working?”

“Sam said you didn't know” Dean said.

“Sam seemed competent…and so did Brittney. You, I had a feeling knew about me, but I still figured, fine I'll do what my dad always tells me to. [iIBe a regular kid, don't say anything, stay out of the line of fire. Let the adults work it out. So much for that” Hmmm smart kid.

“All right. Hand it over, okay? I have had a long, long week” Dean said, sneering.

But then she just pulled out a gun out of nowhere. “All right, I get it. You're a tough kid. But we’re trying to get Sam, Brittney and your dad back”

“My dad left, and he didn't come back. Sam and Brittney left, and they didn't come back. I give you two the info, you both leave, you don't come back”

“Krissy, I came back. I’m right here. I promise you, we’re coming back” I told her, smiling.

I felt Dean eyeing me but I ignored him. She hesitated, just staring at me, as if she was repeating my words in her head. “I'm coming with you then”

“No. No. Hell, no” Dean objected.

“I'm coming! Or you're not going”

But then Dean snatched the gun out of her hands. “Ow!” she said with an attitude.

“You could’ve been a little more gentle” I said to him.

He gave me a look and then looked back at her. “Now hand it over”

“I can't. I burned it”

“You what?”

“But lucky for you, I memorized it all first” she smirked. I kind of liked this girl.

~

So it was Dean in the driver’s seat with me in the passenger seat and with Krissy in the middle of us since the front seat was one long seat. “Hey, I have a question” she said.

“All right, here's the deal. I'm a fun guy. I'm actually awesome” I scoffed, causing him to glare up at me. “But right now, I'm not in the mood. I'm neck deep in some serious crap and if this wasn't an emergency I would drop your ass off at the nearest mall”

“What serious crap?”

“Revenge crap, all right? Now shut up. Eat a cookie or something” I watched him carefully as he stared at the road as if it was Dick Roman’s face.

“I’d say you’re facing some kind of relationship crap right now and that you’re in the dog house”

“Oh no, honey, he’s not in the dog house. He doesn’t deserve the dog house. He’s out on the streets, in the pouring rain, getting pneumonia” I smirked as I leaned down to her ear and it made her laugh.

“Oh really? Well I’ll just take my dog house with me then” he said, matter-of-factly.

“You can’t. You know why? Because I’m getting a new dog and he will love his dog house”

“Oh and I don’t?” he snapped at me.

I guess you can obviously tell we weren’t talking about a dog house anymore…and I guess we never really were…. “Whoa, okay…tense air in here” Krissy spoke up. Dean and I both glanced down at her and then faced forward again.

I noticed she put in her headphones to her iPod but then ripped them right out. “One thing doesn't make sense, though. My dad's a pretty great hunter, your brother's the size of a car and your sister seemed to really know what she was doing so…how'd this thing get 'em all?”

“Vetalas usually hunt in pairs. Sam, Brittney and your dad both assumed it was one thing hunting solo. And I still don’t understand how you didn’t know that” he snapped at me.

“Well it wasn’t like I ever faced a Vetala!”

“And your dad never told you about one?”

“No. He didn’t”

“Yea, great teacher he was” he commented. My jaw dropped.

“Okay, okay…you’re both acting like children, geez” she shook her head at us. “So why did they think it was just one?” Krissy continued.

“Because they had the wrong info. Or best available. Our dad took down a loner years ago. Sam has his journal. Your dad must've been going on the same facts”

“And you know different 'cause...?”

“Because I hunted one that turned out to be two a couple years back”

“And you never told them? Wow, thanks. How 'bout sharing that with the rest of the class so we don't all get killed?”

“Well I didn’t technically know Brittney or Melissa back then and Sam was away at Stanford, smartass”

“Sam went to college? I thought you said your dad was a hunter”

“He was. We were. Sam quit, went to college”

I noticed Krissy was taking a moment to process that. “Ya know…you could too. Go to college” I encouraged. “She’s right. Be a hunter/pediatrician” Dean added.

“I went” I told her.

She looked up at me. “You did?” she asked. I nodded and smiled.

“So what happened?”

I noticed Dean glanced over at me. “It just wasn’t for me” I shrugged.

We got to the diner and now we were just sitting there, parking outside the diner. I didn’t even know who to look for because it all happened so fast. “You said you guys didn’t technically know each other then…what did that mean?” she asked us.

“It’s a long story, Krissy” I sighed.

“Enlighten me”

“No” I said simply. She huffed and just sat there in her seat. “Do you ever actually work with your dad?” I asked, lightly.

“Sure. Course” she answered, keeping her head forward.

“No, she means work, not shoot cans in the woods” Dean said.

“I mean, I help all the time…”

“So, no. Well, right about now, your stomach should be pretty knotted up”

“Not really. Look, maybe this was a lot harder for you when you were my age”

“Oh, you think you're a good actress. You're not”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's all over your face. You're scared”

“Quit treating me like I'm some girl. I've been prepping for this my entire life”

“Training's one thing. Doing is whole nother beast”

“Wow. You really scared me straight. Thanks, Dean”

“Yea, Dean. Cut it out. She wants to be here so let her just experience it for herself” I sighed.

“Yea, you would side with her”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well it’s obvious you two have so much in common, looking for trouble. Looking for things that can kill you” he said, giving Krissy a look. She rolled her eyes. “You’re both psychotic”

“Ya know. Maybe you should quit calling me names and just say what you want to say”

“I have nothing to say to you”

“Yea. Right. Okay” I shook my head.

“Are you guys like together or something?” Krissy asked and I think it was a rhetorical question really.

But as I still snapped a “Not” at her, Dean snapped a “Yes”. That made us both glare at each other.

“Right…” she said slowly. “So you’re one of those on-again-off-again couples” she assumed.

“Ya know what, kid. It’s really none of your business. So just sit there and keep your mouth shut” Dean said to her.

“Okay I know you’re angry at me but it doesn’t mean you should take it out on her. She was just asking a question” I said to him.

“So you want to tell her all about our lives?”

“No, I really think she should stay out of it but you don’t have be such a jerk about it”

“Ya know I’m still here right?” she spoke up.

“Be quiet” Dean and I both snapped.

“I really can’t believe you sometimes. How can you be so angry with me?” I asked him.

“How can I? You were about to just throw your life away!”

“I wasn’t about to throw my life away! I was going to save Brittney! What’s wrong with that?”

“Because how can I know that’s really what your motive was? Given your past? How can I know, Melissa?” I saw he was straining to fight back the tears and this conversation was really hard for him.

“Because you should know me. I promised you that I was done with that” Now I was fighting back tears too.

“Yea and that should mean something these days” Ouch. That one hurt. I just hung my head. “Let me ask you something. Besides thinking about yourself and about how you wouldn’t have been able to live without Brittney, did you ever once think about me? Did you think about Brittney and about how she would have to live with herself after you were gone? Did you think about Sam? Did you think about anyone else besides yourself!” he yelled at me as he had his arm flying across Krissy, pointing at me, accusingly.

I just stared at him. I analyzed the way he was breathing…the anger that filled his eyes…it was all so unlike Dean. I could’ve told him that I was thinking about them when I went to save Brittney…I could’ve told him about what happened with Bobby and that I wasn’t just doing it for me…but with him in this state of mind, he wouldn’t have believed me. So the conversation was over.

He faced forward again and then so did I as silence took over the whole car. My eyes kept going to Krissy though and I felt bad that she had to listen to our argument. “Umm sorry…that you had to listen to us” I said to her.

I noticed Dean’s eyes twitch to us and he shook his head. He was probably thinking the same thing but too proud to even speak. “It’s fine…everyone has their issues” she replied.

“For me that’s the understatement of the century” I smiled. She smiled back. “But umm it’s okay to be a little scared for a first mission. I used to be the same way whenever my dad took me with him on cases” I told her.

“You went with your dad for stuff like this?”

“Oh yea. All the time. He hated taking me as much as I hated going. He never wanted to raise me in this kind of environment. It isn’t meant for kids. The things you see…the things you might have to do…it kind of scars you for life. It’s probably why he leaves you home”

I paused and looked down at my lap for a moment. “There was this one time I went out with my dad and I’ll never forget it…because it was the first time I ever killed something. It looked like an everyday person, like you or me, but it wasn’t. My dad told me to stay in the car but when he didn’t come out for a long time, I got worried so I went in…to make the long story short, the thing came at me and I swung a machete at it, cutting it’s head off”

I realized Dean was looking at me too, listening. “Later that night, I ended up throwing up on the side of the road because the scene just kept playing in my head…I guess the point of my story is…hunting isn’t for everyone…and some people do get stuck doing it…but you don’t have to be one of those people, Krissy. This life is scary and dangerous and once you’re in it, it’s very hard to get out of”

She just nodded and looked down at her lap. “You never told me that” Dean said to me.

“You never asked” was all I said as I looked forward again.

Krissy looked up. “Why is that waitress getting into that truck?” she asked. I saw a girl and a guy going toward the back of a truck.

“I'm not explaining the R-rated crap to you” Dean said.

“The front of the truck, not the back, Dean” she said and we saw a waitress getting in the drivers seat and driving off.