I'm Not Strong Enough to Stay Away

Demon hunting was a bitch. You had all of these signs that the demons were in a certain town, but had no clue where in the town they could be. They could be anywhere: in a bar, in a grocery store, even in a nursery, and the only way to find them was to go out and search everywhere.

We’d been looking for two days; we’d scoured every bit of that damn town at least three times and still found nothing. I was starting to think that the Winchesters had imagined the signs.

“Drop what you’re doin’,” Ella ordered, busting through the door and making me jump out of my skin.

“What is it?” Sam asked, sitting aside his laptop and standing up.

“We found somethin’,” she replied. “And you’re not gonna like it.”

“Since when do we ever like demons?” I asked, rolling my eyes and standing up as well. Sam stared down at the floor somewhat guiltily for some odd reason, and I wondered briefly what it was.

“Just… c’mon,” Ella said, sounding way more serious than usual. “You’ll understand when we get there. Hurry up, Dean’s waitin’.” She turned and walked out the door, a deeply troubled look on her face.

'What’s freaking her out so badly?' I wondered. Ella being serious was never a good sign, and I had a nagging feeling that something horrible was going to happen.

Sam glanced at me in bewilderment and I shrugged, then slung my bag over my shoulder and walked outside with him following close behind.

~Supernatural~Supernatural~Supernatural~

As we walked toward the house—a cute little cottage with a white picket fence—Ella and I held back a bit. Well, actually, I made her hold back. I wanted to talk to her. “Ella, what’s wrong?” I asked her quietly so the Winchesters wouldn’t overhear us. “You’re never bothered by demons.”

She shook her head firmly and pressed her lips together into a thin line, then picked up the pace, falling into step between the brothers. 'Is she seriously avoiding me? What can be so bad that she’s acting like this?'

“C’mon, Sammy,” Dean said. “Me and you’ll take the back.”

“Oh, so we’re the distraction?” I asked, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

“Pretty much,” he replied, and I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. I made a face at him and cocked my gun, preparing for whatever had Ella so freaked. “Meet ya in the middle.” With that, he and Sam circled around the house, disappearing from my sight.

“You ready?” I asked Ella, and she nodded weakly, looking like she was going to be sick. “Hey, are you okay?” I questioned, concerned. “You don’t have to go in there; I can be a distraction alone.”

“I’m fine,” she half-snapped at me. “Let’s just go.” I gave her my signature “bullshit” look, but she ignored me, walking up the porch steps. I followed right behind her, straining to hear the slightest sound.

Ella tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. We shared suspicious looks, then cautiously went inside.

I kept my footsteps as light as possible, wary of creaky floorboards. We passed through the kitchen and dining room with no sign of any life. I was starting to get worried. However, as soon as we stepped into the living room, I knew something was very wrong.

“Hello,” a small, innocent voice said from behind us, and I spun around quickly, raising my gun. A young girl, no more than six or seven, was standing in front of us, smiling sweetly. “I’m Lucy. What are you doing in my house?”

Ella shot me an oddly tense, fearful look and I stared back at her, totally confused. “Um… we’re… uh…” Ella stuttered, trying and failing to come up with a good excuse. Abandoning her attempt, she started murmuring an exorcism under her breath.

“Uh, uh, uh,” Lucy said with a sly grin, and I jumped back in alarm as her eyes turned pitch black. She slung out her hand and Ella flew into a wall. I glanced back toward her to make sure that she was okay, then turned back around to face the small child. I could feel Lucy's power pushing against me, but I was immune. I always had been. Another upside to my mysterious powers, I suppose. “Well, well, Garideth,” she mused, training her empty eyes on me, “you are special. Pity I have to kill you.”

“Yeah, pity,” I mocked. “’Cause I know you assholes totally hate having to kill.” I rolled my eyes and smirked.

“I may not be able to use my powers on you,” she said, a malicious undertone to her sweet, little girl voice, “but Ella, on the other hand…” She twisted her hand and Ella started screaming. I cringed, wishing for the millionth time that I were capable of working alone so as to keep Ella out of danger. “Well, you see what I mean.”

“Stop it! Let her go!” I begged, instantly dropping my fearless façade. I could feel that this demon was different, her power felt stronger and more evil than the others that I had encountered. I knew facing her alone would be near impossible. I needed backup. 'Where are Sam and Dean?!' I thought desperately, wincing as Ella screamed again.

Just then, the boys came through the door, but they weren’t alone. It seemed that Dean’s plan had failed. They had gotten themselves captured before even reaching the big dog. Ella screamed again and Dean struggled fruitlessly against his captor. “Let her go, you ugly bitch!” he demanded, and I was struck by the fact that he really did care.

Lucy turned to him and approached him slowly. I glanced around the room, looking for any way of escape. “You’re in no position to be giving orders, Dean,” she said, smiling in a sickeningly sweet way.

“What do you want?!” I cried, and Lucy spun back around to face me.

“World peace,” she replied, still smiling.

“Cut the bullshit, would ya?” Dean snapped. While she was focused on him, my eyes strayed to Sam and I almost gasped aloud. His eyes were half-closed and one side of his face was drenched in blood. It looked like the demon that had him was more supporting him than restraining him.

That did it. This demon bitch had hurt both Ella and Sam, and now she was going to pay.

Dismissing the fact that I would have a lot of explaining to do if we made it out of this, I mustered up my powers inside me, getting ready to do something I’d only done a few times before, and never in such a life-threatening situation. “Lucy,” I called out, loud and strong.

She spun around, noticing the tone of my voice. At that moment, I unleashed my powers on her. She gasped, her hand going to her throat, and I heard Ella fall to the ground behind me. 'Good.' “What are you doing?!” Lucy choked, coughing up black smoke.

“It’s kill or be killed, sweetie,” I said, grinning despite the pain this was causing me, as well. Blood poured from my nose into my mouth as I focused everything I had on sending the bitch back to Hell.

Dean used my attack on Lucy as a distraction for his captor. He pulled a knife from nowhere and shoved it backward into the stomach of the demon, who flashed a strange orange light, then fell over, dead.

Before Sam’s demon had time to react, Dean finished it off, too. He caught Sam just before he hit the ground, saying, “Sammy?” worriedly, then sighing with relief as Sam grinned weakly back at him.

“I meant what I said, Garideth,” Lucy told me, her little girl voice full of something that sounded vaguely like pride or awe. She had stopped spewing smoke, and I was extremely confused. This had never happened before. “You are special. And even with your mother being the failure that she was—“ She coughed a little, then continued. “But you’re just not special enough. Shame, though. You had potential.” Lucy grinned maniacally at my dumbstruck expression—'What does she mean about my mother?!' “Don’t be discouraged,” she assured me. “Your powers truly are amazing. I’m just a bit more amazing.”

As she advanced on me, a man in a trench coat suddenly appeared. “Lucy,” he said in a deep, self-assured voice.

Lucy stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. “You. How did you know--?” The man walked up to her and placed a hand on her forehead. Her eyes, mouth, and nose were illuminated by a blinding white light that momentarily flashed brighter, then faded away as she fell to the floor, her mouth frozen in a never-uttered scream.

“’Bout damn time!” Dean said angrily, turning to the strange man. “What the hell took you so long, Cas?!”

The man called Cas ignored Dean’s ungrateful attitude with an impressive amount of self-control that I could never even dream of possessing. “It’s not safe here,” he said. “More will come.”

I blinked in confusion, and when I opened my eyes, we were in a completely different house and Cas was gone. The house was in much worse repair than the other one, and old books cluttered every surface. This was the house of a retired hunter, had to be.

An older man walked around the corner, and I figured that this was his house. “Thought I heard someone,” he said in a deep, gruff voice, then noticed Sam’s bloody face and Dean supporting his body. “What happened?”

“Tell ya later,” Dean said haughtily, and the man nodded, regarding Ella and me with curiosity.

“Bobby Singer?” Ella asked suddenly, walking over to the older man, who nodded. “I’m Ella. Ella Harken. You helped my dad out a while back.”

“You’re Greg Harken’s kid?” Bobby asked, surprised. “Nice to finally meet you in person.” He chuckled. “So you must be Garideth,” he said, turning to me. “Vulcan, right?” I nodded. “Heard ya decked Mr. Dumbass over there. Been wantin’ to do that for a while now. Thanks for that.” I grinned widely and nodded again.

“Bobby, can you give us a minute?” Dean asked with a slight edge to his voice. Bobby gave him a weird look, but did as he said and walked out of the room. Dean then walked over to Ella. “You okay?” he asked, and she nodded, smiling feebly. “Good. What about you?” he asked me, and I raised my eyebrows in shock.

“Me? I’m fine,” I replied, totally freaked out.

“Good,” he repeated, coming over to me. “Then I don’t feel bad about doing this.” Just as I was about to ask what he was going to do, he wrapped his arms around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides, and started dragging me toward what I figured was a basement door.

“What are you doing?!” I shrieked, straining against his grasp. “Let me go!”

“Can’t do that, sorry,” he replied, opening the door. I was right; it was a basement.

“Dean, let her go!” Ella pleaded, tugging on his arm.

“I gotta do this, Ella,” he said calmly.

“Let me go!” I screamed, picking up my feet and kicking against him.

My screaming seemed to snap Sam out of his semi-conscious state, for he looked up in alarm. “Dean, what are you doing?!” he asked, jumping up from his seat and swaying slightly. 'Sam's coming to my rescue. Dean won’t go against Sam and Ella, will he?'

“You saw it, too, Sammy. I know you did,” Dean said, carrying me down the basement steps.

“Saw what?!” Ella and I yelped simultaneously.

She continued to pull on his arm, yelling, “Dean, stop!”

Sam stared at me uncertainly, a torn expression on his face. “I don’t think she would,” he said finally. “It could be something else, Dean. It doesn’t have to be that.”

“Then what else could it be, Sam?” Dean fired back. We had reached the bottom of the stairs now, and he was dragging me toward a metal door, like one on a panic room. I did not want to find out what was behind it.

“Dean, stop,” Sam said, stepping in front of him. “I really don’t think she would. She’s stronger than me. I mean, look at her.” I couldn’t bother to wonder what he was talking about. “You remember me,” Sam continued, “I was screwed up. But she’s not doing it, Dean. I’m positive.”

“I wanna believe you, Sammy, but what else can it be?” Dean said, making to move around Sam, but Sam just followed his steps.

“Why can’t you just trust me for once?!” Sam asked fiercely, backing up to the door and blocking it with his large body. “Haven’t I proved myself to you enough already?! I haven’t fallen off the wagon; I’ve been with you every step of the way!”

“This isn’t about me not trusting you,” Dean protested. “It’s about me not trusting her!”

“Hey!” I exclaimed, struggling to break free again. “How about you let me go and you can fight out this family drama on your own?!”

“Shut up, Gari!” Dean commanded. “Look, Sammy, I get that you’re relating with her or whatever,” he said, suppressing an eye roll. “Yeah, you’re both freaks, that doesn’t—“ He stopped abruptly, realizing that he had royally fucked up just a moment too late.

Sam’s face was full of rage. He grabbed Dean’s arm and pried it off me, then pulled me away from his brother. I went to smile at him gratefully, but he lunged at Dean, shoving him forcefully into a wall. “Don’t call me that!” he snarled, his fists clenching subconsciously.

“What’re ya—?” Ella began, but Dean pushed her gently out of the way.

“Stay outta this,” he said angrily. He lunged at Sam, throwing a punch that Sam dodged just in time.

“Guys, chill out!” I said, stepping in between them.

“Stay outta this,” Sam echoed, trying to get around me.
“STOP IT!” I yelled, shoving them both away from each other. “I’ll go in the damn panic room if you just STOP!”

Sam grabbed my arm and growled, “No way am I letting you go in there.”

“Take it easy, Sammy,” I replied, patting his cheek lightly and giving him a small grin. “Once Deano is satisfied that I’m not doing whatever he thinks I’m doing, I’ll be good to go.”

“You heard the lady,” Dean said, smirking victoriously, and I almost changed my mind. Sam let me go reluctantly, and Dean opened the panic room door and ushered me inside.

I turned on my heel once inside and raised my eyebrows, then asked “So how long am I gonna have to stay in here?”

He slammed the door and locked it, then opened a grate near the top. His green eyes peered through the door, gleaming triumphantly. “Until it’s outta your system,” he said unconcernedly.

Sam’s soft hazel eyes appeared in the grate, gazing at me apologetically. “I’m sorry about this, Gari,” he said softly. “Really. I promise, I’m not gonna let him keep you in here long. I’ll convince him you’re not on it somehow.”

“Not on what?!” I questioned angrily. “What are you two talking about?! You act like I’m doing drugs or something!”

Sam was quiet for a minute, then simply said, “I’m really sorry,” and closed the grate.

“Sam, wait!” I yelled. “Sam, come back! What’s going on?! Sam!” I yelled for him until I was hoarse, then yelled some more. It was no use. He wasn’t listening, and I was trapped.