Louder Than Words

"Y'all may be wonderin' why I brought you here," Garth said. Over twenty-five hunters from all over the world were packed into Garth's tiny house. Most of them were from the states, nine from Europe, Canada, and Mexico and four from other parts. "The answer is simple. The world is facing a human apocalypse and it is up to us to stop it. I have chosen y'all to be in this meeting because you are the most influential hunters I know and we can get the word out quickly this way."

Another hunter stood beside Garth. He was young, maybe twenty-four with floppy brown hair and a big nose. Heavy rings etched with various symbols- including the anti-possession and enochian- adorned his fingers. He had a Scottish accent. "The vampires are rising up," he said. "Not long ago they managed to hide themselves so well that some of us even believed them to be going extinct. We didn't know that they had been popping up for years, snatching humans."

"An old hunter had a theory that they were keeping the humans," Garth said, "trading and selling them between nests-"

"Like a trafficking ring," Sam said dully. 

The hunter and Garth looked at him. "Exactly," the hubter nodded. "And because they have been able to stay out of sight for so long, they have amassed a population bigger than any we have seen before. They number in the hundred-thousands."

"And you expect just us to do something about all this," a familiar girl said over the din that was slowly rising. "This is a good portion of the hunters in existence. We aren't gonna get very far."

"All the more reason why we need to work together to find and kill these nests," Garth said. 

"It's exactly why we pulled people like you out of retirement, Reagan," the other hunter said to the girl who'd spoken up. She crossed her tattooed arms. Dean narrowed his eyes at her and the man she was standing with. 

"And how exactly are we supposed are we supposed to go about this?" he asked. 

"How do you normally go about killing vamps, Winchester?" the hunter snapped. The room got quiet immediately. Even Garth knew this could turn bad fast. 

Dean lifted his chin. "Pardon me, Ringo, but I don't know who the hell you are so you've got no right to talk down to me. Show some respect if you want help from us."

The man looked at Dean defiantly, seeming to size him and Sam up. Sam tensed, ready and almost excited for action. Then the hunter said, avoiding Dean's eyes, "We suggest you work in teams. I know some of you work better alone, but this threat cannot be faced by a single hunter. If you locate a nest do not enter alone. This isn't going to happen in a day. It may take years to eradicate the nests, but it's what we have to do."

There was silence, many standing in anticipation of a confrontation between the Winchesters and the hunter. Nothing happened, so Garth said, "Questions?"

<><><><><>

"Gimme some of that," Dean said, pointing to some whiskey on the shelf. 

"Me too," a girl said, sitting next to him. "Hello Dean Winchester."

"You were at Garth's."

"Reagan Vasco," she smiled, offering him a hand. 

"Matthew Vasco's kid. I remember you and your brothers." She nodded, watching the bartender pour them some shots. 

"You've grown a bit since the last time we saw each other."

"I was, what, 15 maybe?" 

She laughed. "It's been a while."

"Maybe too long," Dean winked, holding up his shot glass. She touched hers to his and swallowed the bitter liquid. She barely felt the burn of it down her throat. 

"What did that guy mean when he said they pulled you out of retirement?" Dean asked, sipping a beer. 

Reagan shook her head, smiling slightly. "Gerard is a pompous little asshat isn't he? I was out. Almost as successfully as you can be for seven years. Settled down and everything. I even have a cat. I didn't back out fully- how can you? I go on local jobs every now and then for kicks. But I was out."

"What about Foster and Hayden?"

"Fozzy was at the meeting, but Hayden was on a ghost call." 

"How's your dad?"

"He passed about a year ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She laughed harshly. "He went out how he wanted to go out; kicking ass. And he did." Reagan called the bartender over and ordered a beer of her own, then said, "Sam is looking a little... Down in the dumps these days."

"Yeah, that's not a fun story."

"A girl then," she murmured, admiring his perfect lips. She wondered if there was a mold for  such perfection or was he just created by an amazing artist. 

"Yup. A hunter. He thought she was perfect. I didn't trust her, but after a while she was alright. Then she started getting restless. I told her if she left then she couldn't come back. And she left."

"Damn hunters. So flaky," she grinned, sipping her beer. 

"I like to think of myself as rather reliable," he said, a smile in his voice. 

"Mmmm, look at the time. I must be off." She downed the rest of her beer in two gulps and grabbed her coat to go, then said, "Give me your phone."

He pulled it out of his pocket and she put her number into it. "In case you need me," she winked. "For anything." She kissed his cheek and left. 

<><><><><>

The combined efforts of Syd and Ally couldn't get the front door open, so they ended up having to climb out the window and crawl gingerly over three feet of snow to go feed the animals. Bayleigh watched almost enviously, confined to nothing more exerting than walking up the stairs. She had been left in charge of the soup with careful instructions on how often to stir it and when to turn down or take it off the heat. 

They fell through the door about two hours later having cleared a path between the house, barns, and chicken coop. They stripped off their wet clothes and Bayleigh presented them with hot coffee and soup. In that instant, she felt almost human again. It sent a horrible memory of being happy with Him through her mind. It invoked a stomach ache that she couldn't rid herself of for hours. 

"They warned us about this when we moved here," Ally smiled, gesturing out the kitchen window with her spoon. "We obviously didn't listen very well."

<><><•12 Days Later•><><>

Bayleigh couldn't sleep. Syd had been giving her pills for the pain to help her sleep, but now that she was just about better, she didn't need them. It had pretty much literally blown Syd's mind how fast she was healing. She had even been able to go out with Syd and Ally and dig her car out of what was left of the snow-turned-ice and push it to the house to be inspected tomorrow by Syd. So you would think she was so tired and sore that she would fall asleep immediately. But she didn't. 

He kept running through her mind. Ceaselessly. His voice, His face, Him. He wouldn't leave her alone. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see His smile. Or Him in his suit. Or Him in the Impala, or the passenger seat of the dodge. She would feel His lips in her forehead, her mouth, behind her ear, everywhere they had ever touched her. She couldn't escape it. Escape Him. And she was completely and utterly sad. 

It wasn't the kind of sadness that leaves you drowning in your own tears; Bayleigh hated tears. It was the kind that takes over your whole body. It leaves you sore and aching, empty all over. It makes you cold and restless and hungry and weak and tired cause you can't sleep because it's in your dreams, too. It was the kind you can't escape. It was possession. 

Bayleigh, on the verge of frustrated tears, not only from battling her mind but from the fact that she was on the verge of tears, pulled herself out of bed, still a bit sore, and down the stairs. Syd was sitting in the living room watching TV. 

"What're you doing up?" he asked. 

"I can't sleep."

He smiled warmly. "I thought you would sleep like a baby after today."

"My mind obviously had other plans for me." She joined him on the couch. He was watching a show about a fast-talking British man with a rather homely and plain face and a strange wand he called the sonic screwdriver that drove around in a blue police box.

Syd paused the TV out of nowhere. "What are you running from, Bayleigh?"

She looked at him. "It's a long story."

"I think we have time," he said checking the clock on the wall. "This is early for me." It was after one. "And plus, I'm letting a girl with an army-worthy stash of weapons stay in my house with my baby sister. I kinda need an explanation."

Bayleigh frowned and looked at her hands, then she sighed and said, "Happiness."

"What?"

"I'm running from happiness."

"Elaborate."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I met someone. A few months, or maybe a year ago now. He was perfect. With the life I led... He fit in perfectly. It felt like the whole reason I moved around like that was so that there was always room for Him. When I was with Him, there was nothing wrong. Big, fat, nasty cliche, right? But it's true. Everything was perfect. So I left."

"Why would you leave?"

She looked at him, wide-eyed. "I was horrified. I was waiting for it all to just... end. Most of it felt too good to be true. So I ended it as cleanly as I could."

"How did he take it?"

She avoided his eyes as she said, "I don't know. I didn't even leave a note." Syd frowned at her. 

"You just left."

Bayleigh shook her head miserably, frustrated. "I know. I just... I couldn't stay. Not like that. Waiting. Wondering when it's all gonna turn to shit."

"Then how do you feel... Here?"

"Numb," she whispered. "Like I never woke up from before." 

It was Syd's turn to look at his hands. "Will you explain to me the, Uhm, arsenal you keep in your truck?"

"You wouldn't believe-"

"Yes, but you haven't tried to explain it either."

"Just... Just let me explain it all before you start asking questions, okay?" he nodded, encouraging her. "Well, I guess I should start by telling you everything you know is a lie. The 'monster under your bed' is real. And I hunt, hunted, them." His eyes narrowed. "The weapons are what I need to hunt monsters. I have everything in there."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you kill monsters?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She sighed. "I grew up naive, unknowing, and then I was abducted by vampires and used for food. They passed me and a few other girls between nests, drinking us half dry and then selling us. I was saved by hunters and then trained by another one. A man named Rufus. He was one of the best. After he set me loose, I started hunting alone. Without any human contact, most of the time. It was perfect. I loved it. And then I met Him, Sam." She whispered his name, seeming to choke on it. She closed her eyes for a moment, regaining composure. "His dad was one of the hunters that saved me from the vampires. Him and his brother were hunters, too. We kept running into each other and we hit it off. We hunted together for more than two months and then I left."

"And thats it."

"Plus some unreasonable risks on my part."

"Which is how you got all beat up."

"A Crocotta. A monster that lures you to it's nest by mimicking voices and then feeding off human souls. In my case, it was... His voice. It lured me to it's lair and then attacked me. I knew I was probably going to die and I started laughing." Bayleigh frowned. "I wanted to die. But I surprised it and then my instinct kicked in and I killed it before it killed me."

"And then your truck broke down." She nodded sadly. 

Syd took a deep breathe. "Wow." Bayleigh looked at him trying to gauge his reaction. "That's a lot to take in."

"And?"

He looked at her and smiled. "And it sure beats every other reason I had."

"Oh?"

"I figured you were probably an assassin on a mission gone wrong, or a spy or something."

Bayleigh smirked. "Nothing quite so glamorous."

"At least you aren't a serial killer."

"At least... Are you gonna tell Ally about all this?"

"She's curious, but I don't think she needs to know all of it. Why?"

"Because I don't want to talk about it again and because I try to keep people on a need to know basis about my past, especially the monster part."

"Then I'll just tell her that you're not a vicious marauder and that you'll tell her everything when you're ready." He looked at her again for a few seconds. "It isn't the end," he said quietly. 

"Hm?"

"Everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it isn't over." It was Bayleigh's turn to look at him. She wanted to say something to him, Syd just turned back on the TV. 

Two hours later she was still unable to sleep.