Something Almost Human

This time, Olly wasted no time going to the cabin. The only hesitation was pausing to make sure Sam was there. And then she ran up and banged on the door. It didn't even cross her mind that Sam wouldn't be the one to answer the door, so naturally she was at a loss when Dean was the one who answered. 

"No soliciting," he barked and slammed the door in her face. 

She looked down at the object in her hands and slowly reached up to knock again. The door flew open and Dean glared down at her. 

"Look, lady--"

"I- I uhm, I need to talk to Sam."

Dean shook his head. "Sam who?"

She opened her mouth to say something but Sam appeared behind his brother. "Olly," he said. 

"You know this girl?" Dean asked at the same time she said "I can help."

"With what?" Sam asked, 

She held up the spray bottle. "Your problem downstairs."

Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. The door slammed behind her. "What's that supposed to do?"

She shrugged, her eyebrows bunched at the middle. She spoke fast, unsure of herself. "I know a guy who knows a guy and he said spray them with this stuff. He said some about them reacting like demons to holy water. I uh-- I don't know-"

"And what is it?" Bobby suddenly appeared from downstairs. 

"Cleaning solution," she said quietly. 

Dean frowned at her, but Bobby exchanged a look with Sam, who shrugged his broad shoulders. "It's the one thing we haven't tried yet." He gestured down the stairs. "Go ahead."

She bravely fought a smile as she went down the stairs. They were a dark, rich wood, but they creaked beneath her like shrieking children. When she reached the bottom, the monster started laughing. 

He chuckled evilly. "You brought me a girl and--" he inhaled slowly through his nose, then grinned broader. "Not just any girl. You brought me a monster."

Olly's eyes widened. "What?"

He laughed again. "Oh sweetie I'd smell a shifter anywhere--" He stopped abruptly when she sprayed him in the face with her squirt bottle. He screamed in pain, but the tension she felt behind her told her that the Hunters heard what he'd said. 

Something struck the back of her head and she was on the ground a moment later. 

When she woke up, Sam, Bobby, and Dean were arguing behind her. From their bickering, she gathered that she'd only been out long enough for them to drag her upstairs and begin fighting about what to do with her. Sam wanted to make sure she really was a shifter and then hear her out before anything. Dean wanted to gank her right there, and Bobby didn't see the harm in at least making sure she was a monster. She moaned to alert them of her consciousness. They quieted down immediately. They were standing behind her, but she felt their eyes on her. Sam said her name quietly. 

She didn't debate much with herself, which was new. She just said what popped in her head. "I am a shapeshifter." Her voice was hoarse with emotion, even though she couldn't see his face. She bowed her head. "I'm a monster. I'm disgusting." She swallowed a sob. 

"See? Even she admits it."

"Shut up, Dean. Listen, Olly," he walked around the chair and knelt on front of her. He held a silver knife in his hand. "I'm just gonna--"

"Do it quickly," Olly whispered, tilting her head back to expose her neck. He surprised her by only making a small cut on her hand. She bit her tongue and pursed her lips, determined not to make a sound, but she watched in horror and pain as the skin around the small wound sizzled and burned. 

"Okay she's what she says she is, now let's get rid of her. We don't need a goddamn monster menagerie in this place, so let's gank the one we actually can."

Sam ignored his brother. "Do you kill people?" he asked softly. 

She snorted. "I can barely recover from the shift. I don't have the strength to kill." She laughed bitterly. "I'm not monster enough to kill."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bobby asked. Him and Dean still stood behind her so she twisted in her seat to answer. 

"I don't know. I don't know if I don't practice enough, or what. It just... It hurts." She dropped her head again. "It takes me days to get over it. I shift into a new skin and I'm immobilized for at least an hour. Days to actually get used to it." Her gaze transferred to Sam, pleading. "I see these shifters who shed their skins in five minutes and are up and walking around fine within an hour. And I know there's some who shift faster than that. It takes me days," she reiterated. "I was born a monster and I'm not even good at that," she whispered, tears blossoming in her eyes.

Olly didn't know why she was trying so hard to get them to understand where she was coming from. She knew they were going to kill her one way or another, and she accepted it. It was a graceful end. They way many of her brothers and sisters went, by blade or bullet of a Hunter. It was almost poetic, something that could be magnified and yet beautified easily if written the right way.

No one made a move. They were quiet and, though she wasn't looking at them, she knew they were all silently fighting with each other. She lifted her eyes to watch Sam. The way the light caught him from this angle... he was beautiful. And tall. Like some godly being, towering and powerful. At this moment, she noticed, he wasn't plagued by his visions.

And then the men moved around her. Sam touched her shoulder and told her they would be right back. The door opened and closed behind three pairs of boots. They started shouting a moment later. She bowed her head, unable to listen. Then a car door slammed and the car drove away. Two pairs of boots came back in. One walked to the other side of the room, and Sam came around and knelt in front of her. He wordlessly cut the ropes off of her wrists, but she didn't move.

"If you start killing--" He didn't finish.

"I would expect nothing less," she murmured, standing. "Take care of yourself, Sam."

"You, too."