The Moon Invites Madness

The darkness above Diana seemed unnatural. It was almost as though a black blanket was thrown across the sky, with a single hole cut in for the small, glowing moon. No stars shone above, possibly due to both the cloudy atmosphere and the harsh city lights.

Diana pulled her jacket tighter around her waist, trying to keep the cold breeze from getting inside; the furry layer against her skin did little to nothing to keep her warm in the chilly night air. She had to bite her lip to keep her teeth from chattering and making noise.

The alley Diana just ran down is just as dark and unnatural as the night sky. If she, by some crazy luck, happened to be someone else – anyone else – she would never have thought about following some tall, mysterious man down the alley. She would have thought it odd, the way he stared then abruptly left the bar, but she would not have thought it was one of them. And if she did know about the other inhabitants of this world, she most definitely would not have thought about following him. Diana would have walked right past the alley to her hotel, all while pretending she wasn’t terrified to pass by that space of darkness between buildings.

Unfortunately for Diana, that wasn’t not the life she lived. Her life revolved around them, the monsters, the evil that plagued her world. It was in her blood to hunt the evil down and kill them without mercy. It was her job, and honestly, she enjoyed putting the fuckers down.

And that was why she followed the “man” down the alley. She knew better than to think he was simply a man – everything about him screamed demon. Diana spent her whole life tracking these things; she could tell by the way it talked and moved that it wasn’t fully human. She could see the sadistic glint in its eyes, even from the other side of the bar. She could tell by the way it glanced at her that it was trying to draw her in – it wanted her for its next meal. Diana didn’t want to give him the gratification; she stayed far away from him. Until he left, of course; Diana was seconds behind him as soon as he stood.

Diana slipped a knife into her hand; something she had been hiding nearly all day. Her lips curved into a smile as she touched the sharp edge of the blade. This would be the first time she tried the weapon. Diana had pocketed it when she was on a mission a couple weeks ago, and ended up in the house of some demon that left rather quickly. Back then, Diana had thought it was simply an old, intricate knife. Imagine her surprise when she discovered it actually killed demons, and there was no need to exorcise the assholes anymore. Sure, that mean the humans they occupied died, but more often than not they never even woke when exorcised.

The demon turned a corner. Peering around the corner, Diana watched as it disappeared into a hole in the wall just behind a dumpster, just barely big enough for it to squeeze through. She quietly began to follow the demon, making sure not to make any noise. Sticking to the shadowy wall, Diana made her way down the alley toward to hole, listening intently for any signs that the demon was coming back out.

Shit.

Two large, rough hands grabbed Diana’s shoulders and slammed her against the brick wall. The act easily left Diana breathless and hopelessly struggling against the larger creature. It lifts its forearm and pushed against her throat, preventing her from getting air to her lungs. Gasping for breath, Diana clawed at the arm and desperately tried to free herself. Her arm was pinned behind her back at a painful angle, but in a single moment of clarity, Diana realized she could get it out if the damn demon would just let up a bit. And, thank God – the demon murmurs something in a rather surprised tone and does just that. In a rush of adrenaline, Diana yanked her arm out from behind her, trying not hiss in pain. She throws her weight forward, sinking her knife into the demon’s abdomen. Twisting the knife, Diana shoved the demon backward. It yelled out in a mix of pain and fury as it crumbled to the ground, its hand clenching its bloody wound.

Her eyes darted down to the gasping creature and back toward the dark hole in the brick wall. She was sure the demon had set up an ambush, or at least had someone following him – which was more or less the same thing. There was no way Diana could take on two demons, both larger than herself, no matter how strong she thought she was. Diana rubbed her neck and gasped for breath, still at a loss for air. Gripping her knife tightly, she let out a groan at the situation. She had to make a run for it and get out of there before things turned for the worse.

Diana tore her gaze away from the panting creature on the ground just in time to see a knife flash towards her. With wide eyes, she lunged backwards and put her hands in front of her defensively. The demon followed her movements, reaching out for something of hers to grab onto.

I have to get out of here, Diana thought, beginning to panic. This had been such a horribly stupid idea; she should have known there would be more than one demon. The damn demon had to have known she would follow him from the bar, and now she was paying for her idiocy. She should have listened to her father when she had the chance – never go alone.

Diana rushed past the demon, now desperately trying to escape. Sharp fingernails scraped her neck; the demon grabbed her hair with a violent hand and yanked. All it took was a yank – Diana was sent tumbling backwards to the ground. The demon climbed on top of her with a sadistic grin and pressed its knife against her neck. She could feel the cold metal begin to slice through the thin layers of skin as the demon slowly began to apply more pressure to the blade. It wanted her to beg for her life; she could see the hunger in its eyes. It wanted her to suffer.

She struggled against the demon to no use; he easily towered over her much shorter, smaller frame. The demon lifted the knife and held it above its head, getting ready to swing down and do what she had done to countless others. So this was it. Diana squeezed her eyes shut.

One.

“Wait!” The voice was weak, coming from the creature she had just stabbed. She felt no hesitation above her.

Two.

“Stop!” Its voice rose frantically. Had she not been counting her last seconds, Diana would have thought this rather odd.

Three.

“Sammy, for Christ’s sake, it’s Diana! Stop!” He was shouting now. “It’s Diana, not a damned demon!”

Diana ripped her eyes open.

Sammy?

The face above hers was still cold and stoic, but its eyes were searching for something. Slowly, the face began to soften and the eyes widened. Diana was sure her face was mirrored almost perfectly. Disbelief filled Diana to the brim – this wasn’t a demon, and neither was the man she had stabbed. They were very much human. They were hunters.

And this was Sam – not her Sam, this sadistic creature was far from being her Sam, but this was Sam nonetheless. She had somehow run into Sam and Dean Winchester, people she had begun to think of as just memories from a better life.

Once he realized who he had nearly killed, Sam quickly pushed himself off Diana, earning a groan from the injured woman. She slowly pulled herself to a sitting position and touched her neck. Looking at her fingers, Diana realized there was a lot more blood than what she initially thought.

She wasn’t quite sure what happened after that moment. Diana felt herself being picked up and carried away in unfamiliar arms. She struggled, but in her exhausted and injured state, she gave up quickly. Distantly, the woman could hear talking – but no words. Diana drifted to sleep.