Sequel: Asylum
Status: Finished

Insanity

Separation

Sam’s P.O.V

I groaned as the sound of a sharp ringing broke through the dream I had been having and dragged me back to reality. I rubbed my eye, lifting my head to blink away my blurry vision. My hand flopped on the bedside table looking for the phone, my fingers finally grasping the device I sighed and flipped it open. “Hello?” My voice was gruff and sleepy.

“Sam, is that you?” A low, groggy voice echoed through the phone. I recognized the voice immediately and sat straight up. I was wide awake now and I knew my eyes were probably wide and with the wave of shock that rocked through my entire body at the person that was on the other end of the phone.

“Dad? Are you hurt?” I could feel my hand shaking as I held the phone to my ear. I was having a difficult time believing that this was happening. I bit down on my lip and shifted my weight, my eyes flicking to Dean who was just now rolling over.

“I’m fine.” He replied as Dean sat up, a frown crossing his face. He still looked pretty groggy, but he was waking up fast as he leaned forward, trying to hear who I was talking to. I leaned back and away from him, wanting to have time to talk to my father before Dean took over and didn’t let me speak at all.

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere. We didn’t know if you were okay.” I tossed the blankets off my lap and slide my legs off the side to the bed, taking a moment to steady myself before moving further away from Dean, pushing my hair back from my face and moving to the fridge.

“Sammy, I’m alright, what about you and Dean?” Was the rough reply. My father’s voice had deepened a lot more since I had last spoke to him. It was weird and almost unrecognizable, but I would recognize my father’s voice anywhere. He was speaking more as if he was giving an instruction for me to tell him how we were doing rather than asking. It was something that I hadn’t really missed when I was gone, but I did miss him.

“Yeah, we’re fine. Dad, where are you?” I questioned, looking over at Dean. He had stood up now and was staring at me intensely, his eyes filled with curiosity and a bit of frustration. I could tell he was worried with the expression on his face. This was the first we’ve heard from Dad since Dean took me on the hunt that brought me back to hunting for good.

“Sorry kid, I can’t tell you that.” Was the simple reply and I almost threw the phone in frustration. He couldn’t disappear for this long and then call out of the blue but not tell us where he is. He could be in danger and we couldn’t help him and it pissed me off more than anything.

“What, why not?” I demanded, feeling my own voice drop low as a mixture of frustration and anger filled my chest, riding my of the initial shock of the phone call. This entire situation was ridiculous and not fair.

“What? Is that dad?” Dean asked, moving forward with a hard determination on his face. I ignored him and continued waiting for dad to reply. Dean reached out for the phone but I swatted his hand away and glared at him, moving to the other side of the room, growing impatient with my father.

“I know this is hard for you to understand, but you’re gunna have to trust me on this one.” he finally said and I rolled my eyes. It was always about trusting him and doing what he said. It was stupid and annoying and he needed to start trusting us for once in his life.

“You’re after it, aren’t you? The thing that killed mom.” My voice turning hard and cold as I spoke, following the feeling that filled my chest.

“Yeah, it’s a demon Sam.”

“A demon? You know for sure?” I watched as Dean finally put a pants and a shirt on as I ran my hand through my hair again in an attempt to brush back the mess that sleep caused.

“A demon? What’s he saying?” Dean demanded, trying to reach for the phone again. I pulled away and ducked past him, rolling my eyes at the frustrated look growing on my brother’s face. He could wait his turn, he was the last one to hear from dad.

“Listen Sammy, I uh, also know what happened to your girlfriend. I’m so sorry. I would have done anything to protect you from that.” He sounded sincere, and I believed him. He’d lost our mom the same way I lost Jess. If anyone was going to understand what I was going through it would be him.

“You know where it is?” I could feel tears start to well up in my eyes at the mention of Jess. If I was being honest I had been doing everything in my power to forget Jess and I still had a lot of shit to figure out, especially since Alice was in the picture now. Despite what I had told Akuma in the hotel a couple of weeks ago, I was still hurting over Jess and I didn’t want to hurt Alice because I was projecting my old feelings for Jess onto her. It had only been six months since Jess passed. I needed to figure out where I stood before I really did anything.

“Yeah, I think I’m finally closing in on him.” My father answered, dragging me out of my thoughts and back to reality. Dean was standing only a short distance away from me but didn’t look like he was going to try to grab the phone again.

“Let us help.” I demanded, hearing the frustration I was feeling enter my voice as I spoke. At this point I couldn’t let Dean get the phone or I’d never convince dad to let us help him.

“You can’t, you can’t be any part of it.” He snapped, clearly growing impatient with my arguments. I could give up and listen, but I wasn’t Dean. I wasn’t going to listen to him, I was going to get what I wanted.

“Why not?!” I growled. This demon killed my mother and my girlfriend and my dad was an idiot if he thought that I wasn’t going to help him take the bastard down.

“Give me the phone!” Dean yelled again, trying to take the phone from me for the third time. I smacked his hand away again and returned his glare, and watched him closely, ready to swat his hand away if he tried again.

“Listen Sam, that’s why I’m calling. You and your brother have to stop looking for me. Alright, listen, I want you to write down these names.”

“Names? What names dad? Talk to me, tell me what’s going on!”

“Look, we don’t have time for this. This is bigger than you think. They are everywhere. Even us talking right now, it’s not safe.” He continued and I growled in frustration, moving past Dean and to the window. I could feel Dean following behind me but paid no attention him as I stared outside, narrowing my eyes against the morning sun.

“No! You can’t, alright? No.”

“Hey! Give me the phone Sam.” My eyes shot over to Dean as he spoke, he was closer and way more desperate than before, his hand reaching out again, though he was too far away to actually reach it. I was considering actually giving him the phone because he might be able to talk some sense into dad but he had a bad habit of doing everything that the old man said...

“I’ve given you an order, now you stop following me and you do your job, you understand me? Now take down these names!” I stood still, not wanting anything to do with the names he was trying to give me. I turned my attention back to the window and swore when Dean grabbed the phone from my hand. “Give it back!”

“Dad, it’s me, where are you?” He asked, ignoring me completely as he walked away from me and paused, waiting for dad to answer. I sat down on the bed again rubbing my eyes. “Yes sir...uh...yeah I got a pen...what are the names?” Dean gave in like the good little soldier he was. My eyebrows were pinched together as he hung up the phone. “Looks like we have another case.” Dean set the phone down on the table and lowered himself to the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Alice’s P.O.V

I sighed rolling my eyes as I listened to the boys fight over something in the next room over. There was only mumbles travelling through the walls of the shitty motel that we were staying in. It was gross, sticky, and it all stunk. The boys had been going to bed kind of early and I’d had a hard time sleeping. It had been about three weeks since Akuma pushed me to go with the boys and I wished that I had stayed with her. With a sigh I slipped out of the blankets and stretched before going to have a quick shower. We had just finished a hunt with a werewolf and I was pretty beat up and sore, though I knew it wouldn’t last long. The shower was quick but I ran out of hot water almost immediately. With a sigh I got out and wrapped a towel around my body, staring at myself in the mirror and wondering if I should take the time to straighten my mess of curls. It would keep it out of the way for a while, I had the product to keep it clean without the necessity of washing it for a few days.

I was drawn from my thoughts by a sharp ring on my phone and I turned, walking out of the bathroom with a frown. I walked over to the nightstand where I had left it and picked it up, frowning at the unfamiliar on the screen before flipping it open and pressing it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Hey Ali. What’s up?” Came the reply from the other end and a grin crossed my face at the sound of my sister’s voice and her old nickname for me. She rarely used it unless we were split up for too long or she thought one of us was going to die. She used it the first time I ended up in the hospital with serious injuries and it stuck to being a rare nickname since then; kind of a way to let me know how much she missed me.

“Akuma!” I replied, feeling excitement build in my chest. She hadn’t called since I left and Bobby had said she was consistently working on the car and wasn’t sleeping a lot and I’d been worried. “I was actually just thinking about straightening my hair. Are you okay?” I shot off, sitting on the bed and crossing my legs beneath me, my back to the door.

“Yeah I’m fine. You should straighten your hair. It always looks nice.” Akuma said, sounding relaxed and happy. “Sirius is finally fixed. Got the last part in him a few days ago… Where are you guys? Is there another hunt I could tag along on?”

“Uh... We just finished a hunt. But I think the boys have a lead on another one. They’ve been arguing all morning and that’s what happened last time we found a hunt… Can I call you back in like an hour? I have to get dressed and straighten my hair before I ask.” I answered, shoving my wet hair over my shoulder.

“Yeah sure, just give me a call when you’re done. Bobby might have a hunt but I’d rather hunt with you.” Akuma replied before the line went dead. I sighed and grinned to myself before dropping the phone onto the bed and getting dressed into a pair of skinny jeans and a loose, oversized black band tank top before shaking my hair out and pulling my blow drier, brush, and the special high powered straightener Akuma had given me for my birthday a few years ago.

I made quick work with drying my hair, though it took a bit longer then I had expected and the straightening definitely took a lot longer, even with the heat from the straightener my hair was a wild beast that hated to be tamed. After I straightened it, I stared at myself in the mirror. I didn’t do it a lot and it made me look quite different. I wasn’t used to it but I liked it. I smiled at myself and rubbed some straightening gel into my hands and through my soft hair.

I ducked out of the bathroom and grabbed my phone before heading out of my room and headed one door over, knocking on the door and preparing to look up at one of the brothers. Sam answered the door and I took a step back and tilted my head up to give him a smile. “Hey Sam. You guys done fighting?” I asked, tilting my head and lifting my eyebrows at the look on the younger Winchester’s face. He looked shocked, almost frozen, but also like he was appreciating something.

“Uh… yeah.” He said, stepping to the side and letting me into the room. “Sorry if we woke you.” He muttered, clearing his throat as he closed the door. “What’s up?”

“You didn’t wake me… Akuma called, she wants to know if there’s another case soon. She wants to meet up with us.” I explained, brushing some hair behind my ear and looking over at Dean who looked pretty pissed and was hunched over in his chair, typing something into the computer.

“We do have a case.” Dean said, lifting his gaze a bit and studying me. “Can she meet us here in an hour or so? The case is a few towns south of here, she’d have to pass by anyways.” He said, running a hand over his face.
“I’ll call her.” I said with a grin, taking a seat at the table and flipping my phone open, calling my sister back. She picked up on the third ring as usual. “How fast can you get to the town of Bulva?” I asked, not giving her a chance to greet me. I bounced my leg impatiently as she clicked her tongue, a sign that she was taking time to think.

“An hour, hour and a half.” She replied after a few moments.

“Perfect. We’re in The Lily Hotel.” I said, not bothering to keep the excitement out of my voice as I spoke. “See you soon.”

“See you soon sis.” Akuma said with a laugh before hanging up. I smiled up at Sam but it turned into a frown at the frustrated look on the younger Winchester’s face. “Is everything okay?” I asked, tilting my head and looking over at Dean.

“We’re fine. Just having different ideas on what we should be doing for our next move.” Sam explained, earning a frustrated snort from Dean. I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my hair, glad that my fingers weren’t catching any knotted curls for the first time in a while.

“Well Akuma will be here in about an hour. Take the time to figure it out. I’m using your TV for a movie, there’s a first Harry Potter movie is on.” I said, moving to the fridge and grabbing a beer before planting my ass on the lumpy couch and stretching out my short legs and settling in to wait for the arrival of my sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Akuma’s P.O.V.

The drive to the hotel went fast probably due to the fact that I had been speeding. It was weird driving alone for this long, it was usually just to the liquor store or the convenience store. I kept myself occupied with a mix tape of all of my favourite songs. It didn’t feel like long before I was pulling up to the hotel, parking beside the Impala and rolling my shoulders before getting out of the car. I hadn’t got the room number from Alice so I just walked up to the door that the impala was parked in front of and knocked, brushing my hair over my shoulder and smiling as Alice opened the door. “Hey.” I said, opening my arms when she gave me a quick hug. I pulled back and followed her into the room. Her hair looked great straightened, it hung just past half way down her back and was sleek and shining. “So what’s the case?” I asked, looking between the two brothers.

“There’s a place that dad’s been tracking for years. Every year around this time a couple goes missing. Always the same date which is this upcoming weekend. Shouldn’t take too long to get there.” Dean replied, standing up and stretching a bit. “Either way we should get going soon. Save daylight.”

“Agreed. Let’s get going.” I said, clapping my hands together. I’d been able to work on Sirius for the three weeks I was at Bobby’s, but I always went a bit stir crazy and impatient to start hunting again. I watched as Alice turned to face me again and tilted my head when I finally noticed the light bruising across her face. “Last hunt hard?”

“Just a wolf.” Alice said with a shrug, shoving her hands into her pockets. “I decided to take off without the boys and it wasn’t smart. They saved my ass though. I’ll go grab my bag.” She explained, giving me a wicked grin before slipping past me and heading out of the room. I turned to face the boys again and lifted my eyebrows high at the look on Sam’s face. He looked worried, his eyes studying my face and a strong thought about my warning to him about keeping Alice safe crossed my mind and I grinned at him.

“Thanks for saving her dumb ass.” I reassured, combing my fingers through my hair and rocking back on my heels and watching as Dean stood and gathered the few things he had laying around, shoving them in his bag and zipping it up.

“You’re welcome.” Sam muttered, giving me a mildly confused smile before moving and gathering his computer and what looked like his father’s journal. Sam was moving in sharp movements, looking pretty annoyed as he moved. I ignored the movements and walked out of the room and towards my car, tapping my hands on my legs impatiently as Alice walked over, a grin on her face.

“Excited to get hunting again?” She asked, tilting her head to look up at me, squinting against the afternoon sun, leaving a glint to shimmer in her green eyes.

“Yeah.” I said, returning the grin and chewing on my lip a bit as the boys emerged from their hotel room, both of them looking equally frustrated. “What’s going on with them?” I asked, easily returning the glare Dean shot in my direction. It looked like I was still going to have a verbal punching bag.

“They were fighting all morning. Something about their dad I think.” Alice responded, offering a shrug before dumping her bag in the back seat and getting into the passenger side. I watched the boys for a moment longer with a small frown before getting into the driver’s side. I pulled out of the parking spot and followed Dean as he started down the highway, tapping my hands on the wheel while Alice rambled on about the hunts they’d been on and what had happened on them during said hunts. It went off for about an hour before I looked over at her, chewing on my lip.

“Alice, I need you to promise me something. You probably won’t like it but you can’t freak out.” I said quietly, sighing as I watched the smile drop from her face as she turned to face me, her eyes filling with worry. I had been thinking about this since Sam figured out what I was. “I need you to do this for me.” I said, making sure to keep my voice even as I spoke.

“... Anything.” Alice said, her eyes wandering over my face before she met my gaze again, the worry being replaced by curiosity. I sighed and turned my gaze back to the road, watching everything go by as I tried to figure out exactly what I wanted to say.

“If Dean ever figures out what I am, I want you to pretend you don’t know. And tell Sam the same thing.” I explained, my voice firm and leaving no room for argument as I spoke. This needed to be done to keep her safe and I didn’t want her to get in shit because of me. “And if it comes down to it, you have to let him kill me.” I continued, looking over at her again to gauge her reaction. Her face was a mixture of shock and anger, like she had just been slapped.

“Dean’s not going to find out.” Alice shot back, her voice getting as hard and cold as iron. “I’m not going to lie to him. I’ll deal with him if it comes down to that.” She continued, her voice sounding like it was more filled with anger towards me than anything. I sighed and looked back at the road again, staying silent for a bit as strong images flashed across my mind. I hated the whole mind reading trick and it was never my strong suit so it took people feeling powerful emotions or having strong thoughts for me to be able to pick up on their thoughts. Alice’s were mostly emotions that came across as colours like red and blue, and the rest was almost like a bunch of people packed into a small room and whispering.

“Look. You know how Dean feels about demons. We know how the Winchester’s feel about my father Alice. Dean would kill me without a second thought and I don’t want to drag you down with me.” I said, taking a hand from the wheel to run it through my hair, working out a few knots as I tried to figure out the next part. “Even if Sam said he knows what I am, Dean would forgive him. He wouldn’t let you near them. He wouldn’t trust you. I’m not letting you lose both me and Sam.”

Alice was silent for a good five minutes before she finally spoke again, her voice soft. “Fine. I promise… but what do you mean I’d lose Sam too?” She asked and I looked over to see her face right red and half hidden behind her straightened hair.

“You’re bad at hiding who you like and so is he.” I teased, relaxing now that she had agreed. I gave the road a quick glance before looking back at my sister and grinning wide at her embarrassment. “Plus you have some pretty strong dreams and thoughts that I’m sure you’d rather I don’t bring up. But you’re good for projecting those.” I continued, laughing when her face went darker in colour.

“Whatever.” Alice muttered, turning to look out the window and hide her very obvious blush. I could see her shoulders were still tense, but she appeared to be more relaxed than before, which was better than it could have been.

~~~~~~~~

Dean’s P.O.V

The car ride was mostly silent for most of the drive despite my attempts at conversation. Sam was slouched down in his seat and had his arms crossed over his chest and looked as if he was deep in thought. I sighed and turned up the music to distract myself, glancing in the rear view mirror to make sure that the girls were still behind us. From what I could see they were having a pretty intense conversation which seemed more interesting than anything I was doing. I rolled my eyes and turned my gaze back to the road, humming along with the classic rock music.

“I want to go look for dad.” Sam finally said, his voice only a bit louder than the music. I turned and stare at him in shock, taking a moment to turn down the music. Dad had instructed us to go look at this case, not to look for him. My hands tightened on the wheel, trying to hide my frustration. Sam glanced at me with his big eyes, knowing that he had just brought up a sensitive topic.

“What?” I demanded, turning my attention back to the road and swerving back into the right lane. I glanced back into the rear view just in time to catch the girls laughing before I turned my full attention back to Sam. “You’re not going to go find dad.” I snapped, my voice getting hard. We were supposed to follow orders and Sam just brought up the thing dad always told us not to do.

“He’s hunting the thing that killed our mother!” Sam reacted, his voice sharp as I met his eyes again, his eyes getting dark and cloudy with anger. “How can you be listening to him and wanting to go do this stupid mission when we could be out there with him, finding our mother’s murderer!” He continued, shifting his body so his torso was completely facing me.

“He ordered us to go on this hunt Sam!” I shot back, readjusting my grip on the steering wheel, tightening my grip and keeping my eyes on the road, not wanting to get into an accident trying to make eye contact with my brother.

“Pull over.” Sam demanded, his voice getting a bit louder this time. It took nearly all of my energy not to look at him but I wasn’t going to, especially if he was going to turn his stupid puppy dog eyes on me.

“What?! No.” I growled, shifting my hand down the wheel and taking one to rub it over my mouth in my growing aggravation at the entire situation.

“Pull over, Dean.” Sam requested again, and I finally looked at him, taking in the frustrated, pissed off expression on his face. I opened my mouth to argue but sighed instead, flipping on my signal and pulling over, getting out of my baby and slamming the door moments before Sam did. “I’m going to find dad.” He repeated.

“How do you know that he’s even still there?!” I demanded, dropping my hands onto the roof of baby and glaring at my brother. “And how are you even going to get there?!”

“I don’t know...I’ll hitch a ride to a bus station and then take that. And if he’s not there, then he’s not there.” Sam snarled, running a hand through his hair at the same time Akuma hit the horn.
“Damn it, Sam!” I slammed my hand down the roof of baby before running my hand across my face trying to process everything.

“What the hell are you two fucks doing? We are wasting daylight!” Akuma called after she threw open her car door and got out, walking over to us. She looked as stressed as I felt.

“Sammy here thinks he’s leaving.” I shot back, returning her glare and watching as Alice came up behind her sister, a frown growing on her face. She looked troubled too and it looked like everyone was stressed, which is something I really didn’t want to deal with.

“I don’t think I’m leaving. I know I’m leaving. There’s a difference.” Sam explained, opening the back door and grabbing his bag before slamming it. “You have the girls to help you on this hunt. You’ll be fine while I go to find dad.” His voice was calm now but the frustration at my argument was written all over his face.

“You’re going to find your dad!?” Alice demanded, looking from me to Sam, the frown on her face turning into a straight line. We were all silent for a moment and she looked at Akuma who was staring at Sam with slightly narrowed eyes. I sighed and opened my mouth to say something just as Alice piped up again. “I’m going with you.” She announced, not waiting for a reply before heading back to Akuma’s car and grabbing her bag.

“Y... What?!” Akuma demanded, spinning around to face her sister as she walked back. I couldn’t see her face, but her entire body was tense and she looked like she was ready to launch herself at anyone who disagreed with her.

“I’m going. Sam needs someone to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Alice replied calmly, giving her sister a smile. Akuma let out a short growl of frustration and lifted both of her hands to her head before turning to face me, her blue eyes bring and angry.

“How are you letting Sam do this? I thought you were like his life time babysitter or something.” She snapped. “Better yet, you could go with him and my sister can be safe with me.” She folded her arms across her chest, shifting her weight so that her one hip was popped out farther than the other, giving her posture more attitude.

“I can’t control him. Don’t get pissed at me because Alice has a mind of her own.” I snarled, turning my gaze back to Sam, deciding that it would be better to ignore her than anything. “Sam are you sure about this? Dad will be pissed if you’re not here.”

“I don’t care. He’s hunting yellow eyes.” Sam replied, pulling his bag onto his shoulder. “It might be dangerous Alice.” He said looking at the small redhead. I rolled my eyes and took a step back from my car, knowing I’d lost and that he’d be taking off.

“That’s why I’m going with you.” Alice replied. I shifted my weight and looked at Akuma, taking in the mixture of stress and fear on her face as she finally combed her hands through her hair. She met my gaze for a split second before turning away to face her sister again.

“.... Don’t do anything stupid okay?” She asked, her voice filled with resignation as she dropped her hands to her side.

“Of course.” Alice said, giving her a nod and a smile before quickly hugging her and moving to the side of the highway beside Sam.

“Will you two at least take Sirius? So you don’t have to hitchhike.” She said and I lifted my eyebrows. She had just finished fixing him up and she must be worried if she was going to give him to them.

“We’ll be fine Akuma.” Alice reassured, pushing Akuma’s hands away. “Just keep him. I’ll call you once we get to a bus station.” She said before turning to Sam, tilting her head back to look up at him. “Ready to go?” She asked, waiting for his nod before she started off down the highway in the direction we had just come from, Sam following shortly behind her. I stood awkwardly and silently for a moment before turning to face Akuma again. Her hands were shoved into her pockets and her shoulders were tense.

“Hey...” I started, moving towards her while she turned to face me. “Why don’t we, uh, go hide Sirius somewhere safe and then go grab a drink in town before we start on the case.” I offered tilting my chin down so I could look down to meet her eyes and offering a slight smile.
She held my gaze for a few minutes before her lips turned into a straight line and she gave a small nod before pulling her hands out of her pockets, her hand wrapped around her keys. She took a step back dropped it so she was holding the proper key.

“Yeah. Uhm… I think there might be a place in some of those trees up there.” She said, pointing behind me and I turned to see the trees starting up at what looked like about a five minute drive away. “I’ll park him and you can just wait outside the trees.” She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and turning and heading back to Sirius. I watched her get in before I got into my baby and waited for her to pass me before starting the engine and following her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam’s P.O.V

I had been walking with Alice for about twenty minutes with caution of the weather stirring above. It looked like it was about to start storming pretty soon. I turned my gaze away from the sky and back to the road, noticing a small blonde woman sitting on her bag off to the side. She had very short hair and high cheek bones with bright eyes. “Hey” I called, trying to be loud enough for her to hear over the music that was playing through her earbuds. I waited a few moments before I reached out and touched her shoulder lightly, smirking a bit when she jumped and looked up, pulling her earbuds out and glaring at me.

“Hey! You scared the hell outta me.” The woman cried, standing up and stretching a bit while continuing to glare. She looked rough and tired and like she’d like to just get off the road and somewhere warm. I already felt the same way and I could guarantee that she’d been out here longer than we had. I didn’t envy her in the slightest.

“I’m sorry, I just thought that you might need some help.” I said with a shrug as I brushed my hair out of my eyes. It was getting to an annoying length but I was considering growing it out, though cutting it off might be easier.

“Well I’m good. Thanks though.” The woman replied, her eyes dropping from me to Alice before returning back to me again, a smirk crossing her face. I looked down at Alice and lifted my eyebrows at the look on her face. She looked suspicious and a bit jealous, though I brushed off the jealous part to me being bad at reading faces.

“So where are you headed?” Alice piped up, her voice holding the same suspiciousness that was all over her face. Other than meeting another hitchhiker there was nothing to be suspicious about. The woman was only a bit bigger than Alice and posed no threat at all. I made a mental note to confront her about it later. Maybe she was just jealous, which I wouldn’t really complain about.

“No offence, but there’s no way that I’m going to tell you two.” The woman replied, draping her earbuds around her neck and shoving her hands into her pockets as she turned her attention to Alice, looking like the was sizing her up. Both of them were acting weird.

“Why not?” Alice challenged, her voice hardening as she spoke and took a step forward, forcing her now straight red hair out of her face. It looked great while straight but I liked the natural mess of curls a lot better, it fit Alice and her personality a lot better.

“Well you guys could be some kind of freaky murderers or something. I mean... you are hitchhiking.” She answered without hesitation, a kind smile growing on her face as she turned to face me again, completely ignoring Alice now.

“Well you’re a hitchhiker too.” I replied with an easy grin, rocking back on my heels and letting out a light chuckle and turning my head at the sound of a horn and a slowing engine. I took in the creepy looking white van and shifted my weight uncomfortably, glancing down at the two girls beside me as the guy rolled to a stop and rolled down the window to the passenger side.
“Need a ride?” The guy asked, leaning over. He looked creepy and greasy and I reached out for Alice, resting my hand between her shoulder blades, though I wouldn’t turn down a ride. There was better chances with three of us, especially considering that I was twice the size of both of the girls.

“Yes.” I said in unison with the blonde woman, but at the same time that Alice said “no.” I looked down at her with a frown. A ride would get us to at least a bus station earlier, and she should know that. I opened my mouth to ask her why she had said no when the greasy, old, fat dude started talking again.

“Not you.” He said, gesturing to me and sneering, his breath travelling to me from where he had leaned close to the window. It was gross and smelt kind of like alcohol. “Only the chicks.” He slurred. I tensed a bit in response and wrapped my arm around Alice’s shoulders, watching as Meg picked up her bag and opened the door to the van.

“So you trust this shady van guy and not us?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows at the situation. This guy’s appearance basically screamed psycho rapist murderer and she’d rather be in a vehicle with him than just chat with us. I rolled my eyes at her grin and looked down at Alice who had a stony expression on her face as she stared at the other woman and the van.

“Definitely.” She purred before slamming the door and leaning back as the guy in the van took off. I shifted my weight and let go of Alice but turned to face her, studying how she relaxed. I debated saying something about how she was acting weird and seemed a bit jealous but decided against it. Instead I turned my attention to the now abandoned road.

“We should probably get going.” I said, giving Alice a reassuring smile before starting to walk again, feeling her step in line next to me.