To the Death

As children, we are brought up surrounded by magic, Santa Claus delivering presents around the world in one night, on his sled pulled by flying reindeer, the Easter bunny hiding chocolate eggs and the tooth fairy swapping teeth for money, all of which truly exist inside of every young mind. The excitement and wonder gradually fades as you grow up but for Kacey there was no magic, just horror stories about supernatural beings roaming among the human race, and fear that she would one day encounter such monsters.

The stories you hear about ghouls and demons you laugh off, putting it down to myth or legend, or even the old drunk guy in the inn's years before talking about sightings when he was just a little boy… It doesn't cross your mind for a second that the creatures you feared were under your bed as a child, could in fact be watching from the shadows, lurking, waiting for its moment to strike and these were the things Kacey hunted.

Demons are a vile bunch, walking around in their human meat suits, innocent people targeted for no reason in particular, their thoughts replaced with those of blood, chaos and killing, occasionally some one will survive the possession but most die, too damaged by the demon to carry on. There are people out there unknown to most, who have dedicated their lives to hunting down the demons one by one, ridding them from the earth and saving as many people as they can. Through many generations hunters have passed on their knowledge, some hunted due to personal experiences, others were born into the life, learning to shoot and melt silver into bullets from a young age.

They all had the same goal, to regain control of humanity and return the fiends to where they belonged. This wasn't just a job, it was war, people sacrificed their lives for a cause that most people didn't even understand, but then again if you truly believe in something strongly enough, then what more can you offer than your own life and the life of the people nearest you.
Kacey remembered something her granddad wrote in his hunter's journal, which had stuck with her all this time:

'Tragedy fell upon the Earth and the hunters rose as one, united against one common enemy, many may lose their lives but that is a sacrifice we are willing to make'

She kept this close to her heart, writing it on the first page of her own hunter's journal. She was now twenty-one years old and a hunter of the supernatural, this was not a life choice she made, it was her destiny or that's how her dad saw it.

Kacey was sitting looking through the newspapers and Internet, in search for her next hunt, there were a lot to choose from but one set of reports caught her eye immediately. The first was a man who told the police that he was chased home from the woods by a wolf the size of a horse, now this wouldn't normally catch Kacey's curiosity except there were other weird incidents, and Kacey knew she had to check it out.

After a three-hour drive, she finally pulled into the small town of Livingstone, renting a room at the only motel in town and taking a shower before heading out to talk to the first eyewitness. She pulled up to the address in her SUV, instantly noticing the 1967 Impala, which was parked a little way in front, after a few moments admiring the legendary car she approached the house and knocked.
The house wasn't exactly in the best condition, the paint was faded, the garden overgrown with weeds and the windows were dark from what Kacey could only guess was dirt. She waited for a few moments before the door finally swung open, revealing a middle aged man wearing glasses and a baseball cap.

"Can I help you?" He asked frowning.

"I'm looking for Mr. Weston?" Kacey replied confidently.

"That's me."

"Ah hi, I'm a reporter for a new magazine and I'm in charge of writing articles on strange happenings. Now I've read your report on the Internet and I was hoping to ask you a few questions?"

"Of course, come on in I didn't think that my report would get this much attention, you see I already have company but I'm sure you don't mind sharing," Mr. Weston said as he led her into what she could only guess used to be the family room.

The smell of damp was over bearing, but Kacey kept her mind on the job at hand. Looking around she saw that the room was filled with piles of old newspapers, a birdcage, books, DVD’s and other random junk, which littered every surface that surrounded her. It took Kacey a moment to realise that she wasn't alone with Mr Weston, as he had mentioned, there was somebody else there; stood in one of the only clear spaces was a guy and with a smile she joined him.

"Mr Yates this is… well I didn't actually catch her name, but she's here working on an article," Mr. Weston informed the stranger.

"I'm Miss Waters," Kacey added smiling at Mr. Yates who instantly smiled back.

"Well considering we are working the same job, I don't see why we can't combine our resources and work together… If you don't have any objections of course, Miss Waters?"

"That's a great idea; it will be a pleasure to work with you I'm sure."

Kacey had known that he was a hunter straight away, because no reporter would touch such a story, and the way he carefully picked his words simply confirmed it.

"So Mr. Weston, your report says that you was chased by a wolf, is that correct?" Mr. Yates asked.

"Yes sir, I was hunting up at Willow Creek as I always do and it came out of nowhere, snapping at my heels all the way home."

"Can you describe the animal for us?" Kacey inquired.

"It was big for a wolf, I'd say closer to the size of a horse, and its teeth were sharp and seemed to glow, it was acting strange as well."

"How do you mean strange?" Mr. Yates added when Mr Weston didn't elaborate.

"Like it was on something."

"Is there anything else you may have seen before the attack which you found strange?" Kacey said trying to get as much information as possible.

"There was something but I'm not sure if you'd class it as strange… Lately I've been seeing a little girl wearing a red hooded jumper around town, this is a small town and there isn't anyone I don't know, but I've never seen her around before."

"Okay well I think that's all we need for the moment Mr. Weston, unless Miss Waters has any other questions she would like to ask?"

"No, I think we covered everything we needed to."

"Then on behalf of the both of us, I'd like to thank you for your time and we will be in touch if we need anything else."

"Glad I could help," Mr. Weston said.

Kacey followed Mr. Yates out the door, closing it behind them, as they left the property and headed towards their cars.

"Hunter?" The guy asked staring at her.

"Yeah… and so are you."

"I'm Dean… Dean Winchester."

"I'm Kacey Haywood."

"It's nice to meet you properly. I meant what I said in there it'll be better if we work together, so do you have any theories?" Dean asked.

"I meant it when I said it'd be a pleasure to work with you, I have two actually but they're both crazy."

"Care to share?"

"Yeah but not here, I'm guessing you're staying at The Lantern Motel?" Kacey inquired not wanting to discuss the topic of monsters in the middle of a public street.

"Yeah my brother is getting us a room."

"I'm in room twenty seven, swing by in about an hour so I can do some digging."

"Sounds good, we'll see you then," Dean replied grinning as he got into the Impala.

Kacey smiled back as she climbed into her SUV, heading straight back to the motel where she began researching her theories, she knew with a case like this things could get bad quick and she wanted to stop it before that could happen.