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The sound of her sisters screams were quickly silenced as she hit the freezing river below her. She had fallen from the edge of Hartford Bridge in Kansas during a routine hunt with her sister.
They had dealt with many vampire and werewolf cases before and of course, this wasn’t supposed to be a problem, that was until they got to the bridge.
Elizabeth joked, discussing how it was obviously a ‘ghoul-pire’, almost excited at the discovery until they decapitated one of them, and he was /still/ alive. Then they shot him in the heart, with silver of course and nothing happened, again.
The two brunettes looked at each other, their eyes wide with panic, their lips parted as they frantically searched for something to say to each other before they both turned around and bolted for their car as the pack approached.
“What the hell is this shit?!”, Elizabeth yelled, stopping abruptly, her hand grabbing her sister’s arm as she saw the creature that had blocked them from the car and looked back at the quickly approaching pack behind them.
“ SHIT, FUCK, Hailey! How many bullets?”, she asked her sister, her hands shaky as she readied the machete in her hands. “Three”, her sister replied, almost as if she had already given up.
“ You listen to me, if you have the chance to run, you do it, alright? /Don’t/ come back for me”, she told her firmly, leaving no room for argument, but there was no time anyway because they had reached them, and Hailey started shooting, her face determined and ready.
They fought, and it felt like hours but it lasted minutes before a pair of headlights at the end of the bridge caught Elizabeth's eye. She almost thanked God before she sliced her machete through another head, blood flying every where and a loud grunt escaped from her mouth, her body almost giving out at the thought of help, knowing they couldn’t hold out any longer.
That’s when she heard the scream. She knew it any where, it was Hailey, of course it was her.
God, she ran, her lungs burned, but there was no where to go. Hailey looked at her sister, fear in her eyes, blood splattered across her face, a brown curl matted to her face as she bounded towards her and pushed her over the side.
Elizabeth panicked, screaming, “no, no, no, Hailey!” as her hands reached out for her sister who had saved her, no,/sacrificed herself/ for her. Her curls whipped around her face and she barely had time to watch her sister get grabbed by those creatures. This is not what was supposed to happen, it wasn’t supposed to end like this, but how could she be so stupid. Of course it ended like this, why wouldn’t it?
Hailey’s screams were soon silenced by the impact of the water, the sound of the world silenced by the shock she was in and the muffled sounds of being under water.
She tried to swim, but every time her head reached the surface, her teeth chattered, her head was heavy and she tried to scream, but her voice was hoarse and panicked. Just as her head lolled, and her legs and arms became tired as she tried to swim to the bank, a strong arm grabbed her by the waist, pulling her out of the freezing river. The smell of damp leather and beer filled her senses as she gasped for air and felt the ground beneath her.
“Hailey”, she struggled to say before she was picked up bridal style. She thrashed in the strangers arm as roughly as possible, but the arms pushed her tightly against a hard chest, almost so she couldn’t see what was happening around her.
“ Please”, she added pathetically, her voice almost gone as she struggled not to cry at how silent and dead the air was. She soon gave up, her head lolling to the side as she heard two voices that were soon muffled as she became unconscious.
-
She woke up, her vision blurred without her glasses, and persistent and heavy pain in her temple. She furrowed her eyebrows, the bed sheet smelt fresh, nothing like the dirty ones she slept in at the motels. Looking around, she panicked, ' where is Hailey?’, Elizabeth thought. Quickly sitting up as the events of last night rushed to her head, she jumped from the bed, her head spinning as she did so.
'Is this their hide out?’, she wondered, looking at the night stand beside her and grabbing the lamp that sat there before she smashed it off the wall, grabbing a shard of the shattered bulb.
Slowly making her way outside of the room, she crept silently, her breath as steady as she could muster, following two voices down the long, dull halls.
When she finally reached the source of the voices, she pressed her back against the wall, taking a deep breath before she held the shard in front of her and came out, facing two men.
“Don’t fucking move, you sickos, where is she?”, she demanded, her face stern, although her surroundings were blurred.
“ Wow, wow, wow, wait ”, the taller one spoke, raising his hands and beginning to walk over to her. “ I said don’t fucking move ”, she added, extending her arm with the shard in it.
“You’re safe, alright, we’re hunters, like you”, he pushed, trying to give her an understanding look. “ Don’t give me that crap, I’d be rich if I had a dollar for every time some weird ass creature told me that. Where is my sister?”, she shot back, stepping back from him.
The smaller man grinned slightly at that, and nodded his head, agreeing with the woman, but kept quiet, knowing it wasn’t the right time.
“She didn’t make it”, the smaller man spoke up, crossing his arms. “ NO! You’re lying, you’re just saying that to get me all vulnerable, so you can gank me too, it’s not fucking happening”, she almost shouted, pointing the shard back and forth between the two men as tears brewed in her eyes and her lips quivered.
The taller man moved quickly, grabbing the shard from her hand, cutting her palm in the middle of the debacle before he found himself flat on the ground. She had tripped him and now straddled him, holding her hands to his neck.
“Tell me you’re lying, it wasn't supposed to end like this!”, she screamed, strong hands wrapping around the inside of both of her arms and pulling her off, of the other man.
“ I’m sorry”,the taller man spoke, standing up. He didn’t seem angry that she floored him, he just gave that understanding look again like he knew what it felt like, but all she wanted to do was punch the guy, scream at him, tell him he /doesn’t/ understand.
Instead, the smaller man with the strong hands, familiar, she thought, maybe the same one’s that dragged her out of the river - dragged her back and sat her down on a chair.
Elizabeth shrugged his hands off, of her, and held her head in her hands, shaking it as heavy sobs wracked through her body. “Where is her body?”, she managed through it all, her head throbbing and her face pale, feeling as though she may throw up.
“We brought her back here, wrapped her body up. We presumed you wanted a traditional hunter burial”, the taller one spoke, the small man keeping quiet still.
Elizabeth only nodded, earning a sympathetic look from the tall man, as he pushed an untouched mug of coffee across the table to her, before leaving her for a moment, gesturing for the other man to follow.
Before he moved, she felt the same strong hand on her shoulder again, along with a light squeeze. Elizabeth was surprised, and also slightly comforted by the gesture, before his hand quickly moved and he left her alone to her thoughts.
-
The coffee mug warmed her cold hands, giving her a sense of comfort. She wasn't sure how to feel. She didn't spend a day without her sister. They hunted as kids and when their parents passed, they continued hunting together, never once parting until now. Elizabeth felt alone. Almost as if half of her heart was ripped out, and she touched her chest making sure there was no bandages. 'You never know these days', she thought, before furrowing her eyebrows at the feel of her clothing.
She looked down, and to her surprise she was dressed in a baggy, black t- shirt and loose pyjama bottoms. "Crap", she mumbled, a little embarrassed that she had attacked the two men with their own lamp, while wearing one of the men's clothing. Hailey would of rolled her eyes, spared a laugh at her sister - she was always the responsible one. Elizabeth shook her head then as she heard someone walk back in.
Straightening herself up, and placing the mug on the table, she stood as the smaller man reached her. Clearing his throat, he placed a pile of folded clothes on the table.
" Your clothes. Sammy washed them. They were drenched in the river water", he told her, his voice low. Elizabeth nodded, swallowing back tears, and tried a smile for him, although it was a terrible attempt.
"Sammy", she spoke up, nodding slightly, " and you are? I presume it was you who pulled me out", she spoke up, her voice still quite hoarse.
"Uh, yeah, Dean Winchester. You should probably call him Sam though - he gets pissy", Dean told her, a small grin making it's way to his lips.
Elizabeth noted that, his grin a little more contagious than she thought it was. Maybe she just appreciated the normality of the conversation rather than the sympathetic, understanding look she got from this so called Sam.
" Right. I'm Elizabeth. You must be brothers ", she replied. She didn't ask, she just sorta knew. The way Dean spoke about him, joked and that, it was something she knew well. It wasn't something you could have unless you had a sibling. A special bond, incredibly unlike any other.
" Just Elizabeth? And yeah, I'm the older one, just so you know. Don't be fooled by his height and his nerdy persona ", Dean told her, folding his arms over his chest as he watched her. " Yes, just Elizabeth, in case I decide to leave suddenly so then you won't be able to find me", she started, copying him by folding her arms too.
"Well, Elizabeth, you're not going far in my shirt and pyjama pants", he stated, hitting her on the shoulder as if to say 'you tried', before smirking at her and leaving again.
Elizabeth let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and shook her head, a small smile on her face as she took her clothes from the table, retracing her steps to the bedroom they left her in.
-
She sat on the bed in silence as she went over everything, thinking about what she should have done and what she shouldn't have done. Placing her head in her hands, she sighed heavily and was startled by the light knock on her door.
" Ready?", Sam asked, standing there with his brows furrowed in concern. She simply nodded, standing up and following Sam outside in silence.
The brothers had set it all up for her, even gave her some time alone with the body. Although she couldn't see her body, as it was all wrapped up, she figured it was for the best. She would rather remember Hailey as she was rather than how she looked after those creatures had torn her apart.
She couldn't keep it together, tears fell from her eyes and the two men stayed at a distance, wanting to give her the space that they knew she needed.
As the flames began bursting from her sisters body, she watched and waited for the flame to go down, but knew it would take hours, so she waited as she told herself she would. She stood for two hours before it became dark, the only light coming from the flames as the night enclosed around her. After quite a while, she sat crossed legged on the grass, her tears gone, but a pained look made it's way to her face.
Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as she heard steps coming towards her and she looked to the side, watching as Dean sat next to her with a grunt, offering her a beer. "Thanks", she mumbled, screwing off the top. Dean simply nodded and they both stayed silent until the flame began to burn out, the light then replaced by the sun rise as they made their way back into the bunker, tired and worn out, sparing eachother a nod and leaving to sleep in their own rooms, a silent thank you unspoken between the two.