How to Save a Soul - ABANDONED

The younger Winchester smiled in understanding as he squeezed her hand gently in his, holding the umbrella in his free hand so they both wouldn't get soaked to the bone. He pulled the brunette close to his side and his arm wrapped around her shoulders, rubbing her arm softly. "You'll be a lot warmer if you stay close to me." He chuckled, feeling her shiver against him. "It'll be okay... I'm right here." He soothed.

She felt kind of like a child being coddled, but Sam's body was so warm she found it hard to be angry and they headed in the direction of the hotel. She also tried to tell herself it'd been two weeks and this was the first real...weakness so to speak, Sam had discovered. Allowing him to take care of her like this wasn't /so/ bad...and she secretly enjoyed it, snuggling closer with her arm around his waist. Every time there was a rumble her hand would reflex on his side, tightening her hold on his clothes. When there was a harsh boom or crack, she'd jump a little and her whole arm would contract in a hug.

Finally they got to the hotel as the rain and wind were picking up, and she hated pulling away but Sam was trying to shake out the umbrella and tie it together after retracting the handle. Looking around, she frowned, "I don't see Dean anywhere, or Amalia."

Sam looked around and narrowed his eyes, feeling that something was wrong. "I don't like this... Though they might have finished up and got here before us? Wouldn't hurt to call and check." He said, and just as he took his phone out of his pocket to call his brother, it began to ring. Looking at the caller ID, his eyes widened to find that Amalia was calling him. Quickly bringing Kerica to an empty part of the lobby, he put the call on speaker and lowered the volume in hopes to not disturb the other guests. "Amalia?"

"Sam! Oh, thank god you picked up!" She said, her voice sounding out of breath and frantic.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked, worry immediately echoing in his tone.

"I tried to get a hold of Dean, but..." She trailed off, then started to speak again. "I found out what's causing these suicides. It's the demon that possessed Aunt Ramona. He's getting into people's heads and making innocent people kill themselves."

Sam turned to Kerica with wide eyes, who was also listening in. "You're sure about this? How did you find out?"

"I talked to one of the victim's friends, and apparently, she's being targeted as well. She told me that they kept hearing a voice, and...." She paused, making Sam panic.

"And what? Amalia!?"

"...She said that it was calling out my name." Her voice was trembling at the words, making Sam's entire face grow pale.

"Where are you right now?" He asked.

"I'm by the high school. If you're coming to me, you have to hurry! He's--" Her sudden scream filled their ears, and the call dropped.

"Amalia? Amalia!!" He shouted, but there was no answer. He clenched his jaw tightly, wanting to the throw his phone onto the floor of the lobby, but instead, he restrained himself and screamed aloud. "DAMN IT!" He cursed, running his hands through his hair. A few people that were just passing through gave him a wide eyed look before going back to their business. He was breathing hard and his heart raced in panic. He was silent for a moment before he let out a deep breath, quickly calling his brother. "C'mon, Dean, pick up...!"

"Sam! Sammy, /please/ tell me Amalia's with you!" Dean was breathing heavily, "I can't find her anywhere, it's raining cat's and dogs, and she's not answering her phone."

"He probably didn't hear her scream because of the storm," Kerica bit her lip.

"What was that?! What did Kerica just say?!" Dean yelled from his end, "I'm gunna need you to pick me up, the storm's getting pretty bad and I'm taking refuge under someone's porch roof."

Sam hung his head and bit his lip in hesitation before speaking. "Amalia is in trouble, Dean. I just got a call from her, saying she found out what's causing the suicides. It was the demon who possessed Ramona. She was by the high school when..." He paused, swallowing hard. "She screamed, and the call dropped."

He listened to his brother's reaction before taking Kerica's hand in his and rushed to the car. "Do you know what street you're on? We're heading for you now."

"For the love of...!" Dean groaned and he tried not to freak out, but he did start pacing. He looked for the street sign and rattled off the address before he continued speaking, "When we find this bastard I'm going to murder him so hard. At least this time he's in someone we don't care about."

Kerica sat in the back of the Impala so when they got Dean he could just jump in without them having to move around, "How are we supposed to find her? The only tracking device we have is her phone which she more than likely dropped when she was captured."

Sam immediately started driving once they were buckled up, with a look of determination on his face. "If she was taken by the high school, hopefully she should be somewhere near that area. We look there once we pick up Dean." He said simply. After a short while of driving, they found the older Winchester and he immediately got in the car. Soon, Dean's phone began to ring and Sam looked at his brother from the corner of his eye. Once they saw the caller ID, Sam nodded to him, giving him the okay to answer. Once he put the call on speaker, a male voice was heard on the other end.

"Hello, Dean." The demon chuckled darkly, causing Sam to glare harshly as he made his way to the high school.

"Damn you, I am going to gut you like a fish," Dean growled into the phone, "Tell me where she is!" He knew it wouldn't be that easy. It was NEVER that easy. They'd have to search around for her like every other time they had to find someone or something. Fucking stupid!

"Now, now, my boy. If you want your girl alive, you'll need to calm yourself." Said the demon, causing Sam to tighten his hold on the steering wheel of the car. He wanted to speak up so badly, but he knew that the bastard would make things worse for Amalia if he did.

"You know, she really is a feisty one." He chuckled, and soon they could hear Amalia shouting at the demon from the other end of the call.

"You son of a bitch...! If you do anything to them, I swear I'll--" A loud smack was heard after that, a small whimper following soon after which had cut off the red head's words.

"Tsk... That little wretch needs to learn her place. You're lucky that I'm keeping her alive for now."

Dean had a hard time not breaking the phone with is grip, "What do you want from her? What's your big deal?" he growled, "Do you want us? Did you think you could use her to get to the big bad Winchester Brothers? Because newsflash, we're a demon's worst fucking nightmare."

Kerica had to admit that was a good line. She watched Sam pull into the parking lot of the school but she reached out and gripped his shoulder before he got out. The car had been shut off, which made it quiet besides the pitter-patter of the rain. Leaning closer to Dean's side of the car, she tilted her head to listen in. While they waited for the demon's response, she heard an echoing sort of sound.

"Oh, I want revenge, my dear boy. Not just because of what you Winchesters did. But because of what her father did." He admitted, causing Sam to turn his head towards Dean with wide eyes. What was he talking about...?

"What...?" The sound of Amalia's shocked voice was heard, causing the demon to chuckle.

"You see, I was the one who killed her daddy. And it was thanks to this little thing that I was able to." He said.

"You bastard..! Shut the hell up!" Amalia's voice rang, a desperate attempt to try and keep him quiet. But it failed.

"Such language doesn't befit such a pretty lady," He mused, then proceeded to continue. "Being exorcised once was painful enough by daddy-o. But twice! Tsk, tsk, tsk. That was uncalled for. You hurt me."

Sam listened to the conversation, anger boiling in his blood. The demon was just messing with them now. He wanted so badly to get out of the car and hunt the thing down.

"It was because of this girl that her father died, and it was all thanks to her simple yet terrible mistake in trying to trap me." He started, a chuckle leaving his lips. "See, she drew the demon trap wrong in the midst of her panic, and so it had no effect on me."

Sam grew wide eyed at the demon's words, utterly speechless.

"Her dear old man sacrificed himself to save his terrified daughter, but he was still able to finish the exorcism chant, the pitiful fool. But you see, I have been watching this girl for years after he died. I caused the nightmares that occurred to her every night. I want her to suffer, and to remind her that it is entirely /her/ fault that she failed her father. It's /her/ fault." He laughed.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Amalia's sudden cry filled their ears, then a grunting yelp left her in a woosh as if she had been punched in the stomach, hard. Then they heard a thud on the other end of the call.

Amalia was the reason her dad died, because she drew the Devil's Trap wrong? Dean frowned grimly. He knew there was something more to the story. There always was. A loud boom echoed and the car bounced. Looking behind him he saw Kerica had a grimace on her face, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine...wait a sec," Kerica furrowed her brows and she fished in her trench coat for her phone, "End the call." She ordered and watched as Dean flipped it shut. Pulling up her google maps app, she watched it bring up her location and she zoomed in. Looking on Earth mode, she tried to see where Amalia might be, "I think I know where she is. When that boom hit, it sounded like there was lots of glass rattling on the other end and it wasn't nearly as muffled as it would be if they were inside. This place has a greenhouse," she held up her phone for the boys to see, "We should go check out that building."

Sam turned to Kerica with a look of confusion, before she started to explain herself. He looked at her phone with interest, then his eyes grew wide with a small smirk. "Kerica, you're amazing." He complimented, taking out a pistol filled with silver bullets before getting out of the car with Dean and into the rain. They had to hurry, for the lightning was growing closer by the second. The younger Winchester took the lead and rushed towards the greenhouse, standing on the opposite side of the door with Dean to his right, nodding to his brother. "On three..." He whispered.

Since Dean couldn't carry around the First Blade, he had the demon blade instead. He was definitely going to kill this demon. He hadn't killed anything with his bare hands in too long. He was craving getting his hands bloody. When he and his brother jumped in, Sam holding his gun up as a distraction, Dean ducked around and walked below the line of tables full of plants. Kerica was behind Sam and she closed the door behind them.

Sam had begun to move forward with Kerica following behind him, gun in his hands as his eyes darted from plant to plant in hopes of finding Amalia. He came to an abrupt stop when his gaze finally found the red head in the corner of the greenhouse, unconscious. Her wrists were tied behind her back, and her hair covered the majority of her face. He quietly turned to Dean, who was a few feet away from him when their eyes met and he motioned to where Amalia was. He stayed at his spot with his feet firmly planted on the ground, looking around to see where the demon could be. It was too quiet, and finding Amalia was almost too easy. Something felt wrong...

With a small groan, the red head fluttered her eyes open to find Sam and Kerica up ahead and darted her eyes around in search for Dean. When she saw him, she bit her lip and a pained expression crossed her face. She could only imagine how disappointed he must have been, to find out about her father like this... As she tried to sit up, she let out a small cry as a jolt of pain ran through her stomach, causing her to slowly lay back down. It was then that the demon appeared behind Sam, causing her eyes to widen.

"BEHIND YOU!" She cried hoarsely, causing the younger Winchester to turn around and pull Kerica away from the bastard, pulling the trigger as one bullet grazed the demon's arm, causing him to shake his index finger at the hunter.

"You're going have to do better than that, Sam my boy." He taunted, extending his hand out to send Sam flying and he hit the glass wall, unable to move.

Kerica's heart hammered in her chest as she saw the glass spiderweb around Sam's frame, and she threw a small dagger from her belt at the demon as he advanced towards her, and it embedded itself in his chest. All he did was look down in annoyance and pulled it out. Jumping back she went around Amalia's chair and watched as Dan slid from under a nearby table with a yell, and the demon turned around. As he did so, Dean's demon dagger sliced upwards across it's torso.

Kerica flipped out her pocket knife and used the serrated part to cut through Amalia's rope, "You're making this a common occurrence," she teased, though her voice was pitched with nervousness. If this demon had survived two exorcisms and was still around, it was definitely a pain in the ass.

Amalia gave the brunette a weak smile, feeling that her wrists were no longer bound. Rubbing them softly, she felt a tug on her arm, realizing that Kerica was trying to get her out of the greenhouse. She bit her lip and gently yanked herself away from her grip. "Kerica... I'm sorry but I have to stay and help." She said, seeing the look on the woman's face before she continued. "I'm so tired of being the victim...! All I ever do is cause trouble! It's my fault that you guys are in this mess... It's time that I make things right."

Sam had tried to get free from the demon's hold when he heard the red head's words, his look of pain turning into one of worry. But she didn't know how to fight, he thought to himself. He struggled to get free, while the demon snarled in pain at the slash on his chest. He shook his head with a look of disappointment, a snarky grin on his face forming soon after. "That hurt, Dean." He mocked, then extended a hand that sent Dean flying forward.

Dean's cheek smacked against a table and he crumbled to the ground in a heap, the knife sliding away and towards the two women. "Shit!" he cursed, holding his face.

Kerica wanted to argue, tell her not to, but she knew just how difficult and dumb the Hunter life could be when you were a female. Everyone, even other women Hunters, would tell you to back off, let the more /experienced/ people handle it. So she just ran over to Dean so she could help him stand up.

Amalia covered her mouth in fright, before she noticed the knife right by her feet. Biting her lip, she took the blade in her hand and watched as the demon neared Kerica and Dean. Her heart was pounding painfully against her chest, and she knew that she had to do something, or they would all die. Gathering all the courage she could muster, the red head held the handle of the demon blade with both hands, she ran forward, a shout leaving her lips which caused the demon to turn her way and before he could react and send her flying, the enchanted blade went through his chest, and into his heart. She could feel the knife sink into his flesh, and it made her stomach churn.

Sam grew wide eyed as he watched the scene, seeing Amalia glare daggers at the monster before her. What looked like small streams of light ran through his veins, visible through the skin. "This..." She hissed, twisting the knife slowly to watch blood run down the corners of his mouth. "...is for my father. You son of a bitch."

Soon, the light went out in the demon's eyes, causing the girl to release the blade from her shaking hands and watched him crumble to the floor, lifeless. Sam felt the pressure quickly fade away and he gasped before breathing heavily, staring at Amalia in shock before she fell to her knees, staring at her hands with wide and teary eyes.

"Amalia," Dean grunted as he came over to the redhead, "The faster we get out of here the better. We'll talk about everything back at the hotel. This storm's only getting worse, not better." He placed his hand under her arm, but it was a loose grip in case she didn't want to be touched and could jerk away.

Kerica on the other hand went to Sam and she checked him over, "Are you okay?

Amalia didn't jerk away at his touch. Instead, she allowed him to help her get back on her feet, eyes clouded over with tears as she and Dean rushed back to the Impala. She didn't utter a single word; she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Sam nodded once in reassurance, dusting himself off. "Yeah, I'm fine... Though, I wish I could say the same for Amalia." He said with a hand running through his hair, soon taking Kerica's hand and rushing out of the green house after pulling the demon knife out of the dead man's chest and wiping away the blood. The sound of thunder echoed in everyone's ears, and the rain was pouring harder than ever.

~*~

Amalia sat on the edge of the bed with Dean sitting beside her, while Sam and Kerica sat across from them on the other bed. She had been completely quiet during the ride back, but then again, so were the others. Sam exhaled softly and looked at Amalia with soft eyes, opening his mouth to say something before slowly pressing his lips together. He wanted to say something, anything to get Amalia to feel better. But she had just killed a demon with her own two hands, for the first time in her life. He didn't know what to say to make that go away...

"Th first kill is always the hardest," Dean assured her, "It doesn't get easier after a while, at least not for a lot of people. You just...harden yourself against it. It's why some people jump out of the Hunter life as soon as possible, they can't handle the stress. You're actually handling it better than I thought you would," he praised, hoping that would cheer her up, "Revenge is a hard path, but at least you didn't have to go hunting for it, and it didn't consume you."

The red head turned to Dean with soft eyes, a small smile creasing her lips at his words of praise. She was surprised that he wasn't angry with her, after not telling him the entire truth about her father. With a soft breath, she looked down at her feet, moving a strand of hair away from her face. "I'm actually amazed that I'm not breaking down, like I thought I would." She giggled, causing Sam to let out a silent sigh of relief.

"You were really brave, you know. I didn't think you had it in you, but you proved me wrong. Hell, I think you proved all three of us wrong." He chuckled, earning a much brighter smile from Amalia.

"Looks are deceiving, and that's why I let her do it," Kerica smiled warmly at Amalia, "I had faith in you in that moment, and that's what mattered. It's not like I had the ability to fight such a strong demon that came back from /two/ exorcisms!"

Dean nodded, "Right. I mean, I would've taken it down...but at the risk of hurting you and Kerica. That was unacceptable, so I held back. At least I injured and slowed him down for you. He wasn't intimidated by you so he didn't watch his back like a dumbass. You have potential, Amalia. We can use that...innocent demeanor to our advantage. Everyone you talk to just...lets their guard down. Including us."

Amalia's heart ached as Kerica spoke, and her gaze turned soft as she turned to Dean. It was true that many people didn't see her as a threat; she was too nice, the redhead noticed. But she couldn't help it. Her kind nature made her who she was. Knowing that she could finally be of use to them made her happy, and she let out a breath of relief. "Thanks, you guys..." She said, wiping her eyes as she felt tears starting to form.