There was a knock that echoed in the room. Dean blinked his eyes open and rolled over with a groan. He pulled the blanket back up to his neck, then he heard it again. With another groan, Dean sat up and looked at the door. There was another knock, louder this time. Dean slowly got out of bed and glanced at the clock. "Three in the morning?", he questioned with a groan.
Once he reached the door, he checked the peep hole and opened the door. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" Dean glared at Alex, who was dressed in her flannel pants and a loose, long sleeved, t-shirt. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed that her face was soaked in tears. "What-?" Before Dean could ask, she quickly wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her tears soak into his shirt.
"Alex? What's wrong?" Dean asked, pushing her back to look her in the eyes.
Alex started to explain... Or tried to at least. All Dean could hear was her squealing between sobs, and she was pointing in random directions with her finger.
"Okay, okay, okay. Here, sit down." Dean lead her to his bed and sat her down on the end. "I'll be right back. I promise." He assured her with a hand on her shoulder.
Dean walked over to the connecting door and looked back at Alex, who had her head in hands, shaking from her sobs. He looked back at the door and pushed it open after knocking twice. Sam was sitting up in his bed all tired and groggy, wondering why Dean woke him up so early.
"Dude. It's three in the morning." Sam complained.
Dean sighed. "Somethings wrong with Alex."
Now more alert, Sam pushed aside the covers and stood up. "What happened? Is she all right?"
"I'm not sure. I think she told me, but I couldn't understand her."
"Do you think we should call up Kyle?" Sam suggested, looking around for his phone.
"No." Dean said, "Something tells me that he already knows."
They both walked back in to Dean's room and saw Alex in the same position that Dean had left her. Sam and Dean exchanged looks and walked over to Alex.
"I..." Alex started to say, but she began to cry again. This time she started to choke a little, while having a hard time breathing.
"Hey, hey. Shh. It's okay." Sam sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her for comfort. "Everything is going to be okay. Just take it easy, and take a deep breath." Alex did what he told her to do, while he rubbed her shoulder. "That's it. Just try to relax."
Dean had grabbed a chair and was now sitting in front of them. "What's wrong?" It was a simple question, but she stayed silent. He sighed and decided it was time to press for an answer. "You know, you can tell us anything. Please, Alex, just talk to us. What's going on with you?" Dean asked, looking into her red, watery eyes.
She stared at him for a minute, then finally spoke. "I miss them." Alex whispered through her tears.
"... Your parents?" Sam asked her tenderly.
Alex nodded. "Hana will grow up without any-" She couldn't finish what she started to say, because she was too pained to say it. Once she did say it, it would be real. Instead, Alex started crying more into her hands.
"Shh. It's okay." Sam squeezed her a little in a half hug.
"They're all dead because of me." Alex said, while trying to stop crying.
"Why would you say that?" Dean asked her curiously.
"Because it's true." Alex wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands and controlled her breathing again. "The day before my tenth birthday, my dad took me to a water park in the Wisconsin Dells. We spent the whole day there, having fun. When he went to drop me off at my mom's house, I remember he gave me the tightest hug and I could feel his tears soaking into my shirt. He pulled me away and looked me in the eyes, then he said, 'What ever happens, be safe and be strong. Be the fighter that I taught you to be and never give up. Life's going to get harder, but I know you're going to get stronger. I will always love you, Alexandra.' Then he kissed me on the forehead and walked back to his car." Alex started to choke up again, but contained her composure. "The next day, during my party, I was playing with my friends in the backyard, when I saw my mom answer the phone. She started crying almost right away. Turns out my dad was found on his living room floor... cut up and bloody. Large claw marks running down his chest. Even though they were divorced, my mom and dad were still good friends. She took his death pretty hard. The cops never found out what happened to him. To be honest... It seemed like he knew it was coming. The way he treated me whenever I spent time with him, was like it was my birthday. He always did what I wanted to do, and played games with me." Alex started to cry softly. "Making every last minute count."
"That must have been awful." Dean said sympathetically. "But you can't really blame yourself for his death. Him dying on your birthday wasn't your fault." Dean knew in reality that it was indirectly her fault. When she was born her dad made a deal. He sold his soul when she died at birth, and ten years later he died because he saved her life.
"It's not just that. When I was seventeen, my mom got into a terrible car crash." Alex explained. "Just as bad as mine, but she didn't make it. She broke her neck. She was on her way to pick me up from my kick-boxing class. So, try to convince me that it wasn't fault." She looked up at Dean, who looked away. "Plus there's the fact that my step-dad was murdered by a demon, who was after me. The same demon who claimed to have caused my mom's accident."
"How come you've never told us any of this before?" Sam asked.
Alex hesitated before she answered. "Because I... Forget it."
"Tell us." Sam said. "Haven't you waited long enough?"
"Yes." Alex said drying her tears.
"Then why do you keep pushing us away, when all we want to do is help you?" Dean asked her.
The time had finally come. They were both right, it was time for her to talk. So Alex took a deep breath and said, "Because I'm scared."
"Scared of what?" Sam asked, concerned. He wondered what she had meant. Did she know about her curse?
"That if I get too close to you, that I'd loose you like...like I did with my parents." She looked from Sam to Dean and paused for a moment.
"You're not going to loose us, Alex." Dean assured her. "We're never going to leave you. You got that? We'll always be there for you. Just a phone call away."
"No, you won't." She said looking directly at Dean and not Sam.
"Of course we will. We could never forget-" Dean started to say, but she cut him short.
"No, Dean. I meant...you won't be there."
"What are you talking about?" Dean didn't get it, but Sam knew exactly what she was talking about.
"The deal you made." Alex said, looking at Dean with sadness in her eyes.
Dean and Sam exchanged concerned looks, before looking back at Alex.
"I'm sorry you had to find out that way." Dean apologized and proceeded to say, "But I'm here right now. So, let's talk about it."
"How come you never told me?" She asked out of curiosity. She wasn't mad, because she had kept things from him and Sam. But a part of her wondered if he was ever going to tell her.
"Because of this. I didn't want you to worry about me, when you were dealing with your step-dad's death. Nobody should have that much dumped on them at once." She had already been through so much, that it pained him to see her go through this.
"But everything is going to be fine." Sam jumped in to reassure Alex that everything would be okay. "I'm gonna find a way to get him out of this."
Dean looked at Sam, knowing that he would stop at nothing to save him. After he had said that, they all went silent for a few minutes.
"Blond." Alex said out of the blue.
Dean and Sam looked at her confused. "What?" Sam asked.
"My original hair color is blond." Alex explained. "I told Dean that I would kill him if I told him, and I'm pretty sure that fighting with him in the hallway is close enough." She chuckled.
"Speaking of which, where did you learn those moves any ways?" Dean asked. "I mean you gave that demon one heck of a beating, and what happened in the hallway was pretty unpleasant." Dean said, recalling when she kicked him between the legs.
Alex smiled. "I took a lot of self defence classes after my dad died. I didn't want to take the chance and end up like him. Besides, he asked me to take care of myself and I couldn't let him down."
"Well, I was impressed." Dean said in all honesty.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Definitely money well spent."
"Thanks." She said, "But it was nothing compared to how I saw you fight Danny or the demon... or whatever it was."
Sam laughed. "Don't sell yourself short."
"What? You want her to lie and say that she's tall?" Dean asked with a grin.
"Oh, shut up!" Alex laughed at Dean.
"Hey, you're the one who called us 'abnormally tall', remember?" Dean said, trying to sound offended.
"I was being controlled by a demon. He made me so angry that I couldn't help what I was saying."
Dean was going to say something else, but he was afraid that she would just end up feeling worse again. So, Dean tried another approach. "Alright. What ever you say... Thumbelina."
"Are you serious?" Alex asked in disbelief.
"What? It's a compliment." Dean said in his defence.
Sam looked at him incredulously. "How?"
"Well, she's the lightest person in the world. You know how girls like to be thin and watch their figure." Dean pointed out. "Plus she was probably the nicest person, who cared about others."
"Wow." Alex was impressed at the comparison, then she grinned. "You actually watched Thumbelina?"
"Dude, I was trying to be nice to you."
"I know you were. I'm sorry, it was very nice of you to compare me to a girl the size of a thumb." Alex yawned and looked at the clock. "Whoa. I should probably go back to bed."
"Yeah, it is pretty late... or early? I'm too tired to care at the moment." Sam said with a yawn of his own. "Good night." He gave Alex a hug and sort of limped back to his door.
It was then that Alex remembered that she had stabbed him in the thigh. "Oh my God. Sam, I am so sorry. I forgot. Are you okay?"
Sam looked down at his leg and shrugged it off. "I'm fine. It wasn't that bad." She gave him a look that told him, she knew he was lying. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I'll be fine, really. Thanks." He gave her a warm smile and walked into his own room.
As Alex was leaving Dean's room, she turned around looked at him. "I forgive you," She said. "For hitting me."
"Thank you." Dean watched as she walked back down the stairs, then he closed his door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Dean and Sam were ready to leave the hotel. They were all packed up this time with a different hunt in mind. They heard about a ghost that murders people on leap year at the Morton House.
They said their goodbyes to Alex, Kyle and Hana, giving either hugs, a hand shake or letting Hana squeeze their giant finger. They could clearly tell that Alex was a little distressed, knowing that this would probably be the last time that she would see them for a long time... if ever.
Sam walked up to the front desk to check them out. Maz was working with a different employee now at the front desk.
"I'm supposed to ask if you enjoyed your stay, but I think we both know that answer." Maz said looking over some papers.
"I've been in worse." Sam said, thinking about the run down houses and abandoned motels that he's stayed in recently. "Trust me."
"You know, I was thinking about changing the name of this place." Maz said thoughtfully. "What do you think of this? Maz's Institution for the Mentally Unbalanced."
Sam thought for a minute and said, "I think you would probably be getting a different line of guests staying here."
Maz just shrugged. "You're all set." He handed Sam his credit card. "And tell your brother I said thank you for pulling me out of the pool."
"Sure thing." Sam walked back over to Dean, Alex, Kyle and Hana. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Goodbye again. And you better take care of her or I will hunt you down." Dean warned Kyle.
"Yes, sir." Kyle smiled.
"Bye" Sam said.
Dean and Sam both waved as they left the building and walked into the cold, snow covered parking lot.
"So," Dean began to say as he started up his car and pulled out of the parking lot. "Tell me about the Morton House again."
They continued their way to the House, where they met up with Ed and Harry again. After that was all said and done, ruining the Ghostfacer's "careers", they headed to Ohio, where they got calls from beyond the grave. Of course it was all just a prank to become soul food for a crocotta. Which, unfortunately wasn't their dad trying to help Dean out of his deal. Things were looking pretty grim for the Winchester brothers as time was running out. But then there was a case that peeked Sam's interests, to Dean's confusion. He didn't find out until he got a call from Bobby on Bela's where-a-bouts, that Sam wanted to get help from Doc Benton, instead of killing him. Sam practically begs him to let the doctor explain what they need to do, to live forever, but Dean doesn't want to live that way. He couldn't stand the thought of living like a monster for eternity, so they buried the doctor alive, chained up in a refrigerator.
Days go by and now Dean only has a few hours to live, seeing demon's true forms and stopping Sam from killing an innocent girl. He eventually realizes that time is up, so he says his last goodbyes to Sam. He apologizes for letting this happen and tells Sam to move on and take care of himself.
The clock strikes midnight and Dean can hear the growls of the hellhounds. He turns to see them staring him down with hunger in their eyes. Sam realizes somethings wrong and asks Dean about it.
"Hellhound." He says at the brink of tears.
Sam asks him where, so he tells him, then they run into a room with Ruby and close the door the door behind them, locking out the hellhounds. As Sam and Ruby are pushing against the hellhounds strength,as Dean pours goofer dust along the the door to lock them out and some more along the windows. Unfortunately They've trapped themselves with Lillith and not Ruby. She has them pinned down, and lets the hellhounds in against Sam's pleas.
Claws rip through his clothes and tears up his chest and legs as Dean struggles against them. He can hear Sam faintly as he screams for help, over the growls of the hellhounds. The pain never stops and he finds himself in a dark, cloudy place with chains going through his right shoulder and stomach. He can feel the pain all throughout him as he screams for Sam's help, and then...
Alex wakes up panting and holding her right shoulder and stomach in pain. "Dean." She whimpers softly and starts to cry out into the early hours of the morning on May 2.
THE END
