Demon Hunter

Chapter 23

A sob escaped my lips as I looked into the tub. I stumbled back and hit the wall. I slid down it, squeezing my eyes shut, but I couldn't escape the image of Weni. Her eyes were open, her throat slit. She stared straight ahead at the faucet, her body bent awkwardly in the tub. I banged my head back against the wall, trying the knock the image out of my head. "No, no, no!" I screamed, my body rocked back and forth. I grabbed my head, shaking it. But Weni was still there. And Weni was still dead.

"Aurora? Oh, God." Gabe's voice. His innocent sing song voice cracked. Bile rose up in my throat and my eyes flew open. I jumped up and bent over the sink, depositing the contents of my stomach into the bowl. I threw up until there was nothing left and then dry heaved. Heavy footsteps came towards us and then Castiel’s arms were wrapping around my midsection. He hugged me, trying to soothe my nerves. My dry heaving stopped and I turned into him, burying my face in his chest. My arms hung limply at my sides and I felt nothing but guilt. Weni was yelling at me. Asking me why I didn't get here sooner. Why had I abandoned them? It was all my fault.

I pushed away from Castiel and out of his arms. Gabe was in the doorway of the bathroom, just staring at Weni. I wrapped my arm around his neck and dragged him away lightly. He stumbled occasionally, but made no move to turn around. We entered the living room and Jacob took Gabe from me. There was question in his eyes. I mouthed Weni and Jacob looked away, wounded, as if he’d been hit. Drew and Weni’s parent’s were alive, but they spent a lot of time with Jacob training when they were younger. Thier parents were currently overseas, and had been since the twins had turned 18.

Gabe finally reacted, wrapping one arm around Jacob. His breathing was heavy, like he’d just run an entire mile. I turned around, looking for Castiel. I needed him. I needed him to hold me, to touch me in some way because only he could make my lungs start working again and my eyes stop crying. He emerged from the bathroom and his eyes grew sorrowful at the sight of me. I swallowed heavily and he was in front of me in seconds. He took my cheeks in his hands and kissed the top of my head before wrapping his burly arms around my shoulders. I breathed in the smell of him, letting it flow through my body and even out my breathing.

“Liam? Get Wendigo, please. We’ll bury her on the family plot.” Liam had taken over driving Corena’s car. I felt him move past us and into the bathroom. Castiel backed us up until we were out of the way of the hallway. I watched as Liam carefully carried Weni’s body bridal style out of the bath room. He’d rested her head against his shoulder so it almost looked like she was sleeping. I turned my head the other way.

“No. She’d want to go out like a hunter.” I said. I meant burning her body, so that nothing was tying her to this world. Jacob nodded and he and Gabe went down the stairs with Liam.

“We will find your brother, and Drew.” Castiel said into my ear. I hoped we would find them alive. He pulled me even closer and rested his chin on top of my head. I felt him stiffen and stirred slightly. Cass hummed and moved away from me. I felt empty, and near tears once again. I turned to see what had pulled him away from me. I followed after his tall body. On the wall a sheet of paper was taped. I moved around Cass and snatched it away from the wall.

Please watch, as a parting gift from us to you.

The letter wrote in curvy hand writing. I held it out to Cass, confused. He stared at it for a moment before lifting his head to the TV. He bent in front of the display and turned on the DVD player. I pressed the on button on the side of the TV. The TV lit up blue and then a video loaded. In the frame was my brother, bound to a chair. Cass hit play and then rose to his full height, pulling me to him. “Tell me if it becomes to much.” He whispered in my ear, assuming the video was not of good things.

“Rora. I swear if you even get the chance to look at this video I will kill you. It means that you are doing exactly what they want you to do. Stop it! I’m telling you right now, we’re dead. Me and Drew, we’re dead. We don’t know what happened to Weni but-” He stopped, taking a deep breathe. “Where ever she is, she’s dead too. So please, just take Gabe and run. They won’t stop looking for you, just run Rora. Never stop.” A man comes into the frame and delivers a powerful punch to Henry’s jaw. I flinch, feeling my brothers pain. He spits blood at the man, who calmly wipes it away. “That’s not what we told you to say, now is it?” The man asked in a threatening voice. Henry looked up at him with emotionless eyes. “I’m not giving you my sister.” He said, just as calm.

“Little girl. Whether you come to us, or we come to you. It doesn't matter, because one way or another we get what we want. That dog can’t protect you, nothing can protect you.” The man stared into the camera with pitch black eyes that caused a shiver to run along my spine. Castiel turned me into him.

“Please Rora. I’m begging you.” Henry’’s voice cracked and I looked up at the screen. My brother was crying. “I’m begging you to do this one thing for me. If you love me, and if you love our little brother. You will take him as far away from that place as you can, and you will not look back. Please.” Henry begged, the desperation evident in his voice. The man walked back on screen, delivering another blow to Henry. I felt it, much harder than the first. Cass left me for a moment and the sound of the beating stopped. Cass stood in front of me, blocking my view from the screen.

“I will protect you until the day I die.” He said in all seriousness. Tears streamed down my face and I lost hope. I lost so much hope in finding my brother and best friend alive. Even if it was just their bodies, I would find them. They deserve to be brought home. They deserved to go out the right way. I nodded once and pressed my face into Castiel’s shirt, trying not to scream in anguish. I hated the world for being so damn messed up. I hated fate for making us be born into this. I hated myself for being so stupid and self centered. This was my fault. I’d been so wrapped up in other people’s problems that I’d forgotten about the most important people in my life. I was selfish and didn’t deserve to live. I decided in that moment that if we found my boys dead, then I was dead too.

It had been drilled into me that family was to be the most important thing in your life from a young age. My father had been the glue, and then Henry. I was not a strong enough piece to hold Gabe and I together. Maybe he was better off without me. He would have Cass and Dean looking out for him, the entire set of wolves that we’d met. He wouldn’t be alone, and in a way they had become family. then again, my brother relied on us. Henry, Gabe, and Aurora. We were a package, it was the three of us or none of us. I had been wrong in splitting us up. I realized that all the trouble had started there. I knew I would not have met Castiel otherwise but my brother would also not be in this situation. We’d been through a lot of things that should have made us hate each other but instead it brought us closer together. Some one died and someone else sold their soul to get them back. We were all selfless when it came to the others. We all made stupid decisions. I couldn’t be like that now, not when Henry and Drew needed me the most. I took a deep breath a wiped my puffy face gently. Cass gripped my cheeks and I wrapped my hands around his wrist.

“Fii tare mic războinic. Eu cred în tine.” He whispered quietly and I nodded, drawing strength from his unknown words. Castiel was my crutch and I would hobble my way over the damn finish line.

Listen to “Explosions” (Again) by Ellie Goulding to set the mood for this chapter.

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