Haunted//SPN

01: For The Better

(TW/CW: Talk of violence/violent acts, mentions of death, mentions of unhealthy food relationships)

Revenge wasn't something Riley Winchester often craved.

She was always more of a forget and forgive type of person, but when Dean told her how her mother had died, she wanted nothing more than to find the person, or thing as Dean suspects, that did it and make them suffer.

She wanted them to know how her mother felt choking on her own blood, her throat slashed by a blade, unable to do anything but wait until her body was drained of it's life. Maybe she was a bad person for feeling this way but she didn't care.

Her mother was her best friend, sure she complained about the rules, but at the end of the day her mother did it to keep her safe, and it worked.

In a way the girl blames herself, what if she didn't go out that night? What if she just stayed home like her mother would've preferred? She's almost certain none of this would've never happened if she was home, and even if it did she would've been there to do something rather than nothing.

A knock comes from her bedroom door, "Come in." The girl mutters

"Once you're all packed up, we're gonna hit the road, we have to go to Stanford."

Dean says, entering Riley's bedroom, where the girl searched her closet for clothes to bring. Today Riley Winchester was leaving her hometown to follow her brother to, well, apparently Stanford. She didn't want to leave, New York, she loved it here, but she didn't have much of a choice, it was either her brother or a group home, and she sure as hell didn't want to live in a group home.

"I have to say bye to some people before then, Dean. Unlike you and Dad I don't just up and abandon people." She snaps out of frustration. Everything was moving so fast for her, just had only lost her mother three days ago, and today was yesterday which consisted of her and Dean watching her body burn to ashes.

The 'proper hunter burial.'

She was overwhelmed to say the least, and Dean talking about leaving wasn't helping at all.

The boy sighs, "You're right, me and Dad left with no warning, but we had things to get done, just like we do now, kid." He tells her, not hearing the ignorance behind his words.

The girl scuffs, part of her wanting to argue but the other part being too mentally exhausted to do so. "Whatever." She mutters, choosing the side of her that was too exhausted to argue.

--

It was late into the night by time Dean and Riley made it to Stanford, Riley was under the assumption that they would find a hotel to spend the night in and then get Sam in the morning but when Dean gets out of his car in front of Sam's dormitory confusion fills the girl

"Stay here, Ri. I'm getting Sam then we're leaving." He tells her, the girl doesn't reply, instead she stares down at her phone, rereading messages Maze had sent, asking where she was, if she was okay, so on and so forth

She waits until Dean is gone before hitting the call button on Mazes contact. The phone rings for only a few seconds before the girl picks up

"Riley, finally, why aren't you answering my text? Where are you? I went to your house and all your stuff was gone and there's a for sell sign outside, can you tell me what's going on please?" The girls voice was full of worry as she begs her friend for some answers

Riley bites the inside of her lip before speaking, "Hey Maze, I'm safe, I'm with my brother, we're going to stay with a family friend for a bit." She lies, in reality the girl had no clue what was going on, she didn't know where the boy was taking her, nor did she care.