Tessa, Sam, and Dean all moved out to the front room. Tessa and Sam sat at the table while Dean moved around the small kitchen, presumably looking for a drink. Tessa stared at her hands still in shock.
She had never imagined that monsters were real, and from the look of Sam and Dean and the skills they possess, this was not the only monster they had killed. Her mind drifted back to what they talked about at the bar in their whispered conversation. Maybe...
"What are hunters?" Tessa made solid eye contact with Sam. Dean stopped looking around and leaned on the kitchen counter. "I heard you mention them back at the bar. What do they do?"
Sam looked at her calmly, "Hunters are humans, mainly, that find and kill monsters before they can kill innocent people." Tessa thought about that.
"So you guys are hunters."
"Yes--" Dean cut Sam off.
"I don't like to brag but you're looking at legacies. I'm the best damn hunter there is and Sammy here is the last of the Men of Letters." Dean looked more then proud of himself. He stood up straight with a cocky arrogance that was somewhat endearing. Sam looked at his brother then back at a very puzzled Tessa.
"Legacies? Men of Letters?" Her head swam with a thousand questions but she didn't know where to start. There was far too much to learn.
"What my brother is trying to say is our family has been doing this for generations. It's the family business. We know how to kill almost everything and we are the protecters of the largest wealth of information concerning the supernatural known to man." That was a lot to take in. Dean and Sam were unfazed, but growing up in it had to be much easier then being pulled in against your will.
"So," Tessa hesitated with her words. "So, every monster, every bed time boogie man, actually exists. Everything?" She was kinda scared to know the answer.
"Yup," Dean replied. "Vampires, werewolves, angels, demons. Everything you thought was fake is real." He said it as a fact. He had no intention of hurting her with his words but in that moment Tessa's world crumbled. She dropped her head to her hands and cried.
Sam reached forward and wrapped his arms around her. He glared at Dean, who shrugged in response. No doubt this was not the reaction they were expecting.
Tessa took a deep breath to steady herself. She wiped at the tears on her face angrily. She hated being emotional in front of people. She shook her head to clear it as Sam pulled away.
"Sorry." She scoffed. "Just this morning I was worried about paying the bills and now I'm paranoid about what could be lurking outside right now. It's been a great day." She was slightly angry. She didn't ask for this and she wouldn't have wanted it if she had known. Life was different now and it always would be.
"We're sorry." Sam was legitimately upset that she was hurting. "You can go back to your daily life. There's no reason to worry. We'll clean everything up and leave." He stood up and prepared to leave.
Tessa looked around the empty living room. Her lamp was in pieces on the floor. She couldn't go on living the same way. How could she return to a normal life knowing that people were dying to the same kind of creatures that attacked her? How could she sit back and do nothing?
An overwhelming sense of purpose filled her chest. She had been wondering through life trying to find a meaning for everything. A reason to exist. This was it. It wasn't just chance that Dean sat next to her at the bar. If he hadn't she would just be another body in a morgue. She had never believed in coincidences and she wouldn't start now.
She looked at Sam and Dean, who were now carrying the dead serpent man toward the door. She had to know everything and she wouldn't stop asking questions till she got all the answers. She stood to her feet and walked over.
"Teach me." The men turned to look at her. Her eyes were full with passion.
"What?" Dean looked at her like she was nuts.
"Teach me to be a Hunter. Teach me to be like you. To do what you do." She wasn't going to back down.
Dean looked aghast at her. He shook his head. "No. You have a normal life and you should go back to that. Hunters don't get normal. You either die young or lose your mind. You don't want this."
Sam nodded in agreement but Tessa was not giving up. "Either you teach me or I'll go out and teach myself." She looked between them and gave a wicked smile. "Besides, what kind of hunters would you be if you didn't keep me safe. Take me with you. You can start by showing me how you killed this thing."
Dean looked furious and Sam didn't have the words to respond. Quietly they left the apartment with Tessa tailing them. They left the building and went to a nearby clearing. Dropping the body, Dean headed back to the Impala.
Sam glanced down at Tessa who was staring angrily at the mangled corpse. "Are you sure you really want to do this? There's no turning back. There's no leaving. This life is hard and you have to give up everything for it. There's no reason for you to want this."
Tessa made eye contact with Sam. Her green eyes burned into his. "Yes. I want to do this. I have lived to many years wanting to make a difference, a real difference, and this is my ticket. I am willing to put my life on the line if it means changing this world for the better."
Dean returned with two shovels, a container of salt, and lighter fluid. "Well lets burn this son of a bitch. Whatever it is."
Sam and Dean started digging a large grave sized hole. Dean's words sparked an interest in Tessa and she pulled out her phone and began searching to figure out what this creature was. A handful of minutes and a hole later she had the answer.
"It's a Naga. A Hindu creature depicted as having snake like qualities or even turning into a snake. Normally a cobra. But it says here they only attack humans that have done something against them. I haven't done anything. I like snakes, heck I'm even a Slytherin." Tessa looked at Sam and Dean in the bottom of the hole. They both looked at her dumbstruck, no doubt for her last comment. Sam still looked impressed though and gave Dean a look. Dean still looked unhappy with the idea of her being a hunter.
They climbed out of the hole then kicked the body and detached head in. They poured salt and lighter fluid on top and set it all ablaze. Tessa was generally confused. "I don't understand, he's already dead why are you burning the body?"
"Well," Sam replied. "Salting and burning bones is a way of making sure creatures don't come back. It's also how we deal with ghosts."
As the fire dulled down they refilled the hole and walked Tessa back to her apartment. They stood in the doorway.
"So what now?" Tessa asked apprehensively. "Do I stay here? Do I have to move? How does this work?" She shifted back and forth on her feet and waited.
"Well-"
"We'll have to move you to the bunker." Dean cut Sam off and Sam looked at him completely dumbstruck. "We don't need you doing anything stupid and besides, if you are gonna learn about monsters, best to do it where there's plenty of learning material. But. You'll have to leave your life behind. Everything. This place, your job, your friends. All of it."
Dean was trying to convince her to change her mind, but this place held nothing for her. She worked a dead end job, she had no friends, and she doubted she would feel comfortable in her home now that something had died here. There was nothing keeping her here.
"OK. But I'm taking my bed. I paid too much money for it not to." The boys looked at each other. Sam shrugged.
"Okay then. I'll come back to pick you up in a few weeks. That should be plenty of time to get things situated." Sam smiled gently and placed his hand on her shoulder as comfort. They said their goodbyes then took their leave.
Tessa shut the door. Leaning her head against the wood, determination overcame her. She needed to start preparing for her new life. Now.
