A Hunters Heart

The Memories of Melaina

The Memories of Melaina
The air in the study was thick from the remnants of the conversation. Lexi couldn't help but feel like a frog amongst toads. Dean had asked if anyone was hungry. Sure, Lexi could eat, but that wasn't what she was hungry for. The only thing she craved were answers. Answers to questions that she couldn't even identify. Before Dean could ask again, Lexi stood, lightheaded and spoke.
"I'm not hungry," she said, "I'm actually really tired. I'm gonna hit the hay."
"Alright," Sam replied, "do you want me to walk you to your room?"
"No, I'll be alright." Lexi smiled. She could tell Sam was concerned, but she needed to think things through, without having to worry about keeping herself together for Sam. She slowly turned toward a familiar corridor, hoping to find her room nearby.

It was surprising, really, how fast she had found her room. Lexi had only been in the bunker for a couple of days, a few more if you count her unconsciousness, but it already felt almost like home. Unfortunately, late into the night, when the bad dreams crept out from the darkest corners of her mind, whether or not she was "home" didn't matter.
Lexi woke with a stifled shriek and a cold sweat covering her face. A quick glance at the clock told her it was almost 1:00 am. That was bad. Lexi thought. She had become good at ignoring her waking nightmares and falling back to sleep immediately, but as she turned over, her mind was racing. Her room filled with questions.
What's grace? Is that what makes an angel and angel? If so, why do I have it? I've never even been the slightest bit religious, why would I have grace? And the whole "Grace. She will Save Us." thing, is that supposed to be me? I don't know how to save angels! The only people I've saved are struggling blood bags from a vamps nest. Nothing more. Especially not angels! I used to not even believe in angels! Where did this come from? Will I be staying with the Winchesters? They seem like nice people. Especially Sam. I want to help them, but... wait... a startling thought popped into Lexi's head, Do they know I've only ever hunted vampires?
With all these thoughts racing around her head, Lexi knew there was no chance of falling asleep anytime soon. Without thinking, Lexi strode across the room and opened the door. The light from the hallway, though dim, hurt her eyes.
Lexi could only think of more questions as she walked sleepily across the hall and to the door directly across from hers. Before she knew what was happening, her hand was slowly rotating the doorknob to Sam's bedroom. Now, she stood still, door wide open, looking at the young Winchester.
What am I doing? She thought, This is ridiculous! Lexi turned back and was about to close the door when she heard a scratchy voice.
"Lexi?" Sam called, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Lexi responded. She was lucky it was dark, a blush had covered her face.
Sam sat up, now giving Lexi his full attention, "What happened?"
"Nothing!" she said with a light chuckle, "I was just trying to find the bathroom. Go back to sleep."
Lexi had thought she might get her way when Sam turned over. She was about to close the door when the room filled with light. Sam wasn't turning over to go back to sleep, he had been turning over to reach the lamp on the other side of the bed. His eyes were still half closed, but he managed to open them as he moved to the far left side of the bed, tapping the right side as an invitation for Lexi to come sit down. Lexi smiled and realized she didn't want to be alone. She sat on the right side of the bed.
"So, what was it about?" Sam asked, eyes adjusting to the sudden light.
"What do you mean?" Lexi asked, "I was just looking for the bathroom."
"No, I know that look," Sam waved his finger to gesture to her face, "Nightmares. Pretty common for hunters, but still, not fun. Plus, there's a bathroom attached to your room. You're not fooling me."
"It's nothing new, the same old dreams," Lexi smiled at how uncomfortable she had become. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that she was still blushing, and now Sam could see it.
"Look," Sam responded, "I get the whole 'privacy' thing, but if we're gonna be working together, I've gotta know you're alright. If that means staying up all night to talk through your bad dreams, then so be it." he smiled a half smile, leaving Lexi to wonder if she should really tell him everything.
"It's a long story..." she trailed off. Sam could see that she didn't want to talk about it, but he needed to know, so he kept pressing.
"Lex, It's 1 am, we've got plenty of time."
Lexi sighed, preparing for the long tale she was about to tell. Here we go...
"I used to have everything. A home, a family, the best little sister in the world." she smiled, "Her name was Melaina." Lexi glanced up to Sam to make sure she wasn't making him uncomfortable, she hardly noticed any discomfort passed his concentrating eyes, "I was seven when there was a fire in the house. It was late at night, so everybody was sleeping. I guess I was the first one to smell smoke, cuz I woke everybody up. I remember banging on my parents bedroom door and screaming. The only words I could find were 'Fire!' and 'Run'. But, I guess... I was too late." She fought back tears, this is usually where her nightmares started, "I had opened to door to my parents room and I could see them wake up. They yelled at me to get my sister and run, but I didn't want to leave them. They ran towards the door, but the doorway crashed down on them." Her face was filled with tears now, dripping down her face and collecting on her chin. After a moment of silence, Lexi felt Sam rub her back, encouraging her to continue, "I ran to my Melaina's room. She was only three years old and I could hardly make out her crying over the roaring of the fire. Somehow, her safety crib was too safe, she couldn't get out of it, and it was childproof, so..."
"So you couldn't get her out either." Sam finished as Lexi nodded through tears. Sam pulled her closer to him and held her against his chest. For a few minutes, that's where they stayed. Lexi calmed down enough to finish her story.
"I made it out of the house with some third degree burns from where my p.j.'s caught fire, but I couldn't save them." Sam nodded as he now understood that the patches of lighter skin on her waist were from the burns. Lexi took in a deep breath as she prepared to tell the second part of her story, "from there, I was put into the custody of my Aunt and Uncle. They were hunters.
"All of a sudden, my three cousins, Orion, Aiden, and Matt, became my adoptive brothers. They were all older than me. Orion was 6 years older, Aiden was 5 years older, and Matt was 3 years above me. They were hunters too. After having kids, my Aunt Molly and Uncle Mike became researchers. The brains behind the hunt. If any hunter out there had a question, they had an answer. All my cousins knew about monsters, but I was kept out of it. They told me they were Professors of Mythology at a local college," Lexi laughed at this, "But, Matt and I were really close, so when he turned 18 and was allowed to hunt, the beans got spilled.
"I started helping out with research at home. My Aunt, Uncle, and I researched the monster in question, and my cousins would take them out. It was a good system, but eventually, I wanted to go on the hunt. We made a compromise. I was allowed to hunt, but only vampires." Lexi turned to Sam, who was still paying attention to her story. He didn't seem fazed by the fact that she only hunted vampires. "Eventually, some monster decided he had enough of my Aunt and Uncle giving information, so he took them out." Sam looked horrified, the first show of emotion in her story, "I don't even know what it was, demon, shifter, whatever. It was just traumatizing to come home from a successful hunt to find their blood everywhere." Lexi surprised herself at how well she held back tears. This is where her nightmares usually ended.
"You don't have to keep going, if you don't want too," Sam said. His deep voice pierced the air around them.
"No," Lexi said, "I need to tell you the rest." Sam nodded, and allowed her to continue, "From there, my cousins decided we had no use for the house. We lived in the van and a motel every now and then for about six years. We sold the house for pocket money, took out our savings bonds, and learned how to hustle pool. We went on one big road trip, killing any fang that got in the way. Nothing more, though. It was kind of my Aunt and Uncle's last wish that I don't get tangled up with anything else. And that was our lives." Lexi shrugged and looked at Sam as if she was done telling the story, but he looked at her expectantly.
"So, where are your cousins?" Lexi's face fell as she remembered. She had tried her best to forget the next part of the story.
"Salted, burned, and melted in iron. Buried in North Dakota. That's where Aunt Molly and Uncle Mike lived, that's where they would want to be." Sam looked to his lap. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the huntress.
"Hunting trip gone bad," she said, answering Sam's almost-spoken question. A silence fell as the information set in. Sam's face winced as he looked down.
"I know it's not worth much, but, I'm really sorry." Sam said, hardly glancing up.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for your losses, too."
Sam looked up at Lexi, "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Sam," she responded, not fooled by his calmness, "You've got a story just like I do. Probably worse."
"Yeah, I guess..." Sam trailed off.
"What, then?" Lexi asked softly.
"No. My story is a long one." Sam said, hoping to avoid telling her. Lexi glanced at the clock.
"Sam, it's 2 a.m. We've got plenty of time." She made a point to quote his earlier remark.
Sam sighed as he realized she would have to know their story. It was her best chance at survival. He had always been nervous about re-telling his story, but he felt more excited for Lexi to know.
"It all started when I was six months old..."