Bound By Fire

8: Defying Fate

Dean's grip on me tightened as the weight of my words settled between us. His eyes searched mine, trying to make sense of what I had just said. I could see the confusion, the anger simmering beneath the surface, and more than anything, the fear. Not for himself, but for me.

"What do you mean, 'surviving when you weren't supposed to?'" Dean's voice was rough, but there was a gentleness there too, as if he wasn't ready to hear the answer but needed to all the same. 

I swallowed hard, trying to gather my thoughts. The truth had been sitting in the back of my mind ever since the angra had come after me, a truth I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge. But now, I couldn't ignore it anymore.

"I...I shouldn't be alive, Dean" I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. "There was an accident, years ago. A car crash. It was bad. I remember waking up in the hospital, doctors telling me it was a miracle I survived. But the thing is...I wasn't supposed to." My voice cracked, my heart racing as I relived the memory. "I was supposed to die that night."

Dean's face darkened, his jaw tightening as he absorbed my words. I could see the struggle in him, the way he fought against the anger and helplessness that came with the realization. Dean had fought monsters, demons, angels, and even fate itself, but this? This was different.

"You think that's why this thing is after you?" he asked, his voice low and filled with an edge of disbelief.

"I don't know" I said, my voice shaking. "But ever since then, I've felt like something's been... off. Like I've been living on borrowed time. And now, with the angra... it makes sense, doesn't it? It's coming after me because I escaped death. I cheated fate, and now it's trying to correct that."

Dean shook his head, anger flashing in his eyes. "That's not how this works. You didn't cheat fate Stella. You survived. That doesn't mean you deserve to be hunted by some ancient spirit."

I looked up at him, my heart aching at the frustration in his voice, the desperation to protect me. But this wasn't something he could just shoot or stab or banish with salt. This was something bigger- something we couldn't outrun.

"Dean.." I started, but he cut me off, his voice hard.

"No." He said firmly. "I'm not letting this thing take you. I don't care what it is or what it thinks your fate is. You're not some pawn in its game."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, a mixture of fear and the overwhelming sense of relief that came from hearing his words. He wasn't giving up on me. He never would. But as he spoke, I could feel the icy grip of fate closing in around me. The angra wasn't just going to disappear just because we wanted it to. It was relentless, determined to reclaim what it thought was rightfully its own.

Sam's voice broke the silence. He had been standing in the corner, quietly absorbing everything, but now he stepped forward, his face thoughtful, as if he was piecing something together.

"There has to be a way to stop it" Sam said, flipping through the pages of the book in his hands. "The angra are powerful, sure, but they're still bound by certain rules. If it's coming after you because you survived when you weren't supposed to, maybe there's a way to sever that connection."

Dean turned to his brother, his eyes sharp with determination. "What do you mean?"

Sam continued reading, his brow furrowed in concentration. "The lore is vague, but some ancient texts suggest that if you can prove your survival was meant to happen- that it wasn't just a fluke or a mistake- you can break the angra's hold. If we can find a way to show that Stella's life has a purpose, that she's not just someone who escaped death, it might force the angra to back off."

I felt a flicker of hope, but it was quickly drowned out by the crushing weight of uncertainty. How was I supposed to prove my life had meaning? That I deserved to be here?

Dean seemed to sense my doubt because he immediately grabbed my hand, his voice firm and steady. "We'll figure it out." He said. His green eyes locked on mine. "You're here for a reason Stella. We just have to show that bastard what it is."

I nodded, clinging to his words, but deep down, the fear still gnawed at me. I wasn't ready to die. Not now. Not when there was so much left unsaid between us. 

Sam cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence. "I'll keep looking through the lore, see if I can find anything more concrete. But we need to act fast. The angra's already attacked more than once- it's not going to stop."

Dean nodded, turning his attention back to me. "You're staying with me, no matter what. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

His words brought a sense of comfort, but I couldn't shake the feeling that no matter what we did, no matter how much we fought, fate had already set its course. The angra wasn't just a monster or a demon- it was the embodiment of inevitability. And you couldn't outrun inevitability.

We spent the next few hours pouring over Sam's research, trying to find any hint of a way out. I could feel the weight of time pressing down on me, like the angra was lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike again. My body still ached from the attack, a reminder of how close it had come to taking me.

Dean stayed close, never letting me out of his sight, his hand brushing mine every time he passed by, as if the physical connection between us was the only thing keeping him grounded. His presence was a lifeline, pulling me back every time the fear threatened to drag me under.

But as the hours ticked by, the bunker's safety felt more like a cage. I couldn't keep running, couldn't keep hiding behind books and research. The angra was coming. I could feel it. The chill in the air, the way the lights flickered just slightly- it was like the universe was holding its breath, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, the air in the room shifted again. The oppressive weight I had felt earlier came crashing back, and I knew without a doubt that the angra had returned. 

"It's here" I whispered, my voice trembling.

Dean stood up immediately, grabbing his shotgun and moving to my side in an instant. "Stay close" he ordered, his voice low and steady.

But before either of us could react, the temperature in the room plummeted. The lights flickered violently, and the air felt like it had been sucked out of the room, replaced by the icy grip of the angra's presence.

The shadow appeared before us, swirling and twisting in the air like a living nightmare, its form more defined this time, more solid. It wasn't just a presence anymore. It was real, and it was here to finish what it had started.

"Stella!" Dean shouted, his voice full of panic as the angra lunged itself toward me, its icy fingers wrapping around my throat. I gasped, struggling to breathe as the room spun around me. The pain was immediate, sharp and suffocating, but through the haze, I knew what I had to do.

I didn't know where the strength came from, but somewhere deep inside, I fought back. I could feel the angra pulling me toward the darkness, toward death, but I wasn't going to let it take me.

"Not yet.." I whispered, my voice barely audible over the roar of the angra's power.
 "I'm not done yet." 

And with those words, I felt something shift- something inside me change. The angra faltered for just a moment, its grip loosening as it recoiled from my defiance. But the fight wasn't over

Not by a long shot.