Born To Hunt (Book 1)

What's Wrong with Me?

"Follow the light with your eyes." The EMT instructs me. I sigh, but do as I'm told. This is the third freaking EMT to come over and inspect me. They think that they need to baby me, because I had a traumatic experience and I could have a concussion. Sure my head is pounding and I'm pretty sure I cracked a rib, but I've had worse. I've literally been on the verge of death, several times. Now, all I want is to be left alone. I haven't even got to call Sam and Dean yet, they don't even know that I'm here.
"Why the hell can't we just go home? We're fine." Jackson growls, looking at Lydia and myself, then shooting a glare at the EMT and the approaching Sheriff.
"I hear ya, but the EMT's say that the two of you," Sheriff Stilinski starts, pointing at Jackson and myself, "hit your heads pretty hard. They just wanna make sure you guys don't have a concussion, or any broken bones."
"What part of 'I'm fine' are you having a problem grasping? Okay, I wanna go home." Jackson raises his voice, narrowing his eyes at the Sheriff.
"And I understand that." Sheriff Stilinski starts with a sigh.
"No, you don't understand, which kind of blows my mind since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you!" Jackson yells, standing up from the back of the ambulance.
"Jackson! Shut the hell up, and sit down. Let them do their freaking jobs." I yell, glaring at Jackson as I try to tug him back down on to the ambulance.
"Whoa is that a dead body?" Stiles calls out as a covered gurney comes out of the door of the video store. I whip my head around and look at Stiles, a strange feeling in my chest and stomach. I sigh and walk over to Stiles, rolling my eyes as his eyes grow wide as he sees me.
"Stiles, it was the alpha. I saw the alpha." I whisper, the events of the last couple hours weighing down on me. Stiles shakes his head.
"Oh wow. Are-uh-are you ok?" Stiles asks, crossing his arms. I nod slowly.
"Yeah, but I have a pounding headache, and I'm pretty sure I have a cracked rib. Also, Sam and Dean don't know I'm here so I have no ride home." I whisper, biting my lip.
"My dad can give you a ride. I'm with him, or I'd drive you myself." Stiles offers in a whisper since I informed him of my pounding headache.
"Thanks." I smile. Stiles shrugs, as if to say no big deal before he opens his mouth again.
"Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital? I'm pretty sure a cracked rib deserves at least one hospital visit." Stiles says, scanning my face, I'm assuming to see if I'm showing any pain. I shake my head slowly.
"I don't do hospitals Stiles. Not since my dad died." I say, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly. Stiles sighs, but nods, accepting my decision.
"Wanna come wait with me in the car? You're probably tired of being here, at a crime scene, where there was a dead body." Stiles rambles, his usual twitchiness returning as he glances over at his dad and the other officers. I sigh, but nod as I follow him to the car. Sam and Dean are going to kill me.
****
"Tori? Why are you home? I thought you weren't going to be back until 9. Did movie night not go as well as you hoped?" Sam bombards me with questions as I walk into the Argent's house. I groan and hold onto my head, the pounding making it hard to concentrate on forming a good answer.
"I need some pain meds, Sam." I say flatly, trying to ignore the confused look on my brother's face.
"Ok, but you will tell me what happened because I seriously doubt that a movie night has you in pain." Sam says before running up the stairs to get the medicine. I let out a long breath as I go and sit on the couch gently. I want nothing more than to lay down, but if I do I may end up hurting even more.
"Hey kid." Dean's voice booms through the living room as he walks in and plops down onto the couch next to me. I hiss in pain as the movement jostles me and makes my side ache.
"Here's your- Tori?" Sam's voice sounds like he's underwater, I squeeze my eyes shut as my vision grows blurry. I can vaguely hear Sam and Dean freaking out, as I feel my body go slack. The pain doesn't end though, and considering the fact I can still hear voices, although muffled, I haven't lost consciousness yet. I open my eyes, but see only colors swirling together, no clear shapes. I shut my eyes again, trying desperately to make the pain stop. The pain that, since my body went slack, has escalated to the point where I want to scream and cry all at the same time.
*****
"What do you mean we're dying?" I ask Dean, breathing deeply as I try not to panic.
"There's a reaper here, and he's searching for people to take. We're easy targets since our bodies are in such bad shapes." Dean explains, holding his face in his hands as he thinks. I shake my head, ignoring the burning feeling behind my eyes.
"Dean, we can't die. We just got Dad back. I don't want to die Dean. We can fight it, can't we? I mean, we have an advantage to normal people, we know what we're up against." I ramble as I begin to pace in front of Dean. I glance over my shoulder and wince when I see my body. The bruises and cuts have completely covered all of my visible skin to the point where even I can barely recognize myself. I suck in a breath as I see Sam come in with tears on his face.
"Tori, sis, you have to wake up. I don't want to lose you and Dean, I-I couldn't live without you guys." Sam says gently. I feel the tears begin to stream down my face, and before I can try to comfort him, the whole room starts shaking. My eyes widen. This is not how this memory goes. I'm supposed to knock a paper cup over and Sammy is supposed to notice. Why is the room shaking? I gasp as the furniture in the room shifts into a different looking room.
"Tori, you have to wake up. Don't leave us alone, I can't do this alone and Scott isn't much help. He's been with Allison all day with his phone off." Stiles rambles shifting his weight from foot to foot. I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. What's going on? Is this a dream, or is this actually happening?
"Hey kid. You should probably, uh, go on. Sam and I need a chance to talk to Tori." Dean says, walking into the room.
"Okay, but when you guys leave for parent teacher conferences, I'm coming back so she's not alone." Stiles says stubbornly before turning around and leaving the room.
"We have to go to that conference thing?" Dean asks Sam, letting out a long groan when Sam nods.
"Focus Dean. I'm trying to see if we'll be able to communicate with her like I could when you two were in a coma." Sam says.
"Fine. Tori, if you can hear us try to give us a sign." Dean says looking at my face. I let out a long breath. If this is real, I don't want them to worry too much. I put everything I have into moving a finger. I groan when nothing happens. I try to scrunch my nose, but again nothing happens. Finally, I decide something dangerous. I hold my breath in an attempt to get my vitals to change. Sam and Dean both suck in a deep breath as my pulse shoots up and my oxygen drops lower, despite the fact that I'm hooked up to oxygen. I let the breath out as I take a few deep breaths to regulate my vitals again.
"You can hear us, so don't do that again. It's not worth you hurting yourself. No one knows why you passed out and went into coma, that's what we're trying to figure out. If you don't know either, do something." Sam says, his eyes scanning my face. I put all my effort into scrunching my eyebrows together. I smile as I see my actual eyebrows move as well. Sam sighs, and Dean shakes his head.
"We apparently have to go to a parent teacher conference, so we'll see you when we get back. Don't do anything stupid, stay in this room and maybe nothing will bother you." Dean says with a short sigh. Although he can't see it, I nod and sit in one of the chairs by my bed. I watch both Sam and Dean walk over and place a kiss on my head before leaving the room. I laugh as Stiles practically falls into the room, sitting in the chair on the side of my bed closest to the door.
"Tori I wish there was something that I could do to help you wake up. Unfortunately, no one even knows why you're in a coma." Stiles lets out a long sigh and I frown. Stiles has already had to watch his mom die in a hospital bed, and Sam and Dean have already lost dad. I can't leave them, no matter what happens.
"I'll wake up Stiles. I just need to figure out how." I say, even though I know he can't hear me. I walk over and lay on my bed on top of my body, trying to see if maybe I could wake myself up. I inhale deeply as a wave of pain runs through my body. I'm going to be hurting really bad when I finally wake up.