Wayward Daughter

Chapter One

The bus taking me home from school was 20 minutes late getting to my stop. The second the doors opened, I ran out and sprinted as fast as I could to the house at the block, my house. I opened the door to find my father, Dean, on the phone pacing, and my Uncle, Sam, at the table typing quickly on his laptop. When Dad saw me, he hung up the phone and ran over.

"Jesus where were you Deanna!? I called the police!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry. The bus was late getting to the stop," I told him quickly.

He shook his head angrily. Sam stopped typing and closed his computer.

"It's good to see you kid," he told me, getting up to hug.

"You too," I answered, returning the favor.

I set my backpack down by the door and sat down at the table. Dad walked into the kitchen to grab a beer for him and Sam.

"You didn't need to worry so much about me!" I called, "I know how to protect myself."

Dad walked back into the room with two beers. He cleared his throat and handed one to Sam.

"Yeah, well you never know with this family," he said to me.

After a while, Sam and I got hungry so Dad went out to get food. Once he left, Sam turned to me.

"Don't be so hard on your Dad," he told me, "you know he just wants you to be safe."

"I know but I can't help but think about how he would treat me if I wasn't a girl," I told him, frustrated.

"Why's that?" he asked me, confused.

"He's so protective over me because all the women in our family never live very long. If I was a boy I would probably already be hunting!" I exclaimed.

"You actually want to hunt?" Sam asked me, still extremely confused.

"Hell yeah!" I yelled, "It's better to die hunting than to die for no reason later on. I want my time on this Earth to have meant something to the people around me. Besides, I'm careful."

Sam laughed.

"You remind me so much of Dean that it's unbelievable," he told me.

This time I laughed and we both smiled.

A little while later, Dad still hadn't come back. I yawned loudly, which made Sam laugh again.

"Come on sweetheart. Let's get you to bed," he said helping me up the stairs to my room.

I thanked him and got into my bed.

"Goodnight Uncle Sam," I yawned.

"Goodnight Deanna," Sam answered back as he turned out the lights.

For a while I tossed and turned in my bed, trying to get to sleep. Eventually, I sat up and turned on the light on the nightstand next to my bed. From underneath my pillow, I pulled and old framed photograph of my father and mother. This was what Sam had given me for my 11th birthday when he and Dad had explained what they did for a living. I examined the picture closely and thought about how much I looked like each of my parents. I had my Mother's red-brown hair, but my fathers eyes, freckles, and smile.I laid back down in bed again, staring at the ceiling and clutching the picture to my chest.

After another hour so of trying to go to bed, I sighed and put the picture back under my pillow. I pushed the blanket aside and got out of bed. The hallway was quiet as I walked down it to get to the stairs. Descending the staircase, I heard none of the usual voices downstairs and started to worry.

When I got down the stairs, I saw Sam at the table, reading. He looked up and saw me standing in the doorway.

"Oh hey Deanna. You OK?" he asked.

I shrugged, "Couldn't sleep. Is Dad home yet?"

Sam nodded.

"Can he drive me around so I can sleep?" I asked.

"Ask him, I don't know," he told me.

With that, Dad came walking into the room.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted me, smiling.

I mumbled a quick "hello" and asked him if he could drive me around for a while in the Impala to help me sleep. He nodded and grabbed the keys.

"Do you want to come?" Dad asked Sam, who shrugged and got up.

We all walked out the door to the car. I shivered in the cool night air, regretting the fact that I hadn't brought a blanket. Fortunately, it was warm once we got inside the car. I laid down on the backseat and closed my eyes as Dad started the car.