Hunters Don't Cry (Supernatural Fanfic)

Chapter Six

Dean pulled the impala to the shoulder of the road, and we all sat there, shocked for a moment. 

"What are we going to do?" I asked. I knew what I was going to do, but I knew there was no way Sam and Dean would ever let me give myself up, so I'd play along until the right moment. Dean slowly let out a breath. 

Sam said, "I guess we'll have to split up." He paused for a second, then decided, "I'll go help Opal." I could read it all over his face that he was feeling terrible for ignoring her. 

"Guess that means I'm going to help Ryder's dad," Dean announced. "And I don't think Ryder should be able to go with either of us. We'd be giving the demons exactly what they wanted." 

I drew in a huge breath. "Dean, you don't understand. I have to save my Dad. We didn't end on good terms last time we talked and if..."

Oh, god. What if the demons kill him? I shuddered as I thought of the last conversation I'd had with my dad. 

"What the hell is this normal act even about?" I screamed from the top of the stairs, on my way to my room. 

"'This normal act' is keeping you safe!" My dad yelled back. "Our life before was dangerous! Can't you see I'm giving you a chance to be happy?"

I was nearly spitting with rage. "I WAS happy, until you destroyed everything! First you made Mom leave, and now you took the only other important thing from my life!" 

Dad had reached where I was on the stairs now, and grabbed my sleeve. "Look at me." I resisted the urge to punch him and turned my head as far away from him as I could. He released my sleeve and used the same hand to gently guide my cheek back so I was looking at him again. "What's important is that you're safe," he said, suddenly gentle. 

I shoved his hand away. "What's important is saving lives." Spinning on my heel, I took another step towards my room. 

"Stop," my dad begged. 

I stood still for a moment, blind with rage and almost crying from how unfair it all was. "Is that what you said to Mom when she was walking away, too? Because it's not gonna work on me, either." I punctuated the sentence by slamming my door. Quickly, I grabbed a few things and left through the window. I didn't come back to the house that night, and not any of the nights after that.

 I had to stick with Dean so I could steal Opal's phone number from him and give myself up. I refused to let that be the last conversation I had with my dad, and we didn't even know exacty where he was. We would never get to him in time. 

It was a hard choice, but it was the right one. That was something Mom had said. 

"Sam we'll drop you off at the next town. Steal a car and head back to East Creek. See if you can get ahold of Bobby for backup," Dean said. Finally, he turned to me. "Ryder, I can't leave you alone. You'd do something stupid." 

I opened my mouth to protest, but he continued, "So I guess that means you're coming with me." 

I smiled slightly, a sad smile. Everything was going according to plan.

***

It was a few hours after Sam had left and a little less than an hour before the deadline when Dean pulled the impala into a gas station in a town called Ottawa just a few towns over from my hometown.

My heart was pounding harder with each second that brought us closer and closer to the deadline, and the fact that I hadn’t been able to call Jaclyn yet was eating away at me. “Why are we stopping?” I asked Dean.