Forest of the Angels

Where are the fuckers?

"I have to go with him?" Ellie snorted, not fully believing the situation.

"Yes" Dean groaned. Ellie glared at him, taking in how genuinely horrified he seemed at the prospect of spending the day together.

"Have fun Jess." Rachel muttered to the shorter girl, who watched with despair as the two before her began bickering about who found the other more irritating.

"Thanks." Jessica resigned to the comfort of a box of After Eights to try and relax her in preparation for a day stuck with Ellie and Dean. She nibbled nervously, her eyes flitting between the pair who were glaring daggers at each other.

"Bye then." Ellie yelled as Rachel, Sam and Cas silently exited the house, her narrowed eyes not leaving Dean.

Rachel merely snickered as she shut the door behind her, then the three began their treck through the trees. Being considerably shorter than the other two, she found herself struggling to keep up, scrambling over twisted bramble and rotting logs. The ground was also treacherously sloppy with muck, and she had to gently pick her way along to avoid falling flat on her face.

Given the recent storms, Rachel became aware that it was eerily silent. There was no rain and not even a whisper of wind. There was just a blank grey blanket of clouds above them lighting up their surroundings with a harsh white glare. She shivered, from the icy temperature and the feeling of exposure, but then she realized that the light also meant that there was nowhere for a monster to hide.

"Rachel?"

She jumped from the sound of a worried, but calm, yell in the distance. Realizing that she had been so deep in thought she was completely unaware of her surroundings, Rachel whirled round searching for the source of the voice.

Cas and Sam were in the distance, looking hopelessly lost.

Smirking, Rachel sped up to meet them and silently guided them to the house.

Despite it being the past, the building still appeared ancient and crumbling. The windows were whole, but as dusty as ever. Though the plants weren't smothering the entire thing, the house was still adorned with giant patches of mold festering on the bricks. The wooden frames weren't warped, but there was rot spreading across them. A light flickered in the top left window, the only sign that the building was somewhat habitable.

"Well." Rachel proudly flung her hands out, waving at the building as though it was her own masterpiece. "Welcome to my grandmother's humble abode."

Sam raised his eyebrows at the girl, before pushing the door open. A grating squeal echoed as it slid forwards.

They surreptitiously slipped through the house, careful not to alert anyone that they were intruding. Cas nodded tow the other two, signaling that he would search downstairs. Sam and Rachel cave him a thumbs up, before creeping up the staircase.

"What are we looking for?" Rachel hissed at Sam as they peered into yet another barren room.

"Angels, but there..." Sam peeked into a tiny cupboard, jumping back as a dead rat slumped out and dropped to the floor with a quiet thud. "...don't seem to be any."

"Whereabouts would they be?" Rachel questioned, nudging another creaky door open, waving one of Sam's guns into thin air.

Sam gave a nervous glance to the trigger happy child, and coughed before giving a reply. "They should be here, as this was what the notes said, but there's nothing."

"What else could we look for? Just to make this journey worth it. I mean, seriously, this place should be crawling with monsters, where are they?" Rachel huffed; her frustration and boredom clear in her voice.