Faded (The Sequel To Colors)

Part 1

"First day of school, excited?" Mom asked me. I smiled and shook my wings slightly, knocking the blanket off, then nodded.
"Yeah! I'm gonna see my friends and make new ones!" She chuckled at my optimistic attitude.
"Alright, just don't get in any fights. Okay?"
"I couldn't hurt a fly, Mom. How could I hurt another person?"

I watched the blood trickle down my knife as the vampires head slid off from his neck and his body collapsed. The last vamp in the nest stared me down, I stepped forward and he stepped back. I pointed at him, then balled my hand into a fist. His eyes lit up, he screamed and fell to his knees. I walked up and pushed him back; he fell, dead. 

I threw some bread in the toaster and Mom walked in.
"You got ready fast, what's that on your wings?"
"Hair chalk, makes them all pretty." I showed off my wings and grinned.
"Oh, it looks nice. You haven't done that in a while."

I looked at the blood, it had stained the white feathers of my destroyed wings. The feathers were, once upon a time, bright white and covered with bright colors and chalk. Now they all either turned black or were damp with the blood of vampires and whatever else I had killed on my previous hunts. They were no longer pretty like they once were.

I grabbed a small backpack and shoved my drawing supplies and a couple notebooks inside. I spent all my time focusing on art, I barely had space in my bag for the notebooks- the only things for my academic stuff. I slung the backpack over my shoulder and walked outside, declining Mom's offer to drive me.  

I picked up the duffel bag by the entrance to the old barn the vampires had taken home in and threw my knife in, splattering blood throughout the other things I had. I tossed my small bottle of holy water and the unused stake in with it all. The bag was stuffed, filled to the brim with hunting tools. I slung the bag over my shoulder and walked outside, the waning moonlight made my bloody wings shimmer some. I stepped up to my 1969 Camaro, it's black paint was dulled by layers of uncleaned dust and grime.

I took a deep breath of the winter air, sad that it would be gone soon. A small bit of snow was still out, though, and it fell slowly. I watched the flakes eagerly as I walked to the school. But before I knew it, I had landed on the ground, hand to my forehead and a person doing the same in front of me. Some other student and I had run into each other right outside the school. I jumped to my feet and went to grab the person's hand to help them up, but I was pushed back by a different guy.

The winter air chilled me to the bone but I sucked it up and looked towards the sky, clouds hovered overhead and threatened snow. I watched one start to fall, it drifted slowly and daintily and landed on the hood of my car. I sighed and closed my eyes, but was suddenly pulled back and I fell on my back. I opened my eyes and immediately pulled my knife out-- a reflex at this point-- and plunged it into my attacker's chest. The vampire's eyes widened and he snarled, then he fell limp and I pushed him off. I retrieved my knife and threw it all in the car, then got in and drove away.

The teacher was boring, he droned on and on about equations, but I paid no attention. I kept thinking about that guy. I pulled out one of my sketchbooks and started drawing him. I put as much detail as I could into the eyes and tattoos. They stood out the most to me.  

The talk-show host on the radio was boring, he droned on and on about politics, but I paid no attention. I kept thinking of the vampires I had seen and fought. They were normally afraid of hunters, especially world renowned ones like me, but they showed no no fear. I pulled over on the side of the highway and snatched an old sketchbook and some pencils from my glove compartment, then started drawing the vampires I saw. There was something off about them. Their eyes and fangs were different. They stood out the most to me.

I went to leave but Crowley grabbed the edge of my coat before I could go. "Hey, you might wanna hide your picture of the bad boy when you reach that class, okay? He's got it with you, and his brother doesn't take kindly to that stuff." He smiled and left the room. I frowned in confusion as I closed the sketchbook and left for the art room.  

I hopped out of my car and wandered into the bunker, I was almost immediately pulled to the side by Bobby. He held onto my trench-coat collar tightly. "Hey,  you might wanna hide your skin, okay? Dean's having another anger fit and doesn't take kindly to you." He nodded, then let go of me and left. I frowned and remembered how he reacted when he first saw me after those ten long years. 

I came flying down and landed on top of the barn. I jumped off and pushed open the front door effortlessly. They stared at me in shock, I realized that the door had a beam holding it closed, one that I snapped. I looked up and smiled at the familiar face.
"Hello Dean."

"What?" Dean exclaimed, jumping back. His dark hair and green eyes were just like I remembered, but had a strange twist. One of sadness and anger and denial. "Y-you're dead!"
"Well he's breathin' and standin' here, so shoot 'em!" The older man yelled, he aimed his shotgun and hit me in the chest. I barely felt it. I stepped forward, he shot again and hit my stomach. 
"Why isn't he dying?" He cried as the two shot at me, it didn't affect me.
"How am I supposed to know?!" Dean spat. I walked up to him and smiled slightly. I reveled in his beauty for a moment before speaking.
"I've missed you, Dean."
He frowned. "I can't say the same to you, Castiel."

I snuck to my room in the bunker. I was lucky that the Winchester's and their friend-almost-father Bobby let me stay with them, but the brothers never truly warmed up to me again, despite it being three years since I've returned. Through Bobby, though, I learned their sob stories. Dean tried to bring me back, all of my friends tried, but none succeeded. In the end, Crowley went back to stay in Hell, Lucifer was trapped in Hell's cage, and Kristyn, Alex, and Patricia all disappeared. Sam ran off for years and went to college, trying to have a normal life, but then his girlfriend died and he was pulled back into the hunter's life. John-- Sam and Dean's dad-- passed away trying to save Dean and their friends-- the Harvelle's, Jo, Ash, and Ellen-- all died trying to help them. It seemed that everyone the Winchester's knew, they all died. 

Dean eventually gave up trying, started blaming me for not returning, even though I searched for him! For ten damn years! We loved each other and now he refuses to even look at me. He fell into a depression and was angry all the time, always drunk and ready to fight. He was constantly gone on hunting trips, always dragging Sam with him. After a while, I started getting tattoos. I turned childish, thinking that if I could be just like Dean, then maybe he would like me again. But after all we shared, and after all the piercings and tattoos I got, he still hated me. 

I collapsed back on my bed and let out a long sigh. I could hear some yelling outside my room, probably the two brothers arguing again. They did that a lot. Sam wanted to be normal, he wanted to go to college and be a lawyer. Dean wouldn't let him have it. Hell, I wanted a normal life. I was hoping that me and Dean would go to college together and be artists, live together forever. Dean will never let me have it.

I grabbed the bottle of pills from my bedside table and stared at it. I pulled out one of the small pills and swallowed it dry. I coughed slightly and laid back, waiting for the drowsiness to kick in. I watched the fan circle overhead and my eyes slowly drifted closed. I didn't realize how exhausted I truly was until I had passed out. I guess this is just another day in the life of a hunter. One feared by monsters, those who see me as their death farmer, and one feared by humans, who don't know the truth and see me as some psycho killer that's never been caught.