Guns, Claws & Talons

Chapter 21 : Golden

Jessie's P.O.V

My feet ached and I was so very thirsty. I'd been walking for over two hours and I hadn't seen head or tail of so much as a gas station. After another half an hour, I vowed never to go anywhere without a bottle of water again. Ever. If I didn't find a stream or something soon, the blistering heat would put me unconscious. That would be depressing. Jessie Stiles, skilled monster hunter/shifter killed by dehydration.

When I finally did find a small roadside store, I was faced with yet another problem. I didn't have any money. I silently cursed Crowley, I would love to be the one to knock every single tooth out of his head. One by one. With a hammer. Sadly, there was probably a line as long as hell for that honour.

There was no one in the store apart from the cashier, so I walked up to him and, as politely as possible, asked if they had tap water. I was told to shove off until I could pay for bottled water. It was probably the blood on my shirt that got me that response, but after the day I'd had you can imagine that I was more than a little ticked off. Growling, I asked, "Do you at least have a phone I can use?" 

He scoffed and pointed outside, "There's a pay phone out front."

I understood that he didn't want to just give away the things that earned his money, but he didn't have to be this rude about it. I was getting ready to climb over the counter and violently convince him to kindly let me borrow his cell phone when an arm wrapped around my shoulder. 

"That's no way to treat a Lady now is it?" The man standing next to me was tall, with light, almost blonde, brown hair and golden eyes. His nose was a little messed up, like it had been broken one or ten times, and was he ever tall. Almost as tall as Sam I would say, making him much taller than me.

The man handed the cashier a five and told him that I was getting a water and change for the pay phone. I thanked the man as he left the store, and realised that I hadn't heard him come in, and glancing out the window, I didn't see any cars. Grabbing my water off the counter, I dashed out the door. But the man was gone without a trace. It normally would have bothered me, but I was just all too eager to get out of there, and back to my little group. I slid some coins into the pay phone and dialled Zahir's number. He picked up after the second ring. "Hello?"

"Oh thank god! Look I'm outside a store on highway..." I stuck my head out of the glass phone box, "twenty-four."

"Jessie! Are you okay?" There was some noise on Zahir's end as he told someone where I was. 

I sighed, my burning lungs beginning to cool, "I feel a little weird like this is a dream, and then Crowley took my soul, so there's that." 

Zahir was silent for a moment. "We'll be there in twenty minutes." This time Dean had spoken, and he sounded both worried and pissed in a way I had come to learn only he could pull off. 

"Okay." I said and the line went dead.

I stood there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what was different about me after my little encounter with Crowley. Yes, I had said things felt like a dream, but that wasn't entirely accurate. I felt more awake than ever, but everything that was happening felt like it was happening to someone else. The worst part was, I really had wanted to kill that cashier. And that wasn't like me. Normally I would have walked away. I sat against the wall, drinking my water while I waited for the Impala to pull in the tiny parking lot, hoping that the cashier didn't have a problem with me loitering. 

***

When I finally heard the wonderful roar of the Impala's motor, I could have jumped off the ground and run to the door. However, I didn't, because I had underestimated how physically tired I was, and I fell forward a little bit, landing on my knees. I scrambled up, hoping it hadn't looked too embarrassing. As soon as the car stopped, Sam and Dean jumped out with Zahir close behind them. "Whoa! Where's the fire guys?" 

None of them laughed, they didn't so much as smile. "What? Was my joke not good enough for you? Let me try again," I cleared my throat. "Why is the longest human nose on record only eleven inches long?" 

Dean cut me off before I could give the answer. "What are you thinking right now?"

"That you interrupted my joke." I snapped, batting away his hands, which were looking for injuries.

All of the sudden Castiel was there too. "Which soul did he take?" He asked. 

I gave him a questioning look. I barely believed in having one soul, let alone two. "What do you mean which one? Humans have more than one soul?" 

Castiel shook his head while Dean stared uncomfortably into my eyes. "You have more than one soul. There's your animal soul and your human soul." I stared back at Dean dramatically as I nodded at the angel. 

"Can you still shift?" Sam asked. 

I let my eyes burn green, and Dean straightened up, answering for me. "Yes." But he was frowning. 

"We know how it affected me," Sam said to Castiel, "But how will it affect her?"

My jaw dropped, "You guys have really got to start telling me things!" Sam, Dean and Castiel formed a circle and began talking rapidly about something, excluding Zee and me. 

Zahir came over and stood next to me, "Are you doing okay? Apart from being reduced to one soul that is." I nodded hesitantly, not really sure I wanted to go into more detail. He nodded back and handed me a power bar, which I thanked him for and devoured. I really was grateful that he knew me this well. Now that I had finished the power bar, I marched over to the trio of gossiping men, dragging Zahir along with me. 

Reaching up, I tapped Dean on the shoulder. "I'd like to be included in this conversation please."

Dean sighed, "When Sam lost his soul, he turned into a douche, he just didn't care about anything." Sam shifted uncomfortably. 

"So Crowley 2.0." I stated. Zahir silently raised his hand for a high five, which I returned without taking my eyes from Dean. 

"Yes. But then when he got it back, he went crazy. Literally, like hallucinations and everything." Dean waved his hands in the air dramatically for effect. 

I nodded slowly, feeling less and less assured by the second. "But Sam only had one soul. And Crowley has taken your animal soul?" Castiel added quickly. 

I nodded, "That's what he said." They let me think for a minute, processing the situation. "So you're saying I may or may not lose all sense of remorse, and then when/if I get my soul back, I'll be crazy?" I got different answers from everyone, all at once.

Dean: Most likely.

Sam: Maybe.

Castiel: Let's hope not.

Zahir: Just don't kill me, okay?

Great, just great.

***

Now last week I was feeling pretty chatty so I'll keep it short and sweet this week.

I'm going over to Europe for two weeks in the middle of August so I'll try and get my chapter's done but I wanna explore the cities so if I don't update you'll know why. xD

Anyway, like, favourite, follow and share! I love to hear from you guys, and what you think of the story and/or characters. If you have suggestions for how you'd like to see the story go, you can message me here or on insta (@lethargicmarvel) and hopefully I'll be back with a new chapter next week!

Byee :)