Head First For Halos

2: Pardon Me.

Leanie brought her to bed. Lying with her friend for hours, thinking of their lost, and others that had passed along the way.  Jackson was a wonderful man.  He deserved much better than he'd been handed in his last few months.  Leannie was being eaten alive by guilt.  There was no way in hell that she'd be leaving Hope behind in her home alone.  

Hope was asleep, she had been for a few hours now. Lee slipped from the bed and padded quietly into the kitchen searching through the drawer looking for a little black book. When she finally hit pay dirt she flipped to the earmarked page, and snatched her personal phone from the counter and dialed. She was expecting no answer.

It had been a good while since anyone had seen the boys alive, there was talk from the Olympic Peninsula, down to the Florida Keys that there were just gone. Little of the community knew the truth, and with good reason. Ever since the boys ended the apocalypse, all of the things that go bump in the night have ceased their bumping. The demons were the problem now, and they were picking hunters off like flies.

The line rang once, she hung up and rang again. On the third ring the line went dead. She furrowed her brows and put the cell onto the cabinet. She turned to reach for the little book, just to make sure that the number she had dialed was correct. Just before her finger graced the cover,  the phone behind her buzzed against the counter. She grabbed it swiftly, answering it.

"Hello", she was nervous and god knew it had shown in her voice.

"How did you get this number." His voice was gruff, and thick with sleep.

"Bobby gave it--". She was cut off quickly.

"Don't you dare call me about Bobby. Bobby's dead." He was angry. She wondered momentarily which of the two men she was speaking to, but she knew she had to be quick to reply.

"This is Leanie Harlan. Yes Harlan, as in Bobby's sister Drew, I'm Bobby's niece. I'm in the house with Hope Laurey. I don't know if you remember that picture all the way to the left hand side of the mantle. The girl that went missing. Bobby always said it was his niece." She heard the audible catch of breath from the other side of the phone.

"I remember."

"That wasn't his niece. That was his little girl."

"I didn't know," He said quickly, "you better not be lying! Cause I swear!"

"Well come on over, if you need your proof. I'll be home by Friday. Hope will be there all week. She even sounds like Aunt Kay."

"I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon." He said in a matter of fact tone.

"Good. You can babysit Hope. She's losing it." Lee said with a bit of a tinge in her voice. It was Dean, it had to be.

"Look lady. I don't--"

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that I wont be here. I'll be halfway across the country." She scratched the tip of her nose, and waited for a reply.

"We will be there tomorrow afternoon". The line went dead, she let her knees buckle sliding down to the kitchen floor. The tears escaped quickly and silently. Threatening to ruin her resolve, she wiped them away as soon as they broke to her cheeks. She was holding back a mountain of feelings in front of a girl who was living in a nearly comatose state due to a rash decision.  A very uneducated decision.  

Hope is restless, she can hear the pen scratch against the paper as Lee sketched at the foot of the bed. She pretends to be asleep, just barely opening her eyes. It's only enough for her to see Lee's profile lit up strangely by the odd yellow hue of the security light. Lee refused to let her sleep alone. It was comforting to know that someone was there.

"I called them." Leannie said from the foot of the bed. Dropping her sketch pad to the floor. Hope shot up. Looking at her with a deer in the headlights look.

"Did they answer?" Leannie didn't want to fight with her on her last night home, so she lied. She shook her head, and crawled up the bed and laid beside Hope. "Are we going to be okay?"

"I think we'll do okay." She replied grabbing her friends hand and closing her eyes. They fell asleep quickly, with nightmares nipping at their heels. The dark whispering in their ears, and the shadows in their minds holding more darkness than the monsters they hunted.