Nine Lives

Life Six: Part Seven

It took a lot to convince Dean and Sam to even allow Charlie to go on this mission to complete the first trial. She told them that she wouldn't get near the hell hound but that was a lie. She needed to do everything in her power to be the one that ends up gutting that beast. The ginger climbed out of the impala after Dean turned her off and looked around the farm. It really was a beautiful farm and she was excited she was going to get to work with the animals for a short amount of time. The thing about Charlie was that she enjoyed the company of animals more then the company of people. Animals couldn't betray her.

"Hey pal, who runs this joint?" Dean asked the woman who was under the tractor they had pulled up next to.

"You're looking at her." The woman stood up with a slightly smug look on her face. The brothers seemed rather surprised but Charlie looked excited to speak with her.

"You...own the ranch?" Sam asked.

"Nope just manage the property." She said looking around at the land before looking back at the three. "Are you guys here about the job?"

"How'd you guess?" Dean said after a moment which made Sam and Charlie take a quick glance at him.

"We get our share of drifters. Ever work a farm before?" She asked.

"Definitely" Dean said even though it was clear that neither of the boys ever have.

"I have" Charlie smiled raising her hand. This earned a look from the brothers who seemed surprised at the information.

"We're quick learners" Sam gave the woman a tight smile.

"Ellie who we got here?" A male voice spoke up making Charlie glance around Dean to see it was the husband who made a deal. Charlie stopped paying attention to the conversation. It wasn't very interesting. In fact she ended up wondering away from the group and finding her way to the barn.

"Look at you gorgeous" Charlie purred as she walked over to a brown horse that was in the stall of the stables. The ginger gently put her hand on his nose and smiled softly.

"When did you work on a farm?" Ellie's voice made Charlie jump and turn around to see she and the brothers had found their way into the barn as well.

"From the ages 9 to 12 my father lived on one and every time I visited him I helped him with chores" Charlie smiled. Ellie seemed to get the idea not to ask anymore questions as she showed them where they would be sleeping. There was only two beds so Charlie would have to share a bed with one of the boys.

"You bed down in here. Breakfast is at 5, dinner is at 8. And in between, you're mine. Questions?" Ellie asked looking between the three of them.

"I miss my room." Dean sighed to himself making Charlie cough in order to cover a laugh.

"We're good" Sam said for the three of them.

"Okay. Job is yours if you want it. But I better warn you. It's crap work" Ellie told them.

Soon after, the three of them were mucking out the stalls of the stables. Charlie was moving quickly as she knew what she was doing but the boys would complain every once in a while, mostly Dean. Charlie would laugh at his whining but she kept quiet other then that. Even when they first saw Alice and the brothers talked to Ellie about the family.

"And Carl doesn't really seem like the sell your soul kind of guy." Sam said making Charlie look over at them.

"Really?" Charlie asked leaning on her shovel.

"What?" Dean asked looking over at Charlie.

"Well I mean does Alice and Carl make any since to you? Alice is attractive and not to mention rolling in dough and well Carl" Charlie said shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"You didn't talk to the guy he just doesn't seem like the type" Dean told her making her roll her eyes. She knew who had made the deals which gave her the advantage. She could get access to the hell hound tonight when the hell hound comes after Carl. "It's got to be Alice"

"Yeah alright should we talk to her?" Sam asked.

"Why? So she can lie to our face and call the cops? Nah I don't think so. We're going to have to go full stalker on this one." Dean said throwing down his tool and walked away.

"I really don't think its Alice." Charlie turned to Sam who seemed to be a little bit more reasonable. She couldn't tell them straight out who made the deals because she didn't want to get rid of her advantage. She wasn't concerned about changing things because that was what she wanted to do.

"Charlie we have been doing this a lot longer just trust us okay?" Sam smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We talked about this anyways, you are going to stay far away from any sign of a hell hound. Can't risk you getting hurt."

"Or risk me completing the first trial." Charlie mumbled.

"Charlie.." Sam sighed looking down at her. "You aren't doing the trials and that's final. You're lucky I didn't tell Dean about you wanting to do them. He would have made you stay on the boat with Kevin."

"But Sam I can do it! I know I can." Charlie looked up at him with confidence. She honestly didn't think she could. She knew she would be able to go through with the trials but to live through them is a different feat that she didn't think she would over come.

"You think this is a suicide mission!" Sam barked then took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Whoever does end up doing these trials need to have faith that everything will be fine. That after everything is done that they will be okay otherwise it might as well be a suicide mission."

Charlie and Sam stared at each other for a long moment before Sam turned and walked away the same way Dean went. Taking the trial away from Sam was going to be a lot harder then Charlie thought but she needed to do it. If she could close the gates of hell for them then it would save so many people, stop so much from happening. It would be worth one of her souls.