[...] PROLOGUE NARRATED
BY CHUCK SHURLY

Dean Winchester didn't know when his heart had stopped beating. Was it twenty years ago when his mother had burned alive? Or was it the first time his father had hit him? Was it when his little brother left the household? Let's be real, it was probably when he was forbidden to stand in the same room as the only girl who made him believe his purpose on earth had more to it than death.

Yeah, Dean thought, that was when his heart stopped beating.

Adeline St. Claire was eighteen when she first kissed twenty-two year old Dean Winchester. Her and her father had been on the road with the Winchester's for nearly three months at that point. It happened the night before her nineteenth birthday and right after a conversation about their mothers who had died in the same fire.

She had been the one who made him blush under the stars; usually the roles were reversed. The next six months after that night consisted of clandestine meetings and stolen stares. Their fathers were business partners, dare they say friends. Plus, her father liked Dean, but he did kill a man for groping Adeline when she was sixteen. So yeah, clandestine they would stay.

Their youth and naivety were being reclaimed kiss by kiss and morning by morning. They rid each other from blood of their actions and found an unbreakable version of Heaven beneath shitty motel sheets and the roofs of their fathers' cars. Eyes soon became anchors and finishing the daily job became the least important thing to do. Foretold realities were shifting every time Dean thought of himself ten years from then. The mirage of flames engulfing his linen wrapped body ceased to exist as visions of her now occupied his mind.

Then everything fell apart. Dean's little brother, Sam, left with dreams of a college education. Emotions were high that night, causing John Winchester and Jakob St. Claire to indulge themselves in several drinks before a screaming match occurred. Dean and Adeline knew nothing of the words exchanged in those moments. All they knew was that after that night, Jakob St. Claire vowed to kill John Winchester if he ever saw him again.

The next hour Adeline was dragged from Dean's bed and shoved in her father's car. Dean had ran to reach her, but he was pummeled to the ground by Jakob, earning himself similar threats his father had received.

That was four years ago, seems like a lifetime. Currently 26 and still growing up, he wanted to run from his responsibilities. Dean's breath was shaky and shallow as he now stood on her doorstep to inform her that their fathers had mysteriously reunited and gone missing. He twisted the ring on his finger twice, shook the nerves from his shoulders, and knocked.

The door opened and his heart began to beat wildly against his ribs.

"Dean?"