chapter three

✦  ✦  ✦  ✦
━━━━━

FIRST, IT'S the green again, because of course it is. But then it's a voice– a grating voice that sends chills over her entire body.

You really thought you could escape me?

Then she gasps awake, her head pounding. The room is barely lit, from only the small lamp on the desk. She groans and leans her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands. She runs her fingers through her hair, trying and failing to soothe her headache.

She doesn't understand her dreams. Trauma nightmares, she gets. She's actually surprised she doesn't get them more often. But the cryptic colors and voices and darkness– she doesn't get. She's getting tired of it, to be frank.

She drags herself from the bed of her temporary bedroom– right next to Jack's, because the kid begged– to the bathroom. Then it's to the kitchen, because she's starting to develop a caffeine addiction. She goes straight to the coffee machine, filling her mug to the brim.

"No offense, but you look like hell," Sam says, from his spot at the table. He has a tablet out in front of him. She hadn't even noticed him. She scoffs a small laugh and sits across from him.

"I don't think I've been sober in a week. Do you people ever stop drinking?"

"Nasty hangover, huh?"

She nods, sipping her coffee. Sam leaves the table, messing around in some drawers before returning to his seat.

"Here," He places a small white bottle in front of her on the table.

She knits her eyebrows together. "What is that?"

He seems confused at her response. "Uh...it's Ibuprofen?"

It doesn't seem to register with her. She takes the bottle and stares at it, reading the label.

"Pain meds? For your headache."

Her eyes widen in recognition. "Oh, shit, like pills?" She struggles for a second to get the cap off. Then she stares at the inside, rattling the pills in the bottle. "Huh. Forgot about these," she mumbles, pouring three into her hand. She takes them with a long sip of coffee.

Sam stares at her, dumbfounded. She doesn't seem to notice as she puts the cap back on the bottle and goes to pour herself more coffee. Sam clears his throat and shakes himself out of it.

"So, uh, I know you've only been here for a couple weeks, but how would you feel about joining us on a case?" Sam asks.

"A case?" She returns to her seat.

"Yeah. Uh, we're thinking vampires."

A case. An actual, real case. Not some sort of angel battle.

"You were a hunter, before...everything, right? I know not everyone was."

"Yeah, uh, yeah, I was. Sorry, it's just been a while. What 'cha got?"

He flips around his tablet to show her something on the screen.

"An 18 year old girl's body was found in a small town in Missouri, drained of blood with strange bite marks on her body. Four previous victims over the past couple months, drained of blood with the same marks."

The brightness of the screen makes her squint, though she doesn't even really know what she's looking at. She was never really big on technology. She knew how to text and make phone calls, but that was about it.

"Sounds like vampires to me."

"Yeah. Jack is out somewhere with Cas, Mom's on a case with Bobby, and everyone else is pretty busy with getting settled, so it's just Dean and me."

"Okay, yeah, I'll go pack."

"Great. Meet in the garage, about half an hour?"

She nods and downs the rest of her coffee.

✦ ✦

MACK'S DIGGING in her bag as she enters the garage, so doesn't see it at first.

"Hey, you ready?" Sam's voice echoes throughout the garage.

"Yeah, I just–" She stops in her tracks as she looks up, her jaw dropping. "Holy shit."

Worry and confusion crosses Sam's face, which is amplified even more when a smile spreads across her mouth.

"Uh...you alright?"

She moves forward towards the car. "Is this your car?" Her eyes dart between Sam and the car, not even noticing Dean leaving the driver's seat.

"He wishes."

She spares him a glance before gawking at the car once again. She runs her fingers over the smooth exterior. "It's beautiful."

"Isn't she?"

She ducks down and peeks inside, smiling even wider.

"Okay, now that the two of you are done ogling, can we go?" Sam says sarcastically.

Mack stands up straight. "Sorry. I just– I like cars."

Dean smirks. "You'll enjoy the ride. Let's go."

As they all climb into the car and take off, Dean passes a box back to her.

"What's this?" She places the box on the seat next to her and starts to look through it.

"Pick something." It's full of cassette tapes.

"You're letting her pick?"

"Come on, Sam, she probably hasn't listened to music in years."

"You know, Dean, normal people use CDS. Even I know that."

"Yeah, shut up and pick something."

She digs through his music collection, going from heavy metal to classic rock to the occasional pop artist. She even finds an ancient-looking Taylor Swift CD at the very bottom. She laughs to herself but says nothing.

"Metallica? Oh, hell yeah. I feel like I'm eighteen again." She passes the tape up and picks a few more, (one from the Rolling Stones, two from Led Zeppelin) then puts the box on the floor.

Dean puts in the tape, and she smiles as the music fills the car. She stares out the window, admiring the view as they speed down the road.

✦ ✦

IT'S DARK when they arrive at a motel in the right town. Sam books them a room and the three of them go inside. There's two queen-sized beds and a couch.

"I'll take the couch," Mack says, dropping her bag next to it. She flops down before either of them can protest.

The next morning, they dress in their FBI get ups to talk to the Sheriff. Mack spends way too long in the bathroom, fussing with her tie and her hair. It's been so long since she's worn a suit, it feels unnatural. Eventually, Dean comes banging on the door.

"Let's go!"

She rolls her eyes and shoves her discomfort down, leaving the bathroom. She brushes past Dean, still in the doorway. She starts to dig in her bag as Dean gawks at her. She doesn't even notice.

"You know, these things are so old, I'm not even sure they can still pass as me anymore," she says, pulling her fake badges from the very bottom of her bag.

Sam comes over, nudging Dean out of his trance. "You're staring," he whispers.

Dean shoves him back. "I am not."

She straightens up, still holding two badges. She shrugs and pockets one, tossing the other back in her bag. She turns to the brothers, standing next to each other. She looks them both up and down, and hums to herself.

"You two clean up nicely. Let's go."

"You're blushing," Sam mocks with a grin as he follows Mack out the door. Dean reaches out to whack him, but misses.

"I– I'm not blushing!" he whisper-shouts.

When they arrive at the Sheriff's station, they decide to let Mack take the lead. She leads them inside, to the Sheriff's desk.

"Excuse me?" She pulls her badge, the other two following suit. "Agents Johnson, May, and Simmons. We were wondering if you could tell us about your recent victim, Dana Rodriguez?"

The Sheriff eyes them all suspiciously. "The FBI's got an interest in some small-town case like this?"

"Well, Sheriff, we just go where they send us. Tell me, Dana marks your fifth victim, correct? Why don't you tell us more about that?"

The Sheriff sighs, closing a file and leaning back in his chair.

"I don't know what's happening in my town. Thirty years I've been Sheriff, and nothing like this has ever happened."

"Did you know Dana, Sheriff?" Sam asks.

"Small town, I know everybody. But you'd have better luck speaking with her sister– knew her better than anyone."

He grabs a pen and scribbles something on a piece of paper, then stands.

"This is their apartment. Be gentle with her, she's very fragile. They only really had each other."

"No parents?" Mack asks as she takes the paper.

The Sheriff shakes his head. "They were in an accident when Dana was about ten. Carmen was about fourteen. Been taking care of each other ever since."

Something in Mack's chest tightens at his words. Her hand clenches slightly, crushing the paper.

"Could you show us to the body?" Sam asks.

The Sheriff nods.

"You guys go. I'm gonna go talk to the sister." She doesn't leave either of them a chance to argue before taking off.

✦ ✦

MACK KNOCKS gently on the apartment door, at the end of the hall on the third floor. The door opens to reveal a young-looking girl, with dark curly hair and brown skin. Her nose and eyes are red, and she's wrapped in a large hoodie.

"Can I help you?" Her voice is raspy.

"Carmen Rodriguez?" She nods, and Mack pulls her badge. "I'm Agent Johnson. If you have a moment, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about your sister."

She stares at the badge. "The FBI is on Dana's case?"

"We're just taking every possible precaution."

She sighs gently. "Come in." She moves to the side to let Mack in.

"Sorry about the mess, um...I wasn't expecting any visitors."

"No worries."

They sit across from each other in the small living room. Carmen takes a throw pillow and hugs it in her lap.

"I understand that it might be difficult to talk about, so please take your time." Carmen nods in response. "Did you notice anything different about Dana, or the people around her in the last few weeks?"

Carmen shakes her head. "She's just– she was...just the best. Everyone loved her. I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt her." Her voice breaks slightly.

"Did she have any new friends lately? Anyone who'd recently moved to town, or someone she hadn't really interacted with before?"

She thinks for a second. "Uh...well, she met this new girl at school. Her family moved from New York, I think. Her name is...Alissa, or Elizabeth, or something. I don't know, I only met her once. But Dana liked her a lot."

Mack nods along. "Do you know where she lives?"

She pauses. "Wait...you don't think that– that she did something to Dana?"

"I'm just trying to explore every possible option here."

Carmen sighs and leaves the couch. She comes back with a small green book in her hand.

"She wouldn't want me to give you this, but...I don't know what else to do. I don't have the information you need. It's all in here."

She places the book on the coffee table between them.

"Her journal?" Carmen nods. "I...I don't have to take it. You should keep it."

Carmen shakes her head. "No. I want you to take it. If you think it will help you figure out what happened to her..."

Mack hesitates, and Carmen pushes it towards her.

"I'm asking you to take it."

Mack leans forward, placing her hand on Carmen's. "I promise you, I will figure out what happened to your sister."

She nods, tears welling in her eyes. Mack takes a pen and writes her number on a napkin. "Call me if you think of anything else, okay?"

Carmen nods again, and Mack leaves, taking the journal with her.

✦ ✦

DEAN CALLS her to let her know that the body had pretty standard vampire bite marks. She tells him about Carmen and the journal.

"I'm gonna read through it and see if it gives us any leads."

Great. You okay?

"What?" She's confused at his sudden concern.

I don't know, seems like you tensed up when you learned about the sister. And you sound like you just saw a puppy get hit by a car.

"I'm fine. I'll see you back at the motel."

She hangs up before he can ask again.

She sits in the front seat of a stolen car in an empty parking lot. The sun is close to setting. For the first time in a long, long time, she breaks down.

She breaks down for Carmen, for Charlie, for Cristina. For her sister. And, because this case hits way too fucking close to home.

She was 22 when the war started. Cristina was 18. The same age Carmen is now, and the same age Dana was.

Cristina was 21 when she died. Mack was 25. Leo never really recovered, she knows that. She doesn't know how she did. Though, she supposes it's because Leo loved her in a way she could never really imagine, and having that ripped away will destroy you. 27, then he's gone. Part of her believes he wanted it. Now, 29, and it's Charlie.

She can't escape. Everyone she's ever loved– anyone who's ever loved her, has died. Killed brutally, is more like it. It's like she's cursed. Cursed by being the one who has to live with it.

So, for this short time, she lets herself go. She cries into her knees, curled in a ball against the steering wheel. She doesn't know how long she sits there.

✦ ✦

DEAN CAN tell there's something wrong the second she walks in the door. He already suspected so, from her voice over the phone and the way she reacted to learning the victim had a sister.

She doesn't say anything when she walks in, she simply grabs her bag and goes straight to the bathroom. He gives Sam a look, and he simply shrugs. She returns wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Sam nudges him inconspicuously.

Dean clears his throat awkwardly. "Find anything?"

She sighs, pulling a small green book from her bag and tossing it on the table. She continues to look through her bag as she starts to speak.

"Dana had a thing with this girl, Elizabeth. Wrote all about it. In her last entry, she wrote about how she's finally going to meet Elizabeth's family, but Elizabeth was really nervous about it. Like, scared. I think it's either her, or her family. There's an address in there, too. I say we go check it out, see if we can't speak to Elizabeth."

She finally straightens up with a small black pouch in her hand. She notices them staring at her. "What?"

"You alright?" Sam asks. It's not hard to miss the bags under her red-rimmed eyes. She looks exhausted, and it just sends more worry through Dean's chest.

She simply rolls her eyes. "Let's go." She walks out, clearly fed up with questions.

✦ ✦

THE NEXT time someone asks her if she's okay, she's gonna start throwing punches. She just wants to find this stupid nest and kill some monsters. She's tired of the questions and the worried glances and the silent communication going on between the brothers.

They arrive at the address in Dana's journal, and Mack leaves the car first. She goes straight to the door and knocks. Sam and Dean join her right as the door opens. They're greeted by a young girl with blonde hair, presumably Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth Peters?" She nods, and Mack pulls her badge. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about Dana Rodriguez."

She's visibly nervous, but steps aside to let them in. They don't bother sitting to get comfortable. Elizabeth rushes into the kitchen.

"Can I get you guys anything?" Her voice is slightly frantic. It has to be more than just nerves.

"Where were you the night Dana was killed?" Mack asks.

Her hands shake holding two glasses of water. "I– uh–" One slips from her hand and shatters on the ground. "Shit– uh– I'm sorry–" She moves back into the kitchen. The three of them share a look. She comes back with a broom and towel. She's shaking even more, and this time there's tears in her eyes.

Sam steps forward cautiously. "Elizabeth...calm down. We just want to help." He gently takes the broom from her. "Just tell us what you know."

She bites her lip, her gaze nervously darting between the three adults. "I know you're not FBI," she says quietly.

Mack tenses slightly. Elizabeth notices, and tries to backtrack.

"I–I'm not one of them, I swear. I've never hurt anyone." Her chin trembles as tears start to fall down her face. "I tried to stop them. I didn't want to bring Dana around, but she insisted, and I couldn't– I couldn't stop them. They killed her and I couldn't do anything, I–" She cuts off with a sob. Sam puts a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Where are they now?" Dean asks, at the same time Mack asks, "Have they taken anyone else?"

She shakes her head. "They come and go. There's a shack in the woods, near where they found Dana. They might be there."

"Have they been feeding on you?" Sam suddenly asks, after noticing bite marks protruding out of her collar. She pulls her shirt up to hide it.

"They get mad when I try to stop them," she mumbles.

"How many are there?" asks Mack.

"It can go from three to five."

"Who are they to you, Elizabeth?" Sam asks. She looks up at him.

"My parents, and brother. The other two are friends from their nest."

"Why haven't they turned you?" This time it's Mack.

"I– I don't know. They all got turned a few years ago, together. They don't really pay attention to me when I'm not useful."

"They're using her as a blood bank," Mack says under her breath. Dean nods in agreement. "We should go."

"What if they come back?" Her voice is frantic again. "They'll be so mad if they find out I told you."

"Sam, stay with her. Or take her somewhere, whatever. We'll go scope out this shack," Dean says.

Mack follows him outside to the car. He opens the trunk and starts digging around. She pulls her gun, as well as the black pouch she grabbed earlier. He glances over, confused.

"You, uh...you know that won't hurt the vamps, right?"

She almost laughs at his attempt to not make her sound like an idiot. "You, uh..." She finally cocks the gun and faces him. "You know I'm not an idiot, right?"

He just seems even more confused. This time, she actually does laugh. She reaches into the black pouch and takes out a bullet, pinched between two fingers. "They're infused with dead man's blood."

She drops it into his hand so he can look closer. Then she pulls her back towards her and grabs some sort of cloth binder. She opens it to show him. It's lined with rows and rows of bullets.

She points at each row, while naming them. "Silver. Witch killing bullets, angel killing bullets. Can also work on demons. Well, Tempter demons are a different story, but anyway. Dead man's blood, salt rounds." She shuts it and puts it back in her bag.

"Did you make all of those?"

She shrugs casually. "It's really not that hard. You learn a thing or two when your only options are survival and death." She puts her gun in a thigh holster he hadn't noticed until now. "I have more, that's just my go-pack. And, obviously, the bullets won't kill them." She grabs one of his machetes. "Hence the machete."

"You're gonna have to teach me how to make those." He shuts the trunk. "Let's go."

✦ ✦

THE WALK through the woods is...tense, to say the least. They're both anxious, and Dean has some sort of energy coursing from him that Mack can't read. It's bugging the hell out of her, and she doesn't understand why. Neither of them speak.

Eventually, Mack sighs. "You know, if there's something you want to say, you can just say it. I won't...freak out, or whatever."

He walks a few feet in front of her, and doesn't turn. "What makes you think I have something to say?"

She shrugs, even if he can't see. "I was just saying."

A few more minutes pass in silence, before Dean suddenly stops. He faces her, shining his flashlight in her face. "You're really good at avoiding questions, you know that?"

She cringes away from the light, blocking it with her hand. "What?"

"There's something bothering you about this case. Am I wrong?"

"What does that matter? It's my business."

"I'm not saying you have to bore your soul to me, but you don't have to pretend you're perfectly fine."

She holds back an eye roll, brushing past him. "Why do you even care?"

"I–"

She doesn't hear what he says next. Her light catches a glimpse of red, and suddenly she's faced with a body soaked in blood.

"Holy shit, Dean!"

She kneels in front of the body, hearing Dean's heavy footsteps rushing towards her. She feels around on the girl's neck, catching a weak pulse.

"She's still alive. I thought Elizabeth said they hadn't taken anyone else?"

"Maybe she lied."

"Or maybe she just didn't know. This is...fresh."

"Hey, look," He shines his light in front of them, and they see the shack. It's bigger than Mack expected, more like a barn. Suddenly they hear a high-pitched scream from inside, and they both take off running.

Dean kicks the door open. There's a group of four vampires huddled together. One of them is kneeling on the ground, feeding on a girl. The three standing charge immediately.

Dean starts fighting with two of them, while the other goes for Mack. She ducks as it lunges at her. She drops the machete and draws her gun, shooting twice at the one feeding. It knocks it off the girl. She holsters the gun and picks the machete back up.

The vampire jumps to its feet, baring its teeth and growling. There's blood all over, on its face and dripping down it's neck.

"You should learn to cover your tracks better. Leaving Dana out there was sloppy."

It lunges, and she swings the machete before it gets very far. She watches the head as it falls to the ground, and she suddenly freezes.

Woah.

She doesn't notice the last vampire coming towards her until it grabs her from behind, sinking it's teeth into her shoulder. She cries out. Dean calls her name, and she struggles to respond.

She tries to wrestle away from it's grip. It pulls it's teeth out and hits her hard in the head. She falls to her knees, blood quickly trailing down her body. Her hand reaches up to touch the wound.

Before she knows it, the last vampire is dead and Dean is kneeling in front of her, looking at the wound and repeating her name. She groans when he presses his hand to it.

"You're gonna need stitches."

"I'm fine," she says, unconvincingly.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He rips a piece of his flannel and presses it to her shoulder. She puts her hand over his, presses harder. He clears his throat awkwardly. "Can you walk?"

She nods, and he helps her stand.

✦ ✦

THEY TAKE the victim to the hospital before heading back to the motel. Mack's mostly conscious and coherent by the time they get there. Both Dean and Sam offer to help her stitch her up, but she refuses. She stands in front of the mirror and does it herself, while Dean stands across the room cleaning his weapons.

Mack keeps eyeing him in the mirror. He's mad about something, she can tell. She can also tell that it's making Sam uncomfortable. His phone rings, and he jumps up.

"Uh, I'm gonna– I'm gonna go take this." He rushes from the room.

Mack finally ties off the end of her stitches, and moves to the sink to clean off the last of the blood on her skin and in her hair.

"Why are you so pissed off?" she finally asks.

"I'm not," he grumbles.

"Right." She sighs and continues with what she's doing. Once the blood is out of her hair, she dries herself with a towel and grabs a new shirt from her bag.

Dean drops whatever he was doing on the table and turns to her. "You could've gotten yourself killed."

She stills, crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't."

"You almost did."

She laughs humorlessly. "If you're about to lecture me for being reckless, save it. That's not what happened."

"Then enlighten me. I'd really like to know how that vampire got the drop on you."

She rolls her eyes and moves to the couch, sitting with her bag in front of her. "Why are you so worried about it?"

"Is it a crime to care about someone?"

She freezes, blinking a few times. She slowly looks up at him. "You don't even know me."

"I'm trying to. You won't let me."

She scoffs. "You're better off, trust me." She looks back to her bag, stowing away her weapons.

"Why don't you let anyone get close to you?"

She rolls her eyes as she stands. "I'm not having this conversation." She grabs her jacket, slowly pulling it on.

"Going somewhere?"

She grabs Dana's journal from the table. "Gonna return this to Carmen."

"Mack, wait," He grabs her wrist to stop her. "Why won't you let me know you?"

She stares up at him, into eyes. So many things connect in her brain all at once. Mostly, it's the longing in his eyes. It scares the hell out of her.

She hesitates, deciding if she really wants to go there. But she does. "Everyone around me dies." Her voice trembles slightly. "My sister, my parents, everyone I've ever loved. They're all dead. I'm not gonna subject you to that. I won't."

He seems stunned at her answer. She pulls her wrist from his grip and starts towards the door. Sam walks in right as she tries to leave.

"I'll be back. Don't wait up." She passes him and pulls the door closed behind her.

✦ ✦

HE DOESN'T know how long he sits outside waiting before she finally shows up. She hesitates, but sits next to him on the bench. He passes her a beer, and she takes it.

"Sam asleep?" she asks. He nods.

"I took care of the bodies. And, uh, I took Elizabeth over to Carmen's."

"Think she'll be okay?"

"I think they'll figure it out together, eventually."

He nods, then waits a few seconds before speaking. "You froze. That's how the vamp got you." He takes a drink, waiting for her to respond.

She sighs heavily. "It's been a long time since...since I've seen a vampire look so human. Back home, they're feral. They look like monsters. It's easy to kill them. But here..." She shrugs. "So I froze."

He nods. Somehow he never realized how affected she'd be by living in her world, in that state, for so long. Limited resources, monsters on steroids.

"I guess I'll just have to get used to it. It's not like we can go back without an archangel." She sips her beer.

"I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but it doesn't. Not...not really."

She nods.

A few minutes pass in silence before she speaks again. "Is it selfish of me to say I don't think I'd want to go back?"

He finally looks at her. Her eyes are pointed up towards the sky. "Nah. That's not selfish. You're safe here. You're allowed to want to stay."

She exhales slowly, and her gaze switches to him. "I'm sorry. That I get so defensive, and I keep...arguing over everything. I don't know how else to react."

"Don't sweat it. I think I should be the one apologizing. I've been a real douche to you, especially when we first met. I didn't know you had a sister."

He sees her tense slightly.

"It's not your fault. I was the same, for a long time."

He wants to know more. He wants to know everything, but he doesn't want to push her. "What was her name?"

"Cristina."

He doesn't press any more. If she has more to say, she'll say it.

Instead, she says, "Wish we could start over."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I wish we could just take back all the shitty things we've said and done. Just start over, like we're meeting right now, for the first time. Leave all of that behind."

He chuckles gently. "Never too late, y'know." He holds out his beer bottle. "Dean Winchester."

She returns his small laugh, clinking their bottles together. "Catherine Mackenzie."

They each take a drink.

"Catherine, huh?"

She shrugs. "My friends call me Mack."

He smiles. "Alright, then."

━━━━━
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author's note !!

this chapter is a lot longer than the previous ones, i hope y'all don't mind

let me tell you, it's really hard trying to keep the winchesters in character cause they have such a specific way that they talk, and sometimes it's hard to replicate it lmao so forgive me if they're out of character

please leave votes and comments if you're enjoying, they really make an author's
day :)

thanks for reading!!

-skye