~XII~ – Anna Milton: The Girl with Angel Radio

The first place we assumed Anna would go was back home. I'd beaten the Winchesters to the Milton house. Mr. and Mrs. Milton were dead, throats cut, blood everywhere on the floor. Sam found sulfur in the house—an indication that demons had gotten to the Miltons.

These demons, they were serious about finding Anna.

After gathering some clues as to where the girl might be, the Winchesters drove to a church. I beat them there, naturally. She was nowhere in the main part of the church, so I investigated the other parts while I waited for them to arrive.

I search the lower parts and other rooms of the ground floor before I make my way upstairs. My weapon is drawn the entire time, in fear of an ambush. I'm not letting demons get the drop on me. I refuse to let them best me, again.

When I enter the upper level of the church, I find deep red hair belonging to a woman, cowering. Her eyes are wide and frightened. She trembles violently and doesn't speak a word. Thinking quickly, I hide my weapon.

"Anna Milton?" I ask. She remains mute. "Sorry about the weapon, I promise it's not for you. I'm...not here to hurt you."

"Then why did you hesitate?" she squeaks, a terrible tremor in her voice. "That blade is for me, isn't it?"

"No, it's not."

"What...what are you? I...I see your face."

She can see my true form behind this vessel? In that moment, I hear Sam and Dean enter the room.

"About time you joined," I tell the brothers.

Anna reverts back to the mute, scared girl. I glance at the brothers to find them with (shocker) weapons.

"Dean," Sam tells his brother. "Anna?" Their weapons lower. "We're not gonna hurt you. We're here to help. She's with us. My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean. This is our friend, Vera."

"Sam?" Anna speaks. "Not Sam Winchester?"

"Uh, yeah."

"And you're Dean. The Dean?"

"Well, yeah," Dean says. "The Dean, I guess."

"It's really you. Oh, my god. The angels talk about you. You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out, and some of them think you can help save us. And some of them don't like you at all. They talk about you all the time lately. I feel like I know you."

"You talk to angels?" I ask Anna curiously.

"Oh, no. No, no way. Um, they probably don't even know I exist. I just kind of...overhear them."

"You overhear them?"

"Yeah, they talk, and sometimes I just...hear them in my head."

"Like...right now?"

"Not right this second, but a lot. And I can't shut them out, there are so many of them."

She hears the angel radio? How? She is no angel, otherwise I would see her true face, as she sees mine.

"So, they lock you up with a case of the crazies when really you were just...tuning in to angel radio?" Dean asks Anna.

"Yes. Thank you." She looks relieved to hear him.

"Anna, when did the voices start?" asks Sam. "Do you remember?"

"I can tell you exactly—September eighteenth."

"The day I got out of Hell," Dean murmurs.

"First words I heard, clear as a bell—'Dean Winchester is saved.'"

She heard it, too. Just as loud and as clear. But it still makes no sense. She has no angelic Grace in her, and I don't see her true face. There's something that's missing from this puzzle.

"What do you think?" Dean asks Sam.

"It's above my pay grade, man."

"Vera?"

"I may be an angel," I hear Anna gasp at this, "but this has me stumped."

"Well, at least now we know why the demons want you so bad," Dean tells Anna. "They get a hold of you, they can hear everything the other side's cooking. You're one-eight-hundred-angel."

"Hey, um, do you know—are my parents okay?" asks Anna. "I—I didn't go home. I was afraid."

Just as someone is trying to figure out how to break the news to Anna, frantic feet rush in. We all look to see it's Ruby.

"You got the girl," she pants. "Good, let's go."

"Her face!" Anna exclaims.

"It can't change, I'm afraid," I quip.

"Someone's being a real smartass right now when she shouldn't be," Ruby snaps at me.

"It's okay," Sam assures Anna. "She's here to help."

"Yeah, don't be so sure," Dean quips.

"We have to hurry," Ruby insists.

"Why?"

"Because a demon's coming—big-timer. We can fight later, Dean."

"Well, that's pretty convenient—showing up right when we find the girl with some bigwig on your tail?"

"I didn't bring him here. You did."

"What?"

"He followed you from the girl's house. We got to go now."

"Dean," says Sam.

A statue in the room is weeping blood from its eyes. My skin prickles, and I reach for my blade.

"It's too late," Ruby says. "He's here."

Sam helps Anna, grabs her by the arm, taking her to a closet. Once she's safe, he takes out a flask.

"No, Sam, you got to pull him right away," Ruby instructs him.

"Whoa, hold on a sec," Dean interrupts.

"Now's not the time to bellyache about Sam going dark side. He does his thing, he exorcises that demon, or we die."

The demon enters the room. I stand guard, closest to the closet Anna is hiding in. Sam tries to exorcise the demon. Unfortunately, it doesn't leave its vessel.

"That tickles," it rasps. "You don't have the juice to take me on, Sam." He flings Sam down a flight of stairs. Dean and I move in on the demon, but I'm yanked on by Ruby. I recoil at her touch. She nods towards the closet, and reluctantly I stand guard as Dean takes on the demon with Ruby's knife.

Anna screams, and I cringe, as Ruby pulls her from the closet.

"Zap us out of here, feathers," she hisses to me. "Your way is quickest."

"But—"

"Hey, if you want to be demon chow, go ahead, he's right there and more than willing to put your wings in the fryer."

Sighing through my nose, I grab hold of Ruby and Anna, and I get us inside a cabin, far away from the church. Wait...It's the cabin where I first met Sam and Ruby. I remember it now. It felt like an eternity ago.

I feel regret in my stomach, leaving Sam and Dean to deal with the demon on their own. If he's a higher up, they don't stand a chance.

"What the..." Anna squeaks. Her color is pale, with a light hint of green.

"Don't you dare puke," Ruby warns her. The threat makes Anna not do so. "Go calm yourself down, and don't think about running off."

I watch Anna carefully as she leaves the two of us alone.

"Nice choice of hide out," Ruby muses. "Can't let this place go, can you? Brings back memories. You, bleeding in that chair right there, dying. Good times."

I snort. "It wasn't good for me." I tuck my weapon away. "We need to get Sam and Dean."

"I'm sure those knuckleheads escaped death again. They seem to have a knack for it. You'd know that, right, since Heaven most likely notes every time someone goes into the afterlife or some shit?"

I don't answer her.

"Really, you wanna go silent treatment on me, after all we've been through? That hurts, feathers. I tell you what: you and I, we're gonna have a girl's night."

"What is that?"

"Not doing angelic duty. Doing fun things that don't involve stabbing people—well, I consider that fun. I don't think you do, but hey, I could be wrong." She shrugs. "If it makes you feel better, I'll fly out of this meatsuit here and track the Winchesters down and tell them where we are."

"And you'll really do that?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "When will you trust me?"

"When I die."

"So...someday, you will." She raises a brow. I just give her a nasty look. "Fine, fine, I'm going. Make sure this body doesn't start to stink up the joint." I step back as Ruby flees from her vessel in a flurry of black smoke. I cringe as the body drops to the floor.

Meanwhile, I hear Anna vomiting. I sigh. The poor girl. She can hear angels over the angel radio, she's wanted by demons, and I still can't figure out how she can hear the angel radio. Or how she can see my true face, and Ruby's. I stare at Ruby's vessel. Despite it being vacant, it is a decent-looking vessel. Her hair is a good length compared to mine. Her body probably isn't marred by scars like mine is.

I kneel down at Ruby's empty vessel. I admire her style as well. It's edgy. What kind of a thought is that? What...why am I thinking such things? I'm an Angel of the Lord.

I jump as Ruby suddenly reenters her vessel. She gasps loudly, starving for air. She shakes her head and notices how close I am to her vessel.

"What, were you gonna start CPR if I didn't come back sooner?" she teases me.

"What are you talking about?"

Ruby groans. "Feathers, you and I are definitely having a girl's night. What I'm talking about is trying to revive my body, which involves breathing air back into this vessel's mouth." She points to the lips. "Damn, I would've been kissed by an angel if I came at a bad time. But then again, you wouldn't know how to perform CPR anyway, so it'd be a loss."

I make a face of disgust, rising to my feet. "You're strange, even by demon standards."

"Glad you noticed," she says in a faux sweet voice. "How's our ginger doing?" Her answer is Anna vomiting some more. "Maybe she's hungover." Ruby looks at me. "Do angels get drunk?"

"Why are you asking me that as if I know the answer?"

"Hey, I mean, you're the strangest angel I've met, so it wouldn't be too much of a shocker if there's one who downs alcohol and actually gets shitfaced."

"Did you find Sam and Dean?"

"Yeah, had to borrow someone's meatsuit briefly. They were licking their wounds in a motel room, I could smell their blood."

"Are they badly injured?"

"Nothing they can't shake off. Besides, they've both had way worse to come back from. So now we just hang out here until they get here." She leans against a wall. "Which opens us up for some bonding time."

Bonding with a demon? No thank you.