❛ ━━━━━━･ ❪ ☆ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

ELEANOR HAD BECOME a part of the team that was Bobby, Dean and Sam. She had never really known what it was like to have a big family. It had always been just her and her mother. She also had no idea what living with three boys was like. They were extremely messy. Still, she loved it. Having Dean around, alive, was something she still couldn't believe was real life and Bobby was quickly becoming something of a father figure to her. She'd never had that before. Maybe that was why she had become so fond of the old man. He had taken her under his wing like he had with her brothers and Eleanor would forever be grateful.

Eleanor sat on Bobby's couch working on school assignments while Bobby researched and her brothers argued. She had switched to online classes after being convinced by Sam and Dean to keep up with her schooling. Maybe she wouldn't be a doctor, but the medical knowledge would be helpful on hunts.

      As hard as she tried, Eleanor couldn't focus on her school work. Especially with her brothers acting like children. She sets aside her laptop, temporarily quitting the task at hand. This was way more entertaining anyway.

"Well, then tell me what else it could be," Sam argues.

"Look, all I know is I was not groped by an angel."

"What reason would Castiel have to lie?" Eleanor asks, inserting herself into the conversation.

Dean shrugs. "He could be a demon. Demons lie." At Dean's words, Bobby looks up from the book he was reading.

"A demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps and Ruby's knife? Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing!" Sam fires back.

"Don't you think that if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one at some point, ever?" Dean argues.

"I mean, we saw one, Dean," Eleanor points out.

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here. Okay? Work with me."

"But we have a theory," Eleanor reminds him.

Dean rolls his eyes. "Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please."

"No one is saying we know for sure. We're saying that we -"

"Okay, okay. That's the point," Dean says, cutting her off. "We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!"

"You three chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?" Bobby asks. The siblings walk over to Bobby's desk. "I got stacks of lore, Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit," he tells them as they walk over. He gestures towards the books piled on the desk.

"What else?" Dean asks.

Bobby gives him a look. "What else, what?"

"What else could it do?"

"Airlift your ass out of the hot box? As far as I can tell, nothing."

"Dean, this is good news," Sam cuts in.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap. I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"

"Okay. Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?"

"Well, yeah, I would assume so." Eleanor shrugs. Dean didn't look convinced. "I know you don't believe, but I don't think this is about faith anymore, I think it's about proof."

"Proof? Since when do you believe in this stuff? You said you didn't."

She shrugs. "I mean, I think we have to face the truth at some point."

Dean scoffs. "That there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

"Why not?" Sam asks.

"Because why me? If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?" Everyone but Dean knew he was special, that he was a good person, even if it was hidden under layers of his macho-sarcastic-asshole tendencies. Dean doesn't believe it and his family wishes he could see what they saw in him.

Eleanor tries to interject, but Dean continues. "I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy."

"Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs," Sam tells him.

"Well, that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties-"

"Same," Eleanor chimes in.

"-much less by...God."

"People singing to you in front of a flaming cake is weird," she mumbles. "I don't get it."

Sam looks at her funny but doesn't say anything, turning back to Dean. "Okay, well, too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat."

The image of Dean in a party hat floats into Eleanor's mind and she holds back a snicker.

Dean lets out a long sigh. "Fine. What do we know about angels?"

Bobby picks up a large stack of heavy looking books and places them in front of Dean. "Start reading."

Dean looks at the stack of books, then at his brother. "You're going to get me pie."

"Oh and some chocolate cake if they have it. Since you'll be out," Eleanor requests.

Dean looks at her incredulously. "Seriously, who are you? Are you even a Winchester?"

"I'm a Cassidy," she says simply.

Dean rolls his eyes and turns back to Sam, who was walking out the door. "Don't forget the pie!"

Eleanor looks at the stack of books, then at the two men. "Well, good luck with that, I should get back to work." She opens her laptop again.

"What, you're not going to help?"

"Nah, looks boring. You guys have fun with that though. You're the one who wanted me to go back to college." She doesn't look up, smirking as she logs back into the computer. Dean shoots her a glare but doesn't protest. He knows he can't argue, seeing as he and Sam were the ones who wanted her to stay in college and do less hunting. Eleanor knew that, of course, and was using it to her advantage. With that, the room settles into silence as they begin their tasks.

･ ❪ ☆ ❫ ･

     ELEANOR HAD FINISHED her assignment and was now sitting on the hood of one of the old cars in Bobby's yard taking a smoke break.

Lost in her own world, it took her a minute to notice Bobby approach her. "A friend of mine, a hunter a state over, hasn't answered any of my calls. We're going to go check on her, you comin' with?" he asks as he approaches.

Eleanor hops off the hood of the car, dropping the cigarette and putting it out with her boot. "Yeah, definitely."

Sam pulls in the driveway as they make their way up to the house. Bobby walks up to the car window, which Sam lowers so they can talk. "Keep the engine running."

Sam's eyebrows furrowed. "Why? What's going on?"

"I got a friend one state over -- Olivia Lowry. I've been trying to reach her for three days on this angel thing. It's not like her to ignore this many calls."

The name seemed to register in his mind. "Olivia Lowry, a hunter, right?"

"Yeah. We're gonna go check on her. You guys follow me." Bobby heads to his own car and Dean makes his way to the driver's side of the impala.

Eleanor heads into the back seat, overhearing Dean telling Sam to, "Scoot over." The younger brother does as he's told and moves to the passenger side of the car.

Dean grabs the bag of food Sam had bought back and looks inside. "Dude?" Dean asks. Sam looks over at him questioningly. "Where's the pie? There's cake but no pie."

"Maybe I just like Elle more than you."

"I'll take that," Eleanor says, reaching over the seat to grab the slice of cake from the bag. "Thanks, Sam."

       Dean looks at them, highly offended, to which they respond with innocent smiles. "Whatever, let's just go." Dean starts the car, looking like his entire day has been ruined.

･ ❪ ☆ ❫ ･

OLIVIA'S HOUSE WAS cold and Eleanor regretted not grabbing a jacket instead of the thin flannel she had thrown on over a band t-shirt. She rubs her arms, trying to get rid of the chill from the outside air. Wordlessly, Dean takes off his jacket and hands it to her. She turns to him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He hadn't even looked at her. It was like he had some older brother sixth sense that told him when his siblings needed something. Eleanor smiled gratefully and put on the jacket. She was small compared to Dean, so she had to push the sleeves up to make the jacket fit. Still, it was comfortable and reminded her that her brother was alive.

They enter the house, armed with a guns and Eleanor with a gun and flask of holy water. They begin to search for the hunter, calling her name into the quiet house. Walking into a back room, they spot her. Olivia was dead and covered in blood lying on the floor. Bobby takes one look at her and walks out of the room. Dean calls after him but gets no response.

Sam points to the doorway. "Salt line." They look around the room. Eleanor walks over to the hunter, crouching to see if she dropped anything. She can't help but frown, another reminder hunters most often go out bloody. She spots an EMF reader and picks it up.

Standing, she turns to Sam and Dean, holding up the device. "She was using an EMF reader."

Sam nods. "Spirit activity."

"Yeah, on steroids. I never seen a ghost do this to a person," Dean says as Bobby enters the room, phone in hand. "Bobby, you all right?"

"I called some hunters nearby..." he starts.

"Good. We can use their help."

"...except they ain't answering their phones either." Eleanor frowns at this. Something was definitely wrong, one hunter not answering might be a coincidence, but the rest in town on top of Olivia's murder? Highly unlikely this was anything normal.

"Something's up, huh?"

"You think?" Bobby walks out of the room again. The siblings share a concerned look as he walks out the door. They follow the older hunter out the door, meeting him in the driveway of the house.

"We're splitting up. I have some hunters to check on and I'll send you the address for you guys to check out."

The next hunter they went to check on ended just as badly as the first.

The Winchesters walk down the stairs, exiting a white house. Dean picks up the phone and puts it on speaker so they can all hear. "We're in Jackson. It's not pretty. He looks even worse than Olivia. What about you?"

"I checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams. They've redecorated... in red," Bobby's voice comes through the speaker.

"What the hell is going on here, Bobby? Why did a bunch of ghosts suddenly want to gank off-duty hunters?" Dean asks.

"I don't know, but until we find out, you guys better get your asses to my place."

"We're on our way," Dean tells him as they get in the car.

About an hour later they pull up to a gas station. The car stops, and Sam puts the gas pump in the car. He walks to the restroom while the gas is pumping. Dean is asleep in the passenger seat of the car. Eleanor sleeps in the backseat, still wrapped in Dean's jacket.

      She wakes up as they pull up to to the house. "Let's go, Bobby hasn't responded to my calls," Dean tells her. Panic settles over the girl and she jumps out of the car, grabbing her gun and preparing to enter the house.

"Bobby?" Dean asks as they walk into the house. They spot an iron poker on the ground. Dean gestures to the stairs. "I'll go. Sam check outside. Elle, check down here."

Eleanor begins to check the lower level of the house, calling Bobby's name. She pushes open the kitchen door, gun pointed at whatever could possibly be behind it. She freezes in shock as a figure comes into view.

"No, you can't be here..." Eleanor murmurs. "You're dead."

"Because of you!" The woman glares at her. "You could have saved me but you didn't."

"No, I...I didn't know, I couldn't have made it in time," Eleanor stammers.

The first death of an innocent is never easy, especially if you could have saved them if you had just gotten there a bit sooner. It was supposed to be a simple vamp case. Eleanor and Sam were doing fine until one of their witnesses, Annabelle Argent went missing. They should have saved her, had they found her location five minutes sooner, they could have made it before they drained her.

"Yes you could have," Annabelle's voice was cold. "Do you know what they did to me?" She takes a step forward, taking the gun from Eleanor and throwing it. As she does, Eleanor notices an odd marking on her hand.

Annabelle shoves her, sending Eleanor stumbling into a wall. "They were slow. Why kill me easy? Especially when they knew I helped you find their whereabouts." She stalks over to Eleanor and goes to hit her again.

"I'm sorry, we tried to get there on time!" Eleanor's head had hit the wall and was now pounding.

"They passed me around," she continues. "The whole lot of them, taking turns drinking my blood until I had nothing left. That's on you. Your hands are stained with my blood."

The woman advances but Eleanor darts past her, making her way to through the door. She picks up the discarded iron poker, turning to see Annabelle standing behind her. Eleanor slashes the poker at her and the ghost turns into smoke and vanishes.

Eleanor took a step back, pausing to catch her breath as adrenaline coursed through her. After a moment she remembers the other people in the house and goes to find them.

The hunters reconvened in Bobby's study. Sam was the first to speak. "So, they're all people we know?"

"Not just know. People we couldn't save," Dean's voice was laced with regret at the reminder of the people that died on their watch. "Hey, I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Annabelle Argent, from the vamp case in New Jersey, she didn't have one either, right?" Eleanor asked. Again, Sam shook his head.

"It was like a mark on her hand, almost like a brand," Dean continues.

"I saw a mark, too, on Henriksen," Sam tells them.

     "What did it look like?" Bobby questions.

     "Uh, paper?" Sam asks. Bobby hands him a piece of paper and a pencil. "Thanks." He begins to sketch the design. When he finishes he holds it up for everyone to see.

     "That's it," Dean confirms. Eleanor nods in agreement.

      "I may have seen this before," Bobby makes his way to the door. "We got to move. Follow me."

      "Okay, where are we going?" Sam asks, following him.

     "Some place safe, you idiot." Bobby grabs some books and leads them to a basement room made entirely of iron and covered with pentagrams and devil's traps.

      Eleanor looks around in awe. "Bobby, is this..."

      "Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. 100% ghost-proof."

      "You built a panic room?" Sam asks.

       Bobby shrugs. "I had a weekend off."

       Dean looks around with a grin. "Bobby, you're awesome." He spots a poster of a swimsuit model. "Oh..."

       They get set up making salt bullets. It was quiet for a while, until Dean breaks the silence. "See, this is why I can't get behind God."

       Sam looks up from his work, confused. "What are you talking about?"

     "If he doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason -- just random, horrible, evil -- I get it, okay. I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?"

     "I ain't touching this one with at 10-foot pole," Bobby chimes in from across the room.

    "You have a good point," Eleanor looked up from the bullet she was working on. "That's why my vote is God is an a-"

     "Found it," Bobby says, cutting Eleanor off.

     "What?"

      "The symbol you saw, the brand on the ghosts..." The siblings walk over to him. "Mark of the Witness."

      "Witness? Witness to what?" Eleanor asks.

     "The unnatural. None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts, they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them...on purpose."

       "That's horrible," Eleanor mumbles. At the same time, Sam asks, "Who?"

      "Do I look like I know? But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It's called 'the rising of the witnesses.' It figures into an ancient prophecy."

      "Wait, wait," Dean cuts in. "What book is that prophecy from?"

      Bobby sighs. "Well, the widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know. But long story short, Revelations. This is a sign, kids."

      "A sign of what?" The three siblings ask in unison.

     "The apocalypse."

      "Oh shit," Eleanor mutters.

       "Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse?" Dean questions. "The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?"

      "That's the one. The rise of the witnesses is a mile marker," Bobby informs the hunters.

      "Okay, so, what do we do now?" Sam asks.

      "Road trip. Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience. Bunny Ranch," Dean lists.

      "Oh! We have to go to Disneyworld!" Eleanor adds. Dean nods.

      "First things first," Bobby cuts them off. "How about we survive our friends out there?"

      "Great. Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgment Day?"

      "It's a spell," Bobby gestures to the paper in front of him. "to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work."

      "Should. Great," Sam mumbles.

      "If I translate it correctly. I think I got everything we need here at the house."

     "Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?" Dean asks. There was no hope in his voice, he knew the answer.

     The older hunter rolls his eyes. "So, you thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden? Spell's got to be cast over an open fire."

       "The fireplace in the library!" Eleanor exclaims.

       Bobby nods. "Bingo."

      Dean frowns. "That's just not as appealing as a, uh, ghost-proof panic room, you know?"

       The hunters grab supplies, getting ready to leave the panic room. "Cover each other. And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you," Bobby instructs. "Ready?"

        Eleanor takes a deep breath and nods. They make their way out of the room, and head towards the stairs. A ghost sits on the stairs, young man Eleanor doesn't recognize.

       "Hey, Dean. You remember me?" he asks.

       "Ronald, huh? With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it's good to see you."

       "I am dead because of you. You were supposed to help me!" Ronald accuses.

        Bobby shoots at him and he disappears in a cloud of smoke. "If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk."

        They make their way to the living room. Sam creates a salt circle while Dean starts a fire.

      Bobby turns to Sam. "Upstairs, linen closet, red hex box. It'll be heavy." Sam nods and runs off.

       The two young girls appear in the living room. "Bobby-" one of them says. Dean shoots at them and they disappear.

       Bobby looks at Dean. "Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood."

        "Opium?"

        "Go!" Bobby shouts. "Eleanor, hall closet, there's a small iron knife." Eleanor nods and heads off to the closet.

        She makes it to the closet door and is about to open it when she sees someone out of the corner of her eye. She whirls around, gun in the air. It was Annabelle again. "I'm going to kill you and let your family die, the same way you let me die!" the ghost threatens. Eleanor shoots her and she vanishes.

      She yanks open the closet door and grabs the knife, running back to the library. She hands the knife off to Bobby who was reciting the spell. Sam was trapped behind a desk where two little girls sat, waiting. Eleanor goes to help him but is thrown back by an unseen force. 

      Another ghost, a girl with a short blonde pixie cut plunges a hand into Bobby's back causing him to drop the bowl with the spell ingredients. "Dean!" he shouts. Dean manages to catch the bowl. "Fireplace!" the hunter orders.

He throws the bowl in the fire, turning the flames blue. The ghosts all disappear and Bobby falls to the ground. "Bobby?" Dean's voice was filled with worry. Sam pushes the desk away, now able to free himself.

       Eleanor stands, rubbing a spot on the back of her head. "Twice in one day," she mutters. She looks over to see Sam and Dean help Bobby up. He nods at them, letting them know he's okay.

The hunters cleaned up Bobby's house, putting things back where they came from and rehanging the chandelier Dean had shot. None of them talked much, still shaken from the witnesses and the news that the apocalypse may be starting.

･ ❪ ☆ ❫ ･

ELEANOR SITS ON the bed of Bobby's spare room, the one she would be calling her own for the next few days. She couldn't stop thinking about Annabelle.

Deep down she knew the woman's death wasn't her fault, but it didn't make her hate herself any less. Maybe she was right, maybe if Eleanor had been smart enough, fast enough, good enough, she might still be alive.

A mixture of guilt, sadness and anger was over her. Her hands curl into fists, fingernails digging into her palms leaving little crescent marks that would probably be there the next day.

How would she be able to do this? This was the first sign of the apocalypse and she could barely handle it. How can she help stop an apocalypse when she can't even save one woman from a vampire nest?

The lamp beside her bed explodes, glass shattering as the lightbulb bursts. Eleanor jumps, heart in her throat. She looks around the room, it was empty.

It was probably just a faulty bulb, but with everything she had seen today, she couldn't be sure. After minutes past and nothing tries to kill her, Eleanor's heartbeat finally slows.

The signs of the apocalypse reappear in her mind. She didn't know what to do, so she did something she hadn't done in years. Eleanor Cassidy began to pray.

❛ ━━━━━━･ ❪ ☆ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this chapter was roughly 3900 words as opposed to my other chapters which are around 1700 and 2200, so let me know if you'd prefer it like that or if you'd rather me cut episodes in half and have shorter chapters.
i'd love to know your thoughts on the story so far! remember to vote and comment if you liked it and to follow my tiktok clairenovak.wp where i post edits of my characters and the occasional updates
also?? thank you so much for 1k views?? it doesn't seem like a lot but none of my books have ever done this well and it makes me really happy to see people enjoying it <3