Chapter 3

For your own safety

Searra

"Whoa, put the gun down. No need to get all trigger happy, buddy." I said, slowly backing away.

"Who are you? What are you?" He demanded, gun trained on my chest.

"I'm Searra." I replied. "A friend of Castiel's." I added, hastily when it looked like he was going to pull the trigger. He wavered.

"How do you know Cas?" He asked, suspiciously.

"Let's put the gun down and talk about this." I soothed.

"Let's not. You still haven't told me what the f**k you are." He said, gesturing to my tail.

"A Seera. I'm a Seera." I replied, eyeing the gun warily.

"The f**k."

"Put the gun down and we'll talk." I tried.

"No, I'll keep the gun, you'll talk, and in the end we'll decide whether or not to shoot you." He replied.

"Okay."

"So, what is a Seera?"

"Long story."

"I've got time."

****

"So, you have a disease?" Sam clarified

"Yes." 

"You're all female."

"Yes. The disease occures on the second X chromosome."

"You must drink blood to stay alive. You can 'glamor'  yourself  to look human, the disease bleaches all color from your eyes and hair. You have a short life span. And that makes you not a monster, how?"

"We don't hurt people. Normally." I replied, shrugging.

"So you do hurt people?"

"No," I winced. "I meant most of us. We still have very human emotions. We don't like hurting people. We only drink blood, because the disease greatly reduces the bloods ability to produce oxygen. Most of us only take blood from willing donors." I said, flashing my teeth.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you're a Vetala." He replied, looking at my teeth.  "But there's no way. Vetala's are sons of b*****s. What about those of you that do hurt others, intentionally?"

"We're easy to spot. Our skin turns marble blue and-" I paused.

"What?" Sam prompted, shoving his hair out of the way.

"Rougue Seera's. They-they-strip the skin from the body and eat it. Just the skin." I finished, disgusted.

"I killed one of those a few weeks ago. I think. She had no tail, though."

"Shortly before death, we lose our tail. She was probably going to die within a few days anyway."

"I just shot her. Regular bullets." He said.

"We are still decidedly mortal. I could die of cancer. Its like living with an aneurysm. One wrong move and you're dead. You learn to live with it. Its almost like having a Hunters life. You never k-"

"Know if you'll live to see tomorrow." He finished, softly.

"Yeah." I said, yawning. Glancing at the clock I saw it was past 2 in the morning. "So are you going to shoot me. Cause if not I'm going to sleep." I said, my tail starting to droop, eyelids heavy with exhaustion.

"For now, no." I started to turn away. "But one wrong move and I'll-"

"I know, I know. You'll kill me. Sound like Dean."

"You know Dean?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah." I mumbled, curling up on top of the sheets, letting sleep drag me to its depths.

****

I woke to the sound of movement followed by a strong smell.

"Chinese." I said, slowly sitting up.

"You hungry?" Sam asked.

"Always." I replied, stomach gurgling.

"I thought you drank blood."

"That's to oxygenate my blood. I can still starve." I replied, snatching at the food. He lifted it out of my reach.

"How do you know I bought enough for two?" He asked.

"Because, my badass book worm," I said, crossing arms. "You've been traveling with Dean, for what six years now, you do it without thinking." I replied, smiling smugly.

"How do you know so much about us?" He said, lowering his arm. I snatched the food from him, and started rifling through the bags.

"Ever heard of Carver Edlund?" I asked opening a container.

"Chuck." He deadpanned.

"Yep. Read every single one of his books. That and I've met your brother, Dean. He's an a*s." I told him, opening another container.

"How do you know Dean?" He asked.

"Hmm, oh, met him on a hunt about a year ago. You and him had got into a fight. You two fight like an old married couple." I replied, tossing another container to the side.

"No, we don't." He denied

"Yeah, you do. 'I hate you.' 'I hate you too.' 'I'm sorry. I miss you.' 'I'm sorry too. Come back to me.' If that's not fighting like an old married couple, I don't know what is." I said opening the last container. "Ugh. Orange chicken, but no sweet 'n sour. What kind of sense does that make?"

"Deans favorite is orange chicken." He replied, quietly.

"Oh, well regardless, I'm eating it." I feigned carelessness. He obviously cared for his brother, and showed it through his actions, even in his soulless state.

****

I smelled her before I saw her. I felt her before I saw her. She sank her teeth into my shoulder. I cried out in pain.

"Searra!" I heard from a distance. I whipped my tail back on instinct, the barb sinking deep into her side. She yelped, falling to the ground. I dropped to my knees. I saw Cas out of the corner of my eye. He started to move towards me. I shook my head. His step faltered. I struggled to my feet. The wolf was getting ready to attack again, I dropped into my defensive position, feet flat, fingertips touching the ground between my knees, and let out a hiss. We circled for a moment, before attacking. We rolled on the ground for a few moments. My vision was going in and out from blood loss, but I had to keep her busy, until Sam got here.

"You should not play bait." Cas scolded.

"Shut up, Cas." I said through gritted teeth. I could feel the blood seeping into my clothes, flowing freely from the wound on my shoulder. "No Cas. Sam's on his way. If he sees you things could end badly." I panted, when Cas stepped forward again. "If you help me, then you'll no longer be in stealth mode. We must keep Sam safe. So no, I'll-be-fine." I said, pushing the she-wolf away. I struggled to my feet once more. She attacked again. Weak with blood loss, I sank to the ground with barely a whimper as she dug her claws into my chest. I felt my blood running down my  abdomen. I was getting lightheaded. The darkness was crowding the edges of my vision, closer it crept, as I fought the wolf. I heard a shot ring through the night, seconds before she went still. I looked up to see Sam's grim face, before the darkness pulled me to its writhing depths.

****

"Let's all just calm down." Sam said, trying to sooth the gunman.

"Just turn around. Pretend you never saw anything." He demanded.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. You see that cars important to me." Sam said taking a step forward.

"Then I'm sorry too." He replied, pulling the trigger. A red stain spread across Sam's chest seconds before he fell the ground.

I sat up with a gasp. I was soaked in sweat 

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.