H U N T E R S

What if Sam and Dean had quit? What if they hadn't stopped the apocalypse? What if it was all up to you? 

 

based on the tv show Supernatural 

 a 1x1 with Josh wilson 

 

 

It wasn't that hunters were fearless. Alia couldn't deny the terror that caused her heart to beat frantically against her chest or the adrenaline coursing through her veins. What made hunters special was the ability to overcome that instinctive fear. She took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the demon-killing knife she'd secured on a recent hunt. A blur as she dove around the brick wall she'd concealed herself behind, Alia drove the knife into the demon's neck. Its eyes widened and flashed red for a moment before the life faded out of them. Breathing heavily, Alia yanked the knife out of the body and glanced around her. She was in someone's backyard, but luckily she hadn't woken the homeowner. The night was chilly, but the moon was full and they would have seen Alia standing in the yard. Though the demon had been chasing her first, it was kind of difficult to explain to a regular person why she had killed a man on their property. Alia wiped the blood onto her pants and shoved her knife back inside her jacket. After the demon had ambushed her, she'd ended up in an area she was unfamiliar with. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed a familiar number. He picked up on the first ring. "James, I'm gonna need a ride." Alia scanned the moonlit suburb for a street sign. "I'm on...Hayward Court." 

"I was thinking the same thing" James took out all of his weapons " besides, you do the dirty work most of the time." After he was done, he looked at Alia. She didn't need this stress, he knew it now. He was being selfish, after all. "Now, I checked the car. Nothing that we didn't have before is in there. Let's go capture us an angel."

"I don't want to leave you defenseless. It's a scary world out there, so don't go wandering off. You've already lost your soul, so I don't need you dead, too." Alia rummaged through her duffel and pulled out her fake FBI badge. "Hope you've still got your badge, because we're going to need to do some detective work. We have to be sure this is an angel, and then we've got to figure out where this sucker is hiding so we can ice it. I've got the address of the most recent murder, so let's head there." 

"I got my badge. " James said. "Let's go." He got the car and drove it to the front.

(You can write about the place, right?)

It was a beautiful Victorian-style house that stood out among the newer houses surrounding it. An out-of-place iron fence surrounded the home. Alia approached the house cautiously. Something felt off. Tiny warding symbols were etched into the fence. As if that wasn't strange enough, as she approached the front door, Alia glanced down at the welcome mat. A teeny bit of red spray paint poked around one edge. Alia lifted up the mat and found a Devil's Trap underneath.  "Damn." She mumbled. "They're either hunters or psychos." She replaced the mat and rang the doorbell. 

 

An elderly woman met them at the door. Though the woman didn't invite them in, Alia could smell lavender wafting out the ancient front door. She spied a thin line of salt that was broken by the opened door. She didn't waste time on a preamble. "Are you a hunter?" She asked bluntly. 

 

The woman didn't seem surprised by the question. "No, no, just aware. Too old to hunt." She glanced down at the broken salt line. "Is this about the death? My son?" 

 

Alia nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind. We're here to hunt whatever did it. We're thinking it's--" 

 

"An angel," The woman finished smoothly. "You'd be correct. I saw him. He walked up to my son, placed a finger on his forehead, and they were both gone. My son was dead and the angel had vanished. But it's still here. I know it is. I can feel it." 

 

It was an awkward goodbye, but Alia and James had gotten the information they needed. There was definitely an angel in town, and they were going to force it to translate the book. Then, in a terrible show of thanks, they'd kill it. 

" Great.." James said "how are we gonna kill a guy when he has the touch of death?" Then again, the angel could be a girl. Who cared, really? All he had to do was stop this angel. "So, run by me how we snuff this guy out? We gonna do some magic or?"

"Only way to kill an angel is with an angel blade. Which we don't have. But we can trap it if we play our cards right. If we get it in a circle of holy oil then it can't escape. It might take a while for it to crack, but if we just leave it there, eventually it's going to have no choice but to talk. And somehow we'll get ahold of an angel blade. I wish I still had my old one." She sighed. "Damn angels. I think I might be able to track it down, though. If I've learned anything about them, it's that they have no idea how to blend into human society. We just have to look for one strangely dressed oddball and we'll have ourselves an angel." 

"Okay... Look for the most wired looking person, trap him in oil circle. Got it" he had a strange suspicion that this was going to be easy... As bland as this town was, anything could stand out. he looked out side the window and drove around for a couple of blocks. "What about that person?"

Alia squinted at the person James was pointing too. A tall, middle-aged man staring at each person who passed as if he'd never seen another human before. "Might be our guy. That or a druggie. Park the car and we'll do some investigating. He can't attack us in public." Alia approached the man and threw caution to the wind. "Listen very, very closely or I'll stab you." Alia kept her voice low and a smile plastered to her face. Any passersby wouldn't know anything was amiss. "I've got an angel blade and I'm not afraid to use it." A total bluff, but the man wasn't moving. "Now, can you read Enochian?" 

 

"I will not assist a human." Came the indignant reply. 

 

"Looks like we've found him." Alia gave James an approving nod. "Nice job." She returned her attention to the angel. "Now, unless you'd like me to kill you, I'll be needing you to translate this." The angel couldn't zap himself away in public, and Alia couldn't trap him. It was a stalemate, but she hoped the angel would comply anyway. She held out the book expectantly. 

"Damn, man, for an angel, you have a crap taste in clothing." He walked up to him "So, what's your name, your holiness."

(I did some actual research on the angel name I'm using, so you can read the Wikipedia page if you want. Might be helpful, and it's short.) 

 

"Puriel." The reply was almost inaudible. "I am only wearing what I was able to locate." 

 

"Can you read it or not?" Alia demanded. 

 

He skimmed over the text. "I can read it." 

 

Alia rolled her eyes. "Then read it." 

 

Puriel's upper lip curled in disgust. "I do not offer my services to the likes of humans. I am the one who will judge you, and it is not wise to anger me." 

 

Alia waved her hand. "I'm on most angel's bad sides, and I really don't care. Now read me the book. I want to know every single word." 

 

He shook his head. "I will not relegate myself to such a pointless endeavor. It doesn't matter if I read it. Don't you know that they apocalypse has begun? Very, very soon your soul will be at the gates. I will judge you. To spare you the suspense, I am not a forgiving judge. I will not pity your dirty soul, and you will not be allowed into Heaven. You are a hunter, and the likes of you belong in hell." 

"Yeah, we're soo evil" James said sarcastically. "We do evil things, like save the world, and cleaning up messes that you pansies are too afraid to do. So when I die and see you, don't bother judging me, just send my ass off to hell!" He punched Puriles face. It didn't seem to faze the angel, but it made James feel good.

"You do not understand. You are not worthy. Anyone who wastes their life as a hunter deserves an eternity in hell." The angel spat. 

 

They were getting nowhere. Alia took a step closer to the angel. "You've got five seconds to start reading this book to me or you'll see what it's like in hell. I've got no problem killing you right here. Hunters are very, very good at hiding." Just as Alia thought she'd made some progress, the angel elbowed her sharply, causing her fall back. 

 

"You have no angel blade." Puriel smiled devilishly. "Well, I guess I won't be translating that book now, will I? All you need to know is that this world is ending." 

"Alia!" James tried to grab the knife but was kicked in the stomach by puriel. James realized that there the angel was obviously the superior foe. One kick, and it felt like a wrecking ball. "Any ideas? I'm all out." He said to Alia.

They were quickly drawing the attention of passersby. Alia hadn't seen in an angel in over a year--she couldn't lose this opportunity, but she was running out of time before Puriel left. Or killed them. It was the stupidest, most reckless option, and a mere day ago she'd screamed at James for doing the same thing. But they didn't have any other options. Saving the world was more important than saving herself. "Okay! Okay, wait! I want to make a deal. I know what you want and you can have it, but you have to translate this for us." She held up the book pleadingly. 

 

Puriel's chapped lips turned up into a smile. "They all come around eventually." He waved his hand over the book and the characters morphed from an unreadable language into English. "Now, you know my price. One soul and, oh, how long should I give you?" He tapped his chin. "I think a month is fair." 

 

Alia's chest tightened and breathing suddenly became difficult. One month? How could she figure everything out in one month? 

 

God, she was stupid, but she didn't have any other options. "O-Okay, deal." 

 

Puriel dropped the book in her lap. "It was nice doing business with you." 

"No!" James screamed. But it was too late. The deal was made. One month. One. Month. He staggered over to puriel and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket."I will find a way to make her live longer. Then, I'm comming after you. You will be the first angel I kill. I will take my time with you. This will happen. Mark my words. Apocalypse or not."

Edited November 29, 201311 yr by DEADACCOUNT2333

"James, come on, we don't have time to worry about him." Alia held up the book. "We've got one month to save the world, and that's not a lot of time. We need to get to work right now. We'll kick angel ass after we save the world." Puriel was gone, using Alia's moment of distraction to escape. She blinked back the tears that were finally beginning to form. "I guess we should head back to the motel to work. We'll need quiet." She shoved her knife inside of her jacket and silently got into James's car. She was determined to stay quiet. Quietness had always seemed like a form of strength to her, and she was going to act like she felt strong for as long as she could. James had enough on his shoulders. Worrying about the fate of her soul didn't need to add to that growing weight. 

Dammit. Dammit dammit dammitdammitdammitdammitdammit. "DAMMIT!" That was all James could muster. If only he had his weapons, he could have helped. If he hadnt sold his soul. If he was an such a wimp. His tears swelled, and he tried to hold them in. It was only in the bathroom that he let loose. People die every day. But she wasant just one person. She was the person. She saved his life, and what did he have to show for it? Nothing. Nothing at all. Just a goddam chauffeur is what he was. She could have better off without him.

Alia was worried about James, to say the least. But she was even more troubled by herself. She'd been given a month to live. One month in which to save the world and reclaim James's soul, but somehow, she wasn't worried. It wasn't even worry, honestly. It was relief. Hunting was a hard life. And very, very quickly, Alia had become burned out. She kept going to protect other people--she could care less about herself. Dying would almost be a prize. She'd go out in a blaze of glory and finally it would be over. She might have to spend an eternity in hell, but it couldn't be any worse than life on earth. At least in hell no one could die. 

" You must feel like crap, huh?" Said Vince. "Your girl has a month to live. And you still have 5 years!"

"Shut. Up." Said James

"You know, we gotta stop meeting in the restroom all the time..." Vince smiled. He really loved this kids suffering. Like a precious wine.

"Screw you."

" I would help you get her soul back, but, you ain't got anything to trade now, don't you?"

"Get out"

"I guess you don't kill her after all!" Vince laughed, louder than ever. This was such a riot!

James had enough of this guys bull. He swung his hardest, and punched Vince. The demon wouldn't stop laughing. No matter how hard he punched, he laughing wouldn't stop. He heard the door open. He didn't care. He just wanted to vent.

"James! James, stop!" Alia grabbed his shoulder and yanked him away from Vince. She didn't need them both dead in advance. She removed her demon killing knife from within her jacket. "Listen up you piece of shit! You've got James's soul and I'm going to die in a month. You have no reason to keep screwing with us. Now get the hell out of my hotel room before I torture your ass. And don't come back, either, or I'll be waiting for you. No more hesitation!" She swung wildly, knowing he'd vanish into thin air before her strike landed. 

"Heh." Vince got up, and started walking out the door. "I wonder, will you all hold out?"

James dropped to his knees, and cried. He looked at His bloody hands. "I'm sorry.." James said that over and over again, as if in a trance.

Watching James break down caused all of the anger and hatred to flow out of her. She knelt down beside him and offered a hug. "I know it's really, really cheesy, but sometimes cheesy lines are the best. It's gonna be okay, James. I don't know how, but it will be. Somehow, everything always ends up being okay, even if it feels like it won't be." She pulled away and shoved her knife back inside of her jacket. "The good news is it's about dinner time. We can go wherever you want. It looks like there's a cute diner just up the street, if you want to try there. Chin up and put a smile on your face. No matter how bad it gets, for hunters like us, it could always be worse." 

"Ok" said James. He went into the bathroom to wash his hands. No, he thought, this is worse. They went to the diner. He orderd a hamburger and a milkshake. The food was ok. James stayed quiet, until the food was done. " I don't want it back." James said to Alia "I don't want my soul back. I want yours to be back. I don't want to do this alone for the rest of my life. Whatever time is left , I'm going to devote it to you. You keep saving my life. It's time I saved yours."

Alia managed a sharp laugh. "Well, the funny thing is, I'd rather the opposite happen. I don't want my soul back, James. I've--I've spent too many years as a hunter. I just don't think I can take it anymore. This is my out. I get to go out saving the world. Anyway, there's no way to undo a deal. We can weasel you out of a demon deal if we try hard enough, but angels are so nice. I'd rather we find a way to get your soul back. I mean, let's be honest. I'm not ever going to have a normal life. I'm going to die hunting some monster, whether it be in another hour or another twenty years. I will never get a happy life. I'm not complaining, that's just how things are. But you've got a shot at a normal life, and you can't just throw that away like it's nothing. There is no point in wasting time on finding my soul when I'd rather be dead anyway." 

"Shut it!" He yelled "Shut your defeatist bull! " his fist pounded on the table "I can't stand that. I can't stand it anymore. I can't let you throw in the towel. I do stuff like that. You're better than me! I won't let you! We will get out of this. Together. We will escape this business together. I'll make sure of it. I-" he sighed. "Can you pay the tab? I want to go for a walk. Alone." He got up and walked out.