Discovering Hell [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-two

Zoe shot up in bed, her heart racing. She'd just woken from a nightmare that she couldn't quite remember. She looked around her room, at the pale green walls and cream carpet. She was in her bedroom. The sheer curtains hanging on her windows barely blocked out the bright sunlight from outside and it cast weird shadows on her floor. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. Although she knew that this was her bedroom and that she lived here, she couldn't help but feel as if she was supposed to be somewhere else.

She ignored the feeling and got out of bed, heading downstairs and to the kitchen to find something to eat. She reached the bottom of the stairs to see someone already sitting at the dark wood table, reading the morning paper and sipping coffee from a mug.

"Dad?" Zoe couldn't believe her eyes. How was her dad here? He...he was dead.

He looked up from the paper, setting the mug down on the table. He was smiling at her the kind of smile that gave him dimples and crinkles by his dark eyes. "Hey there, Zo. How'd you sleep?"

Zoe was too stunned to speak. She knew he was dead. She'd watched the hunter mercilessly stab him through the neck with the silver blade. He couldn't be here.

Her dad frowned and set the paper down, walking quickly over to where Zoe stood and pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. "You feeling alright, Sweetheart?"

She swallowed hard and nodded. "Just still tired."

The smile returned to her father's face and he led her to a chair, helping her sit down. "How about I make you some breakfast and then you can get headed off to that interview you've been so excited for?"

She stared at him, confused for a moment. She'd never made it to that interview... Glancing down at the paper, she saw the date and tears sprung in her eyes. This was the day her dad would die. She swallowed again, refusing to cry, and nodded. "That'd be great, Dad. Thanks." She proceeded to stare at his back as he poured her a glace of orange juice and made her some toast. When he sat back down, she said, "You know, Dad, I am feeling a little bit nauseous."

He smiled at her. "Just jitters. You're only nervous for your interview, but I know you'll do great."

"Thanks. But...what if I call and reschedule? When was the last time we just spent a day together? Gone fishing or something?"

Her dad laughed a big, happy laugh and Zoe felt her heart break a little inside. "You haven't come fishing with me since you were eleven, Zo. What' s up? I thought you really wanted this job?"

She wanted this job. Badly. But interviewing for a job as a studio artist seemed pointless since she knew what this day had in store. "I do really want this job. It's been two months that I've been living here and not paying rent. But...I dunno, I just feel like something bad'll happen if I leave. What if I never see you again?"

He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "Zoe, I have lived fifteen years in the same small town. That's the longest I've ever lived anywhere and it's where your mother is buried. If anything bad is going to happen to me, I want it to happen here."

She wanted to scream at him that that was a stupid idea. She would be lost without him and he couldn't just be okay with leaving her there to fend for herself. But she only bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. He smiled and patted her hand. "Now take your breakfast upstairs and get ready for that interview. You slept in too long."

Zoe smiled back at him and obeyed, heading upstairs with her breakfast. She opened her bedroom door, ready to get dressed for the day, but instead found herself with her fourth grade class out on the playground during recess. She glanced around as the students all slowly but surely, gathered around her with scowls on their faces.

"You're a freak," one kid (Zoe thought his name was Jimmy) said, a sneer finding its way onto his face as the other students echoed his opinion.

"My mom says it's a magic trick," a girl that Zoe remembered as Annie Milton spat out. "Nobody can do what you do. It's impossible."

Zoe remembered this day as the day that she discovered she was a monster. She'd found out what she could do and decided to share for show and tell. The next Monday all the kids surrounded her and threw wood chips at her until she cried and the teacher finally payed attention and stopped the kids. None of the kids were punished for what they did because everyone just brushed it off as 'kids being cruel.' Zoe and her parents had moved to Belvue, Kansas after the incident and her dad had to give her the talk about what she was. Zoe had tried to move on and not hold a grudge against these kids, but seeing them all again after so many years...well, it brought up old feelings.

The kids proceeded to yell cruel words intended to hurt at her and soon started throwing the wood chips. Any minute now, the teacher would show up, but Zoe couldn't wait another minute. Seeing her dad and now randomly being back in the fourth grade was pushing her over the edge.

She ran from the crowd and across the playground until she pushed the door to the school open and ran inside. But instead of being inside the school, she was out on a dirt road. She had half a second to look around before a blur of black came out of nowhere and hit her, knocking her to the ground, unconscious.

When she came to, Dean Winchester was looking down at her, a worried look on his face. "Zoe?"

Zoe looked around confused. If this was the time she thought it was, he wasn't supposed to know her name.

"Zoe, listen to me." He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position. "Zoe, you're dying."