1. Mistakes

184 19 16
                                    

•~MARIE~•

I couldn't hold back the tears as I gazed at my old family home in Minnesota from within my old beat up truck. I glanced down at the news article on my phone and couldn't stop the sobbing that followed. The house was the final nail in the coffin. My family was dead.

Once I got my breathing under control, I wiped my eyes under my glasses and I looked again at my phone. I had gone to the hospital where my mother worked to surprise her only to find that she apparently died two and a half years ago. Now, the news of her death was staring up at me through the cracked screen. I couldn't believe what I had found out from my mother's co-workers and decided to research her death myself. The article said that not only my mother had died, but also my twin brother. It revealed that they were ripped apart by some kind of wild animal and drug somewhere within the bowels of the house. However, the police could never find their bodies. And according to the article, they don't really believe in what they told the public. Even now there was faded caution tape surrounding the house as if the cops couldn't quite let go of their failed attempt to really find out what happened. As if they were still investigating what might have been their most puzzling double homicide ever. But I had an idea of what had really happened to my family.

I stepped out of my truck and made my way up to the house. Just walking to the front door brought on a wave of memories that I had found comfort in while I was down in Florida. Now they seemed to only haunt me with every further step I took. I saw my brother and me running through the autumn leaves and climbing the ginormous tree in our front yard. I watched from the sidewalk as my mother threw a ball to our little Jack Russell named Mickey. I pushed the memories aside, afraid of what else they might bring.

Though, try as I might, I couldn't stop the wave of guilt and regret that threatened to choke me. I should have never left my family in the first place nearly three years ago. I chased a dream to Florida because I was stupid and reckless and ended up getting myself into all kinds of crap just because I wanted to follow in my "father's" footsteps. I admired and got along with him more than I ever have with my mom and he wasn't even around that much to begin with. Just showed up every once and awhile to take my brother and me to a baseball game or give us a ride in his awesome car. He was the coolest person I knew, and when I discovered that what he did for a living was hunt monsters, that's when I decided in my heart that was what I wanted to be.

Once I reached the front door of the house, I resisted the urge to knock. I slowly opened the door that creaked like it was nobody's business and smelled the musty scent that wafted through the entire house. I explored my home to find that many things were exactly like when I had left three years ago, although, I could make out some dishevelment in the furniture. I quickly took the stairs up to my family's bedrooms and the first one I checked was my own. Everything was the same, possibly even a little neater than when I left it. Mom had always liked to keep a perfectly clean house.

The next room I explored was my brother's. His room was a little messier than mine. Another wave of guilt and sadness coursed through me. How could I have left him, especially when he begged me to stay? I looked at his picture frames he kept around his T.V. Several of them were with just me and my mom and him, though I spotted two with just him and me with our father. One was of us at a baseball game and the other was a picture of us hunting in a prairie somewhere. I couldn't help but smile slightly. The word "hunting" had an entirely different meaning in my book now.

My mother's room was the one I dreaded going into the most. She was partly the reason why I left in the first place. I examined her room more closely and what I found caused me to stumble over to a chair in the corner and put my head in my hands. The reason I decided to investigate my house was because I just couldn't believe my family was actually dead until I had seen it with my own eyes. Now what I saw were fingernail marks running underneath my mother's bed as if she was drug under by something with an immense amount of strength. I stared at the markings as if they were the only thing present in my own little world.

Because of a falling out with my mother and because I didn't want to drag my family into it and knowing my father would never let me come with him, I left my family when my brother, Adam, and I just turned nineteen to become a hunter. I found out Florida was the place with the most supernatural incidents (go figure) and I decided to make a name for myself there. Once I got caught up in the unnatural happenings in Florida, I never had the chance to make it back home until now. And now that I did, I discovered my family was ripped apart by some kind of sick monster.

There was only one person I knew of that could help me in this situation. I took out my phone and dialed my father's number that I hoped would still work. It rang five times before a gruff voice answered,

"Hello?"

I waited a couple seconds before I responded, trying to get my emotions under control, "Hi, i-is this by any chance John Winchester I am speaking to?"

"Who's asking?" The other voice grumbled. I could hear the familiar sound of a certain engine in the background.

"Um, I'm his daughter, Marie Milligan-" I started.

"Look," the other voice began angrily, "I don't know who you really are or what kind of game you're playing but I've been down this road before and I ain't buying what you're selling, so don't call this number again if you know what's good for you."

"Wait-" I began but the other line went dead. That S.O.B just hung up on me.

I waited a few minutes before I dialed again, trying to calm my anger. Whoever answered was not John, but I had an idea of who it was. It took only one ring for him to answer this time around.

"What did I say-" He began but this time I was the one who cut him off.

"No, first you listen to me! My name is Marie Milligan and John Winchester is my father and I'm pretty sure you are one of my half-brothers he told me about. Unless I am mistaken and you are not his son?"
I said this all very quickly before he could cut me off again. I couldn't stop some of the anger and confusion that slipped through my tone when I spoke.

There was a brief pause before the other voice spoke again, "Alright,  I'm listening."

I knew he knew something about the death of my family because he said he had been down that road before when I mentioned who I was. But who I really needed to talk to was my dad.

"Look, this has something to do with my family, can you just give the phone to John? I'd rather take this up with him."

"He's... not around. Whatever you have to say you can say it to me. Me and him are in the same line of business."

I sensed him hesitate mentioning my- I mean our- father. It made me wonder where John really was. I hadn't seen him in years.

"Can we just meet somewhere? I know you know something about the death of my brother and mother. I would feel much more comfortable speaking about this face to face."

I heard the other line being muffled while it seemed like my half brother argued with someone else. Dad did say he had two other sons. Finally, the conversation on the other end stopped and the other voice addressed me once again.

"Alright fine. You said your last name is Milligan right, so that makes you Adam's sister. I assume you're in Windom, Minnesota? Luckily we're in the area, just a couple hours out... Working. Is there a place you were lookin' to meet up at?"

I thought for a moment and then said hesitantly, "Yeah, there's a big park called Yellow Tree just fifteen minutes south of my family's old house, I'll meet you there?"

"Yeah, we'll be there soon, and you better be telling the truth about all this or so help me you are not gonna be happy when we're finished."

He hung up. I swallowed my new found anxiety as I reminded myself that I was finally going to get the truth behind my family's death, not the lies told through the news article that I knew weren't true.

I also realized that I was about to meet the only family I had left.

Adam's Revenge •~Supernatural~•Where stories live. Discover now