EMPTY · DEAN WINCHESTER [1]

Stay Safe

~*~

Nearly a week had passed since Ashleigh had woken up, the boys should be back any minute from their hunt up in Washington. Something about a Thin Man? Ashleigh had a hard time understanding what Sam was explaining to her on the phone to be honest. But she was glad it was dealt with and now they were on their way back.

Over the week, she had been wandering around the bunker, completely ignoring Dean's demand of 'taking it easy'. She knew she needed to get stronger, she hated just sitting around while the boys went out on hunts. When walking became easier after the second day alone, she began doing light exorcise, like sit ups and squats. Once those were a breeze to do, she started incorperating weapons into her routine, training herself to hunt yet again.

It had only been a month after she found her family slaughtered in their home after coming back from,a graduation party at a friend's house. Ashleigh stared up at the old family lake house, gripping tightly to a bloodied leather book that her father had laid out for her.

She wiped the already dried tears from her cheeks and grabbed the hidden key under the welcome mat and unlocked the door, slowly stepping inside. The interior was majority country themed with a tasteful amount of wood panels on the lower part of the wall near the stone built fireplace. The kitchen was fairly modern but they hadn't been here in years so everything had a layer of dust over it and the home smelled of mold and musk. Ashleigh closed the door behind her as she took a seat on the old leather couch, coughing when a fog of dust greeted her in return.

She waved her hand out in front of her to clear the air as she opened the book her father had left for her to find. Richard's Hunting Journal. Ashleigh's fingers traced over the cover as she flipped to the first page, it looked like a letter to her and her brother.

Mason and Ashleigh... If you two are reading this, it means that something happened to me and your mother. Inside this book is pages and pages full of monsters and how to kill them. Yes, monsters are real and I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you sooner. Now it's time for you to protect one another. Read and study this book front to back and please, stay safe. I'm sorry you've been dragged into all of this, your mom and I tried so hard to keep you both out of this life. We love you both deeply and I know you'll make us proud.

Tears slowly fell to the pages below as her eyes studied the words shakily. "Monsters? Is that what killed them?" She wondered out loud before she cleared her throat and began flipping through the pages, studying up on all the different kinds of monsters and the different ways to kill them all.

Ashleigh breathed heavily, sweat making her face shine as she pushed herself up against the wall, gripping the angel blade with a sigh. The practice dummy now laying on the cold ground, the fabric shredded. Her eyes drifted up to the clock as it hit six o'clock p.m, that's when she heard the doors to the bunker start to open. Her head immediately jerked up as she left the training room and headed towards the bathroom to clean herself up. She turned on the shower, the hot steam quickly filling the room as she lifted her sweaty clothes off of her and got in.

The warm water felt incredible against her skin, feeling the sweat begin to wash away from her. She grabbed her shampoo and began to scrub it into her hair, pulling the oil and dirt from her scalp. As she leaned her head under the water to rinse, her hand slowly drifted down to her stomach, feeling each individual stitch. The rest of her wounds seemed to have healed really well and quicker than she thought possible. She shook her head lightly, fuzzy memories trying to push through. All she could remember was dancing at the bar then everything goes blank.

Dean's voice pulled her out of her throughts as he yelled in the hall "We brought dinner! Hurry it up Ash!"

"I'm coming!" She yelled back before turning the water off and grabbing her towel to dry off.

~*~

Once Ashleigh was dressed in her comfy clothes, a pair of gray yoga pants and an old t-shirt, she entered the kitchen to see both Sam and Dean already sitting down and eating some diner food. She sat down, grabbing her to go box and pulling it to her as Sam looked up at the woman with a smile "You're looking better. How're you feeling?"

"Fine I guess." She took a bite of her burger, avoiding eye contact with either of them. Dean cleared his throat, wiping his hands together. "I saw the training room has been used recently... I thought I told you to take it easy."

Ashleigh let out a sigh, lifting her head to look at the green eyed hunter "I took it easy for long enough while,I was unconscious. I'm awake now and I've been trying to get my strength back." She snapped back. Before Dean could say anything else, Sam cleared his throat and looked up at the woman, trying to break the tension in the room "Well, its good to see you up and eating. I'm glad you're feeling better."

Ashleigh looked down, placing a french fry in her mouth as she nodded "Yeah... Me too."

Dean clenched his jaw lightly before he leaned back in his seat "So.... Did you remember anything while we've been away?"

The woman shook her head lightly "Not really... I sort of remember a dark room and the sound of tools being rattled around but thats all I got so far."

"Maybe thats for the best." Sam added, grabbing his drink "Don't push yourself, your mind might be trying to protect you from what happened to you. You've been through a lot."

Ashleigh glanced up at him, eyeing him quietly before she nodded and stood up with a stretch "Well, thanks for dinner boys, I'm gonna go catch up on some reading." She smiled slightly at the two before grabbing her leftovers and placing them in the fridge for later, heading to her room afterwards. She laid down on the bed with a quiet grunt before pulling an old book from,under her pillow Richard's Hunting Journal and flipping to the multiple pages on demons.