— 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝟐, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟏𝟑 —

IT HAD ONLY TAKEN A FEW HOURS ON THE ROAD FOR THE GIRLS TO ARRIVE IN RHODE ISLAND. Most travelers probably would've taken some time to rest after the hunt they'd just finished at the amusement park the night before; however, for the Singer sisters the supernatural never slept so neither would they... at least not until they reached the hotel they'd reserved for that evening.

Lila sprawled out on her bed, sighing with satisfaction. "Shouldn't we meet with Twitch?"

Tess shook her head, lying down on her own bed. "We're exhausted and need rest. I mean you were possessed last night for crying out loud, and I've been driving since then. I don't plan to let these Winchesters go once we have them in our sights, so it's better to be at our best. Besides, I have Twitch doing some more reconnaissance. After his last tip, I want all the information available."

"I hope you know I'm still skeptical about this guy," Lila said, fluffing her pillow as she made herself comfortable.

"You don't trust any of my informants," Tess retorted.

"And for good reason," Lila defended herself. "You always find the sketchiest people to work with. I mean what do you really know about the guy."

"Not much," Tess answered honestly. "Which is the way I like it. If I really need to I can find what I want to know from the system. But the way I see it, my brain only has so much storage space and I'd rather fill it with useful information than social interactions. I don't know much about my informants and they know next to nothing about me besides the handy-dandy badge attached to my belt."

"You know that saying 'You attract more flies with honey than vinegar'?" Lila asked. Tess nodded. "You should try it sometime and see how it works."

"Right," Tess snorted. "I'll just compliment the next specter we come across and hope they don't possess me."

Lila frowned, but it was clear the two sisters were simply playing with one another. "Low blow."

"Hey, you asked for it." Tess chuckled, setting aside her duffle bag of weapons against the wall closest to her bed. "Now get some rest. I need you fresh for the hunt tomorrow."

"We're sure they haven't skipped town yet?" Lila asked. "I mean, according to the media, things have started to die down."

"I'm just going with what Twitch told me." Tess shrugged."So don't go jinxing my lead."

"You're plenty capable of doing that on your own," Lila joked then yawned. "I doubt you need my help in that department."

"Ha ha." Tess rolled her eyes with a smile. She hit her sister with a pillow before rolling over to turn out the lights. "Go to sleep."

Neither sister could say that the dark was welcoming as twisted memories danced through their minds until the moon had set and the sun had risen, bringing round yet another day.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"COME ALONG, THERESA."

The words were chilling. It was her name, her mother's hair and eyes, but it was not what she was called. That had been the demon's first mistake. Karen Singer had always held a fondness in her eyes when looking at her children, even when exhausted past the point of no return. The bags under her eyes could have been black from sleep deprivation and she still would've greeted her children with the warmest smile. This was not the present case.

The woman wearing her mother's face looked at her coldly and referred to her by the name written down on a certificate. It was a formality really, and the girl could never remember hearing her full name used in a moment where she'd done nothing wrong. Each of the children had a personal little nickname that they were referred to as.

Nate was her little gift from God—never Nathaniel.
Drew was her strong little man—never Andrew.
Pete was her little cornerstone—never Peter.
Lila was her delicate lily—never Delilah.
Phil was her little foal—never Phillip.

And Tess, Tess was her summer breeze—never Theresa.

So when the girl hesitated to follow after her mother, the demon realized they'd made a mistake too; however, they didn't care to correct themselves. They'd been sent with one goal in mind: plant the seed for six fresh graves. Unfortunately, Tess was too young to recognize the signs of danger at the time, but the red flags were all the brighter now that she was older looking back at them; however, then it had simply been a bad feeling in the pit of the girl's stomach. An itch at the back of her mind that couldn't be scratched.

"Theresa." There it was again. Her name. Firm and cold. Tess took a step back but froze as the frown lines on her mother's face deepened. "Theresa Charlotte Singer."

Although still hesitant, the girl reached up and took the hand of the imposter wearing her mother's face. She was led down the hall and into the nursery where her baby brother had been put down for his nap while Lila sat wide-eyed from her own bed, supposed to be taking a nap as well.

'Karen' looked around the room as if lost before her eyes settled on the red-haired little girl. Her expression changed to recognition and then delight as if she herself had been a child brought into a toy store and told she could pick anything she liked.

"There you are..." 'Karen' quietly noted aloud before picking Lila up, holding the child awkwardly as if she were diseased. "And Azazel thought you'd be untouchable..."

Tess subconsciously knew where the dream was headed next. She'd relieved it a dozen times already over the past week, and it rarely deviated or changed. Little Tess had helped her mother pack, simply sitting still while her mother randomly threw clothing into a duffle bag before she and her siblings were pushed out the door and crammed into her father's truck like sardines. She only remembered moments but each flash was like a burst of flames that seared her mind.

The walls of trauma she'd built certainly didn't help either, and she could never decipher whether she wanted to keep them at a distance or climb over them and see what was kept hidden. It probably warranted therapy, but what was she to say: "My momma got possessed by a nasty black-eyed demon. I don't remember too much, besides my parents fighting at first. Then more memories came back. Three days after their biggest fight is when the demon appeared. After another argument my momma corralled all six of us into my dad's truck and sped down the highway trying to kill us. The cops didn't believe a thing and we were all sent home, mom with a ticket and a court date for reckless driving. She probably should've been written up for child endangerment but that was overlooked, gotta love Sioux Falls... Things only got worse from there. Momma tried to poison our dinners and drown us in the bath. Dad stabbed her with a knife a couple times in self defense, but it hardly seemed to affect her at all. It was only after momma dragged Nate away that dad grabbed the shotgun... oh and that's when a complete stranger entered the house, exorcised the demon by splashing her with holy water from his flask, consequently killing my mother."

Yeah, Tess didn't think that confession would go over well. She'd either end up in a straight jacket or send her father to federal prison... maybe both. That didn't mean the idea hadn't almost convinced her once or twice; however, her sister acted a shoulder to lean on in her time of need. Lila may have remembered even less about the events of that day, but she was present and knew what she was going through. Neither girl had a mother to look up to, and in a family where they were severely outnumbered by the male species, they only had each other.

Unlike the past week, her dream shifted, following the girl into her early childhood. Her first hunt. Her dad had been adamant that he didn't want her becoming another mini version of him like her brothers had, but the girl was just as stubborn. She wouldn't leave it alone until her father agreed to take her out on a hunt. It wasn't a matter of revenge or some twisted desire to kill... the little girl just wanted to be like her daddy. He's all she had to look up to as a role model.

Against his better nature, Bobby kept his word—of course there was the less than gentle reminder from his daughter that wouldn't let him forget either. So when her thirteenth birthday came around and most girls were asking for their first makeup kit, Tess was thrilled to unwrap the small silver pocketknife engraved with her initials: TCS.

As the younger two were twelve and eleven, and since he had no one else to turn to, Bobby left Lila and Phil alone at home with strict instructions to lock all the doors, don't open them for anyone, and if worse came to worst—hide in the bunker. They'd simply rolled their eyes, they knew the drill at this point. And so, Tess's thirteenth birthday commenced with a hunting trip: Just her, Bobby, the boys, and Uncle Rufus. The hunter was fought around the edges, and it had taken a while, but he had a soft spot for the Singer kids—though he'd never tell them to their faces. He also didn't hate the idols that an army of miniature Bobby Singers idolized him. He certainly didn't forget to rub it in their father's face either.

She could remember that the woods of northern Michigan were damp that evening, and the air was a bit humid, but it didn't rain. This worked in their favor for a couple of reasons: (1) it meant the creature's tracks would be fresh and easy to track, (2) it would be under the illusion that it was safe to hunt, and (3) they could use their surroundings to hide their own tracks and mask their scent.

"Alright boys—and Tess—gather 'round," Bobby quickly corrected himself as his daughter looked at him expectantly. She immediately beamed and joined her brothers in the small huddle that her father had organized. "Let's review."

"From the tracks, I'd say this is a Wendigo," Nate stated, leaving little room for debate. "The books describe them as cannibalistic spirits."

"Not bad, kid," Bobby masked most of his impressed expression, but his eyes revealed a touch of pride in his son. "Now how do we kill it."

"Fire!" Drew practically shouted. "You burn the beast to death, but silver could work as a backup too. Silver weapons require more work though and take longer."

"I've done a bit of research too," Pete announced. "Anasazi symbols will ward off a Wendigo similar to a salt circle. Hunting one during the day has also been proven as the best time to kill it as they're near impossible defeat at night in their own element."

Drew looked upward through the clearing of the branches, watching the sun slowly set below the horizon. "I think you should probably draw some of your Nazi symbols, Pete. It's starting to get dark."

"Anasazi symbols, Drew. Not Nazi," Pete corrected. "They originate from the Anasazi Native American tribe and serve as symbols of protection. You can't easily confuse them with a swastika, id-idj—idiot."

Drew rolled his eyes. "Whatever, nerd."

"Drop the name-calling," Bobby interjected. "You idjits are wasting precious time that could be used to set up camp. We're here to do a job, not mess around. Take it seriously or I'll leave you home next time."

Tess tugged on her father's arm to get his attention. "What can I do, Daddy?"

"Why don't you and Nate go collect some firewood," Bobby suggested, but there wasn't really much room to decline. Nate frowned and looked like he wanted to complain, but Bobby shook his head and clicked his tongue to make him think twice about that decision.

Nate sighed and nodded his head. "C'mon, Tessie."

Tess continued to smile as she followed her older brother off into the woods, unaware that it was simply a menial task meant to keep her out of trouble while the others actually got to work. Nate did understand this though and he was less than thrilled to be stuck on baby-sitting duty. However, he knew better than to argue with his father. The man certainly wasn't abusive or anything, but his disappointment was difficult to live with as the boy still idolized the Singer patriarch.

Meanwhile, Tess happily gathered branches, remaining patient as she only assumed it was a matter of time before she was taught how to fend for herself. She held out a stick to her brother. "How about this one?"

Nate shook his head. "Most of the sticks on the ground are going to be too damp to start a fire with. You need to take out your pocket knife and collect branches directly from the trees."

Tess eagerly nodded. "Got it."

And off she was again, living in her own little world, oblivious that she'd started to wander just a bit too far from her brother. Of course she was smart enough to carve her initials in each tree she took from, but she failed to realize that she and Nate were gathering in opposite directions and the space between them was growing with each passing minute. Consequently, the next time she checked her shoulder, she was completely alone.

"Nate?"

Her voice echoed. No reply was heard. Her smile faltered and her lips puckered into a frown. Her brow knit together then softened as she turned her head, trying to find her big brother.

"Nate?" she asked again, biting the edge of her lip. "Come on—this isn't funny!"

Of course she assumed it was a prank, her brothers had pulled similar stunts on multiple occasions; however, it was usually in the safety of the supermarket back home and not in the wild... and it wasn't like Nate to initiate the prank really. That role was normally fulfilled by Drew who had a knack for both annoying and scaring his siblings.

"I—I'm gonna tell," Tess threatened, hoping that would be enough for her brother to show his face. However, she had a feeling that she really was lost and it certainly wasn't her brother's fault. She began to pick at her nails as she muttered under her breath. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Way to go, Tess. Your first hunt and you've proven yourself to be a real i-jit."

None of the Singer kids had quite mastered the word with the ease of their father, but that didn't stop them from trying.

"Over here!"

Tess whipped her head around at the sound of her brother's voice. Although she couldn't see him, he didn't sound too far away.

"I'm over here, Tess."

Tess didn't think twice. She dropped the bundle of sticks she'd collected and sprinted toward the sound of her brother's voice... only it wasn't her brother luring her deeper into the woods. She stopped in a clearing, waiting to hear from Nate again; however, a low guttural growl turned her veins to ice. An involuntary shudder crawled up her back as she turned just in time to see the monster lunge.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

TESS SHOT UP FROM HER BED, EYES WIDE AND MOUTH AJAR AS HER VOCAL CORDS VIBRATED TO VOICE THE SCREAM THAT WAS MUTED IN HER DREAM.

Lila similarly shot up from her bed, startled awake by the bloodcurdling scream her sister emitted. Concern flooded her face as she turned toward her sister, leaving the warmth of her own bed without hesitation to comfort the blonde on the other bed.

Neither sister spoke, they simply sat in silence until Tess stopped shaking and released the breath she'd been holding. Only then did Lila ask her question. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tess shook her head. "Just a nightmare about an old hunt..."

Lila nodded her head. They'd been exposed to a number of horrors from such a young age that it was bound to leave a lasting impression. It didn't make either of them weak, but it didn't mean they were comfortable talking about it either. For the most part, they left the past behind them and kept their heads pointed forward at the path ahead of them. They had too much at stake to look back. Even a split second distraction was enough to get them killed.

Gently, Tess pushed her sister away, standing from the bed before walking toward the bathroom. Without looking in the mirror, she turned on the faucet, collected a handful of water, and splashed her face to freshen up. She refused to look in the sleek reflective surface as she grabbed the towel on the edge of the sink, well-aware of the bags under her eyes. She didn't need another reminder that she couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten a decent night's sleep.

She then pulled back half of her short blonde hair, braiding it into a half-up-half-down style that kept her flyaways out of her eyes. Only once she felt calm did she emerge from the bathroom, meeting Lila's gaze as her sister held out her phone.

"Twitch texted you."

Tess accepted her phone with a nod of appreciation before glancing down at the text: meet @ the big ride inn. She sighed, keeping her mouth closed to mute the sound. And so it began. It had only been a couple of days, but she was already beginning to regret wasting her vacations days on a hunt... true it was her job—and it's not like anyone else was going to do it—but there were days she wished she could actually take a vacation and for one week escape the neverending fight.

Tess snatched up the keys to Harrison from the bedside table and clicked her tongue. "Let's roll."

Thirty minutes. It had taken thirty minutes to convince the motel manager that they actually were law enforcement and had jurisdiction to searching without a warrant with special cause. Thirty minutes longer than Tess liked. And apparently thirty minutes that the girls could have used to track down the Winchesters.

By the time they entered the motel room, it had been swept clean and there wasn't so much as a trace of the boys ever having been there at all... well aside from the quarters that had accumulated in the deposit slot of the vibrating bed. True, it could have been anyone, but from what Tess could tell, the motel was pretty decent at collecting their due funds. It was unlikely that they'd let a stack of quarters like that accumulate over weeks; however, from the amount of change they found it certainly could have been a weeks worth of quarters.

Lila's nose wrinkled and she shook her head as she eyed the pile of quarters that one of the cleaning ladies had gathered once Tess nodded her head, giving permission to take the change. "You think it's some kind of fetish?"

"Could just be a sore back," Tess suggested, but a single glance between the sisters practically annulled the comment as sarcasm. "I mean you saw the aftermath of Milwaukee. These guys run on sick and twisted like some kind of caffeine addiction."

"Knock, knock," a masculine voice interrupted their conversation. Without waiting for an invitation, the intruder entered the room, blatantly ignoring the implied surroundings of an active crime scene.

Lila frowned. "Twitch."

"How ya doin', Red?" Twitch asked, but didn't really seem to care. He stepped further into the room, leaning up against the wall beside Tess. "You find anything, Holmes?"

Tess shook her head. "Another dud... which is starting to be a reoccurring pattern with you, Twitch."

The man raised his arms defensively. "They were here last night—I swear. Remember, you're the ones who wanted to wait."

"I assumed that by meeting here you'd have something useful to offer," Tess retorted. "Was I wrong?"

Twitch shrugged. "I never know what you want anymore, Holmes. A simple snitch here and a little tattle there used to be enough to keep me on your good side and earn a few bucks every once and a while. Now you're tracking some guys halfway across the country. It's gonna take a little more time since I'm not working with the same fancy toys that the Feds have got."

Tess scoffed. "You want to be paid more after that wild goose chase stunt you pulled in Sandusky? Ha, that's amusing."

"Hey, you said so yourself," Twitch contradicted, "the list of vics matched your perps. So give me a break, Singer, or you can hunt these guys on your own."

Tess's blood ran cold. She'd turned her back, prepared to walk out the door in frustration, but froze in her tracks the instant he finished speaking. Slowly, she turned around with a dangerous look in her eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said you can give me a break or work on your own," Twitch replied, clearly misunderstanding the answer she sought.

She shook her head, the action cautious as if one wrong move and she might snap. "You called me Singer."

Realization flashed across Twitch's eyes for a split second, but just long enough for Tess to catch the action. Twitch shook his head, coolly denying her statement. "Did I? I don't recall—"

"Bullshit," Tess seethed. She'd worked very hard to keep her identity and her family past hidden. That information wasn't to be found anywhere in any database as she went by an entirely different name and didn't even claim relation to her own sister out in public. She took a step forward, pressing a finger against Twitch's chest, pushing him back into an off balanced positioned. "I don't know how you learned that name, but this is where you get off. The train is pulling out of the station and leaving you behind. Whatever mutual benefits we offered one another no longer apply. Keep yourself on the right side of the law or I'll personally make sure you go away for a very long time and never see the light of day again."

It was rare that Lila ever saw this side of her sister; frankly, she'd missed it in Sandusky as her recollection of the evening was hazy at best. However, it was terrifying to witness Tess practically snarl at the man she'd once insisted was an ally. Although it was entirely appropriate for the younger sister to rub it in the elder's face with a quick "I told you so", she wisely felt the moment wasn't quite right.

"Singer—Holmes, whoever you are," Twitch stammered. "Let's not be rash. It'd be unwise to cut something so important out of your life in a moment of lapsed judgement."

Oh, how Tess hated to be compared to an over emotional woman, and from Twitch's tone, she could tell that was exactly his implication. She released a hysterical laugh to mask the anger rising like bile in the back of her throat. "Honestly, I should've made this call months ago. My partner had a point that I should've listened to: you're just a bit too shady, Twitch."

Twitch's entire demeanor shifted. That playful charismatic lilt in his voice dissipated as his eyes deadpanned. He looked beyond the blonde to the ginger with mild amusement as if he were briefly impressed before ultimately deciding the girl was more of a nuisance. "Of course Red was on to me from the start... I always knew she was the most perceptive of the Singers, but none of the others agreed."

Tess was too stunned to speak. The sudden change in character forced her to take a protective step back, blocking her sister from view as if that would really do anything. There was an itch at the back of Tess's mind. Something uncomfortable yet familiar, like a siren screaming danger in flashing red lights—and yet she couldn't move from her place, not until she understood what was going on.

"Others?" Lila quietly asked, a whisper compared to the volume of the previous conversation.

"They all said you'd be untouchable," Twitch scoffed with a laugh. "And yet you've been within my grasp for months without realizing that a pawn had moved across the board to checkmate the king."

Untouchable. The word echoed and bounced around her mind. Tess couldn't get it to stop. The itch was growing more unbearable by the second, but a glimpse of recollection provided clarity and relief. Twenty-three years ago someone else had said the same thing. Twitch quickly caught on that she was beginning to remember things that many had tried to bury in the past—her father for one. As if to confirm her worst fears, the man's eyes shimmered red for a split second before flashing back to their regular blue hue.

Lila gasped, causing Tess to turn her head. Another mistake to add to the multitude. Tess felt the blow before she saw it, and then the room began to spin as she collided with the ground. Although blinking back and forth between consciousness, the seconds after played itself out like a silent film in her head: slide after slide with moments of darkness between each.

Twitch easily sidestepped the older sister once he'd punched the back of her head. He then made his way toward the younger, sticking out a hand to pin her up against the wall as if an invisible force were holding her in place.

Twitch grinned as he looked over his shoulder at the older sister, who was trying to regain her footing. He clicked his tongue with false sympathy. "Theresa, Theresa, Theresa. Didn't your daddy ever warn you about trusting strangers on the internet?"

Tess grunted, spitting into the motel carpet, thankfully there was no blood, but she could certainly feel the concussion behind the migraine pounding at her skull. She rose to her feet, stumbling to gain her balance before standing up straight. Twitch looked amused. Tess mocked his amusement with a similar expression plastered to her own face. As if firing at a Mexican stand-off, she pulled a small vial from her pocket, unscrewed the lid, and splashed the liquid within onto the face of the demon.

Twitch's face steamed with a hiss and he released a cry of pain. No longer concentrating on his own power, Lila was released from his hold. The redhead inhaled with wide eyes before sprinting to her sister's side, pulling out her own vial of holy water.

"Daddy taught me a lot more than don't talk to strangers," Tess replied.

Twitch straightened. The last of the steam faded as his jaw clenched. His eyes hardened. "That was foolish."

"Says you," Lila replied in a sing-song taunt.

Twitch's eyes narrowed. He lunged. The girls took a step back. The demon found himself stuck. He'd reached out his arms to claw at them, but found even that was impossible. Briefly confused, but mostly inconvenienced, he looked down at the floor and his heart dropped. Scratched into the carpet was a familiar sigil that essentially drained him of his power... no wonder it had taken the girl so long to stand, she'd been stalling.

Tess held up her pocketknife, the one she'd kept since she was thirteen. Her initials gleamed in the light of the room, further rubbing in the demon's capture within the carved Devil's Trap. Although not nearly as efficient as being drawn, the trap would do the trick in protecting the girls for the time being.

Tess leaned forward, a smug smile tugging at her lips. "Daddy also taught me how to deal with demons."

"I knew Twitch was a stupid name," Lila muttered under her breath.

Twitch scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, this meat-suit chose it, not me."

"Then who does that make you?" Tess questioned, crossing her arms.

"Information comes at a price," Twitch replied, regaining his cool demeanor as if he'd never revealed himself to be a demon in the first place, "I'm done handing out freebies."

Tess scoffed. "Screw that. You honestly think I'd make a deal with a crossroads demon?"

Twitch shrugged. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow." He looked beyond Tess, glancing at Lila just long enough to make the older sister uncomfortable before turning his attention back to her. "But there will come a day when you beg me for a wish."

Tess frowned. She didn't reply. She wanted to keep arguing with every fiber of her being, but she knew he was just stalling for time. Tess shook her head, took Lila by the hand, and led her sister out of the motel. Twitch's maniacal laughter echoed down the hall, following them all the way out to their car.

She climbed into the driver seat, only waiting for her sister to sit in the passenger side before burning rubber as she took of down the street. She didn't know where she was going, only that she need to be as far as humanly possible from Rhode Island.

Twenty minutes passed. Then thirty. Then two hours.

The silence between sisters lasted four hours before Lila finally decided it was time. "Where are we—"

"I'm sorry," Tess interjected. She didn't face her sister. She couldn't. Tears were already brimming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I should've listened to you from the start—but no—I just had to be so frickin' stubborn."

"Tess." Lila placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Pull over... please."

Tess turned her head. Her sister's eyes pleaded with her. Sighing and sniffling, Tess pulled over off to the side of the highway.

"Let me drive awhile," Lila requested.

Although Tess wanted to fight it, she was just so tired. Numb, she nodded her head, exited the vehicle, and swapped sides with her sister. Once seated, she leaned back and allowed her exhaustion to fully encapsulate her body, weighing her down in the seat.

"I'm sorry," she murmured another apology.

"You don't have to be," Lila replied, looking at her sister with sympathy. "But knowing you won't let it go and you'll just beat yourself up about it, all is forgiven. We're good."

"I should've known..." Her eyelids were so heavy.

Lila shrugged. "It's okay to not know everything. You're only a year older than me... You don't have to carry the world on your shoulder. It's okay to rest every once in awhile. I know you don't mean to baby me, but I can take care of myself."

Tess solemnly nodded her head.

Lila quickly continued to speak before her sister could get the wrong impression. "But I like doing this with you. I like not feeling as if I have to do it alone... I like not being alone. Sometimes I wish you didn't feel like you had to do it all alone. I know it was hard growing up—and you felt like you had to become our mom—but you don't have to do it all alone anymore, Tess. You can share the burden, let me share your burden."

But she didn't want to give her little sister the burden. She'd taken the burden so her little sister could still claim to have a childhood. It wasn't much, but Tess wanted her to feel normal growing up, so maybe she'd grown up a little too quickly herself and forgotten to take a breath every now and again.

Lila noticed the drowsy look in her sister's eyes. A soft smile graced her lips. "It's okay to feel weak sometimes... you don't have to hide your vulnerability from me. You've always protected me, but then who protects you. We've got to watch each other's backs, yeah?"

Tess nodded her head, but the yawn emitted from her mouth clearly showed that some of the conversation was going in one ear and out the other. Lila gently sighed.

At least she'd listened to pull over. She'd given her little sister the keys to the car. It wasn't much, but it was certainly a start and that's all Lila could ask from her now.

Tess's eyes closed. She had mixed feelings about falling asleep; however, the pounding in her concussed head certainly made it sound nice. She knew there was something about never falling asleep right after getting a concussion, but right now she couldn't care less about rules and propriety. Perhaps Lila was right... if they were really partners, she'd have to trust that her little sister could handle the weight of the baggage she carried... then again, maybe it was just the concussion talking.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

AUTHOR'S NOTE| Alright, now that a bit of the Singer family background has been established, I think it's about time we had our first face to face with the Winchesters. I'm hoping to update the next chapter within the upcoming week, but I wouldn't hold me to that... Anyway, what are your thoughts so far? I'd love to hear some feedback.