Odessa, with a bland expression, kicked a stone with edge of her six-inch heel and sighed heavily while watching intently as the water vapor slowly diminished into the obscure atmosphere. She was leaning her lower back against the trunk of the Impala, arms folded across her chest and ankles crossed as she patiently awaited for Sam and Dean announce their departure from 'Kuggle's Keg'. The wintry breeze nipped at her nose, and tickled the exposed skin that wasn't shrouded with her lengthy hair. Her leather blouse wasn't providing any form of warmth, and her necklace was growing increasingly colder as each breeze collided against her skin. She clutched her elbows, shivering as yet another breeze suddenly appeared. She glanced at the entrance of the bar, groaning inwardly as strangers exited and entered, yet none of these men were the Winchesters.

Fumbling for her coiled whip, she encircled the golden serpent from her forearm and pulled it from her usual placement. She felt somewhat naked without the metal against her skin, an absence she could effortlessly furnish with merely wrapping the bracelet around her arm once again. Her ears perked as chains dragging against the dusty asphalt could be deciphered from the distance. She furrowed her eyebrows, muscles tensing as she slowed her pace. Nearing the trunk of a vehicle, she placed her whip on the edge, crouching to the floor, careful not to dirty her leather jeans. She peered under the car from where the sound appeared to derive from, and nearly shrieked as a cat meowed loudly. She flinched backwards, gasping as she landed on her tailbone and the cat pounced away from her view. 

She exhaled sharply, muttering string of incoherent curse words in Spanish as she clapped the dirt and pebbles from her palms. She was going to push herself from the floor, but was halted when a pair of hands firmly gripped her ankles, carelessly dragging her away from sight and into an immense darkness.

<<>>

Odessa groaned as a detectable pounding derived from every inch of her skull as her eyes fluttered open. For a brief moment, she could hear herself breathing; raspy and heavy as she was unconscious. Ignoring the searing pain from her head and minuscule lacerations on her lower back, she hastily scooted to the back of what appeared to be an old, rusted cage. Using one hand to support herself, she stood up and nearly winced as her scrapes were stretched. Her knees were bent and so was her back. She shook the metal ridges of the cage, the rattling echoed throughout the dark room. She shook again. And again. And again. She rested her forehead against the frigid metal, sighing in contempt. In her peripheral vision, a faint burnished color caught her attention.

Releasing her grip on the metal bars, Odessa apprehensively clambered to the other side of the cage, eyeing the man's corpse momentarily before shaking her head. Minutes, maybe even hours, had passed when Odessa was certain she'd have large bruises on her both shoulders. Her ankles were beginning to throb from kicking the metal repeatedly, and her fingers were burning and a scorching scarlet. She sighed, sitting in the middle of the cage with nothing to accompany her other than her thoughts and a possible corpse. She pondered on the thought of Sam and Dean rescuing her, if they were even searching for her. Surely they would attempt to save her life, this wasn't the first time they'd go out of their way to save her. 

A groan bounced off the walls, and Odessa craned her neck to view the corpse, which wasn't a corpse anymore but an actual man who'd been alive. She scurried to her feet, dashing to the other side of the cage. "You're alive," Her voice was raspy, and her throat scratched with each word. "Are you okay?" She questioned, relieved this man wasn't lying dead beside her. The man gradually stood on his feet.

With a sharp tongue, the man responded. "Does it look like I'm doing okay?" If it hadn't been for the dim lighting, he would've witnessed her raise her eyebrow and roll her eyes. Despite the man's attitude, she shook her head and dismissed it. "Do you have any idea where we're at?" She asked, clinging on to hope. 

"I don't know," He replied, shaking his head. "Country, I think. Smells like the country."

With a sense of familiarity, Odessa gripped the metal beams tighter. "You're Alvin Jenkins, aren't you," When he nodded, she chuckled. "My friends and I were looking for you. Hoping to save your life."

"Oh yeah? No offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue." Odessa glared harshly.

"Continue with the attitude and I'll maybe just leave you here when my friends rescue me. They're looking for me, both of us actually." She said, her voice feeble.

Alvin's voice grew harsh. "They're not going to find us. We're in the middle of nowhere, waiting for them to come back and do God knows what to us." He said, jutting his chin in the opposite side of the large, obscure room. Odessa's eyebrows furrowed as her attention was piqued. "Have you seen them? What are they?" She asked, leaning forward.

He scrunched his nose. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what had grabbed us. What do they look like? I need a description." She demanded.

Alvin cowered away as the hinges of an unknown doorway creaked and opened, illuminating the room barely. Odessa, instead of cowering, inched forward and intently watched as the figures flipped open an electrical box placed on a wooden beam. One of the figures fumbled through a series of keys, unlocking Alvin's cage. He screamed for them to back away, but was silenced as the figure slammed a pipe against the cage, quickly settling a plate of cooked sausages and cup of water down on the floor. 

The figure inched forward her cage, slamming down the pipe against her metal beams. Odessa flinched and fell back, eyes widened and mouth agape. She watched the figures exited the room and the room was darkened once again. "My god," She muttered, "They're just people. How often do they feed you?" She asked, slightly curious as to why she wasn't handed any food.

"Once a day. They use that thing over there to open the gates."

"I figured," She whispered. "And when they open the gates to feed you, that's the only time you see them?" 

Alvin was stuffing his face with the cooked sausages, crumbs of meat dangled from the corner of his mouth as he spoke. "So far, but I'm waiting."

She quirked an eyebrow. "And what might that be?" 

"Ned Beatty time."

Odessa scoffed, "Truthfully, I don't think that should be a worry for you at the moment." She stood on her feet, attention captured by the glimmering metal beam hanging above her cage. Alvin questioned what she thought these people wanted. "I think it depends on who they are." She groaned as she tugged on the hanging beam.

"They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me, looking for love in all the wrong places." 

She grunted as she continued to tug. "That's thing, I didn't ask you." As she was pulling, she wondered if Sam was searching through lore and his father's journal. She wanted nothing more than to explain no lore would explain the dementia of the human race. Then she wondered if Dean was feigning another cop's identity while cruising in the Impala, driving through town and questioning people. She nearly smiled at the thought of Dean doing whatever he could to find her. "What was your name again?" Alvin asked after brief moment of silence.

She grunted, "Odessa." She merely said, ignoring his protests of pessimism and discouragement as she winced from the burning sensation erupting from her palms. "Have some faith, will you?" She tugged once more and the metal beam disconnected from the ceiling, and Odessa came tumbling down as a piece landed beside her lap. Alvin asked what it was she was holding. "It's a bracket."

"Oh, thank god—a bracket. Now we got them, huh?" The gate of Alvin's buzzed and unlocked, and Odessa scrunched her eyebrows. "Must've been something short. Maybe you knocked something loose." She shook her head softly. This was too easy, excluding the dreadful tugging, this couldn't have been because of a loose bracket. She swallowed the lump in her throat as Alvin ambled out of his cage.

Mumbling, she pushed her loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Get back in the cage," Alvin questioned her. "Trust me, I want to leave this goddamn hellhole, but this was far too easy." 

Her words hadn't appeared to affect Alvin in the slightest. "I'm gonna get out of here. I'm gonna send help, okay? Don't worry." 

Odessa shook her head in protest. "What? No. Aren't you listening to me? This could be a trap." 

"Bye, Odessa." He replied before leaving the room. 

"Goddamn it. Alvin!"

<<>>

Odessa, after hearing Alvin's screeching, had concluded he was murdered and she was alone, momentarily. Another woman was placed in the cage where Alvin once was. Odessa wondered if she were going to die as well. The woman groaned as she shuffled from her uncomfortable position, gently clutching her temple. Odessa craned her neck to face the waking woman, fiddling with her ruby necklace. She wasn't sure as to why her necklace remained untouched, but she was grateful. "Stings like a bitch, doesn't it?" 

The woman blinked multiple times, furrowing her eyebrows as she witnessed Odessa lying against the metal beams of the cage. "You're Odessa De Lo Santos, aren't you?" Odessa squinted towards the woman, nodding and mumbled a feeble 'yeah'. "Both your cousin and boyfriend are looking for you." Odessa shook head, chuckling as she did so. That was the title they'd given themselves. 

"Thank god, where are they?" 

"I, uh, cuffed them to my car." Odessa opened her mouth to questioned how she managed to cuff both brothers, but was halted by the hinges of the door creaking vehemently. Heavy footsteps inched closer and closer as Odessa held her breath in anticipation. 

"Essie," Dean's rugged voice rang through the air, and Odessa released her breath in relief as he darted towards her cage. A ghostly smile erupted on her lips. "Are you hurt?" She shook head, another feeble response escaped her mouth. "Damn, I was so worried about you." He said, slamming his palm against the metal beams of the cage, a glittering grin rising on his plump lips. 

"How'd you get out of the cuffs?

Dean gave her a half-shrug. "I know a trick or two," He turned his back towards the woman. "Alright, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch." 

Odessa chuckled again, suddenly aware of how much she craved his embrace. "There's some form of automatic control panel over there." She said, sticking her hand out of the cage's crevices and pointing to the wooden beam.

"Have you seen them?" 

"Yeah, Dean, they're just people," Dean teased her about regular humans having the upper hand against her of all people. "I don't know what they want. They had let Alvin Jenkins go, but that turned out to be some trap, and now he's dead. I just don't understand any of this." 

Dean's gaze was directed on the electric panel, flipping switches and pressing buttons. "That's the point. You know, with our—our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy." 

Odessa sighed heavily, "Anything else you saw up there?"

"Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over. So I'm thinking when they take someone, they take their car too, and here, before I forget." Odessa accepted the glimmering item he offered and sighed in content as her serpent was encircled around her forearm once again.

The woman intervened. "Did you see a black mustang out there, about ten years old." Dean's expression quickly altered into pity.

"Yeah, actually, I did. Your brother's? I'm sorry. Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards. This takes a key."

"A key? I'm not sure, I've been stuck in here."

He chuckled, "All right. I better go find it." He turned his back and was almost out the doorway when Odessa shouted his name. 

"Dean," She said, gathering his attention. He turned, verdant eyes intently gazing into her mocha ones. "I—Just please be careful."

<<>>

The sun had gone down, and Odessa was growing increasingly anxious. The grunts, string of curses, skin roughly colliding with skin was all perceived by Odessa as the afternoon sun gradually transformed into an obscure sky. She was certain Dean and Sam were captured by the men, but she was also certain they both fought with all their might. Every shuffle on the floor above, every groan of the wind, and every crunch from the twigs had Odessa's shoulders straighten, muscles tighten, and adrenaline pump through her veins. The door creaked and heavy, hurried footsteps came her way after the her gate was unlocked. Odessa grinned as he aimed his gun towards her. 

Her whip uncoiled and she swiftly clashed her golden serpent around his ankle, wrapping around his torn jeans. She tugged, and the man lost his footing, quickly tumbling down to the ground. A gunshot rang through the air, and Odessa kicked open the gate, tackling the man for his weapon. Another gunshot echoed through the room, barely missing Odessa as she gripped the forestock. She raised the rifle and clashed the butt against his forehead, then muzzle. She blew a strand of hair from her eyes as she stood, attempting to reload. She groaned in frustration when it was jammed. She tossed it aside.

Unlocking the woman's cage, Odessa swiftly dashed away from view and motioned for her to create some form of distraction. She hid behind a pile of hay, watching as the man slowly aimed his rifle in all directions. She heard three gunshots and shouting, crouching and hiding behind the hay once more when the man finally saw her, a bullet barely missing her skull. She'd have to admit, they had pretty decent aim. She stood, ignoring the piercing pain in her ankles, and dashed from her position, successfully dodging another bullet as she flipped forward. She sprinted to the barn's doorway and caught the attention of the man who aimed the muzzle to Dean's friend's forehead. 

He aimed in Odessa's direction, and the heavy footsteps behind her created an idea. She hastily ducked, and evaded the wound, but the man behind her, not so much. She didn't waste another second as she shuffled forward and grasped the rifle. She elbowed his cheekbone, pummeled her fist into his nose, then punched his throat before jamming the butt of his rifle into his nose again. He descended back into a pile of hay and she panted while tossing her lengthy waves behind her shoulder. 

Moments later, she wiped off the beads of sweat on her forehead after she successfully dragged the last body, excluding the man Dean's friend was holding gunpoint. She locked them in her cage and made sure to toss the key somewhere they'd never reach. "You go on ahead, I've got this one." Dean's friend said. Odessa pursed her lips, eyeing the man. Truthfully, all she's wanted was revenge for her parents, so who was she to stand in front of someone else's revenge? "You know," Odessa declared, "Revenge won't bring them back, but it sure is satisfying. Make sure to wipe your prints off." 

Odessa, along with Sam and Dean, hurriedly left after the police officer, who was also Dean's friend, had demanded they leave after their sentimental conversation. Dean had enwrapped Odessa in a firm embrace, almost as if he weren't sure she wasn't alive. He smelled of blood, sweat, and burning fabric but she wouldn't have it any other way. "Don't do that again." He stated as he hesitantly released her. She furrowed her brows, clutching her lacerated side. She hadn't noticed until Dean's side accidentally jabbed her wound. 

"Do what exactly?" She questioned, wincing as she turned her neck too quickly.

Dean stared ahead. "Go missing like that." 

Odessa grinned, and Dean glanced down, pondering on how someone so bloody and sweaty with smudged cosmetics could appear so beautiful with moonlight and raindrops cascading down their skin. "You were worried about me." She claimed teasingly.

Dean clenched his jaw, almost as if he were just realizing the words he'd spoken, and returned his gaze ahead. "All I'm saying—you vanish like that, I'm not gonna look for you." Odessa guffawed, then winced again. 

"Whatever you say, Dean." She heard Sam chuckle beside her, but she didn't bother turn. She was fixated on Dean's bloodied wound, wondering how he managed to resemble the men you read books about, graceful and beautiful. 

"I'm not."

"This is coming from the guy who got sidelined by a thirteen-year old girl." She said, elbowing his ribcage gently.

"Aw, shut up." 

"Just saying, I think you're getting pretty rusty," She commented, "We should start training more often. I took down two adult men, I could teach you a couple things." 

"Essie, shut up." Dean replied while chuckling.

YAY I FINALLY UPDATED!