sunday reveries } { picture prompt
[Set in a_brokenvessel. Just a new voice with Claire that’s a little different from canon so I can test her out.]
Prompt
Her ability was meant to be kept a secret.
She’d had it for as long as she could remember. She was a clumsy kid, and when someone could take a fall that would break a normal kids arm and play t-ball a few hours later, it was obvious that something was up. It was something she had always had, something that had always been a part of her, ever since her birth mother died in that fire all those years ago. She didn’t know how to live without it. Problem was, the Bennets didn’t exactly know what to do with it either. Noah was cautious, thought she should be protected. He had been tailing the demon that killed her mother, but got there too late, only to find a baby in the ashes left behind. They took her in, raised her, and kept her safe. But eventually Claire had to stop being protected and start protecting herself.
Claire never wanted to be a hunter. It was a necessary evil of her world, and unlike her ability, she had more of a choice. She could choose whether or not to hunt, whether or not to know a case when she saw it, whether or not to go after the bad thing that happened to be in her vicinity. She tried going off to school, to seek out that normal life, but no matter where she went, what she did, it always came back to bite her-usually in the worst way possible.
Today happened to be one of those times.
She had been on a date. It was a nice date with a nice boy who had been hanging around the roadhouse lately, and while he wasn’t part of the in-crowd, he was sweet. Claire really liked sweet. She managed to talk him into a coffee house the next town over. With the Winchesters coming in to town, everything had turned into an upheaval. This was some kind of pow-wow, and Claire didn’t want any part of it. Even if it was the end of the world, and they needed all hands on deck, Claire wanted to run as far away from it as possible. This wasn’t her fight. Which is why she was having coffee with Jamie in Douro as oppose to Odessa. If she hadn’t, maybe she wouldn’t have seen him.
He looked just like an ordinary guy. Most vampires usually do. In fact, if it weren’t for the sunglasses, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it at all. But one guy with sunglasses followed by a whole tribe of guys with sunglasses and she suddenly had a few too many coincidences on her hand for her taste. She hated the fact that she could pick them out like this, know them on sight, but she can. Jamie was rambling on about his classes, and other things going on in his life, but Claire wasn’t listening. She was watching the nest move across the front of the coffee house.
Later that night, after her date was over, she walked back from Jamie’s house to her car at the coffee shop. She had left it there deliberately, wondering if the vampires would take the bait of a young, innocent girl walking on a dark street all by herself. Preternatural creatures were idiots that way. She made it about halfway back before one of them stepped in front of her, eying her like she was Thanksgiving dinner. She kept her hands in her pockets, looking up at him as though she was unimpressed.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” he licked his lips. “Think you can.”
There were two sets of footsteps behind her, and she glanced back, seeing two more of them behind her. Her face stayed calm and cool and she just raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, boys. I don’t do four ways.”
She started to move past them, trying to head on her way, when she felt one of them catch her arm, grip tight and bruising-if she actually bruised. “I don’t think so, sweetcheeks.” He leaned in closer, pressing his nose into her hair. “I’m hungry.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed, her free hand moving to the small of her back. “You picked the wrong girl to snack on.”
“That so?”
“Yeah,” she said with a smirk. “That’s so.”
Then she reached up and plunged the knife into his neck. It was the largest knife she could find in Jamie’s apartment, and she had slipped it into the back of her belt before she left. It was no machete, but a few quick hacks and she had decapitated the first vampire. Just in time to feel the second vampire’s hand surge through her back and into her gut.
The first blow always hurt. There was no way around the pain of something invading your body that wasn’t supposed to be there. The pain lasted long enough to paralyze her for a few seconds, long enough for him to speak.
“Big mistake, hunter.”
He then yanked his hand back, pulling out what was probably her stomach, and she turned to face him with a hurt look. Then the pain faded. Her body straightened, and she switched the grip of the knife in her hand. “You have no idea.”
“What the-?!”
“You jackasses,” she said with a growl as she swung the knife towards his neck, slicing through the major artery, “can never just leave-” Stab. “-me-” Slice. “-alone.”
Half-hour later, she was hacking the neck on the last one, slamming down the steak knife until she severed the spinal cord. There were three bodies that she was going to have to deal with, but that could be fixed by a call to her father. She was covered in blood, had a bloody butcher’s knife in her hand, and was really lamenting not bringing a change of clothes, when a voice came around the corner.
“Claire? I think you left your-holy shit!”
Claire’s head snapped up, and eyes wide and worried. “Jamie!” There was a pause as she tried to come up with an explanation, before she spat out: “This isn’t what it looks like!” Jamie didn’t say anything, just stared back at her with wide eyes and started to back out of the alleyway. It took her a minute, but she eventually dropped the knife and started to make her way closer. “No, wait, I can explain!”
He didn’t wait. They never do. He ran back down the street, probably getting ready to call the cops, so she needed to get rid of these bodies fast. She slumped back against the wall of the alley, mentally berating herself as she fumbled in her pockets for her car keys. She’d burn the bodies, go home and wash away the blood, but she knew she’d never see Jamie again.
She really liked him, too.
1147 words
Prompt
Her ability was meant to be kept a secret.
She’d had it for as long as she could remember. She was a clumsy kid, and when someone could take a fall that would break a normal kids arm and play t-ball a few hours later, it was obvious that something was up. It was something she had always had, something that had always been a part of her, ever since her birth mother died in that fire all those years ago. She didn’t know how to live without it. Problem was, the Bennets didn’t exactly know what to do with it either. Noah was cautious, thought she should be protected. He had been tailing the demon that killed her mother, but got there too late, only to find a baby in the ashes left behind. They took her in, raised her, and kept her safe. But eventually Claire had to stop being protected and start protecting herself.
Claire never wanted to be a hunter. It was a necessary evil of her world, and unlike her ability, she had more of a choice. She could choose whether or not to hunt, whether or not to know a case when she saw it, whether or not to go after the bad thing that happened to be in her vicinity. She tried going off to school, to seek out that normal life, but no matter where she went, what she did, it always came back to bite her-usually in the worst way possible.
Today happened to be one of those times.
She had been on a date. It was a nice date with a nice boy who had been hanging around the roadhouse lately, and while he wasn’t part of the in-crowd, he was sweet. Claire really liked sweet. She managed to talk him into a coffee house the next town over. With the Winchesters coming in to town, everything had turned into an upheaval. This was some kind of pow-wow, and Claire didn’t want any part of it. Even if it was the end of the world, and they needed all hands on deck, Claire wanted to run as far away from it as possible. This wasn’t her fight. Which is why she was having coffee with Jamie in Douro as oppose to Odessa. If she hadn’t, maybe she wouldn’t have seen him.
He looked just like an ordinary guy. Most vampires usually do. In fact, if it weren’t for the sunglasses, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it at all. But one guy with sunglasses followed by a whole tribe of guys with sunglasses and she suddenly had a few too many coincidences on her hand for her taste. She hated the fact that she could pick them out like this, know them on sight, but she can. Jamie was rambling on about his classes, and other things going on in his life, but Claire wasn’t listening. She was watching the nest move across the front of the coffee house.
Later that night, after her date was over, she walked back from Jamie’s house to her car at the coffee shop. She had left it there deliberately, wondering if the vampires would take the bait of a young, innocent girl walking on a dark street all by herself. Preternatural creatures were idiots that way. She made it about halfway back before one of them stepped in front of her, eying her like she was Thanksgiving dinner. She kept her hands in her pockets, looking up at him as though she was unimpressed.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” he licked his lips. “Think you can.”
There were two sets of footsteps behind her, and she glanced back, seeing two more of them behind her. Her face stayed calm and cool and she just raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, boys. I don’t do four ways.”
She started to move past them, trying to head on her way, when she felt one of them catch her arm, grip tight and bruising-if she actually bruised. “I don’t think so, sweetcheeks.” He leaned in closer, pressing his nose into her hair. “I’m hungry.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed, her free hand moving to the small of her back. “You picked the wrong girl to snack on.”
“That so?”
“Yeah,” she said with a smirk. “That’s so.”
Then she reached up and plunged the knife into his neck. It was the largest knife she could find in Jamie’s apartment, and she had slipped it into the back of her belt before she left. It was no machete, but a few quick hacks and she had decapitated the first vampire. Just in time to feel the second vampire’s hand surge through her back and into her gut.
The first blow always hurt. There was no way around the pain of something invading your body that wasn’t supposed to be there. The pain lasted long enough to paralyze her for a few seconds, long enough for him to speak.
“Big mistake, hunter.”
He then yanked his hand back, pulling out what was probably her stomach, and she turned to face him with a hurt look. Then the pain faded. Her body straightened, and she switched the grip of the knife in her hand. “You have no idea.”
“What the-?!”
“You jackasses,” she said with a growl as she swung the knife towards his neck, slicing through the major artery, “can never just leave-” Stab. “-me-” Slice. “-alone.”
Half-hour later, she was hacking the neck on the last one, slamming down the steak knife until she severed the spinal cord. There were three bodies that she was going to have to deal with, but that could be fixed by a call to her father. She was covered in blood, had a bloody butcher’s knife in her hand, and was really lamenting not bringing a change of clothes, when a voice came around the corner.
“Claire? I think you left your-holy shit!”
Claire’s head snapped up, and eyes wide and worried. “Jamie!” There was a pause as she tried to come up with an explanation, before she spat out: “This isn’t what it looks like!” Jamie didn’t say anything, just stared back at her with wide eyes and started to back out of the alleyway. It took her a minute, but she eventually dropped the knife and started to make her way closer. “No, wait, I can explain!”
He didn’t wait. They never do. He ran back down the street, probably getting ready to call the cops, so she needed to get rid of these bodies fast. She slumped back against the wall of the alley, mentally berating herself as she fumbled in her pockets for her car keys. She’d burn the bodies, go home and wash away the blood, but she knew she’d never see Jamie again.
She really liked him, too.
1147 words