Chapter Four: Nightmares are Dreams Too

Ella ran, knees aching, heart pounding in her chest, fighting the pressure in her lungs to breathe. She could hear the heavy footsteps behind her, could hear the sound of his ragged breath as he chased her. She was the prey.

"Leave me alone!" she said, over her shoulder, turning her head but not enough to see him.

"You can't run," the man said, his voice was deep, gravely. She'd heard it before. Where had she heard it?

Her chest ached as she pushed herself forward, feet burning as they slapped the ground. Just as she was beginning to feel she might actually get away, a hand clamped itself around her arm. Ella screamed as she was pulled backwards, the force sending her falling onto her back. She hit the ground hard, her head thumping against the pavement. He stood just out of her range of vision, but she knew he was there, just watching her.

"What do you want from me?" she said, gasping for breath.

The man moved to stand in front of her. His eyes were dark, like the deep, never-ending blue of the ocean. His trench coat billowed around him in the wind. He took another step towards her.

"Please," Ella said, trying to stand, "I haven't done anything."

"You're pathetic," the man said simply. A pair of ominous, black wings spread out behind him and they seemed to envelope everything around her. "You deserve to die." He approached her, his body and wings looming over her as he got closer. Slowly, he reached a hand out, almost like he was going to caress her cheek, but he tightened his fingers around her throat.

Ella cried out, eyes bursting open, and hands going to straight to her throat to claw off the man's hand, but there was nothing there. She blinked and looked around the room, a motel room. Her motel room. She'd been driving for hours after parting ways with Dean and finally she was too exhausted to see the road straight.

"It was just a dream," Ella said to herself. She let out a sigh and rested her head back on the pillows, turning to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 4:08 a.m. Frowning slightly, Ella pulled the covers up to her neck and snuggled into the hard mattress, hoping to get some sleep but also not wanting to risk having another nightmare. After a moment of hesitation, she sat up in bed and grabbed her phone. She dialed a number silently and pressed the phone to her ear. After five rings, it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey Sam, it's Ella. I'm just calling to say hi. I know it's super early and you're probably asleep or off doing whatever it is you do when you're not with your brother, but I just...I don't know," she paused for a second, "anyway, call me back when you get the chance. Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope you're safe. Bye."

Two hours and three cups of coffee later, Ella was back on the road. Instead of going back to sleep, she started doing research and she'd found a possible case in Bay City, Michigan. In the last week, five people had gone missing and only three bodies had turned up, all of which had the blood entirely drained. Vampires, no doubt.

"Hey Ella," Mallory's voice came through the phone, "what's up?"

"Hey," Ella smiled, taking a second to make sure she'd parked her car straight, "are you by chance anywhere near Bay city, Michigan?"

"No, I'm actually working a case on the other side of the country. Why?"

"Dang. Well I think I've got a vampire case and I might need a hand."

"Sorry, El. Try seeing if the Winchesters are around. Just don't take it on yourself, alright?"

"Okay. Bye Mallory." Ella hung up the phone and got out of the car, she checked to see if Sam had called back - he hadn't, which meant he was still MIA and Ella didn't want to bother Dean, he had enough on his plate. "Alright," she said to herself, "guess I'm doing this one on my own."