So, I've been gone a while again. What can I say, life happened. I come back after yet another surprise hiatus, and it turns out a lot happened in my absence. A Heaven from Hell's Despair was actually nominated for the Better in Texas fiction awards in the Best Twilight Crossover category. I didn't win, but it was super cool to have actually been nominated. Thanks for sticking with me and liking my (faulty) work!

The Road So Far

Then:

Bella blinked in surprise, and the ink began to morph once more. An odd outline took form, that she thought might have been a state. The English words formed next, the ones in the other language not moving since their first forming. Bella read them eagerly, inwardly thanking whoever was listening that this bit happened to be in English.

Genesis, Wyoming.

Now:

The Guide and The Guard

Chapter 2- Windows to the Soul

Bella woke up the next morning to bright sunlight streaming through the sheer lace curtains of her hotel room. Turning away from the too bright light with a groan, she rolled out of bed and looked over at The Guide on the dresser. She had taken a poor quality picture of the hidden map she had found last night on her new phone, which should be more than sufficient for whatever it was she chose to do with it. What was she going to do with it? Following a strange map without a clear reason or destination and seemed to constantly be changing seemed kinda sketchy to her. Then again, she had followed the directions of a strange Vampire that had obviously fed off of humans and left behind everything she knew. He had said that she was going to need The Guide, was the map the reason why? Bella yawned and stretched her arms as she padded over to The Guide. She opened the book back to the page with the map, once again smooth and blank now that it was out of the candlelight. She pulled out her cheap flip phone then, pulling up the photo she had taken of the map the night before.

Genesis, Wyoming. Bella had never heard of it. She wished she could look it up and get some information on the city or town, but another thing that the Vampire had seemingly forgotten was a laptop. Not that she was really complaining, the Vampire had gotten Bella away from Forks without a hitch, and she had more than enough money to buy anything The Vampire and whoever was working with him forgot to supply. She would just have to stop by a Best Buy or something to pick up a laptop along the way, as well as someplace where she could find a jacket. Or better yet, a raincoat. It was April, less than a month after her disastrous trip to Italy. Rain was likely going to be a constant companion no matter where she went for a while, and there was nothing Bella hated more than being rained on. April showers, and so on. Actually, maybe an umbrella was in order too. Bella started packing up her new things into their luggage, and set out to leave the room in a relatively neat order. They were going to come in after her of course, but Bella felt kinda bad about making the employees of the obvious mom and pop business work more than they had to.

Bella quickly checked out of the motel, the desk attendant an older man this time that smiled at her kindly before sending her on her way. As Bella stepped out into the cool spring air she breathed deep and smiled, looking up. It wasn't raining yet, and she found herself enjoying the refreshing bite to the air, even if it did foretell a rainstorm later. Her eyes fell naturally down to the parking lot across the street, and she froze. There was more than a few cars in the parking lot today besides her own, but that wasn't the problem. John's truck was gone. Bella frowned, heading towards the parking lot. As she drew nearer, she spotted something white under one of her windshield wipers. It turned out to be an envelope, with her name written on it in neat and precise handwriting.

Bella,

I had to leave early this morning, but it was good meeting you.

If you ever need to get ahold of me, call (778)237-3022. Either myself or my son will come to help.

-John

Bella frowned at the note, but quickly plugged the number into her caller ID nonetheless. Having a Hunter in your list of contacts was nothing to scoff at, and John had been kind enough to her. She continued over to the diner to get some breakfast, and Fiona smiled at her as she walked in.

"You're looking a lot better." She observed, and Bella smiled.

"Thanks, turns out all I needed was a good night's sleep." She told the pregnant waitress as she was led to a seat.

"Told ya it would do ya some good sugar. Mothers, even mothers to be always know best." She laughed. "Your man won't know what hit him." Bella smiled again.

"I hope so." Was all she said, before quickly ordering. She didn't like having to lie to Fiona, who had been nothing but genuinely sweet to her. It was for the best though, a teenage girl traveling alone in a beat up car was bound to grab attention. If she wasn't careful, she'd be pegged as a runaway. She had always had the air and demeanor of an old soul, but her narrow face always looked especially youthful and innocent. The two things balanced each other out, but Bella couldn't rely on her old soul to pass through being noticed.

The meal was excellent, and Bella decided to get some lunch to go as well. She had no idea how long she'd be driving, and she didn't want to get to the ravenous state she had been in yesterday when she arrived. Fiona had been more than happy to oblige, and Bella made a mental note to leave her another good tip. After finishing her meal and packing up her lunch, Bella felt a flicker of regret. Just one day in and Bella had already found herself completely at ease in this little town. A part of her didn't want to leave, but the mystery of the map still lingered in her mind like a heavy cloud. To Wyoming she would go, then.

She just hoped she wouldn't someday be kicking herself for her curious persistence.

It was late in the evening when Bella finally spotted a sign that told her that Genesis was less than ten miles away. Finally, she thought as she peered through her windshield at the dark and rainy road before her. She had gotten out to stretch her legs more than once on the trip before the heavens had opened up, one of them to a convenient computer store to pick up a computer and a GPS. The frequent stops had kept her level headed and focused, but they had also ultimately stretched the car trip's length into over twelve hours since she had left Fiona's little diner. Bella was more than ready to be done with her road trip for the day. She'd find the nearest motel or inn that she could find, and she'd try to get a good night's sleep before going out to find whatever the hell The Guide was leading her to. She noticed someone else's car lights a ways behind her, and she glanced at the clock. She hadn't expected anyone else to be on the road at this time, especially the deep country road that she was currently on. A fluttering feeling of worry flew through her, and she bit her lip. Could this be the Cullens, tracking her down already?

Suddenly her truck shuddered, and Bella's attention was sharply brought back to the present. "Come on baby, don't die on me now." She muttered, patting the dashboard absently. Her truck spluttered indignantly, not used to being worked as hard as it had in the past few days. Groaning along with her beloved truck, Bella pulled over to the side of the road with what little control of the vehicle she had left. She got out of the car, and immediately was drenched to the bone. She shivered, the cool night air working with the soaking downpour to chill Bella all the way down her spine. She circled around to the front, and popped open the hood. Bella grimaced as she glared down at the inner workings of her truck. Cars had never been her strong suit, and she couldn't make heads or tails of what could possibly be wrong. Not to mention that her favorite mechanic was all the way back in Washington.

Bella had to swallow a lump that rose in her throat as she thought of Jacob. She hadn't spoken to him since before Italy. She had tried, more than once in fact, but Jacob had made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. Bella had made her bed, and now she had to lie in it. She had chosen Edward, and because of it she lost Jacob. Somewhere behind her beaten up Chevy she heard the quiet purr of a well tuned engine above the white noise of the storm. It came closer, and Bella figured whoever was driving must have pulled over as well. The purring abruptly ceased, and a car door slammed shut.

Great, knowing my luck I'm about to be cut into tiny pieces by a backroads axe murderer. Bella thought grimly. She heard footsteps coming towards her, to heavy to be any of the Cullens. She barely had time to thank whatever lucky stars she had before he was upon her, rounding around her truck.

"Hey, you need a hand?" The man asked. His voice was deep, and slightly gravelly. It tugged faintly at the strings of one of Bella's memories, but she shook it off. His eyes caught her attention at once, and drew her in.

"Hi." Bella replied shyly, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Umm."

"Car trouble?" The man guessed, grinning. Bella's breath hitched, and she felt her blush deepen. What the hell was happening? She had never had a reaction like this with someone before, not even with Edward. Not that Bella had ever seen someone quite like this man before either. Yes, he was attractive, absurdly so, but she had regularly communed with the like of greek gods. There was something different about this man though, something rugged and deep that immediately set Bella on edge, and somehow calmed her down all at the same time.

"Yeah." She responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I was just about to call a tow truck, actually. I can't seem to figure out what's wrong." The man nodded.

"You know, I actually know a thing or two about cars. I could take a look of you like." He suggested. Bella smiled, relief suddenly rushing through her. If she was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken down car, having a handsome man with car experience pull up minutes later was definitely one of her top choice scenarios.

"That would be great, thanks." She said enthusiastically, still smiling softly. The man nodded and offered his hand to Bella. "I'm Dean."

"Bella." She said, taking his rough and calloused hand in her own small, white one. She noticed scars all over the hand she was given in the few, lingering moments their hands were touching. Most were along his knuckles, like he had punched his own hands bloody more than once. His fingers were long and slightly uneven, like he had dealt with more than one broken finger without having it set properly. Dean took his hand back, and turned to her truck. He poked his head under the hood for a good look for a moment, and then turned back to Bella.

"Try starting it for me, would you?" He asked. Bella nodded, barely seen in the low light. She climbed back into the driver's seat, and tried to start the car again. It didn't work, but Dean made a noise like he was pleased.

"Got it. Looks like your battery died. Not surprised, this thing is older than the hills. You got jumper cables?" Bella nodded, she remembered seeing jumper cables among the things she had been given to care for her truck on the long journey she hadn't even known she was going on. The Vampire must have known about the hidden page somehow, there was no other logical reason why he could have given The Guide to her. Though why she was given The Guide and The map to follow, she had no idea. There had to have been a reason though, Bella couldn't have been simply picked at random. She supposed this all could have been a passing whim for The Vampire, an amusement to while away the countless centuries. Or possibly this was all just a new game for The Cullens. Leaving Bella last autumn must not have screwed her enough psychologically, so they had come up with a whole new game. It definitely would be amusing to them, watching her dance around and trying to follow a map that leads to nowhere. Bella was cut out of her reverie by Dean speaking to her again.

"Alrighty, I'll just give you a boost then. You should be fine after that." Bella nodded, going around to the back of her truck to find the right cable, shivering and miserable from the rain all the way. She thought more about the whole purpose of her trip as she dug through the proper chest. Even if this was some kind of hoax, and The Vampire had lied to her, would she go back to Edward and the Cullens? She truly believed that The Vampire had been telling her the truth when he told her that Edward didn't love her. It just made too much sense. She was plain, uninteresting Bella Swan. His prey. The only thing that had kept her alive that first day was her silent mind, she was sure.

Bella finally found the jumper cable just as she heard Dean's light footsteps again, coming around to check on her. Bella turned around abruptly to get down before Dean got there. Of course, being clumsy Bella Swan had it's disadvantages. Her foot caught on the side of one of the many chests strapped down in the bed of her truck, and her other foot immediately slid out from under her from the floor that had become slick with rain. Bella sprawled forward, bumping hard into the corner of her truck and knocking the wind out of her before she rebounded off the side and went straight for the wet and dark void that was the road.

She heard a surprised "Whoah" coming from somewhere close to her right, and before she had the chance to hit the wet asphalt she felt strong arms wrap around her. The arms hauled her down from the truck bed safely, placing her carefully upright and stabilizing her when her coughing and sputtering threatened to knock her over once again. "Easy there." Dean said as Bella continued to wheeze and gasp for breath. He sat her down on the truck bed, still shivering all the while from the cold and the damp and cursing internally the fact that she didn't have a coat. He took in her slight form with a frown before shrugging off his own beaten leather jacket, careful not to get the inside wet as he wrapped it around her. Bella took a shuddering breath, and something clicked into place. An overwhelming feeling of safety washed through her, and she snuggled back into the warmth of the jacket. It smelled like whiskey and gunpowder, something Bella had a feeling Dean was familiar with by the way he held himself. After living with her dad for so long, she could spot the confident way he held himself from a mile away. This was a man who more often than not carried a gun, and was definitely comfortable using it. Maybe he was a police officer as well? He looked a little young, but it was certainly possible.

"You good?" Dean asked, concerned. Bella nodded, handing him the jumper cable and waving him away. He hesitated, looking around like he expected some wild animal or psycho killer to jump out of nowhere and rip Bella to pieces right where she sat. After one final cautious look around, Dean went to get his car. In the minute or so it took for Dean to move his car into position so he would be able to jump her truck, Bella fought to regain her breath. She had had the wind knocked out of her more than once in her lifelong war against gravity, but it was a sensation she would never get used to. Eventually she regained her composure, and rejoined Dean at the front of her car.

Dean's car had joined her own up front, hoods facing one another on account of her shorter than average cable. Bella spotted the Chevy symbol on the front, like her own car. Bella wasn't much of a car person, but even she could admit that Dean's car looked attractive and well cared for. Her own Chevy looked even more rusted and worn than it actually was standing next to the sleek black vintage looking car, and she patted the rusty red truck affectionately, as if assuring The Thing that she still loved it best. It was a gift from her father, after all.

Dean had her car working again in a matter of minutes, his own engine's quiet purr swiftly drowned out by her truck's dull roar. Dean wiped his hands on his already drenched jeans, and smiled at Bella. "There you go, purring like a...well, that beast you have there ain't exactly a kitten. More like a sabertooth tiger." He grinned. Bella smiled back at him, still feeling a light blush creeping up her neck.

"Thank you, I really appreciate your help. I might have had to walk all the way to town, if I couldn't get ahold of any towing companies." Bella said honestly, taking of Dean's jacket and handing it back to him. "And who knows how long it'd take me to find a motel or something."

"You new around these parts?" Dean asked, slipping his jacket back on. He guided her back to the door of her truck, and she climbed in to avoid getting even wetter.

"Yeah, I'm just sort of passing through. You?" She responded, shivering and turning up the heat. Dean shrugged.

"Business trip, I guess you could call it. Probably not going to spend more than two or three days here, and then I'll be out. I think there's an inn somewhere around 5th street. You can follow if you want, in case you need another jump."

"That'd be great, thanks." Bella replied with a smile. Dean nodded, moving out of the little windbreak her truck provided and heading back to his own car, shutting her own for her as he left.

The first thing Bella Swan had noticed about Dean Winchester was his eyes. They were green, greener than Bella had ever thought could possibly be real. There was a hard edge about them, like he had seen far too much and had been forced to fight with most of what he saw. Beyond that though, there was something warm inside the depths of his eyes, familiar and comforting, like grandma Isabelle's homemade green apple pie. For the first time since she realized that humans weren't alone on this planet, that there were such things as Vampires, she felt safe.

Similarly, the first thing Dean Winchester noticed about Bella Swan was her eyes. Brown and warm like a cup of hot cocoa. There was something about them however, something that implied that she was far more frightened than her situation would normally put her in, but also an underlying strength. Something about this girl reminded Dean of himself. Whatever it was that was scaring her, she was not about to take it lying down, he of all people could understand that.

And for the first time since his brother left for college, he felt strong.

And that's another chapter in the bag! I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, as well as update all of my other stories. Peace!