Esme
Esme slept her day away, dreaming about things that happened in her life and things that could possibly come to pass that were joyful and scared the hell out of her. Her dreams soon became a jumbled mess. Hunts with her father, Sassy, and the guys started interweaving as if it all happened together. She could only remember once, maybe twice, when she and the guys hunted with her father, not counting the day she met Dean. Sassy never joined them on any hunts but would help over the phone whenever they needed her. In fact, Duke, Dean, and Bobby never had the chance to meet Sassy face to face. Esme never told them much about her except that she was her godmother, didn’t live far from her childhood home, and was well-versed in supernatural things. There was always one thing about her that she kept secret from them, not really knowing how they would take the news. Also, there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up, and the guys never really pressed her on anything involving her, but knowing Bobby, he more than likely had figured it out on his own.
After a while, the memory dreams sorted out and played like a movie, playing all her best and worst moments without the guys in her life. Times she got out of hunts within an inch of her life, and others where she came out with hardly a scratch. Esme relived moments when she met other hunters, and they helped each other get through a hunt, shared a beer or two, and parted ways. She even relived the ones that didn’t turn out so well, either by the hunter dying or being completely put out by her showing up or trying to kill her. There were plenty of hunters out there who didn’t like anyone in her family and wanted nothing to do with any member of the family. Many other hunters had tried to get many of them killed by giving false tips about a case they came upon or wanted to kill them themselves. The Stirling family had a dark stain on their name, all because of how her mother had died. That was one reason she tended to give a false last name to other hunters she came across. She would either give her last name as Vespertine or Blackstone for her safety and to keep things peaceful.
Later that evening
Esme’s dreams went completely dark that evening. She relived when she met up with a small group of hunters in their early to mid-twenties. Even though they were young, she still told them that her last name was Vespertine, just in the off chance they had heard the last name, Stirling. After she had saved their asses from a nest of Vampires, the five of them hit it off and became quick friends. Esme gave them lessons and pointers on hunting, and they even showed her a few new tricks they had come across on their own. She had stayed with the group for months, finally feeling like she had found a group she could call her family again. But it wasn’t to last. Before she saw the signs, it was too late. She had gotten too close to the four and missed all the signs that demons had taken them over. The demons must have been watching them for a while because they had their personalities and mannerisms down to a T. If only she had used her Empathy, things wouldn’t have gone south so fast. After a hunt, they all returned to the hotel to clean up and go out for drinks.
But that’s where things went wrong. Once in her room, Esme set her gun and knife on the nightstand and, gathered some fresh clothes, and started to clean up so she wouldn’t scare anyone she came across, but before she could get changed, the door was broken off its hinges, causing her to turn around and look at the door. “Bradley! What the hell!” Esme yelled. Bradley grinned, and his eyes turned black. “Sorry, Sweets. I’m afraid Bradley’s been dead for some time now.” he grinned. “As have Lily, Nathan, and Tasia.” As he spoke their names, they came into the room, all flashing their black eyes at her and grinning widely. “I was almost sure you would catch on to us sooner. Oh well. It was still fun while it lasted.” he laughed. “You bastards!” she yelled. Esme had taken a fighting stance, looking between the four demons and then to the nightstand. Esme took a dive for the bed, but she was stopped and thrown against a wall by the demo’s power. “Yeah, I don’t think so, Sweets.” he was walking over to her. “Now, why don’t you be a good girl and come with us quietly?” “Never!” Esme groaned from the floor.
She plunged her hand into her pocket to grab a handful of salt but was thrown against the wall again, then thrown across the room, smashing into the dresser and television. Demons Lily and Tasia came over, picked her up, dragged her to the center of the room, and threw her down hard. “Still want to do things the hard way?” demon Bradley asked. Esme pushed herself up on her hands and knees, only to be kicked by demon Nathan in the stomach. Esme grunted and fell back to the floor. She then used her Empathy, projecting fear on the four as she got to her hands and knees again. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” she yelled. Then things went dark. She was hit in the head by some blunt object. When she came to, she found herself in a dimly lit room that was damp and cold, strapped to a gurney. Even though groggy, Esme struggled against her restraints, realizing she was in cut-off sweatpants and a sports bra. “Ah, you’re finally awake.” came a male voice from behind her. She could hear footsteps coming toward her, and then a face came into her view with black eyes.
“My, you really are a pretty one. Such a shame.” he cooed as his eyes went normal. “Let me go, you black-eyed son of a bitch!” Esme yelled at him. “No, I don’t think I will. We have plans for you, Miss Stirling.” he grinned. He brought his hand up and bushed Esme’s cheek with the back of his fingers, causing Esme to jerk her head away from his hand, which made him grin more. Esme then used her Empathy on him. His eyes went black, and a scowl came upon his face. “Now, there will be none of that.” he said, then punched her in the face. She pulled her face back, looking at him with a glare. “We’ll see how much fight you have left once a few others get done with you.” he sneered. He stepped away, and she looked at the door as others walked into the room. “Have fun with her, Morana, but don’t kill her.” he said to those who walked in. “Don’t worry, Valdin. I’ll stop before it gets that far.” Morana answered with a grin. Morana and her henchmen quickly got to work, bombarding her with questions that didn’t make sense, cutting, carving, and beating her until she passed out.
They tortured her every day, only stopping when she would pass out. Once she was good and weak, they began wheeling her out of her room, down the halls, and into another room, where they hooked all sorts of things up to her and injected her with needles filled with strange-colored liquids. Esme’s dream caused her to relive each day of the two years she was trapped in the asylum. She relived each punch, stab, cut, broken bone, near drowning, and injunction all over again. She even caught a glimpse of one of them helping her occasionally. Then came the day when she heard the demons panicking that hunters had found them. The demons that were in her room fled and shut the door behind them. In Esme’s weak state, all she could do was listen as the hunters went through the asylum, killing the demons and getting whatever it was they came for, which turned out it wasn’t her. They never found her in the secret room she was put in because she was too weak to scream for help that was loud enough to hear. When all went silent, Esme laid on the gurney and cried.
She knew the demons would be back for her, and it would start all over, or they would leave her there to starve and die alone. Suddenly, the door of the room opened. Esme turned her head to look but could only make out a silhouette. “Help me!” she called weakly. “Don’t worry, help is coming!” a male voice called back to her. They then disappeared, and it all fell silent again. Esme looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes, tears falling from them. “Who’s coming? No one knows I’m even here.” she whispered tearfully. A little time passed before Esme could hear footsteps running down the hall. She opened her eyes and looked at the door. “I’m in here!” she called as loud as she could. “Esme! Can you hear me? Esme!” a woman’s voice called out. “Sassy?! I’m here!” Esme called out again. The woman soon came through the door, followed by a handful of others, and Esme broke into tears. “Sassy!” she cried. She ran over to Esme, undid the straps holding her down to the gurney, and helped her sit up. One of the men who came with her came over and gently draped a jacket around Esme’s shaking shoulders.
“Thank you.” Esme whispered as Sassy hugged her. Esme hugged her back, watching the others keep an eye out for any more demons. “Seraphina, we should get out of here before more show up. There’s no telling how many that first group missed.” Seraphina nodded and pulled herself away to look at Esme, a soft smile on her lips. “Let’s get you out of here and take you home.” Seraphina said warmly. Esme nodded with a weak smile. The man who gave her a jacket stepped over, gently picked her up off the gurney, and carried her out of the room with Seraphina and the others following. The dream faded and went into something new. Esme found herself in a place she had never been before, but it strongly resembled the room from the asylum, and she was strapped down to a gurney so tightly that it was hard to breathe. She looked around the room, seeing a figure in the shadows. “Who are you?” Esme demanded. The figure laughed darkly, flashing a smile that almost seemed to glow in the dim light. “Oh, you know who I am, sweet one.” he said in a low growly tone.
Esme knew that voice, which sent a shiver down her spine as her eyes widened. She never learned his name, but he terrified her. “Ah, so you do remember. Good.” he cooed. “Don’t even bother asking why I brought you here. You know full well why you’re here. We’re going to finish what we started all those years ago.” he said with a grin as he came out of the shadows. Esme's eyes grew into saucers as he came into view. She couldn’t even fight against her restaurants. “You’ve grown so strong, but I think I can make you stronger. Now, be a good girl, and I’ll give you something special after we’re done.” he told her. Esme was plunged into a scene where she was hooked up to machines by tubes and demons all around the room. “Alright, let’s get started!” she heard the demon call out. Esme fought against her restaurants, but they were so tight she couldn’t move. As soon as the liquid from the tubes entered her veins, she screamed. It felt like they were injecting her with acid. “Don’t fight it, sweet one. It’ll only make it burn more.” the demon told her with a hearty laugh.
When Esme felt she couldn’t take the pain any longer and would pass out, the pain and room faded away. She found herself outside a building that looked oddly familiar. She was with the group, and they were heading in on what looked like a routine hunt for what she didn’t know. After entering the building, they were ambushed by demons and separated into small groups. The more demons she killed, the more that seemed to show up and take their place. She was growing tired and irritable as time passed. Esme could feel herself getting dangerously close to her breaking point, then it finally happened, like flipping a switch. She got to the point of going nuclear, and she couldn’t control it as she fell to her knees. There was no way the others would have time to get out, even if they heard her scream to get out. “Duke, run! Now!” she yelled at him. He hesitated, looking at her, worry and fear in his blue eyes as he looked into her bright white eyes. “Go! Now!” she yelled at him again, struggling to hold by the explosion. Esme watched as Duke ran out of the room they were in, but as soon as he was out of her sight, she lost her hold.
Esme’s head went back, and she took in a breath and screamed as she went nuclear. But this time was different from the last ones. When she breathed in, everything was sucked in towards her, then blown outward when she screamed. The blast tore through the building, leveling it. All the debris had been blown away from her. Collecting herself, she looked around her and the damage, and her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her. She scrambled to her feet with tears in her eyes. “No!” she screamed. Esme brought her hands up to her mouth as she looked on in horror at the bodies of the group, none of them moving. Starting with Duke, she ran to each of them to check them. They were all dead. She had killed them. She ran back over to Duke, dropping to her knees beside him, picked up his hand, and held it to her cheek. “I’m sorry, Duke.” she cried. “I’m so so sorry, all of you.” Pulling Duke’s hand to her chest, she looked up at the sky and screamed another, “I’m sorry.” That last sorry came through in the waking world as she jolted awake on the couch.
Esme's eyes snapped open, her heart racing as she looked around, and her fuzzy vision clearing. The familiar surroundings and smell reminding her she was at Bobby’s, she was home, and she was safe. It took her a moment to realize someone was on the couch with her, holding her hand. She looked at her hand, seeing it was, in fact, being held. She knew that touch. She knew it was Duke sitting next to her, holding her hand. Esme gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she brought her other hand up to her face as she closed her eyes. The image of seeing everyone dead because of her was still fresh in her mind. Esme sighed heavily through her nose, griping Duke’s hand a little tighter, realizing how badly her head was pounding. She didn’t want to move. Her whole body was sore, but she knew she would have to get up eventually. She opened one eye and finally looked at Duke. “Hey there, Bright Eyes.” she whispered.