[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme dropped her head, her hair falling forward to cover her face from view. She barely heard Cason’s words from all the pain she was feeling, but she slowly shook her head no. If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t feel okay at all. Her whole body felt broken, and the uncontrollable shaking didn’t help any. She cut her eyes up seeing Dean laying on the floor, with Bobby at his side. His actions said it all, Dean was dead. The demon that had carried him up the stairs and threw him on the floor had killed him. Esme carefully uncurled her legs from under her, then carefully inched her way to a wall. 

It was the only bit of movement she could muster. She leaned her side against the wall, keeping her back to everyone in the room as they made it to the room. They all had failed miserably in the fight. Not only did they lose Dean, but they lost Annabeth as well. She knew because she couldn’t feel anything from her. Esme curled in on herself as she leaned against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks as she heard and felt everyone's grief. She closed her eyes and held her broken arm against her body. She felt like a complete and utter failure, but she also couldn’t figure out how she had taken out all the demons in the room. 

Plus, she really wasn’t in the right state of mind to figure that out right now. What she had done actually had her scared of herself, and she didn’t get scared that easily. She could only imagine what the others would think of her once they had composed themselves. She had just literally become a demon nuke, and somehow Cason had survived the blast. She was an emotional time bomb, and there was no telling when she would explode again. She sighed and rested her forehead on the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks as she silently cried and cursed to herself. It suddenly became clear that it was dangerous to be around this group. 

[b]One hour later[/b]

Most of the hour she spent pressed up against the wall, not looking at anyone and keeping her back to them. Their grief plus her own was ripping her apart and keeping her tears flowing down her cheeks. She had been trying to think of what they should do and how they could bring him back, but she could think of nothing. She hated herself for agreeing that they should give Dean a hunter's funeral, but it had felt like the only option when the others brought it up. She then felt a gust of wind but didn’t think much of it. Thinking it came from one of the broken windows or through the front doorway, it was wide open after all, from her crashing through it. 

She then felt a touch on her head, but saw nothing it could come from. She winced and held back a cry of pain as she felt her arm repair itself, along with any serious wound she had. She took in a deep breath, then looked over at Dean when she heard him gasp for air. Esme’s eyes widened in complete and utter shock. He was alive. She wiped away her tears with a small smile on her lips as Mika flung herself at him. She could share in the happiness that he was back. She then picked up her knife from the floor and pushed herself off the floor and onto her feet, stumbling a little, feeling every sore spot she had as she did. 

She wiped the blade on her pants and put the knife in its sheath on her belt, then looked at Dean. “Glad to have you back, Dean.” she said softly as she wiped away more tears from her cheeks. She then quietly pushed herself off the wall and walked to the front door and out onto the porch. Once outside, she breathed in the cool night air and sat on the porch steps. She ran her hands through her hair and then down her face before propping her elbows on her knees and putting her face in her hands. Violet soon joined her, laying down behind her and curling around her with a whine and gentle nudge 

“Hey Violet.” she whispered as she pulled her face from her hands. Esme leaned into Violet and rested her head on her shoulder, more tears threatened to fall from her eyes as thought filled her mind. Violet then laid her head down on Esme’s leg with a whine. Esme placed her hand on Violet’s head and gave it a scratch. “After what happened in there, I don’t even know if I should stay.” she whispered to her. “I could have easily killed them along with all the demons…… I’m actually surprised you’re here with me.” she continued as she closed her eyes. Violet responded with a small whine and curled around Esme more as she nuzzled her leg. Esme gave a weak smile at the gesture. “Thank you.”