[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme watched the blowtorch as the demon moved it closer and closer to her chest, slowly feeling the heat from the flame get hotter and hotter. As she stared at the flame of the torch, she could hear Cason screaming and pleading with the demons. It was at that moment she could truly see how he felt about her, that everything leading up to this point had been genuine. It was almost funny it took this moment for her to truly see his feelings for her, and she would have laughed at herself if she wasn’t being tortured by a demon while tied to a chair. She gritted her teeth and whimpered as she felt her skin burning and heard what the demon with Cason said. They really wanted to get to Cason by having her scream in pain. She had come across some determined demons, but never this determined to have someone scream out in pain.

When the flame finally touched her skin, she took in a sharp breath through her gritted teeth as she pressed herself back into the chair, a growl escaping her that slowly went up in pitch. Though before it could become a full-out scream, the demon pulled back the flame with a gasp. Esme’s good eye darted to the demon when she heard the squish and the torch hit the floor. Her eyebrows went up in surprise as her eye landed on the demon’s face. When he let go of her hair to bring his hands to his face, she brought her head forward in a more comfortable position and took in the screwdriver sticking out of the demon’s eye socket, with salt and holy water dripping from its handle. Her eye then darted to the other demon as he spoke to who had just stabbed his partner before he smoked out like a coward. She then looked at the man that had shown up, who was clearly a hunter but couldn’t tell who they were from the back. 

She could make out blonde hair beneath his black cowboy hat and that he was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. Esme let her head drop, not being able to hold it up any longer from feeling weak. She breathed deeply and slowly to calm her breathing as she listened to the other demon smoke out and to Cason speak to the man as he untied him, but the man didn’t speak until Cason mentioned he was a demon and couldn’t leave the devil’s trap. The voice she heard, with the deep southern accent, sounded very familiar to her. It was one she hadn’t heard in quite some time. She tried to lift her head to look, but couldn’t quite manage it. Even as Cason spoke to him, she was still trying to place the voice. Then it hit her just as she heard his boot scraping the paint from the floor. A weak smile came to her lips. The smile faded as she heard Cason run to her once he was free. She first saw his feet as she stopped in front of her, then the rest of him as he knelt down and lifted her chin, flinching a bit at his touch. 

Esme looked at Cason a moment with her good eye before giving a weak smile at his words, followed by a heavy sigh. “So, which one of us is to blame for this trouble we got into?” she joked in a soft tone with a small laugh. As she laughed, she winced a bit as she felt pain rush through her. Lifting her gaze over Cason’s head, she looked at the cowboy who had just helped them, a weak smile on her lips. “Hey, Duke.” she said in the same soft tone she had spoken to Cason in. “Long time no see.” She fell silent as she watched Duke, taking in what she could of him with her good eye. After all this time, he was still as handsome as ever, and from what she could tell, had gained more muscle. “Thanks for helping us.” she finally added. Taking a deep breath, she groaned in pain as her gaze dropped and realized she was still gripping the arms of the chair. She forced her hands and fingers to relax and closed her eye, suddenly feeling more tired than ever as she felt herself coming down from everything. 

As she sat there, her chin still resting in Cason’s hand, Esme waited for him to untie her from the chair and remove the knife from her thigh. A memory of Duke and Dean made its way into her mind while she sat there. It was of a time the three of them had gotten together at a bar after a case involving a Shapeshifter, to have a drink and unwind. It was as if it had only happened yesterday as it played out in her mind. She had taken turns dancing with both on the dance floor and did a little karaoke as well. As they drank and threw playful jabs at each other, Duke kept trying to turn Esme’s eye from Dean to him all in good fun, asking her why she was with Dean instead of him since he was better looking than Dean. A strong shiver pulled her from the memory before she could finish it. Wincing from the pain that followed, she opened her eye to look at the two men, another shiver overtaking her, followed by her whole body shaking. 

“What do you two say we blow this popsicle stand before more decide to show up and finish what they started?” Esme asked weakly, her voice shaky. She didn’t want to hang around this place any longer than they had to, and she knew they needed to meet up with the others, figuring they must be wondering where they were. She and Cason should have arrived before they did since they left Bobby’s place first to get a head start. Esme then lifted her gaze and focused on Duke the best she could. “I have to wonder, though. Out of all the people that could have come across this place, how the hell did it end up being you?” she asked him in the same voice with a small laugh.