Supernatural-Off The Wall
Inside the Off The Wall bookstore, the clerk behind the counter handed change to her customer as she said, "Thank you."
A few aisles over Sam was scanning the row of books in front of him. He picked up a hardcover book that bore a skeleton head on the spine and the title of 'Danger'. He lifted the all black cover to peek inside.
"Can I help you find something?" a voice said beside him.
Startled, Sam snapped the book shut. Placing it back on the shelf he said, "I was just browsing."
The clerk, who Sam noted was about his age, nodded and said, "If you like the look of that book, you might be interested in this one too." She pulled another hardcover book off the shelf and handed it to Sam. He looked it over and glancing questioningly at the clerk he read the title, "Skeletons In The Closet?"
"It has everything in it," she said.
"Everything?" Sam said.
"The answer to lots of secrets," she said.
"You've read it?" Sam said.
"No," she admitted, "That's just what is says on the back cover."
Sam flipped the book over and nodded as he read the description. Glancing at the front counter, the clerk said, "Oh excuse me, I have a customer at the front."
Sam scanned the inside of some of the pages, until he was distracted by the sound of the clerk's annoyed voice, "I want you to leave."
Sam stepped to the edge of the aisle to observe a man, flirting with the cashier. The man took a hold of the clerk's hand, that she tried to pull away, but his grip was too firm. "Let go of me!" she said.
"Excuse me sir?" Sam said, walking over, "I believe the lady asked you to leave."
Letting go of her hand, he looked at Sam and said, "This is none of your business."
He was about to turn his attention back to the clerk, when Sam stepped closer to him. "It is my business," Sam said, "I'm store security and I'm giving you the opportunity to get out of here."
The clerk looked from Sam, to the other man. The other man was lingering, so Sam said, "Now."
Leaning into the clerk, the man said, "You don't know what you're missing." He smiled at her and then proceeded to leave the store.
"Thanks," the clerk said.
"No problem," Sam said, "Are you alright?'
"Yes, I'm fine," the clerk said. Noticing the book on the counter in front of Sam, she smiled and said, "So you decided to go with that one?"
"Yeah," Sam said, "You're right, it looks interesting. In fact you've got a lot of great stuff here, I could browse for hours."
"That's the specialty here," she said, "Rare books."
"I can see that," Sam said, "Also, I'm here to pick up an order."
"Sure, what's your name?" she said.
"It's for Bobby Singer," Sam said.
"You're not Bobby," she said, "I've seen him in here before."
"No, I'm a friend," Sam said.
The clerk located the order and putting it on the counter she said, "Mysteries of the 1800's."
"That ought to do it," Sam said.
"He buys a lot of books like this," the clerk said, "Really dark and unexplained topics."
"It's a hobby," Sam said.
"That's some way to spend you're spare time," she said.
"I guess so," Sam said.
"This is order is already covered," the clerk said. Gesturing to Sam's book she said, "How do you want to pay for that?"
"You can put this on Bobby's account," Sam said.
"Bobby, doesn't have and account here, Sam," she said, "He always pays cash."
"He does?" Sam said. The clerk nodded.
"Maybe you could…" Sam started, "Never mind, maybe I'll get it another time."
"Feel free to comeback anytime," the clerk said.
"Thanks," Sam said, as he took the ordered book. He began to walk away but turned back to the clerk and said, "Did you call me Sam?"
The clerk paused and said, "Yes."
Walking back towards her, Sam said, "How did you know my name?"
"You must have told me," she said.
"No, I didn't," Sam said, "How did you know?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know," she said, "You must have said something."
"Yeah," Sam said, "Must have. Thanks again." The clerk watched Sam leave the store.
Frowning to herself she said, "Sam." She shook her head and focused back on her work.
"We were about to send out a search party," Dean said, as Sam returned to Bobby's place.
"I got distracted," Sam said.
"And her name was…" Dean said.
"I was looking around the book store," Sam said. Handing the book to Bobby he said, "Here you go."
"Hey, thanks again for picking this up," Bobby said, as he took it from him.
"Not a problem," Sam said.
"So, do you think that book will be able to answer our questions?" Dean said.
"I guess we'll find out," Bobby said. Looking at Sam, he said, "Did Shayla say when the other book would be in?"
"Who?" Sam said, "Oh, you mean the clerk? She didn't mention another order."
"I'll check in with her later," Bobby said, "And by the way Shayla's not the clerk, she owns the store."
"She has a really great collection in there," Sam said.
"That place is the best resource I've ever found for what we do," Bobby said.
"I wonder where she finds all that stuff," Sam said.
"Rare books can be a hunter's best friend," Bobby said.
"I don't know about you guys," Dean said, "But I'm starting to get a little cabin fever. I'm thinking some good food ought to cure that."
"Is that all you ever think about?" Bobby said.
"I'm hungry," Dean said, defensively, "What do you say, Sam?" Sam was not paying attention to his brother. "Sam?"
Sam looked at Dean, "What?"
"Where did you go just now?" Dean said.
"I was just thinking," Sam said, "Something weird happened when I was at the store."
"Like what?" Dean said.
"The girl who worked there…" Sam started.
"Shayla," Bobby said.
"Right," Sam said, "She called me Sam."
"That is weird," Dean joked, "Calling you by your first name like that."
"The thing is, I didn't tell her my name," Sam said, "So how did she know?"
"You must have told her without realizing it," Bobby said.
"That's what she said," Sam said, "But I'm positive I didn't tell her."
"Sounds like you had quite the conversation with her," Dean said, "Is she pretty?"
"I wasn't hitting on her, Dean," Sam said.
"Why not?" Dean said.
"She's just a nice girl, okay?" Sam said.
"Yeah, okay," Dean smirked.
Shayla turned the key in the lock, and displayed her closed sign on the door. She walked back to the cash register and began to record the day's business, as she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I've got to get someone to fix that furnace," she reminded herself. Sher reached over and pressed a button on a desk fan, which immediately began to whirr and churn air towards her. "That's better," she said.
She was in the process of counting the money, when she noticed she could no longer hear the low roar of the fan and the flow of air had stopped. Shayla stepped towards the fan and pressed a few more buttons, but it remained still and silent. "Great," she sighed. She was about to turn back to her work when she was distracted by the sound of a squeak coming from one of the aisles of the store. She listened for a minute, but not hearing anything else she went back to work. Then the squeak was heard again, followed by another sound, footsteps.
"Hello?" she called out, "Is anyone there?" The footsteps stopped. Walking towards the book aisles she cautiously looked around. The sudden sound of books falling behind her, made her turn sharply. A few books lay on the floor, but no one was to be seen. Shayla walked towards them and bent to pick them up. As she stood up she looked down the aisle and the store was silent. Sighing, she said to herself, "You're getting paranoid."
As she replaced the books on the shelf, she heard a noise that made her stop. It sounded like someone dragging something behind them. She approached the sound and then realized the sound was not something being pulled along, but something breathing. Fear was creeping over her as she slowly walked towards the sound. Looking down the aisle, her eyes widened as she saw a figure in black standing before her. She could make out the features of arms and legs and glowing eyes that stared back at her. The figure's heavy breathing continued as it approached her , reaching with clawed fingers. Shayla backed up a few steps, before she screamed.
"What did I tell you," Dean said, as he took a bite of his hamburger, "This always makes me feel better."
Sitting next to Bobby, across from Dean, Sam said, "You need to get out more."
"We are out," Dean said.
Sam sighed and shook his head.
As he enjoyed his own burger, Bobby said, "Sam, aren't you going to eat something?"
"I have this," Sam said, gesturing to the health shake in front of him.
"That's all?" Bobby said.
"It's all that's healthy here," Sam said.
"What's the fun in that?" Dean said, "Live a little."
"That's what I'm trying to do," Sam said, raising his shake to Dean.
The sound of a phone ringing made them all check to see whose it was. "It's me," Bobby said, answering the call. "Hello?" There was no response on the other end, so he repeated, "Hello?"
"Hi," a female voice said, on the other end, "Excuse me, this might sound a little strange, but I was given your number to call, if I ever had an emergency and I think I'm having one now."
"Shayla?" Bobby said.
Sam and Dean looked at Bobby as the voice one the other end paused. "Bobby?" Shayla said.
"Yeah, how did you get my number?" Bobby said.
"Listen, there is something really strange going on here at the store," Shayla said.
"Okay, like what?" Bobby said.
"There's noises and books falling over by themselves," Shayla said.
"That sounds a little odd, but…" Bobby started.
"You know, maybe I shouldn't have called," Shayla said, "I didn't know it was you and I don't want to bother you."
"You did the right thing," Bobby said, "You sound frightened."
"You would be too, if you saw what I did," Shayla said.
"What did you see?" Bobby said.
"I don't know what it was," Shayla said, "It was breathing heavy, staring at me and it came after me."
"Are you at the store now?" Bobby said.
"Yes," Shayla said.
"Is it still there?" Bobby said.
"I'm not sure," Shayla said.
"Listen, I'm going to come by and check it out," Bobby said.
"Oh, no you don't have to do that," Shayla said.
"I'm on my way," Bobby said, and he ended the call.
"What's going on?" Sam said.
"Something's happening at the book store," Bobby said.
"Is Shayla okay?" Sam said.
"She's scared of something," Bobby said, "Let's go see what we can find."