My Black Dalia
Chapter One
The pool cue lined up with the ball, clear blue eyes lined up the shot, mapping the direction of the balls. All she had to do was sink this last shot and walk away with five hundred bucks. Hunting might not pay very much, but hustling pool sure did. Dalia hit the shot and smirked as the eight ball rolled right into the corner pocket.
She stood up straight and laid the pool cue on the table. "Thanks boys." She picked up the money. "That was a hell of a game." Dalia laughed as she turned. The plan was to have one more cold beer before calling it a night. Her new buddies seemed to have other plans.
Big, dumb, and ugly, who she'd won the money from, caught her arm just above the elbow. His big hand and thick fingers wrapped nearly all the way around. "Hold it right there you little bitch." He held her still as his other two buddies moved to block her escape. "I want my money back."
Dalia quickly pocketed the money. "Well that's just too damn bad. I won it." She tried to pull her arm away, testing his strength.
"You hustled me!" He was getting angrier by the second and starting to draw attention.
"Yeah, I did." She was done playing games with these idiots. Dalia planted her boot on the wannabe bad ass's chest and pushed, kicking him back into the rack of pool cues on the wall. His buddies didn't like that very much. One of them grabbed her from behind in a bear hug while the other one positioned himself in front of her. He drew his fist back and Dalia braced herself for the blow.
Out of nowhere a hand shot out and stopped the punch. A tall man with vivid green eyes stepped between Dali and her would-be assailant. "Didn't your mama ever teach you its not nice to hit a lady?" The man holding her suddenly let go and Dalia had to grab onto the pool table to keep from falling over. "You got that one Sammy?"
An even taller man with a head of amazing hair was facing off with the other Neanderthal. "Yeah, I got this one."
"This is between us and the thieving bitch." The leader of the dumbass club got up from the mess of broken pool cues. "This don't concern you."
"Nice English," Dalia muttered. She sighed and pulled her favorite knife from inside her leather jacket. "Alright boys, this has been fun, but me and my new friends here are leaving."
The three amigos eyes the knife. Dalia knew it. They were just a bunch of big pussies. She slowly backed up, twirling the knife in her fingers, the two men who'd come to help behind her. Dalia didn't turn her back until they were outside. "I'd buy you boys a drink but I don't think I want to go back in there." She turned to look at them. "Thanks for the help."
"No offense, but the next time you decide to hustle a game of pool, you might wanna try someone more your size." The shorter of the two crossed his arms. "We might not be around next time."
Dalia rolled her eyes. "I'll keep it in mind." She turned to head back towards her motel.
"Hey wait!" Dalia turned. "Do you know anything about the disappearances?"
Recognition started to sink in. there was only one reason why strangers would ask about something like that. These boys were hunters. Dalia smirked. "Sorry boys, you're about four hours too late."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I already took care of the problem. A vampire, kidnapping people and draining them." She shrugged her shoulders. "Wasn't that hard to take out one lone bloodsucker."
"You're a hunter?" They looked a little shocked. It was cute.
"That's right." She turned again.
"What's your name?"
"Dalia," she called over her shoulder. "See you boys around." She gave them a wave and kept walking.
Dean looked at Sam. "Is it just me, or are you a little pissed off?"
Sam smirked and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Think of it as a vacation instead of getting beaten by a girl."
Dean watched Dalia until she rounded the corner at the end of the street. "Don't be a smartass." He followed Sam back to the Impala. He really hoped they ran into Dalia again.
One Year Later…
The floorboards creaked under Dean's feet as he slowly walked through the abandoned house. He and Sam had caught wind of this case two days ago. It was the classic abandoned house haunted by a vengeful spirit gig. They weren't exactly sure what they were dealing with, so they were scoping out the place. Sam was in the next room with the EMF while Dean tried to draw out the spirit. A thump in the room to Dean's left drew his attention. It wasn't Sam. Slowly he started towards the door, shot gun loaded with rock salt ready. He kicked down the door, black and red caught his eye and without thinking he shot, the same moment he was shot.
His body slammed back against the wall, the air forced from his lungs. It had been a long time since he'd been hit with rock salt. He'd forgotten how bad it hurt. "Son of a bitch!"
"Dean!" Sam ran in, gun ready. "What is it? Are you okay?"
Dean took Sam's hand and got to his feet. "Yeah, just some rock salt to the chest." He rubbed his chest tying to ease the pain.
"What kind of spirit uses rock salt?" Sam looked around the room.
"Not a spirit." They looked over in the corner of the room. A young woman with black streaked blonde hair and crystalline blue eyes was slowly getting to her feet. She was dressed in black leather and a deep red halter that drew the eyes. "Not exactly how I wanted to meet up again." She looked down at her shirt, littered with rock salt holes. "Damn it, this was my free drink shirt!"
"Dalia?" Sam asked.
"Dalia? That chick from the vampire hunt a year back?" Dean stared at the girl. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Afraid not." She smiled and dusted herself off. "So, you heard about the dead blondes too?" she asked.
"Yeah, we heard about them." Dean crossed his arms. "This is our case, but I think there's some crossroads demons next state over. Knock yourself out."
"Dean," Sam warned.
Dalia didn't seem to mind. "Dean, that's no way to treat an old friend." She pumped her shotgun, emptying the chamber. "You know, we could work together."
Dean laughed. "Not likely honey."
"Will you excuse us for a minute?" Sam grabbed Dean and pulled him into the next room.
"What Sam?"
"We could use the help." Sam sighed and shook his head. "Look, Dean. I know you're still a little upset about the whole vampire thing, but that was a year ago. She could know things about this case that we don't."
Dean sighed and weighed the options. He really didn't like the idea of teaming up with Dalia. She was too much like him, and that was a bitch to admit. On the other hand, if they worked with her he didn't have to worry about her getting in the way. And she wasn't exactly bad to look at either. He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah, fine, whatever." They walked back into the room Dalia was waiting in. She was scrolling through her phone. "Alright blondie, you're in."
She looked up and grinned. "Awesome." She tucked her phone back into her pocket. "Your place or mine?" She walked past them and out of the house.
"I'm so going to regret this." Dean sighed and followed her out of the house.
xXx
Dean pulled up behind Dalia at her motel. He threw the Impala into park and killed the engine. "I'm still not sure about this."
"Let it go, Dean." Sam climbed out of the car and grabbed his bag from the back seat.
With little choice, Dean climbed out and grabbed his bag. They met Dalia in front of her door and waited while she unlocked it. "Welcome to my humble abode." She pushed open the door and walked inside.
Dean had to admit, he was slightly impressed. Newspaper clippings, computer printouts, maps, statements, lore, she had it all on the tables, the extra bed, and the walls. It looked like she was a bigger nerd than Sam was when it came to research. "Okay Stanford, tell us what you've got."
Dalia put her hands on her hips. "Stanford?"
"That's what he used to call me." Sam sat at the table and picked up one of the newspaper clippings. "I used to go to Stanford, so I know how to do proper research."
"Oh," Dalia sighed. "Well, alright then." She sat at the table with Sam. "Billy Yorke," she started. "Born in 1863, he lived in that house with his wife, three sons, and twin daughters. He owned a private practice, he was a doctor. All of his patients loved him, couldn't stop singing his praise."
"So he was a great doctor, doesn't sound like someone who'd want to hang around and kill a bunch of blondes." Dean opened the mini fridge and pulled out three beers and passed them out.
"Just hearing that side, no." Dalia popped the top on her beer and took a drink. "Starting in 1880 when Yorke was seventeen, young women started to go missing." Dalia handed the boys a couple of photos of the first missing girls. "All of them were young blondes. At first it was just one maybe two girls every six months." As she explained she kept showing them photos. "Soon, that wasn't enough. Billy Boy was burning through women. Over the course of thirty years, he killed sixty-eight women."
"How?" Dean asked.
"Mutilations mostly. When he was found out he claimed it was for science. Police surrounded his home. Before they could get inside Billy killed his whole family."
"Talk about your psychos." Sam flipped through a few more pictures.
"When the cops finally managed to get inside, Billy attacked him. It's estimated that they shot him forty times." Dalia sighed and finished her beer. "Now Billy's back and he's trying to continue his work."
"By kidnapping blondes." Sam sighed and sat back, rubbing his face.
"Which explains why you're here." Dean smirked and looked at Dalia. "You were planning on using yourself as bait."
"What better way to lure out a blonde killing ghost then with a blonde?" She grabbed her laptop. "Pizza okay with you two?"
"Using yourself as bait is a stupid idea." Dean looked through a little more of the information. "And yeah, pizza's great. Extra anchovies for Sammy boy."
Dalia rolled her eyes. "Look, you already agreed to work together on this, so like it or not, I'm the bait, because I'm Billy's type." She concentrated on the screen, filling out an online order for pizza while they talked. "Anyways, there is one thing I haven't been able to figure out."
"What's that?" Dean leaned over her shoulder to watch her.
Dalia sent the order and leaned back in the chair, tipping her head back to look up at Dean. "How is he getting the girls? From what I can tell, everyone is terrified to go anywhere near that house, especially now that more girls are disappearing."
Dean looked down into her eyes, noticed the absolute concern in them. "That is strange." He sighed and sat back down. "It doesn't matter right now. All that matters is getting rid of the spirit. So where was Billy Boy buried so we can salt and burn his bones."
"He wasn't buried. The locals were so afraid of him they took him outside and burned his body." Dalia rubbed her eyes. "I thought that maybe that's how he was luring girls. If they come close to the property he could get them to get inside." She shook her head. "I don't know."
"It's a decent theory." Sam stood up with a couple of the photos and started to pace. "That just means we have to find the cursed object that he's so tied to." He looked up. "What about his medical tools? The ones he used on the girls?"
Dalia shook his head. "I've been in that house three times. I haven't been able to find them."
"Wait, wait, wait. You've been in that house three times, and Billy hasn't attacked you?" Dean asked.
"I didn't say that. I said I didn't find the medical tools. He's attacked me plenty." She rubbed the back of her head. "He managed to yank a chunk of hair out. But the medical tools have to be in the house. I haven't found any record of them anywhere else, and believe me, I've checked."
Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, so here's the plan, we eat, sleep, and in the morning, we go back and we gank this son of a bitch before he can kill anyone else."
Dalia smiled a little as Dean sat back down and kicked his feet up on the spare chair. He stretched his arms behind his head, causing his shirts to ride up. She caught a glimpse of the lean muscles underneath and quickly looked away. She was on a job, she didn't need to get tangled up with a Winchester. "So, about the last time we met, I didn't realize you guys were Winchesters."
Dean smirked and dropped an arm over the back of the chair. "But you do now?"
She shrugged. "Nowadays I don't think there are many hunters who don't know who you two are." She smiled a little and winked. "Or your friends."
"Friends?" Sam asked looking up from the research he was looking at. "What friends?"
"Oh come on. Everyone knows you've got it in with an angel and the King of Hell."
Dean rolled his eyes. "If those are our friends we may need to start branching out, Sammy."
Dalia smiled and laughed when there was a knock on the door. "Food's here." She got up and grabbed her wallet from the night table. Dean followed her to the door and took the pizzas from the delivery kid while she paid. When he didn't leave Dalia raised an eyebrow. "What?"
The kid who couldn't be over seventeen looked at the money in his hand and then back up at Dalia. "The polite tip is twenty percent, ma'am."
Dalia's jaw nearly dropped. He did not just call her ma'am. "Oh? I'm sorry, is that what it is now?" She smiled and took a step back. "Here's a tip. Get a real job." She slammed the door in his face. "Asshole."
Dean laughed. "Ma'am?"
"Shut up." Dalia walked over and grabbed a slice of pizza. "God I hate teenagers." She kicked her feet up on the table and leaned back. She glanced at Dean from the corner of her eye. She noticed the way he was watching her, slowly looking up from her feet to her eyes and back down again. She had to admit that she kind of liked the fact that Dean was checking her out. Maybe this hunt wouldn't be such a bad idea.
The three of them ate and swapped hunting stories before deciding to call it a night. "Sorry I only have the two beds." Dalia looked at the boys. "I can call for a rollaway cot, or one of you can take the couch."
Dean shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about us. Sammy and I are used to roughin' it." He slapped Sam on the back. "Ain't that right Sammy?"
"Yeah."
She smiled and nodded a little. "Alright. Well I'm going to change, so fight over the bed." She grabbed her clothes and headed into the bathroom.
Dean turned and looked at Sam. "You can take the bed."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "Just like that?"
"Yeah, just like that." Dean pulled his button down off and tossed it over to his bag.
Sam laughed. "I see what this is about. You're trying to impress Dalia." He shook his head as he got ready for bed.
"That's got nothing to do with it. I just know how much of a baby you are when you don't get a good night's sleep." He'd never outright admit that Sam was right. He didn't know what it was about Dalia, maybe the fact that she was a damn good hunter, maybe just the fact that she was smoking hot, but he was attracted to her. He looked up when the bathroom door opened and Dalia walked out. She was wearing the shortest pair of shorts he'd ever seen in a neon green and an itty bitty black tank top. God help him he was going to have a boner all damn night like some randy teenager.
"Nighty night boys." Dalia smiled and climbed into bed and plugged her phone in before turning off the lights.