AN: So this idea has been nagging on me for about two or three months, and I'm finally starting it! I ended up changing the title about ten times before I finally decided on this one. Comes from a Three Days Grace (my other boys, besides my Supernatural ones) song, Time That Remains.
Another shot from the glass, and the cool relief of the liquor rushed down Anthony's throat. In the other hand, he held the picture of his beautiful, but recently late wife.
Her brown eyes made him think of the colour when a ray of sun would hit a glass of whiskey, much like the one he was holding now. Her bright smile was starting to become the only thing he could make out, as the constant drinks began to blur his vision.
Anthony brought the picture up to his lips, and laid a gentle kiss to the photograph. "I'm so sorry, Molly." He whispered to it. A small teardrop landed on the picture as his precious memories of her flooded in. "I love you."
A strong rush of wind tore the photograph from his shaking hands.
"Wind? I'm in my living room!"
The sudden flickering of lights began to give Anthony the feeling of a hangover.
"Damn landlord." He mumbled angrily, as he got up to make his way to the fuse box.
His trembling fingers fumbled to make sense of the wires and switches, when the flickering abruptly stopped.
A sigh of both frustration and relief passed Anthony's lips. When Anthony turned around again, the first and last thing he saw were whiskey brown eyes.
"C'mon, Sammy." Dean whined from behind the Impala's wheel. "We just finished up the last case, why we gotta dive right into another one?"
"Because people are dying." Sam said in a "matter of fact" tone.
Dean huffed. "I'm just saying, if we're gonna jump in on something this soon, shouldn't we be trying to track down Crowley?"
"This one's got zombies."
Dean briefly looked away from the road and met Sam's gaze with wide eyes. "Zombies, huh?"
"Mm-hmm." Sam said with a smirk.
"Tell me more."
"Thought that might get your attention. So, up in Oak Run, Illinois there've been a bunch of murders, the most recent being some guy named Anthony Tigre-" Sam was interrupted by Dean's chuckle. "What?"
"Anthony Tigre? No way that guy didn't grow up as Tony the Tigre."
Sam rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Hilarious, Dean. Anyway, one neighbour heard screaming and went to check on him. Here's where it gets weird. When they opened the door, they swear up and down that his wife was standing over the body."
"Why's that weird? Wait, let me guess, the wife's dead?" Dean asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yup, died in a car accident a few weeks ago. There's been witnesses to every murder and they all said that a dead loved one was at the scene."
"So someone's waking the dead. Why?"
Sam shrugged. "Guess we'll have to find out."
The Impala's engine roared as Dean increased the gas. "Let's go stake some zombies!"
"I'm really getting tired of going over this." The squeaky voiced man said as he pushed his dark locks from his thick lenses.
"And I'm getting tired of people saying that every single time we do this." Dean thought, becoming easily agitated, more so than usual due to the fact that he was currently wearing those cheap suits he hated so much.
Sam's authoritative, yet calm voice brought Dean's focus back where it should be. "I know this must be hard, Mr.…"
"Collier. Kurt Collier." The man finished.
"Mr. Collier. But we really need your help, so anything you can tell us helps, not matter how strange it sounds."
Kurt looked down somberly, and Sam felt for him, he really did. The poor guy probably thinks he's gone insane, and no doubt he has other people telling him the same thing.
A long tired sigh passed Kurt's chapped lips. "Okay, fine." There was a long pause, and Dean could see the mild annoyance in Kurt's eyes be replaced with a mix of grief and horror.
"Well," He began. "I was in my room reading, when suddenly I heard screaming… A lot of it…" His eyes lowered and he started nervously twiddling his thumbs.
"Take your time Mr. Collier." Sam comforted.
"Yeah, take your time, like how Sam took his sweet ass time getting me out of Purgatory." Dean couldn't stop the spiteful thought. He distracted himself with a different one. "And it's not like lives are at stake or anything."
After a few moments of silence, Kurt collected himself. "Once I started hearing- that- I ran out to check on him. Anthony, that is. I didn't bother knocking, I just- I barged right in, and that's when-…" Kurt swallowed, and took a shuddering breath. "I saw her." His voice was nearly inaudible.
"Her who?" Dean finally spoke up.
Kurt's pain filled eyes met Dean's. "Molly, his wife. She was-" He swallowed again as though he was choking down bile. "She was holding his heart is her hands. How- how is that possible?"
"Can you think of any reason Molly would have wanted to hurt him?"
Pain in Kurt's face was replaced with confusion. "She's dead! Why the hell would that matter?"
"Please, we're just trying any angle we can. Can you think of anything?" Sam asked in the gentle voice that could coax a confession out of an innocent man.
Kurt huffed. "No, they were newlyweds. Still had that whole 'nothing could ever separate us' 'love you more than words' thing going on."
"Okay, thank you. One last question, did you notice anything strange after that?" Sam asked.
"You mean besides my neighbour slaughtering her husband?" He spat out, wishing that everything could be some sort of demented dream. "I guess, there is one thing."
"What is it?" Dean inquired hastily.
"There was this girl. No older than sixteen. Saw her trying to break into the house after the cops left."
That wasn't an answer either of the Winchesters had been expecting.
"A girl?" Dean repeated.
"Yeah, didn't get a good look at her though. I shouted something, and she ran off."
Before Dean could ask anything further, Sam cut him short. "Alright. Thank you for your time. Call us if you notice anything else."
Once they were out of Kurt's view, Dean smacked Sam's arm.
"Ow! The hell was that for?" Sam griped.
"We should have asked him more about the chick trying to break in."
"He said he didn't see anything else. What's so important about the girl? Could just be some teenager out on a dare, or something stupid like that."
"Or it could be some teenager screwing around with zombies, or something stupid like that."
Sam's eyebrows knitted. "You think a kid is behind all this?"
"Kids are messed up." Dean deadpanned. "We've seen them do all sorts of crazy crap before."
"Kinda hoping you're wrong about it though."
"Let's get ourselves a room before we try to find her. Then maybe we could grab some food."
Sam rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Of course that's where your mind is right now."
"If the zombies are getting a snack, then why can't I?"
Although he was disturbed, Sam couldn't help but smile. "Ugh, dude that's just gross."
After driving with more zombie jokes and outdated music, they finally pulled in front of a hotel. Dean dropped Sam off at the front desk where Sam set off to get their room, while Dean parked the car.
The check in woman was rather beautiful. Dean would have hit on her if he was around. Eyes the colour of the Caribbean were hidden behind a strand of sun yellow hair. Her coral lips revealed shining white teeth as she spoke.
"Are you Alyssa's father?"
Sam's small analysis of her ended. "Who?"
"Oh, sorry, I thought you might be him."
"Him who?"
"Uh, I don't think I should say. Privacy reasons and everything."
Sam flashed his fake badge. "FBI. Now, who's Alyssa?"
The woman chewed her lip and answered reluctantly. "She's been here a few weeks. Normally I wouldn't have given a room to someone so young without a guardian, but she keeps promising that her dad is coming."
"Was she here around the time of the murders?"
Concern filled her blue eyes. "She's- she's not in some kind of trouble is she?"
"Not yet." "No, we, my partner and I, are looking for witnesses. Could you please tell me where I can find her?"
Sam watched the hesitation appear on her face. "Room 24."
Sam nodded. "Thank you. Oh, and I'll be needing a room."
Pocketing the keys to their recently acquired room, Sam rushed outside to see Dean sitting in the Impala.
"Dude, where were you?"
Dean shrugged. "Here. Didn't feel like having some old lady ask us if we wanted one bed."
"Actually she was kind of cute."
"Oh, of friggin course she was." Dean grumbled. Winchester luck strikes again.
"But, Dean, I think I found our mystery girl."
"The one Kurt saw outside Anthony's house?"
"Think so. She got here alone a few weeks ago and has been holed up in the hotel ever since."
Dean reached over to his glove box and stuck his gun in his waistband. Sam stared at it for a moment.
"Really think you're gonna have to use it?"
Dean shrugged again. "Can't be too careful."
As nonchalantly as possible, the brothers approached room 24. The whole time Dean was wishing that this could be over soon, so that they could track down Crowley's irritating ass. After being in Purgatory for so long, Dean had been less hesitant of killing things that got in his way.
Sam was just wishing that the kid had had nothing to do with the case. Due to his being away from hunting for such a long time and finally learning how to settle down, his once always abundant compassion had returned after a few years of absence.
Sam and Dean shared a look before Sam knocked on the door. They heard shuffling from behind the door, followed by a young voice. "Who is it?"
Dean took over this time. "FBI, we've got some questions for you."
There was no response for seemingly a very long time, before they heard the click of a latch unlocking. Chocolate brown eyes, almost familiar ones, eyed both the brothers, hidden behind a fallen lock of dark brown hair pulled back into a sturdy ponytail.
"Sam? Dean?"
Both the brother's eyes widened. "Do we know you?"
The girl nodded. "It's me. It's Sari."
Holy crap that was a long intro. Sorry if I seemed to kind of drag in spots, I was just trying to get the story moving along a little quicker, so I could get to the good stuff. Explanations and action are coming soon! I'm nearly done with the second chapter already, so I might have it posted later today. I say today because I ended up getting this thing up after midnight. Aaaand, now I'm rambling… Drop me a review if you've got the time. See y'all soon!