She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she rounded the corner. It was here somewhere she knew it, she could feel it. It was her first time back hunting since the 'accident'. She was rusty, that much she knew. She hadn't been hunting in a long time, but this was more than her just being rusty. She was completely at a loss. What she thought was just a simple haunting had turned out to be something much more complicated. When she'd taken the job she thought she'd be in and out within a day, but it had been nearly a week now and there had been no avail. She'd been trying desperately to find out who had died here, but nothing had come up yet. There had been no reports of any deaths within the household, and there was nothing she could find within the house itself that would indicate otherwise. She was at a complete loss.
She decided to leave it for the night, there was nothing she could do here, apart from maybe get herself killed. Instead she returned to the crappy motel room where she had spent the past week. She knew she needed help, she'd done all the research she could think of. Searched the house from top to bottom but nothing had come up. She knew there had to be something, there always was, but whatever it was she couldn't find it, and as the week went on she could feel herself losing hope.
She pulled out her cell phone as she sat on the edge of the lumpy motel bed. She dialled a number and waited for it to ring, "Bobby? Yeah it's Nyx." she sighed as she leaned back on the bed so her feet were still resting on the floor. Bobby had been like a father to her, and she hadn't wanted to call and bother him. He had been worried about her going back to work, he thought it was too soon. She hadn't spoken to him in months, not since after...well, she hadn't spoken to him in months.
"Nyx? My God girl I haven't heard from you since…how are you?" He'd cut himself off, and she felt herself cringe.
"I'm good Bobby, I just need your help. I'm working this case, and I thought it was just going to be a simple haunting, but I can't find out who died there. There are no records, or even myths." It was unusual for something like this to happen, but not completely impossible. Usually if someone had died in the house, or if there had been something odd about it or the family there were local tales, but this time she could find nothing.
Bobby was silent for a moment, "I'll have a look into it. There's really nothing? Where are you?" She rattled off the address, asking him to get back to her as quickly as possible. There was nothing she could do for now, so she stripped off and climbed into the shower. The pressure was weak, and as she climbed out she was sure she was still dirty, but it was better than nothing. She needed to do laundry in the next few days as well, everything was dirty, and she was beginning to smell.
She climbed into bed, fully dressed as always. She was always prepared for the worst, especially since the "accident". She managed to get in a few hours sleep before her phone rang, blasting out 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Nyx, you're not going to be happy." Bobby's voice grumbled down the phone. Nyx groaned as she sat up, turning on the lamp.
"What is it Bobby?" She looked at the clock, it had just gone four in the morning.
"Well I tried to find out who had died there, and like you said I couldn't find anything. I've looked everywhere I could think of, whoever it is, they didn't die there. Is there anything in the house that could belong to them? An object that could be keeping them there?" She thought carefully. She'd gone over the house from top to bottom, she couldn't find anything that could be keeping a spirit there. Unless it was a piece of old dusty furniture.
"I couldn't find anything Bobby. Not a toe nail. God, this was supposed to be simple. Maybe I just don't have it anymore, maybe I should quit." she said, more to herself than to Bobby.
Bobby snapped, "Don't you dare say that! You're one of the best damn hunters I know!" She felt bad, ever since her father died Bobby had been like a dad to her, sometimes she thought Bobby was a better dad to her than her own was.
She was feeling sorry for herself and she knew it, "I'm sorry, I know, it's just this is getting to me. It used to be so much easier."
"Oh boo hoo, so you're a little rusty. Get over it! You have a case to solve." She rolled her eyes, good old Bobby, "Listen, I'm sending you some help. Don't complain, you could use it." She was about to tell him not to bother, but she wasn't so full of pride that she couldn't accept help when she needed it.
"Who is it?" She asked tentatively. Hoping he would send anyone else but them.
"Sam and Dean." She gasped. She hadn't seen them since she was about 13 years old, and they hadn't parted on the best of terms. Ten years was a long time to hold a grudge, but this was the Winchesters. She couldn't even remember what they had argued about, but she had no doubt that they did.
"Bobby…" She started, "They aren't going to want to help me." She knew they were the best hunters; there was no one better than them. Not that many hunters would admit that, but she'd known since the second she laid eyes on them, if she was going to hunt with anyone, she wanted it to be them. Even as kids they were better hunters than most of the seasoned hunters out there. They'd grown up knowing all of the dangers out there. They'd been hunting their whole lives, and she almost wished she could take that away from them. They'd never known innocence.
She heard Bobby sigh, "Nyx, they aren't going to care about some adolescent argument that you can't even remember!" She wanted to believe him, Sam had been her best friend as a child. Sam and Dean were the only friends she had as a child. Maybe even ever. Like them she was always on the move, but Dean and Sam had looked out for her when they could, "I talked to them; they'll be there in the morning. Don't go back to that house till they get there." Nyx thanked Bobby and said good night.
She slipped back under the covers to try and get some more sleep, but her mind was filled with thoughts of Sam and Dean. Would they remember? Would they still hate her, or would they have forgiven her? Were they still the same boys she knew ten years ago?
She knew the answer to the last one. She knew they weren't the same boys they were, Sam had left to go to law school, but now he was back and he wanted revenge. He wasn't going to be the same sweet little boy; and Dean? Dean was Dean. Lost and angry. That boy was so tortured; he'd had less of a childhood than Sam and Nyx. He'd been held responsible for Sammy his whole life, and he'd always felt responsible for her as well. She missed him, she missed them both.
She didn't know what she'd say to them when she saw them. Dean especially. He was stubborn, and if anyone could hold a grudge for ten years, it was him. She didn't know if she could take seeing him hate her, but even more so she didn't know if she could cope if he didn't.