The black Impala pulled to a stop outside the College Campus buildings, and Dean Winchester pulled a face.
"Remind me why we're here?"
"It was your idea to check out this College, remember?" Sam said with a hint of a smile, getting out of the car. Around them, students were milling around, talking quietly. To the untrained eye, the scene would have looked normal, but already Sam could see something wasn't right. Students were walking in groups of no less than four people, heads bowed as they talked, and conversations hushed. there was certainly something eerie about this place.
"Hey Sammy!"
Sam turned, and saw that his brother was grinning in the direction of a group of girls who'd walked past him. It was clear that there was one thing on his mind.
"Dean, concentrate." Sam snapped, hauling his bag from the backseat. Dean scowled at his younger brother and followed him as the two walked in the direction of the buildings that were obviously apartments for students.
Sam knocked on the door, and a skinny, curly haired guy opened it, a grin on his face. "New guys?" he asked brightly, and as the two nodded, he ushered them to back up. "Fantastic, I'm Chris."
The brothers introduced themselves, and Chris nodded, giving them a quick low-down on the College and its students as they walked.
"Uh, Chris?" Sam asked, a little confused, "Where exactly are we going?"
Chris grinned, "If your new here, then you'd better meet some of the more 'friendly' people on campus. The girls." he winked, "And I needed to head over there anyway to talk to Bailey."
"Bailey?" Dean's ears had practically perked up.
Chris gave a long, low whistle. "Ahh, Bailey. God-damned gorgeous. Smart too." he stopped as they reached a new building, and knocked on the door.
Dean nudged Sam and grinned, and Sam rolled his eyes, mouthing, 'cut it out.'
The door opened, and Sam saw Dean's jaw drop just a little bit. He looked over and was surprised himself. A girl was standing there, with curly brown hair falling across her shoulders, dressed in an over sized checkered shirt. Her smile faltered slightly when she saw Chris.
"Yeah, I know, I haven't finished with the book yet, Chris."
"What? Oh, the book. Nah, that's fine. I wanted you to meet two new guys, this is Sam, and this is Dean."
Bailey looked from one to the other. Her gaze rested on Dean, taking in every detail, and the corner of her mouth twitched a fraction. Beside him, Sam could feel Dean stand just a little taller, and grinned. Bailey turned her gaze to him, and Sam felt his heart begin to beat faster. Freckles were splattered across her nose, forming soft, coffee colored patterns on her nose and cheeks. Her eyes were a bright green-y color, and her lips were now curled into a half smile. Sam barely hear her introduce herself.
"Bailey."
The brothers nodded, smiled and said hello, and Bailey looked back to Chris.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know Nikki?"
A line appeared between Bailey's eyebrows. "Short kid, hair like a guy, always wore that scrappy leather jacket no matter what the weather?"
"Yep, that's the one."
"Obviously I do know her."
"Well apparently she didn't come home last night. Chuck, you know the guy in my dorm? Yeah, well the two of them kinda had this thing going on, so he was calling her all last night and this morning. No answer, went straight to answerphone."
Bailey didn't look impressed.
"I think of at least ten reasons to not pick up the phone when you see Chuck calling." she turned to go back inside, but Chris caught her arm.
"Her room is on the east side of the Campus, and apparently she was at Felicity Millers party last night, so she would have gone home late."
Something changed in Bailey's face, and she gritted her teeth, seeming to have an internal struggle. Eventually, she sighed, resignedly muttering that she'd be back down in five minutes.
The door closed behind her, and Chris looked back at the Winchesters, grinning proudly. "Ain't she a pistol?"
"That's one way of putting it." Dean said with a grin, glancing at Sam, who looked slightly dazed, but was frowning.
"Sam?"
"Huh? Yeah, uh..." he snapped himself out of the trance and looked at Chris, "What's so important about the East side of the Campus?"
"In the past three months there have been four deaths in this College, all around the East Side of the Campus. One was found in the Girl's bathroom in the lecture building over there," Chris pointed, "Two were found by their room mates, and one was found on the grass."
"All Girls?"
"Yep." Chris shrugged, "Creepy, huh?"
The door opened again, and Bailey stepped out, fully dressed now, and judging by the disappointed look on Dean's face, he'd preferred her in the long shirt.