A young red headed girl walked into the old Roadhouse, hiding behind her older brother. He was 21, only four years older than her 17 years. They both had pale skin, the girl's more so. The boy, unlike his sister, had brown hair that looked black in some light. They both shared the same blue/grey eyes and wore almost matching outfits. Both wore dark denim jeans and while the boy wore a black sweater, the girl wore a black shirt with a purple singlet underneath. She looked down at the floor as she walked, avoiding eye contact with the several gruff looking men in the room. Her brother stopped a few paces in, and she bumped into him. He glanced at her.

"Emmy, be careful." He whispered. She just looked back down and fiddled with her black painted nails. An older woman, in her late 30s to mid 40s, with blonde hair and wearing what seemed to be the 'in thing' round here, a plaid shirt, jeans and an undershirt, glanced up at them.

"You Emily and Kevin Laica?

Kevin nodded. "Yeah. That's us. You Ellen?"

The woman nodded. Emily glanced up at her, then back down to her boots. She followed her brother to the bar and sat down beside him. Kevin looked at her sadly.

"Emmy, you need to get more confident. You can't go around looking at your feet all the time."

Emily nodded and looked at her brother, straightening up. He nodded back. Ellen looked between the pair, and placed 2 bottles of coke on the counter.

"Here ya are. I'll give you a place to stay until you can work things out. Stay as long as you need."

"Thanks." Muttered Kevin, before taking a swig. Emily took her bottle into her hands and took a large sip.


The siblings sat there for an hour, maybe more, before the roadhouse emptied out. Just as Ellen went to lock the doors, two men walked in. The shorter one, was grumbling to himself, and the taller was laughing at him. Ellen said a prayer.

"'Bout time you boys got here! I've been watching these kid's for an hour waiting for you."

Kevin looked up at them. He placed a gentle hand on Emily's shoulder and stood up, walking over to Ellen.

"Ellen, if you don't mind, my sister's getting tired."

Ellen glanced back at him.

"Right. First I want you to meet Sam and Dean Winchester. They're gonna take care of you while I go visit Bobby, get this whole thing sorted out. Sam, Dean, this is Kevin. That over there is his sister, Emily."

Sam smiled and held his hand out to Kevin.

"Nice to meet you Kevin."

Kevin nodded, eyeing him suspiciously. "You too."

Kevin's eyes widened when he heard footsteps, and he turned to check on his sister. She was walking towards them.

"Emmy! What are you doing?"

Emily gave him a cold look, and stopped in front of Sam and Dean. She held out both hands for them to shake. Sam smiled at her, a little less than he had at Kevin, and shook her hand lightly. Dean rose and eyebrow and shook her hand as well. Kevin was standing there in shock. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back to him, and she complied, going one step further and hiding behind him again.

"Kevin and Emily flew over from Australia. I knew a friend of their father's, and he asked me to do a favour and look after them."

"What happened?" asked Dean, his curiosity sparked.

Ellen shook her head and looked down at the pair. Kevin had tensed visibly, his hands clenched tightly. His sister was trembling. Sam, ever the bleeding heart, looked at them sympathetically. Kevin calmed and looked at Ellen.

"Emily needs to sleep, soon."

Ellen nodded and led the siblings to their room. As soon as they were out of earshot, Dean let out a whistle.

"Well, aren't they cheerful kids."

"Dean, didn't they seem a little off to you?"

"Well, yeah, did you see how much black they were wearing?"

"No Dean, I mean…Emily, she didn't say a word to us. She didn't even look at anyone except her brother."

Dean shrugged and walked over to the bar.

"So, she's a little shy. Probably didn't want to stare at my good looks." Dean grinned at Sam, getting a beer from behind the bar. "Besides, they're both a little wrong in the head."

Sam sighed and joined his brother at the bar.

"Whatever dude. Just, don't drink too much."

Dean rolled his eyes, taking another sip from the warm beer.

"Alright, this is your room." Ellen opened the old wooden door and looked inside with a slight frown. The small single bed was a tint of grey, from a layer of dust that had formed. The desk next to the bed was just as bad, and the door on the cupboard underneath it was falling off. Ellen looked back at Kevin.

"Kevin, your room is just there." She said, pointing to a door a few steps down the hall. Kevin looked at Emily, who had moved into her room and was drawing in the dust. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, looking at the several smiley face people who had scribbles in the middle of their torso. He frowned.

"Emmy, I'm just going to be next door, so if you need anything…bang on the wall and I'll come in. okay?"

Emily nodded and started working on a new picture. Kevin sighed and walked away.


Emily woke up the next morning, cuddled up in the dusty blankets. She looked confused, for a moment, and then remembered. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. She glanced at the watch on her left wrist. Instead of looking at the time, she found herself examining the bright purple plastic, and remembering her 12th birthday, when her father had given it to her. She felt the tears again, and a knot formed in her throat. She wheezed, clutching at her heart in an attempt to stop the pain. She ripped the watch off and threw it at the door. She sniffed and stood up, forcing herself to calm down. She gasped and wrapped her arms around herself as a fresh wave of grief hit her and she fell to the floor. Her brother must have heard the thud, because he ran in seconds later, pulling on his sweater. His gaze softened when he found her sobbing, fighting the tears, and holding herself together. He walked over to her, his feet padding softly along the floor, and brought her into a warm hug. After she stopped crying, Kevin held her out in front of him. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her lips trembled.

"Come on, you need some breakfast. I think I smell bacon."

Emily nodded and followed her brother out.

When they came down stairs, there were only 5 people in the bar. Sam, Dean, Ellen and two others the siblings hadn't met yet. Kevin walked in front, head high and a hard look on his face, while Emily was in her usual position, behind him and head down, staring at her feet. Ellen looked up at them.

"Ah, good. I was about to come up and get you. We're having bacon and eggs for breakfast, want some?"

Kevin glanced at his sister and she glanced up at him.

"Yes please. She wants a big plate, if that's ok." He said, taking a seat at the end of the bar. Everyone else was at the other end. Ellen nodded and placed 2 plates in front of them, then put 4 at the other end for the others.

"You haven't met these 2, have you? This is my daughter, Jo, and that's Ash."

Kevin looked at them and nodded.

"I'm Kevin. That's my sister Emily."

Jo smiled warmly at the pair, and Ash walked over. Ellen watched him carefully.

"Hey there. Ellen doesn't introduce me very well; I'm the brains of this whole operation deal." Ash held out his hand in front of Emily. She glared at it. Kevin was also glaring, at Ash. Ash shrugged and sat next to Emily, putting a hand around her shoulders, and started yammering on about how great he was. Kevin stood up and walked over to Ash.

"Get your arm off of my sister."

Ash looked at Kevin for a second, and then removed his arm.

"Alright, alright. Keep cool."

He moved back over to Jo and the boys. Kevin looked at Emily.

"Emmy, you ok?"

Emily was trembling, eyes squeezed shut, but she nodded. Ellen piled some bacon onto each plate, putting extra on Emily's, then did another round with the eggs.


Strangler - First Chapter! Thanks for reading. I'm a slow writer but reviews speed me up, so if you want an update and you want it NOW, please review. If not, I'll get around to it eventually. Thanks again. Tips appreciated. Virtual Cookies for people who point out any errors that may have slipped past me.