A/N: Thank you to all who have favored, followed and left me reviews for this story. The support is great and I hope you enjoy the journey we are about to take. Things aren't going to be easy for any of them so be prepared. Reviews are what keep me writing, if you have a moment, please leave me one. NC
Chapter 2
The abandoned warehouse was cloaked in shadows as the hunter walked around the devil's trap painted on the cement floor. She looked at the demon chained to the chair as he glared hatefully back at her.
"You know you can make this easy on yourself and tell me what I want to know...Or we can do it the hard way." Mary stated going to her bag to pull out several items and laying them on a table she set up.
"Go to hell, I ain't telling you nothin'!" he growled at her. "Think you're so smart, you just wait. You won't even know what hit you." he laughed until Mary doused him in holy water making him scream in agony.
"You know my father was a great hunter and his father before him and so on. They learned some interesting tricks over the years on how to deal with the likes of you." she said calmly as she prepared the items.
"What are you doing?" the demon asked as he strained against his bonds. He watched as Mary pushed his sleeve up and inserted a large bore needle. "Stop it!"
"You see, I can splash holy water on you all day long and I know you'll heal yourself." she explained. "But this, it was my Daddy's idea." she said attaching a bag of holy water to the line. "You see now you will get a steady flow of holy water into your body and it will run through your veins burning you from the inside out."
"No! No!" the demon screeched as the holy water started to enter his veins. He continued to scream as Mary stood to the side waiting for him to understand how serious she was. She had hardened over the years of hunting and obtaining information from demons had become a specialty of hers. Mary had studied all of the family hunter's journals and gleaned a wealth of knowledge from them and she used it to protect what was most precious to her, her sons.
"Think maybe you're ready to talk now?" she asked after five minutes. She stopped the flow and watched the demon jerking and straining and doing everything it could to stop the agony he was in.
"As you can see, my Daddy trained me well until he was murdered by a yellow eyed demon. So talk and if I think it's worth it, I'll end this quickly."
"Alright..." he wheezed out. "Just no more..."
Mary waited as the demon started talking and was horrified at what she was learning. She never wanted this life, but fate had a different plan for her. After Dean was born, she tried to make a normal life for them, but ended up having to vanish a vengeful spirit from the house they were renting. She met up with an older hunter when Dean was about a year old and became close friends with him. He invited her to stay with him and helped her on her search for the demon that killed her family and fiancé. He became a father figure to her son and taught him about the life. She was amazed at how quickly Dean took to hunting and could see her bloodline was continuing in him. Even though Dean was trained as a hunter, Mary always gave him the option of whether he wanted to be a hunter or not. She never forced him into the life. It was as if the life was already in him and blossomed as he grew older. He was a natural and was far wiser than his tender years. When she brought Sam home to join their family, Dean took being a big brother seriously and helped take care of him when Mary would go on a hunt. He never complained and as Sam grew he took it upon himself to begin training Sam to take care of himself. They never hid the truth from Sam about the supernatural and found he was a whiz with research, even at an early age. The boys grew up in the life and accepted it, but never felt they had follow in their Mom's footsteps. They knew she hunted for a demon with yellow eyes because he took everything from her.
spn
The Impala hummed down the road bringing back memories to Sam of all the times they had traveled in the past. He gazed absently out the side window feeling unsure if he should try to talk to Dean or not. It had been so long since they were face to face that he wasn't sure how to act. They had always been so in sync growing up that it was creepy at times. He remembered Uncle Bobby saying it was like they were the twins, even though there was four years difference in their ages. He even called what they had a shining because they seemed to read each other's thoughts and could tell what the other was going to do. When they hunted together they were a formal pair and, no other hunters could come close to their skills. Sam was the brains and Dean was the muscle, though their roles could be reversed at any time. Dean learned early on it was better for him to take the monsters out and let Sam back him up and he accepted that role. When their Mom had told him about being adopted, when he was ten, it still didn't change anything between them; in fact, it seemed to make their bond stronger. Sam never felt like an outsider and was not treated any differently by Dean. But now, they were traveling different paths and it felt awkward.
"So how are things going?" Sam asked cautiously finally breaking the silence in the car.
"Can't complain I guess. Saw Uncle Bobby a couple weeks ago when I helped him out on a hunt."
"How's he doing?"
"Still as ornery as ever. Still don't cut me any slack, just like when we were kids. He could be a hard ass when it came to doing things right." Dena chuckled. "He asked about you, you should call him."
"Yeah, I remember those times." Sam chuffed smiling to himself as he thought back to when Uncle Bobby helped train them to hunt. Mom was adamant that they know how to protect themselves against what was out there in the world. Dean was a natural at everything he tried, whereas Sam would struggle with things, but that just made him work that much harder. He didn't want to disappoint his Mom or Dean or Uncle Bobby and always pushed himself to be better. "Yeah, I know I've been preparing for finals and getting ready for this interview on Monday that time slips away faster than I realize. Sorry about not staying in touch more."
"So...You serious about this girl?" Dean questioned giving Sam a sideways glance.
"Yeah, I think I am." Sam said worrying with the hem of his shirt. It was hard for him to talk about girls and his relationships even now. He had always be shy around them and let Dean take the lead when they would double date or set him up with his girl's best friend. Sometimes it was okay and other times it wasn't/
"I'm happy for ya Sammy. If she's the one, don't let her get away."
"I don't plan on it."
"Has Mom met her yet?"
"No, we started dating right after Mom came by the last time. I did tell her I was seeing someone and wanted her to meet Jess." Sam replied. "Dean, do you think Mom's okay?"
Dean looked over at him with a serious expression on his face and with clouded eyes. "She has to be." he finally said not sure he was trying to convince himself or Sam. "Mom's strong and smart and cunning; she'd have called or got word to me if she was in trouble."
"I hope so..." he mumbled softly a small seed of fear growing in the back of his mind. He couldn't help but be concerned with the line of work his Mom and brother were in. Hunters didn't always have a long life, especially if they got careless and let their guard down. He knew Dean and their Mom were amazing hunters, but that didn't stop them from getting hurt on hunts. He had taught himself first aid and could usually patch up the minor injuries for them. He had taken courses with the Red Cross when they offered them to keep updated and prepared.
spn
The guy drove down the lonely road talking to his girlfriend on his cell. He saw someone walking down the edge of the road up ahead and slowed when he was it was a young woman dressed in white. She was nice looking, even though her clothes were outdated. He told his girl he'd call her back and slowed down, stopping beside her and rolling down his passenger side window.
"Hey there, you need a lift?" he asked eyeing her lustfully. "Aren't you afraid to be out here alone this late at night?"
"I'm not alone if I'm with you." said in an eerie, unsettling voice. "Can you take me home?"
"Sure get in." he said leaning over and opening the door for. He eyed her shapely legs as a rip in her dress came apart to reveal them. "So, where do you live?"
"Just down the road, not far."
He put the car in gear and started back down the road thinking he was going to get lucky tonight. He turned off the road where she pointed and drove down a gravel road, turning up a driveway to what looked like an abandoned house. "You sure you got the right place?" he questioned. "Doesn't look like anyone's lived here in a long time."
"I can never go home." she said mournfully staring at the house as she started to fade in and out.
"Hey where did you go?" he asked looking to the passenger seat to see her gone. He got out and made his way to the screen door looking inside. Suddenly, a bird flew out into his face scaring him. He ran for his car and got in. He threw it in reverse and plowed out of there to head back to the main road. He thought he was home free until he felt the icy fingers on the back of his neck. He glanced in his mirror and saw her sitting there and cried out in fright as her faced changed from young and beautiful to a skull with hollowed out eyes. Not even able to scream, the guy jerked the car toward a bridge that was being repaired and spun to a stop partway across. He was still gripping the steering wheel when she attacked, splattering blood across the windows, coating them a crimson red.
spn
The brothers lapsed into silence, each thinking their own thoughts about their Mom. With the steady flow of traffic and Dean's heavy foot, they made good time to Jericho. Dean pulled over to the side of the road just outside of town when he saw a number of cop cars parked around a bridge with their lights flashing. Sam watched with interest when Dean pulled out an old cigar box from under his seat and looked through the fake ids he had, picking two out to use. He handed one to him and clipped the other to his jacket.
"What are we? FBI? Texas Rangers?..."
"Federal Marshals, passing through." Dean said getting out and heading onto the bridge. He flashed his badge to the deputy allowing them access and walked toward a red car that had two locals checking it out.
"Your daughter knew Troy didn't she?" one of the deputies asked the other.
"Yeah, Amy's been dating him for a month or so." the other replied looking up when Dean spoke.
"This isn't the only disappearances you've had around here in the past couple of weeks is it?" Dean asked.
"You're right, about a mile up the road same MO."
"Who are you?" he questioned looking Dean and Sam over.
"Federal Marshal, Agents Willis and Young."
"You're kind of young to be marshals aren't you?"
"Well thank you kindly." Dean said.
"So this victim you knew him?" Sam asked trying to get their attention off his brother.
"Yes, it's a small town, everyone knows everyone else."
"Any connection between the two victims, other than they were both males?"
"Not that we can tell."
"So what's your theory?"
"Honestly, we don't know, a serial killer, kidnapping ring, we're not sure."
"That's exactly the kind of police work I'd expect out of you guys." Dean said sarcastically to have Sam stomp on his foot.
"Thank you for your time." Sam said giving him a brief smile before pulling Dean away.
Once they were far enough away, Dean slapped Sam hard on the back of the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For stepping on my foot back there."
"What did Mom teach us? Always stay on the good side of the locals." Sam hissed back as they headed back to the Impala.
"These yaw who's have no idea what they're dealing with and you know it. We're on our own on this if we're gonna find Mom. We'll have to get to the bottom of this ourselves"
"But you don't have to antagonize them." Sam hissed.
They passed two real FBI agents walking toward the car and Dean couldn't help it when he said, "Agent Scully, Agent Fox." Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's remark and gritted his teeth to remain quiet.
"Can I help you boys?" the sheriff asked as they passed him.
"No sir, we were just leaving." Dean told him continuing on to the car while getting a strange look from him.
"Let's go see what we can find out in town." he stated pulling back on the road and heading into Jericho.
Sam didn't say anything else as he shot Dean a bitch face and huffed madly. He had forgotten how rude his brother could be sometimes and that he didn't play very well with locals. But that was Dean being Dean. He was brash, hard headed, rude and crude, but he knew how to get the job done when it came to killing monsters.
spn
Dean and Sam walked down the street and saw a young girl putting up posters and Dean pointed to her.
"I bet that's the girlfriend, let's go talk to her." Dean told Sam as they moved quickly to intercept the girl. "Are you Amy, Troy's boyfriend?"
"Yes, who are you?" she asked eyeing them suspiciously.
"We're Troy's uncles from up north. We were passing through and wanted to see him, but found out he disappeared." Sam said giving her a warm smile.
"Could we talk to you?" Dean added.
"Hey Amy everything okay?" another girl asked coming to stand beside her and look at Sam and Dean.
"I'm good; they just want to talk to me about Troy."
"Why don't we buy you a soda?" Sam suggested. "You too, did you know Troy?"
"Yes, he was an okay guy."
spn
The four walked across the street to a diner and went in to get something to drink. The brothers studied the girls waiting for their drinks before asking questions.
"What can you tell us about his disappearance? Sam asked after the waitress brought the drinks.
"I was on the phone with him, he was heading home." Amy started. "He said he had to go and would call me back when he got home...But he never called." she said sadness in her voice.
"Look girls, this whole things reeks of something weird or strange going on here. So if you know anything at all, it might help us find him." Dean stated looking hard at both girls when a look passed between them.
"What is it?" Sam encouraged.
"With all these guys going missing...Well people talk you know." Amy's friend started.
"What do they talk about?"
"It's kind of this local legend around here...They say this one girl got murdered out on Centennial Road decades ago. Supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes and whoever picks her up...Well, they disappear forever." she ends giving the guys a scared look.
"Do you think something like this happened to Troy?" Amy asked stirring her drink with the straw.
"I don't know, but we'll check it out. Where's your library?" Dean asks.
spn
They follow the girl's directions to the local library and find the computers back against one wall. Dean sat down and went online to see if they could find anything about a murder on Centennial Road. He typed in 'Female Murder Victim', but didn't get a hit so he tries, 'Murder on Centennial Road' and still couldn't find anything.
"Let me try." Sam suggested but gets slapped away by Dean. He frowned and pushed Dean's desk chair away from the computer so he can try.
"Dude!" Dean hissed slapping his arm. "You're such a control freak."
"So angry spirits are born out of violent deaths..." Sam whispers ignoring Dean's remark. "So maybe it wasn't a murder...Maybe it was a suicide." he speculates and types 'Suicide Centennial Road'. He smirks when a couple of articles pop up. He clicks on one of them and starts to read.
"Show off." Dean mumbles under his breath.
"In 1981 a Constance Welch, twenty-four years old jumps off Sylvania Bridge and drowns. One hour earlier she calls 911 to her home. Her two kids were in the bathtub taking a bath and she leaves them alone for a minute and when she comes back they aren't breathing. 'Our babies were gone and Constance couldn't bear it.' said husband Joseph Welch."
"Does that bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asked as he looks at the picture, knowing it was the same bridge that Troy had vanished from. "If Mom's chasing the same story, then Mom's chasing this. We need to go back there."
"Why haven't we run into Mom if she was here investigating this?" Sam questioned looking to Dean for answers.
"I don't know Sammy, but don't give up yet. Maybe she's in a motel room doing research? C'mon, let's go check out that bridge again." Dean said wishing he had a better answer for his brother. He didn't know why their Mom hadn't called him if there was trouble and this worried him, but he couldn't let Sam know it.
