It had been over a week since Dean heard from Castiel. He wasn't worried at first and played it cool whenever Sam asked, but inside a pit was growing in his stomach. It wasn't completely unnatural for Castiel to disappear for weeks on end, but Dean still expected his angel friend to come running when he called; and as painful as it was to admit Dean had been calling a lot. He tried hard to focus on the search, but his mind wouldn't let him, spinning restlessly day and night worrying about Cas. Dean made sure Castiel was at one hundred percent before he sent him out to search on his own, but Dean was worried that all that fighting against Rowena's spell had left him open to other vulnerabilities. It didn't help that him and his brother were turning up empty at every turn. He was relieved that Amara wasn't with Crowley anymore, but her being in the wind made things seem a lot worse. Sam could even sense his brother's uneasiness. Dean was even less patient than he usually was. Sam thought it was a good idea to pick up a case and get some fresh air. He found one while searching for Amara. It was a long drive, which could do them both some good.

"Hey, we got a case." Same slapped a newspaper in front of his brother.

"Case? What?" Dean snapped out of his day dream. He squinted at an article circled in red at the bottom of the page. "Three girls go missing? Where's the case?" Dean had that doubtful look in his eyes.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Keep reading."

Dean sighed and muttered something under his breath and continued the read. "Three girls go missing, blah blah blah, found with all their blood drained from their bodies. Hmm." Dean took a quick sip from his coffee. "Could be something." And tossed the paper to the side.

"Could be?" Sam said genuinely shocked at his brother's reaction. "Ah, that reeks vamps all over."

Dean turned his back to his brother. "There are other hunters out there."

"Other hunters?" Sam was getting frustrated. "Dean, we're no closer to finding Amara than we were when we started. We need some fresh air." Dean shook his head and joked under his breath between sips. "Dean, we need to clear our heads, we're not making any head way staying in the bunker. The case is in Maryland, it'd be a good drive and an easy case."

Dean hated to agree but he could fill the veins on his head throbbing from cabin fever. Sam was right, they haven't worked a case in a while and lord knows Dean could use the air. Dean reached in his pocket and checked his phone in secret. No new texts or calls. Dean sighed and accepted Sam's offer.

"Good, I'll get packing." Sam smiled as he left. He glanced back at Dean, who seemed focused on his phone, staring wistfully at the screen. Sam furrowed his brow, he wondered how much each of them could take before they both completely broke down. It was a lonely and extremely tough job saving the world from themselves all the time.

The drive from Kansas to Maryland wasn't as bad as Dean thought. It took about two days and they even got to stop at their favorite dive bar in Indiana. Dean needed the fresh air, he forgot how relaxing it was to bury himself in a case to fend off stress. Usually it was Dean who suggested working cases to pass the time, but he was grateful Sam brought it up. They were only about four hours from the town where the girls were found and much to their relief there had been no other reported disappearances. Dean glanced over at his sleeping brother, it was late morning, but a beautiful day. Dean loved those cool summer mornings, he enjoyed the breeze on his face and neck as he drove his Baby down the road. It was a nice distraction. He stopped at service station for a quick fill up and got out the car and stretched. The weather was perfect. He smiled and checked his phone. He wasn't as unnerved as he was back at the bunker, but he sent Castiel a quick text anyways so he would know where to pop in if he needed to. Sam was half asleep, so Dean took his time. He went into the convenient store, thinking his time to pick out the snacks he wanted. He smiled at the clerk girl as he picked up somethings for Sam. When he checked out he flirted with her, his ego getting a boost from being able to make a girl blush despite his skills being a little rusty. He thanked her and heading back to the car. He was finally starting to feel like his old self again.

They found a relatively nice motel five minutes outside of town. The prices were low to encourage people to stay during their mid-summer travels, which Sam and Dean greatly appreciated. They suited up, posing as FBI agents, and headed straight for the police station. The town was beautiful, mid-size, but still small enough where people knew each other. They entered the station and flashed their badges. The clerk at the desk glanced over them casually and sent them back to the chief's office. Even though this case was open book Sam still had a weird feeling about it. He wondered if these killings had anything to do with Amara. Monster cases were down since The Darkness was released. He wondered if they were regrouping to deal with the darkness, like the Nachzehrer. Sam nudged Dean and nodded in the direction of a small group of detectives talking over a case board.

One of the officers's looked up. "Agents." He waved and shook the boy's hands. "I'm Lieutenant Tom Giddleston, I'm heading this case while Captain Casey May is on maternal leave."

Dean reached out and shook the man's hand. He could tell this was his first big case despite his title. He nodded and introduced himself and his brother. "I'm Agent David Shore and this is my partner Dmitri Adams."

Lieutenant Giddleston sighed in relief. "Thanks for coming, we've really hit a wall."

Introductions were quick as the Lieutenant caught Sam and Dean up with everything they've found. Each of the girls were found in the same area, he pointed to a wooded area not too far outside of town. The suspects made no attempt to hide the bodies and there were no signs of sexual assault, the only thing that through off the officers was the missing blood. With age ranges from eighteen to nineteen, the officers suspected the girls might have gotten involved with a cult. Sam ordered copies of all their findings and reassured them that they would look into it. Dean commented that it was their specialty to deal with freak cases like this, which put the Lieutenant immediately at ease. They left, leaving their card at the desk and told them to call if something popped up. They wanted to do a little field work alone to try and get a closer look at the dump sites.

"Classic vamps." Sam shook his head as he looked at the crime scene photos. He figured it was a bunch of newborns, because older packs were a lot more discreet. They needed to find their nest and end this quick before more people got hurt.

They parked on the side of the road, the area had been taped off to prevent others from tampering with it. Dean got out and looked around. It was the perfect location to build a nest, the woods were thick and the location was secluded. He pulled out his phone and checked his messages and tucked it back into his pocket. Sam waved to him and showed him a pile of freshly opened cans of beer that were off to the side of a recently walked path. They knew the vamps couldn't be far. So they decided to check it out, they went back to the impala to get their knives. If they were lucky the vamps would be resting and they could take care of it right then and there. Going into the woods, even during day time was risky and though they had the upper hand in experience, dealing with freshly turned vampires gave them unspeakable strength and speed. Sam and Dean followed close behind each other, following the path of broken twigs and low lying branches. Sam stopped; he could hear the faint sound of people talking in the distance. He turned to Dean, who also heard them. Dean and Sam separated to get a closer look; they didn't want to blow their cover. Having the advantage of surprise was crucial in vampire hunting. Dean carefully walked through a patch of bushes, careful not to make too much noise. He crouched down when he saw bodies moving. There were at least three women, very young and topless, drinking beer and caring on. From where he was hiding he could hear them and judging on how much they bragged about the killings he could tell they were freshly turned. Dean spotted Sam from across the clearing and both of the brothers counted down silently in their heads before charging. Bringing down the vampires was easier than they thought. The girls put up a good fight, but were easily slain due to their own arrogance and inexperience. It was easy to find the nest, the vampires were very sloppy, leaving trash everywhere.

Sam didn't flinch as he dragged the bodies to a pit to burn them. Dean looked to see if there was any evidence of any other vampires. There had to be a leader of some kind that was turning people and he doubted it was just the girls alone. He paused when he found a pair of men's boxers. Dean showed his brother.

"You think he's the one who turned the girls?" Sam wiped his hands clean.

"Probably." Dean flicked the underwear off a stick onto the ground.

"You think it's the head vamp?"

"Not likely, probably just same newly turned kid." Dean was grunted, as he wiped the dirt from his jacket.

"Dean, if he comes back and finds the rest of his family killed, he's going to run." Sam was right, but it looked like it wouldn't take them long to find the head vampire. Dean showed Sam a flyer for a party that was taking place across town.

The boys cleaned the nest best they could to hide the fact that the other girls had been slain. They were betting that the head vamp would be at the party so they could end this. The brothers were fortunate for the vampire's juvenile behavior, because they now had a picture of the head vamp, which they found on one of the girls phones. Their biggest worry was finding the vampire who turned the first kid. If he was still around, he could be turning more people as they speak. Back at the station Sam and Dean reported to the Lieutenant, that they suspected it to be a cult and that they needed to return to their main office to finish the case. They reassured Lieutenant Giddleston that they would take care of it, much to his relief, who would be happier if this whole thing would just go away. The party where the lead vamp was supposed to be wasn't until night fall so Dean and Sam prepared, they weren't sure how many other turned vampires were going to be there so they needed to plan for the worst.

Sam cleaned his knife as he relaxed in the motel. "Hey, have you heard from Cas?" Sam said out of nowhere.

"Nope." Dean turned and finished cleaning his gun, he put on an act, but he couldn't fool himself. He hadn't heard from Cas in a while and he wasn't sure why it was bothering him so much. He didn't understand why all of a sudden he had this anxiety. It wasn't like it was abnormal for Cas to be gone for weeks on end, but there was something in the pit of his stomach that said there was something wrong. "I'm sure he's fine."

Sam nodded with a concerned look on his face, trusting Dean's resolve. Besides they had more pressing matters to deal with. They were gearing up to leave the motel a little after ten. Dean waited for Sam outside the motel. He flipped through his phone for unseen text messages or voice mails. He clicked on Cas' name under his contacts and waited patiently in the cool summer air for him to pick up. After about five rings the call went to voice mail.

"Hey buddy, it's Dean. Just checking in. Give us a call, alright." Dean hit the end button. He felt like a child calling Cas so many times, he'd only been gone for two weeks. Hardly anything to worry about, or at least that's what he told himself. He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket, he needed to stop worrying. Sam walked out a minute later and Dean hoped in the front seat and unlocked the door. Dean cleared his mind of his anxious thoughts, because he needed to be on his game, they had a job to do.

The party was at an old factory turned club. It was big and crowded but not flashy and stuck-up like the ones in the city. If it wasn't for the music, Dean might actually have liked the place. They boys searched the crowd, bumping and pushing through a sea of drunken kids. Sam spotted the vamp across the room, it looked like he was hitting on a girl that clearly wasn't interested. He forced himself on her and after being clearly rejected pulled her into a hallway. Sam glared and turned to Dean who had seen what happened too. In an office, turned makeshift lounge, the vamp was kissing and forcing himself on the girl. Sam growled and snatched the vamp of the girl and tossed him to the floor. The girl thanked him before running out of the room. Dean let her pass before closing the door.

"Well well well, look what we got here." Dean circled the vamp, just itching to slice him into pieces. "Some rejected punk kid who doesn't have decent enough game to get laid." Dean stared him down with the fury of thirty-two years of uncontrollable rage.

The vamp backed into a corner, but he wasn't finished yet. He grinned, then laughed, catching the boys off guard. "You know who I am?" The vamp flashed his fangs. "The shit people dream about at night, I eat blood bags like you for breakfast."

Sam was quick to knock that grin off his face. He lunged forward and grabbed the vamp by his shirt and slammed him into the wall. Sam wasn't in the mood to chat with some punk kid, he wanted answers. "Save it." Sam hissed as he pressed his blade to the kid's neck drawing blood. "Who turned you?" The kid wiggled in his grip, his mind too cluttered with fear to respond. The look in Sam's eyes said that he was way in over his head but the vamp still tried to hold his ground.

"What. What you going to do, I-I got a pack here, a-and they'll rip you to shreds."

Dean wasn't impressed with the kid's weak threat and stepped closer to Sam. "That's what you do? Let your little girlfriends do all the work?" Dean slammed the kid's head against the wall and threw him to the ground. He jumped on the kid and started beating on him with his bare hands.

"Dean! Dean! We need him alive!" Sam pulled on Dean's arm. Dean cursed, grabbing tightly to the boy's shirt. "I'm not going to ask you again, who turned you?" Sam said, holding his blade right above the kid's head.

"Some vamp! Some guy talking about needing to build an army." The vampire squirmed.

"Where is he!" Dean shouted.

"I don't know man, he skipped town after he turned me, I swear!"

Dean looked at Sam and boys silently agreed that the kid had no more useful information to tell, before slaying him on the floor. Dean made quick work of discarding the body, he didn't need people coming in and asking questions. Sam waited for him back at the car. He was right this did have something to do with the darkness. It seemed like monsters all around the world were making armies and what's worse they seemed to be very careless about it.

"Dean." Sam stood up, pulling himself off the side of the car. Though the case was easy, Sam was tired as hell and eager to get back to the motel for some shut eye.

"Hey." Dean pulled his keys from his pocket just as his phone buzzed. He pulled both from his pocket and checked his messages. "Hey it's a text from Cas." Dean said enthusiastically.

"What's it say?" Sam walked closer.

"Let's see." He unlocked his phone, feeling relieved to finally hear from his friend. "It's an address, looks like he's got something. He wants us to meet him at a motel in Virginia."

"Did he say why?" Sam questioned, if it were that important Cas usually popped in.

"Room 209. He said it was urgent." Dean looked at his brother. Sam nodded and got in the car, followed by Dean. Whatever was going on he didn't want to waste any time. Cas needed him.