Supernatural: Hunted
A/N: I return! So, I was at a comic con event, which is why I posted a day earlier than I usual do last week, and I had a lot of fun at it. Also, if you're a guest and you don't like my writing, then don't bother posting a review since it's just a waste of time on your part.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER TWO: DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
"For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave."
Psalms 88: 3
It was past 10:00 pm in the city and nearly everyone was asleep in his or her beds, with the exception of the usual night owls who wanted to get stuff done, and the rebellious teens that like to sneak out after the parents go to bed.
At a two-story white house, owned by the Appleton family, all of the inhabitants were fast asleep, all except one; Paris Appleton, Coco to her friends because of her dark complexion, silently slid open the window to her bedroom, which she shared with her four-year-old sister, Candace, and carefully made her way out onto the rose trellis that was directly below it.
Making sure that the coast was clear, she pulled the window down so that there was an inch left for her to easily open it again when she got back; she then climbed down the trellis until she reached the ground, where she looked around again. Had she been paying closer attention, she would've seen a white figure hiding among the trees in her father's apple orchard.
Instead, Paris left the yard to go to a party with her friends, ignoring the new curfew that'd gone into affect when the first few kids had been affected.
Once the teenage girl was gone, the white figure moved toward the front row of trees in order to look at the house more clearly; she was tall with ivory white skin, long silver blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, bare-footed, and wore only a long white dress that went down to her ankles and a silver pendent with a beautiful off-white stone in the center.
'It's time.' She looked toward one of the first floor windows, where in the moonlight she could see a vase containing some of the Tiger Lotus; smiling slightly, she began concentrating on the flowers while her pendent began glowing.
Inside the dining room of the house, the flowers began to glow a soft white color, which then flowed from them and throughout the house, like a fine mist, deepening the sleep of the inhabitants so that they would be unaware of anything until morning.
The woman then stepped out of the shadows of the trees and into the moonlight, where she raised her arms briefly and enjoyed the feeling of both the moonlight and a cool breeze on her skin; lowering her arms again, she looked up toward the slightly opened window as her pendent glowed bright, and she turned into a white orb of pure moonlight.
It flew up to the window, hovered a moment, and then eased itself through the small opening; once inside, she resumed her human form, and looked around: one half of the room was decorated in the usual teenage stuff, while the other half of the room represented what the four-year-old girl liked, which was mostly unicorns.
Still smiling, she walked silently through the mist that blanketed the entire room, over to the sleeping Candace, and sat down near the head of the bed; bending over slightly, she gently brushed some of the girl's black hair off her face before placing her hand over the girl's eyelids.
"Sleep," she commanded softly as her hand began glowing. "Sleep deeply and peacefully. A deep peaceful sleep filled with wonderful dreams, no pain, and no suffering. Sleep…" she smiled when the little girl sighed as the spell engulfed her, and she began the slow descent into an eternal sleep.
The woman sat there for several seconds, breathing deeply as Candace's life force slowly began flowing into her body; still smiling, she removed her hand and stood as the mist faded away, and she also left, once again turning into a white orb of pure moonlight, leaving no trace that she was ever there.
The next morning, the Winchesters were listening to the news and heard about the Appleton's youngest daughter falling into the same deep sleep and not waking up.
"Damn it!"
Dean and Sam both winced as Liz stormed around the room, cursing and ranting about what she was gonna do to the Menae once she'd found it; finally, Dean stood and grabbed his twin by her shoulders.
"Liz, calm down, we'll deal with this before anyone has to die," he promised.
Liz took several deep breaths and nodded. "All right, all right."
Meanwhile, a black SUV pulled up at the motel, parked next to the Impala, and Hotch, Morgan, and their newest team member, Emily Prentiss, got out; Morgan also pulled out a paper bag and a plastic carrier containing six containers of coffee form the local Starbucks. They'd stopped by the local police station to talk with the police chief, who was befuddled by what was happening, and believed their story that they were tracking down an unsub involved with a different ongoing case.
"You're both serious about demons being real?" Emily asked skeptically, following the two men; she was still relatively new to the team and was working on earning their trust, it was only after helping prove Morgan's innocent that they decided to tell her about the Winchesters, hunters, and the supernatural world, and yet she was still skeptical.
"Oh, believe me, Emily, demons and nearly everything else you've heard stories about, are true," Morgan confirmed as they went to room 112, and Hotch knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed and then door opened, revealing Dean, who grinned when he saw them. "Hey, guys, come on in." and stepped aside to let them in.
"Hey, Sam, Liz," said Morgan, grinning as he handed them the bag and coffee. "How're things goin'?"
"Pretty well, considering," Sam answered, nodding to the cast on his right hand. "Despite what they show in movies, zombies are crazy strong."
"Zombies?" Emily repeated, raising her eyebrows.
Hotch chuckled. "Dean, Sam, Liz, meet Emily Prentiss. Emily, these are the Winchesters: Dean, Liz, and Sam, who is the youngest despite his size," he said, doing the introductions, which lead to the shaking of hands and a few hugs.
"So, you're hunters," Emily commented as Sam passed around fresh doughnuts and the coffee while they all either sat at the table or on the two beds. "Hotch and Morgan told me about what you do, but I'm having a hard time believing it."
Dean chuckled. "Yeah, it can unbelievable, Emily, but it's true…except for Big Foot…he isn't real."
"I'll take your word for it," said Emily.
"So, have you guys talked with Scott Carey yet?" Morgan asked.
Sam shook his head. "Not yet, but we'll be doing it soon…hopefully."
"Well, we're here to help, so tell us about this other case, and we'll see what we can do," Hotch offered.
Two hours, and five cups of bad motel coffee, later, Liz told the three feds about her first solo hunt, and finally revealed to Sam why one of the Menae managed to escape, even though she'd killed the first two.
`"'John and Liz broke into the flower shop, made their way through the greenhouse, which wasn't easy with all of the enchanted Tiger Lotus in there, and found the door to the basement; once in the basement, they searched the area until they found an part of the wall that was a different color from the rest.'
`"'They managed to open it, finding a freshly made tunnel, and carefully explored it; after walking several miles, with the only light coming from their flashlights, they reached a second entrance with a wooden door. Carefully they opened the door and slipped into a massive stone room that had a dirt floor, and nearly everything was covered with white silk hangings.'
`"'There was also stone tables that were loaded with platters of golden-colored objects that was most likely ambrosia, goblets of a golden liquid that was most likely nectar, altars, and three big piles of white silk pillows in one large alcove. John and Liz hid behind some of the hangings as two women entered the room.'
`"'Both of them were tall and beautiful; the one on the left was black with long black hair with silvery highlights, dark brown eyes, barefooted, and wore a white dress that went down to her ankles and a silver pendent with a beautiful off-white stone in the center. The woman on the right was tall with ivory white skin, long silver blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, bare-footed, and wore only a long white dress that went down to her ankles and a silver pendent with a beautiful off-white stone in the center.'
`"'They went to one of the tables and were quietly talking among themselves in ancient Greek as they ate some of the ambrosia and drank some of the nectar, preparing themselves to feed on the life force of the children, and were also waiting for their sister to arrive.'
`"'I'll keep an eye on them," John whispered to Liz, "and you go locate the other moonstones and get rid of them before the third sister arrives.'
`"'Yes, sir," Liz responded and quietly made her way around the room, locating two of the three moonstones, which were embedded in the stone walls; working quickly and quietly, she managed to remove them from the walls, and sealed them into a bronze box. Liz was on the opposite side of the room, searching for the last moonstone when she saw Dean sneak into the room, joining their dad. 'Dean! What's he doing here?! Where's Sam?!'
`"'At that exact moment, the third sister appeared: she was also tall and was Hispanic with long silvery brown hair, barefooted, and wore the same white dress and the same silver pendent with the same off-white stone in the center; however, she was carrying a limp figure in her arms, and Liz felt her heart drop when she realized it was Sam. 'No…'
`"'What do you have there, Eva?" one of the sisters asked, joining her.'
`"'I found him sleeping in a car parked in front of the flower shop, Galene, Kori," Eva answered, cradling Sam's sleeping form, his head resting on her shoulder. "Isn't he the sweetest thing?'
`"'Yes, he is," Galene cooed, reaching out and brushing some of Sam's hair off his forehead. "Let's keep him forever.' And both she and Kori reached out to place their hands on his head.'
`"'Leave him alone!" Dean yelled as he sprang out into the center of the room, only to have Kori stop him in his tracks by grabbing his throat. "Oh, look here, sisters, a guest.'
`"'Both Eva and Galene giggled. "Oh, he does look yummy. Put him to sleep so that we can feed on him, Kori.'
`"'With great pleasure," Kori said as she fixed her gaze on Dean's face, and gently smiled. "Look into my eyes, dear, look deeply.'
`"'Galene giggled again while Eva placed Sam on one of the pillow piles, and turned around, just in time to have her pendent shattered by the tip of Liz's spear, and she shrieked as her vessel dissolved into dust and her spirit flew around the room, trying to find her moonstone.'
`"'Eva hissed and charged after Liz, who swung the spear around, destroying her pendent, too; she also shrieked as her vessel dissolved into dust, resulting in her spirit joining her sister in a futile search. Liz then faced Kori, who released a dazed Dean, and hissed as she advanced, the spear at the ready.'
`"'Kori glared at the female hunter and watched helplessly as her two sisters finally faded away into nothingness. "I don't know who you are," she hissed as her pendent began glowing. "But I will have my revenge when we met next, bitch." And disappeared before Liz could stop her.'
`"'Damn it!" Liz cursed, dropping the spear and running over to Sam, who was slowly waking up while John went to check on Dean. "Sammy…Sammy, are you all right?'
`"'How did I end up here?" Sam asked, confused as Liz helped him off the pillows. "Are those strange women gone?'
`"'Yes…yes they are, Sammy. They're gone.'"`
"…the one called Kori escaped, resulting in the death of thirty kids, while the other sixty kids, including the two shop owners and their assistants all survived, making full recoveries," Liz finished, her brown eyes filled with unshed tears.
No one said anything for a few seconds, but then Emily stood and went over to Liz, and put an arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "Hey, you did everything that you could, Liz, and you'll have another chance soon to finish what you stated."
Liz gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Emily."
"Okay, we have two jobs to work on," Hotch said, taking charge. "Finding Scott Carey and warning him about Azazel's plans, and keeping this Menae from killing a whole lot of children. Liz, since you're familiar with the Menae, I think you and Emily should go to the hospital and see what you can find out concerning the condition of the children; the rest of us will seek out Scott and warn him before Sam's vision can come true."
The others agree to this, and worked out a plan.
Later that same day, Dr. Waxler left his office to go out for lunch, locking the door behind him; the moment that he was gone, Gordon slipped out of a nearby empty office, went to the door, and quietly picked the lock.
Once inside, he went over to the filing cabinet and began going through the files; his contacts had told him that there was a strong possibility that there would be someone like Sam living in the area, and that the most likely person was a guy named Scott Carey.
Gordon soon found the file of Scott Carey; grinning, he went to the nearby copy machine, made copies of everything inside the file, and was putting it back when he noticed a small stack of cassette tapes, with the top one having the name of Scott on it. Shutting the filing cabinet, he snatched up the tape, and quickly left the office.
Ava drove into Lafayette and was questioning her sanity as she stopped for a red light. 'I can't believe that I'm doing this!'
She couldn't get the nightmare she'd had about Scott's death out of her mind, and it'd been affecting her concentration at her job; Ava finally decided that she would track this Scott guy down, warned him, and then return home to Peoria, Illinois and marry Brady. When the light turned green, she drove until she found a place to park, and pulled out her phone.
Ava pulled up the phone directory online and began checking to see how many Carey's were listed, and was thrilled to find just one. 'Eli Carey must Scott's father.' Setting her phone in her purse, she typed the address into her GPS unit, and drove back onto the street.
Liz, wearing one of her business outfits, and Emily took the SUV and drove to the local hospital; once there, they spoke to the attending physician on duty about the condition of those affected.
"It's the strangest thing," Dr. Amend told them in a weary tone. "They're all perfectly healthy and yet they won't wake up, no matter what we try."
Liz looked through the window at the double rows of beds, which half were filled with sleeping children between the ages of three and twelve. 'If Kori follows the usual pattern, then they'll be needing more beds, but I'll stop her before that can happen.' And then she sneezed when a nurse, carrying a vase of familiar white flowers, walked passed.
"Are you okay, miss?" Dr. Amend asked.
Liz sniffed and blew her nose. "I'll be fine, I'm just allergic to Tiger Lotus is all."
Dr. Amend nodded and instructed the nurse to put the flowers somewhere else. "Yes, there are a few people in town who are also allergic to those flowers, and they're the only ones who won't buy them from the new flower shop."
"Well, thank you for your time, Dr. Amend," Emily said politely. "If you can think of anything else that might help, just call me at this number." And she handed him a white card that had her cell number on it. "And for the sake of the families, I hope those who have been affected will be waking up soon."
As the two women left the hospital, Emily glanced at Liz, who was lost in thought. "This case is really eating you up isn't it?"
Liz started and then rolled her eyes. "Oh god, are you profiling me?"
"No, just making a remark."
Liz chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is…as Sam pointed out once, it's rare for me to carry guilt like this, but I need to stop Kori before she can drain the life force out of those kids, and the sooner the better for everyone."
"Well, let's rejoin the others and talk with Scott," Emily suggested, "and then we can go and raid that flower shop."
"Ok."
Meanwhile, Gordon was looking through the paperwork he had on Scott Carey; he was holed up in an abandoned house located on the outskirts of the town, and he was now listening to the cassette tape.
`"It started a little over a year ago,"` Scott's voice said. `"Migraines, at first. Then I found I could do…stuff."`
`"What do you mean, do stuff?"` Dr. Waxler asked.
`"I have this ability,"` Scott explained reluctantly. `"When I touch something, I can electrocute it if I want."`
`"How do you know?"`
`"I did it to the neighbor's cat,"` Scott responded. `"Its insides fried up like a hamburger…you don't believe me."`
`"I believe that you believe it,"` Dr. Waxler told him honestly.
`"Then here. Wanna shake on it?"` he offered.
`"Why would you want to kill the neighbor's cat?"` Dr. Waxler asked.
`"I don't,"` he complained. `"He wants me to, and he doesn't want me to stop there."`
`"Who?"` Dr. Waxler inquired.
`"The yellow-eyed man,"` Scott answered. `"He comes to me in my dreams. Tells me to do things, awful things. But I tell him no, no, I don't want to!"`
`"What else does the yellow-eyed man tell you?"`
`"He…he has plans for me."`
"What kind of plans?"` Dr. Waxler asked. `"What else does the yellow-eyed man say?"`
`"He has plans for me,"` Scott answered. `"He says there's a war coming. That people like me, we're going to be the soldiers. Everything's about to change."`
'That's certainly true for you, Scott,' Gordon thought as the recording ended. `'I don't know about this "yellow-eyed man" that you mentioned, but I'm gonna make sure that you don't kill anyone else…anyone human that is.'
Scott was checking the mailbox when the Impala pulled up, and he watched as four men got out once the engine stopped.
"Hi, are you Scott Carey?" the tallest man asked.
Scott raised his eyebrows. "Yeah…and you are?"
"My name is Sam Winchester," Sam said. "This is my brother Dean, and two of our friends from the FBI, Aaron Hotchner and Derek Morgan. We…we need to talk to you about the changes that you're going through."
Scott looked at them warily. "What do you know about the changes that I'm going through?"
Sam sighed. "I know, 'cause I've been going through the same changes, Scott," he explained. "And I know about the yellow-eyed man that's been invading your dreams, too, and I…we want to help."
Scott stared at them for a few seconds, obviously trying to decide whether to trust them or not, and then nodded. "All right, come inside, 'cause I got a feeling that my dad will need to hear about this, too."
Sam was relieved. "Thanks." And they followed Scott inside.
A few hours later, Emily pulled up behind the Impala, and both she and Liz got out of the SUV; they were heading up the walkway, when Emily suddenly stopped and got her gun out.
"What is it?" Liz asked, pulling her own gun out.
"I think I saw someone lurking near the garage," Emily said quietly, and they both moved toward the area; pressing themselves against the wall, she nodded to Liz, and then they both jumped out, scaring the person near the corner.
"Freeze! FBI!"
Ava screamed, and promptly tripped over a rake. "Don't shoot! I'm unarmed!"
"Who are you?" Liz asked as the front door banged open, and Dean and Morgan both ran out while Hotch and Sam stayed near the doorway with Scott and his father, Eli.
Ava swallowed. "My – my name is…my name is Ava Wilson," she answered, "and I'm here to warn Scott Carey, who is in danger."
The quartet exchanged a look and then all except Morgan put their guns away; Dean walked forward and held out his hand to the terrified woman.
"Here, I think you should come inside with us."
Ava didn't look convinced, but she did accept his hand; once she was standing again, and had dusted off her pants, they all went inside.
Soon, Ava was inside the house and was pacing, talking somewhat frantically.
"Okay, look, I know how all this sounds, but I am not insane and I am not on drugs," she said quickly. "Okay? I am normal, and this is way, way off the map for me."
"All right, all right, just, just calm down. Okay?" Sam requested. "What's your name?"
"Ava."
"Ava?" Sam repeated.
Ava nodded. "Ava Wilson."
"Ava, I'm Sam Winchester, all right?" Sam said slowly. "You've already meet my brother Dean and my sister Liz; these are some of our friends from the FBI, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, and Emily Prentiss. Now, you were telling us about these dreams of yours?
"Uh, yeah, uh, okay, about a year ago I started having these, like, headaches, and just, nightmares, I guess," Ava explained. "And I really didn't think much of it until I had this one dream where I saw this guy blow his own brains out with a gun."
A chill went down Sam's spine. "When was this?"
Ava shrugged. "Uh, about a year ago. But, anyway, a couple of days later, I found this."
She pulled out a newspaper clipping and handed it to Sam; it read "LOCAL MAN COMMITS SUICIDE", and next to it was a picture of Max Miller. Sam returned the clipping.
"I saw this guy die, days before it happened," Ava explained. "I don't know why, I don't know, it's just for some reason, my dreams are coming true. And last night I had another one."
Sam nodded, suspecting what her dream had been about. "Okay."
"About you," Ava told Scott, who was sitting on the couch with his dad. "I saw you die."
Scott swallowed. "You saw me die?"
Ava nodded. "Yeah, I saw someone stab you to death in a parking lot, and I…I Googled the name of gas station located near the lot, and it was real, and so I just thought that I should warn you."
"I don't believe this," Scott groaned, feeling a headache developing.
Ava sighed. "Oh, oh, of course you don't. You think I'm a total nut-job."
"No we don't," Morgan told her, convincing her to sit down in a chair. "Actually, with you here, it'll make this work out a whole lot better."
"What do you mean?" Ava asked, confused.
"Ava, there's a reason you had a dream about Scott," Sam told her. "'cause I have visions, and Scott here, he can electrocute something with a touch of his hand if he wants to. All three of us are psychics, and we're all connected."
Ava laughed. "Okay, so, you're nuts. That's great."
"No one here is nuts, Ava," Liz corrected. "Sam's tellin' you the truth. Now did your mother happen to die in a house fire?"
Ava shook her head. "No, my mother lives in Palm Beach!"
Sam was partly relieved and partly disappointed. "So you don't fit the pattern either."
Ava frowned at him in confusion. "What pattern? What are you talking about?"
Dean sighed. "Well, it's a long story, but it pretty much goes like this…"
Five hours later, Eli, Scott, and Ava were staring at both the Winchesters and the three feds in shock.
"Let me get this straight," Scott said, recovering his voice. "That yellow-eyed man that's been invading my dream is actually a demon? A demon named Azazel? And he was responsible for my mom's death when I was six months old?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. The same thing happened to my mom and the moms of two others. However, Ava's proof that not all had nursery fires."
Eli shook his head. "And all this time, I'd convinced myself that the cause of the fire had something to do with the wiring and that I didn't seen her pinned to the ceiling. But why this Azazel doing this? Why?"
"We're not really sure," Hotch admitted. "Only that the plans he mentioned to you are real, Scott, but we're hoping to locate the other children that he'd visited during that time frame, and warn them about what Azazel has planned."
Scott frowned. "Well, then it's a good thing that I've been refusing that creep."
"Yeah it is," Sam agreed.
Just then, Morgan's phone rang and he answered it. "Hey, baby girl," he said cheerfully and then frowned. "You sure? I've got the others here and I'll put you on speaker." He then clicked a button. "It's Garcia, guys, and she had some bad news. Go ahead."
`"I hope you're all sitting down, guys,"` said Penelope grimly. `"I just learned about a dead body found in Louisiana…a sixteen-year-old girl named Jennifer Wilcox, who went missing four years ago with only her backpack and some sulfur being found by the cops. Her, um, her body was found tied to a chair located in the middle of a Devil's trap."`
"Sounds like an exorcism that didn't end well," Dean remarked.
`"It gets worse,"` Penelope informed them. `"Apparently Jennifer's body was tortured, and the prints they found matched that of Gordon Walker. Also, I was checking the traffic cameras in the town you're currently in, and I spotted his car."`
"Gordon Walker?" Dean repeated, exchanging a panicked look with Liz and Sam. "You sure?"
`"Positive."`
The Winchesters exchanged concerned looks, recalling their last encounter with Gordon in Red Lodge, Montana. This wasn't a good sign.
A/N: First the Menae and now Gordon Walker. The Winchesters just can't catch a break, can they? R&R everyone!