Just a bit of an FYI for you guys, this take place a little after 8.11: LARP and the Real Girl
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. I still need to work my way up to that level of character destruction.
Chapter 2
San Antonio seemed like an easy hunt. Just some minor demon shenanigans going on. Open and shut case. At least, that's what Garth had thought. He had been in the area - in Austin with some witches - and thought he might as well just nip the blossoming demon flower in the bud before it got any worse.
Though these demons were something awfully strange. There had been no deaths (None that looked to be by the hands of demons) while minor crimes seemed to follow their footsteps. Loitering, noise pollution, smoking a cigarette too close to an establishment that had banned smoking. Nothing whatsoever like the demons Garth had been facing in the last couple of months. Hell, these guys were acting more like upstanding citizens then the people who actually lived there!
He hadn't taken into account that the demon sighting patterns were formed in a scouting formation. It just didn't occur to him when he was looking at the map. Nor did he notice that the scouting parties were moving tighter and tighter to each other with every sighting.
What he did see, however, was where the path was going to lead them next. A small town nestled in a crook of San Antonio called Windcrest. Seemed small enough that if something were to go down, it wouldn't be the annihilation of over 4,000 just to say 'Here we are'. Though it was still big enough for them to hide in. With a sigh Garth rolled the map back up before taking a big slurp of his chocolate milkshake on his table.
The place was had a nice rustic look to it and in Garths opinion, made some of the best crispy chicken and milkshakes in all of the United States. No sense to let the atmosphere go to waste with rushing out on a whim.
Of course, with these extra minutes of calm Garths mind wandered towards a certain prophet that was still bunking in his safe boat. With that thought he flinched. He didn't mean to just drop the guy off and then poof, out of sight out of mind. He just wasn't comfortable with sticking in one place for too long. A problem that was starting to surface since he took on the role of new 'Bobby'.
It wasn't like Garth was hating it. He loved it! He was finally useful to other hunters who would willing call him if they needed help. In all honesty, his new job was the reason he would wake up every morning with a smile on his face. The problem was that he wasn't like Bobby who would stay in the house surrounded by all of his books. Garth had to be doing something.
He would stop by every once in a while, just to check up on Kevin. He just didn't have the heart to tell him that the only reason he was checking in was because there was a case nearby that he had just finished up.
He was soon nudged out of his thoughts when he saw his waitress heading back his way with a basket of crispy chicken. He smiled to the woman as she placed his entree down before walking away, leaving the hunter alone to eat his meal.
The neighborhood was nice besides the speed limit that deemed it be 20 mph. He had already talked with the police in the area and ended up with bupkis. He was now combing through the streets to see if any houses seemed out of the ordinary. He scratched at the high collar that came along with the pest control uniform he scored from a shape shifter case not but four weeks ago.
He had been itching to take it for a test run.
He laughed at his own little pun before one of the houses caught his eyes. It was a yellow bricked house that looked like it was trying to rip itself apart from the inside. Each corner pulled away from the middle while the sides seem to smash together to keep it in place. He couldn't see it but Garth was sure that there was a line of shingles bunched up together in the back of the house.
Usually things like foundation problems wouldn't bother the hunter, but this house seemed to be the only one with this problem. The other two houses next to it seemed right as rain. There were even gardens in the neighbors yard while the deformed on looked like it was trying to grow purple weeds in the little patch of ground right under the huge window shrouded by curtains.
Deciding this was the house Garth pulled his Ford Ranchero behind a white Jeep that saddled up against the curb of the house.
Making sure he had his story straight and the right ID on him he walked up to the house and rang the doorbell. Immediately he heard a rather loud barking going off on the other side of the wooden door. Suddenly he wasn't too sure if this was a good idea.
Soon enough an elderly gentleman with a salt and pepper mustache answered the door looking skeptical.
"May I help you?" His voice sounded southern, at least more southern then the usual Texas accent.
"Hello sir. My name is Garth and I'm with the San Antonio Pest Control. We're just going around and checking the houses we feel that are close to the danger zone so we can offer as much of a discount to the right people." He tried to make himself sound convincing but the way the owner of the house stared at him gave him an uneasy feeling.
"I didn't get any mail about that." Crap, a smart one.
"The flyers may not have made their way out here yet. I do believe Windcrest is on a different mailing system then San Antonio. I do assure you though, the sooner I can have a look around to assess the situation out here the sooner we can get it all fixed up." Garth gave the man a smile before the screen door was propped open to let the fake Pest Control worker inside the house.
As soon as he walked inside the house he could see a hand sized hole peeking out from the ceiling in the living room. Continuing his inspection he saw that there was another hole, this one much bigger then the one in the living room. This hole was situated at the entrance into the kitchen and was big enough for a small animal it get through.
"This holes are definitely a major hazard. How long have they been there?" Garth questioned walking underneath the largest of the holes.
"Oh, they pop out every once and awhile. It's been happening for years now. This foundation just needs to have work done on it." The man stated while crossing his arms.
Garth was going to ask him more questions when a sandy colored dog popped out from the back rooms and bound towards the two of them. Only when the dog saw that there was a complete stranger in the house did it start to walk with more caution in its steps. Garth knelt down and put his hand out so the dog could sniff it with a childlike smile on his face.
"Hey there pretty thing. What's your name?" The dog stuck out its nose towards Garth while still staying planted next to the older man.
"This is Jewel, she's my daughters dog." Jewel soon decided that Garth was friendly enough and started to lick his face, tail wagging.
"What kind of dog is she?"
"She's part Shar Pei part Ridgeback. And I guess she's also part Pit because none of the shelters would take her in when she first found her." Garth looked up from the doggie lovings he was getting.
"Found her?"
"Yeah, my wife found her walking along the streets when she was about 4 months old. We put up posters and knocked on doors but nobody would claim her so we just ended up keeping her." Garth nodded his head before he stood up, wiping his hands on his pants to get rid of the dog drool.
"That was mighty nice of y'all." Praised before the conversation continued. After 30 minutes of checking the house - the sulfur smell that came from the couches and the main bedroom put Garth on his toes - they settled down in the living room.
"Now, I have a few more questions to ask you if you don't mind. Just a few ore routine things and then I'll be heading out." Garth was sitting on the couch facing away from the door and towards the fireplace. The older man, Thomas is name was, sat on the couch perpendicular to Garths couch facing the flat screen T.V.
"Shoot." Thomas leaned into his seat and adjusted his feet slightly, being careful of Jewel who decided to lay in the corner the two couches made. Garth looked down to his note book.
"Alright, so I have scratching and creaking, is there any other weird noses that might be going on?" Garth asked, resting his arms on his knees.
"You'd have to ask the others. I barely hear anything after touring in Vietnam and stepping on a land mine. Took my right eye and the sound from my left ear."
"Others?"
"Oh yeah, my wife and daughter. Then again I think they just get slightly paranoid. My wife is with a patient while I think my daughter is working. I'm never too sure about her though. Tends to run off and not tell me anything." Thomas shook his head.
"And where does your daughter work?"
Thinking that Garth was just starting up some light chit chat, Thomas didn't hesitate at the question. "Oh, over at that bar on Walzem. Firehouse Pub and Grill is the name of the place. Though she's working as a waitress and not a chef which is weird."
"Weird how?"
"Well, she went to culinary school." As if to punctuate the statement, Garth heard the door unlock. Jewel, hearing the sound, shot up next to Garth on the couch with her front paws along the back of the seat.
"I'm Back!" Jewel used the couch as a launch pad as she hurtled towards the female voice. Garth, slightly stunned by the dogs sudden burst of energy, looked towards the woman walked through the door. Her black hair was up in a messy bun while her eyes were hidden by a pair of stylish glasses. Not the same picture from high school that he had casually seen on the picture table. In that picture she had blonde hair with braces. Slightly awkward looking.
"Carter! Come meet this nice man from Pest Control!" Thomas made sure that Carter could hear him with a voice that came from his diaphragm. Garth would remember not to stand so closely to him from now on. As Carter made her way into the living room, Garth started noticing something was off about her. The way she carried herself through her own home. Like she was afraid of every little thing. With Jewel jumping up at her from all of the excitement Carter seemed to be edging towards annoyance then fear. Once in front of him, the hunter stood up and offered his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am." She grabbed his hand without breaking eye contact. "Name's Garth." She gave him a smile.
"Nice to meet you Garth." Figuring that he had stayed longer then he should have (Thomas was a real talker) Garth let go of her hand and started to pick up his things on the coffee table. He then turned to Thomas with a clap of his hands.
"Well, I will have my supervisor contact you with a return date on when I'll be back and we'll have your house cleaned out in no time." He looked between both father and daughter before heading towards the door. Thomas followed while Carter hung back in the living room.
"Thank you so much for coming out here and checking up on this stuff." Thomas unlocked the door and held it open.
"It was no problem." Garth ducked his head with a smile, accepting the thanks.
"Take care now. God bless!" The door closed and Garth could here the lock turn while he walked to his Ford. Deciding that he didn't need to look any further he made his way towards the motel he was staying at.
When 8 'oclock rolled around, Garth decided that he needed some food and found himself at the Firehouse Pub and Grill.
He wasn't stalking Carter. No! He just had to ask her a few questions that would've sounded weird while wearing his Pest Control uniform. Once he walked through the doors he saw that it was a pick your own seat type place. He walked around before finally picking a booth by the kitchen window. He could always hear the best bit of information from waitresses and cooks who would slip up. He often wondered why more people didn't do this when trying to find out information of things.
Once he sat down he pulled out Bobbies old journal, flipping through the pages. Something about that house seemed off, like he knew where everything was and that Carters room was right along the living room; but he knew he had never stepped foot in that house before.
After 30 minutes he gave up on leafing through the old pages. Seeing that his dessert was getting stale he quickly started to devour it while still enjoying it.
The bar was loud with fights and games that were going on. He could've sworn he also saw a poker room in the far corner but wasn't sure. It seemed like an extremely busy night. Though for having his head buried in a book, not once had he seen Carter. Brushing it off that she had been busy and was probably on the other side of the restaurant Garth started to leaf through the pages boredly.
Flip. Nothing.
Flip. Nothing.
Flip. No-wait a minute...
Garth pulled his face close to the passage. The words "SA Demon Scare" seemed to pop out at the hunter. As Garth continued to read, his stomach continued to drop.
'I sent Roberts out to a small town in San Antonio for a demon haunt(when a demon makes itself known to torment its victim). Little girl by the name of Carter swears she heard someone unlocked the front door, dragged a cain along the living room wall and then disappeared. The mother had been possessed. Roberts found the demon and exorcised the demon. The only thing the demon had said was 'Protect the Portal'.
Carter. That house had dealt with demons before. A haunt no less! Those were usually just scare tactics but Bobby only has one entry of it. There could've been multiple happenings that they had no idea about. Now it made sense that Carter was afraid in her own house. She knew what was going on under that roof. Garth knew he had to talk to her soon.
Before he could wave down his waitress, the cooks started yelling out the window.
"Where the hell is Carter!"
"I don't know man! She's not picking up her phone!"
"Bullshit! She was at my house hanging out with Scarlett earlier today!" Garths blood ran cold. Quickly figuring out how much his meal was going to be he threw down the money before bolting out of the bar.
He was too late. He just knew it.
Sorry about the long drawn out-ness of this chapter. Action in next chapter, Scouts Honor *holds up 3-fingered salute*
Other then that I hope you're enjoying the story.
- Tel