A/N: I know that the first chapter is kind of short and appears rushed, but that was because I wanted to hurry and get it done as I put it off for too long and I really wanted to get it finished. Hopefully, the reader's will enjoy and I promise the next chapters will be more exciting, have more length and hopefully will be more attention-grabbing. Please R&R and Enjoy. ^ ^
Chapter One
"A New Lead"
The road was pretty barren, nothing but endless water with a guard rail on the right and a continuously elevating cliff to the left. The turns were curvacious and long, but it was nothing this black Impala zipping across the pavement couldn't handle. The swiftness of the man behind the wheel was indeed reckless considering the narrow quality of the road, but the other male in the passenger seat trusted him enough to allow this to proceed. Considering the pressuring conditions they were currently under, surely a car accident wouldn't be the end of the brothers. Neither had spoken a word to each other since they first entered the car. The both of them wanted to avoid the inevitable "discussion" about previous reckless actions the driver had taken, but it was getting old and there wasn't much to say to come back from it. The driver didn't think he was being careless and selfish at the time, but according to the passenger, it was the stupidest thing he could have done...Ever! Regardless, the deed was done and the contract was sealed. Dean Winchester, the driver, was going to go to hell in exactly one year..
It was only one life for another's life, that's how he saw it. A fair trade to do what he was determined to do since he was little kid—Protect his little brother. Sam Winchester, the passenger, who was struck down only a month ago by an enemy and his life was ended from the fatal wound. On the end of his ropes, Dean summoned a crossroads demon, trading his own soul for Sam's vitality, giving him only one year left to live. Sam was resurrected once the deal was sealed and of course once he found out about his elder brother's deal with the demon, he was furious. Even now a month into Dean's tragic deal, Sam couldn't help but think of all the other possibilities Dean could have done aside from that desperate, lowly move.. Deep down inside despite the circumstances and the internal anger he keeps pent up about it, Sam was not going to let his brother go to hell.
Dean glanced over at the younger Winchester, seeing how he mentally secluded himself on the far side of the passenger seat of the car. Obviously still brooding over his decision. Dean didn't regret doing it, but he still didn't want him to be upset with him. Sam's hazel colored eyes were focused on the speeding scenery outside and only that. Just doing what he could to avoid an argument or to watch his brother pretend that everything was just going to be fine with no consequence as to what he has done. Starting to feel that awkwardness set into the silence, Dean immediately thought of something to break the ice. He wasn't exactly one to keep a still tongue regardless of the situation. He quietly cleared his throat and put his eyes back on the road before parting his lips.
"So, what's the next case?" He asked subtly, not looking over at Sam a second time to see his reaction or whether he heard him or not. The younger Winchester, obviously lost in thought, quickly turned his head toward him without a word as he was disturbed from his deep thoughts. It wasn't until the question processed in his head that he appeared to be taken aback by it. He scoffed lightly turning back away, scratching the tip of his nose, adjusting himself in his seat, and then turning back to the older Winchester.
"That's really what you want to know?" Sam answered with a hard stare to read the actions to his own question. Dean only nodded with a soft 'M'hm' and said nothing else. Feeling the hazel gaze on his face, his own eyes did not falter from the road and was sure to not make any suspicious movements or bodily shifts. In the short silence, Sam broke it this time with another scoffed and reached in the back seat of the car for a folder. Taking it in his grasp, he got back in his comfortable seating position, took out a map and started to flip through some newspaper clippings. He first determined their location on the map before looking to find any closeby cases. The very moment he found something close enough, he lifted it up and started to read in his mind while speaking it to Dean.
"There's something here about...Pet store break-ins. Never any money or animals taken, but the animals are always edgy and trying to escape from their cages. One of the store owners say they act as if they're trying to get away from something when there's no danger. Nothing going on at all." Dean's face revealed disinterest which before he could open his mouth to speak it, Sam held up another clipping. "Here's something else around that same town, some bank patroller and a few teenagers reported seeing..." He paused. "...The Slender man wondering around." This caused Dean to glance once again at Sam only this time with an arched eyebrow and a bewildered expression.
"Slender man?" He repeated with a mocking disbelief.
"Yeah you know. Tall guy in a tux. Long arms. Stalks children." Sam noted also with intend to make fun of case. Putting the first clipping back down.
"But that's just some bogus monster nerds came up with on the internet. He's not real."
"I know. This can't be real." As civilization started to return and the widespread scenery came to an end, Sam narrowed his eyes on the small newsprint. There was much more to this story than they couldn't just ignore and dismiss immediately. "Or..maybe it is...Apparently, another pet store owner says he caught said 'slenderman' on the store's security camera...And the next day, he was found dead in the store." At the bottom of the newspaper cut out was a poor quality snapshot taken from the video camera of the pet store. Above it in bold print read: Image of the Slenderman taken from the security camera.
Sam looked over the image of the black mass in the black in white photo, then handed it over to Dean who looked over in time to take it in one of his hands. Driving with only his peripheral vision, his green eyes immediately went to the picture. It was a blurry, black figure that stood like a human. Not much details could be read from it, but if anyone would notice such a figure when he saw one, it would be Dean Winchester. He began to snicker lightly to himself before glancing back at Sam with a cheeky grin and looking back at the picture. "That's not a slenderman.." Dean smirked handing it back to Sam. "That's a slenderwoman" The hazel-eyed Winchester then took a second look at the black mass on the picture before turning back to the elder with doubt.
"How can you even tell? It just looks like a black mass in a picture. It could be a ghost or a demon escaping the scene for all we know."
"Trust me, that's a chick." Dean then leaned over slightly placing his index finger at one point of the image tapping it twice to point out his discovery. "Those are her boobs right there." He snickered again leaning back to his seat and looked back to Sam who gave him "the look" he was waiting to see which only fed into his laughter. At least he wasn't glaring at him over making a deal with a demon anymore. His free hand then went to the radio where he pushed in a cassette. "So we got some tall pedophile ghost or demon obsessed with animals and children..and has boobs." He then pressed played as the music started to blast from the speakers at a high volume while Dean grinned eagerly. "Awesome."
After another couple of hours, The Winchester brothers found themselves in the eery town of the mysterious "slenderwoman". Like any town, it appeared normal. Average everyday people walking around and driving their cars. Still, the town itself just felt..off. The brothers took an extra hour to rent out a room in a hotel, grab a bite to eat, and change into their FBI personas. While Sam gathered information from their father's journal and passed experiences on what the so-called Slenderwoman could be, Dean drove around searching for the Pet store. Finally arriving with what little information they could actually find, they exited the Black Imapala dressed as professional as possible and headed to the Pet Store where the Store manager was murdered. The second they entered, a small bell chimed letting the employees know someone had either entered or departed the building. The first thing that caught the Winchester Brother's attention were the numerous dogs frantically barking and cats howling menacing in the cages on their left and a few in the back rooms. The birds in the cages were also panicking, chirping and fluttering about their cage at an attempt to get out. One female behind the counter sat there with her head down, long black hair hiding any traces of her face. By the looks of it, she was frustrated and ready to give up on her job here from all the panicky animals. Sam and Dean looked to each other before approaching her and Sam reached over and tapped her arm gently.
"Excuse me." He spoke out loud trying to drown out the animal cries. The woman immediately jerked up spooked by the foreign touch and placed a hand to her chest to calm herself quickly. She hadn't realized someone entered the store with all the animals going crazy. Fixing her hair from her face she adjusted herself and looked back to the two new men.
"Can I help you?" She shouted her frustration evident in her tone.
"Evening! We're Detecti-"
What?" The cashier shouted again. Sam then cleared his throat and slowly repeated himself louder than before.
"We're DE-TEC-TIVES! FROM TH-"
"I'M SORRY! I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU!" The woman shouted twice as loud.
"MAYBE THIS CONVERSATION SHOULD BE TAKEN OUTSIDE!" Dean added with one hand over his ear while the other pulled the door open. He gave a gesture of his head for the two to exit quickly while he was the first to do so. The employee came from behind the counter and with Sam exited the store pulling the door closed behind them. "It's like The Discovery Channel in there." Dean idly joked removing his hand from his ear and shaking off any feelings of discomfort. Sam then cleared his throat once again and removed a badge from his back pocket, Dean doing the same after.
"As my partner was trying to say. Good Evening. I'm Detective Wills, and this is Detective Carlton." They both held out their badges to the chasier before placing them back in their pockets. "We're here to investigate the murder of the Store Manager."