"I can't believe we've sunk this low."
Blue eyes turned heaven-wards and a sigh of exasperation could be heard.
"Quit whining, you know we're doing this as a favor to Ellen."
He started to pout. "But this isn't even a real job. I mean come on Sam, couldn't we have found something a little less….easy?
Sam frowned from the passenger's seat, and shifted so he could face his brother more fully. A smile of mild sarcasm tugged at his lips. "Well, sure Dean, no problem, lets go find us another hunt." He sat back in mock thought. "Oh, wait. There is that little detail about there not being any."
And indeed that was true. There had been a definite lull in paranormal activities in the last two weeks. At least, none were getting to them at the bar. In that time, Dean had managed to drive Ellen, Ash and even Jo to the end of their tightly reined tempers. Then one of Ellen's old friends had called yesterday needing someone to do a simple exorcism, and Ellen had practically shoved them out the door at gunpoint to make them go.
"I can't believe we've sunk this low."
Sam sighed. 16. "You said that already. A few times. Besides, think of the bright side"
Hazel eyes turned to pin on him in a glower meant to say: as if there could be a bright side.
Sam ignored it. "For once, someone actually asked for help. That means no lying or breaking and entering or anything else illegal. And Ellen said this guy Tex is gonna give us free room and board for the weekend. Plus, she said he's even gonna pay us a little for the trouble." He looked back at his brother. Sure enough, at the mention of money, a little sparkle had entered his brother's previously unhappy eyes. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone: Dean Winchester's mood could not be manipulated by anybody.
As the familiar scowl set itself onto his brother's face, Sam sat back and relaxed. It was still another five hours to Jourdanton, Texas after all.
"I can't believe we've sunk this low."
Five hours and twelve consecutive under-the-breath complaints later, the car finally stopped in front of an old building. Dean had seen more than his fair share of towns with a main street right out of those old western movies, so the sight did little to appease his sour mood. Truth be told, he wouldn't be caught dead exorcising benevolent ghosts, but getting paid would make him stand it for a few hours. As he waited for Sam to unfold himself from the front seat, Dean looked up to the sky and, not for the first time, wondered if someone up there was playing some cruel practical joke on him.
Tex owned one of those historic saloons (it was called the Shady Rest) with a rich history and colorful ghost stories. His brother being a former hunter, he knew of the four ghosts residing within the halls of the hotel. They weren't really dangerous; they just made a few appearances every once and a while, flicked the lamps and such, and left the guests with some colorful stories to take home. Tex had been content to let them stay, until one of the ghosts opened the wrong room door. A four year-old had slipped past his parents' eyes and nearly broken his neck falling down the stairs. Unfortunately, that bit of luck was what led Tex to the decision to exorcise them; he couldn't afford to get sued for their little pranks.
Sam and Dean entered the bar of the saloon and looked around. Standing behind the bar was a tall muscular man with a long, peppered moustache and a ponytail of hair. Currently he was doing what had to be the most stereotypical thing you could do behind a bar: cleaning a glass with a rag.
Sam turned to his brother. "Think that's him?" he joked out softly.
Dean didn't turn to his brother. "Has to be," he said, then huffed. At Sam's questioning look he replied, "He looks like he couldn't decide whether to be a cowboy or a biker." Sam chuckled.
The guy behind the counter was indeed Tex. "Well, welcome!" he said after they introduced themselves. Tex, it seemed, was nothing more than a big teddy bear. Grinning from ear to ear, he shook their hands. He picked up their bags with only a token complaint from the two brothers and headed upstairs. "It's good of you boys to come," he said, and Dean bristled at the word 'boys'. "I'd do this myself, c'ept I have to run the Shady Rest. Truth is, I don't have time to look for the bodies. Two of them are in the town's graveyard, but the other two aren't that easy to find." He stopped at one of the doors.
Do you have any idea where we can start looking for the other two?" Sam asked, all business. Dean rolled his eyes. Tex thought for a minute, then his eyes lit up.
"One of the Thompson twins might be able to help you." He said. "Tristan shows up here a lot, but Evelyn is probably the better one to ask about the town's history."
"Why should we ask her?" asked Dean.
Tex smiled. "She's a history major. Always askin' about the stuff that went on in the saloon. The Thompson's don't actually live here, but their ancestor's helped build this town. Those two are both in college, but decided to come and stay in the house they own here."
"They don't live here?" asked Sam curiously.
Tex shook his head. "Nope. I think they live out somewhere in California with their grandmother. Tristan told me they came here for some peace and quiet."
"Well, Dean said, ready to get this over with, "Where can we find Evelyn then?"
"She trains at a dojo downtown, "he replied, "its too early for the place to be open, but I think Evelyn is supposed to be in class around eight o'clock."
"Dojo?" asked Sam. A history major that was into martial arts? Tex laughed.
"Weird, ain't it – a bookworm fighting?" he asked. "Both of 'em are like that, though. I think it has something to do with their grandfather being in the navy. Tristan doesn't usually go, but Evelyn likes to help out the Thornton's every so often."
"Alright," Sam said, looking at his watch. It read 4:25. " We'll get some rest and be down around seven."
The brothers said goodbye and entered their rooms.
Sam and Dean left the saloon at eight thirty and walked the two blocks distance to the dojo. They walked in and walked up to the front desk. An older woman, maybe 40 years old sat behind it, filing her nails. She had her dull red hair up in an old fashioned beehive and couldn't have looked more out of place if she had tried.
"Um, excuse me," Sam said with a polite smile, " Can you tell me where we can find Evelyn Thompson?"
The woman looked them up and down for a moment. "Sorry," she said in a bored tone, "You're gonna hafta wait to set up a private lesson. My son got injured out in the woods last night, and she volunteered to teach his class. You can leave your number here if you want, or you can wait until it ends at nine."
Dean, who'd been staring out at the room where the class was, turned to flash her one of his 'melt in your socks' smiles. "Thank you, but we'll wait," he said smoothly to the woman, making her blush. He then proceeded to sit down on a folding chair provided for non-participants, Sam hot on her hells. He was just about to go into another ever-so productive tirade of 'dude, she's old enough to be your grandmother' when he noticed Dean's stare. Sam followed his line-of-sight, wondering what could have caught his brother's attention.
There were maybe ten people out on the floor split up and standing near opposing walls. In the middle of the room, a girl sat with her hands on her thighs, her long blond braid trailing her back. Sam couldn't see her face, but even from the back he knew she was a looker. That's why he wanted to stay, Sam snorted to himself. I wonder if that's Evelyn.
It happened quickly. From out of nowhere, the closest gi-clad student ran towards the woman, sending a kick at her when he got in range. Dean was standing up to interfere on reflex, until he saw the woman block the leg effortlessly. As she rose, she blocked the oncoming punch, grasping the man's wrist, and twisting it until he was on the floor. The second student was already half way there before he hit, putting her arm around the woman's neck. But again the blonde moved, flipped the girl over her shoulder and punched her in the shoulder for good measure.
Sam was in shock. This girl kicks ass. He thought dazedly.
"I think I'm in love," Dean mumbled, startling Sam out of his daze to look at his brother. Dean stared unblinking at the woman in the center, his mouth slightly open.
"You're not the only one," Sam agreed, turning back to the action. The students each seemed to be on a timer. Every fifteen seconds or so, another one would run to the center of the room to attack the woman. Eventually, Dean realized that she was confined: there was a large circle on the floor that the woman had yet to set foot out of. Some of the students, when they couldn't out fight her, opted to try and subdue her enough to drag her out of it. But no one could. Once a student was on the ground, they returned to the sidelines in the back of the line, only to try again.
A buzzer went off, and both boys jumped. The class however, ceased fighting the woman immediately and moved to form three lines facing a wall of mirrors. The woman, who had been on the receiving end of the battle, walked to the front to face them. So that is Evelyn, Sam thought. The students stretched a little and cooled down, and then the girl began to speak to them.
"Alright guys," she said, "Great class. I know Jeff is out nursing some claw marks on his chest, but he said he should be back for Monday's class. Have a great night, and I hope you're all not too sore tomorrow." The class chuckled and went their ways. Evelyn slipped into the locker room. Dean turned to his brother.
"Attacked in the woods by something with claws? You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" There was that glint in his eye, Sam noted dismally, and his posture reminded Sam of childhood Dean being told by their father that he could go on a hunt.
"Ok," he conceded, "We'll look into it." Dean looked like he wanted to bounce up and down in his chair. "After we finish what we came to do." At that, Dean's smile faded a little, but his mood was now lifted.
The girl came out of the locker (hair down), walked up to the 'Beehive Lady' as Dean had now dubbed her, and began to talk to her. Noticing the boy's approach, the woman piped up. "Oh yeah," she said, smiling at Dean, "these boys wanted to schedule a private lesson with you."
The girl turned around, and Sam could feel Dean's 'fall for me' smirk the moment it fell into place. Oh, well, he couldn't help it the girl was really attractive. No she's hot, he thought. Her ice-blue eyes almost seemed alive in themselves. She was tall for a girl, though she still only came up to Dean's nose, and had the toned body of a fighter.
At the sight of them, the girl visibly blanched. Face pale; she had to take a step back. Sam exchanged questioning eyes with his brother. But when he looked back, her smile was firmly in place, as if the slip had never happened. What was that? Sam thought. Unsurprisingly, Dean recovered first.
"Actually," he stated, "We just need a bit of information. Tex said you were a history buff and might be able to help us out. We need to find some names from the local cemetery."
The girl smiled. "Sure," she said, "I have a bunch of the town's old records at my house, mister-"
"Dean." He replied. "Dean Winchester, and this is my little brother Sammy."
Sam rolled his eyes. Dean only pulled the 'little brother' routine when he wanted to get into some girl's pants. But the girl seemed to look intently at him for a moment before turning back to his brother. Ha! He thought. Maybe this one likes me better. He flashed Dean a look to convey his thought, and Dean's eyes narrowed at him.
Evelyn smiled. "My name is Evelyn Thompson, but you can just call me Evee."
Since her Ducati could only seat two, Evee walked the boys back to the saloon. She then led them to her house while they followed in the Impala, Dean raving the whole time about chicks on motorcycles, and Sam begging him to be civil. The Thompson Ranch was quite a ways out of town. The clear blue sky lit up by the nearly full moon as they rode.
The whole house was dark when they got there, Evee disappearing in the detached garage only to emerge again moments later. "My brother usually stays out at the saloon around this time of night," she explained, opening the front door. The house was a fairly big one-story. Evee explained that it was a historical landmark nearly filled with antiques.
Evee gave them some beers and left the room to get some papers out of her office. "So," she said, dropping the papers on the coffee table, dust filling the air, "you guys are here to exorcise those ghosts for Tex, right?"
Dean and Sam stared at her in surprise. "Don't look so shocked." She laughed. "Tex probably told you that I was a history major at UOP. He probably didn't tell you I majored in folk tales and the occult."
Sam laughed a little, but Dean had caught on to something. "You were a history major?" he said.
Evee sighed. "Yeah, my brother and I decided we needed a little break from school. We won't be returning until the fall." She smiled at them. " My brother Tristan is the one that convinced him that they needed to go. Here's the old records from the cemetery downtown." She sighed, "I don't know why we have half of this stuff."
Over the next two hours (and more than a few beers), they searched through the files to try and find their two missing ghosts. Dean sent several flirtatious remarks in Evee's direction. Evee countered them all, seemingly immune to his charms. Sam found himself actually enjoying the night.
"Hey," Dean said as he rose, stretching. "Could you tell me where the bathroom is?"
"End of the hall," said Evee, sitting back. Sam did the same as Dean exited.
"So," he said, "does anyone live here while you're gone?"
Evee laughed. "Tex gave you the 411, huh? Its okay. Nope, nobody has lived here in a while, but its quiet and out of the way. My brother and I like it that way. Usually we stay with our grandmother, but she lives in Pasadena, and that's about the opposite of quiet. Our father left us this place after he died."
"Oh," said Sam, "I'm sorry-"
"It's ok," said Evee quickly. "It happened when we were young. After my mother died, my dad's spirit kind of died with her. He left us well cared for, though. My grandfather was an ex Navy SEAL, and he taught us a lot, hence the fighting. My grandmother though, well, my Uncle Kevin calls her a loony." She laughed. "She is a little kooky, if you catch my drift."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
"You could call my grandmother a psychic, but she never had a 1-800 number or anything. She just always seems to know when we're in trouble." She sighed.
Evee smiled, and something in Sam did a little flip-flop. They worked for a second, before her head popped up out of some papers. "I found him!" she said excitedly.
After relieving himself, Dean turned out the lights and headed down the hall. There were three doors here: two on the left, and one on the right. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw a gleam of white. The right door was cracked open. Even with the door shielding most of the room, Dean could see several papers tacked up on the wall. Curious, he walked to the door and opened it. He found the light after a few seconds, and switched it on. What he saw caused adrenaline to pump through his chest.