Posting this with Chapter 5. I got carried away thinking about the next chapter and wrote it before I finished this one, that's why it has taken so long to post. Ch4 contains all the setup for Ch5 and future chapters. Thanks to everyone who is following this despite the lack of alerts. What do we have to do anyway? Ritual sacrifice? Offer a virgin? (Stop complaining Sci, it's free.) I'll shut up now.
Chapter 4
When Sam opened the door he knew the woman standing in the hall was Amy's mother. There was not a doubt in his mind. They shared the same black hair and weak, dark eyes. She smiled warmly at him.
"Hello." Her voice held a confidence he did not think possible in such a plain package.
"You must be Amy's mom. Come in," Sam opened the door wide.
She brushed his arm as she walked in. Sam resisted rolling his eyes, imagining what she might be like in a moment if mother and daughter shared the same taste in men.
"Amy?" She called out.
"In here, Mom!"
Amy must not be willing to take her eyes off Dean yet, Sam surmised. Sam offered her a smile as he led Amy's mother the few steps to the kitchen. "They've been working really hard," Sam said as they stepped into the kitchen.
"Amy. Are you ready?" her mother sounded a little annoyed, probably at being made to walk all the way inside the small apartment.
"Sure, Mom." Amy hopped up from the table. "This is Kevin, Brad, Rae, and Rae's dad." She pointed out Dean.
Amy's mother turned around to greet Dean. "Rae's Dad." She said formally, holding out a hand.
Dean shook it with his free hand, his eyes never wavering from the two boys still seated at the table. "Amy's Mom."
She laughed, turning to face Sam. "And you are?"
"Uh, sorry. I'm Rae's uncle, Sam." He shook her hand.
"Uncle, huh?" Amy's mom sighed, looking him up and down. "Too bad."
He heard Dean stifle a chuckle. "Hey, Sam? You got plans for Friday night?"
"Uh, no. Why?" Sam had the distinct impression from the amusement on Dean's face that he was going to regret that answer.
"I got a date." Bright, wide Dean smirk. Oh, he was so going to pay for this. "Can you stay home with Rae?"
He felt more than saw Amy's mom eyeing him again. Sam cleared his throat, throwing Dean a glare. "Sure, no problem."
"Uncle Sam? Can we go see that movie?" Rae asked from the table.
Somehow Sam could not stay mad, even at Dean, when she looked at him like that. "Sure, Sunshine. Sounds good."
"What movie?" Kevin asked.
"None of your business," Dean snapped at him.
"Dean!" Sam reprimanded.
"What? It's not like he's going with you," Dean's eyes darted to Sam briefly before settling back on the boy.
"Actually, any of Rae's friends are welcome if she wants to invite them." Sam faced his brother, glaring.
"I'm sure my folks wouldn't mind," Kevin said quickly, leaning on the table closer to Rae. Dean's eyes narrowed as he followed the movement.
"And I'd be happy to help chaperone," Amy's mother put in before either Sam or Rae could respond.
"Then it's settled," Amy said decisively. "Except for you, Brad. You coming?"
Brad stared around the room. "I think I'm waiting for someone to tell me what to do."
"And I think I just cancelled my date," Dean growled, staring at poor Kevin.
"Too late, we've made plans," Sam pointed out quickly. "Brad, do you want me to ask your dad if you can go?"
Sam heard a thump, making him think someone kicked Brad under the table. When Brad shot Kevin a nasty look, Sam knew who it was. "Yeah, okay," Brad mumbled.
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Friday at lunch Rae squeezed in next to Kevin at the table. Amy was already sitting across from her.
"You mad at me?" She asked, looking at their blank faces.
"You might have mentioned that you had a problem with public speaking," Amy said, glaring.
"I think it went pretty well," Kevin said. His knee knocked softly against hers. "You know, considering it was your first class project, first time to talk in front of the class, and all that."
Amy's mouth twisted to one side. "I never thought of it like that." Her head waggled side to side. "Yeah, okay, when you look at it like that, I guess it did go pretty well."
"Hey! Can I join?" Brad stood behind Amy.
"Sure, Brad. What's up?" Kevin motioned to the empty spot beside Amy.
Brad grinned across the table. "Rae, I want you in all my group projects." He grinned.
"Here we go," she mumbled.
"No, really." Brad's grin widened. "I just talked to our history teacher in the lunch line. He was really impressed with the whole idea we had, the newscast. He said he wants to videotape it, especially if Rae might feel more comfortable talking to a camera instead of an audience." Eager eyes took them all in. "Well?"
"I dunno. Maybe." Rae admitted, wondering why he looked so excited. Brad was the least excitable person in their group. "Why?"
"We all got A's!" Brad beamed at them. "Mr. Steinway wants to tape it to use in future classes. We're famous."
Kevin snorted. "I wouldn't call that famous."
"Kevin," Brad glared at him. "I'm not the best student. Just let me enjoy this, okay? I bet my folks insist on taking me out to dinner or something to celebrate."
"But not tonight," Kevin insisted. "Tonight we're all going to the movies. Right?"
"Right." Brad beamed again. "Man, I can't wait to get home and tell my parents about this. Maybe I should go call them?"
Rae laughed at him. "Dude, you need more excitement in your life."
"Like what?" Kevin asked.
"How about that ghost in the library?" Amy asked, eyes shining.
"Not the ghost thing again?" Kevin groaned.
"Seriously, I've been doing some research." Amy reached into the bag by her feet. She pulled out a blue folder. Setting it in the center of the table, she flipped it open. "Look, a librarian really did die in our school library, about ten years ago. Officially it was a heart attack."
"Officially?" Rae asked. "You think there's more to it?"
Amy's voice dropped. "I think she was murdered."
"Where do you get this stuff?" Kevin demanded.
"Shut up," Rae snapped, her gaze focused on Amy. "What makes you think she was murdered?" She mentally kicked herself for not discussing this with Uncle Sam. With all her anxiety over the presentation of her history project, she had completely forgotten about it.
"Well," Amy leaned forward, flipped through a few pages in her folder, "here. Look at this. It's a letter the police found in her apartment. She was seeing somebody."
"So?" Brad looked like he was trying to read it upside down. Rae reached over and flipped the page around for him.
"So? What if the guy she was seeing was a married man? What if he killed her?" Amy said excitedly.
Rae narrowed her eyes at Amy. "Vague references to a possible boyfriend are not equivalent of being murdered by a man covering up an illicit affair."
Brad looked up from letter. "Do what?"
Kevin cleared his throat. "Uh, you mean she doesn't have any proof?"
"That's what I said." Rae rolled her eyes.
Amy nodded her head at Rae. "Too much time with Uncle Sam," she said.
"She sounds like Monk," Brad mumbled, eyes dropping back to the letter.
Rae smiled. "Thanks. I like that show."
Brad chuckled, looking through the rest of Amy's papers. "What's this?" he asked, pulling out another page.
"That's the coroner's report," Amy explained.
"How the hell did you get that?" Kevin demanded, snatching the paper from Brad's hand. "This kind of stuff is supposed to be confidential."
"How would you know?" Rae asked.
Kevin cleared his throat. "I just do, that's all."
"How?" Brad demanded, trying to take the coroner's report back.
"Yeah, how?" Amy threw in.
"Well?" Rae asked, staring him down. "Dude, if you want me to do that presentation in front of a camera, it's time to come clean."
"He's the one who wants that!" Kevin protested, pointing at Brad. The other three glared at him. Kevin groaned. "Fine." He looked around like someone might be eavesdropping. "My dad is a judge," he whispered.
"Really?" Amy sat back, obviously impressed. "Think he'd write me a letter of recommendation for college?"
"Ask me in four years, if I'm still talking to you," Kevin snapped.
"No shit?" Rae saw Kevin in a new light. This was the same guy who told Amy to back off her dad, because he worked hard for a living. "What does your mom do?"
Kevin looked around again, as though word of the fact he was spilling his family secrets was traveling fast and other students would start gathering around. He whispered in Rae's ear, "She's a psychologist."
"Oh." Rae shrugged. "Okay." She wondered why he would be ashamed of that.
"What?" Amy asked, breathless.
"Anything in the coroner's report, Brad?" Rae asked, holding out a hand for the page.
"No idea," Brad admitted, handing it over.
Rae skimmed the page. She frowned at the chemicals found in the librarian's system. "I think we need to do some more research."
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Dean sat at the bar, staring into his beer. His date, a cute gal with jet black hair and eyes that promised after dark mischief, was talking about something. All he could think about was the fact his little girl was at a dark movie theater with that Kevin kid. That kid was nothing but trouble. Dean remembered being thirteen and all those hormones. Public school was definitely a bad idea. Why the hell did he agree to that in the first place?
His eyes drifted to the television behind the bar. There was a special newsbreak. He grunted noncommittally to something his date asked. What was her name again? Something that started with a J? Or C?
"Dude," he waved at the bartender, "can you turn that up? What's going on?"
The bartender, Joe, was a good guy and turned up the volume. The fact he could remember the bartender's name and not his date's would disturb Sam, no doubt. Dean liked that, not that he was planning to admit any of this to Sam.
"…shooting that took place at the Cineplex not ten minutes ago." Dean sat up straighter, eyes glued to the screen. "Emergency vehicles are en route. We have no idea what happened at this time and are waiting for the authorities to arrive."
The Cineplex. Dean sprang from his seat as though it were on fire. Without a thought to his tab or his date, he rushed outside into a cab. There were always at least two outside this bar.
"Get me to the Cineplex now," he fumbled with his wallet. Dean pulled out a hundred dollar bill and thrust it into the cabby's hand. "Don't worry about breaking any laws."
"Yes, sir!" The cab roared to life.