Chapter Four
Ella
We drive across the state line into Pennsylvania from Ohio. This is the most I've traveled, ever. Furthest I've been on either side of the country is New York City and Seattle with a bit of Sacramento a couple states down.
Sam and Dean are talking about the case we are going to which is pretty weird. Dead guy with fang marks in his neck and his body was drained of blood. Plus there was a witness that swears up and down that it was a vampire. Weird, right? I think it just screams case to me and besides, I found it. I was pretty proud of myself and Sam researched it with me and that's when we found the witness statement about the vampire.
Sam, Dean, and I walk into the community center dressed as FBI agents. They actually got me my very own fake FBI ID. How generous. It's Octoberfest, this town like to spell it Oktoberfest, and every bar maid is dressed like a German bar maid and the outfits are slutty. Great way to attract customers, I'll say. Especially the male population, maybe some of the females too.
"Still gotta see the new Raiders movie."
"Saw it."
Dean's offended and left out. "Without me?"
Sam nods. "You were in hell."
"That's no excuse." I laugh at his comment back. Dean looks around and something catches his eye, I think it's a woman till he says, "big pretzel," and walks off.
"He always this in love with food?"
"Very much so." I roll my eyes and we walk toward Dean and the man selling them. He gets Sam one but not me, which is fine. I only like the baked ones found in the plastic bag at the store. "Thank you," Sam says when Dean hands him his.
"Give me some of that." I tear a little piece off and put it in my mouth. I moan in appreciation. "This is why we get along so well Dean. We both like food." He smiles and keeps eating his big pretzel.
"Guten Tag!" A bar maid says walking by. Dean looks at her suggestively.
"Guten Tag yourself." I hit his arm.
"I've got better legs than her. Come on, let's just get this case done. Look, there's our man." I walk over to the police officer and flash my badge. "Agent Collins, these are agents, Angus and Young. We called ahead about your problem."
"Right, I'll tell you what, how about we talk about this away from the crowd." I nod and we follow him to the morgue. He drags the body out of the freezer and uncovers her face. "Marissa Wright, 26. Just up from Lockhard for the fest. Terrible, just terrible. It's the last thing this town needs for big tourist season."
"Definitely the last thing Marissa Wright needed," Sam says.
Dean turns her face and sees the fang marks. They're just regular fang marks. "What the hell?"
"Yeah, you got me. I mean this killer's some kind of grade A wacko, right? I mean some Satan-worshipping, Anne Rice reading, gothic psycho vampire wannabe."
"Sheriff, in your report you mentioned a witness," Dean says, dragging the topic from the killer to the witness.
"Well, I wished I didn't. But witness insisted. That's Ed Bruer. Not exactly what you'd call reliable." He pushes the body back in and we leave. I talk with the sheriff on the way out though.
"So he's the only witness?"
"Yes."
"Time of death?"
"Around midnight a couple days ago. Found her yesterday morning around four. It's tragic."
"It is. I'm sorry for the loss. Was she up here for the fest?"
"We think so. But we can't be sure." I place my hand on his shoulder and apologise once more. When I walk out, Dean grabs my arm.
"What the hell was that for?" He asks.
"Comfort Dean. I was just showing the man comfort. Why? Are you jealous?" I smile. "You are!" I stop and look at him. "Don't worry Dean. You are the only man in my life. You know, except for Sam, and Bobby."
"Oh come on," he says, a hint of a smile plays on his lips and he leads me away with a hand on the small of my back. Inside, I'm doing backflips. We walk into a bar and up to the bar.
"I remember you."
"And I remember you, Jamie." All while he's saying this, his hand doesn't move from my lower back.
"He never forgets a pretty," Sam looks her up and down. "Everything. We're looking for Ed Bruer."
"What do you want with Ed?"
"Well we are federal agents," I tell Jamie, the bar maid and we all get our badges out. "Mr. Bruer is a witness to a serious crime. We just need to,"
"Wait a minute, you're a fed?" Dean nods. "Wow you don't come on like a fed," she says flirting with him. I roll my eyes.
"Ed Bruer, where is he?" I say getting in the middle of that before it gets ugly.
"Over there."
"Thank you." I turn with Sam and we start to walk away. Dean catches up.
"What was that?" He asks.
"Just trying to solve the case."
"Are you jealous?" I shrug. "You are! Don't worry Ella, you're the only woman in my life. Except for well you know," he pauses.
"No one else. I'm the only woman."
"Hey that's no fair!" I laugh and walk away, swaying my hips.
We walk up to Ed and sit down across from him. Well Sam and I do. Dean has to get a chair from a different table to sit with us and I'm stuck between Sam and Dean. Ed takes a long drink of his jug, I think it is, before he starts talking.
"I told the cops everything I saw. No one believes me. Why should you be any different?"
"Believe me Mr. Bruer, we're different," Dean offers as a coax to get him to start talking to us about the murder.
"I spoke the God's honest truth. And now I'm the town joke."
"Marissa Wright's murder is no joke to us," I say. "We want to hear every thing. No matter how strange it may seem. We have a lot of experience with strange."
He takes another sip out of his jug and starts blabbing. "It was just after midnight. I just left here and like I do every night, I cut through the park on the way home. At first I thought it was a couple kissing, but she was struggling too much. And this man he was well he was biting her neck."
"Can you describe her assailant?" Sam asks, busting out a smart word.
"Oh yeah! He was a vampire."
Sam tries the interrogating again. "And by that you mean?"
"Oh you know, a vampire." Ed makes the vampire hissing noise. "He looked like a vampire. You know the fangs, the slicked back hair, the fancy cape and the little medallion thingy, ribbon."
"You mean like a Dracula?" I ask, putting the pieces together.
"Exactly! Like a Dracula."
"Let's hope he doesn't stink," I whisper to Dean. He fights a smile.
"Right down to the accent."
"The accent?" Dean asks to control his chuckles. "What did he say?"
"You know, something like, 'stay away, the night is mine.' You do believe me, don't you?"
"Yes, Ed we do. I promise we will get this vampire running amuck," I tell him with all the seriousness, I can muster up. We get up one by one and go to the bar to get a drink.
"So what do you think? Goth, psycho, vampire wannabe, right?"
"Definitely not our kind of case." That disappoints me because I found it and we drove all this way just to investigate.
"Agreed, but who cares. Rooms paid for and it's Octoberfest. Come on, brother and lady. Beer and bar wenches."
"I'm pretty sure women today don't react well to the whole wench thing," Sam says.
"Well," I start to say. Dean starts to prove his case by calling the bar maid.
"Hey bar wench, where's that beer?"
"Coming up good sir!" She shouts back. Sam rolls his eyes.
"Dude, Octoberfest."
"There ya go. What can I get ya?" She asks Sam and I.
"Oh he doesn't drink. He's Christian scientist. Doesn't even take aspirin. He's a real drag on stakeouts." She giggles.
"You're funny."
"Well I'm a lot more than funny. What time do you get off?"
"Ha ha, like I said funny." I kick his shins under the table. "I'll get you a beer?" She says to me.
"If I'm going to be spending the rest of the day with this bafoon. I'll need it." She laughs and walks away.
"Man, it is time to right some wrongs."
"Come again?" I ask my brow raised.
"I came back from the furnace without any of my old scars, right? Bullet wounds, knife cuts. None of the off angle fingers from all the breaks. I mean my hide is as smooth as a baby's bottom. Which leads me to conclude," The bar maid, Jamie, brings me my drink and walks away before Dean says, "sadly that my virginity is intact."
Sam is confused by the reasoning behind his virginity being intact. "What?"
"I've been re-hymenated." I laugh so hard my stomach starts hurting, Sam laughs too.
"Please!" I say once I get my laughing under control. "Dean, maybe angels can pull you out of hell but no one can do that."
"Ella, I have been re-hymenated. And the dude will not abide."
"Alright, well you go do whatever you've gotta do, I'm gonna go back to the room and get some sleep." I finish my sip of beer and give him the rest of my beer.
"Amen to that. I am coming with you," I tell Sam. We get up and go back to the motel room.
I walk to the bathroom and strip out of my pants and nice shirt. I have spandex on and a tank top under the clothes so I fold my clothes neatly, and put them in my bag. I go to the couch and lay down.
"You know, you should come sleep on the bed. There is an extra and I' sure won't mind if you use it."
"I wont intrude. I'm sure he doesn't want the whole bed smelling like me."
"Ella, don't make me come over there and pick you up. Come over here, besides I want to talk."
"Oh great. I should not be dreading this as much as I do." I get up and go to the free bed which is furthest from the door. I lay on my stomach and hug the pillow. "Yes, Sam?"
"Were you and Dean flirting when we left the morgue and when we were talking to Ed and when the bar maid came up?"
"Well I wouldn't say flirting but we were friendly."
"You mean flirting."
"I mean friendly," I say smiling.
Sam gives up, well he let's it go for now. "Okay, I'll believe you this time. It happens again and it's flirting."
"Well he is sorta handsome."
"Oh hush, now I don't want to know."
"You asked for it, Sammy."
He groans. "Not you too." I laugh. I turn my head and eventually fall asleep.
I wake up when I feel a dip in the bed. I'm on my back, one arm above my head, the other across my stomach, my legs bent. I open my eyes to find Dean laying down.
"Losing your virginity not work out?"
"Ha ha, and no. We're leaving tomorrow and she refused today therefore, still re-hymenated." I draw my arms to my chest and crawl under the blankets. "You're staying?"
"It's be sort of stupid to go to the couch now, I'm already comfy."
"Good. I'm glad you're finally sleeping on the bed and not on the couch. You can bunk with me you know."
"I just feel like I'm intruding."
"Well you're not. Don't worry about it."
We are silent for a while, till I speak up. "Dean you awake?" He nods. "Do you want to know what Sam asked me today?"
I examine Dean's face. His eyes are closed and his mouth is slightly open. Oh his mouth, I want to kiss him so badly, but I refrain. "What?"
"If we were flirting today."
"What you say?"
"What would you say if he asked you that?"
He angles his body a little closer to mine. "That it's none of his business. Your turn."
I shrug. "I told him that we were friendly. But I was smiling so he didn't believe me." Dean grins.
"Were we flirting?" Dean asks.
"I'd say so, but that's just me. And Sam, and I'm sure the bar maid caught on too when you didn't take your hand off of my lower back and your body wouldn't stop itself from touching me whenever it got the chance." His hand slides closer to me and it pokes my hand till I put it on the bed and he plays with my fingers. "Do female hands interest you, Mr. Winchester?"
"Well they are so damn small and soft all the time. They're really thin and your fingers are long."
"That's the best part about being a female. Long fingers come in handy." He groans and links our fingers together.
"Don't ever say that to a guy that your in bed with and don't intend on sleeping with that night."
I decide to use faux innocence. "But I am sleeping with you tonight."
"Not what I meant." I chuckle. "Let's go to sleep before any other comment go flyin' and I have to sleep on the couch or get another room for the two of us."
I shrug. "I'm down for the ladder. Night though." I unlink my fingers and turn around, but I am a little closer to Dean. He groans again and I laugh.
When I wake up in the morning, Dean's arm is under my pillow, his hand sticking out with my hand right next to his and his other arm is slung over my hip, hand resting on my bladder, which is full. What is it with my hips and him? Every time we sleep next to each other, his hand goes to my hip, not my waist, my hip. Is it because my hair ends right there and he likes to play with my hair? Not sure. Maybe I should cut my hair a couple inches and test out this new theory.
I get up from Dean's hold and walk to the bathroom as quietly as I can to not wake him. Sam is awake and sipping coffee. I heard Sam and Dean get up and leave last night after Sam got a call, probably from the sheriff, and I didn't hear them come back. But here they are.
"Were you enjoying the cuddling?" Sam asks. I jump because I forgot he was there.
"Oh hush! You know that's all him, right? Every time I've slept in the same bed as him or around him, his hand is glued to my hip."
I sit down across from Sam and take his coffee. "Try sleeping in my bed this time. That way you'll get a bed to sleep in and your hip won't be attacked by Dean's hand or arm."
"And I suppose you know how to keep your hands off of a woman in your sleep?" I take a sip and I'm mildly disgusted, milk and one sugar. "Nasty coffee, man. I like mine milk and three sugars. Was that another wacky murder last night?" Sam nods. "I'm taking a shower and I'm using up all the shampoo and conditionare Sam, buy me some next time you go to the store, I like tresemmé."
We sit down across from this girl who is drinking an extra extra large soda and telling us the story little bits at a time. I'm disgusted by the slurping noise it's making for being empty at the end, but I sit through it.
"And it just tore Rick into little pieces."
"Ma'am we understand how hard this is, can you describe the creature?" Dean asks the witness.
She takes another sip of her drink. "It was a werewolf."
"A werewolf?" Sam asks. She nods. "You're sure?"
"Oh yeah, with the fury face and the black nose and the claws. And the torn up pants and shirt. Like from the old movies."
"Okay, so, thank you for your time," Dean says politely, well as politely as Dean can. We get up and go to the morgue. "First a Dracula, then an old movie time wolf, what the hell is going on in this town?" Sam pulls the body out of the freezer and unzips it. I can smell it and barely see it, even with my six inch heels, I can barely see it. Wow, I am short. "Damn!"
Sam starts picking at the body. "Alright, whatever did this, wasn't a psycho wannabe." He holds up shredded muscles and Dean cringes while I stand there calm.
"How the hell are you not cringing right now?"
"dissected four fetal pigs, in two weeks with no gloves on in anatomy my sophomore year of high school. Plus I got to make an incision in the trachea and I put a straw in there and made one squeal. And I dissected a cow's eye, a sheep brain and a sheep heart. Bare hands guys. I smelled like death the rest of the day with each dissection. It was the first period of the day, every day. Trust me, this is not gross."
Sam looks really disgusted. "Damn, you've got more balls than Sam and I do combined," Dean replies. I shrug.
Sam throws the muscles back in. "Look at those bite marks. Right down to the bone, and deeper."
"Strong enough to tear apart a healthy man limb from limb. Could be a werewolf."
"Yeah, except, look. Hearts still there, in one piece. They never leave the heart behind." That's news to me.
"Thus I reiterate, what the hell is going on?" I hear footsteps and I turn. It's the sheriff.
"Well I was hope you three could tell me. Just got a rush job back from the lab. Fibers we found on the body, canine. Wolf hairs."
"I'm getting a headache," Dean says.
"Thank you sheriff." We leave and head out to the bar. We sit at a table and order our food, but the girl Dean was flirting with, was not our server.
When we are close to finished, Dean starts talking about the case. "I don't know, guys seems like we've stumbled upon a midnight showing of Dracula meets wolfman. Is that it?"
"I don't know. Wolfman seems real enough, makes Dracula seem a little less impossible, I guess."
"Werewolves don't grow wolf hair, that's just a myth. So we got a vampire and a werewolf monster mashing this town?"
The waitress we had last night, comes over with three beers, one for me and one for Dean, and one even for Sam. "Looks like you guys are staying a while. I heard about Rick Decan. It's tragic." She looks sad but it doesn't seem like it. I don't call her out on it either. I just let it be.
"It just got weird enough for our uh, department."
"Well beers are on me tonight. And just so you know, I get off at midnight tonight." She walks away swaying her hips.
I punch Dean in the arm. "You go out with her tonight, I'll sleep with Sam."
"So you'll be sharing a bed with him tonight?"
"I mean sex, Dean." Sam is smart enough not to say anything but just winks at me. I smirk.
"No, just because he needs to get laid doesn't mean it needs to be with you."
"Then don't go out with her, duh."
Dean manuvers to look at me. "Then, Ella, will you go out with me tonight?"
I mull it over in my head before shrugging. "No. Now that I was talking about sleeping with Sam, I kinda want to now." I see the tips of Sam's ears turning red. Dean shakes his head.
"You're going out with me tonight."
"How should I dress? Jeans? Or a skirt?"
"Skirt is easy access, but jeans are more fitting for the weather."
"Dean, you can't get me into bed with you that fast. We've known each other for a month and a half. Slow down."
"Most people know each other an hour and a half and they're in the sack together."
"That's how STD's and pregnancies happen, Dean. Tell junior to yield." He smirks. "I'll see you two back at the room." Sam laughs and lets me know that everything will be fine.
A few hours later, I'm on the bed reading my book waiting for Sam and Dean. They must have gotten a call about the case. Another dead body maybe? A break through? I set my book down and walk outside to see if they are coming back. I walk down the hall of the motel and I don't see them. But I do hear something that makes me turn around. It's Dracula, like a version of Dracula.
"Good evening," he says. Wow he really does have the accent. I turn and run to the town square. He follows me and I hit a dead end. Shit. "I have watched you for many nights from afar. My passion knows, no bounds, Mina." I check my pockets for my phone, and I can't seem to find it. "You're the reincarnation of my beloved, and I must have you." I slap him and run past him. I run toward the room and find Dean on my way. I hide behind him as Dracula catches up to me.
"Son of a bitch."
"You should not use such language in the presence of my bride." Dracula tries sizing up Dean and just for future reference, I would choose Dean every time.
"Okay." Dean punches Dracula and he comes back up quickly, fangs bared. They start to fight. Dean throws punches and Dracula blocks them. The vampire pushes Dean against the wall and holds him by his neck. "Ella, run!" And I do. I run to the room and slam the door shut. Sam is in the room confused.
"Dracula just tried attacking me, Dean helped me. I need a drink. I'm going back to the bar." I walk out and I see Dean walking toward me. "I'm going to the bar."
"I'm right there with ya."
"I told Sam."
"Good." He puts his hand on my back and leads me to the bar. The bar maid's friend is in there and when she sees us, she asks what we want. "Give us a bottle of whiskey." She hands him the bottle and we sit in a booth while she leaves.
A few minutes later, Sam walks in. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, I think I know what's going on though. Part of it at least." Sam unwraps the towel and discovers an ear, more specifically Dracula's ear.
"The ear part?"
"Ripped it off of Dracula's head. Touch it." Sam give him the look saying 'are you serious right now' while Dean is say 'seriously, dude, touch it.' So that's what Sam does. "Feel familiar to you?"
"Awh man."
"Skin of a shapeshifter. Just like St. Louis and just like Milwaukee. Just this ones whole buckets of crazy. Oh and uh, this, I pulled it off during the fight." Dean hands Sam a ribbon. "Look at the label on the ribbon." It says, 'The FX Shop Prophouse.'
"It's a costume rental."
"All three monsters, the Dracula, the wolfman, the mummy. All the same critter. Which means we need to catch this freak before he 'creature from the black lagoon's' somebody."
"The stage craft, the costuming. It's like he's trying to reenact his favorite monster movie moments. Right down to the bloody murders."
"Wait, who's Mina again? Dracula's long lost love?"
"Mina?"
"Yeah, it's what he called Ella, and he called me Mr. Harker."
"Jonathan Harker? They're characters from the movies and the novels. Mina, Dracula's intended bride, Harker the fiance that stands in the way. It seems like he's fixating on you, like he sees you as his bride."
"Lucky me."
"But to fixate on you, my guess is the shifter has to of seen you before. Or been around you."
"El, has anyone strange looked at you weird anywhere and you recognize them here? Or even while we've been in town."
"Well since we've been in town I haven't recognized anyone. The sheriff has taken a liking to me, Ed spilled the beans every time I talked to him instead of you two."
"Ed Bruer, Ed?" Sam asks.
I nod. "Yeah, I've caught him looking at me a few times. Like intentionally turning around in his booth to look. I did a little asking around and found out he works in the movie theater. I think they said he's a protectionist."
"Take care of Mina?" Sam asks Dean.
He nods. "You got it." Sam leaves and Dean turns back to me. "So Mina, how are you on this fine evening?"
"Just fine, how are you Mr. Harker?"
"Just fine?"
"I'm not a damsel in distress, Dean."
"But you are a damsel." I raise my eye brow. "Alright, alright."
I sigh and take a sip of my shot. "So why do you and Sam do it?" He's confused. "Fight monsters, get beat up over it?"
"Because it the right thing."
"But you're giving up your life to this terrible, horrifying responsiblity."
Dean pauses a few moments before responding. "These last few years, I started thinking that way. And uh, it started weighing on me. A little while ago, when I died and went to hell and came back, things were different. My life's been different. I realized that I help people, not just help them though, I save them. It's awesome. It's kind of like a gift. Like a mission, kind of like a mission from God."
"Why did you die, Dean?"
"You've heard the fights that Sam and I are having right?" I nod. "Well a few years ago, we learned what killed our mother when Sam was just a baby. And before the demon, that's what it was; it was a special demon, but before it killed her he bled into Sam mouth a little and it gave him these, these uh powers I guess. And a year before I died, Sam was taken to a deserted town with other kids that were like him. They had to fight I guess and which ever came out on top, meaning they had to kill the other 'special people,' they would use this gun to open the Gates of Hell. Well Sammy died. He was stabbed in the back and I sold my soul to a demon to get him back. I had a year left and when that year came and passed, the hellhounds took me away."
"Wow, long back story." During that story, I got up and sat next to him and I started playing with his fingers. "So you saved the world?"
"No, just the community."
"The world Dean. You're a hero, obviously." I lean up and kiss his cheek, my hand on his left. "And a damn good one."
"Glad you think so." He leans over and his eyes are closed. Then the light comes on.
"Oh I'm sorry guys, I just came to get a bottle. I've got something going back at my apartment," the bar maid, Jamie's friend, says.
"Oh it's cool, stay have a drink. I'd like to get to know this town a little bit better anyhow and what better person to ask than the bartender. Come on, have a drink with us."
"Oh alright." She sits across from us and I look at her name tag, it says Lucy. Alright, now I know her name. She shares her bottle of alcohol with us and we start to get tipsy, like really drunk. We start seeing four of everything and everything is spinning. Then Dean reaches over and punches Lucy in the face, knocking her to the ground. He pushes his way out of the booth and I fall in, very drunk and tired. I fall asleep.
When I wake up, I'm on a bed and in a cold room with concrete stone walls like an old castle, very medieval. Candles everywhere, there's cobwebs and spider webs. I see a spider on the wall above me and I scream, moving away from the bed and into the arms of Dracula.
"You wake," Dracula says. I turn and step back a couple steps. "The gown, it suits your beauty. Please, put it on." I look at it and it's white and long and silky.
"Where am I? What have you done with Dean?"
"Harker is resting else where. Please put on the gown and you may dine. We are having pizza." He gestures to the pizza and wine he has set up.
"What? What is wrong with you? You made up Lucy, right? Pretended to be Jamie's friend. Pretended to be nice to me."
"I need to know if you were the one."
"Then try talking to people. But instead you become this?"
"The gown..."
I get angry. "I don't want to play your stupid game!" I yell at him. "I just want to go home," I say quietly.
"Put on the gown!" He yells at me, making me jump. I reach over and take it from the hanger. I slip off my clothes when he leaves and pull it on. I have to admit, it fits nicely. "I scared you. You're the only one I don't want to scare," he tells me, his accent gone. "I just love the movies."
"They aren't real. You can't make them real."
"Real is being born this way. Different. Real is having your dad call you monster. It's the first time you hear the word. And he tries to beat you to death with a shovel." He starts a pity party for himself and I sit on the bed, not really caring but listening. I had a boyfriend that did this once. Where I would ask how his day went and he would go on and on about himself and how he doesn't want to go home to his family. It's not like they treated him badly, he just didn't like them.
"Do you ever think you're lonely because you kill people?"
"I kill people because I'm lonely." He pauses. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Dean? "Dean?" I shout. "Dean!" I scream. Dracula makes a fist and hits me with the back of it. It knocks me out.
I wake up and I hear more fighting. Oh goodness what did I get myself into with this hunting thing. I scramble off the bed when I see Dracula and Dean fight. I find the gun and when Dean's on the floor, I shoot Dracula, well the shapeshifter, in the upper back twice. He turns and is amazed that I shot him.
"And it was beauty that killed the beast," he says. "Perhaps this is how the movie should end." And I feel so weak after all that adrenaline that I drop the gun and fall to the ground.