A/N: This is long overdue. As are most of my updates honestly. But I hope you enjoy nonetheless. Thank you so, so much for the reviews last chapter. They mean the world to me.
Replies:
January Lily: Thank you so much! You are in no way a burden. I promise. Your review means so much and I'm really happy that you enjoy the story.
Avalin Rose Ellyot: Thank you! I'm glad you like sisfics.
SwamAmongTheNorthernLights: Glad you like this! Bex has been a joy to write and I'm glad that you like reading about her. And ooh I'm so glad that you're interested because I can't wait to write it.
snn7b: Thank you!
Marloweee1856: Ahhh thank you so much. :3 The motel scene was really fun to write and I thought I might give you something remotely humorous after all the angst and the letters. You won't believe how excited I am to introduce Matthew. He's going to have the best relationship with Bex omg.
bluepenquin1998: I think you'll like the last scene *wink* And yesss Sam/Bex is so painful right now my poor babies
Emilia Christine: Don't worry about it! I'm just glad that you reviewed at all. And honestly I never get tired by rambling. It's much appreciated. I'm so happy that you like Bex because she's just so fun to write. Also, I'm really glad that you like her journal. :)
You guys are the greatest honestly you're all so sweet.
Chapter Word Count: 4,041
Chapter Warnings: Biphobia (not like extreme biphobia but Bex talks about it in one of her journal entries—but the biphobia stems from the fact that she doesn't quite understand the world beyond the Winchester bubble, not that because she's actually biphobic. So what I mean is that it's unintentional on her part and not my belief.), sexual harassment, misogyny, slut-shaming (Hook Man is pretty much about a huge slut-shaming dickwad ghost so...)
"It's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"
-"Hallelujah"
Chapter Four: Hooked
November 5, 2005
Hi Mom,
In Palo Alto. We're sorting out all of the info we have on dad while Sam grieves.
I feel guilty. Sam fought us as we tried to get him out of the fire. He was screaming and shoving us away. He loved her. He fought for the life he wanted, and I just sit around and whine.
There I go again. Me me me.
Anyways, there's not much stuff to sort through, but I've been reading through the journal and trying to see if his voicemail was a code for something. He really likes making things difficult for us.
Love,
Rebecca
November 10, 2005
Dear Mom,
We're in Blackwater Creek now. Apparently some guy and his friends went missing on a camping trip. Their sister is about to go look for them—probably not a good idea. Actually, it's definitely a bad idea considering what could be out there.
Sam's…different. I mean, of course he's different from before he left, but even from last week he's changed a lot. He's starting to act like Dean—shoot-first-ask-questions-later. It's kind of scary. Now that I think about it, he's sort of acting like dad. You and Jess both died in the same way. He and dad are now completely investing in finding what killed you.
Ironic how Sam thought Dad's crusade was stupid growing up. Now it's his crusade too.
Dean says we're going to talk to the guy's sister to convince her not to go.
Love,
Rebecca
November 11, 2005
It's a wendigo.
November 12, 2005
Dear Mom,
We couldn't stop Haley from going into the forest so we ended up going with her. (Hayley's the guy's sister, by the way).
The wendigo killed their guide after he shot at it. I told him not to, but he didn't listen. Sam got kidnapped by it too, which was my fault. Dean left me in charge of him and I let the thing kidnap him. It seems like whenever I'm right, people don't listen and whenever I'm wrong, people put complete faith in me. Ha. How freaking hilarious.
Took a while, but we got it out. The damn thing had to be set on fire, which was really not fun. We only had two flare guns, and I missed. Thought Sam would make it—he didn't, so Dean had to save us all. I think he's mad at me for letting Sam get captured. I'm mad at myself, too. I was being careless.
That Haley girl was nice, though. She was pretty too. I almost kissed her after we were out.
Almost.
I wonder if you would've supported that. The fact that I like boys and girls. I like to think that you'd be loving and that you'd help me understand it, or that you'd at least accept it peacefully like dad. But I'm not sure. Lawrence was a small town and Dean says that it's really conservative. But Dad once said that you didn't let yourself be influenced by the people around you. That you liked to form your own ideas.
If you survived, life would be normal. Liking men and women isn't considered normal by a lot of people. So maybe I would just try and pretend that I only liked men.
Rebecca
November 16, 2005
Dear Mom,
Sam's been having a lot of nightmares lately. He wakes up in the middle of the night gasping. Sometimes, when we get motel rooms and we have to share one of the beds, I'll wake up and he's gone. Sometimes he disappears for hours but comes back before Dean gets up. He doesn't want to talk about it, of course.
I guess it's understandable. He watched his girlfriend burn alive.
Love,
Rebecca
November 21, 2005
Dear Mom,
Apparently spirits can possess bodies of water. That's fun.
No. It isn't. It sucks.
I almost drowned. They had to take me to the hospital.
I'm mad at myself, because Dean couldn't remember what name I used for the credit card I have right now (Liz Childs) and the nurses knew something was up. He keeps saying that it's fine, but I feel like he's mad at me. Maybe I'm just mad at myself.
We still haven't found Dad. I'm getting frustrated.
Sam's still acting weird.
Dean's just…Dean. That's nice. To have a rock. To have someone that anchors you to one spot. I know he's a complete pain sometimes, but I'm not sure where I'd be without him.
Love,
Rebecca
December 5, 2005
Mom,
A demon tried to kill us on a plane.
It knew about Jess.
I tried to convince Sam that demons can read minds, that he was just being crazy, but the stubborn idiot wouldn't believe me. Figures. Not many people do.
There I go again, throwing myself a pity-party.
Then we got into a huge fight. He told me that I was being stupid and I told him that he was being ridiculous. I'm staying in a different room from him and Dean. I just need to be alone.
I wish I had a mom. I wish that you were here to explain the world to me and help me up when I fall over instead of me having to try and understand everything for myself. I wish that you were here. I miss you I can't miss you because I never knew you but I wish that you were still alive. I wish that you were here. I wish I had a mom. I wish I weren't crying. I wish that you could be here to hold me now that I am. If you were alive, we probably wouldn't be in this situation.
Rebecca
December 13, 2005
Dear Mom,
Sam and I are still fighting. I wish that he would just apologize. Or that I would just apologize.
Who am I kidding? I'm not apologizing.
Rebecca
December 29, 2005
We forgot about Christmas. It's almost funny.
January 2, 2006
Nothing new for New Years. Got drunk. I think I did karaoke at a dive bar but I'm not sure.
February 15, 2006
Dear Mom,
Remember the urban legend about Bloody Mary?
Yeah?
Well, like most things, not so much a legend. We had to destroy Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. She was crazy.
Her name was Mary, she was a beauty queen and she wanted to be an actress or something, but anyways, she was murdered by some guy. Tried to spell his name out on the floor but he was never arrested or anything. She goes after people that are responsible for someone's death, but haven't faced the consequences.
Also, Sam knew Jess was going to die. I think.
Maybe Dad knew that you were going to die too.
But I kind of feel bad for Sam. There were nightmares about her beforehand and he ignored them. Could've stopped it but he didn't. Must feel really guilty.
I sat with him for a little yesterday. We didn't say anything, just sat. I think he's less mad at me. It's not much, but it's a step, right?
Love,
Rebecca
February 28, 2006
Hi Mom,
Sam and I are sort of peaceful right now. We were joking around this morning, which was nice. I miss having him as a friend. I miss having a friend at all.
Speaking of which, Sam got an email from a friend at Stanford (named Rebecca too. Yay) saying that her brother was arrested for murder. We're heading down to St. Louis now even though it's like 400 miles behind us. There's been no word from Dad recently. I'm starting to worry.
The drive is supposed to take two days. I'm stuck in the backseat again. Sam and I have been switching off, but he's been bitching a lot recently and I don't want to ruin the relative peace.
(I feel like I shouldn't curse in a letter to my mother. Oh well)
Rebecca
March 8, 2006
Mom,
It was a shapeshifter. It mimicked Dean and tried to get him arrested.
We kicked his ass though.
I'm happy about that.
-Rebecca
March 10, 2006
Dear Mom,
Chasing a lead on dad up in Boston. Rented a car. Dean wouldn't let me take baby (no surprise there).
I did a background check for him and found a result matching one of his aliases up in a hotel. Not a motel. But an actual hotel. I'm not sure why he'd spend the money on that and it might not even be him, but it's better than sticking around while Sam and Dean investigate a frat house (some guy was found hanging dead from a tree and his girlfriend said the killer was invisible).
Love,
Rebecca
After days of driving, Bex finally arrived at the Winston, the hotel John Winchester had been staying at. One glance at the lobby told her that jeans and her flannel shirt would stick out and draw attention, so she went shopping using a her new credit card- this one under the name Sarah Hendrix, since Liz had been reported for possible fraud.
Bex bought anything that looked like it could belong to someone wealthy. Two black dresses. Black stockings. Oversized sunglasses. Pumps (a decision she would soon regret—heels were not her thing). A large purse. A giant hat to hide her curls. Then she found a fairly clean looking restaurant and changed in the bathroom there before heading back to the hotel.
Bex walked straight to the elevator. The heels of her pumps click-clacked against the white marble of the lobby's floor. Although they hurt, she didn't show it; she stood tall and confident. Wearing a disguise made everything so much easier. It wasn't Bex talking. It was Sarah. Or Liz. Or Vicky. It was a made up character and she didn't have to feel vulnerable about anything.
The hotel lobby was even more extravagant than she'd seen from the outside. A waterfall was located to her right. It seemed to serve as a barrier between the lobby and a bar. On her left was a lounge area, filled with cream-colored furniture and bright throw pillows.
Metal doors slid open for her and Bex stepped inside, hit the button for the fourth floor, and waited as the box rose up through the building.
Ding. The doors slid back open to reveal a carpeted hallway and off-white walls. There were twenty or so doors and they all looked identical. She walked down the hall, checking each number until she found 423.
Bex knocked, unsurprised when nobody answered. After checking over both her shoulders to make sure nobody was looking, she bent over pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and began to work on the door.
The fact that the locks at this hotel used keys, not key cards, gave Bex some hope that John had been staying there. John had taught his kids lock-picking when they were eleven or so, but he'd never taught them about manipulating the magnetism of a key card. It's not like many people could anyways.
Bex stood up straight and pushed the door open. Like the motel a few months ago, this room was a mess. The sheets on one bed were ruffled and the sheets on the other were barely visible under all of the maps and printouts. Closing the door behind her, Bex looked around.
The only surface of the room not covered or messed up was the center on the desk. There sat a single object—an envelope.
For a moment, Bex wondered if this was the wrong room—John wouldn't write a letter, would he?
No.
But here it was. Bex stepped over slowly, trying not to break her ankles as she stepped over a stack of books. The stark white envelope stood out against the dark wood of the desk.
Running a thumb over the edge of the envelope, Bex wondered if John could have gotten far. Should the envelope give her some sort of hint, she might have been able to chase him down.
There was no more time to waste. Bex picked up the envelope off the table and flipped it over to open it. Any sort of patience flew out the window and she used her thumb to rip it open as urgently as she could. She pulled the lip off and dug her hand inside, pulling out a piece of paper.
Bex tossed the envelope to the side and unfolded the piece of paper.
Hotel. Poltergeist. 70115. 6675 Domremy Rd.
I'm sorry this is so hard on you. You will find answers here.
Call 555-1984 for help.
"What the hell?" she asked out loud. "Oh, so you're sorry for making this goddamn hard? Stop making this hard." Was he actually apologizing for being difficult…while being difficult? And whose number was that?
Bex braced herself on the surface of the desk and saw something etched into the surface the envelope had previously sat on top of.
J. M. D. B. S.
She recognized her family's initials immediately. But…why would they be carved into a desk?
Too many questions. Approximately zero answers.
I should regroup with Sam and Dean. We'll trace the number. We'll figure out what this is.
Bex shoved the letter into her stupid oversized purse and looked around the room. There might be other hints.
She grabbed each book by its spine and held it upside down to see if any papers would fall out. Nope. Bex looked at the maps for random marks. She searched under each bed and in each drawer and checked the bathroom for clues. But she couldn't find anything.
All she had was the stupid note and the family's initials etched into a hotel desk.
A day and a half of driving later (speeding laws were just suggestions, she would swear), Bex arrived in St. Louis. She parked the rental outside of the victim's girlfriend's sorority house. A girl was sitting in the back of an ambulance wrapped in a blanket. What the hell happened?
"I just want to take Lori home," an older man said to a police officer.
"We understand that," the officer said. "But now Lori's connected to two murders."
Two murders, huh?
"Becca!"
Bex turned around and made eye contact with her twin. "Hey, Sam."
"Did you find anything?" Dean asked.
Bex nodded. "I'll show you later. What's happening here?"
Dean and Sam filled her in on the situation. The girl was the Reverend's kid and her roommate had been murdered last night. Invisible killer, just like her boyfriend. "We think it's the Hook Man," Sam informed her.
Bex laughed before noticing the dead serious looks on her brothers' faces. "You're not kidding, are you?"
"Unfortunately, no," Dean answered.
"So should we check it out?" Bex asked.
Dean gestured ahead. "Ladies first."
Rolling her eyes, Bex began walking across the street. The three of them stopped outside the back door just as two girls left the house through the side exit. Bex held her breath as they left, trying to keep from being seen. As soon as they passed, she resumed breaking into the house.
"Dude!" Dean exclaimed, backhanding Sam's shoulder. "Sorority girls. Do you think we'll see any naked pillow fights?"
While he was busy obsessing over that possibility (possibility? More like fantasy), Bex turned to Sam. "Can you give me a boost?" She pointed up to the balcony.
Sam grabbed her around the stomach and lifted her up. Bex gripped onto the railing and kicked her legs over. She landed safely on the other side with a thud. Dean was next to her in a few seconds, followed by Sam. Bex opened the window stuck her wiggled through, ducking her head so that she could fit.
She surveyed the room with her hands on her hips. She noted the butter-yellow walls and out of place objects that made the room look more like a home and less like a dorm. What if I had ended up in a place like this?No doubt she would've loved it. Friends. A home. Normal.
"Oh, sorry!"
Bex turned around. Her brothers were on top of each other and arguing.
"Be quiet!" Sam demanded.
"You be quiet!" Dean fired back.
"Both of you shut up," Bex interjected.
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Get in the closet!"
Bex pulled the door open and got inside. Sam and Dean squeezed in after her.
The situation was rather uncomfortable.
Opening the door the slightest bit, Bex could see a police officer circle the room before leaving. As soon as she heard him downstairs, she opened the door and stumbled forward. "Which room belongs to the dead girl?" she asked.
"If I had to guess, I'd say that one," Dean answered, pointing across to hall to the wall of another bedroom. More specifically, what was scrawled on the wall.
AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T TURN ON THE LIGHT?
"Holy—" Bex started. "So I guess that this is the urban legend Hook Man."
Dean looked around the room and frowned. "It's definitely a spirit," he remarked, tapping his nose. Ugh. Sulfur. No matter how many hunts Bex went on, she never got used to the smell.
"But why would he come here? This is a long way from nine mile road," Sam said. "Hey," he said while pointing to an elaborate design featuring a cross drawn beneath the writing on the wall. "Does that symbol look familiar to you?"
While they shared a knowing look, Bex tried to figure out what exactly they were thinking. She gave up. "What is it?"
Dean pointed over his shoulder. "C'mon. We'll show you."
They headed back to the Impala. After digging through a messenger bag, Sam produced some printouts. On one of the pages was a cross matching the symbol on the wall.
"Alright. So who is this guy?" Bex asked.
"Jacob Karns. Minister that was angry about a red-light district so he killed thirteen prostitutes." He read off of a paper: "' "some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.'"
"Geez," Bex remarked. "So we know for sure that the guy's a complete dick. Can I see those?" Sam handed her the papers. Skimming the pages, she stumbled upon an article about the murders. "Wow. So he killed all of them with…the hook he replaced his hand with. Goddamn this guy is a freaking douche. Honestly."
"Well then let's find the dude. Salt and burn the remains," Dean decided.
Plucking the research out of her hands, Sam read aloud from one of the passages. "'Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave.'"
"I'm going to kill him," Bex muttered. Not only did he seem like a misogynistic asshole, but finding him was going to be a pain too. Dean opened his mouth but she held up a hand in front of his face. "No. Shut up. You know what I mean."
"Didn't say anything," he defended.
"But you were going to."
"You don't know that."
"Guys," Sam interrupted. "Stop. We need to make a plan."
"My plan is to find a party. Sam, you can go do some research."
"What about me?" Bex asked. On one hand, she didn't really want to do research. But on the other hand…parties. Parties meant people. People meant embarrassment.
Dean shrugged in response. "You can pick where you want to go."
Tensions with Sam were still running high and she figured that hanging out with him without Dean to act as a buffer was a bad idea. "Right. Well. I'll figure that out later. Let's find a diner—I'm hungry—and I can show you what I found."
"This is all he left?" Dean asked through a mouthful of burger.
"Yeah," Bex answered, putting a fry into her mouth and making a face. "I can't really believe it either. This is so annoying. Why is he even hiding from us anyways?"
"Maybe he's being followed," Sam said. "Maybe he can only stop for a little at a time because there's something out there."
"So he's leading it away from us?" Bex wondered out loud. "Huh. Do you think that it's the thing that—" Realizing that she was about to rather bluntly bring up Jess's death, Bex cut herself off. It was too late, though, as Sam was already looking down at his hands.
"I don't know," he answered. "But after we finish with this case, we're going after it."
"Okay," Bex agreed. "Okay."
After swallowing the last bite of his burger, Dean leaned back. "So I heard from those frat dudes that there's going to be a party tonight. Whaddya think? Hot chicks, booze."
The idea of something a normal college student would do excited Bex. But at the same time, she had no idea what to expect. Which seemed like the opposite of normal. Normal was supposed to be stable and predictable.
Might as well give it a shot, right? If things went horribly wrong, it wouldn't matter, considering they were leaving after the case.
"Sure." Dean gave her an odd look. "What?" Bex asked defensively.
"Nothing. I was just…expecting you to argue or something. You usually hate this stuff."
Shrugging, she answered, "I'm in a good mood."
Her brother didn't look convinced, but he didn't question it either.
About an hour into the party, Bex was only mildly drunk, while majorly pissed off by the number of times some sweaty nineteen year old had run by and tried to grope her chest or her ass.
The sixth guy to try and grab at her chest set her off. Bex slammed her cup down on the table and pulled her hand away before the beer could slosh over and splash her hands. She yanked the back of the retreating man's jersey and spun him around.
Winding her fist back, she punched him as hard as she could, square in the jaw.
A collective gasp rose from the crowd as the guy scrambled back. "You bitch!" he yelled, gripping his mouth. He spewed curses at her.
"Don't ever touch me again," she snapped. She was done. It was time to leave. She just needed to let her brothers know.
"Hey!" A hand closed around her arm and yanked her back.
Someone cut the music and Bex prepared to punch him again if she needed. That was unnecessary, though, because Dean appeared out of nowhere and pinned the kid to the wall. "Don't touch my sister," he said, practically growing. "Leave her alone."
Dean pushed the kid away and touched Bex's forearm lightly. "I had that, you know," she joked, but Dean ignored her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," Bex answered, her voice wavering.
Placing a hand on each of her shoulders, Dean stopped walking. "You sure?"
"I'm fine," Bex promised. "Everything's good. What now?"
He still seemed skeptical but dropped it. " Now we find Sam, and then we find that Hook Man sonofabitch, and figure out how to kill him."
A/N: Review, maybe?
Fic Rec:
Carry on by prettypanda117-The life of a hunter requires great sacrifice. Melody Winchester must learn that lesson the hard way and it nearly consumes and breaks apart her and her small family. But...what happens when she meets a certain angel? Will he change her perspective? Give her a new purpose? Or will his presence just tear apart everything she holds dear?
Where to start? Melody. I'll start with her. Melody is the most wonderful, fantastic, strong, gorgeous character. I just love her so much. She's developed really interestingly and has a unique set of powers that are really freaking awesome. Melody also has unique relationships with both of her brothers and her parents. And her relationship with Cas is just...gah. I love them together so much. Mellstieellllll.
GO READ IT!
(also, please review)