Chapter 4

Natalia glanced down the street as she walked towards the only other place to buy supplies in Hudson, and that was the gas station mini mart. The general store was closed since old Mrs. Ferguson was beaten to death by Mr. Hartshorne. Natalia still couldn't believe it; that old Mr. Hartshorne just suddenly went crazy and beat that sweet old lady to death. When the police asked him why he did it, he just said that the old biddy had poked into his affairs for the last time.

She looked at the store with its police tape all around the door. She could still see the blood sprayed on the window. She shuddered at the sight of it. Natalia also wondered about the other incidents that occurred before. She heard that Nancy and Gertrude from the post office were shopping and then suddenly they started going at each other like two wild animals. They bit and scratched until both were dead from their wounds. The town she loved was becoming a hell hole.

"Hey Nat, busy day today?"

Natalia turned to see an old friend sidling up. She smiled big and replied, "The usual Tony though I still can't help but think about what happened to Mrs. Ferguson. Why would he do that?"

Tony Ramos looked down at the short woman he was walking with as he adjusted his suit. He replied, "No idea but I will defend him to the best of my ability."

"That's good," Natalia replied.

"So how's that boy of yours?"

"Getting better. Nana has him right now. I'm just making a food run and then back to work. Gotta pay the bills right?" Natalia went to the door of the minimart.

"That's good," Ramos replied, "Listen, Nat, do you want to go out for a meal. Maybe get your mind off of things?"

Natalia smiled. She had always liked Tony. He had been a quiet and shy boy when they went to school together. When he went away to college, he came back more confident in himself and happy at the prospect of starting his own law practice in town. When the incidents started happening, he had stepped up to defend the people who were arrested. Most of them were good people and they wouldn't harm a fly. Yet lately there had been something off about him. Natalia couldn't put her finger on it but it was as if Tony were a different person at times, especially when he became adamant about a subject that was passionate to him. Other times he seemed to not care about what had happened. As much as Natalia wanted to avoid him completely, she sensed that she had to be natural in dealing with him. She looked at him and replied, "I'd love to but Jerry is still not doing well and Nana can't do all the watching all the time. Perhaps when he is better?"

Ramos looked a bit disappointed and for a moment, Natalia thought she saw a flash of anger. It was quickly gone when he smiled and replied, "That's fine Nat. I was hoping to get your mind off of things. I know how much you liked the old lady."

"It was a nice gesture. Thank you and have a good day," Natalia replied still smiling as she turned to go into the mini mart. She went to one of the aisles furthest from the doors and pretended to search for what she needed. She relaxed when she no longer saw Tony at the door. She also released the shudder she had been suppressing.

Ramos in the meantime walked off towards his meat suit's law office to do some semblance of work while he contemplated on whom next to have fun with. He did toy with the idea of making the boy at the mini mart counter start with the attitude. Then again he wanted to keep enough folks around for when the game really began. He could admit that he was pissed though.

Natalia Abeyta was one of the folks that he couldn't seem to affect as well as he would want. In fact he really couldn't at all. Through his meat suit's memories, he was able to learn some interesting things about her and when he put two and two together to make five, that was when he informed Lenya and she informed Azazel. Azazel in turn was pleased as punch and ordered him Ramos to get close and see what she was made of.

Ramos of course was his usual charming self but sometimes it was hard to control that natural emotion that he was so good at raising in others. Natalia often rebuffed his efforts and never voluntarily allowed herself to be in his company alone without witnesses like the pimple faced boy in the mart. He tried going to her place but he found that he was being repelled and it was in part to her old biddy of a grandmother. According to his meat's memories, the old woman was considered something of a shaman. She knew the old ways and apparently about things that others had no clue about.

Once he did meet the old biddy at the store. Ramos hated the woman and the way that she stared at him. The face had been expressionless and stoic. It pissed Ramos off and when she muttered a word that was skin to the word 'Christo' he had to do everything in his power not to shudder or react to it. Thing was he didn't have to react since it was like she knew what he was and just wanted to see for herself. It made him all the more determined to push Natalia to the limit but as long as the old biddy was around, he really couldn't touch her.

Ramos opened the door to his law office and smiled in a charming manner to his secretary. She looked up at him and her eyes flickered black in annoyance before reverting to normal. She was actually one of the first that Ramos had experimented on and she went postal on her dog of all things which in fact forced the dog to maul her. It had been amusing to Ramos as she grasped her throat and the blood rushed out. The dog he had fun with his own special hound. He gave his own glare to his secretary and said, "I need those case reports by twelve. I have court in two days."

"Yes Mr. Ramos," the secretary replied in an annoyed thick Spanish accent.

"You sound like a soap opera."

"I wouldn't if you had picked something else for me to wear."

Ramos started chuckling, "I don't swing that way for old ladies." He straightened out the suit he was wearing. He spotted a piece of lint and meticulously picked it off.

The secretary gave a scowl. The last meat suit she was in was more attractive than this bag of bones. She swore the boss did things just to show everyone how much power he had. Yet what could she do? His privileges were above her pay grade definitely. She muttered, "You have a message. Your girl friend says to call her." Her voice was tinged with jealousy.

Ramos resisted the urge to laugh at the sounds of jealousy. As if he and Lenya would ever hook up in that manner. The girl would rather make him into a chew toy than do that. Besides she had a special preference and Ramos wasn't going to let her get distracted from that. He replied in a nonchalant manner, "Fine. When is my client coming in?"

His secretary made an annoyed huff and clicked on the computer to check the schedule. "Hartshorne's daughter is coming in at 11:30. You have about twenty minutes."

Ramos said nothing but gave a little wave. The girl he won't bother with but he might have some fun when he went out to lunch today. He walked over to his office which was surprisingly nice for a small piss ant town like this. Then again, he liked these dirt holes simply because they were often in the middle of nowhere and hardly anyone cared about what happened to the people. They were often perfect staging areas for other forms of entertainment. His favorite was the underground fight club that really attracted the stupid humans. It always amazed and amused him at how much these people craved the things that were illegal not to mention the violence. Even those Bible-thumping hypocrites loved their fair share of blood spills.

His desk was dark cherry wood and looked big and imposing. Here was where he ran his little empire. It made his office look like the ones of those big city attorneys even though it was in a podunk town like Hudson. Yet it was his meat's dream so he would milk it for what it was worth. He sat in his big leather chair and leaned back and studied the documents on his desk. He definitely was going to have some fun when he went on lunch today and he'll keep it going into the night.

A slight breeze and a light flickered in the office but Ramos didn't stir. He knew he had a call coming in. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were the trademark sign of a demon. It was how he and Lenya been communicating. He said, "I got your message. I just got in."

There was a slight whisper. To anyone listening, it would have sounded like the wind was blowing through. Ramos though knew what the breeze was and responded, "No. She still is under the protection of the old biddy."

The wind whispers became slightly harsh. Ramos knew that Lenya was annoyed but like that couldn't be helped. He replied, "Subtlety is probably not going to work on this one. The direct approach may be better but we need to plan for it."

The whispers calmed down enough. Ramos knew he had gained favor with Lenya since she loved direct approaches on specific targets. He smiled as he listened and then replied, "Perhaps the hell bitch might be able to get us close enough for the direct approach. You would need to be here to coordinate those efforts."

The whispers sounded playful. Lenya was now in a good mood. Ramos replied, "I knew you would like to have a chance to play with her. By the way, my sources told me that the Winchesters have left?"

The whispers were still playful. Ramos could swear that he heard Lenya's trademark girlish giggling. Working with her wasn't half bad. He replied, "Then we can expect them within a day, two at the most? Excellent. Just for that, I think I'll have to expand the fun I was planning. Would you like to join me for lunch?"

The whispers came with the girlish giggles. Ramos knew that Lenya would be thrilled to see him work his magic on these meatbags. She was always up for a little blood, maybe other appetites to be satisfied. He grinned as he heard the answer. He replied, "I'm glad you'll be able to come." He then noticed that his phone light was blinking. He said, "I have to go now. Gotta keep up the plan."

The playful whispers came like a caress as they left. Ramos still had his inky black eyes when he answered the phone, "Yes?"

Your client is here to see you.

Ramos contemplated for a moment. He was in a generous mood. Maybe he could reward his secretary. It might make her feel better about the whole thing. He replied, "Send her up."

It was five minutes later when Ramos, demon eye free, welcomed the daughter of his client in. She was a weeping piece of work but she was a looker to Ramos' critical eye. Yes certainly he was in a good mood. He put on his best sympathetic face and went to work consoling the weeping bitch. He led her to the chair across from his desk and indicated that she should sit in it. He sat on the edge of his desk facing her and listened to her beg him to do anything he could to get her father off. She offered everything she owned.

This amused Ramos greatly. He had seen many different displays of filial loyalty and other forms of loyalty and sticking up for those that supposedly meant a great deal. In the end it was nothing but shit. When it came down to it, the meatbags only cared about themselves. He had yet to see true selflessness. He smiled at the girl and said, "Now it's okay. The charges are serious since your father did bludgeon to death Mrs. Ferguson. However, if we plead not guilty by reason of mental defect, I am sure that something can be worked out in his favor."

"Thank you."

Ramos smiled. Now was the time to bite. "Now it's going to require a lot of work and a bit of sacrifice. Are you willing to go all the way to help your father?"

"Yes I'll give you anything. Just help my father."

Ramos gave a slight nod as he smiled. "Alright. That will be sufficient." He raised his hand and with a slight twist of his wrist, the sickening crack of bone breaking filled the room. He looked at the body now slumped over in his chair as he released the fake smile that he had been holding. He pressed the speaker on his phone and said, "Get your old bag of bones up here. I have a reward for you."

Natalia had finished her shopping and was starting to walk back to the shop that she ran with her grandmother. They sold Native American crafts as well as supplies for various rituals of her grandmother's tribe as well as a few others. She had grown up after her parents died in a car crash leaving her orphaned and alone at the age of three. Her grandmother took her in and Natalia grew up happy.

She had learned much from her grandmother about her heritage and when she got married and had Jerry, she was happy. However when her husband died from some mysterious circumstances, she felt that her world had crumbled. She went back to live with her grandmother and it worked out in the end. She helped run the store and they made a pretty good living. It was enough to pay the modest bills since they lived at the back of the shop and the building was bought and paid for. Life was good except for the recent murders.

Natalia hadn't been able to sleep since that night and she often had dreams and nightmares. Her grandmother often asked her if she had any but Natalia never elaborated on them. She could tell that it disappointed her grandmother but she could hardly tell her that she had been seeing some strange things happening. She tended to forget that her grandmother was more in tune to the strange and unusual. She was just grateful that Jerry would be able to benefit from her wisdom as much as she did.

Natalia didn't bother to announce her presence since her grandmother always seemed to know when she came and went. It didn't fail when she heard, "You bring the milk?"

Natalia smiled, "Yes Nana." She set the bags on the table in the back room as she hung up her coat. She was wearing a peasant blouse and blue jeans along with some traditional jewelry her grandmother had made. Her long, dark hair was parted and braided into two braids that came over her shoulders. It was a little bit of a stereotype but it helped sell things especially for the tourists and with Nana wearing the same hairstyle with a dress like they show, they were able to make a tidy living. She pulled the milk out and carried it to the kitchen to put in the fridge. She then went to check on her baby who was fast asleep.

Besides Nana, Jerry was the only family that she had. She had no idea what she would do if she didn't have him around. She fell in love with him the moment she saw him when he was placed in her arms. She listened to him breathe and could hear that his lungs were doing better meaning that he was getting over that cold. She made sure that he was still asleep before going back up to the counter. Her grandmother was already up there as she started fixing some of the flyers that had been mussed.

"You are troubled. He bothered you again?"

Natalia didn't have to ask her grandmother to clarify who she was talking about. Instead she just replied, "He was polite and he mentioned that he would try his best to get Mr. Hartshorne off but he still strikes me as off."

"Dark things about him."

"Nana, you've known him for years. He probably is just occupied and maybe it's from his time away at college."

Her grandmother clucked in a disapproving tone but didn't say anything. At the moment the bell rang to indicate that a customer was entering the store. Natalia went to greet the customer who was a young man with rather messy light brown hair and hazel green eyes that appeared to have a bored expression but they had a twinge of alertness. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and was dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a jacket complete with workman's boots. Natalia caught a glimpse of the bus that was beginning to pull out. She smiled and said, "Hello, how can I help you?"

The young man gave a polite smile and asked, "I'm new in town and I was wondering if there was someone who needed hired help."

Natalia was about to answer when her grandmother came out from behind the counter to look at the young man. Natalia gave an apologetic look to the young man while her grandmother began her poking and prodding with the walking stick. Finally the old woman said, "Good boy, good worker. Tell him where." The old woman then turned and walked towards the counter to take care of some little thing.

The young man gave a look that would have been acceptable to the situation. He said, "I guess she's the authority on all newcomers?" He gave a slight laugh as he shuffled on his feet. He ran a hand through his short messy locks, making them even messier.

Natalia replied with a smile, "She is a good judge of people. Most folks trust her judgment."

"That's a good thing to have," the young man replied with a smile, "I'm Austin by the way." He held out his hand.

"Natalia," Natalia replied taking the proffered hand in a handshake. She liked the young man who was so polite for someone obviously bumming his way across the States. She added, "Old Mad Johnson was in here yesterday, he posted an announcement for hired help. He owns a ranch." Natalia reached over and picked up the flyer and handed it to him. "You might find him in the diner."

Austin took the flyer. "Thanks. I'll go there now." He turned to leave.

When he was gone, Natalia couldn't help but smile some more as she went back to work. "He seems like a nice sort."

"Nice boy."

Natalia smiled at her grandmother as she picked up a duster and began to dust the cases. "You could have at least not made it look like you were searching for the perfect herb in the garden."

The old woman said nothing but made rumbling noises. Natalia just smiled and looked towards the door when something startled her. Sitting on one of the cases that held the traditional jewelry her grandmother made was an eagle. It was looking at her with an intense look but also a sad one. Natalia blinked and then it was gone.

"Something bothers you?"

Natalia looked towards her grandmother. She was holding Jerry who was wide awake and sipping from the bottle she had gotten. "I thought I saw something Nana. Is he hungry? I can take care of it."

"He is fine. The question is whether or not you are fine."

Natalia just looked at her grandmother as she looked back. That was a good question.

The breeze was a welcome one as it blew through the Impala while it ate up the miles. It was rather quiet though save for the sound of the Led Zeppelin album playing on the radio. Occasionally Dean would hum to the tune of one of the songs. In fact he was the only one who made an audible sound. Both Sam and Angela hadn't said a thing since they left the motel.

Dean glanced in the rear view mirror at Angela. She was asleep on the backseat and it wasn't the light sleep she did when they usually traveled. She was in a deep sleep and judging from the position, she seemed pretty comfortable. She was right when she said that one of those settee things was luxury, he thought as he focused on the road ahead. He then glanced at his brother Sam who was in a deep sleep himself.

Dean was tempted to play a prank on Sam to wake him up but he relented since the kid had a bad night. At least they finally got to talk about it after he behaved like an ass. Dean frowned as he drove the car. He had no idea why he had been angry at all. What puzzled him was the lack of reaction from Angela. It was almost as if she wanted to hear the abuse he hurled at her. He knew Sam had been bothered by it and made it known.

Dean recalled that conversation. He saw how hard Sam was trying to not be angry with him as he asked him why he was acting worse than a jerk. Then Dean owed it to him to be honest and when he told Sam that he didn't know, Sam had been confused. Thinking about it know, Dean wondered if it really was because of Sam's initial refusal to talk about his nightmare. He didn't know anymore but whatever Angela did, it calmed him down and he was no longer angry.

Sam made a muttering noise under his breath and Dean glanced his way. He heard Sam say something again and turned down the music. "Stop," Sam mumbled, "N' stop n' car."

Dean frowned at his brother's words. He was obviously dreaming of something but of what Dean could only guess. Sam had told him that he had seen the yellow eyed demon in his nightmare and it made Dean wonder if he was dreaming of the demon doing something like torturing him. Dean began to worry about it. Usually when Sam had nightmares of this variety, they were akin to visions and they did come true. He remembered when they met Andy.

"I know you are worried. I would be too."

Dean looked in the mirror to find that Angela had woken up and had shifted her position. He couldn't help it, "How long you've been awake?"

Angela gave a yawn. She was still feeling tired but something told her that she should wake up. When she did, she saw Dean's worried frown in the rear view mirror and she heard Sam muttering in his sleep. She replied, "Just woke up." She sat up to stretch what she could.

"Oh." Dean felt like an idiot and it annoyed him.

"It's alright Dean," Angela replied. "You want to talk about it?"

Before Dean could answer, Sam started mumbling again but it was more fervent. He was saying that someone was coming and that they were going to kill someone. He was going to shake Sam awake when Angela leaned forward. She began humming a tune that sounded familiar to Dean right in Sam's ear. When Sam began to calm down and eventually settle back to sleep, Dean found his voice, "What did you do?"

"Just hum a tune that I remembered my mother used to sing to me when I was a girl… a long time ago," Angela replied softly as she backed away. "When I had a bad dream, she used to sing a song, an old one. It was soothing." She glanced at Dean and added, "Did I overstep my bounds?"

"No," Dean admitted staring straight ahead. "Thanks and you are right. I am worried. Yellow Eyes has some big plan and Sam is a part of it. I… don't know what to do."

"Tell me." Angela watched as Dean began to relax after reassuring himself that Sam was all right. Sleep could wait for now. She would listen.

A/N: Well Dean seems to have calmed down a bit but will it last? Who it Natalia? Who is the mysterious stranger named Austin? Find out next time on Darkened Rage...