Windom, Minnesota
Adam and Beth had decided to take a short break from Uni for a few days because their mom hadn't been answering any of their phone calls for about a week. Beth was being openly worried about her mom, but Adam was trying to hide how worried he was to keep his sister from panicking, he was also the one to pull her out of her classes and convince her to go back home to Windom to find out why their mom wouldn't answer.
"Do you think she's okay?" Beth asked hesitantly as they entered Windom.
"She'll be fine," Adam replied, trying convince both himself and Beth. "She probably left her phone at work or something."
"Mom never leaves her phone at work," she argued as she pulled her cell phone out and tried calling her mom again.
"I don't know what to tell you," her brother shrugged, just as concerned as her, "but we'll find her, she'll be okay."
Beth let out a ragged breath, closing her phone and tossing it back into her bag when it went straight to voicemail, yet again. She grabbed her water bottle and took a long swig of it.
"What... what if something bad has happened?"
"What are you talking about? Nothing bad has happened to mom," Adam answered sharply.
"We don't know that, Adam," she pointed out quietly.
"Look, we'll get to the house and look around and ask the neighbours if they've seen or heard from her recently," Adam said, staring intently at the road in front of them.
"Okay," Beth agreed and fell silent, watching the scenery pass by as they got closer and closer to their house.
Beth could only hope that they would find their mom, before it was too late and something bad happened to her. A part of her couldn't help but wish that John was there to help them look for their mom.
Dean let out a groan, hitting his arm against the door frame as he struggled to sit up in the front seat of the Impala. Sam turned back to look at him as his brother opened the door and all but fell out of the car.
"Hey," Sam smirked in amusement, "how'd you sleep?"
"How'd you think?" Dean grumbled as he braced his hands against the side of the car. Sam chuckled, going back to brushing his teeth. "I'm starved, let's get breakfast." He closed the door with a light thud.
"Where? We're like two hours from anything."
"Well I'm hungry now," Dean replied.
"There's probably still a sandwich in the back seat," Sam said.
Dean smiled and headed for the back of the car, pulling out a brown paper bag and opening it enthusiastically. He took one whiff of the contents and drew his head back, making a noise of disgust.
"Its tuna," he scowled, just as the sound of a cell phone ringing met his ears. He tossed the sandwich back into the car and patted his pockets, searching for the phone. When he came to the conclusion it was coming from the car, he opened the glove compartment and riffled through the pile of cell phones, pulling out one of his dad's old ones, hitting his head as he moved back out of the car.
"Isn't that dad's phone?" Sam questioned curiously and Dean nodded.
"Hello?" Dean said after flipping it open and accepting the call.
"Uh... is this John?" a male voice asked hesitantly.
"He can't come to the phone, can I help you?" Dean replied.
"No, no, no. I really need to talk to John. This is Adam Milligan, he knows me," the male said nervously.
"And Beth Milligan," a feminine voice chirped loudly.
"Well sorry to be the one to break this to you pal, but John died, more than 2 years ago." Dean glanced at Sam as his younger brother turned around.
"W-what?" the female at the other end asked, voice wavering.
"Who is this?"
"W-we're his son and daughter," Adam told him.
Dean's eyes narrowed and his grip on the phone tightened as he told Adam and Beth that he would drive over to Windom—after asking where they were—and meet them himself. He hung up without a word, turning to Sam and telling him what had just been said.
17th April, 2009
Windom, Minnesota
"Come on," Adam grumbled, waiting for his sister to finish changing.
"I'm coming!" Beth replied sharply, pulling on her brown leather jacket and grabbing her messenger bag.
"I got a text message from Sam, he said they were at the diner now."
"I'm ready." Beth pushed him lightly, grinning at him.
"Good. Now we can go." He took hold of her arm and tugged her down the stairs and out the door, locking it behind them.
"You need to relax, the diner's only five minutes away and if they are too impatient to wait for us then that's their problem," she pointed out, "but they want answers, so they won't think about going anywhere."
"Okay, you're right," he scowled as she smirked in satisfaction.
"I'm always right," she boasted smugly. "I wonder what they're like."
"The other one sounded like a bit of jerk," Adam shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road.
Beth nodded thoughtfully, leaning back in her seat and watching the scenery whiz by, knowing that they were going to be one step closer to finding out how John had died.
"We're here," Adam's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she sat up, grabbing her bag and climbing out of the truck when he had stopped and turned the engine off.
"I guess this is it," Beth took a deep breath and followed him into the diner. They stood in the doorway, looking around, trying to determine who Sam was, when a deep voice met their ears and they turned to find a brunette and a dark blonde haired male sitting by the window.
"You Sam?" Adam questioned hesitantly.
"Uh, yeah. This is Dean." Sam pointed at the grumpy looking male beside him.
"It's nice to meet you," Beth smiled, letting Adam take the window seat before she sat down.
"You too... Bethany?" Sam held a hand out.
"Just Beth, actually." She reached across the table and shook Sam's hand.
"So, um, how'd you know our dad?" Adam asked, narrowing his eyes as Dean as he refused to shake Beth's hand and she sat back, looking away.
"We worked together," Sam said, reciting the lie he and Dean had agreed on.
"All right..." Adam drifted off awkwardly, clearing his throat and Beth smiled at the action, fiddling with her locket.
"That's a pretty locket, Can I see it for a minute?" Dean asked, mock polite and his tone left no room for arguing.
"Uh sure." She unclasped her locket and handed it over hesitantly. Dean opened it, his jaw clenching at the picture of John with two kids who could only be Beth and Adam and some blonde woman, who he assumed was their mom. He bit his tongue roughly to prevent himself from saying something he'd regret as his eyes skimmed over the words; To Bethany Winchester-Milligan, love dad.
He glanced between the picture of his dad and Beth and couldn't help but notice how alike the two were; Beth's features were more delicate than John's obviously, but they both had hazel eyes, though Beth's were greener than John's and they had similar skin tones. She had her mom's high cheekbones and strong jawline and they both had dimples in their cheeks when they grinned in the photo. It seemed that Beth was a perfect mixture of her mom and John whilst Adam was more like Kate than John with his sandy blonde hair and blue-green eyes.
"When did John give you that?" Dean asked as he passed it to Sam.
"It was a present, for my 13th birthday," she replied, thanking Sam as he returned it to her and she clasped it around her neck again.
"How did dad die?" Adam asked when the group fell silent again.
"On the job," Sam explained.
"He's a mechanic, right?"
"A car fell on him," Dean interrupted harshly, glaring at the twins.
"Hey guys, how you doing?" Denise—Jenny's cousin—asked, smiling as she set two glasses of water in front of them.
"I'll take those." Dean grabbed the glasses quickly. "I'm very thirsty," he explained at their confused looks.
"You kids want the usual?" Denise looked away from Dean.
"Yes please," Beth nodded.
"Thanks Denise," Adam added. He picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip, swallowing as Dean watched him intently. The older male frowned when the holy water didn't work on Adam.
"Are you thirsty, Beth?" Sam queried, pushing another glass at her, at the last minute, he nudged it and it fell over, splashing Beth's hand and tank top.
"Holy crap! That is cold," she yelped, shaking her hand.
"I am so sorry, I'm clumsy," Sam said quickly when her skin didn't burn and she didn't scream in pain.
"It's fine." She waved off his apology, rubbing at her tank top with a napkin. "The water's just cold."
Dean shared a glance with Sam, silently encouraging his brother to keep talking.
"So, when's the last time you saw John?"
"I don't even know, it's been a couple of years," Adam said.
"Yeah, he was supposed to come to our 16th birthday," Beth added and gulped down a mouthful of holy water. "But he didn't show."
"Why did you decide to call him now?" Sam asked as Dean reached into his jacket, slowing drawing his gun out and pointing it at the twins under the table.
"We didn't know who else to call," Adam explained, shifting in his seat. "He's the only family we've got."
"Mom's missing," Beth pursed her lips sadly, watching Dean out of the corner of her eye and tilting her head as she wondered why he was staring at her so intently.
"I'm sorry. How long's she been missing?"
"Three days," she answered. "We hadn't heard from her for a while and we were worried, so we drove back here."
"It's tragic, really," Dean scoffed, causing them to frown at him. "But if you're John's kids, how come we've never heard of you?"
"Us and John didn't really know each other," Adam replied. "Not until a few years ago."
"What'd you mean?" Sam input.
"Mom never really talked about him, even when I kept hounding her for information," Beth chuckled, thinking back to when her mom would refuse to tell her and she'd beg and whine until she eventually gave up.
"We knew some stuff," Adam continued for his sister, "stuff we found out from mom's co-workers."
"What stuff?" Dean demanded.
"Our mom's a nurse, and dad came into the ER pretty torn up, he was in a hunting accident or something. I knew his name; John Winchester," Adam said. "That's about it. We're not exactly a nuclear family."
"Yeah well, who is these days?" Sam smirked.
"So when did you... when did you finally meet him?" Dean input.
"October, 2002," Beth replied, drinking some more water. "Just after we turned 12."
"Our mom had one of his old numbers, and after we begged her, 24/7, she finally called him." Adam put his hands in his pocket, unaware that Dean was pointing his gun in Beth's direction. "God, when John heard he had twins, he raced to town; I mean, he dropped everything. He drove all night."
"Yeah, he was pretty eager to meet us," Beth nodded in agreement.
"Oh, that's heart-warming," Dean muttered sarcastically.
"Here you go," Denise set two plates on the table in front of them.
"Thanks, Denni!" Beth grinned at the waitress.
"No problem honey." Denise ruffled her hair and went back behind the counter.
"You mind?" Adam asked politely, gesturing to his food.
"Oh no, please, dig in." Beth raised an eyebrow, wondering how someone could make that sound so threatening, so sinister.
They both set their napkins on their knees, avoiding touching the cutlery. Sam glanced and his brother and Dean nodded, taking the safety off of his gun as he leaned forward eagerly, waiting for them to be burned by the silver when they stopped fiddling and finally picked up the cutlery.
"He would swing by once a year or so, you know?" Adam told them.
Dean's eyes locked on Beth as she reached for her fork and lifted it up, stabbing a handful of pasta and sticking it in her mouth. He sighed deeply, annoyed when the two of them were unaffected by the pure silver.
"...Called when he could, but still," Adam shrugged, shovelling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. Dean put the safety back on his gun and stuck it back in his pocket. "He taught us poker and pool. He bought us beer when we were 15... Beth didn't like it, she couldn't stop gagging at the taste."
"It tasted horrible," she said defensively, turning back to Sam and Dean. "He showed us how to drive too. He had this awesome '67 Chevy Impala. I found it hard at first, I nearly crashed when we went over a hole in the gro-"
"Oh this is crap," Dean interrupted angrily and glared at them. "You know what? You're lying."
"No she's not," Adam said defensively, leaning towards his twin, who looked completely shocked at Dean's abrupt outburst.
"Uh, yeah she is," Dean countered, "and so are you."
"I'm sorry, but who the hell are you to call me or my sister a liar?" Adam demanded, dropping his fork and knife with a loud clatter as he reached out and grasped her hand.
"We're John Winchester's sons, that's who. We are his kids," Dean growled, gesturing between himself and Sam.
Adam's expression turned to disbelief and he glanced at Sam, who nodded lightly, backing up Dean's statement. Beth's eyes were wide, her lips parted in surprise. Never in a million years had she imagined that she would have two more brothers out there, or that she'd even be meeting them now. She understood now that that's where John must have disappeared to for the rest of the year, back to his other kids.
"We've got brothers?" Adam asked quietly.
"No. You don't have brothers," Dean snapped. "Look, I don't know if you're hunters or what kind of game you're playing here-"
"I have never been hunting in my life. Neither has Beth."
"Whatever. I'm out of here." Dean stood up. "Come on, Sam."
Dean strode off towards the door of the diner and stopped just beside the counter, waiting for his brother. Sam smiled apologetically at them and stood as well.
"It was nice meeting you, Sam," Beth told him as he walked past.
"Uh, you too, Beth."
"Wait!" Adam called to them. "We can prove it."
Beth had chosen to drive on the way back to their house, with Sam and Dean following behind in the Impala. Now, they were currently standing in the living room, Adam was talking to Sam whilst Beth took Dean by his sleeve and led him over to the photo of her, Adam and John at a baseball game.
"He took you to a baseball game?" Dean questioned as Sam and Adam joined them.
"When we were 14," she told him gently, taking note of his wounded expression. "Mom took the photo for us."
"Dad was around for a few of our birthdays," Adam added.
"September 29th, 2004," Sam began, holding up a journal. "One word 'Minnesota'."
"What's that?" Beth glanced at Sam as Dean shrugged her off.
"Dad's journal," he answered shortly.
"He took you to a freaking baseball game?" Dean repeated, disbelief in his eyes.
"Yeah," Adam nodded and took the photo from Dean. "Why? What did dad do with you on your birthday?"
Dean scoffed sarcastically, looking away before he could see the confusion on Adam's face. Beth squeezed her twin's hand, conveying with her eyes to take no notice of the grumpy older male.
"Adam, you said you called dad because your mom was missing?" Sam input, trying to ease the tension between the two blondes and Beth, who was obviously gonna side with Adam in case another argument broke out.
"Yeah," Adam nodded.
"How long's she been gone?"
"About 3 days," Beth replied, repeating what she had said in the diner.
"Who was the last person to see her?" Dean asked, trying to reel in his anger and irritation.
"Mr Abbinanti, our neighbour. He saw her come home Tuesday night," Adam explained. Beth flopped down on the couch, stretching her legs out and hanging her head off the edge of the arm of the chair. "But she never showed up to work Wednesday."
Dean looked past Adam, eyes zeroing in on a picture of John and their mom with their arms around each other, smiling at the camera.
"Did you call the police?"
"Our mom's supervisor at the hospital did," Beth stated. "I also spoke to our other neighbour, Mrs Gregory, she said she thought she heard a struggle and called the cops, but they'd already been notified and had checked the house."
"We drove down here as fast as we could," Adam finished, a glassy sheen covering his eyes. "I—we should've been here."
"Mom would be here if we had been," Beth agreed, sitting up and tucking her hair behind her ears.
"What'd the cops say?" Dean cleared his throat awkwardly.
"They searched the house but they didn't find anything suspicious," Beth said as she met his gaze. "Our mom wouldn't have left without telling anyone... without telling us."
"It's like she just dropped off the face of the earth, you know?" Adam blinked rapidly, turning his head away from Sam's pitying look.
"What are you looking for?" Beth asked. She folded her arms over her chest as Dean moved the dresser in her mom's room away from the wall. He ignored her in favour of looking at two pictures, one was of Kate holding Adam whilst feeding him with Beth sitting on her lap, clapping her hands together and the other was of Kate, John, Adam and Beth hiking one day, back when they were twelve.
"The night stand was knocked over, anything else?"
"Not really, the Sheriff said there's no sign of a break-in," Adam piped up from the doorway.
"Do you think the cops missed something?" Beth risked a step closer as Dean looked around the room.
"Maybe. They don't have my eyes," Dean answered cockily.
"You're a mechanic," Adam reminded him, eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Yeah, that's right." Dean turned back to them after lifting the curtain and dropping it.
"Weirdo," Beth mouthed at Adam, who chuckled quietly, rolling his eyes.
"I saw that, princess," Dean called over his shoulder. "I have eyes in the back of my head. And if anyone's the weirdo, it's you."
"Oh yeah, how'd you figure?"
"From the picture of you hanging upside down from a tree dressed as a mermaid," Dean replied without pause.
"Okay, you got me there." Beth cracked a smile at him.
"Dean, what else can you tell us about dad?" Adam asked seriously after a moment.
"You knew him," Dean shrugged.
"Not as well as you," Beth countered, jumping to Adam's aid.
"Trust me kid, you don't wanna know."
Adam frowned, looking ready to reply when footsteps indicated the arrival of Sam, who had left the house about half an hour ago to go and do something or other, Beth really had no clue what he was doing.
"Give us a minute," Dean ordered and followed Sam into the hall.
"Well, he's just a bundle of joy," Beth muttered sarcastically, sitting on the bed beside Adam and shrugging her jacket off.
"I prefer Sam... he was nicer to us at the diner," Adam replied just as quietly.
"Did you see Dean's face when he was looking at the picture of us and mom and dad? It's like dad never did anything nice for him or took him and Sam out for fun."
"It's not really our business."
"...I suppose you're right," she sighed with a teasing grin. "Always the voice of reason."
"Hey, does your mom know Joe Barton?" Dean asked, holding up a picture of a guy with glasses.
"I don't think so, why?"
Dean sighed and lowered the picture to his side, when he went to look away, he noticed something in the corner of his eye and looked down at the floor, where five long scratches lay on the wooden floorboards, disappearing under the bed.
"What is it?" Beth quickly stood up, grabbing her jacket and pulling Adam off the bed as Dean stopped beside them and moved the comforter, getting down on his knees to look under the bed.
"Give me a hand with the mattress," Dean said and Sam pulled Beth backwards to stand beside him as their two brothers got to work on moving her mom's mattress. Underneath her mom's bed was a very rusty looking vent cover.
"What are you doing?" she demanded as Sam and Dean proceeded to participate in a game of rock, paper, scissors and Dean lost, much to his dismay.
"Every time," he grumbled.
"Okay, we have nut cases for brothers," she mumbled to Adam and chuckled.
Beth, Sam and Adam waited patiently in her mom's room while Dean climbed into the vent with a flash light in one hand and a gun in the other. She sighed, setting her jacket down and fiddling with her locket.
"What's taking him so long?" Beth asked, looking up at Sam.
"I don't know," Sam replied, just as the sound of thudding drifted from the vent. "Here he comes."
"You guys need to call the cops," Dean told them urgently as he heaved himself out of the vent.
"Wait, what?" Beth demanded, wide eyed. "Why?"
"Because there's a whole lot of blood down there," he answered gently, squeezing her shoulder.
"B-but that means..." Adam trailed off, a queasy look crossing his face.
"Look, just call the cops. We need to get out of here," Dean directed towards Sam, who nodded and headed for the stairs, followed by Dean, a horrified Beth and a confused Adam.
"Why are you leaving? Why can't you stay here for the cops?"
"It's better if we're not here when they get here," Sam explained calmly. He took the flash light from Dean and shoved it in a duffel bag at the foot of the stairs.
Without another word, their older brothers darted out of the house with the bag, tossing it onto the back seat of the Impala and driving away after getting in the car. Adam and Beth shared a mutually concerned look and went back inside, Beth heading for the phone and Adam heading for the kitchen to get some water.
"...They'll be here in five minutes," she told Adam, hanging up the phone after a three minute long conversation.
"When they leave, we're going to see our brothers," Adam said firmly. "I wanna know what they're hiding."
"Me too," Beth agreed.
The moment the cops asked them to leave, claiming their house was now a crime scene, Beth and Adam went willingly, grabbing their bags and Beth's jacket and heading off towards Adam's truck.
They arrived at the motel Sam and Dean were staying at and climbed out of the cab of the truck quickly, storming towards the room with the number that Sam had given them back at the house. Adam banged on the door, shaking his fist afterwards in an attempt to rid it of the stinging sensation that raced across the side of his hand.
The moment the door opened slightly, Adam shoved his way inside, followed by a quiet Beth, who twitched her lips into a half smile at Sam and closed the door.
"Who the hell are you?" her twin demanded immediately.
"Adam, hey. Take it easy," Sam said in a soothing tone. Dean quickly covered the gun parts on his bed with a large cloth to prevent Adam and Beth from seeing it.
"No, don't tell me to take it easy!" Adam yelled. "Our house is a crime scene, our mom's probably dead, and you two, well you told me to call the cops but you gotta bail before they show? So who are you, really?"
Beth took over from Adam as they looked between their older brothers, "The cops didn't know where to look, Dean. But somehow you did."
"And I heard you talking earlier, something about grave robberies." Adam added with a frown. "You're not mechanics."
"What is that? Why do you have a gun?" Beth demanded, taking a large step backwards.
"For protection," Dean replied simply.
"Against what?" Beth asked before pausing, reconsidering her question. "You know what, I don't wanna know."
"Yeah, well I do. I wanna know what's going on, right now," Adam said, a lot calmer than before. "Please."
"We're hunters," Sam admitted after a brief period of silence.
"Sammy," Dean warned.
"They deserve to know, Dean," Sam countered.
"What do you mean, 'hunters'?"
(The next morning)
"You are hunters of the supernatural," Beth summed up, nodding her head. A panicked look suddenly crossed her face and she shot up. "You guys are crazy!" she yelled at them. "It's just my luck that I get lumbered with two new brothers who just so happen to be completely psycho."
Adam pulled her back down beside him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "So, basically you're saying that every movie monster, every nightmare that I've ever had... that's all real?"
"Godzilla's just a movie," Dean said sarcastically from the table in the corner of the room and Sam rolled his eyes.
"We hunt them, so did dad," Sam replied.
"Okay," Adam said.
"Okay?" Dean and Beth repeated together in disbelief.
"What am I supposed to say?"
"That we're liars, that we're crazy—like your sister did. Nobody just says 'okay'." Dean retorted.
"I agree with Dean," Beth pointed out.
"You're our brothers. You're telling the truth, right?" Adam directed the question at Sam.
"Yeah," Sam promised.
"Then I believe you."
"Well I don't. Adam, we don't know these people, they could be escaped mental patients for all we know," she hissed at him, trying to get him to see sense but he ignored her in favour of asking more questions.
"Do you know what took our mom?"
"We're not sure... something's in town, stealing bodies, living and dead." Sam glanced at Beth to find her eyeing him warily. "But we don't know what."
"There's long list of freaks that fit the bill," Dean input.
"You think maybe she might still be alive?" Adam asked hopefully.
Sam and Dean were silent, both lowering their gazes as Adam looked at them. Beth's heart clenched tightly within her chest and she bit back a pained gasp at the thought of her mom being actually dead, with no hope that she might still be clinging to life, somewhere.
"How can we help?"
"You can't," Dean barked.
"This thing killed our mom, and if you're hunting it, I want in."
"No." Dean glared back at Adam before his eyes slid to the right to look at a completely silent Beth who was fiddling with her necklace again, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the locket.
"Dean, look. Maybe-"
"Maybe what?" Dean interrupted.
"They lost their mom, maybe we can understand what that feels like," Sam replied sharply.
Dean stood up, their dads journal clutched tightly in his hand. "Why do you think dad never told us about these kids, huh Sam? Why do you think he ripped out the pages?"
"Because..." Sam trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"Because he was protecting them," Dean told his younger brother roughly.
"Dad's dead, Dean," Sam reminded him calmly.
"It doesn't matter," Dean said firmly. Beth's eyes flickered between the two, watching nervously as they argued with one another. "He didn't want Adam or Beth to have our lives and we're going to respect his wishes."
"Do we get a say in this?" Adam questioned, watching as Dean threw the journal of Sam's bed.
"No," Sam and Dean snapped in unison.
"Babysit the kids." Dean headed over to the coat rack and grabbed his jacket.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going out!" Dean shouted.
Beth stood up, eager to get out of the motel room. "C-can I come as well? I'd really like some fresh air."
"Fine. Whatever," Dean said, heading out of the room.
"I'll see you later." She quickly hugged Adam and waved awkwardly at Sam before hurrying after Dean.
Down, deep in the dark, lay a girl with rib length dark brown hair and hazel green eyes. Scratches covered her body. From head to toe, blood coated almost every available patch of skin. A long cut had been made down each of her arms and on the side of her neck.
Her eyes were squeezed shut as she desperately tried to block out the screams that haunted her every waking minute... and her dreams. The others were already dead, killed slowly and painfully. She was made to watch, and listen, as the monsters tore into her family and that poor stranger.
She didn't want to be here. She wanted them to just end it, to not draw her fate out any longer.
But they wouldn't show her such kindness. They wanted her to die just as slowly and painfully as their other victims... they wanted her to die screaming.
She didn't want to give in, but if someone didn't find a way to save her soon, she would die exactly how they wanted her to.
She would die alone and forgotten.
"This tomb was built in 1926," the old man explained, pulling the door open and gesturing for Dean and Beth to go in ahead of him. Dean had changed into a suit and a long coat and had broken into Beth's house so she could get a white shirt, black skirt and tights and a pair of black, high heeled shoes. He also bought her a brand new black blazer, seeing as she didn't own one before. "Four generations of the Millsap family were interred here."
"They don't build them like this anymore," Dean commented, staring at the gaping hole in one of the tombs that was missing a large slab of stone.
"Tell me, Agent Nugent, Agent Howard." The man turned to them. "Have you thought about where you would like eternity?"
"All the damn time," Dean said in response.
"Uh, no, I haven't. But I'll be sure to let you know when I have," Beth answered, taking the offered card.
"So, three bodies went missing. Any idea who did it?" Dean questioned as he walked further into the mausoleum.
"Hooligans. Sick, deranged hooligans."
Dean crouched down and gestured for Beth to come over, which she did and adjusted her skirt so it wouldn't show off her underwear when she crouched beside him. He ran his fingers over some sort of black liquid on the side of the tomb.
"This isn't blood, what is it?"
"No, it's embalming fluid," the man replied in disgust, "who ever committed this crime didn't just take the corpses; they opened them up."
"Ugh, that is just gross," Beth muttered, sticking her tongue out.
"Come on, let's go," Dean told her and stood up, thanking the man and leading her out of the mausoleum and back to the car before he drove off towards their next destination.
"Why are we here?" Beth whispered, following Dean into the bar.
"Because I want a beer," he replied and headed to the counter.
The two of them sat down and Dean took a piece of paper out of his pocket as Beth took her blazer off and set it in front of her. The bartender grabbed two glasses and approaching the tap beside Dean, pouring beer into both glasses.
"First beer's on the house for cops," she explained. "Feds too."
"Are we that obvious?"
"I know all the local badges," the lady smiled. She set the large glasses in front of them. "And you've got that law-and-order vibe."
"Thank you." Beth took a sip from her glass of beer and had to restraining the urge to spit the bitter liquid back out.
"So, what're the FBI doing in Windom?"
"Looking into the disappearance of Joe Barton," Dean answered and slid the picture of Joe to the bartender. "I assume you knew him," Dean pointed out, taking in the woman's sad expression.
"A little," she nodded weakly. "I'm his wife, Lisa."
"Well, Lisa, what can you tell me about his disappearance." Beth's older brother slipped the picture back into his coat.
"Same thing I told the Sheriff," Lisa said. "He stayed late, Friday before last to do inventory... never came home."
"And the police?"
"Nothing," Lisa shrugged, cleaning glasses with a towel. "Truth is, I was scared they stopped looking. But now you're here."
"Joe was a cop?" Beth followed Dean's gaze to a picture of Joe behind the bar dressed in uniform.
"Deputy, for a little while," Lisa explained. "That was a long time ago."
"He didn't happen to work the grave-robbery case back in '90?"
"He did, yeah," Lisa nodded. "He was the one who found those bodies. He got an award for that."
"That was an interesting case." Dean looked towards a newspaper clipping from 1990 to do with the case and looked back to Lisa. "He ever tell you how he did it?"
"Most of the time, he'd say 'good, solid, police work.' But after a few beers, he'd admit he had help."
"From who?" Beth asked curiously, half way through her beer.
"A specialist, that's all he'd say."
"Cops ever find the guy who stole the bodies?" Dean queried.
"No. But whenever I'd ask Joe, he'd say not to worry, that 'we took care of what done it'."
Beth looked curiously at Dean who simply tilted his head to say he would tell her later and she nodded, finishing her beer and ordering a glass of pineapple juice.
"That was so much fun!" Beth grinned, glancing at Dean. "I have never pretended to be an FBI agent before... can we do it again?"
Dean chuckled at Beth's enthusiasm, remembering a time when he got that excited over dressing up and tricking people into thinking he actually was an FBI agent or a reporter. Some people were just so gullible.
"Not tonight," he replied seriously, but Beth's smile didn't dim or falter, in fact, it grew bigger.
"Another night?" she hedged. A hopeful expression on her face.
"...Maybe."
"Okay, I can live with maybe." Beth turned her head to stare out the window as they drove back to the motel.
They reached the motel in minutes, pulling to an abrupt stop as Sam was struggling against the thing trying to pull him under Adam's truck. Beth quickly scrambled out of the Impala and sprinted over, grabbing his hand and tugging with all her might. Adam grabbed the same arm that Beth was pulling at and Dean grabbed Sam's other arm. When they finally pulled Sam free, Dean grabbed the sawed off shotgun and got down on one knee, quickly firing one shot under the truck.
"Holy cow... that was scary," Beth panted from where she was sprawled on the ground, Adam leaning heavily against her. "Are you okay, Sam?"
"I'm fine," he assured her with a small, breathless smile.
The three of them got to their feet, watching as Dean picked up the keys to the truck and got in, reversing backwards until a man-hole cover came into sight. Dean approached it slowly, the gun clutched tightly in his hands. He dabbed his fingers in some dark red, almost black liquid and rubbed his fingers together before wiping them on his coat. He headed over to Sam, Beth and Adam, the three of them all looked to him for some explanation.
"I winged it," he explained, "did you see anything?"
"I didn't get a good look," Sam sighed.
"What the hell is this thing?" Dean muttered after depositing the gun in the back seat of the car.
"Should we go after it?" Adam pitched in hesitantly.
"No. In that maze? That thing's long gone." Dean tucked his hands in his pockets, sending a glance over at Adam.
"Alright, so we don't know what it is," Sam concluded. "But we know who it's going after; Joe Barton, their mom..."
"And Adam and Beth," Dean finished. "It was under his truck just waiting for them."
"It set a trap and I walked right into it," said Sam with a frown.
"Doesn't matter, there's a pattern," Dean told them. "Joe Barton's a cop. I'm pretty sure he helped out dad. So we got him, dad's girl, and his kids."
"All the people dad knew in town," Sam realized. Adam and Beth were silent, watching the exchange with curious eyes. Beth glanced at Adam in time to see him send a smile in her direction.
"At least we know why it's back," Dean pointed out.
"It wants revenge," Adam input quietly.
"We should go back to the house, get Adam and Beth's stuff," Sam suggested. "We can send them to Bobby's."
"Sounds good," Dean nodded with a look in his eyes that cancelled out any thoughts of protesting from the twins.
When they reached the house, the four of them went to the back door and Beth unlocked it, her and Adam ducking under the police tape. Dean rolled his eyes and simply tore the tape down from the doorway before entering the kitchen. Sam followed without a word.
"Grab your stuff, we'll hit the road," Dean ordered as he walked after them into the hallway.
"Yes boss." Beth saluted and headed for the stairs.
"They're talking about us," Adam said as he walked into Beth's room after packing some belongings into a rucksack.
"Obviously. We're just that interesting," Beth grinned. She finished packing clothes into a duffel bag and set her make up bag and soap bag in it before putting her guitar in its case and making sure it was closed properly.
"You're so weird," he scoffed as he led her back down the stairs.
The two of them approached the kitchen, hearing the last part of the conversation. Apparently Sam wanted to use them as bait to catch the thing hunting them but Dean was determined not to let it happen.
"I'll do it," Adam said and stepped into the kitchen. "Whatever it takes, we'll do it. We wanna do it."
"Wow, okay, hold up," Beth ordered, holding a hand up. "I never agreed to be bait."
"Do you wanna spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder?" her twin demanded.
"Well, no. But-"
"Then it's settled. We both want to do it."
Beth sighed in exasperation, knowing there was no way she could possibly argue with him now, not when his mind was made up. But she did feel that it kinda sucked that she was being dragged into it when she didn't want to be used as bait.
"Hey Dean," Beth smiled at him as she handed a bottle of beer to him.
"Where did you even get that?" he questioned but accepted it.
"Adam had a pack of them in the fridge, so I stole some for you," she shrugged. "It's the least he can do, wanting to use himself and I as bait and all."
"Fair point," Dean conceded and took a swig of the still cold beer. "Why aren't you over there with those two?"
"Because I wanted the honour of your company?" she suggested with a grin. "Nah, I thought it best to leave the gun training to the people who are less likely to shoot themselves in the foot."
"You that clumsy?"
"Oh yeah. It's unbelievable how clumsy I can be," she stated. "It all disappears when I start dancing though. I'm in no way clumsy at that."
"You're a dancer?" Dean looked at her curiously.
"Since I was kid." She nodded in confirmation.
A series of shots being fired had them turning their heads to see Sam congratulating Adam on hitting the bull's eye on his first try. Dean rolled his eyes with a scoff, turning away from the scene.
"...You really don't like us, do you?" Beth asked, her face falling.
"It's not that I don't like you," Dean said dispassionately. "I just... I don't want you brought into this life like we were."
"Well that's fine by me, because I can assure you that I have no interest in becoming a hunter," she told him honestly, folded her arms over her chest. "But... I would like it if we could keep in touch after this is all over. If that's okay with you?"
"I could agree to that," Dean agreed with a teasing wink.
Back at the house, Sam was showing Adam and Beth a book full of different supernatural beings and that their strengths and weaknesses were. Dean was perched on the unit behind them, his displeasure rolling off of him in waves.
"So then we lit it on fire," Sam finished telling them the story of a wendigo hunt from 2005.
"With a homemade flame thrower?" Adam asked, eyes alight with awe.
"That is so cool," Beth laughed, amazement clear on her face.
"They're easy to build," Sam explained, "I'll show you."
"This is some job you got man," Adam breathed, glancing back at the book.
"Being a hunter isn't a job, Adam," Sam began seriously, his tone making the twins look up curiously. "It's life. You're pre-med, You got a girlfriend? Friends?" he directed at Adam before turning to Beth. "You're doing a BS degree for dancing, which means you have friends and other dancers you care about."
"I do..." Beth replied, confused as to where he was going with this.
"Not any more you don't," Sam continued and Beth's face screwed up in disbelief, wondering who the hell he thought he was to tell her she couldn't have friends. "If you're really gonna do this, you can't have those kinds of connections, ever. They're weaknesses. You'll just put those people in danger, get them killed. That's the price we pay. You cut them out and you don't look back. There's only one thing you can count on. Family."
Beth stared intently at her hands, trying to ignore the hole Sam was currently burning into the side of her head with his strong gaze. Adam looked down as well, feeling as though he'd just been reprimanded for stealing the last cookie out of the jar, like he had done when he was a kid.
"Sam?" Dean interrupted. "Can I talk to you?" He stood up and headed for the hallway, leaving Sam no choice but to follow.
"He's in for it now," Beth sing-songed with an amused smile.
Adam chuckled quietly in response, silently agreeing with his sister's statement. From the irritated look on Dean's face, it was obvious that Sam was in for an earful from his older brother.
It was still dark. It was always dark down there.
The girl let out a shaky breath, a visible cloud rushing past her lips and evaporating into thin air after floating towards the ceiling. Her colourless lips trembled as she shivered from the cold, having no possible means of regaining warmth.
Her creamy white tank top matched the colour of her skin perfectly, blending together to make a brighter white, it was also spattered with drops of blood. Her blood. Her brother's blood. Her mom's blood. Her skinny jeans were ripped and bloody, her shoes long gone. Her once shiny, wavy hair was dull and tangled, as lifeless as she currently felt.
She knew time was running out. She knew that they would come back soon, to torment her some more.
All she could do was tremble and weep in the cold darkness as her inevitable death loomed closer.
She just wanted to be saved.
"Please help me," she thought pleadingly, wheezing harshly.
When Dean left the house, he drove straight to the graveyard, parking quickly and grabbing a flashlight and gun, strode through the open doors of the mausoleum. He looked around for a few minutes, examining the broken tombs once again. A light breeze suddenly brushed against his legs and he turned, seeing the cobwebs in front of the stone wall swaying slightly, there was a small gap between two large slabs of stone.
Dean returned from the Impala moments later, carrying a crowbar, which he used to tug the stone free from the other stones before pulling it out with his hands. He repeated this action another three times to remove the surrounding stone and crouched down, being met with a long, dusty tunnel that opened up at the other end.
He dropped his head with a sigh before pushing himself up and into the tunnel, army crawling his way through it. When he got to the other end, he pulled himself onto his back and rolled out of the opening onto a coffin, coughing as a cloud of dust rose into the air.
"Home sweet home," he muttered, eyes sweeping over the dirty floors and walls, the chipped black coffins and the bones that littered the place. Disgust crossed his face as he looked down to see a severed arm and a pair of thick, blood covered glasses. "Sloppy Joe," he commented crudely.
A sudden noise had him shooting to his feet, in time to see a pair of hands shifting the stone slabs back into place, sealing him in. Dean fired a few shots in the person or creatures direction but missed, instead causing a large handful of dirt to fall and slid down the tunnel towards him. He ducked and covered his head.
"Oh, son of a bitch!" He growled, glaring at the dirt covered tunnel. He repeated his previous words when his phone failed to get a signal.
"Is this really necessary?" Beth called, covering the window ledge in her bedroom with a large line of salt.
"Yes, it'll stop anything coming in through your window," Sam called back, already occupied with nail a large piece of wood over one of the many vents in the house.
"That makes total sense," she muttered sarcastically but moved onto Adam's room with the bag of salt.
When they finished covering the house in salt and wood over the vents, they met up in Adam and Beth's mom's room. Beth dropped the bag of salt carefully onto the night stand and perched herself on the window seat, being careful as to not disturb the salt line.
"All right, we've closed off all every other way into the house. If this thing's coming, it's coming through here," Sam explained, staring down at the vent that used to be covered by their mom's bed.
The door opening and closing downstairs had them sharing a cautious look before Beth stood up and edged her way over to them.
"You were saying?" Adam asked sarcastically.
"Adam? Bethany?" a familiar, feminine voice called out.
"Mom?" Adam questioned in disbelief. Beth's face lifted and her eyes lit up happily.
"No!" Sam shouted as the two of them raced for the door.
"Mom!"
"Beth! Adam!" He chased after his two younger siblings.
Beth skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes growing wide as she stared at her mom. Adam's reaction was similar before his lip grew into a smile and he walked forward, Beth following at his heels.
"Mom," Beth beamed.
"Adam, Beth, wait!" Sam called.
"It took me, but I got away," Kate gasped, welcoming her twins into her arms.
"It's okay," Adam reassured her, hugging her tightly.
"You're home now- that's what matters," Beth added.
"You two, step away from her," Sam ordered, pointing a gun at Kate.
"Sam, what the hell?" Adam demanded as he pulled back from the hug.
"She's not your mother," Sam snapped.
"Bethany, who is that? What's going on?" Kate looked confused and terrified and Beth placed herself between Sam and her mom with a rush of fierce protectiveness washing over her.
Dean continued to push at the door, hoping that it would break open, but to no avail. The door was stiff and unmovable from years of not being used. Giving up, he turned and examined his surroundings, brushing aside a handful of small bones with his foot as he walked further into the tomb.
He walked past a skeleton with blonde hair that sat on the ground near the coffin he had landed on. He lifted the lid and gagged at the foul smell, covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve. Inside the coffin lay the mutilated body of Kate Milligan, she looked peaceful, despite the fact that her body had been ripped open and her internal organs were on display.
"What's going on?" Kate demanded fearfully, clinging to Adam and Beth.
"Get away from them," Sam ordered once again.
"It's really her, okay?" Adam said defensively.
"There was too much blood. Your mother's dead. There was too much blood in the vent," Sam argued. He attempted to grab Adam and pull him to his side but Adam latched onto the gun, yanking it from Sam and swinging it between his brother and mother nervously.
"Adam, put the gun down," Beth pleaded, ignoring the twinge of pain that erupted in her arm as her mom dug her nails into her skin.
"Adam!" Kate gasped.
"Shoot it!" Sam barked, holding his hands up.
"He's crazy, honey. It's me," Kate told Adam pleadingly.
"Adam, look, that is not your mother," Sam told him. Beth yelped, stumbling back as Adam spun around, the gun pointing at her.
Sam and Kate kept on talking at Adam, trying to convince him to either shoot the creature or put the gun down. Adam's head went back and forth between them, the gun following him as he turned sharply each time they spoke.
"Baby, please," Kate begged, covering her mouth with a shaking hand.
"Shoot it. It's not human!" Sam urged.
Adam suddenly grew amused, sending a wink at Beth and Kate, which they returned with wide grins. Sam was immediately confused, looking between the family with narrowed eyes.
"I know," Adam said playfully before spinning around and hitting Sam roughly with the butt of the gun, knocking him out straight away. The tall male fell to the ground with a thud and Adam shared a gleeful look with Beth and Kate, smiling all the while.
Dean moved onto the next coffin, holding the flash light in one hand as he pried the lid open. He held a fist to his mouth, resisting the urge to vomit at the sight of Adam's torn apart body. The kid's eyes were open wide, pain and fear in them, his mouth parted in a silent gasp.
Fear rose in Dean. Fear for his brother. He looked around, desperately trying to find an escape route, a way out so he could go to his brother's aid, knowing that Sam was currently in the hands of monsters, probably without any weapon to aid him.
Confusion came next, his eyes taking the number of coffins in the tomb. There were only two of them, so where was Beth's body? He spun around and noticed a large hole in the far wall, he approached it cautiously, gun out.
Dean slowly climbed into the hole, following another tunnel to a smaller, more secluded area. His feet hit the ground with a thud and he turned the flash light on, shining it on the pure white coffin that lay by the wall.
He knew immediately who was in the coffin and a part of him wanted to just leave, to find Sam. But a larger part had him approaching the coffin with trepidation.
He eased the lid up and felt his eyes widen in surprise.
She never used to be afraid of the dark, she used to love it, making up stories of monsters creeping across the room to get her but being slain by a knight in shining armour... or in her case, an angel.
The angel she had in her mind was as tall as a tree and as bright as the sun, his pure light filling her with love and peace and warmth. He had a golden halo surrounding his head and had the most beautiful wings, at least six hundred of them. They were all covered with feathers of the purest gold, the edges tipped with white.
She had based the angel off of what she had read about the Archangel Gabriel. He was by far her favourite... not that she knew why, after all, the angels she read about were all good and pure, but something about him drew her in and she couldn't figure out why.
A sudden thud jolted her from her thoughts. Panic exploded within her, and she began to hyperventilate, thinking that the ghouls had come back to finally finish her off. The one that had taken on the appearance of her mother had carelessly tossed her in the coffin before she had left. She was just glad that she had managed to pull her arm to her chest before it could be shut in between the edge of the coffin and the lid.
The lid was eased up gently, confusing her greatly; whenever the ghouls had come to her, they would torment her until she was screaming and then they would jerk the lid up and lunge. Whoever was at the other side was clearly not a ghoul- or they were and they had decided to mess with her yet again.
She blinked rapidly against the sudden light that washed over her. A gruff voice reached her ears, but she couldn't make out what the person was saying due to the loud ringing in her ears.
The outline of the figure reached towards her and she let out a loud, piercing scream.
"Dammit!" Dean dropped the flash light, covering his right ear and using his shoulder to cover the other one as he reached down to silence the real Beth's screams. "Beth, can it!"
Beth stopped screaming immediately, her breathing ragged from behind his hand. Her dull hazel eyes swivelled around the tomb nervously, as if waiting for a ghoul to jump out at her.
"You're bleeding..." Dean trailed off, pulling a bandanna from his pocket. He ripped it down the middle and wrapped each half around her bleeding wrists.
"W-who?" Beth desperately tried to force herself to ask, but her throat was so dry from lack of water and screaming that it hurt to even think about speaking.
"I'm Dean. Dean Winchester," he said, as if reading her mind. "I'm gonna get you out of here."
There's no way out, she thought at him as she tried to stop herself from shivering. In the coffin, it had at least been slightly warm, but not by much.
"Can you stand?" he questioned, reaching out to her again. She reluctantly took hold of his hands and allowed him to help her to her feet. She swayed awkwardly, falling into him as she failed to take a first step. It had been so long since she had last walked, down here in the tomb, all she could do was crawl or drag herself along on the ground as she tried to escape the ghouls. "Is there a way out?"
Beth's eyes immediately flickered to the window above where her coffin lay, Dean followed her gaze and sighed in relief. She had, of course, attempted to get out by using the window high up on the wall, but when she had reached to pull herself up, onto the narrow window ledge, she hadn't been able to smash the window as she had nothing heavy to do it with. She had tried to kick it until it smashed, but all she managed to do was crack the glass.
Fortunately for her, Dean had a gun, which he held onto tightly as he balanced himself on the coffin and fire two shots at the glass, shattering it instantly. He jumped back down and held a hand out to her.
"Come on," he urged gently. "We have to get out of here. My brother's in danger, those things have him."
That statement made her force her trembling legs to move forward, she didn't anyone else to suffer at the hands of those monsters. Dean cupped his hands together and she braced a hand against the wall, setting her dirty foot in his palms and feeling him hoist her up effortlessly, she latched onto the ledge, pulling herself onto it as Dean took hold of her ankle and helped her pull her whole body up. Fresh air hit her immediately, surrounding her in a comforting embrace, her hair swayed in the breeze and her cracked lips pulled upwards into the first smile in days.
She eagerly sucked in a few deep breaths, clawing her way out of the window and pulling herself onto the roof. Her eyes stung and she covered her face with dirty hands, blocking out the bright moonlight as she knelt on the roof of the mausoleum. Dean pulled himself up next and she reached back, tugging at his hands until he was beside her before throwing herself onto her side and curling up into a ball, weeping openly. Joy filling her as she revelled in the idea of finally being free from her cold, dark prison.
"What's up with you?" Dean demanded, brushing off his jeans. Beth pointed wordlessly up at the sky, her eyes slowly getting used to the once familiar brightness. "Oh... right. Well, come on."
Thank you. She wanted to say, but the words refused to unstick themselves from her throat. For saving my life.
Dean made short work of climbing down from the roof and called for her to jump, which she did and he caught her in his arms and hurried towards the Impala. He deposited Beth in the back seat and climbed into the front, ignoring the part of him that was scolding him for allowing her in the car whilst she was covered in blood and dirt, but he shoved it aside, more worried about his brother than the seats that could be cleaned later.
"Hey!" Dean burst into the hallway and fired, shooting the ghoul pretending to be Adam and the force knocked him against the wall. The other two ghouls stared at their brother in shock.
"Dean, they're ghouls!" Sam shouted, still struggling against his restraints. Dean nodded and raised the gun, blowing Kate's head off before doing the same with ghoul that looked like Beth after pulling the locket from her neck.
The real Beth couldn't stand staying in the confinements of the Impala and clambered out, practically stumbling up to the house as she heard shots being fired. She stopped just outside of the door and peeked in nervously, seeing Dean now standing in the kitchen over a tall, dark haired male.
The ghoul looking like her twin grabbed Dean from behind, throwing him through the glass door that led to the sitting room. Beth's heart thudded in her chest, she desperately wanted to run, to put as much distance between herself and the monster in her house but she knew she couldn't leave Dean to die after he had rescued her.
She pushed the door open and slipped in noiselessly, grabbing the bat from behind the door. Before the ghoul knew what was happening, she brought the bat down on his back with shaking arms. The ghoul fell sideways in surprise, giving Dean enough time to scramble for the gun in the kitchen.
"I knew we should've killed you while we had the chance," Ghoul Adam sneered at her before lunging. The two of them fell into the hallway with a bang and she let out a quiet shriek, struggling as he snapped his teeth at her.
"D... Dean!" she rasped. The ghoul's mouth closed around the still open gash on her neck and sucked on the blood that welled up as he put pressure on it. She yelped in pain, frantically trying to push away both the ghoul and memories of being fed on in the tomb.
"Get off her!" Dean barked, striking the ghoul in the head with a lamp, knocking him away from Beth.
She forced herself to her feet and darted for the kitchen at Dean's command and hurried to untie the man who was obviously Dean's brother.
"B-Beth?" Sam stared at her wide eyed. She nodded jerkily and helped him sit up, pulling the ropes from his wrists and wrapping dish towels over his bleeding wounds. "How are you alive?"
"Because, Sam, I saved her before she could bleed out," Dean answered, coming into the kitchen with blood splattered hands and t-shirt.
Black spots suddenly covered Beth's vision and she swayed slightly, raising a shaking hand to her head. Dean and Sam both seemed to be speaking to her but she couldn't make out what they were saying. A ragged breath escaped as she sank to her knees and passed out, tipping over onto her side.
As Beth remained unconscious and her brothers rushed her to the hospital before going back to clear the house of evidence of the ghouls and give Adam a hunter's burial, she dreamt. She dreamed about when her and her brother came back to Windom to find their mom, and instead, became the meal and entertainment for a family of ghouls.
"So you haven't heard anything from her?" Beth ran a shaking hand through her messy hair as she stood on the porch of Mrs Gregory's house.
"No, I haven't," Mrs Gregory replied kindly. "I thought I heard a struggle coming from upstairs so I called the cops and they searched the house, but it was empty. They're keeping an eye out for her though, one of the other nurses also called the cops."
"Okay. Thanks for your time." Beth stepped off of the porch and smiled tightly.
"It's no problem dear." Mrs Gregory waved once before closing the door.
"What did she say?" Adam asked as she re-entered their house and kicked the door shut.
"She heard a struggle coming from upstairs and called the cops; apparently they had already been alerted of mom's absence by her supervisor at the hospital, they searched the house but it was empty," Beth sighed wearily as she slumped onto the couch.
"We should look ourselves," Adam muttered and yanked her up, pulling her up the stairs and into their mom's room. The night stand was still on its side with their mom's photo of John, the lamp and a few books lying a few feet away.
"There's nothing here, Adam," she told him with a frown.
"Look in the other rooms. There's gotta be some clue as to where she's gone," Adam ordered and she nodded, leaving the room and heading to her own room.
Beth searched through her leftover books and magazines, searching for a note, anything that could led them to their mom. She headed to the closet after finding nothing in the pages of her small collection. As she tugged her old blanket down from the shelf in her closet, a piece of paper fluttered to the floor.
You'll never find her. She's dead and you're next.
Beth's hand shook as she stared down at the bold letters, running her fingers over the still drying ink... or what she thought was ink. When she rubbed her fingertips together, she slowly realized that it was blood and not ink.
"A-Adam!" she yelled.
"What?" he snapped, appearing in the doorway. Beth held the note out to him without a word, Adam took it, eyes skimming over the words quickly. "Where did you find this?"
"In my closet, on the shelf." Her lip trembled and her eyes watered. Adam pulled her into his side, scrunching the note up and throwing it on the floor. "She's dead... isn't she?"
"No. No, she can't be," Adam shook his head and turned, preparing on herding her out of the room when his eyes landed on two figures standing in the hallway. "Beth, get behind me."
Beth did as she was told, stepping behind him, which placed her beside her closet and she slowly reached in and grabbed the bat she'd taken from her brother years earlier.
"Here," she whispered. Adam reached out to take it at the same moment that the figures in the hall lunged, tackling them to the ground.
Beth yelped, struggling against the deformed being that latched on to her legs and began dragging her back towards her mom's room. Adam was in the same position, trying to fight off the creature as it snapped at his throat with razor sharp teeth.
"Adam!" Beth screamed, before everything went silent.