Here's the next chapter, on Monday night, as promised. Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for all the reviews that you've given me. It's encouraging to see some of the same names that reviewed my last story. Awesome!
Dean wanted to bang his head against the table. They had been looking through records here in the library for over an hour, and they couldn't find anything. So many things had happened in that whole dormitory building, that he wondered why the building wasn't just torn down and made into a nice safe little parking garage. There weren't any answers about the first girl that had killed herself though.
Sam was bothering him, too. After an hour last night, Dean had unlocked the bathroom door with a credit card, sure that something had happened to his brother. He had been laying, propped up in the bathtub, sleeping. Dean had been reluctant to wake him, but he reminded himself that the water was cold and Sam could get sick. After he woke him and went back out of the room, Sam had come out like nothing had happened. When he had asked him what was going on, Sam got defensive. Sam had even tried to get involved with what he had found in his search for any more information, but he had reminded his little brother that he fell asleep in the bathtub, and that he needed to go to sleep. The younger boy had rolled his eyes, but went to lie down in bed.
Dean had stayed awake after that, partially wanting to get as much information as he could so they could get out of here, and partially waiting for the nightmare that he instinctively knew was coming. Sam didn't disappoint him either. A little over an hour later, Sam started thrashing on the bed, trying to get away from the invisible force that held him. Dean had sat there for a few moments in time, contemplating whether he should help his brother or let him work it out on his own. The parts of him that were frustrated over the silence that Sam had adapted to said to leave him be, that maybe if he had to suffer through this then he would be much more willing to talk about things; but the big brother in him won out. He went over to the side of the bed and shook Sam, calling out to him. Sam was still struggling, and he knew there was a possibility of getting hit, but he stayed there until Sam's eyes opened. It was a repeat of the night before, down to the bewildered look on his baby brother's face. Usually, Sam would calm himself down, but it took an hour and a George Foreman infomercial to get him back to sleep. Something wasn't right. He knew it, but he kept it to himself. There was something about the way that Sammy was acting, his dreams, that told Dean that either he was sick once again, knew it, and wouldn't tell anyone, or that something worse was happening. For now, though, he ignored it, doggedly believing that if he ignored it, this would go away.
Now, they were searching for information again. Dean was working on about an hour of sleep, and despite the two cups of coffee he had drank, he was still grumpy. Every little thing that Sam did annoyed the hell out of him. He knew that he wasn't perfect, and to expect the same out of Sam was impossible, but right now, he understood why their dad had yelled at him so often. Hell, he wanted to throttle the kid right now. Every time Sam tilted his head or tapped his pen on the table, it made Dean more upset. He almost got up and left, needing the time to cool off and let the aggression die down. There was an annoyed thought, the same one that had been concerned for more than a day, that if he left Sammy alone, something bad would happen to him. It was like something he couldn't control, and there was nothing else besides his psyche making him feel this way.
Sam felt like he was getting a lot accomplished. So far, he had gotten the public records of what had happened with the first girl, Rachel Conner, and the names and addresses of family members. He knew that from here, he needed to go talk to these people. Her little sister, who had been eleven at the time of her sister's suicide was now thirty-five years old. Most of these people would be at least middle-aged, and a lot of them wouldn't want to talk about someone who had died more than twenty years ago. It was the only way, though. A suicide on a college campus wasn't that big of a news story, even at that time, and what they did cover, wouldn't lead them to any real findings. He eyed Dean once more. These people would be even more reluctant to help someone who looked like he had gone a few rounds with the devil. His brother wasn't in the best of moods though. Sam doubted that he would let him go to the dorm house to go see what he could find out while Dean went and talked to actual people. This whole thing was just so frustrating. Dean would be a lot better off if he didn't have drag him along behind him.
The last bit of information that he got was the address and criminal record of the boy who had left Rachel when he found out she was pregnant. This man might be able to shed some light on the situation if he was willing to talk about any of it. They needed to chance it. He stood, closing out the program on the computer in front of him that had given him these names. Dean saw this and closed out what he had been looking for. They walked almost side by side out of the building, stopping only when they reached the Impala. Sam stood next to the driver's side door, and held out his hand for the keys. "I don't think so." Dean scoffed, and walked up to the door himself. The frustration in his tone was palpable, and so Sam reluctantly sighed and walked over to the passenger door. He waited while Dean unlocked his door, got in, sat there silently for over a minute to get his bearings, and then reached over, unlocking the passenger door.
"So, what did you find?" Dean wanted to know as soon as they got in the car. He looked over expectantly at his brother.
"Not much as far as public records go, but I did find her family members, and a few friends that were mentioned in the obit. The friends would be maybe forty-five years old, not likely to talk to us about something that happened when they were in college. I did, however, find her boyfriend. His name is Dane Underwood. He's forty-seven now, and lives in...Olney, Geogia. There's a criminal record on this guy going back to the early 1980's. Dean, this could have been a murder, seeing all the other things this guy has gotten charged with. Assault, assault, battery, assaulting an officer of the law and resisting arrests, armed robbery, domestic battery in 1996, and about ten disorderly conducts. Isn't there some law about three strikes and you're out?" Sam told him, trying to sound sure of himself. He knew that the legal joke he had made had flopped, and that Dean was showing no signs that he actually even heard the joke.
"Would he give us any more information than any of her old friends? This guy left her because he found out she was pregnant. In 1981, it was impossible to make a man pay child support, especially if he was never married to the child's mother. Why stick around and kill her when he had other things to worry about? I just don't think that idea is plausible. We know he was part of why she killed herself, but that's it." The passion of the hunt was beginning to make his anger ebb.
"Can we just try looking into this? At the very least, he may know something that would help us to destroy the spirit. There's no listing of where her remains are even at." Sam explained.
Dean sighed, frustrated that after so many years hunting with their dad, Sam couldn't even read an obit. "Sammy, when there is no burial place listed, it means we get to figure out where the ashes are. She's been cremated."
This wasn't good. They could still do this, but it meant breaking into someone's home to get to the ashes. "I still think we should talk to Dane."
"Okay. Where did you say this place was?" Dean asked, trying to see over into Sam's notes. Realizing that Sam's handwriting had only gotten worse with time, he complained. "You know, you should have been a doctor, not a lawyer."
"It's in Olney. That's about thirty miles from here. We really need to invest in a G.P.S. system, Dean." Sam said, joking with his brother.
"Yeah, well, you gonna pay for it, college boy?" Dean snapped, his voice revealing the fact that his bad mood was returning. He started the car, and begin to drive.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to review any way that you would like: Constructive criticism, praise, or question. It's always really appreciated.
By the way, "Route 666" comes on tomorrow night...just in case anyone forgot.