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Chapter Seven: Lisa Marshall and Husband
By the time the four hunters pulled up in front of Westward Hotel, it was close to midnight. Sam and Alex had been driving for a while, so Charlie and Dean got out of their cars and walked towards the office. They didn't say a word to each other, although she wanted to tell him to stop being a cocky self-centered ass and he wanted to know why she wasn't jumping at him like most girls. A sleepy eyed teenage sat behind the desk, flipping through a Teen People magazine.
She looked up as they walked in. "What can I get for you?" she asked with a yawn.
"Two rooms with two beds each," Dean said grumpily.
The girl shook her head. "We're full out. We've got one room with two Queens and a sofa."
"We'll take it," Charlie said before Dean could argue. Five minutes later, the four exhausted hunters stumbled into the room marked 57. They threw their bags on the floor and Charlie searched around her pockets for a coin. She pulled out a quarter and turned to the three men who were practically falling asleep on their feet.
"We'll flip a coin to see who gets the beds," she told them matter-of-factly. "Alex, head or tails?"
"Tails," her twin answered with a yawn.
She flipped the coin and it landed on tails. "Ha! We get the beds," she said happily, sitting on the end of one of the beds. Alex laid down on the other and fell asleep almost immediately.
"Okay, guys," Charlie started as she handed Sam the quarter. "You two figure out who's going to sleep on the couch and floor." With that, she grabbed some clothes out of her bag and headed to the bathroom. After she changed into a comfy t-shirt and boxer shorts, she walked back into the hotel room to find Sam crashed out on the floor between the beds and Dean lying on the couch. He was too tired to even make a comment on her clothes as he watched her climb into the unoccupied Queen.
Xxxxxxxx
How could she have been so stupid? How had she trusted him? Missy Greene's thoughts crashed together in her head as she drove her car blindly down a dirt path through the woods. Pretty soon she couldn't even see where she was going so she shut off her car. She attempted to bush the recently fallen tears off her cheeks, but they were just replaced by new ones.
"How could I be so stupid to actually trust him?" she said aloud, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel. "I should have known that he'd never stay with a girl like me. And then he went and cheated on me!" She started beating the steering wheel with fists until she heard a noise. She listened carefully and heard a roar. With shaking hands, she locked the doors and tried to start up her car.
"Come on, come on," she said through gritted teeth as the motor turned over but didn't start. She repeated the words over and over until she heard another roar. She started a silent prayer and glanced out of the front windshield. At midnight in the middle of a forest, a bloodcurdling scream filled the air.
Xxxxxxxx
Charlie was the first one up at seven the next morning. She yawned and stretched before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She started to stand up, only to find herself stepping on Sam.
"Ow! What the hell!" Sam grumbled.
"Oh my god! I'm sorry, Sam!" Charlie said as she sat back down on her bed.
He sat up slowly and rested his back on the nightstand between the beds. "It's okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"I'm still sorry, Sam. I mean, I just stepped on you," she said, trying to hold back a laugh.
He looked up at her with a serious face that slowly turned into a smile. The two started laughing, which woke up Dean and Alex.
"Will you two quit laughing like a bunch of freakin' hyenas?" Dean asked grumpily from the couch.
Their laughter subsided and Charlie went to take a shower. About an hour later, all of them had showered and were deciding who was going to go to town and see if Alex's wendigo suggestion was correct.
"Dean and Charlie should go," Sam said.
"Why us?" Charlie complained.
"Because we were the one's who drove here and we're tired," Alex told his stubborn sister.
Charlie looked over at Dean who just shrugged. "Fine," she said exasperated. She put on her leather jacket and headed out the door. Dean glared at Sam before leaving behind her.
After the two left, Sam started up his computer and Alex lounged out on his bed. Both were silent for a few minutes before Alex decided to voice the latest thought bothering her.
"You know what I want to know," he started. "Why did the spirits in the Bleck place go after Dean and my sister? I thought the girls only went after people in love."
Sam glanced up at him. "You're honestly asking that question?" Alex nodded and Sam continued. "Maybe the spirits went after anyone who felt any type of love. Take attraction for example. Dean's attracted to any woman on Earth, and by how much he and Charlie fight, I can tell they both like each other."
Alex nodded thoughtfully. "I get what you're saying, but aren't you the one Charlie kissed?"
Sam's head snapped up. "She told you?"
"Of course. She's my sister."
"And you're not going to kill me?"
"Why should I? She was just caught up in the moment, right?"
"Right."
Xxxxxxxx
"No, no, no," Charlie said once she and the oldest Winchester brother got outside. "We took your car last time. This time we take mine."
"Fine," Dean grumbled as he got into the passengers seat of Charlie's Camaro.
"It better be fine," she said as she started the car. The engine roared to life and she took off towards town. "I need some breakfast. Mind if we stop."
Dean shook his head. "I don't care, as long as I can get coffee."
"If coffee will stop you from being a grumpy ass, then I'll all for it," she replied as she pulled into a Dunkin' Donuts drive thru.
"Welcome to Dunkin' Donuts. How can I help you?" came a robot sounding voice through the speaker.
"Two extra large coffees and three chocolate glazed donuts," Charlie ordered. After getting her total, she pulled up to the window to pay a middle-aged Mexican lady and get her order. She handed Dean his coffee then started on her donuts as she headed towards the police station.
By the time they pulled up in front of the brick building, Charlie was finished with her donuts and half way done with her coffee. Dean was just sipping down the last of his as Charlie leaned over and opened up the glove box. She pulled out a wooden box and opened it to reveal quite an assortment of fake ID's.
"What about me?" Dean asked as he watched her pull out a police badge.
She snapped closed the box and put it away before answering. "I'll think of something," was all she said before stepping outside. Dean joined her and they both walked up to the bustling police building. Inside, people rushed around like the world was coming to an end. The two hunters made it to the sheriff's office after quite a few minutes just pushing through the crowd. The office door was open and a man in his mid-fifties sat behind a hard oak desk.
"Sheriff Greene?" Charlie asked tentatively as she and Dean entered the room.
The man looked up from his desk at the two young people. "I'm Robert Greene, and who are you?"
"Lisa Marshall, Private Investigator from Denver," Charlie said smoothly as the flashed him her badge. "I've come on account of the four recent missing persons."
"Of course. Come in," the sheriff said, ushering them to come inside. "Would you shut the door behind you?"
Charlie did as was requested, cutting off the rush of sound from the rest of the building. Sheriff Greene folded his hands on the desk in front of him before turning his attention back to the two people in front of him.
"I didn't think Denver would bother sending down anyone to investigate," he started. "But please, why don't you sit and we can try to figure some things out." As the two sat, the sheriff took notice of the man who hadn't spoken yet. Directing the question at Dean, he asked, "And who might you be, sir?"
"He's my husband, John. He came on the trip with me," Charlie said, nonchalantly hiding her left hand from view.
"I see," the older man said with a nod. "Now to the cases."
"Yes. My file stated that four people have gone missing in the past five days. They all disappeared while in the nearby forest and now have yet to be found," she said off of her memory. "What are you suggesting did this?"
Sheriff Greene reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out some photos. "My daughter disappeared last night around midnight. Her car was found abandoned and this is the only piece of evidence found in all the disappearances. It's being held at the moment, but these are some pictured taken of her car. Take a look," he said, holding out the pictures.
Charlie looked through them slowly. The first three showed the inside of the drivers' side door with slight splashes of blood and a broken window; the cracked front windshield; and the blood speckled front seat. Once she got to the forth and final picture, she knew she'd found what they were looking for. On the outside of the drivers' side door were four inhumanly large and deep gashes, nearly slicing the door into sections. She handed the pictures over to Dean before turning her attention back to Robert Greene.
"What are you're suspicions?" she asked.
"Grizzly attack. It's the only reasonable answer," the sheriff replied as Dean place the photos back on the desk.
"Of course," she said with a nod, although she knew that wasn't true. "Is there anyway I could see exactly where the car was found?"
"Certainly," he said, standing up and walking over to the door. Both Charlie and Dean stood as he called into the bustling hall, "Deputy Tape! In my office!" A moment later, a thin red haired man came in. "Investigator Marshall, this is Deputy Tape. He'll take you to the site."
"The site, sir?" the deputy asked.
"You know the one, Jimmy," the older man said, holding open his door.
"I'm sure we'll be able to sort this out, Sheriff," Charlie said warmly, shaking his hand before walking out. Dean came next and shook Sheriff Greene's offered hand.
"I sure hope that wife of your is right," he said.
Dean smiled slightly. "Yeah well, she's a kicker that on. I'm sure she'll figure it out."
The fake husband and wife followed Deputy Tape outside. He took a key out of his pocket before turning for them. "My squad car's just over there, so I suppose you can follow," he said tentatively.
"That's a wonderful idea," Charlie said with mock enthusiasm as she got into her car.
"Can I play this role more often?" Dean asked once they were both inside and following Jimmy's squad car.
"What role?"
"Being your husband."
Charlie turned towards him and rolled her eyes. "Why? So you can finally seduce me?"
"Hey, I never said that," Dean said defensively.
"You don't have to."
"Whatever," he mumbled. "Why are we following this kid anyway?"
"Because we need to find out where the wendigo's lair is. Usually they keep their prey alive for days so they won't put up much of a fight when the thing eats them."
"Well I can find one reason that I don't mind being stuck in a car with you, even if you seem to be pretty bitchy this morning."
"Would you please get your head out of the gutter?"
"And think about what?"
"I don't know. Maybe the case at hand?!"
"Hey, don't yell at me. I didn't get any sleep because that stupid couch kept poking me in the back," Dean said, leaning his head back on the seat and closing her eyes.
Charlie shook her head. "Men are lazy, no wonder they fall asleep after sex," she said as if reciting from her memory.
He opened his eyes and looked over at her. "And you know that how?"
"Number five on my mom's Top Tem Things About Men That Annoy Me list," Charlie replied before stopping the car. Deputy Tape's car was stopped a few feet ahead.
"Is this where they found her car?" Dean asked once the three stood outside on a dirt road not even more than a path.
Jimmy nodded. "Right here on the road, the keys still in the ignition."
"Thanks for bringing us to the site, Jimmy. Now why don't you go back to town and get the sheriff some donuts to feel better," Charlie instructed. The young deputy did as he was told, leaving Charlie and Dean in the middle of the forest.
"Couldn't we just finish the job now?" Dean asked.
"We probably could, but image how pissed Alex and Sam would be if we did," she told her, her eyes beginning to search around the area for any clue to where the wendigo's lair was.
"So what are we going to do if we find the lair?" Dean questioned as Charlie started walking toward the left side of the path. "Just leave whoever's in there to die?"
"I don't know," she told him. "Usually wendigo's do their thing at night, so we should attack during the day. If we find the lair then we should go back to the hotel and grab Sam and Ales. Does that sound reasonable enough?"
"Whatever you say. You're the wife," he said as they walked deeper into the forest.
"I can't tell if you mean to be teasing me with that or you just really want to get in my pants." She turned around to face him. "Wait, don't answer that."
"I wasn't planning on it."
"Good."
They walked silently for a few minutes, their eyes scouring around for a cave or any place a wendigo would make its lair. Charlie was about to give up when dark shape loomed out of the thin treed forest. She walked closer to it and Dean followed, their boots crunching over the leaves on the forest floor. They stopped at the mouth of what looked like an abandoned mine.
"Think this is it?" Dean asked, his eyes falling on the many No Trespassing and Hazard signs put around the dark entrance.
Charlie sniffed the air and wrinkled up her nose. "It definitely smells like a cannibal's lair."
"We should head back to the hotel."
A/N: Another chapter! I just had to do a whole chapter of Dean and Charlie arguing and this is what came of it! I hope you like it:D
