…………………………………………CHAPTER 11……………………………………...
NEXT MORNING AT THE MOTEL
Dean quickly stands up from the motel table and pulls out another chair as Abi enters the room on crutches closely followed by Sam.
"How's the ankle?"
"Well the good news is that it isn't broken." Abi sighs as she sits down in the chair Dean pulled out for her. "It's just badly sprained. Apparently it will take a couple of weeks to heal."
"And everything went ok at the hospital?"
"It did, until we had to make a quick exit when they questioned her insurance card."
"Hey, it's not my fault I don't look like a 50 year old woman. I guess next time I'll be more careful who's card I steal. What about you? What happened after we left last night?"
"Well I had a closer look around the house. Our guy had the whole thing rigged up. Sound systems in the walls, hidden rooms in cupboards, CCTV cameras, fishing wire attached to things to make them move or fly. I also found some more blue light bulbs that match that piece of glass you found, looks like he set up his own little light show. He even rigged up the kitchen, you should have seen the mess in their once I left. I guess you could say I got a bit carried away." Dean says smiling as Sam takes a seat next to Abi.
"What about the sulphur?"
"Found loads of the stuff hidden in the attic. He placed it around the windows himself to give the illusion that a demon had been there. Looks like he was doing everything he could think of to lure the right hunter on to the job."
"What's the story about the caretaker? How come he never knew what was going on?"
"Sleeping pills! When the caretaker did his nightly rounds of checking over the house it seems our mystery man would break into his house and pop a few of those babies in to his waiting cup of whisky."
"So what's happening with him and the house now?" Abi asks.
"I made an anonymous call to the cops, they should be dealing it."
"So this guy sets up an abandoned house to look like its haunted, goes to a load of trouble to rig up cameras and traps and then lures in hunters with fake myths and stories?" Sam asks dumbfounded.
"And also kills innocent town people in the process just to seal the deal." Dean nods.
"Wait a minute, the myth about the young boy killed by the creek was all fake?"
"Oh no that really happened, but there's nothing haunting that creek or the house for that matter. Our guy just took a story and posted a few tales on the internet to make it all seem real."
"No wonder we couldn't figure out a connection, there never was one to begin with."
"So do we know who he is yet?" Abi asks.
"Actually I do. Does the name Jack Murphy ring any bells to you?"
Looking at Sam and then back to Dean, Abi shakes her head.
"Jack Murphy? We know a Jack Murphy, he helped Dad out once on a job a few years back didn't he?" Sam replies.
"That's the one."
"The person who is responsible for all of this is a hunter?" Sam says surprised. "What turns a man like that to start hunting other hunters?"
"I've never heard of him, are you sure you've got the right guy?" Abi says adjusting her leg out in front of her.
"I found Jack's ID along with some other stuff scattered around the house. I gave Ellen a call and she filled me in on a few things. It seems that Jack was reported MIA about six years ago along with his brother Chris."
"What happened to them?"
"No one knows for sure. Jack and Chris went off on a hunt and then two weeks later Chris was found with his neck broken but Jack was never seen again. People just assumed that whatever they were hunting got the better of them."
"So where does killing the other hunters come in to all of this?"
"The last time Ellen saw Jack and Chris was one week before they disappeared. They arrived at the bar late one night and hardly anyone was around except for a few hunters who were playing a game of poker. Jack and Chris explained the job they were going on and asked the others for backup. No one helped them. The hunters that Jack killed in that house were the same hunters that refused to help him and his brother all those years ago."
"So in revenge for his brother's death, Jack tracks down the hunters, lures them on a fake hunt and then kills them?" Abi asks shaking her head.
"Seeing as he was a hunter himself Jack knew what they would be looking for in order to take the job. Innocent people getting killed, urban legends…."
"Sulphur on the window ledge?" Sam says interrupting.
"He lured you here as well Abi."
"What?"
"You found this hunt after finding a newspaper clipping in your Mum's journal right? You said yourself that you have looked through that thing a hundred times and never seen it before. I'm guessing Jack tracked you down and planted it there just like he did with the others."
"But I wasn't at the bar that night when he came in, hell I've never even heard of him. Why make more hunters come here if he had already killed the original hunters that let him down?"
"Well technically Sam and I aren't supposed to be here, that's why he never touched us. Also he had only killed five hunters, there was six there that night at the Roadhouse. The sixth one...well she was your Mum."
"My Mum?"
"He knew your Mum was dead but I guess he saw the next best thing standing in front of him, her daughter. Some people will do anything to get revenge even if it's not on the person they are after."
"But my Mum wouldn't do that, she wouldn't turn someone away who needed help."
"She turned them down for you. The job was too dangerous and you were only thirteen years old. She couldn't risk a hunt like that, not when she was the only person you had around."
"So he would have killed my mother if he had the chance?"
"Looks that way."
"Then that son of a bitch deserved everything he got."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
LATER THAT DAY
Watching from the motel doorway Abi adjusts her crutches as Sam and Dean load up their car.
"So where you off to now?" Sam says as he walks back over towards Abi.
"I think up to Texas to go see my Aunt. She's always saying that she doesn't see me much, plus that way I can rest my ankle till its better."
"You're going to keep on hunting?"
"Sure am. Might even bump into you boys again one day. Bye Sam." Abi smiles as she leans one of her crutches against the door and gives him a hug.
"Just be careful out there ok, and call if you ever need….well if you every need anything." Dean replies as he holds out his hand for a hand shake.
"I will." Holding on to Dean's hand Abi pulls him forward and wraps her arm around him.
Smiling and slightly blushing Dean walks back to the car with Sam and gets in
"If we ever see you in Ellen's bar, the first round's on you." Dean shouts out of the window before waving as he drives off.
Looking back in his wing mirror, Sam watches Abi standing in the doorway before she finally disappears into the distance.
"What are you thinking?" Dean asks as Sam turns in his chair to look out of the rear window.
"Do you think we should leave her?" Sam replies as he turns back around.
"What else can we do?"
"Bring her along with us?"
Dean pauses for a minute as if contemplating the idea.
"And have her play some chick music in here, I don't think so."
Dean reaches for one of his Metallica tapes as Sam gives a slight smile and looks back at the wing mirror where he sees only an empty stretch of road behind him.
"She'll be fine Sam, I'm sure of it."
