God, I suck at updating... Sorry...
Like I said, the chapters are going to be a little shorter, so I hope I'll be able to post another one soon:)
It's been more than a week since Mary left when Sam's phone rings.
We're all sitting in the library, Dean is sober for once and Sam seems to have eaten more than just a few bites today. I guess they're doing a little better. Or maybe they've just gotten used to the situation. We've been looking for cases for a while now, for traces of Lucifer, anything. But there's nothing. Not a single thing.
Sam is sitting at one of the tables at the center of the room, reading an ancient looking lore book, a steaming mug of tea in front of him. His brother is lounging in one of the old leather armchairs, his phone in hand. I don't know what he's doing, but he keeps smiling every now and then, so he must be okay.
Cass usually calls Dean so we all look up when Sam's ringtone sounds. He shrugs after Dean throws him a questioning look and just turns his phone in our direction. The number is blocked.
Sam answers the phone and puts it on speaker. "Sam Winchester?"
A man with a deep raspy voice answers: "Hey, it's me, Chester. You got a sec, Winchester?"
Apparently, Sam knows exactly, who Chester is, and Dean mouths Hunter at me. "Sure, can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, sorry for calling you, but you boys probably got more experience than any other hunter in the US, so I thought I'd just ran this one by you." Dean and Sam both hum in agreement and I roll my eyes at them. "I found a weird mark and I got no clue what it is. Think you can help me?"
I get up from the armchair I was reading in and pick up my laptop from one of the smaller tables close to the wall. Dean has gotten up too and we sit down on either side of Sam.
"Sure thing, Chester. Can you just send me a picture and I'll have a look?"
"Thanks, Sam. Will do. Just call me when you got something, a'right?"
Neither Sam nor Dean recognize the mark on the picture Chester sent, but somehow it seems familiar to me.
I grab Sam's phone and take a closer look. "You know it?" Dean sounds as if he doesn't believe I do.
"Well, I spent a lot of time in the libraries back home. You know, besides Maya I didn't really have a lot of friends, and if you barely sleep, you got a looot of time on your hands. Especially at night." I turn on my tablet and open an app I got made for me by a computer studies student that had a crush on me. "So I went to the library and cataloged every sign and symbol I could find. After I broke into the library, because it closes at midnight-" I pause and shake my head. Rambling. Again.
Once the app is fully loaded I draw the mark from Chester's picture into the panel that pops up. While the app searches for a similar mark I look back up at the brothers. "This is practically the only reason I stole this thing instead of a normal laptop. Every hunter can add marks they find to the cataloge, it's a lot easier than looking them all up in books when you need to find them fast. There's also an app for hunters that's practically a huge bestiary everybody can add to."
"Didn't Charlie have one of those too?" Sam nods and answers: "Yes. I thought she made it though."
"I talked to the person who made it. She sent me her summary of the Supernatural books too, just like Becky. Oh and she said, she met you guys. And then she stopped responding to my messages... I think her handle was QueenOfMoons or something like that."
Dean chuckles a bit. "Yeah, that's Charlie alright."
"You really know her?"
"We did. She... was like family."
"Sorry." There's a soft bing coming from my laptop. It found a match.
The picture that popped up looks exactly like what Chester sent. "Okay, it says here that this is an Aztec symbol. It stands for the Ahuizotl, a monster that lives in rivers," I scroll down on the information page from the online bestiary that is linked with the symbol app. I love technology. "And apparently it pulls you underwater, eats your... eyeballs and teeth? And then drowns you?"
Dean has that disbelieving look again and Sam says, he's never heard of an Ahuizotl before.
"Oh, and it pulls you down with a monkey like hand it has at the end of its tail?"
Even though none of us really believed that the weird Aztec monster was what Chester was looking for, a quick call confirms that the thing's killing technique is consistent with what the hunter could find in New Mexico.
So we all go back to what we were doing earlier. But now it feels weird. We should be doing something. Not just sitting around.
I check the internet again and again, looking for weird deaths or incidents but nothing comes up.
When Sam goes to the kitchen to get himself another tea I speak up.
"Dean? Can I ask you something?"
He nods.
"About Charlie?"
After taking a deep breath he nods again, puts his phone away and turns to me.
He has deep shadows under his eyes and should probably shave, he looks really tired.
"You said she was like family. Was she a hunter, or were you... You know?"
A weak smile spreads over his face. "Charlie was an IT girl, until she met us. She helped us take down the Leviathans. She died trying to help me when I had the Mark of Cain. Oh, and she was gay."
"God, I feel like an asshole, I got so angry when she just stopped messaging me back. I'm so sorry for your loss."
There it is again, that tired, almost sad smile. But it's better than all the resignation he has shown the last couple of days, with all the anger hidden under it.
"You'd like Charlie. She was a huge nerd, she was amazing."
Before I can answer, Sam comes back in, without tea, but he looks excited.
"I found us a case."