Clothing: Scene 4+5+6+7 - 'Phantom Traveler 2'
Supernatural Fanfic | The Family Business | Phantom Traveler – Part 2
It took about an hour to get to the next place of investigation; George Phelps's place of residence. When they did, they were met with a very nice neighbourhood of two-story houses. All of them several years old but well-kept and modern. "Here we are," Sam announced, glancing at the map and deceased list in his hand, "George Phelps, seat 20C."
Katherine gazed up to the house through the window screen – the place looked normal, it was settled in a quiet neighbourhood that didn't look at all suspicious. Maybe this 'George Phelps' wasn't the one they were looking for? She opened her door, slowly getting out along with her brother when she commented, "Man, I don't care how strong you are, even hacked up on PCP or something … there is no way a normal human like you and me, can you open up an emergency exit-door during a flight."
"Then, maybe this guy isn't human?" Sam suggested, looking behind himself – seeing his sister leaning against the Impala – they were both gazing up at the house curiously. "He could be something else – some kind of creature, maybe? Something that can appear as human?"
Katherine gave an amused scoff, her thumb scratching the side of her cheek before making the sarcastic comment, "Does that place look like a creature's lair to you?" Gesturing up to the vanilla looking house. She was pretty sure that anything that's evil would never be caught alive in that place, let alone want to live in it all year round.
Sam gave a sigh, looking back over to the building. "I guess not." He shrugged, but this was the best lead they had right now. If they didn't find anything here, he was sure Katherine would suggest that they take a look at that wreckage.
…
Katherine and Sam knocked on the door of the filed residence for George Phelps, turns out he had a wife – one that looked about the same age as him in the photos. The woman had invited them in upon hearing they were from Homeland Security; she had grabbed them both a glass of water before taking a seat in her living room, the two Winchesters sitting on the opposite couch ready to ask her questions.
Inside the house was just as normal as the outside; everything was neat and tidy, all the furniture was clean but well-used. There wasn't a spec of dirt to be seen, everything looked completely … non-evil personified. No odd symbols, artifacts or anything that could direct the Winchesters into believing anything suspicious.
Sam noticed a photo frame with a picture of the victim inside, "This is your late husband?" He confirmed, showing her the picture he was holding his hands. The man himself was in his late 40's, early 50's – he had a small bald spot of hair above his forehead and dozens of aging wrinkles. The photo was probably taken on a holiday the couple went on several years ago because he had the 'vacation' look to him. His hair was also full brown, unlike his current DMV photo that showed him has starting to turn grey from the roots of his head.
The woman; Bonnie Phelps, sniffed sadly as she gazed at the photo. "Yes," She nodded, she looked all cried-out and seemed a little more numbly than most people would in this situation. "That was my George." Bonnie covered herself in makeup to vanish many of the older wrinkles appearing on her skin. She had shoulder length light brown hair that was obviously dyed, the roots of her hair were also starting to show a little grey against the light coming from the living room window. She looked healthy and well kept; her body was still in good shape for her age too.
Kathy pointed over to the photo, "And, you said he was a dentist?" What kind of supernatural creature would want to tend to human's teeth? This guy was looking more normal and human by the second – it didn't make sense when you place the facts next to it.
"Uh-huh." Bonnie nodded again as Sam placed the photo back in its place. "He was heading to a convention in Denver." She blinked, feeling a small ounce of guilt for letting her husband fly over there. She had insisted that he go to this convention by plane instead of driving, she was afraid that he'd get into some kind of car accident because of tiredness. The trip in a car was at least a day or two's worth driving. "Did you know that he was petrified to fly?" She couldn't help but comment, making her guilt a little more pronounced. Her bottom lip began to wobble, "For him to go like that…" Her voice cut, not able to speak anymore in fear of her eyes bleeding with salty water once again.
Sam tried to comfort her, "How long were you married?" He inquired, leaning forwards so his elbows connected with his knees.
The questions was able to get a smile out of her, "Thirteen years." She said with pride and love.
"And in all that time…" Sam continued, a curious look crossing his face, "…did you ever notice anything strange about him?" He paused. "Anything out of the ordinary?"
Bonnie's brows furrowed with confusion for a second, "Well…" She began, trying to think back to what they might mean. "…he- he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean?"
Katherine sighed to herself, sharing a look with her brother, this little get-together wasn't getting them anywhere. Seeing this woman hadn't helped them find the next clue to what this creature or thing could be. If it wasn't obvious before, then it was now – this guy was just an ordinary human being like they were … to a degree. Something must have possessed the guy because nothing else made sense otherwise.
…
"I mean, it goes without saying," Sam was saying to his sister during the walk down from the front porch, "It just doesn't make any sense."
Kathy hummed in agreement, "Yeah, the guy's a middle-aged dentist – there's nothing special about him that could be evil personified." They finally hit the side-pathway, she turned to her brother as they starting heading over to the car, "You know what we need to do now … getting inside that NTSB warehouse would be our best bet. Check out what's left of that plane." She looked excited although she tried to hide it. This would be their biggest challenge when it came to Fake ID's and she was ready for it.
Sam glanced to his sister's face as they approached to a stop, "Okay." He sighed, hating it a little to admit that this was the best action to take next. He glanced down Kathy's clothing before grinning slightly, "But, if we're going down that route – we need to look the part." His tone was amused because he knew she'd hate what he was going to say next.
…
Kathy groaned looking down at her new attire, cursing at her brother verbally. The heels clicked under her feet, and the grey dress she was wearing felt tight and uncomfortable. She exited with her brother after paying for the new clothes; she swore that once this case was over, she was going to burn every last bit of this outfit, including these walking death-poles attached to her feet. "Oh, come one, man!" She exclaimed in a whiny manner, twisting around to the brother who was comfortable in a nice black business suit, "I feel like a freaking stiff twig!" She could only move her legs apart so far, meaning she had to make way too many steps than she usually does. She couldn't even run in these ridiculous shoes; she felt completely out of her comfort zone.
Sam just watched her, amused. This was actually the first time he's seen her wearing a dress … and the first time she's wearing proper heels too, not the sneaker ones she usually wears. "You look fine, Kath." He assured her.
Ignoring him, she kept moving about in the new clothing with an uncomfortable frown on her face – she tried to stretch out the skirt part of the dress, but nothing happened. She groaned in annoyance, too bothered to continue.
"Why couldn't I have just worn some black pants and flats?" She questioned again with a huff.
Sam rolled his eyes, "Because you're supposed to be a girl." He stated, "Female agents out investigating, {not in actual combat} wear those types of things." If she was posing as an agent who caught bag guys, then yes, she should be wearing pants and maybe smaller heals. However, the two of them were posing under two agents that weren't people who go chasing after bad guys. They're just the investigators in the unit.
Kathy grumbled under her breath, probably swearing several times in the process. "I hate this thing." Walking towards the Impala with the new briefcase she had clutched in her hand.
"Hey!" Sam protested, walking next to her. "Do you want into that warehouse or not?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. This was her idea after all…
Katherine just shifted irritably in the new business jacket. "Shut up." She grumbled, walking over to her side of the car. Ready to get this thing over and done with as quickly as possible – she missed her jeans and combat boots...
…
It wasn't long until the show was on the road: both Sam and Katherine were currently in the warehouse. It had been pretty easy to get in actually, the security guards took their fake identities as the real things and let them through. Katherine had tried to not look so shifty in the new outfit, the labels from the dress seemed to be itching away at the back of her neck and hip. She officially hated this case.
The warehouse itself was massive; too big in fact for the so little pieces that remained from the plane. On the floor was a plane diagram, showing how big the plane actually was. It looked to them that whoever was overlooking the wreckage, was slowly piecing it all back together to see what else was missing. The diagram was probably a little smaller than the real size actually. Katherine couldn't quite tell, she was never the one to be fond of an aeroplane. She was honestly terrified of them to be honest, but this was an easy fear to hide from everyone especially when she drove everywhere.
The two Winchesters started their search at the nose of the plane, everything was still pretty scattered but most pieces were much too burnt from the crash. Katherine reached inside the pocket of the new jacket she wore, pulling out a small electronic device – something that looked to be a radio player of some kind. But this one seemed different, it looked handmade.
Sam frowned when he noticed the machine in his sister's hand, "What's that?" He couldn't help but ask, seeing the earphones connected being placed in the ear closest to him. It looked like some kind of radio/music player, but it was pretty banged up to be one that still actually works.
Kathy glanced to him, taking the earphone out for a moment, "It's an EMF meter." She told him, smiling slightly at her prized possession – she had been able make on herself. It had been a proud moment for her during the dark period. "Reads electromagnetic frequencies." She explained, although he should know by now what an EMF meter does. Or at least he should be able to remember it from before he left.
"Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is." Sam rolled his eyes, looking a little annoyed. Katherine stopped and turned towards him as he continued, "But why does that one look like a busted-up Walkman?"
Kathy held it up, smiling proudly for herself. "It's what I made it out of, it's homemade – cool huh?" Without even waiting for a reply, she placed the earphones back into her ears, continuing down the plane's ruins, listening for any signs that something supernatural may have come into contact with anything here.
Sam shook his head, he wasn't going to say anything to retort that. She seemed to like it, somehow like it was her own toy. Growing up, Kathy never had toys – she never really had any type of childhood come to think of it – she was always watching out for him and getting him at least one toy (well, stealing one anyway) but it's the same thing to her. It did make sense to have some kind of EMF meter during their hunts, it'll make everything so much easier when they need to find something when their own human senses couldn't detect it. He watched as Kathy hovered the EMF device over the wreckage with a good distance between them – her features shifting with concentration.
Sam stayed behind her, looking over the parts with just a sight view – trying to see anything that looked odd.
The two of them walked further through the left-over plane, finally coming up to the emergency door that had been salvaged. Katherine hovered her EMF meter over it for a second, successfully hearing a beeping, buzzing sound that indicated something supernatural was attached to it.
"Check out the emergency-door handle." Katherine noted to her brother, taking out the earphones from her ears. She looked closer at the door handle, seeing some kind of substance burned into the metal. She scratched at it for a moment, feeling a brittle hardness under her nails. "What the hell is this stuff?" She frowned, not liking the feel of it on her fingers. She wiped the remainder on the side of her brother's new suit, something of which he did not look pleased about.
Sam shrugged after his moment of irritation, "Only one way to find out." He said, getting something out from his own jacket this time. He took out a pocket knife, starting to grate the hard substance into a dust that conveniently fell into the small dish he also kept in his pocket. They could get Jerry to have a look at it for them, maybe it's just a common substance for a plane – but then, why would it beep under an EMF meter if it wasn't?
Katherine sighed, looking back towards the door they had come in from, "We should go." She told her brother, not wanting to be caught in the fake-ness act. She was sure at least one person was going to find them suspicious soon – and if another set of agents actually did come in from Homeland Security. The word 'screwed' would be an understatement.
…
The Winchester siblings had found a back way out of the warehouse, they wanted to be quiet and swift in their escape. Soon, they were walking around outside, moving towards a fence that was used as a barrier to keep anyone from coming in – or to keep imposters like them from escaping before being caught.
Suddenly, a very large and loud alarm began to blare on the base. The two siblings shared a similar state of panic, knowing they had been found out. It's a good thing it didn't happen while they were searching through the remaining plane parts.
"Crap." Kathy swore, starting to jog but it was useless in this ruddy pencil skirt of a dress. She grabbed her own pocket knife hidden away in the blazer, opening it before promptly making a tear down the left side of the material covering her thigh. Sam was already by the fence, stripping his jacket off and throwing onto the top of the fence. This was useful so the metal fence wouldn't cut them in the process of escaping.
The two of them jumped over the fence, pulling over their individual weights. Thankfully Katherine was able to move her legs a lot more now, if she hadn't made a tear in the skirt, she wouldn't have even made it over. Honestly, she'll be so glad to get this rubbish clothing off when they get back to the hotel.
"I really do hate dresses." Katherine told her brother again for good measure. She saw her brother glance back at the base, "Come on, we need to get out of here." With that, both siblings ran back to the Impala, needing to get away as fast as possible before actually getting caught.
…
Not even an hour later, Katherine and Sam were back in Jerry's office still wearing their Homeland Security outfits – they had brought him the sample from the emergency door, already knowing he'd have the equipment needed to take a closer look. They never brought anything like that with them during their travels – maybe they should bring a pocket microscope … wait, do they even exist?
The blown up picture of the substance was on a tiny screen placed on the desk. "Huh." Jerry made a noise, looking up towards the siblings. "This stuff is covered in sulfur." He told them, knowing that's exactly what they needed to know. He may not be a hunter, or even hunter material – but he could still do his homework during his down-time.
Sam glanced at the sample, "You sure?" He asked, wanting to be certain – he knew his sister would want to be too.
Jerry nodded, moving to the side. "See you for yourself." He made room for Sam to come over and have a look. The younger Winchester got up from his seat in front of the desk, moving around to peer through the small piece of glass that made the particles look larger. Suddenly, large banging sounds appeared through the closed doors of the office – it sounded like someone was bashing a bunch of things together – voices could be heard, shouting. Jerry's face morphed into a blank pissed-off one, "If you'll excuse me…" He started, his eyes narrowing on his office door, as if he had x-ray vision to see who was being an imbecile. "I have an idiot to fire." He then left the office with the two Winchesters to discuss what was found. "Hey Einstien! … Yeah, you! … What the heck do you think you're doing?!"
Sam moved out of the way as his sister bent down to have a closer look too, he went back over to the chair – sitting down, wondering what his sister was going to say they were doing next. "Hmm." Kathy hummed, thinking. "Now, we know something for sure. Not many things can actually leave behind a sulfuric residue, so that decreases our list a lot."
"Demonic possession?" That seemed the most likely.
Kathy nodded, looking up from the microscope, "That would definitely explain how a mortal man, was able to gain the strength in opening up an emergency hatch."
Sam didn't like where this case was heading, this was becoming big if it were demonic possession. That would mean another crash could happen again … and soon. "But that would only be possible if the guy was possessed."
"However…" Kathy began, looking uncomfortable too at this idea too. "…this goes way beyond what we usually deal with. This isn't just some silly ghost or some freaky ritual." She stood, placing her hands on her hips. "It's one thing for something to possess someone, but to take down a freaking airplane…?" She ran a hand through her hair with frustration, she's never dealt with something this big … and with planes.
"Have you ever heard something like this?" Sam asked, uncertain but interested to know.
Katherine shook her head, sighing with defeat – concern filling her features. Right now she had no idea what to do. "No, never." One of her shoulders lifted into a half-shrug, "Honestly, I don't think dad would have either. Or, if he did, he's never mentioned anything like this to me in the past."
…
Later that day, Katherine and Sam were back in the normal clothes they were previously wearing, and Kathy was reveling in it – promising that she'll never wear that ridiculous attire again. But a part of her knew that it wouldn't happen. The walls were fully covered with pictures of myths, demons and spirits, different evils that might be able to cause this much chaos so easily. There were just so many…
"So every religion and world culture has the concept of demons and possession." Sam explained, reading from the laptop in front of him. He was set up on the two-person round table while his sister sat on one of the beds, reading from the various books scattered around her - these books had actually been taken from the library down the street. "I mean; Christian, Native American, Hindu … you name it."
Katherine had hit that point too, "Yeah, but none of them describe this." Throwing a book away from her, there was nothing useful in it at all.
Sam held up a finger, silently telling her not to jump to conclusions just yet. "Well, that's not actually true." He told her, looking back to his computer screen. "You see, according to Japanese belief, certain demons are behind certain disasters … both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes and the other causes disease."
Katherine frowned, a little interested but confused at the same time. "And this one causes plane crashes?" Sam gave her a sheepish look, obviously letting her know that nothing like that had been found. She let out an exasperated breath, tired already of all this pointless research – she rubbed her hands down her face before getting up, needing to stretch her legs. Well, it was pointless, they were coming up with nothing relatively helpful. "All right," She began again, pacing slowly. "So, what we have is a demon that evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded, sadly. "This thing's probably brought down a lot more planes before now – we just don't know about them."
Katherine scoffed, feeling the pressure on her shoulders tightening. She scratched her head, pacing a little more – this is ridiculous, if they can't find the stupid thing … how were they ever going to stop it? If their father was here, he'd know exactly what to do. But right now, it's feeling like he's abandoned them … her.
Sam looked up to his sister, looking worried about how hard she was beating on herself. "You alright, Kath?"
"I don't know, man" She admitted, shrugging – scoffing again to herself. "This isn't our normal, run-off-the-mill gig." She turned around, seeing him look to her – she waved her hands up as a gesture, "I mean, demons don't was nothing, all they want is death and destruction for its own amusement." She paused, "I mean, this is big. I just wish dad was here … he'd know what to do."
Sam couldn't disagree on that. "Yeah." He nodded, "Me too." He hoped they would find their father soon; for both his sake and Kathy's.
Suddenly a cell phone rang in Kathy's pocket. She frowned but got it out, opening it up to answer the call. "Hello?" There hadn't been a caller ID again.
"Katherine." Jerry's voice came through loud and clear, "It's Jerry."
Katherine's eyebrow creased, hearing sadness in his voice, "Oh, hey, Jerry." She replied.
"My pilot friend…" He stated why he was calling, the subject to why he sounded so sad, "…Chuck Lambert, is dead." The man sniffed.
It took a moment for Katherine to reply, she was honestly startled but the news. "Oh, god." She muttered, "Ah, man. Jerry, I'm so sorry. What happened?" Sympathy driven in her voice for the man that was spoken highly for. Sam looked up again from his computer, looking confused as to what Jerry might have told her. He gave her an interested look but she just silently told him with her lips, 'Later'.
"He and his buddy went up in a small twin about an hour ago." Jerry explained, "The plane went down."
Something didn't sit right in Katherine's stomach. "Where'd this happen?" This guy had died not even days after the plane crash that killed hundreds – this didn't feel like a coincidence.
"About 60 miles west of here, near Nazareth."
Katherine huffed, seeing something click with that statement. "I'll try and ignore the irony in that." She murmured to herself.
"I'm sorry?" Jerry didn't understand.
"Nothing." Kathy shook her head to herself, waving off the subject. "Jerry, look, hang in there, all right?" She told him. "We'll catch up with you soon." She promised, knowing they'll be seeing him again within another couple of hours. She caught her brother eye as she hung up, probably already knowing what she was about to say because of the look she wore.
"Another crash?" Sam guessed.
"Yeah." She nodded back, putting away her phone. "Come on, we need to go." Going over to the bedside table, grabbing the keys and gun.
"Where?" Sam closed the lid of his laptop, stashing it away promptly.
"Nazareth."
…
"Sulfur?" Katherine guessed, looking over Jerry's shoulder as he tested the sample she and Sam had gotten from the wreckage back in Nazareth. They had basically done a quick scoop of the damages left behind, finding the same substance as before on one of the leftover panels to the twin jet.
Jerry looked up, moving away from the sample. He nodded, still looking upset about his friend – mostly because … by the looks of it; the thing that killed those hundred people had just killed off one of his best mate's ... and this time succeeding in its plan.
"Well, that's great." Katherine grumbled in a sarcastic manner before turning serious, "So, that's now two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert." She looked over to Sam who sat in Jerry's chair this time. "This demon sounds like it was after him." She summarized.
Sam turned to Jerry first, looking slightly apologetic by what he was going to be saying – and for what his sister had just said. "With all due respect to Chuck." Jerry just waved him off, nodding with understanding – he was okay with the assumptions, but didn't have to like it. Sam turned back to Kathy, "But, uh, if that's the case, then this would be good news."
"What's the bad news?" Katherine asked.
Sam bit his lip, leaning back in the chair. "His plane went down after 40 minutes." His eyes connected with hers, hoping she'll understand what he was about to insinuate. "And get this, so did flight 2485."
Kathy looked peeved, her head turning up to the ceiling with a sigh – this wasn't good. "Shit." She swore under her breath, knowing they were in for something more worse than they thought.
Jerry didn't get the meaning of this though, "Forty minutes." He repeated, "What does that mean?"
"It's biblical numerology." Katherine glanced to him, he was now standing beside her. "You know, Noah's Ark? It rained for 40 days. The number 40 literally means death."
Sam nodded, glancing to Jerry's computer. As soon as he had connected the number forty, he began to look through all the records containing plane crashes that occurred 40 minutes after the flight had begun. "I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade alone. All of them have one thing in common; they all went down 40 minutes in."
Wow, that's a very high body count in such a short period of time. "Any survivors?"
Sam shook his head, "No." There had been no mention of anyone living past this day, hundreds of people were just … dead. "Or, not until now at least." He corrected himself, this was the first time anyone had actually survived. "Not until flight 2485, I have no idea why though."
"The cockpit voice recorder." Kathy realised, going back to what the voice had said.
Sam remembered too because realisation filled his features, "The voice said 'No Survivors'."
"That's right." She nodded back, "It's going after all the survivors. Finishing the job it wasn't able to finish the first time."
Note: Sorry about the huge delay in an update for this chapter. I've been trying to catch up with others too.
I would have tried to get the last part up soon but my laptop once again is having to be taken to BestBuy. They're sending it back to the depot again to try and fix it. This is the third time i've had to take it back and i'm honestly pissed. This will probably be the last update for any stories (other than the two i'm able to edit online for two other stories) 2-4 weeks depending on when my laptop is return all wiped, again…
Let me know what you think, follow, fav and review would be amazing!
Lisa.
Hopefully i'll be up and running again soon with updates. Let's pray.