A/N: Vivi here! As promised, here's the next chapter. Enjoy, and leave a review!
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Previously on Family Practice:
"Meet back here at closing if nothing happens." Dean said. He turned and pushed open the massive black doors.
The same wave of stench, color, and noise attacked my senses once the protective black doors were moved aside. This was going to be a long night.
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It was two hours before Matthias showed up. I found an empty booth early on and made that my lookout post; I could see the door from there. After an hour, Sam joined me. Dean seemed to be lost in the crowd. It was only natural for me to be the first to see Matthias when he arrived, but Dean was behind him before I even got close.
For the next four hours Matthias did little except dance in the crowd and drink. He really liked to socialize with people, especially the bartender, who was paid to socialize with everyone who bellied up to her bar. I was sure he'd spoken to all three of us at one point during the night as well. Poor guy was pretty wasted by the time he got to me. I couldn't understand much of what he was saying, but we walked together to the bar and found two adjacent stools. Something about love and confusing new feelings and 'the law'. I hoped we hadn't upset the guy too much earlier. He seemed the gruff yet sensitive type. Whatever he was trying to tell me was probably really important to him and he would undoubtedly have no recollection of it tomorrow morning.
Or… later today? It was already one by the time Matthias seemed to forget my existence and stumble back to the dancefloor. I frowned, dreading having to follow him into that sweaty throng, but Dean was already tailing him, pretending to be drunk. I say pretending because I had been watching Dean too, tonight. He hadn't so much as touched the bar yet.
"Lose your date, paidi mou?"
I turned around quickly at the sound of the Greek accented words and came face to face with the bartender. Her flowing black hair was bound back by a gold colored headband so that I- and all her patrons- could see the stunning russet irises that dominated her features. I felt overdressed in her presence, as she wore a simple, green, sleeveless dress that accentuated her figure perfectly. She was older than me by maybe ten years, but youthful and quick as she went about her tasks. I was a little shocked that she stopped her never-ending rush of orders to talk to me.
"Uh, no. Just met him. I'm here alone." I said, instantly regretting that lie. To my left and right were men a few years older than Sam who had already been eyeing me up. Getting harassed was the last thing I needed on a case.
Better stick close to one of the guys from now on… I thought. Frustration welled in me at making such a stupid mistake. But, admittedly, I would rather be frustrated than assaulted.
"Ah, looking for a date then." The bartender said. "He was cute, right? Like the long hair? The eyes? I find you someone. Wait here." She held up a finger like I was going to leave right away, and then she was gone, zipping back down the bar to fill orders and collect cash.
"Come here often?" I rolled my eyes as the man to my right edged closer and practically yelled at me over the roar of the music. His voice was louder than it had to be. And he smelled like scotch. Just the scent of him made my stomach turn.
"No." I shouted back, louder than I needed to.
He didn't get the message. "It's fate then." He grinned and picked up his glass to take another swig of scotch.
"Um, no. No fate here." I said, beginning to move off of my stool.
Just then the bartender returned and pushed a short glass of clear liquid at me. "You find someone already? Made my job easy. Got something for you to pass the time while I looked. This is on the house, xeni. Enjoy your night." She smiled and turned to walk away.
"I'm the DD tonight, can't drink." I said, pushing the glass away with my right hand while trying to flag the woman down with my left.
"Lemon-lime soda. None of the good juice. That's expensive, no free samples." She shouted back from across the bar.
"Oh." I said to myself, turning to the glass. The man was looking into it curiously, so I jerked it back before he could take it.
I edged the glass closer to my face, ignoring the complaints and advances of the man next to me, and eyed the drink suspiciously. It was fizzy. It was clear. It smelled like soda and not at all like alcohol. Even had ice in it. I was thirsty and she was the bartender, staff here… I could trust her, right? What harm would a little free soda do?
"Talk to me baby." The man beside me begged. "You're driving me nuts already."
"Drive your nuts off a cliff." I muttered as I stood and walked away, drink in hand. I wanted to find Sam or Dean quickly because no matter how many monsters and men I'd already taken down, some testosterone fueled horn-dog would undoubtedly hear that I said I was here alone and corner me. I didn't have the physical appearance of strength and power, but my friends did. I might not even have to tell them I said that stupid lie; no one would try anything with Sam or Dean standing by my side.
"Desi." A familiar voice spoke from somewhere off to my left and I turned to see Sam pushing through the crowd.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. "Hey Franny, what's going on?" I asked with a smile.
He glared at me. Sam had already asked us not to call him Franny, even if it was just a codename. Dean and I liked it too much. It would stick, at least for this case. "Gio's got an eye on our man. I want to look around and see if we can find anything weird around the building."
"Like cursed objects or sigils?" I asked.
Sam shushed me and looked around to make sure no one paid us any attention. "Remember to be careful what you say. We don't know what we're dealing with here. But yes."
"Right. Sorry." I said more quietly, embarrassed blush flooding my face.
"I'll check over by the bar and the stage. Can you check by the booths and the dancefloor?" He asked softly, scanning the crowd around us as he spoke.
"Yeah." I said reluctantly. Hopefully no one would notice me walking around alone. I felt like an easy target in this tiny dress.
"Great. Meet back here once you're done." Sam said.
"Wait." I called as he turned his back and started to push through the crowd. He stopped and I caught up with him. "Can you taste this? I took some medicine earlier and I can't have alcohol with it."
Sam's face contorted in confusion. "Shouldn't you know? Didn't you order it?"
"Uh, no. Long story." I said, blushing as I held out the glass.
"Did some guy buy it for you?" Sam asked. He took the drink and looked at it.
"No. The bartender gave it to me for free. She said it was just soda, but I didn't know…" I said as I wrung my fingers. "I didn't have any yet."
"Why would the bartender do that?" Sam asked as he sniffed the glass.
"She saw Matthias get up and walk away from me and she assumed I'd been dumped." I shrugged. "I think she was trying to be nice."
Sam glanced at me and then back to the glass. "You've had a hold on it the whole time you've had it, right? Never left your hands?" Sam asked in a low voice.
"She handed it to me and I took it. Why?" I asked, confused.
"There were reports of people being drugged at this club. I found them going through the police reports." He said, taking a small sip and shrugging.
"You think somebody would drug me right in front of my face?" I asked, slightly offended. "Don't you think I'd notice that?"
"I'm sure you would, but if you even look away for a second… It can happen." He handed the glass back to me. "Seems fine to me though. You had it the whole time and it doesn't even taste like alcohol. Might even help you blend in while you're looking around."
"I guess." I grumbled, still uneasy about splitting up.
"Meet you back here after the search." Sam said, walking away.
"Yeah." Sam was already gone. "Just me and you now, huh?" I muttered to my drink. One big sip later I was headed towards the booths, grumpily trying to remember all the sigils Bobby taught me and wondering just what object Ricci could have brought in that could curse people into violent rages and suicide.
All the booths were full already. I had to push my way up to the outer edges and discreetly examine all of them while their inhabitants chatted and imbibed copious amounts of alcohol. There were no decorations in the booths. I figured Ricci knew better than to put décor within reach of the drunken masses. There weren't any markings either, that I could see. If something was scrawled on the underside of a table, I'd never know.
We should just come back after closing. This is pointless. I thought to myself as a woman bumped into me, making me spill some of my drink on myself. Part of me wanted to shove back. Part of me was so tired that I didn't really care either way.
Then came the dancefloor. I saw Sam working his way around the room, searching tirelessly for something that might not even be here. Envy swept over me when I realized that he wouldn't have to scan the floor for marks that hundreds of people were currently dancing on.
Why is he making me do all the work? I wondered, angrily sipping at my glass as I shoved through a group of men dressed in very obvious bachelor party attire, complete with pins that read 'best man' or 'groom'. One of them whistled at me. It may have been the groom. He was ignored as viciously as I could manage.
I sighed and downed the rest of my soda, putting the glass on one of the high tables that dotted the area around the dancefloor. "Here goes nothin'." I grumbled as I nudged my way down the first set of tiles. Deciphering random scratches in the floor from actual sigils or signs was difficult, especially with all the feet that kept stepping exactly where I was looking. And if a sparkling shoe stepped in my way, forget it. My eyes went out of focus and I had to close them for a few seconds to get them to respond the way I wanted them to.
I must be exhausted. I thought, my head pounding in time with the horrible music. I hadn't noticed that before. It's gotta be almost time to go home.
I was halfway through searching the dancefloor when I stumbled over someone's leg and fell to my knees. When I tried to get up, someone stepped on my left hand and I heard a sickening crack, followed by a sharp, but then dull, throbbing pain.
"Dammit!" I cried, holding my hand close to my chest as soon as I was vertical again. That was a bad idea. As I took my other hand away to look at my injury, I realized that I was bleeding. A lot. The bright side was that my fingers weren't broken. The skin sure was though, and I had blood on both hands and my chest. At that moment, I felt my tattoo pull and my heart almost stopped.
Something was wrong with my baby.
Maybe he was just scared because I was losing blood? Or it was too loud in here? Or he wanted to sleep too? The pull wasn't strong, so I figured it could wait until we got back to the motel and the guys were asleep. Then I'd call Cas and find out what was happening. He could fix it if it wasn't an emergency… Right?
My vision clouded with angry, pained tears, I stormed to the bathroom. It was dimly lit and creepy and it smelled like sex and vomit, but at least it had paper towels to stop my fingers from bleeding. I wrapped the affected digits in the paper. They stung something awful. I had to hold my breath for a few seconds to keep from screaming as I squeezed to stop the blood.
"Ew. What happened to you?" A brunette in a tight red dress walked in and sneered at me. I glared at her, but she was suddenly standing on the wall.
My heart nearly stopped a second time. What was I supposed to do? We didn't even know what the monster was yet. I had no weapon, save the small silver knife I had strapped to my thigh under the dress. The guys had a lot more concealed protection.
Silver kills a lot of creatures. If I can get the heart, maybe that'll do it... My thoughts were running a mile a minute and I could scarcely breathe. Everything felt like it was going in super slow motion.
My senses finally catching up to me, I blinked hard and then the thing was back on the ground but ten feet away from where she was at first, stumbling towards a stall.
How'd she get there without me hearing or seeing her? She was so fast. What can do that? I wondered.
Fear gripped my chest quick as a lightning strike when I realized what was going on. I'm dizzy. Why am I dizzy? I… I must just be really tired. Maybe dehydrated? Blood loss? Maybe she's not a monster after all. Several deep breaths did little to calm my pounding heart. It's gotta be almost time to leave. I s-should… should go outside and wait for the guys…
Holding the paper towel tight around my fingers, I burst from the bathroom and staggered towards those big black doors.
It was cold outside. The chill was nice though. It woke my senses up a little, and the quiet of the streets at three in the morning gave peace to my abused ears. Steve the bouncer eyed me as I left. I tried hard to hide my injury from him. The last thing I wanted was for the police to get involved.
I made it to the alley on the other side of the building and sank down to the cool concrete. My head was allowed to fall back against the old brick building as I closed my eyes and tried to focus on breathing. The pulling at my thigh became steadily stronger, but it was all I could do to remember what city I was in. That's when I knew I was in trouble. This couldn't wait any longer.
Hey Cas. So… I'm in O-… Orem, I think. Utah? At a club. Guys are here. Tattoo's pullin'. Don' feel s'good. The prayer was too short for him to get a read on my location and I knew it. I was just too exhausted to care.
I'm not sure how long I sat there. I heard people walk by occasionally, and a car or two drive past, but I didn't hear the guys. In fact, nothing sounded quite right in the first place. Everything was distorted; tunnel-y one minute and warped beyond recognition the next. I didn't even open my eyes until a voice- I think it was a voice- yelled at me. Really all I heard was a loud disruption in my quiet. My eyes slid open just a little and I saw a pair of unfamiliar black skinny jeans. Big hands on my arms. Rough, unfamiliar voices all around me. Something picked me up, wrapped something around me frighteningly tight. Too much pressure on my stomach. Tattoo pulling harder than I'd ever felt it before.
Wait, no… I thought, my body reigniting with fear and adrenaline. My limbs flailed as I squirmed against whatever had me. Suddenly my shoulder and head hit something hard, followed quickly by the rest of my body.
I fell? I wondered lazily before remembering why I was struggling in the first place. As fast as I could, I scrambled to my feet and turned to face my attacker. There was a street lamp behind it; it had no face in the shadow, but it looked ten feet tall and it had long, scary claws that were reaching for me.
I screamed as I ran down the alley. A voice- maybe a few- jumbled into a dull roar behind me. I dared not look over my shoulder; I knew my ears were playing tricks on me. If I could only just outrun it, maybe the guys could help me.
I'm so tired… I just need to sleep… I thought, rounding a corner in my search for the perfect resting spot. I wasn't sure why I was running to find it. Wouldn't that tire me out faster? Walking would conserve my energy, but I guessed running would get me there faster. I wanna sleep.
So I kept running, as fast as I could. Down alleys, up main streets, past bars with booming music. I fell a few times on a brick road, when my heel got caught between the bricks, but I made pretty good time to the dumpster. Shivers raked my body as I approached it. The alley was blissfully quiet, but someone was making a fuss just down the road. Running around and yelling for someone. Poor chump probably got drunk and walked away from his friends at a bar. Not my problem.
"Jus' sleep. Gotta sleep…" I mumbled over and over as I trudged down the endless alley to get to the shelter of the dumpster. If I could just get between it and the wall, I could sleep for as long as I wanted to. Nobody would bother me.
It came up fast. I saw a shadow at the end of the alley and heard more incomprehensible roars and screeches. There were paws, or claws, or hands, maybe flippers on me, but I jerked forward and broke away, launching into a full sprint. If I could just get behind that dumpster, they wouldn't be able to get me… It wouldn't be able to find me…
As I neared the blotchy green thing, I dove for the crack between it and the wall.
I don't remember much after that.
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A/N: Hope you liked it! See you in a while, crocodile!