I snorted as I sat up, inhaling some spit. After a minute or two coughing it out, I climbed out of the Impala.
They had parked at a cafe. When I climbed out, I went to the line to order a hot chocolate. It was ready after a few minutes.
With that done, I found Dean sitting at a table. I plopped down beside him.
"Morning, princess." Dean snarked, typing away on the laptop.
I glared at him from tired eyes. "Shut up." The hot chocolate was only barely becoming cool so I was stuck glaring at it. "Where's the other mistake?"
Dean nodded his head. Following that direction, I saw Sam talking on the payphone.
"Great." I mused, trying the hot chocolate. It was still fucking hot, so not much there. Only burned my throat a little bit. "Still no leads on his manhunt for dear ol' Dad?"
"Zilch." Dean answered, typing away.
"Super." I idly tapped the side of my cup. "Have you found a case to distract him yet? It's been a week."
Dean grinned. "Think I do, yeah." He turned to laptop to me. "That one good?"
A quick cursory read said it was the Hook Man case. "Good."
"It actually counts this time?" Dean added.
Cause the last few days, he had asked me about the stuff he'd found online or in papers. Pretty much all of them were normal human cases. There was one that came close, but a quick call to the station proved another hunter was on that case. So they'd all been duds for us, anyway.
"It actually counts." I commented, blow a cool breath on the hot chocolate. "Whoop-de-do. Give him a star, everyone. Dean found one that counts."
Dean grinned, taking the laptop. "Nah. Not gonna be dragged down by your negativity."
I raised an eyebrow. "Doubt that."
Dean sneered at me. I sneered right back.
Sam walked back to the table, looking very much like a grumpy moose.
"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis." Dean told him.
"Bite me." Sam grumbled, sifting in his seat.
"Sam, always so chipper in the morning." I mused dryly, sipping on my hot chocolate.
Sam gave me the Bitch Face.
"So, anything?" Dean asked him.
"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."
"Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean countered. Sam made a frowning that was almost sincere. "Check this out." He flipped the laptop so Sam could read it. "It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."
"'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road'." Sam read off. He gave Dean a look.
"Keep reading." Dean prompted.
"'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible'." Sam finished.
"Could be something interesting." Dean mused.
"Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." Sam argued.
"But what if it is? Dad would check it out." Dean reminded him.
"We decided? Good that we decided." I stood up out of the chair, headed to the bathroom. "Don't leave without me, idiot."
"We'd be better off!" Dean replied.
"You'd be dead by nightfall!"
==DG==
"Okay Dean I'll bite." I began, as Dean pulled up to the frat house. "What the fuck am I supposed to be doing at a frat house?"
Dean just watched the building, with all the college boys working on their cars. "Distract some boys."
"And I if I don't want to hang around a bunch of gross sweaty college kids that are definitely only staring at my boobs?"
"Alright. Stay in the car then." Dean answered. "I'll crack open a window, you'll be fine."
"I will kill you in your sleep." I warned him. "Sam I'm gonna kill your brother in his sleep."
"I'll hold him down." Sam offered.
"Dude." Dean stared at his brother, offended at the lack of brotherly support. "Let's just go." He made his way out of the car, taking the keys with him. Not before rolling the window open first, which just made me want to kill him faster.
Sam gave me a half hearted look of apology. Made sense, I befriended them, I should expect to be put in situations where I constantly wish death upon them.
The two brothers walked out towards the house. Dean greeted the frat guys on the lawn. I pulled out my iPhone, being given no other option than to entertain myself.
After finding a good song I got out the headphones, plugging them in. It would be a boring stretch of time for myself. Course I sensible person might go out there, get their own clues, and go to the church. Unfortunately I was tired, and wanted a nap. The music should help knock me out.
Some handful of minutes later, somebody knocked on the window I was sleeping against.
I squinted my eyes open. To my disappointment, it was a frat boy knocking.
Annoyed I paused my music, pulling the headphone out of my ear.
"Hey." The frat boy greeted. He had an average face, average brown hair, and something vaguely cute about his dark blue eyes. He gave me a leering stare with them (which kinda took away any of the cuteness), looking over my body from outside the car. "What brings a hot thing like you by?"
I curled my finger at him, inviting him closer.
The idiot did so.
"I know five ways to chop off your dick without a knife." I whispered. His eyes widened. "So go away."
The frat boy swallowed, before headed back towards the house.
You know, if Darcy were still alive, she would take that as a command. She'd chase that boy down, fuck him, then kill him. It would be a whole thing. She'd show me the pictures.
Fuck I miss her.
She'd love this whole thing.
Rolling my eyes I pressed play on the music. "I hate college boys." I laid flat in the backseat, letting the music lull me again towards something resembling a restful sleep.
==DG==
The boys woke me up once we got to the church.
Somehow I managed to keep dreams away- finally taking for use the Dream Walking I'd trained myself in. While lately it was used to have fun with a Princess of the Night, I'd forgotten the original purpose: to keep Freddy Krueger out of my head. Turns out it works with yellow-eyed demon nightmares.
So that would be a useful trick for the future. Like Harry Potter learning Occlumency. Except I was a hundred times a better student.
Yeah I went there.
I'm rubbing this in Harry Potter's stupid face whenever I meet him and if I survive to movie five.
The Winchester's walked ahead in the church. I walked behind them, keeping a hold on the door to keep it from slamming shut.
"We should reflect on what this tragedy mean to us, as a church-" Reverend Sorensen preached.
Though the door did not slam, a few people turned back to look at us. Lori was one of them. The Reverend gave us a watchful stare. Probably because we were newcomers to his church.
"As a community, and as a family." Reverend Sorensen continued on. "The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings."
I sat down with the Winchesters. Lori stared at Sam. He smiled back. It immediately dropped. Lori looked at me. I have a polite wave.
"So, please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children."
I bowed my head.
Sam and I elbowed Dean at the same time.
==DG==
Mass ended after the rest of a bone dry sermon. I had to shake my head to stay awake. Dean looked worse than me.
The three of us saw Lori by the door talking to Taylor. Her friend walked away, so we took up a chance to talk.
It had been decided- (explained in clear words that they couldn't argue)- that I was the more reasonable choice to speak to Lori.
"Hi." I greeted as I walked up. Lori turned around to us. "Sorry- Gah. Are you Lori?"
"Yeah." She replied.
"Hi. My name is Raven, these are my friends, Sam and Dean." I introduced.
"Hi." Sam waved.
Dean waved too. "Hi."
"We're a- new transfers. To the school." I explained.
"I saw you inside." Lori nodded.
"Yeah. Sorry if we're butting in. It's just- we heard about what happened and-"
"We wanted to say how sorry we were." Dean jumped in.
"I kind of know what you're going through." Sam piped in too. I-I saw someone...get hurt once. It's something you don't forget."
Lori nodded, though hesitant as she glanced at each of us. Her father walked up. "Dad, um, this is Raven, Sam, and Dean. They're new students."
Dean shook Reverend Sorensen's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon."
The reverend smiled. "Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message."
The three of us exchanged a blink-and-you-miss-it look. Sam and Dean nodded.
"Reverend, we were actually hoping to talk with you." Sam spoke. "We're new in town." The brothers led the Reverend away.
"Yeah. And, uh, we were looking for a, um, a church group." Dean added in.
Once they were far enough away, I walked with Lori. "Tell me, Lori. What are the police saying?" I asked.
"Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that." Lori admitted.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"My story." Lori answered. She sighed, stopping in our walk to look down at the ground. "I was so scared, I guess I was 'seeing things'."
"That doesn't mean it wasn't real." I assured her. She looked up at me, so I gave her a smile that I hope she took as assurance.
==DG==
The Winchesters and I met up again at the library to do the research.
"So you believe her?" Dean asked me.
"Yep. I do." I replied. "There's no way Lori was faking the look in her eyes." I stated, knowing well and good that I'd both dreamt the incident and watched it on TV.
"Yeah, I think she's hot, too." Dean grinned at me.
I laughed, punching his arm. "Shut up. That's not why." I chuckled. Dean too. Sam rolled his eyes at us both. "We got to talking, right? She heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car."
Sam and Dean turned to me.
"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the-" Dean began.
"Yeah, the Hook Man legend." Sam agreed.
"That's one of the most famous urban legends ever." Dean recalled. Sam made a face. "You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man."
"Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began." Sam reasoned.
"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" Dean countered.
"Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?" Sam reasoned.
==DG==
The librarian dropped a huge box in front of us. "Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851." She dropped the next one in front of Sam.
Dean cleared off the dust, coughing as it floated up to his face. "Thanks."
The librarian smiled at him. "Ok." She left us to our devices.
"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" Dean remarked, staring at the folders like they'd insulted pie.
"Welcome to higher education." Sam joked.
"Ugh I don't miss it." I grumbled, pulling out a dusty folder.
"You went to college?" Dean asked.
I shrugged, actually hoping neither brother had heard my comment. "Technically." Flipping a folder open, I milled through. "Hated a lot of it...had it's moments. None of them in books, though."
==DG==
Sam found the folder. Despite all of my laziness.
"Hey, check this out." Sam held up the folder. Dean and I walked up to him, standing at his sides to see the articles and pictures. "1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Uh, right here, 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh'."
I held up a picture of one of the drawings of the women. It got me sympathetic to whores of the past, and wondering once again just why Darcy wanted to travel back to the Wild West. "Well it looks a lot like what Lori described."
"Get this, the murder weapon?" Dean held up the picture of the hook. "Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook."
"Oh I found a fun fact." I pulled out the paper. At Sam's interest I passed it over to him. "Check it out."
Sam read it over. His eyes widened. He showed it to Dean. "Look where all this happened."
Dean read. "9 Mile Road."
"Same place where the frat boy was killed." Sam stated.
Dean grinned proudly. "Nice job, Dr. Venkmen." He told Sam. "Let's check it out."
"He is a total Venkman." I grinned at Dean. "That makes you Stengler."
Dean sneered at me. "Ugh. No. I'm Stantz."
"Sure about that?"
"Yeah well that makes you Janine."
"Good. That woman was a badass."
Sam ran to catch up to us. "Thanks for helping clean."
"Oh...my bad, dude." I apologized.
Sam sighed. He gave his brother a glare over my shoulder. "It's fine."
"Next time. For sure." I promised. "Hold me to it."
So we walked out of the library.
==DG==
At 9 Mile Road, Dean pulled the car to the side of the road. I'd just finished adding the salt cream to the jackets. Well to mine. Sam was against it, and Dean tossed his to me while he pulled the rock-salt guns from the trunk.
I brushed it down on the sleeves. Yeah there wasn't an actual ghost, but this saved time for later.
Dean handed Sam the rifle. "Here you go." Dean stated.
"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." Sam commented in complaint.
"Yeah, rock salt." Dean pulled out the rock salt bullets. He handed some to Sam.
"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent. Like with Raven's salt cream." Sam reasoned.
I grinned widely "Yep. It doesn't kill 'em, but it slows 'em down."
Dean pulled out the rope, slamming the trunk shut. "I know. It's awesome." He grinned like an excited child...which he was.
"That's pretty good." Sam praised. "You come up with this, Raven?"
"No way. The jackets, yeah, but only because Dean came up with the bullets." I explained.
"Really?" Sam turned to his smug brother.
"I told you." Dean replied. "You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius."
There was a noise in the trees. We all stopped.
"Over there. Over there." Dean whispered.
Sam raised the rifle towards the trees. Then the thing came out. The town sheriff.
"Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head." The sheriff ordered.
The three of us went down.
"W-w-wait, okay, okay!" Dean yelled back.
"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" The sheriff ordered. Barely holding back from rolling my eyes, I went on my knees. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!"
"He had the gun!" Dean excused.
==DG==
Dean and I led Sam out of the sheriff department, that next morning.
"Saved your ass!" Dean remarked, patting Sam on the shoulder. "Talked the Sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock."
"I'm totally Elle Wood." I boasted.
"But how?" Sam asked.
"I told him you were a dumbass pledge and that we were hazing you." Dean explained.
"What about Raven?" Sam asked.
"I was the hot chick that made you forget all sense." I answered. Sam snorted.
"What about the shotgun?" Sam asked.
"I said that you were hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know, typical Hell Week prank." Dean explained.
"And he believed you guys?" Sam asked.
"Well, you look like a dumbass pledge." Dean reasoned.
Sam made a face.
"Aww don't be like that Sam. It gives you lines. We'll need that dumbass pledge excuse again someday." Sam's face got worse. It got Dean and I laughing.
Our laughter was broken by the many officers running out of the department building.
==DG==
Dean drove us past the sorority house. A large crowd of people and first responders were surrounding the house. We saw Lori on the back of an ambulance, curled under a shock blanket.
So now the brothers knew something had gone wrong in the house. Dean drove further up the road until the car was well hidden from any crowd.
"I think I should go in." I suggested.
"No way. We got this." Dean assured.
"I stayed in the car last time, it's your turn." I countered. Dean turned around in his seat to look at me. "What? I'll take pictures, tell you everything I see in there. Plus it's a sorority you too get caught, you're not smiling your way out."
Sam turned too. He seemed about ready to agree with his brother, before seeing my face and then glancing at Dean's. "You know I think she should go."
"You're not serious."
Sam shrugged. "She can handle it. She's a hunter too."
"But-"
"You just want to see a naked pillow fight." I pointed out.
Dean was too slow denying it.
"Dean." Sam sighed, while I opened the car door.
"Bye boys."
"Wait hold on-" I climbed out of the car, pausing a moment to peak in by Sam. Dean grinned. "If you do see a naked pillow fight-"
"Buy it on pay per view." I told him, walking away. "Sam keep your brother from being an idiot. I know it's a hardship for you both."
"Hey!"
I was already gone, if Sam said anything else.
Five minutes later, I came back with the pictures of Lori's wall.
Yeah five minutes. A personal best.
I remember this one time, though, it took Darcy six minutes and that's because she did find a naked pillow fight. Oh the things that go on in horror film realities...
'You won't get emotional right now.' I scolded myself. 'Criers get slapped. Cry on your own time.'
==DG==
After the boys saw the pictures, Sam pulled out the picture of the old reverend's hook. That had said all the lines, so as far as I was concerned, everything was going smoothly.
"Is that it?" I asked, nodding with my head at the symbol on the hook.
"It's the same symbol. Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns." Sam agreed.
"All right, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down." Dean instructed.
Sam searched the document. "'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave.'"
I groaned up at the sky.
"Super." Dean remarked dryly.
"Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns. But we still don't know where he'll manifest next." Sam reminded us as we moved to the car doors. Why we'd even needed to leave the impala to read that paper, I have no idea. Sure it had been in the trunk but that's a weak excuse. "Or why."
"I'll take a wild guess about why." Dean turned to look at me. "I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this."
I hated that I couldn't say anything in her defense.
==DG==
The college party was raging.
I pointedly ignored it, sitting outside by the car.
Sam and I had researched for a good long while about the information he was currently telling Dean. After all that long stuck in a research building, the last thing I wanted was to go inside a crowded college party. I'd had enough of those my first go around in college.
'If I never go to a wet-shirt party again, I might recover'
Then I grinned.
'Darcy would've loved this thing.
Every part of it.
I wouldn't see her for three days when she'd go to these parties.
With even more pictures of her adventures on the way.
Heck, I think the college party scene was the last place I left her alone before-' My thoughts paused, with fond memories sweeping back over me. 'Before I introduced her to Lilac...fuck now I have emotions. Fuck, shit fuck.'
I let out a long breath, seeing the chill March air condense it.
'Gonna catch 'em all, cause she's Danny Phantom.' I giggled to myself.
"Hey. Do I know you?"
Looking up, I saw the same average looking college boy from earlier. Author's fucking storyline I will end you.
"I can and will cut off your dick." I reminded him.
Recognition lit up his eyes. The boy ran off towards the party, past a confused Sam and Dean.
Dean got the car first. "What'd you do to the kid?"
I shrugged, the picture of innocence. "Don't think he likes jokes."
"Doesn't like your jokes." Sam corrected, grinning while climbing into his seat. Dean was grinning too- trying to avoid looking at me to hide it.
I scoffed, opening my car door. "Nah. I'm hilarious."
==DG==
Sam and I were waiting outside the Sorensen house. The father and daughter were arguing inside.
After reading their lips for a moment, I snorted.
"What?" Sam asked.
"Nothing." I giggled, turning away from the window. "Just that Pastor Perfect is sleeping with a married woman."
Sam's eyes widened. "No way."
"Yep." I tapped my forehead. "Can read lips. Right now, he's saying that the woman's getting divorced soon. So hey, he's not a big a dick as he could be."
Sam snorted, shaking his head.
Though as I'm talking to him about this, the two of us walked over to a nearby bench. I sat down on it, reclining and fidgeting with the strap on the Bag.
Sam sat down beside me, keeping watch over the house. "Uh, Raven?"
"Yeah Sam?"
"Are you..alright?" Sam asked. I tilted my head at him. "You know, with the dreams?"
That got my fidgeting with the strap again. "Better, yeah. But that's not what you're asking. You wanna know if I saw that girl die last night."
Sam winced. "You don't have to say-"
"I didn't, actually." I answered. "Managed to keep the demons at bay for a night."
Which is actually, the most apt description I can give.
"Yeah?" Sam inquired, as though not believing that.
I nodded. "You know, I used to have a lot of nightmares when I was younger." Like, on and off over the past forty years. "Got fed up with it, missed sleep. My sister too. We trained in meditation for three months before putting them to the test. Worked like a charm. It took time to get my head back in the space."
"It works?" Sam asked, sounding too curious to be just conversation.
"Yeah." I glanced at Sam. "Takes a lot of work though. It was basically an advanced lucid dreaming, ya know? It takes a lot of concentration to change your dream when you're inside it, especially when everything in that dream is trying to scare you." A fond laugh came out of my throat. "Ivy couldn't ever get it right. Said meditation was too boring. She could never sit still..."
'Plus she never had nightmares.
Well except for that one time...she never told me what happened but she kept whimpering about a Buddhist temple...never got an explanation from her about that...what a weird fear.'
"Your sister...sounds really great."
"Yeah. She is." Looking down at my Bag, I toyed my thumb across one of the buttons. "Huge bitch though. Siblings always are, right?"
Sam smiled, laughing below his breath. "They really are." He leaned back on the bench. "You were the older one, yeah?"
"Eldest, huh?" Jack Harkness asked Darcy.
"Oldest. Big difference." Darcy told him, no doubt grinning like she'd dropped the biggest one liner in all of history.
"It was the running joke. I was a tiny bit older- Ivy loved rubbing it in my face." I recalled. "And I wasn't even that much older than her." Just a hundred fifty years. Practically nothing. "Didn't stop her from calling me an old hag. You're the little sibling, you know."
Sam laughed at the idea of being the little one. "Yeah. Dean used to rub it in my face that he was the 'big brother'. Then I grew an inch taller than him-"
"-and the tables turned. Ha!" I laughed. An Emotion hit me in the chest. My eyes quickly started to water, despite my efforts to push them away. "I miss her."
"Of course you do." Sam assured, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay."
"I miss her like- like-" I took a deep breath, wiping my hand over my cheek. "-like...she was everything, Sam. Everything. And now- now I have to go on? Without her? What kind of person can just...without them?" I asked.
I wondered- not for the first time- how I survived a century without Darcy, instead of going insane.
Then again, looking back...I had gone insane a time or twelve.
Sam squeezed my shoulder.
I wiped at my cheeks, forcing the Emotions to fucking go back cause I didn't need this right now.
Lori walked up. I'd been so caught up with Sam I almost missed her approaching. Sam and I moved over, so that Lori could sit down next to me.
"I saw you both from upstairs. What are you doing here?" Lori asked.
"Just sitting on a bench." I mused, idly stretching my legs out towards the grass. "This is a good bench to sit on."
Lori- though still looking upset from the fight- smiled. "Okay. Really."
"We're keeping an eye on the place." Sam answered. Lori gave him a look. "We were worried."
"About me?" Lori asked.
"Yeah. Sorry." Sam replied.
"No, it's cool. I already called the cops." Lori joked. It got Sam and I to laugh. "No, seriously. I think you're both sweet. Which is probably why you should run away from me as fast as you can."
"Hey now, just cause you're hogging all the space on the bench doesn't mean we need to leave." I remarked. "Or are you just trying to get rid of us?"
"No. You should really go." Lori went on, as if what she was going to say next was totally normal. Which in this show, it kinda is. "It's like I'm cursed or something. People around me keep dying."
"I think I know how you feel."
"Yeah."
There was a pause, as each of us no doubt recalled all the death that had surrounded us for basically our entire lives. Or maybe just the more recent ones.
"No one will talk to me anymore. Except for the two of you." Lori spoke. "The Sheriff thinks I'm a suspect. And you know what my dad will say? Pray. Have faith. What does he know about faith?"
I snorted, derisively. I'd heard that a time or two. Growing up in a church sucks- especially when you're a pastor's kid who has superpowers you're only half certain don't make you a witch. The Spencer's weren't the most attentive parents on that front either. It's hard to fell connected to them, when you've just died for the first time in your life and your pastor/father only notices the nightmares so he says to 'pray'.
Plus if Chuck really was God, then no wonder my prayers never got heard.
I asked for Morgan Freeman, and all I got was Chuck Shurley.
Goddamn bastard.
"We heard you and him fighting." I stated, nodding my head at the Sorensen window.
"He's seeing a woman. A married woman." I shook my head, clicking my tongue at him in shame. "I just found out. She comes to our church with her husband. I know her kids. And he talks to me about religion? About morality?" Lori vented. "It's like, on one hand, you know, just do what you want and be happy. But he taught me, raised me to believe that if you do something wrong you will get punished. I just don't know what to think anymore."
In that, a flash memory came to me, about Darcy when she was just that stupid kid in Chicago with a bloody knife in her hands after she killed another foster parent. I remember the lecture I gave to her- mostly me trying to keep from hugging her or crying in fear cause my sister had almost died and we both hated Emotions but anger was okay. I remember telling Darcy that she couldn't kill everyone. She asked for a definition of who couldn't be killed.
In the end, that's how we came up with the system. Or who she could kill. Pedophiles, serial killers, rapists, the bad ones. Occasionally she'd mess up- kill the wrong neighbor or make the body too public. She'd have a sex party that ended in a few bodies. One memorable time she killed the wrong serial killer- by accident.
But she tried.
Like hell, had she tried.
Cause I asked her to.
And just what did that make me?
"That's rough, Lori, I'm sorry." I apologized. My hand went to her shoulder, squeezing it. Lori sniffled, so I squeezed tighter. "It's tough. When you have to question everything you know."
Lori nodded. Her expression open and full of doubt. She looked up at me, with her big eyes watering. She held her arms up. Trapped in social convention, I let her hug me.
Which left Sam an awkward third wheel.
"Lori." I began. "Does that means your friend needed to be punished?"
Lori tensed.
"Or your boyfriend?"
Lori tightened her arms around me.
"Well?"
"Lori?" Reverend Sorensen called from the house. Our hug ended, while Lori turned to glare at the front door of her house. "Come inside, please."
Lori's shoulders squared back as she glared. "I'll come in when I'm ready."
Then to back her up, Hook Man popped up in black smoke behind Reverend Sorensen. His hook dropped onto Sorensen's shoulder, making the Reverend scream out in pain. The Hook Man used that to drag his new victim inside, slamming the door shut.
Lori screamed. Sam shot up, running to the door. I stood up, standing in front of Lori.
"Is that necklace silver?" I demanded.
Lori continued to scream.
"Lori! Listen!" I tried to keep from shouting, choosing instead to use 'Mom Voice'. "Is your necklace silver?"
"Yes!" Lori screamed.
"Hand it over!" I ordered. "Hand it over- fast!"
Lori took off the necklace handing it to me. She pushed me aside, rushing towards the door.
Kneeling down I searched the Bag for a lighter- I had a bunch of extras from the last time I bought them. One too many salt-and-burns and you learn to buy extras. When I found it, I ran inside.
The fireplace was waiting, completely exposed. I lit the lighter, throwing it inside. The logs inside whooshed to life, quickly catching fire.
Two rifle shots went off upstairs.
It was only because of my extensive self defense training that I ducked into time to avoid a hook to the shoulder. "SAM!" I yelled, moving to the side to avoid another swing.
The Hook Man chased after me. A part of me thinks it was mostly luck that I avoided being hit.
Sam came down the stairs. His eyes widened at the sight of Hook Man. "Raven!" He yelled. He raised the rifle, firing it.
It went through Hook Man, hitting a glass vase. The ghost froze, popping away in black smoke and popping up behind Sam.
"Hey!" I shouted. Hook Man turned to me. "Enjoy the heat!"
I threw the necklace into the fire.
The hook melted first. Hook Man stared at it with what I could guess was horror. He screamed out as the rest of his body went up in flames.
With that done, I fell back onto the Sorensen couch.
Great.
What a time saver.
Now I want a nap.
==DG==
We'd taken the Sorensen family to the hospital. Lori was with her father, the Reverend laying in a drugged sleep on a hospital cot. Sam and I spoke to the police, just outside in the hall.
"We were just talking. Then Lori's dad came out. And then he appeared." Sam explained.
"A big man? Carrying a weapon, some kind of hook?" The Sheriff prompted.
Lori glanced up.
I looked down at my shoes.
"Yes, sir." Sam answered.
"And you, you saw it too?" The Sheriff prompted me.
'Well I was the one that burned up his ghost- so yeah I think I saw it.'
"Yes sir." I replied, half mumbling from the exhaustion of the past few hours hitting hard.
"Ever seen him before?" The Sheriff asked us.
"No, sir." Sam answered. I shook my head.
"Now listen, kids, it seems every time I turn around, I'm seeing you." The Sheriff remarked. "I suggest you try to stay out of trouble-"
"Yes, sir." Sam replied.
"Of course sir." I nodded.
Down the hall, we heard Dean. A quick look showed him being blocked by two sheriffs. "No, it's alright, I'm with them. He's my brother, she's a friend." Dean made eye contact with Sam. "Hey! Brother!"
He smiled and waved.
I waved.
"Let him through." The Sheriff with us instructed.
They followed the order.
Sam and I walked to meet Dean in the middle.
"Sam. You ok?" Dean asked.
"Yeah." Sam answered.
"Raven?" Dean asked. I nodded, feeling only more exhausted. "Raven."
"I'm fine." I stressed.
"What the hell happened?" Dean asked us.
"Hook Man." Sam replied.
Dean's eyes widened. "You saw him?"
"Damn right." Sam turned to me. "How did you know it was her necklace?"
"While you were doing research, I did some of my own into the hook. It was a part of him, just like the rest of him. Good thing that I did." I reported. "Turns out, the hook was melted down not long after the original pastor's death. It was given to Reverend Sorenen's church. Though I had no idea what as until I saw Lori's necklace. Silver, I checked, just like the hook. My guess is, she was given it as a church heirloom, like every other pastor's daughter. Checked that too: all the suspected pastors had daughters. They wanted them protected too- with a necklace that always ended up back in the church."
"Huh." Dean came to my side, watching Lori.
"She had no idea." I defended.
"You sure about that?" Dean questioned.
"She was convinced that if you did something wrong, you got punished. I think using a ghost to kill people counts as 'something wrong'. I bet if Lori had any idea what she was really doing, it would've killed her next."
"So...she was in control of Hook Man." Dean reasoned.
"With no idea. As far as she knew, it was a curse on her specifically." I argued. "She was scared for her dad. Screaming out eardrums, scared. She wouldn't have sent Hook Man after him to kill him if she had a clue."
"And it makes sense. She was really angry at her father." Sam pointed out. "Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman."
"Ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?" Dean joined in.
"Right. Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair." Sam listed.
"And if she thought it was wrong, Hook Man would come in." I finished.
There was a small moment of silence. The brothers looked over at Lori. I followed their sight, seeing Lori holding her father's hand. Her hand was shaking still.
"Does she know?" Dean asked in a low voice.
"Should she?" I countered.
Dean's lack of reply was answer enough.
==DG==
We made it outside. Dean went to the car with Sam. I lagged behind, my thoughts going off in the distance.
How was it I got an actual night of rest, yet I'm more exhausted?
Fuck emotions.
"Raven?"
Turning around, I saw Lori coming out of the hospital. Her cheeks were wet, her eyes had heavy bags and were red, and she did not look okay.
"I thought you were going to stay with him." I remarked.
Lori sucked in a breath. "My necklace."
"Sorry. Caught fire." I heard myself saying, wondering when I lost my mind.
She took another breath. "Was- was that why-" She gulped down what I guessed was a sob. "Was it my fault?"
I kept a wince off my face.
"Raven. Was it my fault?" Lori asked. "Were they punished because of me?"
"You don't want to know."
"But- But my dad was hurt because I was so mad- and you took my necklace and then the Hook Man- he stopped." Lori swallowed down another sob. "Was it because of me?"
"It was Hook Man. Not you. It just took advantage of your anger." I assured her. "Go back inside. Talk to your dad. Everything is going to be okay."
Lori sucked in one last sob.
My hand reached out, squeezing her shoulder. Lori started to break down.
"No, hey no stop." I instructed. "It's okay. We stopped him. He's not gonna come back. We stopped him. And that was because of you."
I glanced over my shoulder, seeing the brothers sitting in the car.
"I need to go." I told Lori. "There are- I don't have time to explain. Just- know that you're safe now. Everyone is. Okay? Do you understand?"
Lori nodded. "Thank you."
"No- no. You don't need-"
"Thank you." Lori was crying now. Fuck! "Really, thank you. It- I still don't know what happened. But I do know you saved my father's life. Thank you."
I gave her an awkward smile, before pulling away from her. Once free I made a mad dash to the car.
In my seat, I let out a long fucking emotion filled breath. Cause I was this close to losing my mind.
"We could stay."
"Choke on a cock." I remarked. Putting my Bag down on the seat, I laid down on the seat. "Just drive."
The car kicked in gear.
I let my eyes slide close.
And I dreamt about my sister, us celebrating another birthday- instead of a gruesome murder.
I'm not sure which I preferred.
==DG==
AN: To be honest, I was just done with this chapter. WOOHOO. This felt like the kind of thing Morgan/Raven would do if she was just fed up with something. The Emotions were too strong- they needed to die. Too many reminders of Darcy. BOOM. Episode over. Move on. Speed past go. That's my excuse and it's the hill I will die on.
...fuck now I have to write Bugs.
Thanks to KingPenguinJG for favoriting and following