Chapter Two – Cryptic
Columbia, South Carolina…
The café was called Rosanne's and was apparently a dedication to the old T.V. show. There were photos of the television show pasted to the brown and beige walls.
The booth had a pure white table top with maroon leather seating. Dean, his face asleep on his shoulder, woke up slowly as Sam came and sat down across from him.
They wore heavier clothes now – Dean and Sam both wore hoodies underneath their heavy jackets.
Dean's hair had been trimmed but it still kept the cool-spikey look he was going for. He was especially proud of keeping the dirty-blondeness.
Sam's shaggy brown hair had been kept the same.
Both boys looked tired and worn.
"It's not long before we get to Charlotte," Sam announced. "Maybe a three-four hour drive. Including traffic." The younger brother slid the laptop across the table and opened it. He typed a couple of times and he opened up his e-mail.
Dean, blinking his tired eyes, asked, "Did you try calling her again?"
"Dean," Sam complained, "we've called…left dozens of messages…we even faxed her…Amy's not responding…"
"Why does she want us to go to North Carolina so badly?" Dean asked. Of course he couldn't complain much – there hadn't been a new, interesting case lately. Besides, he and Sam liked the idea of seeing a familiar face before the Christmas holidays. December twenty-fifth was only a week away.
"She e-mailed us the articles about the wolf attack," Sam explained. "And that's it…and her last e-mail just said: 'Meet me in Wendy Falls…a small town in Charlotte, North Carolina…the Oakland Hotel on Farrier Avenue…check in…everything has been taken care of…see you soon'…and that's that…"
"Well…she's doing the Dad-thing…the whole cryptic messages…"
He leaned back in his seat and Dean stuck his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.
"I haven't found anything odd about this case, really," Sam noted. "Two teens are in the woods…the guy gets attacked…and that's it…not sure why Amy is so interested in this…"
"Well, it's better to go and make sure she's not getting herself into trouble…besides…I'm bored as hell…" Dean whined.
Sam nodded. "What…we handle a few ghosts from a crazy house and the ghost of their crazy doctor and you want more fun?"
"I want to kill something – shoot, burn, kick, whatever – I'm tired of driving and-"
A waitress came by, wearing a blue and white uniform, and dropped off two cups of coffee. Dean shut his mouth for a moment and looked up at his brother.
The older sibling sighed and said, "Let's get on the road soon…I want to get there and get some sleep. And my car needs a rest."
"Isn't this the greatest way to spend the holidays…" Sam sighed. "Going after evil things."
"Hey," Dean noted, "just remember all the other Christmases we've-"
"Okay, the ones where Dad was never really there…the ones where Dad and I fought-" Sam fought back.
"Hey, just think about Santie Claus and his little elves…and some type of plums…" Dean mocked. "C'mon…this is the time of cheeriness…so…be cheery…"
Sam leaned back in his seat as well and closed the laptop.
"Yeah…well…it'll be good to see Amy again…we haven't seen her or really had a lot of contact with her in over a month…" Sam smiled at the thought.
"Good, we see the hot professor…snoop around a bit…and enjoy our Winchester Christmas…" Dean smiled. He took one sip of his coffee and then slammed his hand on the table.
O.O.O.O.O.
The black '69 Impala took off past the café and down the gray, desolate road.
O.O.O.O.O.
A/N: Just adding a little bit at a time…I am terribly busy…
More coming ASAP.