Isabel looked from Sam to Dean in disbelief. They actually expected her to buy this? They were looking at her seriously and she came to the conclusion that they, at least, believed what they were saying. She hadn't seen or talked to them in years but she was pretty sure she could still tell when her cousins were yanking her chain. Especially Sam, who'd always been a terrible liar.

"Please tell me you're joking" She said raising her eyebrows.

"Yes Isabel" Dean cut in sarcastically "we drove twelve hundred miles to play a prank on you"

"Well then, are you high or insane? You can't possibly expect me to buy this" She chuckled humourlessly "let me get it right, you're here because Sam" She looked to Sam "had a weird dream that may have involved me?"

"Pretty much" Dean said shrugging.

"I can't really explain it Isabel, but something bad is going to happen, I'm pretty sure" Sam said quickly.

"Maybe I kick you ass for pissing me off" She suggested.

"I'm serious Isabel!"

"Put yourself in my place Sam! Pretend for one second that you're sane. How do you think all this sounds to me?"

"Why would I lie?" Sam said pleadingly.

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, watching her cousin closely "I know you're not lying, Sam. I could always tell, you know?" She gave him a faint smile then rested her cheek on her palm, propping herself up on the kitchen table "OK, tell me more about the dream. What do you think it means?"

"I'm not sure but I think it's got something to do with these disappearances" Sam said pulling out some print outs and resting them on the kitchen table in front of her.

She picked up the printouts and newspaper clippings. Yes, she had heard about this on the news. Five girls had gone missing in the last nine weeks. All between 20 and 25 years of age, pretty, single, living on their own. Just like her. One of the girls she'd actually known. She'd met her at a party a couple of years back. A friend of a friend of a friend. Thinking about it now sent a shiver down her spine.

"You think there's someone behind this?"

"Someone or something" Sam added.

She looked at him tiredly "Again with the goblins and leprechauns Sam?"

"Look, whatever or whoever it is" Dean interrupted "He's taken five girls and he's going to do it again. We have to stop him"

"We?" She asked incredulously "Don't you think this is possibly a problem for the police"

"Have they gotten anywhere?" He snapped pulling out clippings "seven weeks, five girls, and they don't even have a suspect!"

That was true, she thought. They hadn't even calmed down the local public with the false hope of a suspect. Whoever it was left no clues, no signs of struggle. It had initially begged the question of whether the girls had simply packed up and left. Except they hadn't packed up. Their apartments had been left as if they'd just gone shopping, or to work, or to a bar. Wallets and keys had been left on their dressers, their beds left unmade, their lights turned on. Someone had taken them, someone they knew.

"There's nothing linking them" She said looking down at the pictures of the girls "There's nothing linking them to me either. We all live in different neighbourhoods, we all went to different schools, and we all work in different places. I don't see the connection"

"Maybe there is no connection" Sam said "Maybe he is the connection"

Her face paled and she stared at Sam as she let the implications of what he'd just said sink in "What are you saying?" She knew what he was saying, but rather he say it out loud than her.

"Maybe it's someone you already know"

"I think I would know if any of my friends happened to be psychopaths" She said bitterly "It would have come up in conversation"

"I'm not thinking someone you know well" Sam said, now seemingly pouncing on this new train of thought "Maybe a casual acquaintance or someone you may have met recently"

She thought for a moment. The only person she'd met recently was Jack, who was supposed to pick her up for their date tomorrow night. But she knew Jack. She met him at the coffee shop around the corner from her work. She shook her head and let anger overtake her suspicion. Anger at Dean and Sam for putting these ridiculous ideas into her head. She should have known they'd have an ulterior motive for dropping by, other than the compelling desire to see her again

"Paranoia may be a way of life for you, but it's not for me, OK?" She said sarcastically as she stood up and walked over to her room without even glancing back at either of her cousins "You can't just show up out of the blue after all these years and fill my head with this nonsense. I'm going to bed, the couch rolls out, you can sleep there"