CHAPTER 5

Saturday morning dawned as a fairly nice day, considering it was November, but then again this was California, Sam thought as he sipped his coffee, waiting for Jessica to knock on the door.

The day before Sam had finally gotten a look at the information that Dean had sent him via email and had to admit that it did sound like their kind of gig. When he had met up with Jess for lunch at the student union he had told her about the job and she said she wanted to help. So they had agreed to leaving for Modesto at around nine this morning.

Knock! Knock!

Sam looked over at the door from where he was standing in the kitchen and set his cup on the counter. He walked over and opened the door, Jessica standing on the other side dressed in a sweat shirt, t-shirt, jeans and hiking boots just as he expected with an overnight bag and her purse hanging off her shoulders.

"Morning sweetheart," Sam smiled as she made her way inside; her bags dropping to the floor landing just inside the door after Sam shut it.

"Morning to you," she returned his smile and reached over, pressing a kiss to his lips. Breaking the kiss, "Mhmmm…is that coffee I smell?"

Nodding, Sam asked, "Want a cup?"

Jessica nodded in reply. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

Releasing his hold on Jessica, Sam headed into the kitchen and poured her a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked, realizing he'd forgotten to ask before going into the kitchen.

"A little sweet," she replied as she looked around the apartment. She then noticed the three bags by the door that weren't hers. "Hey Sam, what's with all the bags? Wasn't this thing in Modesto supposed to be a ghost?"

Walking out of the kitchen, two coffees in hand, he shook his head, "Not necessarily," he replied handing her a cup, "One bag is for over night, and the other two…well they have extra weapons, ammunition and my journals about the other hunts I've been on, for reference purposes."

Jessica walked over and sat on the couch, sipping her coffee. She had no idea hunting the supernatural was so involved, but as the old saying went, in for a penny in for a pound. "Well, I'd have to say we're going in fully prepared, though I don't know how you're supposed to be prepared for this kind of thing," she shrugged, "But then again it's not like anyone is prepared for all of life's little road hazards is it."

Sam leaned against his counter, watching Jessica and sipping his coffee. In only three short days she had become someone he'd quickly trust with his life, with the only other exceptions being his dad and his big brother. It wasn't that Jessica could beat the shit out of anyone she could meet, it was far from it. Hell, she didn't even know how to use any weapons either, well using a knife didn't really require skill, more like luck and practice, but still.

No the reason, Sam realized, that he trusted Jessica with his life, is because she knew and believed him about the things that went bump in the night; hell he'd even told her the family secret, and she didn't run crying that he as crazy and to stay away. Not like that girl, Cassie, Dean had been seeing a couple months ago did.

"Sam," Jessica's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked over at her, "are you all right?"

"Yeah, just lost in my thoughts," he nodded, "Ready?"

"As much as anyone going on their first hunt can be," she replied sarcastically.

Chuckling Sam grabbed both of their cups and tossed them in the sink. He walked over and picked up his three bags, "Let's load up then," he said opening the door and allowing Jessica through.

Ten minutes later, Sam's black 1967 Chevy Camero could be seen heading way from the campus of Stanford University and towards the freeway onramp heading to the East Bay, Pink Floyd's The Wall coming from the speakers. Both knew, from the directions they'd gotten off of Mapquest, the drive was going to take a couple of hours, so the two settled into easy conversation.

Well, they talked when Jessica wasn't going over one of the journals she had grabbed from one of Sam's supply bags. When he had seen the journal in her hand he had raised an eyebrow, to which she replied, if she was going to get into this then she might as well start learning all she could, right? Not arguing, because he knew she was right, Sam, ever the gentleman (his dad had raised both him and Dean right when it came to dealing with both the supernatural, and with demons) held open the passenger door for his girlfriend when they got into the car.

Two hours later, as they were driving down the highway into Modesto, Sam asked, "Do you want to check into a hotel first or check out the site?"

Jessica looked up from the journal, where she'd been reading about werewolves, and thought for a moment. "Let's check in first and get some lunch before trying to find the mansion," she answered, "they probably have tours going on, so there will be people on site."

Sam agreed with Jessica, it wouldn't do investigating the location of the haunting while people were going to be there. Besides, they still had to research who the spirit could possibly be, and they'd need to visit the local library.

So he pulled off the highway at the nearest exit he could see a motel was near, which happened to be one of the better ones that Sam had stayed in with his dad and brothers over the years.