Sam and Dean got to the park around 6 am, and sure enough, there were people jogging around already. The place was huge, no scratch that, gigantic. The brothers looked around, amazed. And a little annoyed. How were they supposed to stop anyone from disappearing if they didn't know who would be taken next, when and where?. They looked at each other at the same time and, reading each other's mind began walking.
The park was surrounded by a track almost 9 miles in length, even if they spread out to keep an eye on the joggers, there was no way they could patrol the whole place. Deciding they already had their fair share of close calls when they had separated to investigate something, they decided to just walk together around the track and look for anything suspicious.
Sam was actually enjoying himself. The park was a beautiful sight, the pure air refreshing, and he was content to just be walking around in his brother's company talking about absolutely nothing.
He wondered when was the last time Dean had taken a day off, though this wasn't really a day off, and just enjoyed himself. Not on some bar hustling money in a poker or pool game, just relaxing, enjoying the day and appreciating the world as the beautiful place it could be. Forgetting about monsters and demons. He wondered when would be the next time he got to enjoy a day like this.
The day went by slowly, at noon they ate some cart hot dogs and continued walking around the place.
People were fewer and fewer as the night approached, the joggers became scarce, the junk food carts left, the families having their Saturday morning stroll returned to their homes for dinner. Sam wasn't enjoying the walk so much anymore, his legs felt like pudding, they had been walking around the park for almost eleven hours. Soon they decided to sit down in the last, mildly crowded place, a large clearing surrounded by a few trees. There were some people still jogging, couples sitting around the park watching the sunset and some people walking their dogs.
They sat in a bench, talking about old childhood stories, interesting people they met while moving from town to town, silly stuff. They were still watching their surroundings carefully though, they didn't forget they were on a job, Dean had his gun tucked discreetly on the back of his jeans.
Another hour went by and, as awful as it may sound, they were getting disappointed that nothing happened. They didn't want anyone else to go missing, but they couldn't stop it if this thing, whatever it was, didn't show up. They had no idea of what it was and no way of looking for it.
Dean yawned, and Sam was about to suggest they came back the next day when something caught his eye.
A young boy, 15 maybe 16 years old, was playing with a couple of dogs. He ran around while the dogs chased him, threw a ball around which the dogs raced to catch, etc. The scene took place a couple hundred feet from where the brothers sat. They had been watching him, along with the couples and the joggers, for a while now.
What got Sam's attention, was that the boy stopped suddenly while running. The dogs were chasing him, but the second he stopped, they turned to growl at something behind him. The boy stood still, his head tilted slightly to the side, like he was trying really hard to hear something. Suddenly he turned around and began walking to the trees in the distance. The dogs ran around him, whining and barking, but he didn't even notice them. When the boy got to a certain distance from the trees, the dogs stopped following him, running in circles with desperation, but not getting any closer.
Dean was yawning again when Sam elbowed his side harshly before getting up.
"Hey! What's wrong with y..." Dean stopped mid sentence when he followed his brother's gaze to the boy walking towards the trees. He stood up quickly to follow Sam, who was already running after the kid. They were about a hundred feet from catching up to him when he passed between some trees and got to a large, black limousine parked in the shadows, the back door open, waiting for him.
The brothers watched helplessly as the boy got inside, the door closed and the limousine drove off. They missed it just by a second. As the car drove away, Dean stared intently at the license plate.
'DZR1821 DZR1821 DZR1821 DZR1821 DZR1821 DZR1821.'Dean closed his eyes and repeated the plate over and over in his mind, whispering the words involuntarily.
"You got it?" Sam asked, looking at him with expectation, still panting heavily from dashing across the park.
"Yeah." Dean said, catching his breath himself. He looked up at his brother. "I got it." He stared down the way the limousine had escaped.
Sam drove around the park while his brother searched for something in a box he took from the glove compartment. They had run back to the car, the place where the limousine had been was a good two miles from the Impala. The black limo had been headed north, they had crossed the park and gotten their car, driving to the north themselves but on the opposite side of the park, hopping to run into the limo or spot it as it left the lanes surrounding the park and into the highway. But they weren't so lucky, there was no sign of the limo anywhere.
They didn't think they'd find it either, it had taken them at least 5 minutes to get to the car and another 5 to drive around the park to the place they had seen it. It was now close to 8 pm and the park was dark and almost empty.
"Fuck!" Sam slammed his hand into the steering wheel, winning a glare from his brother. "Fuck!. We almost had it." He yelled. His frustration growing with every second they searched for the limousine.
"Calm down, Sam." Dean said without looking up from the box, retrieving a shiny, metallic object from it with a victorious smile. "Ha!. I knew this was here somewhere."
Sam turned to his brother to see what all the fuss was about. Dean held a police badge in his left hand and was looking for his cell phone with his right. He finally found it and dialed a number. Sam switched from searching the roads around them to looking at his brother several times.
Deciding the limo was long gone, he pulled over to the side of the narrow road surrounding the park. He turned to his brother and was about to ask him what he was doing, but Dean started talking before he could say anything.
"Yeah?. Hello, this is Officer Irvine, Philadelphia Police 77th district 48th precinct, badge number 35481. I need the owner for a black limousine with plates DZR1821" Sam stared with disbelief at his brother. "D – Z – R – 1 – 8 – 2 – 1" Dean repeated slowly after a few seconds.
"OK. Thank you very much." Dean said two minutes later, hung up the phone and turned to his stunned brother with a satisfied smirk.
"How did you do that?" Sam asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Do what?" Dean asked nonchalantly, blowing on his nails and rubbing them on his shirt, still smiling.
"Dean!." Sam shouted, impatience in his voice.
"OK, OK." Dean held his hands up in a peace gesture. " I took it from that jerk commissioner's desk when he stood to get me out of his office, I thought it might be useful." He said.
"You stole a police badge from the Philadelphia Police Headquarters." Sam stated, shaking his head side to side.
"We'll, the man was being rude and I thought if he didn't tell me what I wanted to know I'd call later pretending to be a cop and get the information. And he should know better that to leave stuff like this lying around on his desk." Dean explained defensively. "Aren't you glad I stole it?" He asked.
Sam sighed and started the car. "Yes, I'm glad you did." Dean noticed the tension in his grip of the wheel. "Hey, Sammy. It wasn't your fault we didn't make it in time to save the kid." He said. "Even those freakily long legs of yours can only run so fast." Dean tried to joke, but Sam wasn't amused.
"We'll find him. Now we have a lead." Dean added and Sam looked at him.
"Oh, right. What did officer Irvine find out?" Sam asked sarcastically.
Dean grinned and put the badge back into the glove compartment. "The nice lady on the phone told Officer Irvine that the limousine is registered to a Victor Weidman." Dean said.
"OK. Then Mr. Weidman will be having some company." Sam said driving off.
"You know." Dean started after several silent minutes. They had stopped by the motel to get a phone book. "This could be just some psycho killer or something." Dean said without looking up, flipping through the book. "Many people wont get into a car with a stranger, unless it is a limo." He said.
Sam snorted, not taking his eyes off the road. "You didn't see it happen." Sam paused for a moment, sorting his thoughts. "Something was calling this kid." He said.
"Yeah, money." Dean scoffed. Sam glared at him and turned his eyes back to the streets.
"No." He said with annoyance. "He hadn't even seen the limo when he got this weird look on his face, like he was listening for something. I don't think he even saw the car until he was past the trees." Sam's eyes were distant, he was thinking of something. "That's why the police didn't find anything. Technically, these kids did leave on their own. But something made them get in that car." Sam finished.
"So we have a monster with hypnotic powers?" Dean asked, considering the idea.
"Something like that." Sam said. "I guess we'll find out when we get to Weidman's." Sam turned to Dean as he ran his finger down a page. Dean stopped suddenly.
"You got an address yet?" Sam asked, glancing sideways to the phone book trying to read.
"You bet your ass I do." Dean said closing the book and throwing it on the back seat. "Now, pull over, I'm driving." He said, getting a questioning look from his brother.
"You thought I'd let your attack on my baby go just like that?" Dean asked, referring to Sam's little outburst right after missing the limousine. "Pull over." He said again. Sam rolled his eyes but he complied.
Dean drove across the city, making several sure turns. Sam wondered if Dean had been here before, while he was in college.
The neighborhood they were now in was all mansions and flashy cars. Dean slowed down in front of a huge black gate, squinting to try and see the number above the intercom. He stopped the car and turned to Sam.
"This is it." He said, getting out. Sam followed him to the gate and both brothers looked inside through the gate's bars.
"So, what now?" Asked Sam, and Dean turned to look at him. There were several cars parked in front of the mansion, around a large fountain where the road leading to the house from the gate made a circle and lead back out. There was no sign of the black limousine. Dean followed Sam's eyes to a security camera sitting on one of the columns supporting the gate. He looked to the column on the other side of the gate to find a matching one. He looked to the mansion on the distance and could make out some security guards walking with dogs around it. He cursed under his breath.
"I didn't really think that far ahead." He said to his brother, grinning. "I thought we would just barge in and make him tell us what he did to those kids, I didn't think he lived in freakin Fort Knox." Sam let out a little laugh of defeat, he looked towards the house once again and finally let his shoulders drop and turned to get back to the car. They needed a plan.
Author's Note: This was a little more exciting right? They'll find out what is taking the people in the next chapter, I'll try to post soon.
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