I head back to the Impala, entirely ready to get the hell out of this place, at least for a little while. I don't know what the hell kind of demon or ghost takes people alive and keeps them hidden in a cellar. I also don't know why, if these people are still alive, we can't see them. All I know is that we're going to find this thing tonight and kill it. That's all that really matters anyway.

I'm kind of proud of Lindy, if that's really the right emotion. She's a tough girl. I don't know many girls who'd stick around after seeing evidence of people trying to claw their way out of what I'm sure is a mini version of hell. Maybe she has more guts than I first thought.

"Here." the girl in question says as we reach the cars. She slaps the gun I gave her into my hand and then turns and walks quickly to her car. I glance at Sam for an explanation since he seems more in tune with his girly side and therefore understands girly emotions better.

"Dude, what did you do?" Sam asks, looking between us.

So much for Sam's insight.

"I didn't do anything." I defend myself.

She's already started her car and is pulling out. I get in the Impala, Sam joining me, and follow her.

"We walked back to the cars, she gave me the gun and drove off. I didn't even say anything." I continue to impress upon my brother my innocence.

"Maybe she needs to be alone for a bit." Sam offers.

"Maybe." I allow.

It's a good distance into town again and I don't much want to talk about Lindy with Sam anymore. So, I turn on the stereo again and lean back in my seat. Thankfully, for once, Sam decides not to push it and lets me drive in peace. It's nice not to have to think about anything for a few minutes, just sit back, listen to the music, and drive. There's almost nothing as soothing as driving my baby.

Unfortunately for my peace of mind, but lucky for my rumbling stomach, Lindy pulls into the parking lot of a diner as soon as we enter town. I don't know why every small town has a diner, but it's almost a steadfast rule. They're all basically the same, too. Same food, same clientele, same ubiquitous cook and overweight head waitress. Occasionally, we'll find ones that also sport a young, cute local girl whose waitressing around school. Those are nice ones.

We park and get out, Sam grabbing Dad's journal as he does so. Lindy's already waiting, leaning against her car. She straightens as we approach and I search her face for the tell-tale signs of panic bubbling under the surface. She meets my eyes and gives me a somewhat uneasy smile. I can tell she's still a little freaked, but she seems to be handling everything really well. In fact, she really seems to just be taking this in stride. I guess figuring out that a real, live demon or whatever is actually in that place, holding people captive, hasn't changed her goals at all. I respect that, I guess, but I still feel like she's going to be a liability on this hunt.

"What's up?" I ask her.

"I thought of something I wanted to ask you about." she replies.

"What's that?"

She shakes her head and gestures at the diner, "Let's get some food first."

I can't argue with that. The three of us head inside where a young, bubblegum-popping, extremely bored looking brunette looks us over.

"This way." she says without any preamble, leading us to a booth along the wall. She drops some menus on the table and disappears. I raise an eyebrow slightly. So much for small town hospitality.

I slide quickly into the booth and don't even bother to look at the menu. I already know what it says and I get the same thing most of the time anyway. You just can't beat an old-fashioned cheeseburger and fries, especially if there those great steak fries. My stomach growls just thinking about it, the smells from the kitchen encouraging my appetite even more. Man, I'm hungrier than I thought. I can't resist tapping the table impatiently.

I look up at Sam and Lindy, wondering what's taking them so long to sit down. Usually it's just me and Sammy, one of us sitting on each bench. Apparently a third edition has thrown him off and he's waiting to see where Lindy would like to sit.

"You two plan on joining me?" I ask.

Looking slightly embarrassed, Lindy plops down on the bench, sliding over to make room for Sam. I wonder why everyone seems automatically more comfortable with Sam. Must be that annoyingly innocent look of his.

I'm about to say something, like ask Lindy to spit out whatever it is she wants to tell us, but both she and Sam disappear behind menus. Why do they even bother? Especially Sam, he should know the fare for places like this like the back of his hand. Sometimes I think Sam likes to read so much that he'll read anything.

I'm getting increasingly more impatient with the menu-readers when the prerequisite chubby older waitress approaches the table. I wonder if she'll be the motherly type or the grumpy type.

"Welcome to Charlie's. Anything on the menu catch your eye, darlings?" she asks with a friendly smile.

I flash her a charming smile of my own, quickly scanning her uniform and picking out her nametag "I'd love a cheeseburger and fries with a coke, Maddie."

"No problem, sweetheart." Maddie replies, quickly scribbling on an order pad, "And you two?"

"Uh…just water for me and a…chicken sandwich." Sam says from behind his menu.

"Fried or grilled?"

"Grilled, please."

I barely suppress a groan at Sam's ever-increasing girliness. Next thing you know he'll be ordering…

"Can I get a salad on the side?"

That. God, Sam, you're not my brother. We can't be related.

"Sure thing, hon." Maddie says, collecting Sam's menu from him. She looks expectantly at Lindy.

"I'll have the same, please. But with fries instead of a salad." she says, handing over her menu, too.

Man, my brother's girlier than a girl. Maybe I should trade Sam for Lindy. If I could just teach her to handle a gun… Plus, she likes my music and she's less pouty. I'm starting to like this idea. Plus, being forced to share a bed with Lindy would be way more fun than with my freakishly tall, bed hog brother.

"Hey, Earth to Dean!" Lindy snaps me out of my wishful thinking.

"Sorry. So what did you want to tell us?"

"I have an idea about what could be haunting Fort Tucker." Lindy reveals in hushed tones, glancing around to make sure no one's close by. I lean forward in my seat expectantly, "Do you think it could be a fear demon?"

I think that over, recalling what I've heard about fear demons. Pastor Jim once told me about them, I think. Said something about demons that feed on fear so they keep their victims alive and terrified for as long as possible. You know, until they eventually die of fright. But that still doesn't explain why we couldn't see the people this thing has trapped. I reach across the table to take Dad's journal from Sammy, hoping that maybe there's something there about fear demons that will explain everything.

"What is that?" Lindy asks as I rapidly flip through pages on the various entities Dad has investigated.

"Our Dad's journal." Sam says, "It's basically everything he's ever come up against or researched."

"How long has your Dad been doing this?" Lindy asks.

She sounds awfully intrigued, but I'm too busy searching the journal to look up to see the expression on her face. I'm sure she'd love to get her hands on Dad's journal, dig through all the info he's compiled over the years. I wonder briefly as I scan pages whether or not it would be a good idea to let her see it. I'm reluctant to hand over our best source on things that go bump in the night to anyone besides family, but maybe the truth about this stuff should be printed. I mean, I'm thoroughly sick and tired of seeing people with crosses and wooden stakes hunting vampires. People who try that in real life get killed.

"Since I was a baby." Sam says.

"Found it." I announce, interrupting their Q and A.

Sam and Lindy both lean towards me, trying to see what I'm reading, but I continue to monopolize the journal. I quickly read through the long entry from Dad, looking for any similarities with our current situation.

"Dean, let us see or read out loud." Sam whines.

I sigh loudly so that Sam will know exactly how much of a pain he's being before I start over at the beginning, "Fear demon's are lower level demons that feed on fear. They take humans alive and force them to live out their worst fears until eventually it kills them. Looks like Dad's never faced one before because he says that according to Pastor Jim they can be killed if you can face it with no fear in your heart. That sounds like something Pastor Jim would say. Hey, it also says that the victims seem to vanish because the demon takes them into their own minds where their fears are real."

I pause looking up at Sam and Lindy. It looks like we have our guy.

"Definitely sounds right. Good job, Lindy." Sam congratulates her.

"Yeah, good call on that one. How'd you think of that?" I ask, genuinely curious how she came up with that when neither Sam nor I had thought to look into it when we had the information with us the whole time.

"Well, I was thinking back on the articles I've written. This one came to mind." she reveals and I think for a second that maybe she already has a lot of the info in Dad's journal. Although I'm sure she doesn't have the helpful info on how to kill these things that Dad has acquired, "The story was about fear and how these things take advantage of the human mental state. What happens to us mentally is real and if we let the fear overwhelm us in our mind or if we fear dying and it kills us in our mind, we really die. Mind and body are connected, that whole thing."

"Sounds peachy." I quip dryly.

"Does Dad say how to kill it?" Sam asks.

I look back at the page and frown when I discover that Dad didn't include any handy hints on this particular demon. I guess since he's never faced one, he hasn't had a chance to write a 'How to Kill' guide.

"No. Just the facing your fear thing, which I'm sure is not the whole of it. It's never that easy." I report.

None of us comment on it further because Maddie is returning with our food. I plaster my smile back on, but it's more for the food she's carrying than for her. I follow my plate with my eyes as she sets in front of me.

"Dig in, honey." she says cheerfully.

"Yes, ma'am." I nod, not hesitating to stuff my face. If I have to go face my worst fears I damn well am not going to do it on an empty stomach and I'm not going to waste any time rectifying that situation. Besides, food always tastes so much better with impending doom in the near future. And, true to form, the burger tastes great.