HOOK MAN PART 1
"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis." Dean jokingly called out to his brother who walked back from a payphone.
"Bite me." Sam scoffed and sat down at the table, noticing that Alice wasn't there. "Where's Alice?" He looked around the outdoor cafe crowd and couldn't find their lady hunter friend at all.
Dean picked up his coffee and nudged his head. "She's in the bathroom." He said.
"Still? She's been in there for at least 15 minutes." Sam got up from his seat almost as fast as he sat down and half hurried over to the bathroom.
In the bathroom, Alice stood in front of the mirror and stared at her hideous reflection. Her neck had dark black and purple bruises wrapped around, bloodshot eyes, and a voice that made her sound like she's been smoking for 50 years. Her throat burned a bit but it was bearable, compliments to her last case with dealing with a shapeshifter. That bastard really did a number on her neck.
There was a light knocking at the door and Alice's eyes shifted to the reflection behind her. She knew it was Sam since it was a gentle knock. Dean would pound.
"Alice? Hey, you alright?" he called out with a concerned voice.
Alice unlocked the door and pushed it open slightly for the boys to see her in all her battered glory. She honestly looked like a victim from an abusive relationship with those bruises and bloodshot eyes, the obvious signs of strangulation that the shifter caused.
Dean's face turned grim when he saw the bruises. "Those don't look so good." They darkened last time he saw them
Alice shrugged and spoke in her raspy voice. "Bruises get darker as time goes on. I guess it'll take another month until they finally disappear." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black choker necklace to hide the bruises. "I'm gonna have to wear sunglasses too." Alice pulled her sunglasses off her shirt and stared reluctantly at it.
Dean frowned. "At night too?" He saw her shoulders drop with disappointment.
"Yeah...I'm gonna have to look like a douche bag for a while." She sighed, and though hating it, she slipped the sunglasses on her face and walked out of the bathroom. "Anyways. Any news on John?"
Sam's eye fell while they walked back to their table. "I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Base. No John Doe fitting Dad's description."
"Ah huh. Any traffic violations?" She saw Sam shake his head. Alice sighed deeply and sat down. "I'm telling you boys, John doesn't want to be found."
"That's what I been saying too," Dean said while they sat back in their seats. "Anyway, check this out." He shoved the computer in Sam and Alice's direction that had an article on it. "It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Lowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."
Alice leaned up to read. "'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road.'" She cocked a brow, already interested. "'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name had been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.'"
Sam was skeptical. "It could be nothing. One freaked-out witness who didn't see anything. Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Here we go..." she mumbled. "It could still be something and I don't wanna figure it out when another body gets found in the same area in the same exact way. It could be nothing, yes, but I would rather confirm it myself."
Sam slunk back in his chair. "So what do you wanna do?"
"We got two vehicles. Dean and I can go and check it out while you look for John, or..." She ignored the charming grin Dean was giving her. "Or you and Dean stay behind, and I still go."
Sam stared at her unmoving...sunglasses before leaning his head back. He owes her this much since it felt like he dragged her into that St. Louis case and that's how she got hurt. Either way, it didn't sit right with him if he said no. "Don't say I never do anything for you." He mumbled and saw her usually cocky grin rise to her lips.
Alice smirked and leaned back in her chair, black coffee of victory in her hand. Dean looked slightly disappointed that he wouldn't get to do this case alone with her.
The college lifestyle was something that neither her nor Aiden ever did. Then again, she can't even imagine herself truly fitting in with the crowd of young adults, when in high school, she and her brother were treated like circus freaks. There were times she recalls having a bet with her idiot sibling in how long they can go without totally kicking the crap out of bullies that harassed them daily. Needless to say, she lost the bet first but Aiden was quick to follow up too.
It was basically a college town by the looks of it with young adults waltzing around the campus, most of which were out working on their cars in the burning sun. The Impala's shiny black paint job made these cars look like a piece of crap honestly when Alice and the boys pulled up and parked. The kids looked up from their work and gave the new faces a confused stare, especially Alice who stuck out like a sore thump with her bright red Ducati and heels.
"One more time, why are we here?" Sam whispered to Dean as they walked the streets.
"Victim lived here." He said and walked up to the some of the guys fixing a car. "Nice wheels." They were only given strange looks. "We're your fraternity brothers and sorority sis. From Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers looking for a place to stay."
They were led through the fraternity doors and up to the doorframe of an open room. Inside was a frat boy...completely covered in purple paint from the waist up. Alice couldn't have been more confused and mildly disturbed by this guy standing in front of her. She was now thankful that she wasn't part of this lifestyle growing up with her brother, though she can see Aiden doing this sort of thing for some reason. Probably to annoy her and get a reaction (Like right now).
The frat boy stared at them with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"We're your new friends." Dean cocked a grin and they walked in.
The frat boy held up a brush and a paint can to Dean. "Do me a favor? Get my back."
Dean quickly gestured to Alice beside him. "She's the artists. The things she can do with a brush." Talk about changing the word 'Gun' to 'Brush'.
Alice narrowed her striking blue eyes that could kill a man if they weren't being covered by her sunglasses. She reluctantly took the brush and bucket and started to paint the frat boy's back, ignoring her skin crawling like ants.
Dean was grateful that he couldn't see Alice's eyes cause he knows she was glaring at him. He sat down and picked up a magazine. "So," he stared at the name on the front page. "Murph. is it true?"
"What?"
"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week."
Murph's face fell. "Yeah."
Sam leaned against the door frame. "What happened?"
"They're saying some psycho with a knife. Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy."
Alice bit down on her lip. "Was he with someone?" she asked.
The frat boys scoffed. "Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen," he spoke the name in high regards.
"Who's Lori Sorensen?" Dean asked.
"Lori's a freshman. She's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's a reverend's daughter."
Dean slowly nodded. "You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?" He gestured his hand up. "Hey sweetheart, you missed a...on the back there-"
"Shut up." Alice's raspy growl cut him off at the knees. Dean gave her a charming grin that only seemed to irritate her more.
They walked into the church in the middle of a memorial for the murdered frat boy. The door slammed loudly and drew the attention of everyone inside to them. Alice and Dean gave Sam a 'what the hell' manner before they quickly took their seat, letting Rev Sorensen continue with his usual sermon.
"As a community, and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest passings."
Alice looked at the front of the row of seats and saw a woman looking back at them. She was young and attractive, so both her and Sam assumed that she was Lori, the only witness to the crime. Her eyes looked a bit hollow and her face held deep regret, which caught Alice's attention and took note of it.
"So, please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children."
Everyone lowered their head, all except Dean and Alice. Sam elbowed his brother which caused him to nudge Alice as well. They both rolled their eyes and lowered their heads.
The streets quickly flooded with church folks as they exited the building after the memorial. Lori walked out with her roommate Taylor.
"I can't. it's Sunday night." Lori apologized as they stepped down the stairs.
"It's just us girls. We're gonna do tequila shots and watch reality bits." she tried to tempt her.
"My dad makes dinner every Sunday night."
"Come on, Lori. I know this had been hard, but you are allowed to have fun."
Lori gave a weak smile. "I'll try."
Taylor rolled her eyes before wrapping her arms around her. "Ok."
Lori watched Taylor walked back to the doors just as Sam, Dean, and Alice walked up to her.
"Are you Lori?" Sam asked.
"Yeah." Lori turned to greet them.
"My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean and my friend, Alice."
Dean waved. "Hi."
Alice just gave a subtle nod of acknowledgment. "We just transferred here to the university," she said.
Lori gave a sheepish smile. "I saw you inside...well, I saw the sunglasses first but..."
She could tell one thing. Lori was definitely a reverend's daughter and probably thought that Alice wearing sunglasses inside was disrespectful. Well...it was but she really didn't feel like getting shifty looks from everyone with her bloodshot eyes and bruises around her neck. People would probably assume that it was Sam or Dean who caused it.
"We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..." Sam began.
"We wanted to say how sorry we were," Dean said.
"I kind of know what you're going through. I-I saw someone...get hurt once. It's something you don't forget."
Lori gave a slight nod and looked to see her father walking up to them. "Dad, um, this is Sam, Dean, and Alice. They're new students."
Dean shook Rev Sorensen's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon."
The Reverend smiled. "Thank you very much. It's nice to find your people who are open to the Lord's message.
Dean chuckled and began to lead the father away so Alice and Sam could talk to Lori alone. "Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually..."
Sam waited until they were out of earshot before speaking. "What are the police saying, really." he stuck his hands into his pocket and they began to walk.
Lori shrugged. "Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that."
Alice lifted a brow. "Why do you say that? You gave your statement, didn't you?"
"My story. I was scared, I guess I was seeing things." she moped before Alice stopped her by stepping in front.
"Hey...there are things in this world that you can't explain, I know, but that doesn't mean it's not real."
Lori smiled slightly with Alice's confident and strong word and did, in fact, feel a bit better.
They took the time to go to the local library after talking to Lori and getting her side of the story.
"So you believe her?" Dean asked while walking past the aisle of books and records.
"I do." Sam nodded.
"Yeah, I think she's hot, too." Dean looked over to Alice to see if he got a reaction out of her but failed to see it because of the sunglasses. He rolled his eyes. "So what's her story?"
Alice spoke up. "She said she heard scratching on the roof. Found a bloody body suspended upside down over the car."
Dean paused and stepped into an aisle to get some privacy. "Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the-"
"Yeah, we know, the Hook Man legend," Sam said grimly.
Dean felt his stomach began to drop. "That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think we're dealing with the Hook Man."
Alice shrugged. "Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began. This one is no different from the Bloody Mary legend."
"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tires punctured and the invisible killer?"
"I don't think we're dealing with a physical man...but a spirit instead," she said ominously with a drop in her raspy voice.
Sam and Dean waited patiently for Alice to come back with the arrest records. She walked up to them with two large boxes with her. One over her shoulder and the other under her arm.
"I got all the arrest records going back to 1851." She dropped the heavy things in front of them with dust flying in the air.
Dean coughed and waved the dust away. "So, this is how you spend four years of your life, huh?" he said to Sam.
"Welcome to higher education," Sam said and cracked open the boxes
A couple of hours have already passed and their eyes were practically swimming in words and dust. Alice even took off her sunglasses and ignored all the looks she was given.
"Hey, check this out," Sam called out to them. Dean and Alice got up and looked at what Sam was reading. "A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Uh, right here. 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood others suspended upstairs down the limbs of trees as a warning against the sins of the flesh.'"
Alice narrowed her eyes and pulled out a piece of paper. "Look at the murder weapon." she pointed.
"Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook." Dean said.
Alice nodded slowly. "And look where it all happened." she sighed. "9 mile Road."
"Same place where that frat boy was killed." Sam realized.
Dean laughed. "Nice job, Dr. Venkmen. Let's check it out."
They waited for the cover of nightfall to do their ghostbusting. Dean popped open the trunk and handed Sam a riffle.
"If it is a spirit, as Alice said, buckshots won't do much good." Sam frowned.
"Yeah, rock salt." Dean passed a couple of cartridges of rock salt to him.
"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent."
"Yeah. It won't kill 'em, but it'll slow 'em down." he took out a flashlight for Alice and a coil of rope for him before shutting the trunk.
Alice snickered. "Where did you learn that trick? From John?"
Dean winked at her. "You don't have to be a college graduate or a Cromwell to be a genius."
They walked through the thick brush of trees for a while until the unmistakable sound of snapping branches caught their attention and they froze.
"Over here," Dean whispered.
Sam aimed his gun up and cocked it, ready to pull the trigger when a figure emerged from behind the trees. The sheriff with his own gun out, pointing it at Alice and the boys.
"Put the gun down now!" He barked orders at them. "Now! Put your hands behind your head."
Dean immediately raised his hands and elbowed Alice to do the same. "W-w-wait, okay, okay!"
"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it." He ordered and they were forced down. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!"
Dean groaned when him, Sam and Alice were forced to lay on the cold ground. "He had the gun," he complained.
Author's Note:
And here we go with the Hook Man legend part 1. I really do prefer to do the episodes in three parts. It's easier to edit and post. Anyway, I really hope you enjoying Alice's story with the boys so far. I'm trying to give her more time with Sam because I want them to have a good relationship too, as she does with Dean.