Part One: I See, You Listen

"Don't make me laugh, Sam," Jessica said softly, as she tried to put another piece onto the jenga tower.

"I'm not, I'm not…" the boy replied seriously before making another stupid face.

Jessica couldn't stand it anymore and she laughed infectiously before letting the jenga piece drop from her hand, "I hate you! You always cheat when we play…"

Sam smiled and felt his heart fill with happiness, all his worries floating into nothing and a warmth spreading through his body. This was perfect. This was…

"Guilty as charged, but damn it, it ain't right, there is someone else controlling me, death in the air, strapped in the electric chair, this can't be happening to me!"

"What!" Sam said suddenly, leaping awake. His sweet dream rushing out of the window and onto the highway.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Dean said, still bobbing his head along to Metallica.

"Why you sorry, you did it on purpose…" Sam replied, shaking his head and folding his arms.

"Now, now, Sammy, I didn't do that on purpose…if I had wanted to do it on purpose, I would have done this…WHO MADE YOU GOD TO SAY, I'LL TAKE YOUR LIFE FROM YOU!" Dean yelled in his brother's ear, "see the difference?"

ONE WEEK EARLIER

"But Madam, I didn't mean to, it was just a slip…I'm sorry," the girl pleaded.

The older woman stared down at the girl, her pointed leather boots tapping impatiently on the floor.

"When I let you work here, I told you we had rules. Rules are meant to be obeyed…"

"Yes, yes, I know but please, it was just one little mistake…" but before she could go on, the gorilla behind her had smacked her across the head with the blunt edge of a Browning 9 millimetre.

"I always hated being interrupted," Madam said, gazing at her freshly manicured nails.

"What do you want me to do now?" the gruff man said, holding the girl up like a rag doll. Her beautiful face, lifeless and pale.

"Take her downstairs, she's 'fat' enough," the woman replied before turning her attentions to the bound and gagged young man in the corner, "but leave the boy, me and him have some business to discuss."

The man nodded silently before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

"Now my dear, it's just you and me," Madam cooed, like a schoolteacher to her pupil. She then gently removed the cloth from his mouth and helped him to his feet.

"Where is Sarah? What are you going to do with her?" the young man babbled, his heart beating so fast, he thought it might pop out of his chest.

"Sarah's been a bad girl. She broke the rules. No. 1 of the Blue Orchid is, 'no boyfriends or male associates are ever to be allowed in the club…'"

"But I was just here for a second, a second. I just wanted to see her, please...I'll never do it again. Just let me and Sarah go…" the boy's voice started to crack from fear and he gazed up at the woman in front of her, searching her face for mercy, for pity, for any emotion...

Madam saw the man's pleading eyes and smiled but the smile wasn't warm and comforting, it was cold and sharp. But before the boy could realise that, her dagger-like talons had already cut through his chest and removed his innocent beating heart.

"I did say, I hate to be interrupted," the woman said bluntly, staring down at her hands and the heart, "young people never do listen," and she quietly removed the lid off the blender on the side and dropped the heart in.

Yes, a cold drink of heart and vodka would be a perfect pick me up. She hadn't had a fresh heart for months now, trying to watch the protein, it played havoc with her figure.

As the woman paused for a second to contemplate the night's events, she glanced at the boy's blood on her nails, "what a lovely colour, I'll have to see Ms. Wong about this tomorrow," she said cheerily to herself, before downing her special cocktail.

PRESENT DAY

"Come on, Sam, you're not still sulking about before, are you? Jesus, it's like having a bloody sister," Dean said quickly, as he slid into the booth.

"No, I'm not sulking. I'm just thinking," Sam answered, gazing at the cloudy sky outside.

"What you thinking about?" Dean asked, catching the eye of the pretty red-head at the counter.

Sam glanced over at his brother and saw the glazed look in Dean's eyes, the poor girl locked on target. There was no point talking to him now.

"Yeah, so I'll just get us some menus…" Dean said, already half way out of his seat, his voice already trailing seductively towards the red-head.

Sam nodded before taking a menu from its holder on the table, as he stared at it, trying to see through the caked in grease, he quickly looked over to the next booth. Two men were seated together, one had a large bushy moustache while the other was thin as paper. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Oh Dean…"

Sam heard the red-head say through sugar coated giggles. He wondered if Dean had actually fathered any illegitimate children and he started to calculate the possibility in his head. This might take a while, he thought to himself as he flicked through his brother's colourful liaisons.

" 'Ey Art, you read this?" Bushy said loudly.

The paper thin man looked towards him, a numb expression on his face, "what bout?"

"That boy they found in this dumpster, 'ad his heart torn out or somethin'."

Now they'd caught Sam's attention and he lowered the menu a little, shelving his maths problem for later; it was fine, he'd only got up to Dean at 18.

"Bloody city folk. They're all freakin' crazy, you know what I mean?" the thin man said quickly, spittle flying out of his mouth as he talked.

"That is why I got me Betty with me, all time," Bushy replied, stroking something under the table which Sam hoped was a shotgun.

"Hey there, excuse me…"

"Yeah?" Bushy shouted, his hand still under the table.

"Hi, sorry, just wanted to ask could I read that story?" Sam asked tentatively, wishing the guy's hand would just reappear.

Bushy tilted his head side-ways and whispered something to thin man. His friend nodded slowly and gave Sam a look half-way between a glare and smirk which was just a little bit too unsettling for comfort.

"If you want…but you best give it back or…well there'll be trouble," Bushy finally said, folding the paper neatly before passing it over.

"Don't worry, I will…" Sam said, before quickly grabbing the newspaper and skimming the story.

The boy had been found in a dumpster, probably been there for a week or so and his heart had been ripped out, maybe attacked by some crazed dog, the authorities said. The police have not yet commented on whether this attack was related to the last body found 8 months before, in similar circumstances. Sam nodded as he read, this sounded like a hunt to him.

"Yeah, thanks," Sam said, trying to smile nicely, handing the paper back to Bushy.

The older man looked at it for a moment before picking it up as if to check it hadn't been infected with some disease before promptly snatching it back.

"Hey Sammy, guess what I got?" Dean said smugly before settling back into his seat.

"Bet it's not as good as what I got…" Sam replied, seeing Dean's smile fade.

"A hunt? Bloody hell. Do you always have to spoil my fun?" Dean said, his mood darkening.

"No, I wasn't trying to ruin your fun…but if I wanted to ruin your fun, I would do this…YEAH, I THINK THE REDNESS AND ITCHING IS NORMAL!"

Dean's face flushed red as everyone turned to watch him. Although it wasn't from embarrassment but more an all consuming anger for his little brother. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the red-head's face drop with disgust.

"See the difference?" Sam whispered thorough stifled laughs.