Disclaimer: Nope still no cash in my pocket so I guess I don't own Supernatural.
Sam walked to Tyler's house from the motel, relieved that when he knocked on the front door he didn't hear any hammering from inside. Tyler answered the door himself, looking exhausted, his eyes rimmed with red and wearing the same clothes as the last time Sam saw him.
"What?" He croaked focusing his bleary eyes on Sam. He wobbled a bit and Sam realized that the boy was drunk.
"Can I come in? I wanted to ask your help with something" Sam asked him.
"What more questions, or are you gonna call me crazy and interrogate like your friends at the Sheriffs Office did earlier?" Tyler asked laughing bitterly.
"Neither. I believe what you saw Tyler. Please let me come in and we'll talk, I'll try to explain as best I can." Sam pleaded with him.
Tyler looked at him biting his lower lip, there were already deep gashes in his lip where'd it looked like he'd bitten straight through and a speckle of dry blood on the corner of lip. Dean's right, this kid can't handle it, Sam thought. Tyler moved out of the way ushering Sam inside.
"Are your parents here?" Sam asked him.
"Moms at Aly's house consoling her mother. Dads working, as fucking usual." Tyler slurred out bitterly.
"I'm sure they care about you a lot. Your mom's worried sick about you." Sam said remembering the way Mrs. Banks acted days before.
"Yeah, whatever." Tyler said looking away. He walked into the living room leaving Sam to follow after him. The curtains were drawn tight and there was a sheet over the mantle where a mirror had stood decoratively. All the picture frames in the room were face down and a grandfather clock was turned against the wall, facing away from them. More of Tyler's pre-emptive strike.
"What do you want?" Tyler asked flopping down on the couch. Sam took a seat on the edge of the coffee table.
"The thing you saw that night was real Tyler, you need to know that. Sometimes things that shouldn't exist do and me and my brother, the man I came here with, we help when those things hurt people." Sam explained slowly, stopping and starting again when he felt Tyler's attention drifting away.
"So what? Your Ghostbusters or something?" Tyler asked looking hopeful beneath his derision.
"Something like that." Sam said smiling softly.
"I thought you were cops." Tyler said.
"We had to say that so you'd talk to us. But I need you to trust me now Tyler," Sam said putting a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "My name is Sam and that was my brother Dean you met."
"He took my hammer." Tyler said petulantly.
"He's not real good with people." Sam grimaced. "But we do want to help stop the thing that took Aly and the other girls."
"And your going to get Aly back?" Tyler asked the question Sam was dreading hearing.
"Tyler," He started then he stopped. He ran a hand over his face suddenly wishing he hadn't volunteered to Tyler alone. He was watching Sam intently a look of desperation on his face. His whole body was wound tight like he'd come apart at any movement.
"She's not coming back is she?" Tyler asked sounding hollow. Sam shook his head slowly, hesitantly.
"W-we were supposed to go to North Western together in a couple of years. I was gonna-" Tyler broke off jumping to his feet. He got up too fast and almost fell back down. Sam held onto his elbow to steady him but Tyler pulled away and walked sloppily across the room to a smaller den through a doorway.
Sam followed him watching Tyler pick up a fifth of vodka he'd obviously left out when Sam knocked on the door. Sam walked forward and wrenched it from Tyler's hands.
"This isn't going to bring her back." He said sternly holding it out of the boys grasp.
"Give it!" Tyler yelled hopping up. He wasn't steady enough when he landed and his knees buckled when his feet touched the ground. Sam used his free arm to keep Tyler upright, dragging into an armchair in the corner. He put the bottle up on a bookshelf before turning back to Tyler.
"Tyler, I know it hurts, I know I'm asking a lot of you right now, but you can help stop this before another girl gets taken." Sam said pulling Tyler's face to look up at him, Sam used his height to tower over t he younger boy, hoping if he couldn't reason with him maybe he could intimidate him into helping.
"What? What the fuck can I do? I couldn't save Aly, how can I save anyone else?" Tyler demanded hoarsely.
"What happened to Aly was not your fault." Sam told Tyler trying to will him to understand. "All I need is fir you to listen to me. Hear me out."
"What can I do?" Tyler asked softly after a tense silence.
"There's a spell," Sam said slowly letting the words sink in. "There's something we need from you."
"What do you need?" Tyler asked resigned. Sam let go of his face and took a step back.
"To find out who the spirit will take next we need a lock of a virgin's hair, I know your girlfriend was part of some group there-"
"I can't." Tyler interrupted looking guilty.
"What? Why?" Sam asked. Tyler looked down, ashamed.
"Aly wanted to wait, but she went out of town last summer and there was this girl…" Tyler said softly looking down at his hands.
'Fucking wonderful.' Sam thought. Now they had no hair and Tyler looked like he was about to play t he blame game with himself again.
"But I know someone who can help." Tyler said suddenly looking up from his hands. He actually looked relieved, almost excited as he stood up, getting his bearing before walking past Sam to where the stairs were.
"C'mon." He beckoned Sam to follow him. Sam ended up half carrying Tyler up the stairs as vertigo hit.
"Sorry." Tyker apologized at the top of the stairs.
"No problem." Sam said through gritted teeth.
"Where are we going?" He asked as Tyler led the way down the hall, past his own bedroom stopping front of a closed door. He put his finger to his lips and opened the door carefully.
Sam followed him into a violet room with more stuffed kittens than Sam knew existed. On a tiny white and pink bed a little girl, no more than six was sleeping soundly.
"My sister Ginney, she takes a nap after kindergarten." Tyler explained tip toeing dizzily across the room.
Sam was torn between the urge to smack Tyler for getting drunk while his little sister was asleep upstairs and smacking himself for not thinking about using a child's hair sooner. Guaranteed virginity.
"Do you have any scissors?" Sam asked Tyler. Tyler looked around him and shook his head. Sam let out a frustrated sigh and took out the folding knife he carried with him everywhere.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Tyler asked grabbing for his hand as he unfolded the blade.
"I'm going to carefully cut a piece of your sister's hair off. Son't worry she won't even know we're here." Sam trying to keep from losing his patience. He really didn't want to have to black mail t he kid with his drunkenness.
Tyler finally let go but he stayed close watching as Sam picked up one of the sleeping girl's soft brown curls and gently cut through the strand. The girl didn't even move. He held up the lock for Tyler to see and quickly put it safely in a plastic sandwich bag he'd brought with him. Sam replaced the blade in his pocket, pulled a somewhat steadier Tyler out of the room and led him downstairs by the arm.
Almost as soon as they hit the first floor landing the front door opened and Mrs. Banks walked in. She took one look at the two young men and plastered as smile on her face.
"Detective, its nice to see you again. I hope my son remembered his manners." Mrs. Banks said without acknowledging her son's current state.
"He has excellent manners ma'am." Sam said pleasantly, walking past her to open the front door. "If you'll excuse me I really have to go now. It was nice seeing you again. Thanks for your help Tyler."
Sam walked swiftly away from the house, shaking his head in wonder. If he wasn't careful he'd start using Dean's motto of demons being easier to understand than people.
"Demons I get, people are crazy." Dean said pulling up to the cemetery.
"I mean going cannibal to look younger. What the hell is that?" He went on as they exited the car holding a large old pickle jar to fill with graveyard dirt. Jack followed him listening to him rant with a pair of gardening spades and some gloves.
"How does someone even justify this shit? Just get a boob job if you don't like the way you look. Or deal with it." He'd been going on for the last ten minutes, getting in more and more foul a mood the farther they drove out of town. Poplar Grove had no town cemetery, so the had to go to t he nearest city of Rockford to find one and collect the dirt.
"Yes people are nuts, no it isn't right and yes demons are easier to g et, considering all they really want is to kill us all. I agree, now shut up." Jack said trudging up the path to an older part of the cemetery, where they were guaranteed not to be interrupted by anyone visiting family members. Not unless t he visitor had had a centennial.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked as he pouted.
"I don't like this damn state." Dean said stopping in front of a stone.
"You have a grudge against an entire state?" Jack asked handing him his spade and gloves.
"Lets just finish this shit so we can get outa here." Dean grumbled plunging the spade into the ground. They had half the jar filled when thunder cracked over head, followed by a downpour. The hastily scooped as much dirt as they could into the jar and ran back to the car muddy and soaking wet.
"I hate this fucking state." Dean said to Jack.
"What took you so long?" Sam asked when they walked through the door to the motel room. Twin death glares stopped his line of questioning dead.
"Shower." Jack ground out tossing her gardening spade on the ground heading to their shower.
"Go use your own." Dean called running after her to get in there first.
"Bite me." Jack said scurrying in and locking the door.
"Get me some clothes, would ya?" She asked.
"Bite me." Dean replied. She could hear Sam laughing through the door.
Dean grabbed some clothes and walked out the door hedging under the minimal shelter to Jack's room. Once inside he seriously considered hurling her things out into the rain but he got an image in his head of a pissed off fire wielding psychic coming after him and decided to just use her shower and get the damn spell over with. He could still hear Sam laughing at them through the paper thin walls. After a quick shower Dean dried off and grabbed Jack's duffel bag with her clothes on the way out.
Sam was talking to Jack through the bathroom door, about Tyler's and his family.
"She didn't notice?" Jack was asking.
"It was more like she ignored the whole thing. Like selective reality or something. It was bizarre." Sam said.
"When you say something's bizarre, it has to be." Dean said crossing the room to knock on the bathroom door.
"Here, so we don't get arrested." Dean said, when Jack cracked the door open to reach for her things.
"You didn't have to bring everything I own." She said after she closed the door.
"Your welcome." Dean shot back.
"Thank you." Jack said grudgingly. She pulled on a pair of faded jeans and a black tee shirt, pulling on her bracelets before exiting the bathroom. She threw her duffel bag on Sam's bed and stuck her tongue out at Dean.
"We ready to do this thing?" She asked Sam hoping the damp dirt would be good enough.
"Just need to put the supplies down and say the words." Sam said picking up the bottle of salt and tossing it to her. They cleared the table, pulling more towards the center of the small room in front of the dresser mirror. Jack poured out a circle of salt on the surface first, followed by Dean making a circle of dirt on the floor around the table and another around the circle of salt, lastly Sam placed the lock of hair in the center over the symbols he'd drawn on the table in pencil while he waited for Dean and Jack to return.
They stood back from the table as Sam picked up the paper he'd written the spell on in German. He cleared his throat and started the spell trying not to let his mind wander to why it always rained when they had to do this sort of thing. He finished the spell and waited and waited and waited.
"Did you say it right, Sam?" Dean asked taking a step towards the table.
"No I said every word exactly." Sam said scratching his head.
"Well then why isn't it doing anything?" Dean asked.
"Delayed reaction?" Jack suggested frowning leaning towards the table.
"Maybe you guys shouldn't stand so clo-" Sam started when the table creaked loudly like it was going to come apart. They jumped back as it started to shake violently.
"Told you." Jack said watching the reflection in the mirror, waiting for what came next. Sure enough the mirror darkened and a face started to come into view.
"Do you recognize her from the school Jack?" Dean asked as the face of a pretty girl with light brown hair and soft green eyes became clear.
"Yeah I do." Jack said recognizing Alex's unfortunate sister, Riley Moore.
TBC………….
AN: In the next chapter they interrupt dinner and then the fun begins. Its after two in the AM here so until then, night folks.
