"Hello and welcome. At our motel we value your privacy but we do ask that, in return, you leave the room in an acceptable state." The clerk at the motel didn't bother to look up from his magazine when Dean and Sam entered. Dean went up to the counter and stood, waiting. "Yes sir is there anything I can do for you?"

"I was kind of hoping to check in." The clerk looked up for the first time, glancing from Sam to Dean in confusion. "We're not dating."

"I never said you were. I'm just surprised that you aren't a pair of rowdy teenagers." He sighed, running a hand through his short black hair and raising himself to his full height, his plaster smile replaced by a genuine one. "So, how long are you two saying?"

Dean looked behind him at Sam who was reclining against a wall, yawning. Sleeping whilst driving, while practical, hadn't suited Sam as a kid and it didn't seem to suit him much now. Although Dean doubted he would get any better sleep in an actual bed, Dean felt like it had to be easier to try. "Over the weekend, maybe more later."

The clerk started to type into the computer, "same room same bed, separate rooms separate beds or same room separate beds?"

"Same room, separate beds." Dean fished into his wallet and pulled out a credit card, handing it over the counter with practiced ease.

"Thank you Mr. Abbot, here is your room key, you can go straight through." He handed a key and the card back, satisfied that it had been accepted.

"Thanks. I'm Dean, this is my brother Sam."

Sam pulled himself away from the wall and started to trudge towards the rooms.

"Cheerful little fella ain't he? And I'm Stuart."

Dean felt an urge to attack Stuart but settled for a cold, stern tone of voice instead. "He's going through bereavement."

Stuart winced, calling over to Sam, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"S'okay."

Dean tossed the keys to Sam who continued onto the room before he began to question Stuart. "So, you only get teenagers here then?"

"Mainly, occasionally we get a couple on a road trip and things, sometimes married adults with something they picked up at one of the bars." He scoffed and rolled his eyes, "trust me when I say that its hard to keep what goes on here with the mission statement," he tapped a small white sign on the desk, which pledged privacy and requested acceptable room conditions. "Business has been slow this month, what with the epidemic and all."

It was what Dean had been waiting for, "epidemic?"

"There's sort of been a rash of murder-suicides this past month. Some people are adamant that the town is cursed or something."

Dean opted to laugh disbelievingly, "cursed? Yeah, right."

"Well, I don't know really. It could be, I suppose. I knew Rodger, he was one of the guys who killed his partner and then himself and I swear that they were normal people. I never saw anything that would indicate Roger as a ticking time-bomb. Of course, everyone is thinking that if they are not around the person that they love, they won't hurt them, which is why they won't book a room here anymore." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "which is good news in a way because it wouldn't be good for business. Although it would be good for word-of-mouth. Hmm."

"You got a girlfriend, boyfriend?"

"I'm single. Just broke up actually, long-term relationship." He sighed, "I only just started working here last month, my first night on the job and my girlfriend came in to rent a room with this random Adonis-type gym guy. Brilliant eh?"

Dean nodded, "you got a phone book? There's someone I want to look up." Stuart jerked his thumb over at the counter, now deep in thought, and Dean went and flicked through. There was only one Yeo listed and he made a note of the address before turning back to Stuart. "Thanks, I'm going to go off to my room."

Stuart gave him a distracted wave, "fine."

Dean went into the room and found Sam lying on one of the beds. He threw the sandwich and muffin at Sam, "you said you'd eat at the room."

"Fine." Sam opened the sandwich, picking at it.

"Looks like Stuart's safe, he's not dating anyone."

"Good."

"He did say that he'd just broken up with his girlfriend for cheating on him, might be something to look into. He seemed upset about it."

"Okay."

"I found the Yeo address."

Sam looked up at Dean and smiled for the first time since they had arrived, "what are we waiting for then?"

He got up from the bed and Dean wanted to say that they were waiting for Sam to sort his life out again but Sam had already gone out of the room. He followed him to the car and drove to the address. It looked like a typical house on a typical street and the crime scene tape had disappeared. Dean left the car, and tried to peer in through the windows. All the curtains were drawn and he decided it would be simplest to break in. He saw Sam join him and was about to when the door flew open, making them both jump back.

It was a young woman, dressed in a casual shirt and pair of jogging bottoms, her bleach blonde hair pulled back and her face devoid of make-up. She scowled as she surveyed Sam and Dean. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"