Chapter 6

Paranoid

(Season 1, episode 7 Hook Man)

"Where did you get that big ass light from," Sarah asked.

Sam held a large spotlight outside his window and searched the brush on 9 Mile Road. "I don't know, actually."

"It was just kinda in my trunk. I have no idea where it came from." Dean put the car in park and turned off the engine.

Sam powered down the light and stepped out of the car. Sarah and Dean both followed. Dean unlocked the trunk and revealed the secret compartment inside.

Wow. That's amazing. Sarah stared at the piles of guns, knives, and other various weapons that were stored away. These boys have everything. She adjusted her knitted hat and shoved her hands in her jean pockets.

Dean handed a gun to Sam. "Here you go."

Sam took it, but was confused. "If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good."

Dean popped his head up from the trunk. "Yeah. Rock salt." He handed the shells to his brother.

"Hm. Salt being a spirit deterrent."

"Yeah." Dean then handed Sarah her own gun and salt ammo. "And for you."

Sarah lifted the shells to the moonlight. "That's genius," she complimented.

"Thanks." He grabbed a bag and filled it with ghost fighting utensils for himself and then slammed the trunk closed. "It won't kill 'em, but it'll slow 'em down."

Sam was just as amazed. "That's pretty good. You and Dad think of this?"

Dean started to lead them away from the car with the bag of weapons on his back. "I told you, you don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius."

Sarah smiled and lightly hit Dean on the shoulder. "Damn right."

Suddenly, sticks started snapping ahead. All three hunters stopped in their tracks. Sam aimed his gun around, ready for anything. None of them would admit it, but they were startled. they hadn't expected the spirit to come out so soon.

Dean didn't move his eyes. "Over there, over there," he whispered.

Sarah aimed her gun with Sam. Footsteps were approaching, becoming louder and louder as were their heartbeats.

"Put the guns down now! Now!" A cop had his gun up and was yelling at the group. "Hands behind your head!"

Sam and Sarah dropped their weapons. Dean dropped his bag as well.

"Get down on your knees! Come on, do it! On your knees. Get down on your bellies. Come on, do it." They all complied.

"They had the guns," Dean complained as his face went to the ground.

The trio was taken into custody and Sam and Sarah spent the night in jail. Dean was able to get out before them due to not carrying a weapon.

Dean was able to bail them both out the next day. "Saved your asses," he bragged on the way out of the police station. "Talked the sheriff down to a fine. I'm Matlock."

"But how?" Sam questioned.

"Told him you two were dumbass pledges and that we were hazing you."

"Wait," Sarah stopped him. "How would I be a pledge to frat?"

He smiled, making fun of her. "You're not gonna like it."

Sarah's satanic voice came out. "What did you tell him?"

Dean's smile grew larger. "I told him you were getting a sex change and you were going to become a man. That's why you were pledging."

Her mouth dropped. "What the hell?"

"What? You were looking kinda mannish last night."

She scrunched her face at him. "You're a dick."

He started laughing hysterically. "What? He fell for it. Don't gotta get so mad."

"You called me a man. Therefore, you are a dick."

"Hey. Don't complain. It got you off of serving time in the big house."

"That's why I'm not beating you to death right now."

Sam still had concerns. "What about the shotgun?"

"I said that you were hunting ghosts and that spirits are repelled by rock salt. You know, typical hell week prank."

"You told the truth?" Sarah couldn't believe how Dean pulled this off. Either he planned this very well or the police here are dumber than we thought.

"And he believed you?"

"Well, you two look like dumbass pledges." Dean half grinned at them.

Sarah was ready to melt. She loved when he did that. She couldn't let him see that, though. She insulted him again to keep up the facade of not liking him. "Dick."

Once they reached the car, a herd of police men were running to their vehicles. They took off like bats out of hell and set their sirens to screech to warn people to get out of the way.

Sarah limply pointed to the cars as they pulled away. "Could that be something?"

"I think it could be," Dean answered.

Sam nodded and the three piled into the Impala. Dean started the engine and followed the caravan. They ended up stopping at one of the sororities on campus.

Lori was sitting in the back of an ambulance. This was her sorority. She looked truly horrified. Something was definitely going on in this town. But instead of stopping to find out what it was, Dean drove past the house. They had been in enough trouble with the authorities for one day.

Dean parked on the next street. The doors creaked loudly as Dean, Sam, and Sarah exited the car. From that spot, they were able to access the backyard of the sorority and were able to avoid the cops.

They walked along the home, looking for an entry point. "Why would the hookman have come here?" Sam whispered. "This is a long way from 9 Mile road."

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime," Dean suggested. "Maybe it's about something else."

"Yeah, but?" Sarah couldn't figure it out and it was frustrating her. Normally, she could connect the dots with less clues than what they currently had. She had no idea why this one was so hard to crack.

Two girls came out of the back door of the house. Dean reached around and pushed Sam and Sarah against the wall. He didn't want Sarah to think he liked her. He took this opportunity to prove he didn't like her to both Sarah and himself. "Dude, sorority girls. Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?"

Sarah scoffed. "Pig." Inside, her heart broke. He doesn't like me. Why do I always put myself in these positions? Why do I even care?

Sam wasn't listening to his brother. Instead, he found an opening above the door and started climbing. Dean turned around and helped him up. Sarah was next. He lifted her foot and Sam grabbed her hand. Dean couldn't help it. He glanced up and saw the outline of her butt. "Nice ass," he said aloud mistakenly.

Sarah shook her head and pulled herself up with Sam's help. Dean climbed up last. Sarah waited for him at the top. She poked him in the chest. "You talk about my ass again, I'll make sure my foot goes up yours."

Dean blushed. "I was just kidding. Sorry." He didn't even know he commented on her butt aloud. He thought he only said that in his head.

Sam peaked his head around the corner. "Guys, come on." He found an open upper-story window. He climbed through, then Sarah, then Dean.

Dean slipped and fell on top of Sarah during the entry.

"Ow."

"Oh, sorry," he apologized.

"Try and be quiet, will you?" Sam said sternly.

"Me be quiet. Tell her to be quiet."

Sam gave Sarah a hand up. "Me? You're the one who fell on me." Her feelings about Dean were mixed like always, but she was starting to hate him more than she liked him.

Dean turned and closed the window behind him. It turned out to be an entrance in to one of the closets to a girl's bedroom. Lucky for them, it was the one the crime scene was in.

Sam opened the door only enough to see if there were any officers inside. There was one, so they waited for him to leave before emerging.

This one was a bloody mess. The bed was taped off with black and yellow crime scene tape. It had been soaked in blood and some even started to drip onto the floor beneath it. That wasn't the only thing either. The words 'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light' were scratched with more blood on the wall next to the bed. No wonder Lori looked scarred for life, Sarah thought.

"That's right out of the legend." Sam was talking about the message on the wall.

"Yeah, that's classic hookman, all right. It's definitely a spirit." Dean tapped his nose.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "I've never smelled ozone this strong before."

"That poor girl," Sarah sighed. She could tell the dead girl had to have been tortured with all this blood. She shuttered at the thought.

Dean went to check the window to make sure no one else was coming up to join them. This place was crawling with people of the law.

"Hey, come here," Sam instructed his brother. He pointed to the symbol below the message. "Does that look familiar to you?"

Sarah leaned closer to get a better look. "That looks like the symbol on that guy's hook."

"That's what I was thinking, too."

The trio left the house and started to compare the symbol to the notes they had on Jacob Karns and his murders. Sam and Dean sat on the hood of the Impala while Sarah stood in front of them. She didn't feel like she was welcome to sit on Dean's car quite yet.

Sam was convinced. "It's the same symbol. Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

Dean nodded. "All right. Let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down."

"Sounds like a plan." Sarah was ecstatic to have this case figured out. She just wanted to runaway again.

Sam read from the sheets. "'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in Old North Cemetery in an unmarked grave.'"

Dean slid off his car. "Super."

Sarah's shoulders dropped. "Why can't they ever be easy?"

Sam pushed himself off the car and opened his door. "Okay, so, we know it's Jacob Karns, but we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why."

Dean pulled a parking ticket off his windshield.

Sarah looked behind her and pointed to the fire hydrant Dean had parked in front of.

Dean shrugged. "I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this."

"Yeah, maybe."

They all piled into the car once again and headed back to their fake frat home.

Sarah leaned over the seat. "You know, you should pay that."

"No, not gonna happen."

"You parked in front of a fire hydrant. You broke the law. You should pay the price."

Sam laughed at the way Sarah was scorning his brother. He just found something amusing about Dean getting put in his place.

"How many times have you broken the law this week alone?"

"That's true, but I did it for the sake of the case. You got that ticket because you don't know how to park."

"Hey, don't criticize my driving."

"I can criticize your driving all I want, you almost killed me last time I was in the car alone with you."

Dean couldn't think of anything clever to sat back to her. "There's no reason for being smart about it."

"There's never a reason for being smart about it, I just like doing it. It seems to get on your nerves." She leaned back in her seat and stared at Dean's eyes in the rear view mirror.

"Yea, it does." That wasn't a lie. He really hated the way she would get smart about things. That was one of her worst qualities in his opinion. She purposely just wants to piss me off. I already have my brother for that. I don't need her to do it, either.

Dean parked his car outside the frat house and they all went inside. They were informed of a party the frat boys were throwing and they needed to be there.

Sam and Sarah stayed off to the side as the party raged on. Neither of them were too fond of the crowds or loud music. They focused on the case while the music sounded. The two were even able to figure out some interesting things. Dean, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his life. He went up to his brother. "Man, you've been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!"

"This wasn't really my experience," Sam admitted.

"Let me guess - library, studying, straight As."

Sam nodded. That was what he preferred. Partying wasn't his number one priority when it came to college. He was there to learn.

"What a geek."

"Don't worry, Sam. I don't blame you. This is just, just awful." Sarah crossed her arms and kept close to herself and Sam. She was truly uncomfortable with amount of people that surrounded her. She would do anything to get out of that house.

"No," Dean disagreed. "This is wonderful." He tapped Sam in the chest. "Did you do your homework?"

Sam pulled out his paper. "Yeah, it was bugging me, right. So, how is the hookman tied with Lori? I think we came up with something."

Dean didn't want everyone at the party to see what they were doing. He led Sam and Sarah off to the side so they can talk more privately. Dean read the papers that Sam had handed him out loud. "'1932 - Clergyman arrested for murder. 1967 - Seminarian held in hippie rampage."

"There's a pattern here," Sam pointed out. "In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality and then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force, killings carried out - get this - with a sharp instrument."

"What's the connect to Lori?"

"A man of religion who openly preaches against immorality."

Dean was still confused.

I don't have time for this. "Her father," Sarah spat out.

"Oh."

"Except this time instead of saving the whole town, he's trying to save his only daughter," Sam added.

Dean looked down. "Reverend Sorenson. Do you think he's summoning the spirit?"

"Maybe. Or you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?"

"The spirit latches onto the Reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them. Yeah, okay." Dean liked it. It was the best theory they had so far.

"Without the Reverend ever even knowing it."

"Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight."

Sam nodded. "What about you?"

Dean glanced at a young blonde woman inside the house. He wanted so desperately to ask that girl out, but for some reason, he felt like he would be betraying Sarah. He shook his head. "I'm gonna go see if I can find that unmarked grave." He started walking away before anyone could try and stop him.

Sarah ran to catch up with him, leaving Sam behind. She knew exactly what Dean secretly wanted. She didn't like it, but she had no reason to. They weren't together. He should sleep with whoever he wanted to. "Hey, Dean. I can find the grave. You can stay and flirt with whoever would be dumb enough to sleep with you."

"Wow, um, thanks for the offer," he chuckled slightly. "No, the case is more important. You gonna come with me?"

At first, she didn't want to. Going meant being alone with Dean. Who knows what could happen? I'll probably do something really stupid. But she had to go. Her other option was staying at the party and that was even less appealing. "Yeah, sure."

Sarah sat in the front seat and Dean drove. They didn't talk much. An awkward wall was put between them.

Dean swallowed hard. "So, you, uh, you didn't seem too comfortable at that party."

Sarah shifted in her seat. "I don't like crowds, especially ones filled with a bunch of drunk college kids."

"What is your problem with college kids?" Dean wondered.

"I don't have a problem with them."

"Yes, you do. Ever since we came here you've been complaining about the students."

Sarah stared out the window. "I don't know. Something about them just bothers me. Everything they do seems to annoy me. It's like they are presented with this gigantic opportunity and they blow it off by going to parties and getting into trouble. They don't know how lucky they are. Me and you, we didn't get that option. This is our life. Something we're stuck with. They can do whatever they want with their lives. They should realize that."

Dean was surprised. Sarah wasn't a personal, trusting kind of person. This was a huge step in their friendship. "You didn't exactly get a choice either?"

"No, not really." That wasn't one hundred percent true, but Sarah wasn't going to tell him that. That was enough personal information for now. "I started training to be a hunter when I was a kid. It was kinda a family thing."

"Me and Sam, too. Sam was able to get out, but I had to drag him back in. I guess once you're in, you're in."

Sarah finally looked at Dean. "Yeah." Sadness struck her like a knife. Her parents got out and they wanted her out, too, but that wasn't going to happen. Dean was right. Once you're in, it's a life sentence.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Dean had so many questions for this mystery girl, but decided against asking them. He could see that she was lost in thought about something and wasn't exactly in the mood for talking. Maybe one day she'll tell him everything, but that day wasn't today.

Eventually, they found the cemetery. They searched the tombstones without speaking. It took them awhile, but they found a grave with the symbol that was carved into the wall in the sorority bedroom. That had to be it.

Sarah and Dean started digging the grave. The only sound was the shovels hitting the ground. It started to get awkward again and Sarah couldn't take it anymore. "So." Don't say something stupid. Don't say something stupid. "Have you ever been in a serious relationship?" That was something stupid.

"What?" Dean stopped digging, surprised she would even ask such a question.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She struck the ground once again. "Just trying to make conversation." She refused to look at him, too embarrassed to keep eye contact.

"No, uh, it's fine." The question caught him off guard. "No, I've never been in one."

"Neither have I," she replied casually. "I always thought hunters can't fall in love, like it was against their religion or something. Relationships like that just can't happen. But then I look at my parents. They're weird, I guess. They met on a case and got married two years later. Strange how things work out."

"Yeah, strange." Dean leaned against his shovel. "Why do you ask?"

"Like I said, just making conversation."

Dean wanted to stop the conversation right there, but couldn't. He let another question slip out. "Do you want a relationship?"

Sarah hesitated, but continued digging. "No. They're too dangerous in this world."

"But what about your parents?"

"They got lucky. I never was full of luck. I'm quite the opposite, actually."

"I see." Dean then continued to dig with her. "So, who was it?"

"Who was what?"

"Who was it that died that made you despise relationships so much?"

This conversation had taken an unexpected turn. "Still not gonna tell you."

"Why not? We've now worked two cases together. I'm guessing it's the same person you mentioned last time. You can tell me."

She sighed deeply from her chest. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on. It's okay-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Sarah snapped. Dean had pushed her, something he told her last case he said he wasn't going to do. She dropped her shovel. "I - I need a break." She hopped out of the hole they had dug and walked about thirty to forty feet away from him. Sarah just desperately needed to get away from Dean. This was why she didn't want relationships. They get personal too quick and she always ended up getting hurt.

She wiped a tear from her cheek at the thought of her lost loved one. She looked up to the sky and asked that person to help her stay strong and to help her get through this case. That's when she decided that this was the last case she was going to work with Sam and Dean. Just a few days together and her heart gets broken. She just couldn't put up with that for as long as they want her to.

Dean knew he messed up, but he didn't know how to fix it. He was never good at the touchy feely kind of stuff. He didn't follow her. He just kept digging, figuring that it would be better to finish the digging on his own. She needed space and Dean had no problem giving it to her. He was like that too. When he was upset, he would leave people behind and be alone. He did call her over when he hit something.

Sarah took a deep breath and walked back over to him. Pull yourself together. It's almost over. "Did you hit it?"

"Yeah." Dean used all his strength and smashed through the wood of the casket. "Hello, preacher."

Sarah offered a hand to Dean. He was in a pretty deep hole and she thought it was only right to at least help him out. She tried to ignore the rough texture of his hand. His touch was pleasant.

"Thanks." Dean went to his bag and pulled out his can of salt, box of matches, and can of fuel. He wanted to make sure this guy burned. He dumped all of the salt, making sure he covered the bones completely. Then he squirted the lighter fluid. He finally lit a match. "Goodbye, preacher." Dean dropped the match.

The bones lit quickly, sending flames straight up. Both Sarah and Dean watched the fire burn the remains of Jacob Karns.

"Sarah, I'm-" Dean started.

She lifted her hand, stopping him. "Don't. Just let it go."

"But-"

"Please," she begged.

"Okay."

Sarah just wanted to get off the subject, forget the words that either of them said. She waited a few minutes to let the bones burn. "Should we call Sam? Tell him we found it?"

Dean swallowed hard. He felt that he should apologize, but she wouldn't let him. His mishap was going to weigh heavy on his mind. "Yeah, I'll call him." Dean grabbed his phone, but it started ringing. He answered and put it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Dean. The hookman came after the Reverend." Sam was panting heavily.

"What? We burned the bones."

"Listen, I can't talk. I have to go to the hospital with Lori. Meet me there." Sam didn't wait for a response from either Dean or Sarah. He hung up quickly.

"Sam? Hello?"

"Dean, we have to get to that hospital."


A/N: Hopefully you all liked this chapter. The song is Paranoid by the Jonas Brothers. (Don't judge me haha)