Sam was sitting in the corner of the nice room they were in, his foot was sitting on his knee leaving his leg partially crossed. He had his laptop in front of him as he sat in the comfortable armchair.
"Who would have sent that letter?" He questioned to no one in particular.
Dean was sitting on the end of the bed cleaning his gun, his eyes intent on what he was doing.
"There's no telling." He muttered back as he checked the barrel of his gun.
Sam shook his head, his brother was no help, but he knew that Dean was thinking about it in his own way. He began to run the information about Mercy through his mind. They knew that she made her living by appraising supernatural artifacts and that she has lived for over one-hundred years, at least. But, what else did they know about her? She had a longer story to tell and he knew that. She only talked about the first twenty-five years of her own life, but what about her eternity so far?
"Dean, I feel like she hasn't told us something." He said as he closed his laptop and looked over to his brother.
Dean was just staring down at his gun now, the gears in his head were turning and Sam could see that.
She had to have had something go wrong in her life that has caused some sort of retaliation against her.
"Someone wants her taken care of." He muttered as he looked over his gun once more. There had to be more of an explanation and he was going to find out.
"If we're going to be involved in this, I need more information. I'm not going to risk our necks for some vampire who created her own problems." Dean said harshly, getting tired of being in this small town with no other leads than some vampire chick who is acting all high and mighty as if she owned the town. "I need something." He stood after putting his gun back together and putting it at the small of his back.
"Well, don't go doing anything stupid." Sam called after him as he watched his brother leave the room.
Dean threw on his jacket and walked down the street, his hands tucked neatly in his pocket. He soon noticed their favorite undead woman and followed after her. She was wearing a pair of bellbottom jeans, a bell sleeved shirt, as well as a pair of wedges and a sun hat. Mercy was often seen around town, day and night, but she was always covered up as much as she could be. Even if the sun was something she could be in, she felt nothing but the burning of her skin if she was out too long without being covered. Mercy quickly caught Dean's scent, but she didn't let on that she knew he was there. He continued to trail after her, leaving a distance between them so as not to give himself away. He seemed to forget that once a vampire catches someone's scent they can track it for life. Mercy turned the corner and walked into the local butcher, her white teeth revealed as she smiled at the butcher.
"Hello there, Markus." She greeted cheerily. It was always a good day when she was out shopping, she usually received a fresh stock of blood. "The usual please."
"Why, of course!" He said happily as he began to pull meat from the glass case and pack it up for her. He moved to the back room and brought a few wine bottles filled with a dark liquid and bagged those up for her as well.
Dean watched wearily through the window, realizing this was the man that was supplying her with her blood. Was she having him do her dirty work or was it animal blood? He would need to ask him a few questions.
"By the way, there is a hunter out there watching what we are doing right now. If he has any questions, just answer them honestly. I don't want anything happening to you on account of a misunderstanding." Mercy said as she paid for her groceries and left, giving the butcher a little wave as she walked out the door. Markus looked over toward the window and saw a man walking toward the door while watching Mercy walk out. She tried to make her time in the sun as short as she could, so she headed directly for her home.
"How can I help you today?" Markus asked, his blue eyes focused on Dean.
Dean approached and saw the man a little more clearly now, the lettering on the windows and Mercy had blocked his view of him previously. He had thick dark hair and a clean shaven face - he looked like an upstanding citizen.
"I was just wondering about the young woman who was in here a few minutes ago." Dean answered as he approached the counter by the register.
"Ah, she said someone would come around asking questions." Markus started as he leaned against the counter. "What do you want to know?"
Dean looked perplexed for a moment and then it was like someone had turned on a light in his brain. She obviously knew he was following her, he should have known better.
"Well, I saw you giving her a supply of blood. Where does it come from?"
"That's animal blood. We get animals in that we slaughter for people and the blood would generally go to waste. We have a vampire in town who is more than willing to take care of that for us though."
"So, you know she's a vampire, then?"
"Yeah. We have all kinds of strange people here in town. But, most everyone here is harmless."
"So, no one is out killing people or anything like that?"
"Well, no. Not that I've noticed anyway. The people in this town come here to get away from life in the rest of the world, they try to live as peacefully as they can."
"But, you all still have problems from time to time, don't you?"
"It has been some time since we had any issues here. The people here are usually pretty quick to take care of it. We like our peace and quiet."
"I see." Dean said, still a little baffled by how a town like this could exist.
"We haven't seen any hunters here for business in awhile. Well, not for hunting type business anyway. They come in from time to time to ask about different objects and such, but that's about it." Markus soon added as he noticed Dean's expression.
"Well, thanks for the cooperation." He said, tapping the counter with his fingers for a moment before turning to leave. He made it half way to the door before he turned and looked at the butcher, who had yet to take his eyes off Dean.
"So, are you human or…?" He trailed off. Markus merely smiled and looked down a moment. Dean could tell that the man was debating whether or not to tell him.
"I'm a werewolf, but I haven't harmed a soul in awhile." He said with a smile on his face. Dean felt that there was something else to this man, but he simply nodded his head and left.
After Dean had left his shop, Markus's face dropped into a grimace and his eyes were less cheerful. He walked to the back and growled under his breath. He disliked hunters, but he disliked vampires even more. He hated serving some of the people here, but he just had to wait a little longer before he made his move. He paced back and forth for a moment before walking to the front door, flipping the sign from "open" to "closed". Markus walked into the back room and to his office, a little more agitated than usual. The sight of hunters and vampires being in so much contact with one another annoyed him, Mercy talking to him like she owned the place angered him. She needed to be taught a lesson.
Markus wasn't always this way. As a natural werewolf, he was born into a family of werewolves who have been around for generations. They kept to themselves for a long time, until one of his relatives was murdered by a vampire. His family was a pack and they were always together. Every time they told stories, there was one story that always came up and it was to teach the children the family history, but it was also to teach them to hate vampires. At least, to hate a very specific vampire. Markus was more loving toward everyone when he was younger, until he heard this story over and over again. Markus's great uncle had a few children, but one was particularly loved by his father. They entered into their twenties and his father was beginning to settle down with a family while some of the other young ones were traveling, learning about the world and finding mates for themselves as well. His father's cousin fell in love with a woman who had been alive for quite sometime, turns out she was a vampire. The story he was told ended in tragedy - his father's beloved cousin was killed by this vampire for no reason other than she wanted him dead. She was done with him and had no use for him anymore. This story taught him that no one could be trusted, that he needed to hate those different than him and he has never been told differently. Markus's siblings and parents felt the same way as well. He decided, instead of finding a mate, that he would hunt down the woman responsible. His family told him this vampire was named Mercy, it was a name they would never forget because she had no mercy on their family.
Markus had kept this all quiet, acting as if he were a perfect member of the community. He made "friends" and even associated himself with Mercy as closely as he could. One day his plan will come to fruition and should lead to the death of the vampire.
"That note should have worked. Most hunters would come in here, kill monsters, and leave. They haven't done that." He growled angrily, his fists clenched until his knuckles were white. He had sent out the tip about a vampire in town that was harming the residents. How could he have known they weren't going to be the shoot first, ask questions later types.
What Markus told Dean was entirely true, every word of it. He even revealed that he wasn't human himself and all the hunter did was turn and walk off. That was something that was bothering him.
He had started throwing stuff around his office, sweeping his arms over his desk and pushing everything off as hard as he could. Markus stopped and breathed heavily for a moment, deciding tonight needed to be the night that he worked to destroy everything Mercy was or would ever be.
After take a few deep breathes and straightening himself up again, he sat down and picked up his phone. Markus hesitated a few moments and then dialed Mercy's number. They had known each other for several years and he acted as if he had fancied her in some way. She answered the phone after looking at the number for a moment, finally remembering who it belonged to.
"Hello?" She said in as nice a voice as she could muster.
"Hi, Mercy!" He said, playing as if he were happy.
"Oh, hi there, Markus. How can I help you?" She asked as she put her groceries away.
"I was wondering, if…" He trailed off, acting as if he were nervous to ask. "If, well, maybe you and I could have dinner this evening? Just us. Together."
Mercy was really good at acting these days. She gave a small giggle over the phone as if she were somewhat excited about the thought.
"Of course! Why don't you come to the house? We can cook together." She said.
"Sounds great!" Markus replied as if he were excited by her answer. After a moment of chatter back and forth about who would hang up first, they were finally off of the phone.
Mercy looked down at her phone after she had hung up and looked around, her face back to its usually dark demeanor. It had been a long time since she had felt anything other than sadness and anger. Sometimes she just didn't feel anything at all unless it was a negative feeling. Her theory was that as she became older, saw those people around her that she loved die, that the ability to feel happy things was removed from her. It was easier to remember the things that hurt rather than the things that lifted her up. Maybe it was because she thought her soul was dead. It's not like she had a vampire teacher to help her understand this after life she had. She sighed, realizing she would have to play at being happy and enjoy his company. Markus wasn't a bad guy, he was really charming, but she just didn't have it in her anymore to entertain the idea of having a date. It wasn't the fact that he wasn't a werewolf either, she had been with one before and he was a wonderful person. Well, he was a great person until he changed. Mercy thought back on the men she had once loved, there were only two in her life and she missed her first love dearly. She sighed again and began to prepare for her dinner date.
[I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I have more that needs to be written and I hope you will continue to follow along with me as it develops! Let's see how this dinner date turns out for Markus and Mercy. Will Dean and Sam have to intervene? Find out in chapter 4!]
