Chapter 9: Don't Look Under the Bed

A young four year old boy wearing Corduroy Bear pajama's, was sitting in his room reading the latest superhero comic. His lamp was on, even though his mother told him light's out about five times. He was afraid of the dark and so the only way to make him fall asleep was to keep the lights on and read a comic book. The boy was extremely fascinated by this story, but something kept him alert and unable to sleep.

"Listen to me my sweet boy, you should always listen to your mother. It is time to go to bed now!" He thought it was his mother again, but he knew it wasn't her because she was probably taking a hot bath blasting Michael Buble. He was scared, so he ran outside the hallway.

"Mom!" It was eerily quiet. "Mom!" He checked her room and was right. His mother was in the bathroom, the light was on and steam was swirling through the bedroom. You could hear Michael Buble's sweet melodic voice singing "Sway." He ran back to his room, closed his door and hid under his bed. He was frightened and knew he needed to go to sleep, so he grabbed his book once more. He heard a scratching underneath his bed, he hesitated but finally looked to see if anything was there. Nothing was there, but all of a sudden he saw something, he saw death and screamed his last sounds.

Jacob was listening to a message from someone he hasn't heard from in a very long time. He was actually quite shocked to hear this woman because it was someone from his vessel's past. Someone he thought he wouldn't have heard from in a long time, someone who he knows if she called it was something important. They were parked on grass in the middle of a beach town, overlooking the ocean, the last supposed killing of Lucifer. Stephanie and Celine were chatting it up, Adam noticed that Jacob was in shock, he grabbed a beer and headed his way.

"You alright man?" Adam asked, handing him the Corona.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing it's just looks like you have just seen a ghost."

"Ghost, no ghost. But I might have a job."

"Really, great! So those two look pretty chummy together."

"Yeah never thought I'd live to see the day."

"Right, well should we tell them?"

"Go ahead I'm going to finish this beer and take all this in."

"Alright." Adam walked away and put his arms up. "Hey pack the car, Jacob found us a job." Stephanie and Celine got up right away, and they were off to Washington. Jacob pulled up to a house, a house he hasn't been to in over four years. It was a beautiful storybook house overlooking the beautiful Puget Sound. It was one of those houses you would find in a fairytale picture book.

"Wow, nice house." Stephanie announced. "So what did you say these people did?"

"I didn't."

"Right, probably real estate and doctor? They live close to the hospital."

"Why are you so interested in what these people do? And what makes you think it's a couple?" Stephanie was frightened at Jacob's hostility.

"Jeez, I only assumed it was a couple because they lost their child and I'm only interested in this family because they called you on your personal phone. I have never seen you use that thing since I have known you."

"That's because it is not my personal phone." Celine and Adam began unloading the trunk noticing the argument about to surface.

"It's your vessel's phone?"

"Yes Stephanie it's my vessel's phone, do you have a problem with that?"

"NO! But I don't think we should take this case, maybe we should call Sam and Dean."

"That boy's grandmother called me asking for my help, we aren't going to call the Winchesters when things get a little complicated. Because guess what Stephanie this entire situation is complicated! I am an angel, this is my vessel's family, you come from a long line of hunter's, Adam who has been stuck in Lucifer's cage for the past four years is in love with a half demon who can switch off her humanity with a blink of an eye!" Jacob was upset, stressed out, Stephanie has never seen him like this before. "So yeah things are going to get a little complicated around here, news flash Stephanie this isn't a perfect happy go lucky life you signed up for anymore!" Stephanie was now pissed off at that last comment and walked away, Celine could tell she was upset and followed.

"Hey what the hell was that?"

"Sorry, I'm just a little bit freaked out right now. It's been four years since Jacob Pastor has walked through those doors, four years since he has left that family alone, four years since he left his unborn child to be taken care of alone by his wife." Adam looked up at Jacob in shock, in complete awe, this is the most he has known about Jacob since they met. He looked behind Jacob at the house to see a beautiful brunette angel opening the door. She had long brown hair, piercing blue eyes and a body of a dancer, Adam was in awe of her beauty.

"Jacob!? Jacob, is that you?" She recognized the blue mustang and knew it was her high school sweetheart right away, he turned around. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Allison, please just hear me!"

"Tell me is Jacob even in there anymore? Or are you just the so-called angel that took over his existence?" He couldn't answer. "Ha, your just as speechless as you were when you destroyed my family's life by stealing my husband's body without my consent! God why are you guys even called angels, when all you do is ruin people's lives." She slammed the door, but Jacob put his hand in the way so that she couldn't close it all the way.

"I'm not here to ruin your life more than I already have. I'm just here to help figure out what killed our son."

"He is not your son, he is mine and Jacob's son." She widened the door so that Adam and Jacob could come inside. The house looked like a huge mess, it seemed like there has been huge amounts of people in here recently. There were open baking dishes of casseroles, bowls of stews, and plenty of pies and appetizers to last them a few days. Jacob noticed Allison was wearing all black, they must've just had the funeral today. An old Irish folk song was playing in the background, probably picked by her grandmother.

It was forty degrees out and extremely foggy in this small town near the bay of Puget Sound. Stephanie had been walking for about fifteen minutes and they already reached downtown. She was furious and tried to find someplace to blow off steam; batting cages, a bar, something. But of course she wasn't twenty-one and no bar was going to let her drink even if she begged for it. Celine was getting restless and wanted Stephanie to stop walking so fast.

"Stephanie, please why don't we go somewhere to sit down and talk about this?"

"No, I don't want to talk about Jacob, he is a piece of shit scumbag!" There was a young family with a five year old child nearby as she said that, the mother covered her daughter's ears.

"Sorry, she's on her period." Celine whispered. "I'm sure he didn't mean it Stephanie! Maybe he's just upset about this case, I mean it is pretty upsetting." Stephanie realized she just walked past the perfect place to blow off some steam for a girl her age, a calming coffee shop. Celine didn't see Stephanie go into the coffee shop until she walked past it, Stephanie was ordering a coffee and a muffin, the barista was very attractive and she was being very flirtatious. "Stephanie are you seriously doing this right now?"

"Coffee calms me down, so yes I am doing this right now. Do you want anything?"

"No thanks. What is going on between you and Jacob?"

"Nothing, but clearly there is something going on with Jacob because he was clearly out of hand back there."

"Stephanie, I'm sure this wasn't about you. He's probably just upset that he couldn't save this four year old child."

"No Celine that isn't the case, there is something else going on. I mean did you see how defensive he got when I mentioned his personal phone?"

"No I didn't notice that." The barista handed her the coffee and muffin.

"This place is obviously important to his vessel and I'm going to figure out what that is!"

"Even if it means ruining a great relationship?"

"Well that didn't stop you when we were in Arizona!" Celine was completely taken aback at that last comment. "So when are you going to tell Adam you are in love with him?" She looked down at the ground disappointed because she knew there was no way she could tell Adam that. "That's right, so you have no authority to talk to me about relationships."

Back at the house Adam and Jacob were sitting there pondering as Allison stared at them with her striking blue eyes. It was dead silent and there was no sign of movement, except for Allison's mother who was trying to make this place look somewhat clean. Allison stared down at Jacob like he was scum, vermin, something to swat away with her bare hands. Adam felt the tension in the air and wanted to break the silence, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily Allison's mother had plenty to say.

"So have you two had anything to eat? Would you like a beer or something." She stood in the middle of the room with a plastic trash bag admiring the angel and his comrade. "Oh right you're an angel, you probably don't drink beer. We have iced tea, do angels even eat? They must eat?"

"I'm actually not that hungry, but I will take you up on that beer."

"I'm actually quite hungry and very thirsty, we just traveled a long way." Adam said feeling like he was unnoticed.

"Right well Allison give the man some food. We have enough food in here to feed an army for two months at least." The grandmother was very petite, but had a powerful voice, one that was always heard. She was one of those grandmother's that always got what she wanted whenever she asked, sometimes she didn't even have to ask. Allison walked away scoffing at her mother and Jacob. "So Adam right, where are you from?"

"Ohio."

"Did you travel from Ohio?"

"No we traveled from New Hampshire, we were on a case." Jacob hit Adam upside his head.

"Oh sounds interesting, is it just the two of you?"

"No actually we are with two other girls. See Stephanie got into a fight with Jacob and walked off."

"Do those girls normally walk off on their own?"

"Yeah, but they always come back." Allison came back with some pie and beer. "Thank you."

"So you said there were two girls, Stephanie and?"

"Celine… Celine Kane. She is a feisty one, much like Stephanie, but once you get to know her you'll understand her ways."

"I'd say you are in love with this Celine Kane."

"Oh no ma'am I could never, we're just good friends."

"Sorry mother, but I don't think these boys want to chit chat about the girls they are traveling and doing God knows what else with them. I think they should look in Aston's room, to figure out what killed him." Allison's mother froze, she still isn't over the death of her grandson.

"Right well maybe later we can talk about how you plan on telling Celine you are in love with her. I'll show you up to his room." Allison still stared at Jacob. "So you two are just going to take a look and get out of here, I don't want you in this house for very long."

"Allison, you are being very rude to our guests. They are only trying to help, Aston was Jacob's…"

"Don't say the word I know you are about to say! That is not Jacob mother, you and I both know that." Allison left the room angry to grab a smoke.

"Sorry about my daughter, this death has been hard on her, on all of us…" She opened the door to the little boy's room, the rug still had blood stains. "I was going to take that thing to the cleaners but I haven't had a whole lot of time, with the funeral and everything. I appreciate all your help, I just want this to be put to rest, for all our sakes. Now I will be in town to run some errands, you know my cell if you need anything." With that the poor old woman left in tears and the boy's were off to work. They got out there EMFs and searched for sulfur and hex bags, anything out of the ordinary, from scratches on the walls to leaky roofs. Adam was by the window sill and there was no sign of anything, the boy's room seemed completely normal except for the blood which stained the red and blue carpet. There was one more place to look and that was underneath the boy's bed, where he was supposedly taken.

"So anything?" Jacob just bent down using a flash light to see if there were any scratches.

"A few scratches like the police report said, but nothing supernatural."

"Should I call the girls, see what they are up to."

"Yeah…" Jacob did one more run-through as Adam hesitated to call.

"Are you alright Jacob?"

"Yeah why do ask?"

"Well this is your vessel's son and family, this must hurt, knowing that you…"

"That I what? Ruined their life? You don't think it kills me every day that, that child never grew up with a child?"

"I wasn't saying anything. It's just if you knew it was going to ruin their life then why didn't you choose a different vessel?"

"I was under attack by my family I needed to find a vessel fast, I didn't have time to do a background check on their family. I couldn't switch to a different vessel because then there would've been no reason for me to take the body, he would just end up a corpse."

"I just have one more question, why did you keep his name if taking his body hurt so much?"

"Weren't you going to call the girls?" Adam looked down at his phone, tapped it on his hands and left Jacob alone.

Four Years Ago…

There were flashes of light everywhere, it was pouring rain, trees were flying around in the middle of the streets, street lights were flickering. Pregnant Allison and Jacob were hiding in a closet, scared for their lives. They turned their heads left and right, it was almost as if the bright flashes of light were attacking them. Allison had a bloody cut on her forehead, Jacob's chest was bleeding badly.

"Jacob, we need to get you to a hospital?"

"No I need to go outside to see if my people are safe!" They heard screams everywhere, human screams and loud high-pitched screams that only dogs would be able to hear. Jacob slowly walked outside to his tortured home, glass was shattered everywhere and walls were falling down. Jacob limped out to the street, now drenched in water, sweat and blood. "Please stop this madness!" There were neighbors lying on the ground with their eyes ripped out of their sockets, and chests bleeding. "Take me! Just stop this and take me!" Allison slowly headed outside as she got to the door something took her husband. A beam of light went right through his chest, Jacob was staring at the sky as if he had seen God as if he was healed. Allison was confused and stood in her doorframe, finally after about ten seconds the light went out and she saw something. She saw shadow of angel wings, but she didn't want to believe it was that and ran outside to see if her husband was alright.

"Jacob, talk to me please talk to me! Are you alright?" She held him like a baby, but there was no answer. "Jacob please!"

"Jacob isn't here anymore!" The angel that took over Jacob's body pushed the hurt pregnant woman to the ground. He didn't care about who she was or the fact that she was six months pregnant. He just got up and walked away without a care in the world. "It's better this way!"

Present…

"So did you guys find anything?" Celine asked Adam on the phone as she stepped out of the run down motel, into the rain.

"Nope nothing that can help us." Adam was now standing outside leaning on the white picket fence.

"Really nothing, no signs of EMF, sulfur… hex bags?"

"Nothing besides the blood stained rug and scratches underneath the bed."

"Just like the report. So what do you think?"

"I think this might be a case for the police to handle but…"

"But we're continuing for Jacob…"

"Yup, so how's Stephanie?"

"Well, she had me buy a twenty dollar book with money that I didn't have, a burger with a side of fries and apple pie. Hopefully the book will calm her down and the food less cranky."

"So where are you guys now?"

"At a motel on eighth street."

"Well I think we are going to meet you two up soon."

"Ok sounds good."

"Hey, Celine."

"Yeah?" Celine was wondering what else he could possibly have to say.

"Your good right?"

"Yeah of course." With that they hung up and went back inside. They were all back at the motel trying to think of a plan, Stephanie was glaring at Jacob, he was honestly so fed up with everybody staring at him. Celine and Adam kept looking at each other figuring out how they should break the silence. "So, Jacob do you have any idea what could've killed Aston?" He didn't answer.

"Well I think Celine and I should go to the station look at the reports to see if there is something we missed. Stephanie you should stay here with Jacob to see if you can find anything in my journal about missing children and beds." With that they rushed out of their grabbing their coats and all the keys, locking the door on the inside. Stephanie tried to escape but it was too late, she searched the table tops to see if there were any extra keys.

"Dammit! I can't believe they did that!"

"You know what they are trying to do right?"

"Yeah I know exactly what they are trying to do." She sat next to the bed flipping through the journal, but couldn't concentrate. She continued to stare at Jacob, wondering what was possibly wrong with him "Can you at least say something." She was tapping her foot. "I mean you are just sitting there in silence, you haven't even said sorry."

"Sorry, you want me to say sorry! Sorry for being a jerk! I don't think I was being a jerk, Stephanie, I was just telling the truth!"

"Yes I want you to apologize, I feel like you have been trying to make my life a living hell since I met you!" They voices were so loud the people staying next door could probably hear their arguments.

"Really because I thought I was just trying to protect you! I have been protecting you since the moment your father walked out on you, your mother, and your brother!"

"What?"

"I have been watching you for over eight years! I know where you won your first volleyball match, who your first kiss was, when you started to think of Jordan as more than a friend!" What they didn't know is that Max was standing in their room watching them.

"He didn't mention dad?" He looked very disappointed.

"I am pissed off at you because it's easier to be mad at you than to be madly in love with you."

"What?"

"And there's the bombshell, I think this is where he sleeps with my sister. So I should probably go." He was no longer there.

"I love you Stephanie Cruz, I have been in love with you for the past eight years. But I can't, I can't be in love with you because I am an angel and you are a hunter's girl. It is forbidden."

"Hold on I'm still confused on how you have known me for the past eight years."

"I was sent here to Earth to be your protector, but when I started to have feelings with you my family got pissed off and banished me back to the hell whole called Heaven. I ran away or rather flew away back down to Earth, where Jacob was unfortunately in the perfect position for me to steal his life away." Stephanie looked flabbergasted, confused and in awe at what he was saying. All she wanted to do was kiss him, but knew that it would be awful timing. "Stephanie, are you just going to stare or say something?"

"You love me?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious, Celine and Adam seemed to catch on pretty quickly." She walked up closer to Jacob, wrapping her arms around him.

"Well then there's something I should tell you." They stared into each other's eyes and kissed. They bit each other's lips, took their clothes off and plopped on the bed. They slowly took each article of clothing one by one, Stephanie was on top of Jacob until he turned her over. Max was watching from outside extremely pissed off and annoyed at the two of them. He knows this can never work out and that Jacob is just going to hurt his sister just as he did with Allison.

Allison was outside screaming at her poor mother, makeup ran down her face, it looked like she had been crying for hours. She went back inside slamming the door in front of her mother's face. The weather was exactly like the night Jacob left them, storming and trees banging on windows about to rip away from its roots. Jacob and Stephanie were now naked covered by their blankets, fast asleep, dreaming.

Twenty-Two Years Ago…

Young Jacob was lying in bed scared to death and unable to sleep, it was a stormy night and he could never sleep when there was a storm. Tree branches tapped on the window, looking like an old woman's hand on the wall in front of Jacob. He was frightened and turned on his desk lamp, his mother came into check on him.

"Jacob it is way past your bed time, I am going to need you to turn off the light." The blonde woman in her early forties kissed the young red-head's forehead. "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite!" She clicked off the light and closed the door behind her. Jacob heard more tapping and hid in his closet.

"Listen to me my sweet boy, you should always listen to your mother. It is time to go to bed now!" The closet door flew open, Jacob was being dragged to the bed with nothing to pull on. He tried scratching the floor, but it didn't help the force was too strong, but finally he was able to hold onto his chair. He looked at a picture of his mother keeping him strong and able to pull himself out from under the bed. He was screaming and just in time his mother came back inside, he barely made it.

Present…

Jacob woke up from a memory of his vessel's past, this was the first time his vessel tried to reach out for him. He knew exactly what to do, Celine and Adam were still gone, it was pretty late. He packed his duffle bag of guns and knives, taking one look at the sleeping beauty. Allison had just taken a shower, she wasn't tired yet, so she grabbed a newspaper to fill out the crossword. She felt as if there was something eerie going on because it was too silent, even with the storm going on outside. The tree tapping on the window scared her, reminding her of the night her son died, she went to see if her mother was alright.

"Mom! Mom!" She turned the corner, there was no sign of struggle so she went back to her room. She turned off her light, lying down, facing away from the window.

"Listen to me my sweet girl, you should always listen to your mother. It is time to go to bed now!" She was frightened and turned the light back on, she screamed at the top of her lungs. She was spooked by the hooded old hag standing above her, it opened its mouth, it's breath smelling like an expired piece of meat that has been sitting out in the hot sun for weeks. She tried to get away, but the thing grabbed her shirt, scratching her arm. Allison got off the bed, but the pull of the monster was too strong. Suddenly a flash of orange light lit up the dimly lit room, Allison widened her eyes. Jacob was standing behind the monster stabbing it with a demon hunting knife. It disappeared into thin air, Allison was in shock, her mother came running in the room wondering what the hell happened.

Back at the motel Stephanie woke up, hardly breathing, she turned around to see that Jacob wasn't at her side. She began to freak out and called Celine right away, she was pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. Celine was at the library sleeping on a bunch of old wives tales. Adam was propped up by his hand, mouth wide open almost falling on top of Celine. Celine woke up incompetent, looking for her phone, recognizing the call was from Stephanie right away.

"Stephanie! What's wrong, what's the matter?"

"It's Jacob, he's not here?"

"What?"

"I mean he isn't in the motel room. I woke up frightened and noticed he wasn't here!"

"Ok Steph, calm down! We'll be there soon!" Stephanie was holding her breath in tears, Celine got up and hit Adam on the head. "Get up! Jacob is missing." He was groggy, but he understood that they needed to leave. Jacob was now sitting in the living room with Allison who was drinking tea, her mother was on the phone with Adam.

"What the hell was that thing?"

"That was a poltergeist."

"A poltergeist?" Allison's mother came walking in.

"Yeah this one happened to like to feed on children who didn't listen to their mother's." Allison looked up at Jacob, knowing what he was insinuating.

"Well at least that thing is put away and out of our misery! It is gone right?"

"Yes, it is where it belongs now."

It was now morning; there was still a little chill in the air, but the storm had passed, it was still cold enough for their noses and ears to be red. Stephanie, Celine, Adam, and Jacob were getting ready to leave as the case was over. Stephanie was packing the gun's in the trunk, Jacob was watching Allison as she was talking to Celine and Adam. Everything seemed alright as Allison smiled at one of Adam's horrible jokes, they kept eyeing each other.

"Now I packed you some macaroni and cheese, made some sandwiches, and put a few brownies in there for the road. There is also some hot chocolate with marshmallows in the mugs for you, that should stay warm for a few hours."

"Oh Miss Weston you didn't need to do that for us!"

"Oh Adam it was no trouble at all, I was wondering how I was going to get rid of some of this food, it should hold you over for your next travels wherever that may be."

"Minnesota." Adam replied. "I just got off the phone with Dean, he said there might be something in Minnesota for us."

"Right, wow you guys do travel a lot. Does it ever get boring?"

"With the right tunes and people it makes the long days of traveling on the road a little bearable." Adam smiled, winking at Celine.

"Right and you must be Celine, I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to get to talk. Adam here has told me wonderful things about you."

"Really?"

"Yes, Celine do you have a moment? I would actually love to talk to you."

"Sure." Misses Weston took Celine aside, Adam was wondering what exactly they could be talking about right now.

"Jacob can I talk to you alone also?" Stephanie watched the pretty girl, who used to be married to Jacob's vessel.

"Yeah."

"I'll just pack up the car myself then." Adam commented as Stephanie kept a keen eye on Jacob and Allison.

"So that girl, that's Stephanie?"

"Yes."

"She's beautiful and she seems to have a crush on you."

"Yes, I know and it is more than a crush."

"Do you have a crush on her?"

"I can't."

"But you do?"

"Like I said I can't."

"Why is there some unspoken rule saying that angels and humans can't be together?"

"Angels and hunters, demons and humans, there's a whole book on what supernatural creatures can mate with actually. It is very interesting."

"Does Stephanie know this?"

"She knows that we can't be together."

"But she doesn't know that if you two sleep together God might smite you?" He began to have flashbacks of what happened last night.

"No." Jacob put more things in the car, trying to not be a part of this conversation anymore. Stephanie was quietly watching Jacob and Allison sipping some hot chocolate on the porch. Adam was watching Celine talking to Misses Weston, they seemed to be having a great conversation as they were laughing and smiling a lot.

"Can I give you some advice?" She pondered at the body of her long lost husband. "Don't break her heart." With that the car was packed and everybody hugged each other one last time. Jacob sat in the front seat, fixed his mirrors, and blasted some Metallica. Allison and her mother waved one last goodbye to the four of them, Max was watching all of it happen before him.

"One road traveled many more to go…"

Lucifer was somewhere underground watching a bowl filled with water, this bowl filled with water showed every step that the four hunters were taking. He watched Jacob drive off into the long winding road to Hell. Lucifer and his right hand man, the same one who Celine had relations with when she was a demon, stared at the bowl in disgust.

"So what now?" The young demon asked.

"Now, we go to Minnesota… It is time." He flicked a burning wick in the water, flames bursted into the air warming their faces.