A/N: It bears repeating I own nothing except a couple of moody cats. But if I did…..
Also constructive criticism is always welcome. Aaaaand GO!
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X
I know what darkness means
(And the void you left for me)
The isolation stings
(So I think it wants to bleed)
The echoes in my brain
(Of the things you said to me)
You took my everything
Now I'm coming for you
"Won't Back Down"—Fuel
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X
Part Two:
Daddy Knows Best
When Lyssa Winchester was four years old her life changed monumentally. Her father, through sheer force of will, managed to shield her from the worst of it. Like most children her age, she was more resilient than one would think. She readily accepted with innocence and full faith the explanations her father gave. Sometimes they made her sad, like when he told her about her mother and her uncle, but he was always there with open arms.
He bought her a puppy that year, not long after they left Uncle Bobby's house, so she wouldn't be alone when he left sometimes at night. She knew he didn't want to go because he told her so. No, he didn't want to, he had to and sometimes you had to do things you didn't want to, like pick up your toys or take medicine. So he would kiss her and pat the puppy that she named Moon. They would repeat the rules together then he would wait outside the door until he heard her set all the locks. Daddy said nothing would bother her as long as she stayed inside the R.V. because there were special pictures painted on the outside that would scare the monsters away. He taught her all about the monsters.
He also taught her how to read and how to climb trees. They played hide and seek a lot out in the woods. Sometimes Daddy would have to give up cause she hid so good. He'd call dandelion and she'd come running out to him and he would smile.
On Monday's and on Friday's Daddy would have her do karate stuff with him. She liked the karate stuff. She wanted to do it every day like he did but he said she was too little still.
Every now and then Daddy's phone would ring and his eyes would get dark and they would leave wherever they were. Lyssa didn't like it when his eyes were like that. Those were the only times she was afraid.
Two years after they'd left the burning house in the middle of the night her daddy took her trick or treating for the first time.
X x X x X x X x X
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
Lyssa grinned from ear to ear. She'd been bouncing off the walls ever since Sam had explained where they were going. Three days earlier, after much careful consideration, Lyssa had decided to dress as an angel for Halloween. She said it was the scariest thing she could think of.
"Got your bag?"
"Yes sir," she saluted with said bag, which sported a rather large somewhat goofy looking jack-o-lantern.
"Got your flashlight?"
"Aye-firmative."
"Got your iron cross?"
"That's a big ten four." She lifted it out from under her shirt so he could see. Really gonna have to cut her c.b. time down. Sam thought for the umpteenth time that week.
"Got…..your nose!" He said pinching that appendage between his knuckles.
"Da-ddy."
"Okay, Okay." He held up his hands in surrender. "Don't smite me."
"Daddy!"
"Alright. Let's go." Sam picked up his keys and the pistol that was sitting on the counter near the door. He dropped the magazine out and checked to make sure he'd loaded the iron rounds. Satisfied he tapped it twice against his palm, reloaded it and tucked into the small of his back. He never stopped hunting.
Sam parked the Jeep in a public lot in the down town area of Redtree, Oregon. There were kids everywhere. Most were dressed for the occasion. He noted more than a few "Lord of the Rings" costumes in celebration of its 20th anniversary. That would make his job that much more difficult.
They got out and joined the throng of Trick-or-Treaters walking eastward down Main Street. Lyssa pulled him along stopping at every house. She marveled over the decorations and even though he had never really liked Halloween he thought that, looking at everything through her eyes, maybe he could.
As they walked, between the ooh-ing and aah-ing over pumpkins and costumes and everything else, Sam scanned the sea of faces. Tonight's outing had a dual purpose. The first was to fill that ridiculous bag. The second was to try and locate the Fae that had been making off with one kid every Halloween for the last ten years. From what evidence he'd been able to gather it was an elf and not he kind that made cookies in a tree. The steal your kids and kill your cattle kind. Though what this one was doing so far from Ireland was beyond him.
"Daddy, look at that house!" Lyssa hopped up and down pointing ahead. Sam looked. Half a block in front of them there was a small crowd gathered in front of an elaborately decorated house. He cocked an eyebrow.
"You want to go there next don't you?"
She flashed him her best "daddy's little girl" look. "Please?"
"Okay, but only if you hold my hand. That house looks really scary."
She rolled her eyes but held out her hand.
Up close the house was even more impressive. A fog machine blew smoke from between the bushes, spider web hung everywhere, eerie organ music drifted out of the front window. Someone had strategically placed several fake body parts and interactive displays that moved and groaned. Several people dressed in very convincing zombie costumes walked around in the yard lunging at whoever dared to venture up the walk to the porch where a woman dressed as a vampire sat handing out candy. A guy in coveralls and carrying a chainsaw took care of whoever the zombies didn't. Several wide-eyed children stood in a line facing the house, their parents gently coaxing. They all shook their heads and tried to back up.
Lyssa pushed past them pulling Sam with her. Without hesitation she began up the walk. She completely ignored the zombies and she actually shooed the guy wielding the chainsaw out of her way. When she got to the woman on the stairs she dutifully held out her bag.
"Trick-or-Treat!"
"Wow, aren't you brave." The woman laughed.
"Nah, don't have to be 'cause you're not real monsters."
"How do you know leetle girl," The woman said raising her arms and curling her fingers into claws.
"Cause," Lyssa replied leaning in conspiratorially and dropping her voice an octave, "If you were, my daddy would have gotten you already. Kkkkkkktt." She drew her finger across her throat. Her face was so somber Sam nearly choked on the tootsie roll he'd popped into his mouth. The woman stopped laughing. She looked Sam down then up again. Should've shaved, he thought self-consciously and, in retrospect, all black, even on Halloween did tend to make him look… intimidating was almost an understatement.
"Kids huh?" He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. She just stared at him. Eyes like pie plates. "Well, uh, yeah we're just gonna….. Say thank you Lyssa."
"Thank you."
He took Lyssa's hand and led her back down the walk. Gonna have to have a talk about the virtues of discretion.
Half an hour and ten pounds of candy later Lyssa was ready to call it a night. Sam, wanting to drop the bag of candy off, had headed back toward the lot they'd left the Jeep in. He also wanted to take a look inside the park across the street from it.
"Just a little longer ok sweetie I'm looking for…."
"Tommy! Tommy! Oh, where are you? TOMMY!"
"….that." Sam swung Lyssa up into his arms. He jogged across the street.
"Tommy Nielson you come out here right now! RIGHT. NOW." The voice came from behind a small stand of trees. Sam followed the short narrow path to the other side. There he found a young woman hugging herself and trying to look in the windows of a small house. A house in the park?
"Ma'am," He reached into his coat and pulled out a badge, "Officer Ben Burnley. I heard you yelling. Anything I can do?"
"My son, we were trick-or-treating, we stopped at that house up the road. The one with all the decorations? Anyway he didn't want to go up but I wanted to look at something in the yard. When I turned around he was gone. So I started walking back the way we'd come and I swear I saw him turn the corner across the way," she gestured in the direction of the corner that bordered the lot across the street, "So I started calling him but he didn't stop and then I saw him run in here but the doors are locked and he won't answer me."
"Did you see anyone with him? "
"No no-one."
"Did you notice anything strange?"
"Well no I… wait, there were these two kids that followed us around for most of the night. They were dressed kind of like those people from that movie. You know the Lord of something."
Damn. He really hated being right. "Stay here in case he comes out. I have a lock pick kit in my car in that lot over there. I'm going to go get it I'll be right back."
"Oh thank god! Ok. I'll stay."
Sam opened the passenger door and deposited Lyssa on the seat. He leaned across her and reached into the center console.
"What's rule number one?" He asked as he searched for the picks.
"Stay in the car."
"Why?"
"Cause it's warded and God can't even get in."
"Number two?"
"Don't open the doors or windows." He stuffed the picks in his pocket and immediately opened the glove box to look for a flashlight.
"For?"
"Anyone, not even Daddy!" She patted his head and wiggled in the seat.
"Number three?"
"Never forget rules number one or two."
He touched his forehead to hers.
"I'll be back soon. Why don't you color me a picture?"
"Ok. Candy?" She said hopefully.
"Sorry sweetheart not till I check it."
She sighed dramatically.
Sam shut the car door and waited for the click that meant she'd locked it. She flashed him a thumbs up sign then disappeared into the cargo area behind the front seats.
He waved fighting down the sick, panicked, guilty feeling he got every time he left her alone then turned and loped across the street back through the small copse of trees to the little house on the other side. A three quarter moon gave the park beyond it an eerie, ethereal look. Its light slipped like liquid silver over the playground equipment. He shook his head. Yeah there's definitely fae here somewhere.
"Ma'am?" He found her sitting on the stairs that lead up to a small enclosed porch in the front of the house. She stood and laid her hand on his arm.
"Oh, it's Danielle, thank you so much for doing this." He nodded.
"Okay Danielle I want you to go sit over there," he said pointing to a bench several feet away. "I should be back out in a few minutes."
"You're not going in there alone are you? I mean don't you guys usually have back up?"
"Yeah," he lied. "They'll be here soon."
He climbed the stairs two at a time. It only took him a minute to get past the lock. Once inside he pulled out the HK45 he wore at his back and screwed the silencer into the barrel. He didn't need the kid's mom to panic and call the real police. He took his flashlight out of his pocket, took a minute to listen to the house and get his bearings. Moonlight drifted in through a few of the windows casting odd shadows.
He was standing in what appeared to be an open recreation area. On the wall hung numerous posters. He passed the beam of his flashlight across a few. They featured among other things the slogan "Eagle troop 131. Best troop under the sun!" This park was definitely the perfect spot for a Boy Scout meeting place.
There was a sudden crash from further in the house.
"Tommy? Tommy Nielson." He ran toward the back of the house through a small neat dining room to a set of saloon doors beyond which lay the kitchen. He pressed his back against the wall. Holding the gun in front of him he peeked around the corner. On the floor was a large bag of aluminum cans that had been scattered as though someone had tripped over it.
"It's ok to come out Tommy. I'm a policeman. Your mom's outside and she's really worried."
Taking a chance he flicked the switch inside the door flooding the room with light. Nothing out of the ordinary except the overturned bag of cans. To his left was a slim door marked pantry. It stood slightly ajar. He jerked it open aiming his gun into the darkness.