Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable in the following story. The characters that you don't recognize are figments of my imagination and still I claim no ownership. Supernatural belongs to the WB, the CW and all. I don't own 3 Doors Down or Punk Floyd either. I haven't made a profit on this story so please don't sue. I don't own anything anyway so there's nothing to gain from it.
Author's note: Here's an extra chapter for today. Chapter 4 will be up tomorrow. Enjoy!
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Finding LeGrange
By infinte shadow
Chapter 3
Serena sat herself at her desk and turned on her computer. She smiled as her cat jumped up onto her keyboard.
"Good morning Chucky," she said as she picked him up and held the black cat close to her chest. "Looks like you're stuck with research girl again."
Serena picked up a remote and turned on her stereo. Three Doors Down began to pour out of the speakers and Chucky began to howl loudly.
"Ok! Ok!" Serena laughed as she hit the stop button. "You never have liked that group."
She got up and picked out another disc. Changing the music disc she hit the play button and looked over at the cat. "Ok beast. How about this?"
Music slowly began to fill the room and the black beauty blinked up at her. "Pink Floyd," she said softly as she picked up the cat off her chair and sat down.
Loud purring could be heard as the cat was brought close to her. Serena shook her head slightly. "It's too slow Chucky. I need something to help me get going, not put me to sleep," she said softly as she ran her fingers through the soft fur.
After a few minutes Serena sighed heavily. "Ok Chucky. I gotta get serious here or granddaddy will have my head on a platter," she said and slowly lowered the black cat onto the floor.
Logging onto the net she started with her favourite site - Black Nite. Mostly urban legends were on the site but more times than not it lead her in the right direction. After two hours a complete sweep of the site revealed nothing. She got up and made some coffee.
Chucky blinked at her from where he lay on the kitchen table.
"Don't look at me like that. It's only a short break. 'Sides I need my caffeine to keep me going, you know that," she said almost guiltily.
She turned back to the coffee maker and rubbed at her tired eyes. Sighing loudly she thought about her nice warm comfortable bed. All she got last night was two hours sleep before her granddaddy had called and demanded her presence in his apartment.
A smile slowly crept across her face as she thought about the rave she'd been to the night before. The grin deepened as she thought about the guy she'd brought home with her, hence the quick shower before running downstairs to her granddaddy's apartment. That man had a heightened sense of smell that would rival a coon hound.
Snickering she poured herself a cup of coffee and headed back to the computer. After taking a few sips she put her coffee aside and clicked into her favourites She chose Jeb's Lair and waited as the page loaded. This site had an otherworldly feel to it as it played the haunting tune from X-Files Every once in a while a U.F.O flew around the screen. It had a bulletin board where people posted alien encounters, spiritual haunting and possessions. But the last faith healer type of entry was about a woman who'd had her narcolepsy cured by an alien.
"So not it," she mumbled to herself.
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Nervous neighing could be heard as Joshua opened the paddock door.
"Easy there girl," Joshua said soothingly. "Just came to check on my favourite patient."
He slowly stepped into the small enclosure feeling his boots sink slightly into the soft sawdust that coated the floor. Pulling the half door closed behind him he stood there for a moment allowing the young horse to get used to his presence. She seemed to calm slightly and he slowly stepped over to her.
"Hi there," he said as he reached out and stroked her cheek. "Remember me from last night? Just here to check on my handiwork."
The calming action of him stroking her cheek and his soft voice seemed to be working. The young horse seemed to loose the panicky look in her deep brown soulful eyes.
"That a girl," Joshua said. He slowly moved and checked on the lacerations in the animal's back and sides. The stitches seemed to be holding well and there was little blood on the bandages. He moved his gaze down to the deep welts on her back legs. They had been tended to as well and weren't showing signs of infection.
"Hey doc! I wasn't expecting you in so soon," Karen said happily.
"Well I just needed to do a quick check on our girl here," Joshua said.
"She's doing better. Just got the test results back," she said softly.
"You do huh," Joshua said as he turned at the sudden change in her tone and looked at the young woman leaning against the half door. Karen had joined their clinic almost a year ago. She'd come from the city, tired of the fast pace life and wanted to be closer to her grandparents. She had a way, the magic touch as Joshua liked to tell it, with the animals. Like any good doctor it was hard in some cases not to get involved and feel for your patients. It looked like the horse had gotten to her.
He then turned back to the horse and patted her nose. "Be back soon girl. Hang in there."
He left the paddock and gestured for Karen to follow him.
"You want to good news or bad news first?" She asked.
"Give me the bad," Joshua said.
Karen opened one of the two files wrapped in her arms. "Well her blood pressure's too high, understandable for what's she's going through. But if it gets any higher we may have to give her a little something to help her out. She's badly malnourished and she hasn't eaten anything yet. But the food's there for her anyway. She is drinking so that's a good sign."
"Just tell me," he said when the woman paused.
"She is showing an infection in her blood. But I've seen this one before and started her on an antibiotic. These are the first results since I discovered the infection and already the numbers have changed slightly to the good," Karen said flipping through a page or two.
Joshua sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The good news?"
"The wounds are showing improvement. The welts are looking slightly better and the embroidery you did on her back and sides are holding well," she said and smiled at Joshua's roll of the eyes. "The best news is that she doesn't seem to be that panicky around us. She is calmer around all of us if we give her a chance to get used to our presence and not just barge into her stall. I'm hopeful that she'll make a full recovery."
Joshua reached out and pulled the open file from her. Flipping through the test results to check them himself, he glanced at Karen. "What aren't you telling me?"
Her façade of being happy dropped and her face saddened. "There was another animal brought in after you left this morning," she said softly.
"Ok," Joshua said and closed the horse's file. It wasn't the horse that was bothering her. It was another animal.
"A golden retriever. He was hit by a car. There were deep lacerations and a broken leg," she said and cleared her throat trying to stay detached and professional.
He should have known it was a dog that was bothering her. They had been her soft spot since she started here.
"Show me?" Joshua said and followed Karen out of the stables and into the clinic.
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Serena grabbed her phone. Choosing a number from her address book she hit send. Getting up she headed into the kitchen and filled her coffee cup.
"What?" a voice answered tersely.
"Well I'd ask you how your day was going, but I'd say it's not going so well huh gramps," Serena said.
"Hey Darlin. How's my research coming?" Matt asked.
"Slowly. But I might have something. There are several counts of faith healers in Texas, Nevada and Nebraska. Doing the usual deductions. Nevada is out cause Vegas is all about showmanship. The stories from Texas just, I dunno, they just don't seem right. Need a little a bit more time to look into those," she said stirring sugar into her coffee.
"Serena," Matt tried to interrupt.
"But Nebraska seems to be interesting. There is one from Texas that may hold water," she said.
"Honey," Matt tried to interrupt again.
"I have found six stories from different people who have been healed from Nebraska though," Serena said then stopped as Matt cut her off loudly.
"HEY!" Matt yelled.
"What?" Serena asked surprised at his tone. "Granddaddy you told me to report in."
"Yeah I know I did. Just not now," he said.
"Why? What's wrong?" Serena asked as her whole body tensed. "Do you need help? It won't take long for me to get to you."
Matt rolled his eyes but smiled slightly. "I'll call you later Darlin. I'm busy."
"But," she tried to protest but heard the click of the call being disconnected. Serena pulled the phone away from her ear and frowned at it for a second. "Where are you gramps?"
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Next chapter tomorrow.