One of the men sat down on the table under which Sam was hiding, the other two remained standing.
"We have to be more careful…" said one of the guys who were standing. Sam couldn't see their faces but he recognized the voices, deep, aggressive, these guys really were the same guys who smack-talked them in front of Lucy's house and who Sam has seen around Lindsay's house as well. It had just been a lucky guess before but now he was 100 sure.
"Yes…" the man on the table agreed. "But we have to stop them from tearing down the house. We need the girl…"
Sam held his breath and his heart missed a few beats. They needed the girl? Lauren? What did they need her for? And what did he meant with having to stop the townspeople from tearing down the Hawking's house? Why were they so interested in Lauren and Lucy? While trying to piece together the new intel, Sam slowly crawled forward to get a better look at the men. He didn't get far, though, he nearly touched the dangling leg of the man sitting on the table.
"There are too many dead people now…" the third one now said. He was smaller than the others. "Two of the reporters in the hospital woke up out of their coma. These idiots of this police department went to question them…"
Sam heard the guy on the table draw in breath sharply.
"But don't worry, I took care of it…"
"You took care of it?" The man standing next to the small man grunted. "You killed them…"
"It was necessary-..." the small man replied harshly but the man on the table cut him off by raising a hand.
"Enough! I'm having enough of this bickering of you two! I know it was necessary but now we have two more bodies to cover up…And we only have 4 days left. Until then, we have to make sure that this town doesn't interfere any more than usual. We can't let anything unexpected come up. We have to be ready."
"What about the strangers?" the small man asked. "They've been asking around a lot. One of them was at the librarian's house…"
"The one that talks so much? Then I guess we have to pay her a visit…" The other man said and laughed.
"No! We cannot afford to attract more attention. We have to focus on the task."
Task? Which task, Sam wondered. At the same time he was afraid of what might happen to Lindsay just because she had tried to help him. And what did having to be ready mean? What would happen in 4 days?
"Just be a bit careful during these next few days, ok? Don't attract too much attention, you hear me?" The man on the table said. Then he stood up. "Please be careful!"
Sam tried to get closer without being seen. The man who seemed to be the leader moved towards the door. Peering out from underneath the table, Sam held his breath again and waited. Those guys didn't sound like police men at all but they had access to this building. What could they possibly want from Lauren? And what were they going to do? There were so many questions that were on his mind that he nearly got reckless. He had crawled out from underneath his hiding place and could have been easily spotted by one of the three guys but the moment he scrambled back, he saw the leader turn. His eyes were black…Sam had to suppress a gasp, those guys were demons, black eyed demons! Now Sam seemed to understand…These men, these demons, they needed Lauren to free another demon or to free themselves. The incidents that had taken place during Lauren's birth had somehow made that child special to these guys.
The light was switched off and the door closed behind the demons. Sam finally breathed normally again and his heart was racing in his chest. These guys were demons…While he got up onto his feet, he heard the drawer move and jumped back. But it was just Dean coming out of his hiding place.
"So…found out anything?" Dean asked.
Sam shot him a reproachful frown. "Dean, didn't you hear what they were talking about? And by the way, those are black eyed demons!"
"What?" Dean looked stunned. "I mean, I guessed so but…really?"
"Yeah, really! I've seen it." Sam clenched his jaws.
"Right, cause you had the better spot." Dean joked. He noticed that his younger brother was going through a rough time right now. "Did they mean Lauren with the girl?"
Sam only nodded.
"And what's going to happen in 4 days?" Dean asked again but quickly answered the question himself when he saw Sam's face. "We better find out?"
Sam nodded slowly.
"Then we better find out!"
When the two brothers returned to the Hawking's house, they saw demolition vehicles parked in front of the house. There were shards of glass on the sidewalk and in the small garden before the house, and Sam was sure that those didn't still lie there from the incident earlier this day. The door was smashed in. Sam nearly jumped out of the car before Dean had stopped. He ran over to the house and stumbled up the stairs.
"LUCY!" he shouted but he got no answer. "LUCY! WHERE ARE YOU?" The house seemed empty. With haste that came close to frenzy Sam ran into the kitchen only to find everything in a mess. Two of the cupboards had been torn down and their content lay shattered on the floor. But Lucy or Lauren were nowhere to be seen. He ran back into the living room where the couches lay upside down and the tables broken into pieces. The drawings of Lauren that Lucy had given him still lay on the TV rack. So the strangers who broke into here were not interested in finding any more evidences. Absentmindedly, he took them, then headed for the stairs.
"LUCY!" Sam's voice was failing. He took three steps at once when he now ran upstairs and busted into Lauren's bedroom. "LAUREN!" The scene of the room gave him a pretty clear impression of what had happened here. Whoever had broken in here had surprised the little girl in her sleep. The cushions from the bed as well as the teddy bears and the blanket had been thrown around in the small room, the bed itself was stained with mud. Sam fell to his knees, crumpling the drawings unconsciously. "Lucy…where are you…" he whispered while he tried hard to suppress the upcoming tears.
Dean came in a moment later. He carried the file they had stolen from the police station. His eyes told Sam that he was as worried as he was himself. Where were the girls?
"Did those demons do that?" Dean asked quietly.
Sam only shook his head. He couldn't speak.
"Sam?" Dean's voice got louder and more intense. "Sam, what happened here?"
Sam's grunting reply was answer enough for him. Someone had come to get the girls, and had probably succeeded in getting them. Probably not the demon-guys, because Lauren was too important for them and whatever they were planning would go off in 4 days, and not now. At least, that's what they had said.
Sam slowly stood up. He did not look at his brother when he turned and left the room but Dean followed him. Both walked down the stairs without speaking. Dean hated to see his brother like that but right now he didn't have time to be sorry for him. What was more important now was to find the two girls.
While Sam walked past the kitchen and the living room, Dean stopped for a moment and looked around. The mess he saw made his heartbeat quicken but when he gazed out of the kitchen window for a second his heart missed a beat. There was a white shape out there, down by the lake.
"Sam!" Dean hissed. His younger brother came back only reluctantly.
"What!"
"Did you see that?"
"See what?" Sam was edgy.
"Out there…I think I saw Lauren."
The look Sam gave his brother was more than devastating.
"Yeah, I really think I saw her…" Dean snapped. "Sam, get it together, we'll find them!" He tried to encourage his younger brother but it didn't seem to work. Sam was lost.