Chapter 8: Gentlemen
Sam shook his head and let his hands drop the paper to the floor. His vision had been bad enough, the images plagued him in his waking mind and flashed in the back of his eyes when he blinked. But to realize that what he had seen was happening at the moment he had been in his vision, that was like being their and just not helping that girl.
He felt like he had betrayed her, and he started the guilt trip. He was trying to hold his tears back when strong hands gently touched his shoulders and Dean's face appeared in front of him. His brother, crouching, had his most reassuring, convincing face on, as he sent out his thoughts to Sam.
Sammy you couldn't have done anything. It was a vision man, you weren't actually there dude. We'll get the bastards that did this I swear, we won't stop until we do. Swear to god Sam, we'll kill these things. But you can't blame yourself, it's in no way your fault!
Dean locked Sam's eyes with his own, making sure his message had gone through, and smiled slightly when Sam nodded and his eyes regained some of their light.
Oki…so I guess we gotta rethink this plan right? I mean now we've got another victim…we've gotta go back to the morgue…oh great…and I had just gotten over my last nightmare!
Sam smiled at his brother, thankful that Dean was trying to lighten the mood. It was working too, Sam still felt guilty but he knew that there was nothing he could have done. So they spent the next hour formulating a day schedule and getting ready. Then they headed out of the motel, taking the newspaper and laptop with them.
Sam sat in the passenger seat, clicking away at his computer while Dean fiddled with his cassettes until he found Boston and popped it in. The music filled the car and Dean leaned back, tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the music. Luckily there was an internet connection in the town and Sam could access the sites he needed, even if it was painstakingly slow.
He pulled up the article from this morning's paper and ran through it all again., picking out facts he could research on further and ones that they could ask the M.E. about. They were heading towards the city morgue when Sam felt the car pull over, he looked up to find Dean looking out the windshield and up the road.
Hey Sam, there's the victim's place. We might as well check it out don't you think? Go there then hit the morgue.
Sam really didn't want to go into the house, he already knew what the room would look like and he didn't think his stomach could take it. He also thought that Dean was just stalling so that he wouldn't have to enter that offending pink building. But he nodded his agreement anyways, they'd have to go their sooner or later, why not now?
Dean reached into the glove compartment and took out their fed IDs once again. It was always safer to stick with the same identity when you were in a small town. Tossing Sam his, they both exited the car and walked towards the apartment building, Sam lagging behind a few steps.
They neared the building where police and forensics teams were spotted exiting and entering the complex. Sam knew that he could hear Dean's thoughts but as he strained his ears to pick up anything else, he realized he couldn't. He didn't have access to these people's minds, just his brother's, that didn't make much sense. He frowned and continued to follow his brother as Dean got them through the police tape and into the building with a quick flash of ID.
Hey little bro'. You pick up anything when those guys were runnin' around?
Dean glanced back at him for an answer and Sam shook his head. Dean just raised his eyebrows and continued walking.
So you can only hear me huh? Well aren't I the lucky one.
Sam knew that Dean was kidding but it still stung a little. Dean didn't seem to notice though as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. Sam hesitated on the top of the staircase, knowing the door to his nightmare was just ahead of him. He wasn't exactly jumping at the thought of getting to stand where he had been in his vision, the place where he had stood by and watched this girl be murdered. But he had to.
They entered the apartment where yet more cops and forensics men walked around, snapping pictures, looking through evidence. There didn't seem to be any evidence of a murder, at least not until they entered the girls bedroom. Most of the investigators were in this room and it was most definitely where everything had occurred. There was blood splattered across the walls, ceiling and floor. A large amount of it was soaking and settling into the sheets on the girls bed. Sam already knew everything that had happened and how, so they didn't really have to look around the room very much.
Like he had feared, just standing here made his stomach lurch. Sam patted Dean on the shoulder and left the room, letting his brother know that he would be out in he hall if he needed him.
Hey you ok? You saw all this happen right…you sure you don't want to go back to the car or something'?
Dean's thoughts followed Sam into the hallway since they were the loudest things he could hear besides the shutter sounds of cameras. He popped his head back into the doorway and shook it.
No, I gotta stick this one out. I'll be fine don't worry. He thought even though Dean couldn't hear him. But the reassuring look on his face must have done the trick.
Alright, your call. I'm gonna see what I can learn from these people, you go deal with the living room crowd.
Sam nodded again and disappeared from the doorway. Dean turned back to the room he stood in and shuddered, he couldn't help it. He imagined Sam seeing the events that had led up to this mess staring him the face, and it horrified him. He pushed it into the back of his mind and walked to the nearest investigator who didn't seem too busy at the moment, taking out his pen and paper on the way.
He approached and wrote "What did the forensics team find so far?" And handed the pad over to the man who had turned his attention to this new intruder. The man took the paper and waited for Dean to flash his ID, which he did. Then the man began to write in point form, trying to condense everything as much as possible.
"Just like the other two. No sign of forced entry, no finger prints, no trace. Girl found on bed, heart removed. Name was Janice Delong, 24, family lives in town. Blood coagulated post mortem, go check the morgue, her body is their now."
Dean read it and then nodded his thanks and left the room to find Sam.
Meanwhile Sam was in the living room studying his surroundings, looking for anything that a cop would miss. Something that wouldn't stick out to the law but a hunter would recognize as evidence. He studied the door frame and saw that it was completely intact along with the locks, reassuring him that the attackers were let in. He already knew what they looked like, he just needed to see if there was any clue to a weakness that would allow them to get the upper hand on these things.
So far he had been unsuccessful when he heard his brother call out to him. He turned and saw Dean coming towards him with the pad of paper in his hands.
Oki so this girl was a Janice Delong, 24. Her family lives here and her body is at the morgue right now. Just like the last two victims there was no forced entry, and no proof that anyone was here except for the seriously dead girl. So that leaves us pretty much at square one with another body to check off the short list of people who live here. Man this town ain't gonna have anyone left at this rate.
Sam just listened but knew that they weren't at square one, they had a lead now. Sam knew what these guys looked like and how they operated, more or lessIt would make researching these things a lot easier now and he was starting to feel confident that they'd figure this one out soon.
He grabbed the pad from Dean and wrote his own note before handing it back. "We're not at square one, I know what we're dealing with now, we can figure this out. I just need the computer and the library. How about you drop me off there and head over to the vics families place and the morgue?"
Dean figured this was the best thing they could do at the moment seeing a how he was a useless researcher. He wasn't worried about these things attacking anyone because they seemed only to operate at night. So they agreed and left the apartment, Sam throwing a glance over his shoulder at the destruction before happily stepping into the hall.
They entered the Impala and Sam pulled out a town map he had picked up in the motel lobby. He pointed to their location and the libraries, directing Dean to the proper roads. They took off and were stopping in front of the library within minutes, it really was a very small town. Sam got out of the car and turned back to shut the door before bending over and looking in at Dean.
Oh right…uh…I'll come back in like an hour or two. Try to figure out anything you can about these things, not to mention where they could be hiding. I'm off to face my worst candy coated nightmare…have fun in the stacks.
His brother took off down the road and turned the corner, driving out of sight. Sam looked at the building before him and climbed the steps, all two of them. Entering, he didn't see one computer in the place, but luckily had his own backup. He wandered to the back and took a seat, got comfortable, and opened the computer. In seconds he was tapping on the keys and blocking out everything that wasn't the computer screen from his mind.
Dean turned the corner and grimaced as the building came into view. Pulling in, he parked in the same place as last time, in front of the doors so that he could keep an eye on his baby. He walked in and saw the receptionist from the day before as she looked up. He smiled at her and she returned a quick grin before her eyes wandered behind him to search out something that was currently sticking it's nose in a book, no doubt.
He silently grumbled to himself and walked towards the desk. The woman sank back in her chair and looked slightly disappointed but averted her attention to Dean. She already knew what he wanted so she waved him into the back of the building to where Evans was.
An hour later (it only took so long because Dean and Evans had to write every freakin word down on his stupid pad of paper) Dean walked from the building, in a much more sour mood then he walked in with. He hadn't found out anything new, and he hadn't gotten any numbers, not even the receptionists, and that was saying a lot considering her occupation.
The Winchester got into his car and started it up, patting the dash as an act of compassion to the car and as some emotional release for himself. The facts he had gotten from Evans ran through his head over and over, taunting him with their insignificance. He only hoped Sam had found something useful, otherwise tonight's nightmare about pink buildings and zombies wouldn't be worth it.