I decided to do a mini chapter this time around. I know I fell off the wagon with writing chapters but I am getting motivated to writing again. The story is not even close to the end.


THEN:

Sam looked out of the window and saw his brother in deep thought looking so troubled. He felt helpless since Dean will not talk about his feelings. One thing for certain he knew it was about Mara and he even overheard Theo talking to Dean before they left the old couple's place. Sam was still amazed the old man can read Dean so well and being his brother he can only scratch the surface to know what is going on inside Dean's head and heart. It was rare that Dean talked about his feelings but when he did it came out like a torrent of words that few out of his mouth. He watched his older brother a minute longer and turned his head back to his laptop to search for any more potential hunts in the area.

Sam heard footsteps approaching the table and looked up to see his brother move the chair across from him. "Hey Sammy, we have thirty minutes left to get off this boat. Did you find any about the troll and the killings?"


NOW:

Dean breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Ferry valet driver carefully drive his car onto land. Twenty minutes later he sat in his baby murmuring softly that he is going to give it a bath when he returns home.

"Really? Give it a bath? I really think you have a fetish for your car." Sam feeling a little disgust from his observations.

Dean rubbed his hands over the steering wheel. "Sam just jealous that you are mine. Don't pay him any mind." He turned the ignition and they drove out of the parking lot away from the dock onto Lakeshore Drive heading east. The eldest Winchester drove on to road heading to the town of St Clair.

The men made a stop halfway through the trip to get something to eat. Dean pulled into a diner. It was a typical restaurant full of truck drivers and people passing through the town. Sam picked the booth closest to the door. "I guess you are going to have your usual cholesterol enhanced bacon burger with fries."

Dean smiled. "No different than yours ...rabbit food. You have to watch your figure and all." He sneered at his younger brother sitting across from him. Halfway through his meal. "I wonder what our non human friends are doing right now?"

Sam looked away from his smart phone. "They are probably hanging out at the bunker waiting for an update from us. I just text Mara letting her know I am in a diner watching you stuff your face with greasy food."

"Hey its all American food that people have eaten for generations." Dean replied in mock defense.

Sam chuckled. "How did most of these folks die? Oh yeah a heart attack from clogged arteries."

"Whatever." The green eyed man took another bite of his burger. "Later, we'll stop get a motel room near the kill sites. It will save us some time doing a lot of driving around if that's ok with you?"

The younger brother looked typed on his smart phone screen. "Good idea, I will look up a couple of places near by the area so I will let you know where we will crash." Sam face changed to a look of concern. "Hey there was another attack last night. This guy was roughed up pretty bad. He claimed to see a short monster attacking him while he was crossing a bridge on #### street. There is nothing much more and the way the article was written here folks reading this probably thinking the victim was drunk." Sam exit the internet access screen on his cell phone to go into the text screen. "I am going to ask Mara if she can get a hold of the police report so we can get more information."

Dean pushed his plate away. "Good idea. I hope she can get on this quick so we can ask him valid questions. The cops probably think this man is crazy."

"You haven't text or called her since we left?" He glanced at his older brother.

"Hey I meant to getting around to calling her." Dean answered abruptly. He saw his younger brother glared at him. "Fine soon as we get a room somewhere I will call her. Ok?"

Sam continued to throw staring daggers at the guy sitting across from him.

Dean raised his hand up. "Ok man I will call her so quit giving me the bitchy look." He fished out his cell phone and located Mara's number. "Hey, It's Dean. Just want to check on you."

On the other side of the table the man was listening to the conversation. He can tell by the softer tone of Dean's voice he was genuinely concerned about Mara. Sam rose from his chair and headed toward the rest room to give his brother some privacy.

Mara was sitting in the living area watching TV until she heard her cell phone ring. She walked over to her bag and fished out her phone to answer. Peering down at the front screen Dean's name was displayed while the phone made a melody sound. Mara answered the phone. "Hello Dean. I am feeling great. Pretty much healed up. How are things in Michigan?" She listen to his answers about his stay with the Paradine couple and his time on the ferry to now sitting at a diner.

"It sounds like you two had a adventure. I had one of my own meeting angels and one in particular was a real looker. He was like an Adonis. The kind that draws women in his web of beauty." Mara scanned Dean's thoughts and almost burst out laughing from hearing negative comments coming from the jealous man's head. She especially loved his inner words as he expressed "Adonis my ass!" reverberating the message out towards her. Mara placed a hand over her mouth and tried laugh silently.

Dean was on the other end hearing muffled laughter. He wondered what was funny. "Did I miss a joke or something?"

Mara got control of herself. "There was something funny on TV and I laughed sorry." She had the remote and changed it to a comedy channel. Mara felt bad lying to Dean but if he heard laughter coming from the TV he would not get suspicious.

"Oh. Well I am glad you had a good time hanging out with our feathered friends. I have been on a few trips visiting angels. A few of them were cool and some were uptight jerks. You never know what kind you will meet once you get there. Well, I am not going to hold you up but we need a favor from you." Dean said in a more serious tone.

Mara sat back on the sofa. "Sure. What do you need for me to do?" She listen for a while. "I'll take care if it. Soon as I receive a report I will send Sam an email." There was a sigh of relief coming from the ear piece of the cell phone. "Don't worry I request those all the time. Anyway, call me if you any help if you need me to access the FBI records."

Dean did not want to end the call with her. "Thanks for helping Mara. Sam or I will update you if something comes up. Get some rest and we will see you soon." He put the cell back in his jacket pocket. His mind was on the pretty woman he was speaking to moments before. Dean really missed Mara and recalled cuddling with her in bed watching her sleep before he also went into a slumber. At the moment he was eager to be done with this hunt so they can return home. He picked up his keys and dropped some bills on the table while he got up from the table.

Sam was sitting in the car texting on his cell. He looked up to see Dean approaching with a soft expression on his face. Feeling the urge to pick on his older brother he instead asked. "Did you ask Mara to help us getting a police report?"

"Yeah she told me you will get an email soon. Cas is on standby just in case if things get hairy for us with these trolls. We'll see how it goes." Dean drove back on the main road.

The younger Winchester glanced sideways at the man driving. "That's all? You were talking for some time so it had to be more than just the case."

Dean huffed in defense. "Why are you all of a sudden so concerned about my social life? Do I question you every time you talk to a woman?"

Sam retorted. "You would if I had a women living with us that I was attracted to. Especially if I spent the night in her room."

"I told you man it's not what you think. I spent the night because she needed a friend to comfort her." Dean heard a snicker from his younger brother. "You don't believe me?"

The man in the passenger seat crossed his arms. "I know you too well Dean. I seen you hit on so many women even the ones that were not interested in you. I know your pattern man so you can' t fool me. You don't want me to know you like her because she is not human. If you like her then go for it. I want my brother to be happy."

Dean listened to his brother's words and did not protest anymore. He knew he could not deceive Sam. In reality, Dean knew his brother would not have a problem if he and Mara started seeing each other. The older Winchester thought silently that he is not familiar with the Mai race of people and wanted to know if there is some sinister about them. He read the Men of Letter journals about the Mai and the pages made it clear they were considered a peaceful species that were involved in the human justice system. Dean knew the facts but inside he was afraid to get tied up with a monster and there was a chance someone will get hurt down the road. He was not sure what he wanted right now.

Mara placed the cell phone on the coffee table. She missed the stubborn man and wished she could have joined the brothers on their hunt. Mara found their job interesting and wanted to experience something else besides hunting down federal criminals. Inside, she felt at peace since she finally killed those werewolves that killed her family and boyfriend. Mara already made the arrangements for the next few weeks to go to Egypt to finally do the memorial prayer as closure for herself. Realizing she has to make one more arrangement for her trip, she reached for her cell phone.

As the sun was setting, the brothers finally arrive at the designated hotel Sam chose to stay that was strategically between the crimes that was committed. Dean followed his brother to the motel lobby and saw the age of the place. His eyes scanned the old outdated counter and furniture that has seen better days. \

The elderly bald fair skinned man with a couple of liver spots on his left cheek greeted both men behind the counter. "Hello what can I do for ya?"

Sam gave the man a friendly smile. "We need a room with a double bed."

The old guy nodded his head. "We have two rooms. One smoking and the other non smoking."

"Non smoking is fine. Thanks." Sam placed cash the lobby counter.

The old man took the bills. "Are you visiting for a spell? If so, be careful around these parts. Lately there have been some deaths here." He saw concern on men's faces. "Not visitors but you should always be careful when you come to a new town. You never know if something bad is going on." He passed the keys onto Sam's hand.

Dean walked up to the counter. "What kind of bad something going on?" He saw the old man looking uncomfortable.

"Well, there has been a few deaths here. Strange deaths near bridges. Like an animal ripping people apart and taking out their innards." He saw the expression on their faces. "We don't have any wild dogs or bears here so it's a mystery of what killed those poor folks."

The Winchester brothers feigned surprise and curiosity but then it was another piece of information they cataloged in their heads. "We will be careful for the next 3 days." Sam took the key from the lobby clerk. They left the motel lobby and headed for room 107.

Dean opened the door and was pleasantly surprised the room smelled like cleanser and furniture polish. "Well the lobby may look crappy but these folks take pride on having their rooms clean." He set his duffel bag on top of the bed that he chosen nearest to the bathroom.

Sam went to the other bed and placed the laptop bag in front of his bed. "I will get us set up in a few minutes so I can organize which bridge to check out first."

"Fine with me. I'll bring the rest of the stuff inside. Let me know which bridge we start investigating." Dean walked out of the motel room. He went around to the back of his car and opened the trunk. Looking around he removed the sword that was wrapped in a large tan towel to prevent curious eyes wondering why he had such an item. With an armload of things Dean walked back to the motel room.

Sam booted his laptop and saw his brother bringing the sword and his duffel bag inside. The younger man rose from his chair and took his bag from Dean. "Thanks for getting my stuff. When do you want to start looking?"

Dean set the towel wrapped sword on his bed. "The sooner the better so pick a bridge so we can get started."

"OK I found one we can start doing some investigating. It's nothing big but the first victim was walking by this area and got snatched. The liver was removed as well as the kidneys. These trolls are going for the major organs. Are they cooking them or something?" Sam wondered.

The older brother shook his head. "Hell I don't know. Maybe they make necklaces out of the parts or use is as medicine. Either way, we got to stop this before these trolls get too bold and kill more frequently. Let's pick a bridge and start hunting."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Which one you want to go to? Where the first victim died?"

"Yeah the one that died after they left their workout gym. Let's head over there." Dean stood up.

Dean breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Ferry valet driver carefully drive his car onto land. Twenty minutes later he sat in his baby murmuring softly that he is going to give it a bath when he returns home.

"Really? Give it a bath? I really think you have a fetish for your car." Sam feeling a little disgust from his observations.

Dean rubbed his hands over the steering wheel. "Sam just jealous that you are mine. Don't pay him any mind." He turned the ignition and they drove out of the parking lot away from the dock onto Lakeshore Drive heading east. The eldest Winchester drove on to road heading to the town of St Clair.

The men made a stop halfway through the trip to get something to eat. Dean pulled into a diner. It was a typical restaurant full of truck drivers and people passing through the town. Sam picked the booth closest to the door. "I guess you are going to have your usual cholesterol enhanced bacon burger with fries."

Dean smiled. "No different than yours ...rabbit food. You have to watch your figure and all." He sneered at his younger brother sitting across from him. Halfway through his meal. "I wonder what our non human friends are doing right now?"

Sam looked away from his smart phone. "They are probably hanging out at the bunker waiting for an update from us. I just text Mara letting her know I am in a diner watching you stuff your face with greasy food."

"Hey its all American food that people have eaten for generations." Dean replied in mock defense.

Sam chuckled. "How did most of these folks die? Oh yeah a heart attack from clogged arteries."

"Whatever." The green eyed man took another bite of his burger. "Later, we'll stop get a motel room near the kill sites. It will save us some time doing a lot of driving around if that's ok with you?"

The younger brother looked typed on his smart phone screen. "Good idea, I will look up a couple of places near by the area so I will let you know where we will crash." Sam face changed to a look of concern. "Hey there was another attack last night. This guy was roughed up pretty bad. He claimed to see a short monster attacking him while he was crossing a bridge on #### street. There is nothing much more and the way the article was written here folks reading this probably thinking the victim was drunk." Sam exit the internet access screen on his cell phone to go into the text screen. "I am going to ask Mara if she can get a hold of the police report so we can get more information."

Dean pushed his plate away. "Good idea. I hope she can get on this quick so we can ask him valid questions. The cops probably think this man is crazy."

"You haven't text or called her since we left?" He glanced at his older brother.

"Hey I meant to getting around to calling her." Dean answered abruptly. He saw his younger brother glared at him. "Fine soon as we get a room somewhere I will call her. Ok?"

Sam continued to throw staring daggers at the guy sitting across from him.

Dean raised his hand up. "Ok man I will call her so quit giving me the bitchy look." He fished out his cell phone and located Mara's number. "Hey, It's Dean. Just want to check on you."

On the other side of the table the man was listening to the conversation. He can tell by the softer tone of Dean's voice he was genuinely concerned about Mara. Sam rose from his chair and headed toward the rest room to give his brother some privacy.

Mara was sitting in the living area watching TV until she heard her cell phone ring. She walked over to her bag and fished out her phone to answer. Peering down at the front screen Dean's name was displayed while the phone made a melody sound. Mara answered the phone. "Hello Dean. I am feeling great. Pretty much healed up. How are things in Michigan?" She listen to his answers about his stay with the Paradine couple and his time on the ferry to now sitting at a diner. It sounds like you two had a adventure. I had one of my own meeting angels and one in particular was a real looker. He was like an Adonis. The kind that draws women in. Mara scanned Dean's thoughts and almost burst out laughing from hearing negative words coming from the jealous man's head. She especially loved his inner words as he expressed "Adonis my ass!" reverberating the message out towards her. Mara placed a hand over her mouth and tried laugh silently.

Dean was on the other end hearing muffled laughter. He wondered what was funny. "Did I miss a joke or something?"

Mara got control of herself. "There was something funny on TV and I laughed sorry." She had the remote and changed it to a comedy channel. Mara felt bad lying to Dean but if he heard laughter coming from the TV he would not get suspicious.

"Oh. Well I am glad you had a good time hanging out with our feathered friends. I have been on a few trips visiting angels. A few of them were cool and some were uptight jerks. You never know what kind you will meet once you get there. Well, I am not going to hold you up but we need a favor from you." Dean said in a more serious tone.

Mara sat back on the sofa. "Sure. What do you need for me to do?" She listen for a while. "I'll take care if it. Soon as I receive a report I will send Sam an email." There was a sigh of relief coming from the ear piece of the cell phone. "Don't worry I request those all the time. Anyway, call me if you any help if you need me to access the FBI records."

Dean did not want to end the call with her. "Thanks for helping Mara. Sam or I will update you if something comes up. Get some rest and we will see you soon." He put the cell back in his jacket pocket. His mind was on the pretty woman he was speaking to moments before. Dean really missed Mara and recalled cuddling with her in bed watching her sleep before he also went into a slumber. At the moment he was eager to be done with this hunt so they can return home. He picked up his keys and dropped some bills on the table while he got up from the table.

Sam was sitting in the car texting on his cell. He looked up to see Dean approaching with a soft expression on his face. Feeling the urge to pick on his older brother he instead asked. "Did you ask Mara to help us getting a police report?"

"Yeah she told me you will get an email soon. Cas is on standby just in case if things get hairy for us with these trolls. We'll see how it goes." Dean drove back on the main road.

The younger Winchester glanced sideways at the man driving. "That's all? You were talking for some time so it had to be more than just the case."

Dean huffed in defense. "Why are you all of a sudden so concerned about my social life? Do I question you every time you talk to a woman?"

Sam retorted. "You would if I had a women living with us that I was attracted to. Especially if I spent the night in her room."

"I told you man it's not what you think. I spent the night because she needed a friend to comfort her." Dean heard a snicker from his younger brother. "You don't believe me?"

The man in the passenger seat crossed his arms. "I know you too well Dean. I seen you hit on so many women even the ones that were not interested in you. I know your pattern man so you can' t fool me. You don't want me to know you like her because she is not human. If you like her then go for it. I want my brother to be happy."

Dean listened to is brother's words and did not protest anymore. He knew he could not deceive Sam. In reality, Dean knew his brother would not have a problem if he and Mara started seeing each other. The older Winchester thought silently that he is not familiar with the Mai race of people and wanted to know if there is some sinister about them. He read the Men of Letter journals about the Mai and the pages made it clear they were considered a peaceful species that were involved in the human justice system. Dean knew the facts but inside he was afraid to get tied up with a monster and there was a chance someone will get hurt down the road. He was not sure what he wanted right now.

Mara placed the cell phone on the coffee table. She missed the stubborn man and wished she could have joined the brothers on their hunt. Mara found their job interesting and wanted to experience something else besides hunting down federal criminals. Inside, she felt at peace since she finally killed those werewolves that killed her family and boyfriend. Mara already made the arrangements for the next few weeks to go to Egypt to finally do the memorial prayer as closure for herself. Realizing she has to make one more arrangement for her trip, she reached for her cell phone.

As the sun was setting, the brothers finally arrive at the designated hotel Sam chose to stay that was strategically between the crimes that was committed. Dean followed his brother to the motel lobby and saw the age of the place. His eyes scanned the old outdated counter and furniture that has seen better days.

The elderly bald fair skinned man with a couple of liver spots on his left cheek greeted both men behind the counter. "Hello what can I do for ya?"

Sam gave the man a friendly smile. "We need a room with a double bed."

The old guy nodded his head. "We have two rooms. One smoking and the other non smoking."

"Non smoking is fine. Thanks." Sam placed cash the lobby counter.

The old man took the bills. "Are you visiting for a spell? If so, be careful around these parts. Lately there have been some deaths here." He saw concern on men's faces. "Not visitors but you should always be careful when you come to a new town. You never know if something bad is going on." He passed the keys onto Sam's hand.

Dean walked up to the counter. "What kind of bad something going on?" He saw the old man looking uncomfortable.

"Well, there has been a few deaths here. Strange deaths near bridges. Like an animal ripping people apart and taking out their innards." He saw the expression on their faces. "We don't have any wild dogs or bears here so it's a mystery of what killed those poor folks."

The Winchester brothers feigned surprise and curiosity but then it was another piece of information they cataloged in their heads. "We will be careful for the next 3 days." Sam took the key from the lobby clerk. They left the motel lobby and headed for room 107.

Dean opened the door and was pleasantly surprised the room smelled like cleanser and furniture polish. "Well the lobby may look crappy but these folks take pride on having their rooms clean." He set his duffel bag on top of the bed that he chosen nearest to the bathroom.

The room looked better than most. Theme of the room is tan and heather blue. The beds were neatly made. There was a flat screen TV mounted at the opposite of the room wall. A table and chair was in the corner where there was a small closet next to the bathroom area. Dean looked around impressed. "Well I had the impression it will be pretty bad in here. Man, they must take some pride in this place. You don't see flat screen TV's often in motels." He walked over to the bathroom. "Hey, they even have decent soap and shampoo in here." The older brother sat down on the bed.

Sam went to the other bed and placed the laptop bag in front of his bed. "I will get us set up in a few minutes so I can organize which bridge to check out first."

"Fine with me. I'll bring the rest of the stuff inside. Let me know which bridge we start investigating." Dean walked out of the motel room. He went around to the back of his car and opened the trunk. Looking around he removed the sword that was wrapped in a large tan towel to prevent curious eyes wondering why he had such an item. With an armload of things Dean walked back to the motel room.

Sam booted his laptop and saw his brother bringing the sword and his duffel bag inside. The younger man rose from his chair and took his bag from Dean. "Thanks for getting my stuff. When do you want to start looking?"

Dean set the towel wrapped sword on his bed. "The sooner the better so pick a bridge so we can get started."

"OK I found one we can start doing some investigating. It's nothing big but the first victim was walking by this area and got snatched. The liver was removed as well as the kidneys. These trolls are going for the major organs. Are they cooking them or something?" Sam wondered.

The older brother shook his head. "Hell I don't know. Maybe they make necklaces out of the parts or use is as medicine. Either way, we got to stop this before these trolls get too bold and kill more frequently. Let's pick a bridge and start hunting."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Which one you want to go to? Where the first victim died?"

"Yeah the one that died after they left their workout gym. Let's head over there after we get something to eat first." Dean stood up.

Sam crossed his arms feeling annoyed with the man sitting on the bed. Dean eyebrows raised in question. "What? I'm hungry unless you want to go out and pick up some food for us." Sam turned abruptly and walked out of the motel room.

Five minutes later, Sam returned throwing the packaged snacks Dean liked on the bed next to his brother's head. "Anything else you want, your Highness? A shrimp cocktail perhaps? Maybe a mud-packed facial and a pedicure I can set up for you at the nearest salon?" He sarcastically retorted.

Dean ignored his younger brother's last comments. "If you going have PMS, let's head out and find a diner somewhere to get real food." He grabbed his jacket and grinned as he heard his brother give a long frustrated sigh behind him.

End of Chapter 19

More to come