Chapter 4, The Apartment
After Ellie had been safely deposited at daycare with minimum resistance (Sam had managed to convince her that she would have more fun with the lego castle than spending a boring afternoon with her uncle and father, something that Dean had been teasing him about mercilessly since they had returned to the car), the brothers were able to revert to full hunter mode.
They didn't have to come up with much of a cover story, seeing as Dean was known at least by reputation in the building. Mrs. Leary, who sometimes watched Ellie when Cassie was out, hadn't heard anything suspicious from her apartment down the hall. That wasn't too surprising since she was more than partially deaf. The couple that lived across the hall hadn't been home. The brothers endured many curious and suspicious glances before giving up on finding any witnesses.
"Friendly," Sam snorted as the fourth door slammed in their faces.
"Yeah, it's a great neighborhood." Dean agreed with equal sarcasm.
Hoping for a lead, the two turned their attention to the wreckage of the apartment. The door had been forced open and the place was completely torn apart. Sam and Dean cautiously entered. Their expert eyes scanned the two-bedroom apartment, reading the story the creature had written in the smashed furniture and strewn belongings. Dean seethed at the torn mattress and shattered tea set in his daughter's room. Sam ran the EMF and the thermal scan, but there wasn't much to go on, a few residual beeps, but no strong readings.
"So, you're the psychic," Dean demanded. "How's if feeling?"
Sam didn't bother to correct his brother. Though he had come to terms with his abilities and honed his skills considerably, there were no pin point reference points to go on. Dean knew that better than anyone.
"Well, I'd say it was looking for something," Sam commented dryly.
"Ya think?" was Dean's sarcastic reply as they moved to the kitchen where all the cupboards had been ripped open, the cereal boxes and shards of dishes scattered across the floor.
Cassie's bedroom was in a similar state, with the dresser and its contents in pieces and the bedding thrown from the bed. Sam resisted the urge to make a dirty joke. Once you're over thirty, these things tend to lose their appeal.
"Yo, Sam, check it out." Dean called. Sam glanced up to see his brother holding up some black lingerie strewn casually to the side. "Smokin'" Dean mouthed with a grin. Sam glared.
"So whoever or whatever it was, they were either after something… or someone in the apartment," Sam prompted, deciding to ignore his brother's juvenile behavior " Can you think of anything here that might tempt a necromancer, like a charm or some voodoo or anything?"
"Well, there is that obsidian power source Cassie and I keep around just for kicks," Dean replied, again with the sarcasm. "What kind of parent do you think I am?"
When Sam's glare sharpened, Dean relented "There's just a few herbs I brought for Cassie last time I was in town, the normal protection crystals in Ellie's room, maybe something in that pendent I gave Cassie last Christmas—we're going to have to get her in her to see if anything is missing."
"And take care of the police inquiries and file the insurance claims," Sam added. "Unless you wanted to handle those, my dearly departed brother."
"Right," Dean said with a wink, "I wish that excuse worked as well for taking out the garbage as it does for avoiding my bureaucratic responsibilities."
"I knew it was just a tax evasion scheme," Sam said, grinning.
"Sam, over here." Dean called as he circled over to the window. Both panes had been shattered from the inside. The boys looked down at the fire escape which had apparently been the creature's mode of escape.
Levering himself gracefully through the empty pane, Dean examined the clumsy footprints left in the crushed glass.
"It's barefoot," Sam commented.
"Yep," Dean grunted. "And look, it's still bleeding" he said, pointing to the pink-tinged glass.
"Must be recently dead." Sam confirmed.
"We still thinking zombie?" Dean asked.
"I guess," Sam replied, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, there are still a lot of missing pieces. We need to figure out what it was looking for. I think we better check into those other burglaries."
Dean nodded. "And the morgues. I want to stop this guy before anyone gets hurt."
Sam sighed, signaling his agreement. His eyes scanned the alley below the fire escape. "The sun was rising in my vision. He wouldn't have had much time to get to cover. What do you think, the subway?"
As he said it, Sam staggered forward a little, catching himself on the window pane and cutting his hand on the broken glass. He didn't see to notice as his other hand went to his temple.
His vision darkened as if a cloud had passed over the sun. He saw a flash of a dark hand, a woman screaming, she was pressed against a wall. There was a poster behind her head, some community play. The hand reached out. The thing broke her neck. She slumped to the floor, her dead eyes gleaming blankly. The zombie fumbled for something. Its hands closed around a silver amulet, snapped the chain that held it around her neck. "Mine" hissed a voice.
"Sam." Dean's voice was harsh with concern, though he knew that his brother was in the throes of a vision. Sam blinked away the pain and refocused on his borther's voice.
"Definitely the subway," Sam said grimly as he allowed Dean to bandage his hand.
TBC