***So this is my second Supernatural story (revamped after I realized how I erroneously posted it as just one giant chapter) so please let me know what you think once you're finished. All reviews are much appreciated (apologies to those who read/tried to read while it was one giant chapter - I'm new to this thing, sorry!). It brings my character, Reggie Connors, from "The Fool's Trap" back to the boys' world. You don't need to have read that one first to get this one, but it gives you more background on Reggie than this story and fills you in to some things referenced in this story.***

And of course - Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Supernatural (which is a bummer, really...) except for the creations of Reggie and Frank Connors and the liberty I took on the origins of my "freak of the week" in this story. Thanks!

Prologue

It had been a long night and all Robbie Marsten wanted to do was get home and go to bed. He turned his beat up pick-up truck onto Highway 81 and flicked on his high beams. The road was lined on either side with nothing but black forest, stretching for almost twenty miles before even the first house became visible from the long winding blacktop. He was risking it with the high beams, knowing that if a deer decided to bound across the road, it would be struck dumb by the bright headlights and freeze in his way. But Robbie didn't trust his tired eyes without them.

A light drizzle had begun to fall as he passed mile marker three and he started the windshield wipers, cursing under his breath at the added nuisance. Robbie noticed a shape in the distance on the side of the road and he slowed, thinking of the deer again. He quickly realized that it was a car and had already decided that he was just going to drive right past whoever it was stranded on the side as if he didn't see them when the driver's side door opened and a dark shape climbed out.

As he got closer, the shape began waving its arms at him and both the car and figure were finally cast in the light from his headlights. The car was a silver Mercedes and looked almost brand new. The driver was a tall, slender woman with blonde hair so light that it almost matched the long white coat she was wearing. She struggled against the howling wind that whipped around her, pulling her hair from her face while clenching the coat closed.

Man is she a looker, Robbie thought as he switched off his high beams and eased onto the shoulder in front of the stranded car. He watched the woman in his rearview mirror for a moment as she waited for him to get out of his truck.

Even as the rain soaked her, the woman smiled at him gratefully as Robbie ambled over to her. "What seems to be the problem, m'am?" Robbie asked, his Texas drawl thick even after the twelve years he'd been living in Bridgewater, South Dakota.

"I was just driving along and suddenly it made this clanking noise and just died," she stated as she motioned towards her car. "I can't seem to get a signal to call for AAA on my cell phone."

"You won't get much of a signal on this road. Not with all the woods," Robbie explained, nodding at the trees.

"I'm so glad you came along. I've been sitting here for almost three hours and you're the first car I've seen."

"Not too many people are out this late," Robbie replied. "I don't know that much about cars, but I'm willing to take a look for ya. Just hop in and pop the hood for me." She nodded at him and hurried back to the driver's side door. Robbie heard the familiar metallic pop as the hood released and he pulled it open. He heard the woman get out of the car, her heels clacking on the blacktop as she came around the side of the car to stand beside him.

"I really appreciate you stopping," she said gratefully.

"My pleasure," Robbie said, shrugging. "After all, it is the neighborly thing to do." Robbie grinned at her and she grinned back. Good thing she can't read minds, he thought to himself. He stared at the jumble of wires and metal, barely able to discern anything properly in the dark. "I don't suppose you have a flashlight or somethin'?" he asked, looking up at her and noticing for the first time the bright blue color of her eyes.

"No, sorry. I would have never thought to keep a flashlight in the car." She grinned at him again. This time, the sight gave Robbie shivers.

"I-I think I have one in my truck in the glove box. I'll go-go get it," he stammered.

"No, allow me to," the woman said and started towards his truck before Robbie could object.

"Get a grip," he snapped at himself under his breath and turned back to the mechanical mess before him. Robbie heard the door squeak as she opened the passenger side door and he waited, his hands braced on the cool metal above the grill. "It should be just under the maps," he called.

He heard the door slam shut and waited to hear the sound of the woman's heels on the pavement as she returned. Instead there was only silence. Robbie turned and jerked backwards, falling hard against the Mercedes. The woman stood in front of him, looking at him with a twisted smile stretched across her once beautiful face.

"Jeez, you scared me," Robbie panted, clutching at his chest as his heart thudded heavily against his ribs.

"I know," she hissed. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose. Robbie stood frozen, confused by her strange behavior. "I can't smell you properly if you aren't scared." She opened her eyes and Robbie gasped. The bright blue was gone, replaced by a deep crimson red.

"Who-who are you?" Robbie stuttered.

"Well, my name is Cassandra Levy, but I'm guessing that who I am is not the question you meant." Her left hand whipped out in a movement so fast, Robbie didn't even see it, and she caressed his cheek lovingly. Robbie stared at her, rooted in place as he watched Cassandra lick her lips. "You do smell so nice," she hissed again. She raised her right hand as rapidly as before, her movements nothing but a blur, and blew what appeared to be dust into Robbie's face.

He had just enough time to register a mixture of faint floral and bitter smells mingled with what his groggy brain could only identify as rotten wood before the world around him went completely dark. Robbie felt his body crumble beneath him; the cold, wet blacktop cool against his back even through his heavy flannel jacket. Robbie Marsten's last conscious thought was that he should have just kept right on driving.

***Sept. 24, 2010 - I wanted to add a little note to the end of this first chapter after looking at some of the other fan fic on here and seeing that my stories run a good deal longer than most. I wrote both "The Fool's Trap" and "On The Menu" as tie-in novels. They are meant to be extremely long because, if printed they would be like the other television series tie-ins that are out there (if you aren't familiar with any of the published Supernatural novels, I recommend you pick one or two up - great reads when you're jonesing for something new during either the summer or holiday breaks!) I am an aspiring writer and these stories were my first official foray into novel length work. I hope the length won't scare too many people off because I have really put my heart and soul into these stories and want people to enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. Thanks!