There's Nowhere to Hide But Away From Me:
After speaking with Toni when she first arrived in Indiana, the Colonel had stocked up on all the 'essentials' for when she got home. He immediately went out and bought ice cream, chocolate and fresh fruit of every variety that his fridge and freezer could hold. He knew that he was kind of grasping at straws to comfort his daughter, but since the ice cream seemed to have broken the ice between them the last time Toni was in distress, he was hoping they would be the key this time as well.
While she was away, Tom continued his regular day to day routine without his daughter. Since her last visit, Toni quickly became a fascinating topic of conversation with the other residents of the retirement villa. He had eagerly talked anyone's ear off that would listen to his edited retelling of her exploits once he left rehab, but since most of them had had a chance to meet Toni in the flesh, Tom was now the one being sought out to recount Toni's latest rescue.
Somehow in the game room, his cribbage match with one of the widows who resided there turned into a table of five women listening to the Colonel talk about his daughter. With this crowd, the 'Search and Rescue' side of things quickly fell by the wayside once Tom mentioned a 'boy' from Toni's past. Almost as soon as he uttered the phrase 'Ex-boyfriend from college', the Colonel was bombarded with questions about how serious they were back then. Why did they break up? How did she feel about seeing him again? Were they going to get back together? How was Toni handling seeing him now?
Toni's father couldn't really answer any of their questions because he had been asking himself the exact same thing. Since he hadn't had the courage to bluntly ask Toni any of those questions, he answered them the best that he could from the knowledge he had gained for the conversations the two of them had had. 'Sam and Toni were in different places in their lives and drifted apart while at school' seemed like the easiest answer for why they had broken up so many years ago. He never specifically answered any of the other questions, but the ladies seemed to 'Ooh' and 'Ahh' knowingly when he told them that Toni had gone through nearly a whole pint of Häagen-Dazs while she told him about the last job she worked with Sam.
"Oh dear… And that was after they had parted on good terms?" One of the five questioned after he was finished recounting that part of the story.
"They parted on relatively good terms," he clarified with a slightly confused tone.
"And this job… Something happened between them that makes you think they might never reconcile their differences?" One of the ladies seated at the opposite end of the table asked.
Tom had to turn both his head and body so that he could focus on her. She had a genuinely sad look in her eye so he tried his best to describe the scene that Toni had delicately explained to him.
"Well this last time… Toni kind of stumbled up him… In… In the comforting embrace of another woman."
Each and every woman sat back, gasping in horrified shock. Then they all started muttering to themselves and each other, completely forgetting about the only male at the table. The Colonel frantically tried to catch any part of the many conversations going on around him, but the best that he could pick up was the occasional, 'Oh my', 'That poor girl' or 'Not our sweet Toni'.
Suddenly one of the flock stood up and every eye fell on her as each woman went deathly silent in anticipation of her proclamation.
"I'm sorry Tom, but ice cream just will not do this time. It's one thing to let someone you care about go, but it's completely different having him stolen away from you like our poor Toni had happen to her."
Every female face lit up brightly awaiting her resolution, but Toni's dad was worried now. He hadn't asked his daughter if it was alright for him to talk about the intimate details of her love life and he suddenly felt very uneasy and regretful that he brought this all up.
"Oh, no she'll be able to handle it," he objected in the hopes that this revelation wouldn't make its way back to his daughter, causing her distrust him once again.
None of the ladies acknowledge his protests and remained solely focused on the female that was standing. When Tom noticed that they weren't listening, he raised his voice and nearly shouted, "Toni wouldn't want all of this attention!"
He was now standing, but he quickly lowered his buttocks into his chair when his outburst was met only with angry glares. They all refocused their attention to the leader of the pack and she remained undeterred by the Colonel's objection.
"She'll need chocolate," she stated with unwavering confidence.
When everyone nodded in vigorous agreement, she added in Tom's direction, "I have a fondue set that has never seen the light of day. My daughter-in-law swears that it was the only thing that helped my granddaughter get over the boy that her supposed best friend stole from her. I lend it to you and I have the recipe she used as well."
The Colonel relaxed and slumped forward slightly at the realization that this remedy was one that he could put to use one on one with Toni instead of having a group therapy session.
"That would be wonderful," he accepted as the group refocused their attention on him. "But ladies… I have to ask you for a favor. Toni has always been quite private about her love life, so please be discreet when you approach the topic of Sam." A few of the ladies mimicked the motion of zipping their lips closed. When he saw that some of the other women were just looking at him in frustrated confusion, Tom elaborated, "I mean if she brings it up then by all means talk to her about it… But if she doesn't and you bring it up to her, then she'll know what a big mouth her Dad is and she might never talk to me about this kind of stuff again." Their looks of uncertainty remained steadfast, so he tried using his last piece of heavy artillery to seal the deal. "And then how else will I be able to talk to you all about it to get your expert advice?"
That seemed to do the trick and the Colonel quickly heard a shift in the group's attitude with a few quietly agreeing, 'Oh of course' and 'Mom's the word'.
The leader then said, "In that case, I'll drop it by tonight and show you the ropes. I hope it will help."
Tom smiled gratefully as the group dispersed to their own previously scheduled activities, leaving him alone at the table. He held his head in his hands and shook it sadly while lost in his own thoughts.
Stephanie, our daughter needs a mother… Give me a sign… Am I doing right by her? He prayed with his head bowed.
When Toni got home, her dad ran to the door and pulled her into his arms exclaiming, "Toni! Angel, you're home!" When he took a closer look at her face, he worriedly asked, "Are you okay?"
Toni tried to give her dad a strong smile, but she knew that he would see through the façade in an instant, so she sorrowfully replied, "Hey Dad… Have you tried the latest flavor Ben & Jerry's have come up with yet? I hear it's really good."
He took her bag from her wrapped an arm around her shoulder to lead her into the kitchen. Toni put her arm around his waist and hugged his torso gently in return.
"So since this one was a bit tougher on you, I thought you might need something stronger than ice cream," he explained before they entered the kitchen.
Toni froze in her spot, completely misunderstanding what her Dad was telling her. "No Dad, it's okay. I… I don't need alcohol and you really don't need to have that temptation in the house. I really wasn't THAT bad."
The Colonel laughed softly, kissed Toni's temple and then nodded towards the table and the fondue pot. "One of the ladies lent it to me."
After hugging her dad tightly, Toni chuckled as well replying, "Wow you weren't lying when you said 'new house, new rules'."
He passed her a fork with a marshmallow on it as they both took a seat. She tentatively dunked it in because she wasn't really certain how you kept everything on the fork while dipping it into the molten chocolate. Her dad watched as she started to nibble on the chocolate covered confection and frowned at her hesitation.
"Was it really that bad Angel?"
Toni's eyes shot up to her father's face and she couldn't help but smile. "No, it's not that Dad. I just keep thinking 'Your body's a machine. Make sure you give it the proper fuel'." The Colonel's eyes showed his regret, but before he could say anything Toni added, "I feel like less of a rebel breaking your rules right in front of you, Sir."
She popped a chocolate covered chunk of fruit into her mouth once her Dad relaxed and laughed at her joke. His jovial moment was short-lived because as he placed a piece of fruit on his fork, Toni's eyes were as wide as saucers and she had a pained look on her face.
"Hot… Hot…" She mumbled while trying to chew the food in her mouth. After taking a drink of cold water, she smiled brightly again saying, "I forgot, molten chocolate… It's kind of hot and can burn you…"
He shook his head and blew on his chocolate covered fruit on the end of his for and replied, "Very true… So… Toni… Did you want to talk about what happened in Elwood?"
Toni started playing with her fork in the fondue pot, frowning at it while deep in thought. "It's actually kind of ridiculous Dad… And to be honest, I feel kind of silly saying it out loud."
He reached across the table and held her free hand as he lovingly asserted, "It's not ridiculous. Please Toni, it's best if you talk about it. It's never good to keep it in."
Her eyes remained focused on her fork as she dipped the strawberry into the chocolate over and over. "Well Dad… Apparently fairies and leprechauns are real too."
The Colonel was momentarily stunned and the sound of his fork falling on the table top forced Toni's eyes away from her playing with her food.
"Yeah, I know, right? Dean said that he was surprised by that too. So it got me thinking… While we're looking for a new job, we might want to… To…" She had to pause to calm herself down before her laughter over took her. "To look at some of my books from when I was little so that we can bone up on our fairytale knowledge too."
Her dad laughed as he continued dunking fruit into the chocolate then finally replied, "Sounds like more fun than weeding through obituaries."
Toni was still laughing as she put her fork down and started eating the fruit as it was. Her dad watched her with a quizzical look, so Toni sheepishly explained, "I actually really do like the taste of fruits and vegetables. I'm not really a big fan of chocolate."
Her dad sighed loudly then chuckled saying, "Oh thank God because this is a little too rich for my taste too. How does a cup of tea to cleanse our palates sound?"
"Perfect. Thanks Dad."
While the Colonel was up and started preparing the tea, Toni watched him and tried to decide how to tell him what she was sure he was expecting to hear. What she knew he wanted her to talk about. She knew that he hadn't gone to all the trouble to prepare this snack just to hear about the monster she was fighting with the Winchesters. Since he had ventured out of his comfort zone for her, she pushed back all of her feelings of trepidation to do the same for him.
"I'm okay Dad," she started while his back was still facing her. "I know that he's not Sam… Well not my Sam. He doesn't get how his actions can affect other people. I… I understand that now. He didn't sleep with her to hurt me, he was just satisfying his desire. I wasn't even in his consciousness… I can't really be upset with him for that, right?"
Toni dad kept his back to her during her revelation because she seems to speak more freely when he wasn't staring down at her. As he turned around, he felt saddened that Toni was still avoiding making eye contact with him by tearing up a piece of paper into tiny pieces. She looked so fragile at the moment and he was hoping that they wouldn't have a repeat of her previous breakdown because he wasn't sure that he could handle her being that upset again. He was thankful that he hadn't had any alcohol in the house then because he was so tempted to drink her sorrow away last time.
"Well it's good to hear that you've been able to put the situation into some perspective, but Toni… That still doesn't mean that he's allowed to hurt you," he replied as he sat across from her again.
"I know that too, but he honestly doesn't get it. I think that our consciences are tied to our souls or something. Where you and I would feel guilty, he just doesn't. And it isn't because he doesn't want to, he physically can't," she tried explaining. As she sipped her tea, she looked up at her dad and said, "Plus… I think that when I told him I loved him… He wasn't able to or didn't hear it… Or maybe I just dreamt that I told him. I'm not really sure, but either way, he doesn't seem to know my feelings for him. So… I can't expect him to acknowledge something that he doesn't know exists, right?"
She gave her dad a cheeky grin and he allowed himself to laugh softly. "I thought you dropped out of college… How'd you get to be so smart?"
"Dad…"
"Toni, you truly are an amazing, intelligent, beautiful woman… I wish that I had more to do with helping shape you into the woman you are today."
Toni tried to chastise her father again, but she was temporarily at a loss for words. "Well, you really cracked the whip about getting my school work done… So, I guess it wouldn't be out of line for you to take at least partial credit for me getting a full ride to Stanford," she tease, blushing slightly.
"Hmm… That's very true," he replied with a wink.
He got up to get them a refill and while he was retrieving the teapot he tried to change the subject as seamlessly as possible. "So speaking of Stanford… You had a gentleman caller while you were away."
"Really? Who was it? How'd he get your number?" She asked as she reclaimed her mug.
"He said his name was Kory Turner. He knew about me being in the military, so he called a few different retirement communities until he found me," the Colonel explained.
"Wow. Talk about determination," she replied completely awestruck. "He must have needed to discuss something pretty important."
"You know… You're pretty important Antonia," he countered with the barest hint of a tease. She hid herself behind her mug, but her dad could still see the pink on her cheeks. "But yes, he was hoping you could help him with his situation."
"Help him?" She echoed showing her confusion.
"Yes. He knows the truth about what happened to William and he thinks that he might be dealing with similar circumstances."
"The truth… Oh geez… He must have read my journal when he packed my books up for me," she reasoned while she tried to work it all out in her head.
"Is that something that he would do?" He father asked, unable to mask the concern that crept into his voice.
Toni smiled, squeezed her dad's hand then explained, "He was a really good friend when I was at Stanford. When I wouldn't tell him the truth back then, he would do whatever he could to search it out and then he'd force me to fess up to whatever I was hiding from him."
"I can't say that I don't like the sounds of that."
After another brief chuckle, Toni almost hesitantly asked, "Did he give you any details about the job?"
"He was still pretty shaken up, but from what I could gather, there was a strange accident and his fiancée passed away… He thinks that his daughter might have witness the whole thing."
"Daughter? Was it her mother?"
"No, he's a widower. His first wife passed away after a short battle with cancer a few years ago. Since his daughter was so young, he kept a lot of his wife's personal effects, so he's worried that the prospect of this marriage angered her spirit or something."
Toni shook her head sadly agreeing, "Crap, that does make sense."
He dad shared the same sad smile that Toni wore on her face. He then passed her a note saying, "Then you'll need this so that you can get a hold of him. But you should try to get a proper night's sleep first."
Toni nodded silently, got up and kissed her dad on the cheek before distractedly saying, "Good night."
As she walked back to her room, she was staring at the piece of paper in her hands so intently that she almost tripped up the stairs. She finally pried her eyes from it long enough to place it on her desk while she prepared for bed. As she brushed her teeth, she once again focused her attention on its reflection in the mirror. She pretty much had the ten digits memorized and she had already come to the conclusion that the area code was from around Chicago, so at least they were in the same time zone.
"Damn it Toni, just call him," she ordered herself as she stared at the note in the mirror.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Toni started dialing Kory's number. She started pacing nervously around her room and even jumped with mild surprise when she heard his tired, "Hello?"
"Hey Kory it's Toni my dad just gave me your message and I'd be happy to help you," she blurted out in one quick run-on sentence.
When she heard him chuckle softly, Toni calmed her nerves to more soberly say, "Sorry. Hey Kory, it's me. How are you holding up?"
"It's okay Toni; I think I hung up half a dozen times before I mustered up the courage to stay on the line. We're doing alright, all things considered."
"Of course. There's nothing worse than losing a loved one," Toni replied not really knowing what she should say to help him right now.
"But during that ramble… Did I hear you say that you'll help me with this?"
Toni swallowed nervously then quietly answered, "Yeah you did. I'll head out first thing in the morning and then hopefully I can get this figured out for you quickly."
"Thanks Toni. I really appreciate it."
As soon as she hung up the phone, Toni started pacing again. She knew that she should at least attempt at getting some sleep, but her mind was racing so fast that she knew any attempts would be fruitless. So she decided to use her nervous energy to pack and plan a route to Illinois.
By the time she made it downstairs in the morning; her dad had already made breakfast and dished it out for both of them.
"So you have everything you need ready so you can head out?" He asked as they dug into their meals.
"Yeah, I talked with Kory last night and it all seems pretty straightforward… It shouldn't take me too long at all."
"You know… Chicago's a great town to visit… Do you think you might take some down time while you're there?"
"No I don't see why…" She started nonchalantly until she looked up and caught her dad's eye. "Dad! I know that we're getting closer and all, but there's no freaking way that I'm talking to you about that!"
"Okay, okay, so we won't talk about it. But don't forget to call and keep your old man in the loop so he can sleep at night, okay?"
The drive into Chicago was relatively smooth and Toni was able to make good time. She turned down Kory's street and was eternally grateful that it was still light out because she hoped that could only help her to find the address she was looking for that much easier. She was just about to triple check the exact street number when she came around a curve in the street and was taken aback by the scene that was ahead of her.
"Shit! Please tell me that isn't… Fuck!" She cursed out loud before parking her truck a few houses down from her destination.
The Coroner's van was just pulling out of Kory's driveway when Toni started making her way through the crowd that was gathering. Kory was still by the front door talking with a police officer, so Toni tried to stay in the crowd while also trying to discreetly catch his eye. While he was mid-sentence, Kory's gaze did land on Toni and he paused slightly, causing the officer to turn to see what had distracted him during his statement.
"Friend of yours?" The Constable asked trying not to sound too suspicious.
"Oh, yes Sir. She offered to come and help me with the arrangements for my wife and everything else," Kory replied, diverting his gaze quickly away from the crowd to the officer again.
"That's nice that you have that support," the Constable commented as he waved at Toni to invite her to join them. As she extracted herself from the crowd, Toni just caught the tail end of the two men's conversation with the officer saying, "I think we have everything we need. Here's my card in case you need anything from us, including resources for counseling and such for you and your daughter. I'll be in touch if anything else comes up."
Toni cautiously stepped around the Constable and they exchanged polite nods as a greeting. As soon as the officer turned to leave, Kory placed a gentle hand on Toni's lower back to show her into the house. He then hastily closed the door then pulled Toni into a tight hug.
"You have no idea what a relief it is to see you Toni," he commented on the verge of tears as he held her close.
Once he finally did let go of Toni, she petted one of his cheeks replying, "Looks like you had some more excitement since we last spoke. What happened?"
Kory took her by the hand and led Toni into the living room explaining, "I'm not even sure myself. I was out taking care of a few things for… For Candice's service so one of the girls for work offered to watch Isabella for me… When I got home she… She was on the bathroom floor… Not breathing…"
"Oh my God… Is… Is Isabella okay?"
"She's still not really talking to anyone except for me… She's up in her room right now…" Kory started to trail off, so Toni just squeezed his hand and left him to regroup for a moment.
"Kory, can I get you anything? Tea? Water? Anything at all? Because I really don't mind waiting to get into all of the details considering what just happened."
He took a deep breath then held both of her hands tightly before answering, "No, it's fine Toni. You've driven all this way… And the sooner you start then hopefully the sooner this nightmare will end."
"Are you sure?" Toni confirmed in a quiet firm tone.
Kory leaned in and pecked Toni's lips softly then reiterated, "Really I think I can do this."
"Daddy? Daddy!" A small voice called out from the top of the stairs.
Kory kept his hold on Toni's hands as he yelled back, "What do you need Busy Bee?"
"Can I watch TV?" The young girl inquired as she walked into the room and stood beside her father.
"Of course you can Pumpkin," he replied smoothing down one side of her hair. "Isabella, this is Daddy's friend Toni. She's going to be staying with us for a couple of days. Cool with you?"
The seven year old glanced over her shoulder at Toni, but did little else to acknowledge her presence. Instead, she took her dad's free hand and tugged on it, forcefully asserting, "Make me a snack Daddy."
Kory smiled at Toni apologetically. "Sorry, I'll be right back."
He then followed his daughter into the kitchen and Toni sat on the couch, awkwardly trying to find something to occupy herself with while she waited. There were a couple of local newspapers on the coffee table, so she started flipping through them while she passed her time alone. Instinctively she turned to the obituary section, not really looking for any suspicious deaths, but finding a few just the same. She quickly pulled out a pen and notepad to write down the dates, the cause of death and the names of the victims in the hopes that a pattern might emerge.
Kory watched her from the doorway for a spell, marveling at her professionalism during his time of need. He knew that she could compartmentalize her feelings, but every time he saw this trait of hers in action, he found himself in absolute awe. The longer he watched, the more amazed he became because he could tell that she had found a clue or something else to hopefully solve what was happening to him.
He finally decided to interrupt her and called out "Hey Toni…?" capturing Toni's attention, but they were immediately interrupted by the sound of a siren. They both turned their head just in time to see the red and white lights speed past Kory's living room window.
Toni jumped to her feet and Kory met her at the large window. While they watched the medics rush out of the ambulance into the neighboring house, Kory's arms wrapped themselves around Toni's waist. He watched the scene with a worried eye, but Toni remained in 'Hunter-mode' and tried to fit what she was witnessing in with everything that she had already learned.
"What are you thinking?" He questioned with his chin on her shoulder.
Toni hugged his arms that were still around her waist knowing that Kory sought some form of physical contact when he was feeling that he was falling to an abyss of despair.
"From what I've seen, I think…" She paused to turn around in his arms and look him in the eye. "I mean, I'm pretty confident that there's no way that it's your first wife's spirit that's behind this."
"Really?" He hoarsely asked as a tear slipped down his left cheek.
Toni brushed it away gently and was about to offer him a few more reassuring words when they were interrupted by Isabella once again as she called out, "Daddy! Daddy! Read me a story!"
Kory tried his best not to visibly show his disappointment when he hanged his head and mouthed, "I'm sorry."
Toni shook her head smiling and whispered, "Don't apologize. Go, take care of Isabella. I'll go see what I can find out about what's happening over there."
The distraught father tried to say 'Thank you', but his words wouldn't form, so he just lowered his lips to kiss Toni's forehead.
"DADDY!" Isabella shrieked freezing him mere inches from Toni's flesh.
Kory looked down at her wide-eyed, but she just unlatched herself from him softly ordering, "Go… She needs you right now… And I have work to do."
He almost reluctantly released her then they both heard another shrill, "Daddy!"
"Go!" Toni commanded softly with a playful push on his chest. "Go before she finds the octave that can shatter glass."
Kory cracked a small smile and Toni turned to exit the house quickly. While Kory worked at placating his offspring, Toni worked her magic on the EMTs and learned more than she had originally hoped. Anyone who asserts that it's a 'Man's World' had never been a woman who knew how to use each and every one of her 'assets' to dominate a sexually frustrated man.
By the time they were ready to load the body into the ambulance, Toni had not only learned everything she could from the medics, she had also befriended the woman who had most recently been widowed. She tried talking with their pre-teen son, but Toni had grossly underestimated how far her 'feminine wiles' would work on a male that had no raging libido.
As she quietly re-entered the Turner home and slowly closed the door, Toni heard Kory clear his throat to let her know that he was still awake.
"So did you find out anything interesting?" He asked as a couple of involuntary tears fell.
Toni nodded softly answering, "There definitely is something weird going on here and I'm even more sure now that it isn't an angry spirit."
Kory couldn't get his eyes to meet hers as he asked, "What is it then?"
She knew that being blunt wouldn't help her friend right now, so Toni took his hands in hers and gently said, "You're exhausted Kory. Why don't you head up to bed while I check on a few more things…?" When he hesitated, she added, "I'll be up in a little bit."
He leaned down but just rested his forehead against hers, so Toni tried to tip the scales in her favor by making up the distance so that their lips met. "Please Kory, for me? Try to get some rest?" She implored once again.
Kory finally turned and made his way up the stairs while Toni watched him attentively until she heard a door close. Once she was alone, she allowed herself to fall apart ever so slightly. Now that she had confirmation that her initial suspicions were wrong, she knew that she had to start from scratch, which made this task feel beyond daunting.
What could it be? She thought to herself as she walked the length of the Turner's living room back and forth. So what? A demon? Something else? Fuck! How do I know? No… Shit…
She flopped onto Kory's couch then she reached for her cell phone because Toni's first instinct was to call Sam. But as soon as she thought that, the blank look in Sam's eye flashed in Toni's memory from when she talked to him about why she couldn't work with him and his brother, so she continued to scroll through the few names she had saved in her contact list.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end questioned when an unfamiliar number called.
"Hey… Dean? It's Toni…"
"Toni!" He jumped in enthusiastically. "How have you been?"
She could hear that he was genuinely concerned about her, but Toni didn't want to get into talking about all of that right now. She had a job she had to do, so talking about her feelings could wait.
"I've been okay, but things have really sucked ass for my friend," she answered hoping Dean wouldn't press her to open up to him.
"Which is why you called. So what do have on your hands?"
"It started off with my friend's fiancée having an accident and umm… Dying. He thinks his daughter might have witnessed it. But once I got here I noticed there's kind of been an epidemic of accidents in his neighborhood."
"Do any of the other victim's families have kids?"
She pulled out her notes and silently chastised herself for not writing that information down. "Umm… At least one of them does… Shit, I'm not sure Dean. Can you give me a second to double check?"
"Of course I can… Take your time Toni," Dean replied trying not to laugh at her unnecessary apology.
"Well looking at the obits… Yeah it looks like all of them have kids… Wait… No, a child… Each family has one child," she explained as she read over the articles in the paper again. She heard Dean make a thoughtful noise prompting her to ask, "Does that mean something to you?"
"Yeah, it sounds like a job Sam and I worked a few years ago."
"Okay… So what do you think it is and how do I stop it?"
"It's probably a changeling… Well changelings. The children have probably been switched."
"What?" Toni exclaimed, unable to hide her shock. "And here I thought their reaction to me was my whole anti-kid vibe I put out there."
Dean chuckled then replied, "No it's them, not you… So last time there was also a mother changeling that kept the kids to… Umm… Snack on."
"Oh my God, really? So she'll need somewhere to keep them then, right? Huh… There are a few houses in the area that are empty… Looked like foreclosure properties," Toni mused mostly to herself.
"Sounds like the best place to start."
"Okay, perfect. Thanks Dean, you have no idea how much I appreciate your help."
Toni pulled her phone away, but before she could hang up, she heard Dean shouting her name. "Yeah Dean? Was there something else?"
"Did you want to know how to kill it?"
She felt her skin heat up with embarrassment as she sheepishly said, "Oh yeah… I guess that would help… Umm… So what do I do?"
"You burn the mother and then the creepy kids disappear too… And if you're worried about going after the wrong person, mirrors will tell you who it is." Dean explained bluntly. He sounded like he was going to continue, but instead said, "Oh one second Toni." Before continuing away from the microphone. "You actually showed. Wow, Sam, I owe you a chicken dinner. What happened?"
Toni heard Sam nonchalantly reply, "No big. This is what friends do for each other."
She quickly hung up the phone so she missed hearing Sam ask, "Who are you talking to?"
Dean looked down at his phone and saw that Toni had terminated their call, so he easily lied, "Oh, it was Toby."
"Kid's kind of needy," Sam observed without trying to hide his annoyance.
Dean clenched his jaw, but just calmly retorted, "He's been working on tracking an alpha for us, so I asked him to update me frequently."
Toni looked down at her phone and shook her head at herself. "You HAVE to get over this phobia," she ordered herself quietly before delving back into her research.
In the morning she woke up on the couch and heard Kory quietly call out, "Busy Bee, come on… Breakfast is ready… Let Toni sleep."
When Toni opened her eyes, she shuddered visibly when a cold shiver ran down her spine because Isabella was standing beside the couch with a strange, blank look on her face. Toni sat up and stretched, trying not to let her discomfort show.
"Sorry about that Toni, I hope Isabella didn't wake you up," Kory apologized as he picked his daughter up to carry her into the kitchen.
"No, she didn't. I had planned on getting up early so that I could get to work… Umm… On that project," Toni explained as she followed Kory into the kitchen.
"Daddy, I want waffles!" Isabella demanded before the adults could continue their conversation.
"Well Busy Bee, Daddy made pancakes, so…"
"WAFFLES!" She shouted over the rest of his comment. "WAFFLES DADDY!"
"Isabella," the father started very sternly. "We don't throw temper tantrums in this house to get our way." Kory then turned to apologize to Toni, but she had already left the room and was hurrying towards her truck.
Toni figured that all of the parents were excusing their children's similar behavior as being a result of emotional distress after all of the tragic deaths, so she wanted to get this job finished… Fast. As she walked out to her truck, she could feel her blood boiling because she assumed that that's how this thing got away with its dirty business. Kill someone in the family then the surviving parent won't notice that their children are actually little monsters.
Dean had told her that she needed fire to burn the head changeling, so she rooted through her lock box trying to find something that would help. She wasn't sure what Sam and Dean had used, but she figured she could improvise something just as easily as either of them could. When she found her jerry can with her emergency reserve of gas, she started beaming as she formulated a plan.
Once she had all of that in place, she drove to the first house she had come across that looked empty and had a 'For Sale: Foreclosure' sign on the front lawn. After she parked, she did a quick sweep with her eyes of the area to make sure that no one was around to watch her, even though she had already come up with a cover story if anyone did stumble upon her.
As she walked to the rear of the house, she noticed that a couple of sets of lights in the basement turned on and then a few moments later they were turned off.
Well if no one's living here, why would the lights be used? She thought to herself while she worked at picking the door lock.
She was still grumbling to herself after what felt like hours, frustrated with her ineptness at lock picking when her hand slipped and hit the door handle. It flopped down and the door opened slightly.
And why wouldn't the door be locked? She thought as she slipped into the kitchen.
She quietly shut the door and secured the lock as she heard a man say, "Breaking and entering's a crime, you know?"
Before she had fully turned to face the owner of the voice, he back handed her across the face. He used so much force that she flew across the room and onto the island to her left. She wasted no time trying to regroup her thoughts and just crawled across the counter top and fell onto the floor on the other side. With a frustrated and painful grunt, she stood up to face him once again.
He stood in the same spot with a slightly shocked look saying, "Huh… You're tougher than you look."
Toni wiped away a small bit of blood that trickled out of a cut on her lip with her shirt sleeve then she nodded towards a mirror beside the kitchen table retorting, "And you're a lot less human than you look."
He looked at his reflection and when he saw his true self in the mirror he just shrugged asking, "And what are you going to do about it little girl?"
Toni didn't hesitate to verbally reply and pulled out a plastic water bottle and aimed the opening towards him. He stumbled back slightly when she squeezed it and the scent of gasoline filled the room. He instinctively tried to wipe the malodourous liquid off himself, which in the end just helped to spread the flammable liquid over his body.
As she struck a match and the lit the whole matchbook on fire, Toni finally replied, "I'll think of something" while tossing the flaming matchbook at him.
He once again tried in vain to swat it away and soon his entire body was engulfed in flames. Toni ducked behind the island until she heard the creature emit one final anguished cry. She waited another minute to ensure it was really gone before standing and then sprinting towards a door that she guessed would lead her to the basement.
It was locked, but easily flew open under the weight of her booted foot kicking it in with utter frustration. She stumbled slightly down the stairs and felt her way down the hall in the pitch black basement until her hand touched a light switch. Once the room was illuminated, she could see that this was a finished basement and there were three rooms with their doors closed.
"Hello?" She called out hoping that the kids would realize she wasn't the thing that took them and would answer her.
"In here!" A young boy's voice replied.
When she got to the door to the room where the children were being held captive, she grunted an annoyed "Fuck" at the large padlock that ensured the kids would remain secured in that room. She reached around to the small of her back before she remembered that she hadn't brought her trusty pistol with her.
"Okay… You kicked in a door once already," she reasoned quietly to herself. "I'm going to get you out of there! Just make sure that you all stay far, far away from the door!"
After a few hard kicks, the door started to splinter slightly. She refocused her energy on one edge of the door and the hinges creaked and started to finally give. When her leg got too tired to land any more effective kicks, Toni rammed her body full force into the damaged door. She wouldn't let herself lose hope and after running into it no more than half a dozen times, she fell through the door onto the floor with half of the door's wood under her body.
All but one of the children were huddled into a corner on the opposite side of the room and they all shrieked when she forced her way in. The one lone little girl that had strayed from the group walked over to Toni and carefully picked up a piece of the door that was tangled into Toni's hair.
Toni smile at her gratefully and struggled to thank her through her exhaustion saying, "Hey Isabella, I'm your Dad's friend Toni."