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Episode One: Pilot
She was as inconspicuous as a child in a playground, it was Halloween after all, and no body looked at her twice. Sitting on bus bench, looking like she was waiting for it to come, this dirty blond haired woman was watching the white condo building, seeing a group of three walking down the street after exiting. Listening to the tall, brown haired boy mention his dislike for Halloween, after his dark skinned friend popped out ideas as the costume he should have worn, she knew he was who she was looking for. Snorting in amusement after his comment of, "not liking the whole thing," a mumble of, "I'm sure you don't" escapes her lips. Viewing the over six foot tall man, she sees the resemblance to his father as plain as day. The curled hair is new, since she knows that buzz cuts are almost mandatory for the Winchester men, but the wide shoulders and still toned body shows her that he still keeps in shape despite the youngest son of John not hunting for about two years now.
"So, that's the little genius Sammy," she thinks. "Going out for drinks by the sound of it, I'll come back at dusk to find out more." Her pleated black and orange skirt was ruffled as she stood up, heading for her hotel, found some two or three blocks away. Her black corset drawing a lot of looks from the male passer-bys as she strutted down the sidewalk, mind spinning and planning what to do next. Dark-coal lined eyes continuously scanned her surroundings as her heeled feet kept up a steady pace until she reached her destination
After that night of fun and merriment, both Sammy and who looks to be his girlfriend return to the condo, slight stumble in their gait, showing that her previous guess was spot on. Waiting until both settled down for the night, she plops down on a curb with the doors in sight, making routine checks of the area ever half hour or so. The black Impala that is in viewing range of the same condo Sam entered makes her get out binoculars to check out who's in the driver seat. An army cut twenty something year old male, beat-up old leather jacket, and same basic facial structure as Sam, only smaller. "Ah, so I get two for the price of one, this is my lucky day." The thought flashes through her mind.
Dean Winchester has come searching for his little brother. An amusing concept, seeing as how Sam is at least six inches taller. While Sam wins in the height department, Dean is more of a sturdier build than his lean brother. Both have muscles, but each brother's physique is best suited to their personality.
Muttering, "but I thought he was working jobs with his dad, what the hell is he doing in Stanford?" she puts that little thought in the back of her mind. As Dean gets out of the Impala, she follows him, thinking that Dean might just do something stupid, like breaking and entering.
Sighing in annoyance, "Why am I always right?" she asked herself as she tails the older brother into the pitch black living room, entering via window and keeping to the shadows. All that clattering that came from his attempt at a smooth entrance made her stifle her giggles, knowing that Sam would be up and about at that noise, she leaded back against the wall to enjoy the show.
"Change of plans" thinking to herself, as she follows Dean into the next room, planting her body in the doorway so as to not get in Sam's way. She was right, again. As Sam attacks from the right, throwing Dean into another room, she slips by, unnoticed as the two duke it out, kung-fu style, ending with Sam on the ground, pinned by his older brother.
"Dean," the shocked gasp emanates from the young college student as his brother is grinning above him. "You scared the crap out of me." He admits as Dean is still chuckling. The reply of him being out of practice makes Sam maneuver his brother underneath him, pinning him to the floor.
"Or not." Comes laughing out of Dean's mouth. In a demand to get up, Sam lifts his brother up from the floor, and he questions, "Dean, what are you doing here?" Trying to make it sound like a joke, bringing up beer of all things, makes the young woman still clouded in shadows shake her head in shame. The banter between the two brothers, about needing to talk, about the usage of the new age telephone, if Sam would answer, brought the girlfriend into the picture.
Turning on the light, asking if her boyfriend was okay, she turns her head to the right, and sees another body in her vision, the resulting scream and point method turns the brothers attention to where Jess is looking at. A young woman, just leaning up against the wall, as if she owned the place, was what attracted her attention. Placing a smirk on her face, she slowly starts to clap, "I have to admit, I'm a little impressed." The comment does its job, confusing all three of the other people in the room.
"Who the hell are you?" this coming from both brother, and in chorus no less. Pushing off the wall, lifting her hands up in a non-threatening manner, she starts to answer their question.
"Name's Etelvina, a mouthful, I know. Was hoping you'd remember me from way back when." She starts, "You guys couldn't say my name right, or messed it up on purpose," directing a pointed glance at Dean, "So I shortened it to Lina for you. Lina Kelvin. When information drips, it pours." The last statement was said glancing between the two boys, hoping they would recognize the message.
Realization flashed across Sam's face, "Little Lina, the girl who could beat all the boys! You remember, right Dean?" he questions, "Dad's ex-marine friend's little girl, who lived a couple blocks down the street, could always find her on the field by the playground, beating on some bully years older than her just 'cuz he was being rude?" Now you could see those cogs working in Dean's head, processing both Sam's question and the dirty blond haired woman's last statement.
The growing smirk appears and he finally admits, "Yeah, I know who you're talking about Sammy. I remember, how's your dad doing? Living the good life?" the quick reply of something like that makes Dean about to question for details when the young blond woman in the doorway interrupts accidentally.
"Dean?" Jess questions, "Your brother Dean?" this time aimed towards Sam, who makes introductions between all four of us. The smurf comment gets a chocked snort to come out of Lina's mouth, ignored by everyone as most of the attention was on Dean and his failing attempts at flirting. When Dean brings up the comment about a private discussion between the Winchesters, Lina knows this has to do with the family "Hunting business" as many are apt to term it.
"No, no whatever you wanna say, you can say it in front of her." That defiant attitude of Sam's makes these family chats so amusing to watch. Wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's waist, staring directly at Dean, conveying his aggression at being told what to do.
"Huh, past issues perhaps," is though by the dirty blond still staying out of the fight. She's keeping her hands wrapped around her own waist, long fingers tapping to a tuneless beat waiting for the older Winchester to drop the proverbial bomb. As Dean tells Sam of their dad not being home for a few days, I cut in, hoping to speed up the process with some underlying statements, "Oh, is he on a hunting trip again. John should know by now that he needs to call, to make sure you don't get this worked up over him not being in contact." The statement sounded so flippant to anyone else, but it caught both the brothers attention, if the almost whip lashed necks showed anything. "Dad was the same way." Understanding flashed through their eyes, and Sam asked if Jess would excuse them, and all three of us headed outside.
The walk down the staircase on the side of the building was enlightening for Lina, resenting feelings for the father from Sam, loyalty to the father from Dean, and a whole slew of other little tidbits stored away to examine for a rainy day. When Sam picks up multiple examples of John being missing and ending up fine, telling of the time when Sam was given a .45 when he told his father of being scared of the thing in his closet hoping to convey his feelings of not wanting to be a part of this. "I wondered where dad got that idea from" the young woman thinks, her lips lifting in amusement. As the Kelvin daughter listens to the argument about their dad's obsession with the deamon that killed their mom, the question of, "So why do you think this time you need help to find your father Dean?"
They both look up, as if just realizing I'm still there. Pointing a finger at me Dean states, "You walk too silently. And it's because I got a call. One that made me worry." That seamed to get Sam's attention, as the boy finally fell silent when we reach the Impala. Lifting the bottom of the trunk, which turns out to be a fake bottom, weapons and hunting equipment are displayed in meticulous sections.
Whistling in appreciation, the comment, "That is damn handy, wish we had one of those" slips out of the female's. The nod from Dean is all that's said back. The banter is back again and listening to both men squabble like children, Dean comments that John did the trip by himself as he had another trip to New Orleans. Finding the information on John's last hunt in Jericho, California. Informing us of the missing person's in that area, then pulling out a tape recorder, playing us the message he got from daddy dearest. As the message is playing, I mouth EVP, hearing it on the voicemail. The youngest Winchester says the same thing, after the come back of, "Just like riding a bike, " Dean then plays for us the same message through a gold wave, taking out the hiss.
All three of us hear the same sentence, a soft voice saying, "I can never go home."
The trunk is closed as Dean shares everything he's got, commenting on the fact that, he hasn't bothered Sam at Stanford for two years. ""I swore I was done hunting for good." His younger brother comments, "That's why I came here, going to college so I could get a job and have a life. Hell, dad was the one who said if I was going I should stay gone. So I did what he asked me to."
"What a normal life?" the undertone of contempt sounded through the older Winchester's voice, outright ignoring the last barb aimed towards their father.
"No, a safe one. The way we grew up after mom was killed, do you think she would have wanted that for us? To know what weapon to use and how, or how to melt silver to use as ammo? We were raised as warriors Dean, all to help dad find the thing that killed mom. We still haven't found the damn thing, so we kill everything we can find in between, and for what?" he exclaims
"So that those who don't know the dangers are safe." That tone that comes out of Lina's mouth is final, "We save people from their worse nightmares, but Dean isn't asking you that, he's just asking you to help find your father. Is that such a nuisance to you that you would abandon family?" danger lies underneath her words as she faces Sam, a questioning tilt to her head as she waits for his answer.
"All right, I'll go. I'll help you find him." He relents, as he goes back into the condo to pack. As he's walking back, he shouts over his shoulder, "But you're getting me back her first thing Monday!" the question of why from Dean is muffled by the shut door of the building.
Looking towards me while leaning up against his car, I inquire, "So you got room in there for a third passenger?" His shock is clearly visible in his blue-grey orbs. "I could do with a good hunt, haven't been on one for a good couple weeks."
"If you can get back here before Sammy's down from kissing his girlfriend good night, then it's fine with me." Nodding in acceptance, I jog over to the curb, which I was sitting on previously, shoving my hand into the bush behind the sidewalk and pulling out my two bags of essentials. An army looking duffel bag and a dark green side bag are filled with clothing, bathroom necessities and small mementoes of her home back in Kansas. Jogging back towards Dean, he has an eyebrow cocked up, asking silently how she got her stuff so fast.
"It was just in the bushes around the corner." She states. Not commenting on the oddness of that statement, they wait in silence for Sam to come back down so they can head out.
On the way out of town, Dean finally gets to ask his little brother about why they're on a schedule, "I have a job interview. My whole future on a platter, if I get this in the bag, I have a full ride scholarship to the law school." Seeing how important this is to his younger brother, Dean agrees.
"But is the girlfriend okay with this?" is first Winchester's reply. As Sam tell him of how she's just worried about his interview, Lina realizes that even after two years apart, they both still try to take care of each other, without letting the other know that they care.
"Men" she mutters, just loud enough for the two up front to hear. The 'oh crap' looks flashes across her face as both men turn their attention to her.
"So Lina, you said you'd been hunting before? What did you hunt?" Dean questioned. Sam looks back at me, as if his slight stare would get me to confess everything.
Annoyance flashed in those pale green eyes at the poor attempt at the subtle inquisition. "Cut the crap okay? Supernatural shit does not bother me, nor does it frighten me, I've been in the know since my dad dragged the information out of your father, kicking and screaming I might add. Apparently, he loved to keep secrets, and dad hated that. Once dad knew the general stuff, he had to know more, worse that a cat he was. We spent about seven years after I graduated high school roaming around the states gathering information on anything we could, helped about every town we could on the way. There isn't much I haven't seen that is in my databank." Interested looks came from Dean mostly, while confusion marred Sam's.
"So you got any idea as to what dad went into?" came from the driver, as he switched onto the interstate.
"The voice was female, that I'm sure. Since the victims are all male, I'm thinking she might have a grudge, so spirit that's pissed?" the shrug of her shoulders showed how much she thought is could not be that as well. Starting to search through her side bag, which she kept with her in the back seat, Lina continued her hypothesis, "We haven't gotten there yet, and if I can see the situations the people are in, and what happened in that town, I'll be able to narrow it down. But until then, I'll be listening to my iPod, letting you two man-bitches work out that tension that is so palpable between you it could be cut with a knife." Pluging in her head phones, she missed the shocked and angered looks that bloomed on their faces, but knew they would be there.
The Winchester's mouths were moving, and the sound drowned out by her favorite metal bands blasting music in her ears. Closing her eyes, she fell into a light doze, knowing there could be retaliation for that man-bitch comment from before. If she were still looking, she would have seen one of the most amusing sites in the world, simultaneous pouts adorning the brother's faces.
Stopping at a gas station, after being woken up by the light shinning in her eyes, at a non-natural reflection, Lina hopped out of the car, silently sneaking Dean's car keys out of his pocket so they wouldn't leave her behind. Searching for a nice sugary sweet breakfast, which would be washed down with orange pop, she payed for the cheep candy. Getting out of the station relatively fast, she slipped the keys back into his pocket, so he wouldn't know they were missing in the first place.
As Dean walked out of the station, questioning if Sam wanted breakfast, he stopped the pump from filing up more fuel than he bought. The reply of no thanks, accompanied with a small snort showed just how much her thought of the "breakfast." As the taller Winchester was flipping through Dean's music selection, Lina learned of how John had started using credit cards, scamming the companies out of money. Amusing that they could live by that for so long, and wondering if I should help them with their monetary problem.
"I swear man, you gotta update your cassette tape collection." The exasperation in his tone was unmistakable, when Dean is confused as to why that needs to be done, Sam looks at him as if his older brother is retarded. "Well for one, they're cassette tapes, and two; Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica. It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." Offended by his little brothers degradation of his music, the passenger in the back hears that house rule of driver picking the music while the passenger shuts his pie-hole.
"Well, there goes the thought of ever listening to my music from the car, my iPod will become my best friend on this trip." She thinks
No news of their father being in the town hospital or morgue was an uplifting thought, as Dean spots the commotion on the bridge they were about to pass, Lina get an idea. "Hey guys, I got an idea as to how we may be able to get the information, through legal means." The girl adds on, seeing Dean pulling out fake badges to fool the cops with. Sam agrees, so with a sigh Dean puts them away, waving a hand in her direction showing his agreement. "Now, when I get about halfway between the car and the bridge, you two come hurling out of the car to come 'console' me," using my fingers for quotation marks. "After that, just follow my lead." The confusion lasts, as the young woman springs out of the car, looking distraught, nervously wringing her hands as she gets closer. Speeding up her gait, she reaches the edge of the bridge when she hears foot steps behind her, the two brothers jogging to keep up. Mumbling 'no', and 'it can't be' over and over, she catches the attention of the police near the car.
Recognition seams to hit her, and she screams out 'no', as the nearest sheriff detains her, "No it can't be him, it just can't be!" she screams again. The commotion brings one of the officers previously standing over by the car walk towards Lina, as she's struggling to get out of the detaining officer's grip. "I can't be him!" she yells at the officer who is approaching her, as if demanding he tell her otherwise.
"I'm sorry to say ma'am, but Troy is missing." He admits. The brothers behind her are shocked, while the officers take it as shock about who's the missing person, they are astounded that the police are actually telling her. "We just finished the search around the area and it isn't looking good." Tears drip down Lina's eyes, upset over the information revealed.
"We were just coming up to see him, on our trip of the year, this can't be happening…" her muttering trails off in the end. Suddenly she looks up, "Wait, why isn't it looking good?" the desperate sound in her voice makes the cop hesitant at answering, glancing at another officer for what seamed like approval. With a nod from the apparently higher-ranking officer, the first continues. "Nothing in the river, no finger prints, foot prints, or sign of struggle. It's like nothing actually happened. Troy didn't deserve this."
"God, we've been friends for a couple years, internet café, and some recent meetings, why would this happen to him?" As the cop who held her finally let go, she turned to Sam, as if asking him the question.
He goes along with her act, a gleam of something in his eyes, starting to step towards her with open arms, "I don't know why Lina." His soft voice has her leaning into his chest, for comfort, "but we should get out of these officer's way, and go back to the car." He takes her and turns her back facing the way she came, both boys and the girl walking back to the car and driving down the road to the town.
As soon as they get out of view from the cops on the bridge, her tears stop, and she wipes her eyes, stating, "Well that was a complete waste of time. They didn't know anything. Except the kids name," the disgust in her voice showed, and both brothers were again astounded at her complete one-eighty turn in emotions.
"How in the hell did you do that?" a flabbergasted Dean said.
"A.C.T.I.N.G. Did you get all that?" her snide tone asked. "It seams that no matter where I go, the men in uniform are always a sucker for tears." Another flippant answer that made Sam shake his head, whether it was in exasperation or confusion she couldn't tell. There was some amusement in there, if the fact that he asked for a high-five was any indication.
Driving into the town, the three see posters up with a boy's face on it. Finding the girl posting them up was easy, their third partner waited in the car as Sam and Dean went to question the girl. The group, which grew as one of the girls friends went with them, headed into a small café across the street, as Lina pulled out her laptop, hooked into the internet in the area, and found local articles on all the men that went missing, trying to find a connection.
The car doors slammed shut, announcing the entrance of the driver and passenger, at their expressions, she knew they found something. "What'd you two learn on your double date?" the small teasing hint slipped in there with out her knowledge, getting a small blush out of Sam and Dean, as they were caught off guard.
"Local legend of a girl who was murdered on Centennial Highway, and she's still out on the road, making everyone who gives her a ride disappear forever." Sam informed her. Quickly typing in the main pieces of the story into the Jericho Herald website.
"I'm not finding anything on any female murder on Centennial." She commented.
Sam spun in his seat, "What, you're in their archives?"
"Yeah, easy as pie. Since angry spirits are born out of violent deaths there is murder as an option, or another. Was it actually a murder?" the suddenness of the inquiry made both boys pause.
"It is a legend, so maybe that part got messed up in the telling." One commented. Changing murder to suicide, she got a hit.
"Found it, it's a suicide case, in 1981. One Constance Welch leapt off the bridge and drowned. Hours before the murder, she called in an emergency 911 because her two children were found dead, after leaving them in the bathtub alone for what she describes as only one minute. Found not breathing." She clarifies. Scrolling down the page, she sees a picture of the bridge they were just on that morning. Turning the computer to face the two men looking back at her, she says, "Does that bridge look familiar to both of you?"
They ended up at the bridge, night clearly upon them as they park at the edge of the metal contraption, walking down towards the other end, looking for anything that could give them a clue. Dean's swan-dive comment had Lina looking over at them on the other side of the bridge. As she was walking down the opposite side, eyes shifting over every surface of metal in her eye site, she kept one ear on their conversation.
Turning to his brother, Sam questions on if their dad was here, continued by Dean's statement basically saying he should be, but they're not positive. Dean just has to pry into Sam's decision of wanting to go to law school, having to be back by Monday, and his little brother wanting to have a different life. They start picking at each other's life style, revealing the decisions and thoughts they had pushed into the back of their minds, trying to forget, out into the open for each other to pick at.
"… mom's gone and she isn't coming back." That set Dean off like never before, slamming Sam up against and support beam.
He hesitates, and settles on telling his baby brother to not talk about their mom like that, the tone final. As Dean lets go of the leather jacket, looking away from anyone, he spots a woman in white standing on the edge of the bridge. Bringing our attention to his eye line, Sam and Lina turn to look where he is, finding the woman as well.
Looking over at the boys, a dull glance making her facial expression seam morbid, she takes the step off, as all three rush to look over the edge, hoping they could catch another glimpse. Not finding her, talking to each other to see if any one of the three had seen where she went, a car engine starts in the background, the lights turn on and the group now knows the Impala has been turned on.
Sam's asking, "Who's driving your car?" has Dean pulling out his keys, jingling them in the air. The tires squeal, and Lina tugs on both of their arms, crying out the command of run. Turning and sprinting away from the possessed car, they keep running until the bumper is almost right on them. Turning right, each person jumps off the side, and subsequently, that makes the car stop driving and turn off.
Pulling himself up onto one of the side tubes on the bridge, the giant brother pants in relief as he stabilizes his breathing, turning to look for his other two partners. Seeing Lina, but no brother has him calling out his name. Finding his older brother crawling out of the colored water has him sighing in relief after hearing that Dean thinks he's super. "I'll just ignore the sarcasm in that statement brother." He calls down.
Finding out that nothing is wrong with their main means of transportation, brothers sitting on the hood, there was a relaxed atmosphere, where the three hunters discussed what to do next. Of course, this had to be after Dean announces for anyone to her, "That Constance chick, what a bitch!" in the loudest voice possible.
"Where do we go from here?" the hands lifting up in a sense of not knowing what to do, Dean sits there in silence.
Lina points out, "We need a place to sleep, one with plumbing."
"Why, so you don't have to pee in the forest?" was the older Winchester's rude remark.
"No, it's because you smell like toilet." This blunt observation was met with silence form Dean, and a snort of amusement from Sam.
Finding a hotel that was vacant took the rest of the night, as the sun was peaking through the blinds in the main office. Throwing down his new credit card, Dean asks for a room, and the old man behind the counter asks something about a reunion after reading the name printed on the bottom left corner. Hoping to get those shifty eyes to disappear, Lina exclaimed, "Oh, so dad's here! We thought he had already left the area, haven't seen him around that town at all. Sir" drawing more attention away from Dean's apparel, "could you tell us what room number he's in as well as that room from my brothers and me?" Acting saved both boys from being questioned, as he turned to me and his facial features, wrinkled as they were, softened to what looked to be a smile, he informed me of both and the three of us were on our way.
Sam's lock picking abilities were put to the test as the room number ten was locked, and John wouldn't answer us. Our lookout, aka Body Odor Boy, wasn't entering behind us, so a good hard yank by Sam and the door shut behind him. Pictures and data littered the walls, suitcase empty on the bed along with a fully stocked first-aid kit. "The salt on the floor, and the cats-eye shells," started Sam, "he was worried." Dean told us he hadn't been here in a few days by the smell of the burger on the side table.
"If he hasn't been here in a few days, then lets pack up his stuff, store it for him and see if we can find anything that pertains to the case here. He wouldn't want ordinary people to see all this, suspicions and everything." Agreeing tones all around had us carefully taking down his data. Coming to a darkened section of the walls, Sam flipped on the light switch and found an article on the White Women of legend.
"Dad figured it out," he mused. "White woman, that legend…" he didn't get any farther than that as both brothers heard Lina spout off some curses that even they didn't think were possible.
"Should a known!" the exclamation came with a thump to her own forehead, "Her white dress, all the victims men, all men having girlfriends at the time of the disappearance, it was so obvious. Women in white go after unfaithful men, because their men in their lifetime were unfaithful."
"Dad would have found the body and burned it since he figured it out." When Sam commented on Constance having another weakness, Dean was positive their dad would have found the body anyway. Making plans to go visit Mr. Welsh, Dean walked into the bathroom to clean up.
"Hey Dean," Sam spoke, "what I said about mom, on the bridge, I'm sorry…" only to be interrupted by Dean's comment on not having a chick-flick moment. Laughing at his answer, Sam replies, "Alright, jerk."
"Bitch" was thrown back at him as his brother walked back towards the bathroom as Sam laughs again.
Waiting for Dean to get out of the shower was taking forever, "The sad thing is, he takes longer than me in there, on my worst day." A chuckle from the other occupant in the room was followed by a retort.
"Dean doesn't want others to know, but his face mask that he hides from me has to be put on right after the shower, so it might take longer." It was said with such conviction that Lina busted out laughing.
"That was a good one. He's taking too long, I'm gonna go see if Mr. Welsh has the answers we're looking for." And she is out the door, throwing on her dark green, jean looking coat.
Dean walks out of the bathroom, shirt in hand, toweling off his wet hair, "Where's Lina?"
"She went to go get answers from Mr. Welsh, said you took too long in the bathroom." Shrugging his shoulders in acceptance, he starts to put away the information his Dad collected when they heard a voice outside shouting.
"Oh, officers, have you found any leads on where Troy is?" staring at each other, they both creep over to the window, peeking outside, to find the officers from yesterday striding towards Lina.
"Lying to an officer, breaking and entering, fake credit cards, it's all a fake. Where are the other two?" Her silence is his answer.
"Is there anything on you that is real?" Sam and Dean hear through the window, looking at each other wide-eyed. The leading officer signaled to the second to check the room she had just come out of.
"Yes, my boobs." With the straightest face either had ever seen.
Ending up hand cuffed and slammed onto the hood of the police cruiser was to be expected. As was being hauled down to the police station. "I have to admit," she started, "I'm so glad I was wearing jeans when you slammed me on the car hood, 'cuz in a skirt that could have looked ten sorts of wrong." The arresting officer wasn't as amused by her joke as she was.
"God, finally, do you know how long I had to wait in this god-forsaken room? Your nice officers didn't even give me anything to play with." Lina stated with a pout to the uniformed man walking into the room.
"So you wanna give us your real name? Because I have a bet ten to one that it isn't Lina." The officer counters with. She looks over at him, sitting in the chair, looking as bored as she told him.
"Well you're going to loose that bet, it's Lina Walker. Just what I told your man-handler in the cruiser." Her smile was slight, meant to show her sincerity and hind her annoyance. "God, pencil-pushing fat-assed cops are some of the ones I hate the most." She thought.
Dropping the box he states, "I'm not sure you realize how much trouble you're in here. You got the faces of ten missing person's taped to your wall, along with a whole lot of satanic mumbo-gumbo. You are officially a suspect."
"Can I tell you that it is have, you have the faces of ten missing people taped to your wall, if you're going to accuse me, please use grammar you were taught in school." She corrected. "So the missing one in eighty-two was done from my bed, since mom wouldn't let me out after ten?" She inquired. "Every sane, law-abiding citizen will believe that spiel."
"Your older friend, the one who rented that room, who you called father. Maybe he started the whole thing." he comments. Reaching into the box, he questioned me again, "So… Dean? Is this his?" he pulls out a journal and drops it on the table-top as well. Lina looks at the light brown covered journal with a disinterested look on her face. "An odd name for a girl, that's for sure." The mumble wasn't suppose to be heard, but it was.
"Oh, yeah. We shortened it from Dealnessia to just Dean, my full name is such a mouthful." The jovial tone was apparent to the officer.
"See, I leafed through this, of what little I could make out" showing me the inside of her supposed journal. Seeing all the supernatural references, she knew it had to be John's.
"I'm gonna need to get that and his notes out of here, before someone actually sees a connection. But what the hell was John thinking leaving it out in the open, let alone leaving it, period? A hunter's journal is like their personal information handed out onto a platter for all to see, what the hell are you up to John Winchester?" The cogs were turning furiously in her mind, trying to figure out how she was going to make a break for it.
"It is nine kinds of crazy," the officer continued, his droll tone staying the same. "But I found this too." Opening up to a page at the end, only nine characters in all, circled was:
'Dean
35 – 111'
Right smack dab in the middle of the page. "Now, you're staying right here until you tell me exactly what the hell that means." The order was suppose to have a forceful tone to it, but it was lost somewhere in translation. Smiling up at the officers she agrees.
"It's my high school locker combination. It means nothing." 'Dean' had been repeating this to the officer for the last couple hours. Another officer appeared at the door, stating that they have a call of a shooting down on Whiteford road.
Being acknowledged, he leaves me with Mr. broken-record again. Who then voices one of the oddest statements, "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" Puzzled, the answer is negative for 'Dean' and her wrist gets shackled to the table by an iron loop on the edge.
Sighing in annoyance, she starts looking around the room for something to help her. Seeing the innocent paper clip in the pages of John's journal, a devious smile crosses her lips and in minutes, she's unlocked, loaded with Johns papers folded neatly into the journals binding and shut with some resistance due to the massive amount of paper in there.
Waiting for the officers to get in their cruisers, she sneaks out of the building with no one the wiser. Roof access down to the alley way and she meets the actual Dean, waiting there with open arms. Jumping down the rest of the way, she lands right in front of him, smirk still on her face.
As he sees her expression, "Okay" he starts, adopting that mother tone they use when they know you've done something wrong, "what did you steal this time?"
"I just stole it back, John would kill me if I left this in police hands." Saying this while pulling out the journal from the interrogation. The shock on Dean's face tells Lina what she thought all along, this little journal was the proof. John Winchester wasn't here.
Walking down the street, and calling Sam at the same time, Dean informs him of what Lina found in the police station, while Lina waits for Dean to stop talking so she can take the phone. Seeing her chance, swiping it from Winchester with ease, she says, "Thanks for making the call Sam. What did you find over at the Welsh place?"
"Found out that you were right, Welsh was cheating, but I'm heading back down Centennial right now. Constance was buried behind her old house. Would you know why dad hasn't burned the corpse yet? Dean has no clue. Or why he would skip out in the middle of a job? It's not like him. Oh shit!" the last part sounded distant from the phone.
"Sam, Sam what the hell happened?" hearing nothing but the same noise the was in John's voicemail, she hangs up. Turning to Dean, "He's on Centennial and I'm hearing the same noise from your dad's voicemail. Constance has Sam, we need to move now!"
Dean nodded as well, eyes wide in fear for his little brother who he wasn't with. He couldn't protect him if he wasn't right by Sam's side. Taking off at a sprint, both Lina and Dean head over to the old house at the end Breckenridge road.
It took some time, both praying they weren't to late, they see the Impala in the drive, cursing the distance they had to travel to get here. Viewing an image in the driver's seat, Sam, pressed against the back of his seat, head thrown back, as if in pain, and we have to hear his low scream. Hand over his chest, like he's trying to get something off. We finally see Constance's dead form, flickering above Sam, and pushing against his chest.
Dean can't watch, as he pulls a gun out of somewhere, shooting the ghost repeatedly, hoping to scare it away. He has to repeat the action again as Constance reappears, disappearing at the second round of shots.
Sam jerks himself up, starting the car and driving it into the house, muttering something about 'taking you home.' Crashing through the front entrance, both Lina and Dean follow Sam and the Impala, hoping that they can finish this. Finding Sam still in the car, Dean helps him out by the passenger sided window and Lina stands to guard his back, holding the gung Dean had moments before. Seeing Constance a ways away, picking up and old photograph, she steadies her hand, ready to fire, "Guy's could you hurry it up, Casper came back." Shooting at the standing spirit, she again flickers out of vision, the picture falling to the floor, shattering. Appearing again, waving her arm in their direction instantly, Lina has no time to fire before the desk at the opposite end of the room slides over to pin all three hunters to the side of Dean's car. Even with all three of them pushing against it, the old wood dresser wouldn't budge.
Still corporeal, Constance moves forward intent on finishing what she started when the lights start to flicker, and confusion marring everyone's faces. Constance turns to the stairs, and water starts to flow down the sides, she moves to the bottom of the staircase, looking up to the top. Lina, Dean, and Sam follow Constance's line of sight, seeing nothing. Suddenly a pair of voices emanates, saying in soft voices, "You've come home to us, mommy." And the next instant, they see two small children behind Constance, a boy and a girl, move to hug what looks to be their mother. The sound that came from the spirit seamed to be a combination of a howl and a shriek, cutting to the ears, making all three people wince. The shriek continued as Constance began to be pulled under the floor, by both children, maroon shadows of ghoulish figures rose to help the children as Constance tried to fight the pull. It was impossible to pull away, and the resulting effect took the rest of the supernatural forces in the house with the white woman, down below.
Leaving only a small puddle in the middle of the floor, Dean and Sam looked at each other in relief. Lina feeling no push behind the dresser like there was before, shoved it away, toppling it on its back and making movement possible for the three again.
Striding over to observe the puddle, the brothers finally knew what was keeping her away from the house, fear from the children. Lina let the two have their moment, going around the car to push off the debris from Sam's construction demolisher moment, slipping into the driver's seat of the car. Dean was congratulating Sam on finding the spirits weak spot, while Sam, in return, berated his brother for, "shooting Casper in the face."
"Saved your ass." Making a valid point, Lina really didn't care. The only female in the group just wanted to get out of there, now. So she announced her presence, by honking the horn and scaring the shit out of the Winchester boy's.
"Dammit, Lina! What the hell are you doing?" the shout coming from the oldest, probably wondering what the hell she was doing in his seat.
"Interrupting your little 'moment' because I seriously want to get the hell out of here, and get food. So shove those well-proportioned asses into the car so I can find us a burger joint." Her statement finishing with both boys in the car, angry mumbling coming from Dean about who's car it was. Reversing and speeding out the same way Sam drove it in, her comment made to both boys finally sunk in.
"Well-proportioned asses?" the incredulity in their voices made a laugh bubble up Lina's throat.
As she answered, "Can't blame a girl for looking, if my only company in a trip are men, who only want to argue with their brother to hear their own voice, then I'm going to find all the eye candy I can. Gotta find your kicks somewhere, right?"
Pulling onto the interstate, and back towards Standford, she has to deal with their uncomfortable stubborn silence. Sighing, she quires, "Hey would either of you two like to open up your daddy's journal, and find out where those coordinates point to? The ones on the last page."
Dean pulls out the book, flipping to the last page, telling Sam the numbers as he already got the map from the floor in the back seat.
It took some time, and because of the setting sun, Sam had to have Dean flash a light onto the map. But he eventually found out where John was leading them, "Blackwater ridge, Colorado."
"Thanks Sam, so you want me to drop you off back at Stanford, 'cuz if I remember correctly, it will take us only about an hour or two to get back, plenty of time for you to make the interview." The disappointment in Dean's face was only visible to Lina, and she knew that Dean had wanted Sam to stay with him, because if she read him correctly, family is all Dean has left.
"He's been in the business long enough, it's all he ever does." she thought, waiting in the still silent car for Sam's response. "His father was the only companion he had for years since Sam left for college, and now John has left, Sam is going to leave, he thinks that he isn't wanted. Must be a male thing, the need to be needed, dad explained it to me once, but I guess I would never get it."
"Yeah Lina, that would be good." The almost whispered agreement made me wonder what was going through the little Winchester's head, but I had enough decency not to ask.
"Doesn't mean I can't look," she thought to herself. Peeking through the review mirror, she sees him concentrating on the map, with a single-mindedness only found in those who are caught up in their own minds, trying to work out a problem.
As the car stayed with its silent heavy silence, Lina mentally started to occupy herself, since there were another two to three hours in the car. "Oh joy." The sarcastic comment stayed in her mind as she kept her eyes on the road.
Pulling up in front of Sam and Jess's condo, stepping out of the driver's side and around to the right side, meeting an exiting Sam, she gave him a hug. "Now, you will ace that interview, so no need to worry on that front. Say hello to Jess for me, call this number," that was being written on a piece of paper, "if you need anything that I can provide willingly. I lost touch with you and your brother once, that will not happen again." The surprise on his face is comforting, and when it changes to a slight smile, Lina beams back up at him in pleasure. Backing up and out of the way to the door, she tilts her head, and looks back at Dean still in the passenger seat.
"What the hell are you waiting for boy? Get in the driver's seat, I'll treat you to a nice breakfast at the nearest dinner." Seeing the slight tilt of his lips meant she was getting somewhere with the goal of cheering him up. Taking his place in the passenger seat as he took his rightful place at the wheel of his Impala, she only hoped that this good mood of his would last. Half-way up to the door, Dean call out, "Hey, Sam. It was great to have your help… and I'll call you when I find dad, yeah?"
"That pause in between, he was going to say something else. Bet you twenty to one that manly pride of his made him hold back." She thought, mentally banging her head against a wall in frustration. With that piece of information shared, and Sam agreeing to actually picking up the phone this time, he drove off, down the street at a steady pace so that neither person would miss the sighting of an open dinner.
A shiver passed through Lina's body, ending with a single pin-prick sensation on the back of her left hand. The same hand that shows a scar that she got as a younger child. A scar she remembers getting when protecting Sam from bullies while he was in pre-school. The same sensation she always gets when one of her precious people are in trouble, it helped save her dad numerous amounts of times. "Dean, drive back to Sam's." the serious tone in her voice has him turning to her, wanting to know why.
"I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to Sam, now turn around, and speed back now." The thought of Sam being in danger is enough for Dean, and he's doing a U-turn before Lina can finish saying his name.
Parking quickly, Dean rushes towards the door, kicking it down just as Lina sees fire from Sam and Jess's bedroom. Whipping out her phone, dialing 911 and telling the operator all the pertinent information needed to get a fire truck to the condo asap. In just mere seconds, the bedroom is an inferno, and she sees Dean forcing a still screaming Sam away from the building. Hanging up her phone, she strides up to a still howling Sam, asking him what's wrong. After getting no answer from the boy in front of her, she knows that she needs to shock him out of his screaming. A quick slap to the face, and she brings his blue-grey orbs looking straight into her pale green irises. "What's wrong Sam?"
"Jessica" comes out as a whimpered whisper, "she was on the ceiling, same as mom. Just like mom, staring right at me, and then she burst into flames. Just like mom, like mom." Kept repeating the same lines over and over again. Calming him down from his almost hyperventilating state, all three moved over to the Impala, waiting for the ambulance and fire truck that would be there too late. Neither Dean nor Lina kept their attention on others for long, always coming back to Sam. He just stood there, leaning against the car, blank stare towards everything and everyone.
As the hysteria of the crowd and the police started coming to an end, Dean walked back over to his brother. Sam was preparing the guns, checking his older brothers equipment, he was standing there, a determined look coming over his face.
As Dean came and stood next to his younger brother, Sam looked up and their gazes locked. Lina got to examine the silent conversation happening before her. Turning back down, looking at the trunk a sigh escapes Sam's lips as the shotgun he was holding gets tossed back into the hidden compartment of Dean's Impala.
"We got work to do." Sam intones. The slamming of the trunk is like the resounding decision of commitment ringing for all the world to hear.