Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.

The Benders, people!

I wanted Odette in place of Sam, because well….. just 'cause, all right? *gets defensive*

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Garideth- Thanks! Yeah, it made me happy writing it! Does Cas care? Well….. why don't you judge?

ccgnme- Thank you! Yes, I always thought 'Nightmare' was one of the saddest episodes in season one. I wanted to do it justice!

XKaterinaNightingaleX- Thank you! I'm happy you thought so!

I guess everyone knows where I pulled this chapter's name?

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR- THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS

"I know you're just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already. I don't see why we have to go through this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it's true."

I sighed, turning to stand behind the silent Castiel.

"Mrs. McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities."

"But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so…" Dean smiled charmingly.

"Don't worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan. You just tell us what you saw," Sam urged.

Evan peeked at me, and I gave him a friendly wave.

"I was up late, watching TV," Evan's eyes grew wide and bright, "When I heard this weird noise."

"What did it sound like?" Castiel spoke, his voice rusty from disuse.

"It sounded like…" His voice dwindled, becoming small and reedy. "A monster."

The four of us exchanged a look.

Mrs. McKay heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Tell the officers what you were watching on TV."

Evan pushed out his lip sulkily. "Godzilla vs. Mothra."

I concealed my laugh, and Dean smiled.

"That's my favorite Godzilla movie!" Dean exclaimed excitedly. "It's so much better than the original, huh?"

"Totally!" Evan grinned.

"Yeah." Dean nodded towards Sam. "He likes the remake."

"Yuck!" Evan screwed up his face in disgust.

Sam glared at Dean and cleared his throat pointedly.

Dean stopped, and I stifled my chuckle, though I wasn't sure whether it was because of Dean's mischievousness or Castiel's perplexed expression.

"Evan, did you see what this thing was?" Sam crouched down to the boy.

"No, but I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car."

"Then what?" Castiel looked at Evan impassively.

"It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound."

"What did it sound like, Evan?" Sam searched his face.

"Like this…whining growl."

Dean and Sam exchanged another look.

"Thanks for your time," Dean nodded at Mrs. McKay.

~Supernatural~

I leant against the Impala's hood, waiting for Sam and Dean to come out of Kugel's Keg.

The case was odd, somehow.

No phantom traveler in lore had ever snatched people anywhere else but their beds.

I glanced around uneasily, paranoia setting in.

Something clinked, and I stiffened.

I padded forward, bending to look under the car.

A small tabby cat hissed at me, streaking out from under the car in a tiny gray blur.

"Whoa!" I backed away, laughing at myself.

I really was getting paranoid.

That's when something grabbed my legs out from under me.

~Supernatural~

I came to with a strangled yelp, my arms brushing against metal.

I glanced around, holding one hand to my throbbing head as I did so.

This was not good.

I was locked in a cage in some unknown place, and I had no way of calling Dean and Sam.

Panic set in, and I tried to kick down the door of my cage to no avail.

A guttural groan made me flatten myself against the farthest wall of the cage, and I peered at the enclosure opposite me.

A squat, bearded man groaned again, eyes blinking up at me.

I recognized him from the flyers, and crawled forward to talk to him.

"You're alive." I breathed out in relief, staring at him worriedly when he moaned.

"Hey, you okay?"

He glared at me. "Does it look like I'm doin' okay?"

I pulled at the bars of my prison. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," the man answered testily.

"The country, I think. Smells like the country."

I massaged my head. "You're Alvin Jenkins, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Jenkins grunted.

I sighed. "We were lookin' for you, my friends and I."

"Oh, yeah?" The bite in his voice was impossible to miss.

"Yeah," I agreed wryly.

He snorted. " Yeah, right. What are you, fifteen, maybe? No offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue."

I flushed. "My friends are out there right now. They're lookin' for us. So-"

He interrupted me irritably. "So, they're not gonna find us. We're in the middle of nowhere."

He nodded towards the door leading into the building.

"Waiting for them to come back and do God knows what to us."

I repressed a shudder.

"What are they? Have you seen them?"

"What are you talking about?" Jenkins eyed me oddly.

I shifted impatiently.

"Whatever's got us, what'd they look like?"

"See for yourself."

The door to the building opened with a bang. Two men wearing black coats and hats walked in, eying us as if we were slabs of meat to be bought.

The larger of the two walked over to Jenkins' cage and kicked it.

Jenkins moved into a corner, and I watched apprehensively as the other man went to the panel of buttons attached to a pole in the middle of the room.

He inserted a small key into the panel and twisted it.

Jenkins' cage unlocked.

The men entered, and Jenkins' nostrils flared.

"Leave me alone!" He yelled, eyes dilating in fear. "Don't you take me, leave me alone!"

They placed a plate of food in front of him, and exited the building.

One of the men turned the key again, locking his cage.

We were trapped.

Jenkins devoured his food, and I attempted to curb the instant roll of nausea that appeared as I saw it.

I sucked in a huge breath.

"They're just people," I whispered in shock.

He laughed. "Yeah. What'd you expect?"

I ignored him. "How often do they feed you?"

"Once a day," Jenkins grimaced. "And they use that thing over there to open the cage."

He pointed to the panel.

"And that's the only time you see 'em?"

I huddled in on myself in the draughty room.

"So far," he narrowed his eyes. "But I'm waitin'."

I raised an eyebrow. "Waitin' for what?"

Jenkins grunted again. "Ned Beatty time, kid."

I managed a small chuckle.

"I think that's the least of your worries right now."

"Oh, yeah?" His eyes questioned my sanity.

"Yeah," I said again.

"What do you think they want, then?"

I reached through the top of my cage, grabbing a long metal wire stretching from the top of the pole to the ground.

Frowning, I tried to pull it down.

"Depends on who they are," I told him.

"They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me," Jenkins glowered. "Lookin' for love in all the wrong places."

I continued to pull on the wire, and it gradually started to detach from the pole.

~Supernatural~

I tugged on the metal coil.

"What's your name, again?" Alvin watched me steadily.

"It's Odette."

"Why don't you give it up, sweetheart? There's no way out." Jenkins looked at me almost sympathetically.

"Don't…. call me….. sweetheart," I panted.

I groaned, finally tearing down the coil.

A small piece of metal fell to the floor.

Jenkins peered at it. "What is it?"

I picked it up slowly. "It's a bracket."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?"

Suddenly, Jenkins cage unlocked itself and opened.

"Must've been short."

He climbed out clumsily.

"Maybe you knocked something loose."

A flicker of unease passed through me. "I think you should get back in there, Jenkins."

"What?" He looked at me as if I'd lost it.

"This isn't right," I muttered.

"Don't you wanna get out of here?" He demanded.

"Yeah." I nodded. "But that was too easy."

Jenkins sighed. "Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, okay, don't worry."

I pushed at the bars.

"No, I'm serious. Jenkins- this might be a trap."

"Bye, sweetheart."

"Jenkins!"

He left in an instant.

I curled into the cool metal of the cage, cold, afraid and miserable.

A strange yearning for Sam's friendly smile, Cas' steady presence and Dean's laconic smirk engulfed me.

Would they ever find me?

I measured the time by the dripping of water from the ceiling.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard Alvin Jenkins' agonized scream.