Hi! man...I've NEVER posted 3 chapters in one day! Two different stories, but still! Wow. New record haha! :)

Thanks for taking the time to read! Hope you enjoy this chapter...the action is starting to heat up...

CHAPTER NINE

Thursday afternoon
Ocracoke Island, NC

"There's something really freaky about this island."

"What kind of freaky?" Dean asked, looking around the center of town as they strolled past a group of tourists fighting over a map.

He felt a chill run down his spine even though the day was mild and the temperature was in the mid-sixties in the sun. They stood just outside the visitor's center, watching the boats on Silver Lake. The sun was out, people were laughing, talking, carrying on with their everyday business. It looked like a perfectly normal town. With perfectly normal people. Or so he'd thought, hoped, until his little ray of sunshine had to burst his bubble of denial.

Bennett reached for her second cigarette and said, "I don't know what kind of freaky. Too normal to be true kind of freaky?"

"Hmph." Dean grunted, reaching over and yanking the cigarette out of her hand. He pulled a piece of gum out of his pocket and handed it to her. She took it without a word and he went on, "You sensing demons?"

"Nope." Bennett blew a bubble, popped it loudly, then said, "Freaky. That's all I've got."

"Well, given this island's history, it isn't surprising that something feels wrong." He said, remembering the hour long lecture Sam had given on the way. Sunken ships, haunted treasure, Blackbeard, ghost ships. At least the details about the pirates had been entertaining. Dean glared at the normal all around them and wondered why a nice sunny happy place that he had no reason whatsoever to expect to be in any way sinister seemed so downright foreboding.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." Bennett interrupted his thoughts. "Now you look worried."

Dean saw the worry in her own eyes and shook his head, with a grin, "Nope. Not me. Tourist traps are always freaky, Bennett. It's part of the charm."

She didn't look entirely convinced and he wasn't entirely convinced either. Because she was their very own demon early warning system and even if they had no reason to believe her powers worked on anything but demons, if she said she had a freaky feeling, Dean was more than inclined to put stock in it. But that didn't mean he wanted to ruin her day or put any added stress on her shoulders. If she wasn't sensing demons, he was calling it a win.

"So." He said, clapping his hands together, listening to the happy chatter of tourists and smelling the ocean on the breeze. "Tourist trap. We've got the afternoon while the geeks geek out. What do you want to do?"

"Um." Her eyes were wide as she glanced around the town square. "I have no idea what you do in a tourist trap."

"Sightsee." Dean said, pointing out a display touting ghost ship tours. "How are you with boats?"

"I grew up around the Great Lakes." Bennett shrugged, "Big bodies of water are nothing new to me, but I've never been to the ocean. I'd love to go boating."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Bennett nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears and frowning as if in deep thought. "I...we sometimes went out. My parents had a couple boats. They didn't take me very often."

"Do you...are you remembering everything?" Dean asked, a little nervous to even consider working his way through that door. Bennett was freely talking about it, though, so he figured it was safe to ask. "You seem to be remembering more about your past."

She shook her head, "Not everything. Just some stuff. It comes back in pieces. Like, I'll see something and it'll bring something up. Until just now, I didn't even remember we had a boat."

"That must be frustrating."

"Yeah." Bennett nodded, glancing at the ground. "I feel like I'm looking at all these puzzle pieces that don't fit together anymore. And I'm not sure I want them to. Because everything I've remembered...I just want to forget."

Dean nodded; he could understand that. He thought back to the difficult days when he'd had to face up to the memories of what he'd done in hell. There wasn't much he could say to make things better for her, but at least he realized that and wasn't about to offer her any trite words of false consolation.

She spoke up again a moment later, skittishly meeting his eyes, before looking back at the ground, "I'm remembering more because...I'm letting myself."

"You're not painting your pictures all the time."

"I'm trying not to. It...it's hard remembering stuff, but at least now I feel like a person again." Some of the worry in her eyes faded and she smiled, "It was really weird not having anything in my head until Jody found me."

He glanced at her and found her smiling brightly. Smiling curiously, he said, "You look pretty happy."

"I am. Is that weird?"

"Well, considering what you just told me, I guess I'm a little surprised is all…"

Bennett nodded and said, "All the remembering sucks. But, the here and now I like."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She grinned. "I honestly never thought I'd be this happy."

"Never?"

"No. It was miserable growing up. I was a mess. If my dad hadn't done what he did," She shrugged, "I probably would have self-destructed. Smoking was my most innocent vice, Dean."

"Wow." He raised an eyebrow. He really hadn't expected a revelation like that.

She made a face and said, "I really need to quit again, don't I?"

"If you want me to get off your back about it, yeah you probably should."

"I know. It's on my to do list."

Ocracoke Museum

"Hello?" Sam knocked on the half open door. He glanced at Casey and she shrugged, peering around him. The Ocracoke Museum was apparently nothing more than a rather unimpressive outbuilding next to a lighthouse on the south side of town. The place was quiet and seemed deserted. Sam asked, "She said she'd meet us here, right?"

Casey nodded, "Maybe she just stepped out for something?"

"I guess we are a bit early." Sam checked the time, then stepped inside the room. The museum boasted one large display room with a couple other rooms off to the right. Together, they took a minute to stroll around the room, taking in the displays.

"Well, it's not the Field Museum, but it's actually very well laid out," Casey commented, leaning over a display case of coins, "I've seen other museums with endless funding that haven't put this much effort into things."

Sam nodded, studying a floor to ceiling topographical map of the island and the waters surrounding it. He said, "This could come in handy."

"Wow." Casey's eyes widened as she joined him in front of the map. "This is incredible. Look, it even shows where the Flaming Ship supposedly appears." She pointed at a flagged area, "We'll have to check it out."

Sam was about to reply, but heard some heavy breathing and stumbling steps somewhere behind them. Turning, he crossed the room quickly and barely made it in time to catch a huge box of papers that a young woman with long dark hair and startling blue eyes was trying not to drop.

"Thank you!" The woman breathed out, clutching frantically at the rest of the papers in her arms. Casey stepped forward and helped her get the papers onto a nearby desk without them all ending up on the floor.

"No problem." Sam said, setting the box down and studying the woman. She was a little younger than Casey and had that same glamorous yet studious air to her. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him.

She blushed, then looked from Sam to Casey, pushing her long hair back and offering her hand to Casey, "I'm guessing you're Dr. Economou?"

Casey smiled, accepting her hand and said, "Casey is fine. Matilda Corprew?"

"Yes." The woman smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Casey. Thank you for coming all this way."

"It's my pleasure." Casey said, then motioned to Sam, "This is Sam Winchester. Friend of mine and fellow history buff."

Matilda's smile widened and she shook his hand, "You certainly put the buff in history buff."

Sam's eyebrows rose and he could see Casey stifling a laugh from her position behind Matilda. He smiled and said, "Um, thank you I guess."

"I'm sorry!" Matilda turned a brighter shade of pink and stepped back. "I...I'm just...well," she floundered, looking for way out of the embarrassing situation she'd just created. She grabbed a notebook from the desk and shoved it into Casey's hands, "This is the catalogue I've got so far."

"Of the artifacts?" Casey asked, still smiling in amusement.

"Yes. I've been trying to keep it organized, but we're not exactly equipped for any kind of large scale recovery or restoration. I'm basically the only staff here at the museum," She waved a hand around the room, "and you can see that it isn't really much of a museum."

"Actually, we were discussing how well organized and nice it is, Matilda." Casey said, glancing at the displays. "Honestly, with a limited budget, you've done a great job here."

Matilda brightened at the praise and said, "Thank you. It's my hobby and my life, I guess you could say."

"Are you originally from the island?" Sam asked.

"Yes. My family has been on the island since it was originally settled."

Casey asked, "So back to the time of the Flaming Ship?"

Matilda rolled her eyes, "Yes actually. And funny you mention the Flaming Ship. I'm sure you noticed the hubbub in town. This discovery and bringing up of the wreckage has spawned a tourist influx to the island thanks to someone starting to talk about the Flaming Ship."

"We did actually hear that the ship has been appearing," Sam nodded, "out of season for when it's typically been reported. You seem skeptical."

"When you live in a tourist destination, you get a bit skeptical." Matilda shrugged, motioning to a table and pulling out a chair.

Sam and Casey sat down across from her and Casey said, "So you don't believe in the ghost ship?"

Matilda took a deep breath, running her pink nails along the edge of the table. She finally said, "I don't know."

"Have you seen it?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Matilda nodded. "Well, I've seen the apparition anyway. I've seen it in September and but I haven't gone out looking for it this time. I know the reports of it showing up have brought a lot of business to the island and I think everyone's playing into it right now."

Casey asked, "So it actually started appearing…"

"When the wreckage came up," Matilda finished with a smile, "Yes. That very night. Or so I was told. Some people were actually fighting bringing up the wreckage because of it."

"How was the wreckage originally discovered?" Casey asked, "My associate didn't say when she mentioned your project to me."

Matilda pulled a picture out of a pile of notes and said, "This is Gary Darvill. Old as dirt. Probably was around when the original ship sank," She smiled, "and he's the one who found the wreckage. He's a fisherman and diver and is also very interested in the history of the island. He usually takes diving groups out on tours. The waters around Ocracoke are full of wrecks; it's a dangerous area but he knows it like the back of his hand."

Casey took a peek at the picture of the older man standing in front of his boat, The Little Sandpiper, then passed it to Sam who asked, "Is there any way to actually confirm the wreckage he found was that of the Flaming Ship?"

"Not really," Matilda shook her head, "because no one really knows what ship it even was. The legend has really created itself over the centuries. There may not have actually been one ship that the legend is springing from. Many ships went down; and more than one went down in flames. It's only because now people have started reported seeing the Flaming Ship that everyone wants to believe the wreckage is from that particular ship."

"I can certainly see why people would want to believe that it's the ghost ship," Casey smiled. "Legends and mysteries and ghosts always attract attention." She smiled and exchanged a knowing glance with Sam then said, "So. What can we do to help, Matilda?"

Little Sandpiper, 100 foot live-aboard dive boat
2 miles off the coast of Ocracoke

"And that's the reason this is part of the Graveyard of the Atlantic."

Dean raised an eyebrow. Not because of what the captain of the dive boat turned tour boat had said, but because he still was having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that guy standing in front of him was the captain of the dive boat turned tour boat. Gary Darvill was small enough that Dean would have bet money on Bennett in a fight against him. He had round librarian glasses and a matching round face that made him look younger than he probably was. He didn't have a beard, didn't talk like a pirate and look anything like a salty dog of the sea. He didn't look like much of anything, in fact.

Darvill's monologue ended with his statement and a half shrug as he left the small crowd of tourists and headed back for the helm. The tourists shared mildly amused glances, then began milling around the deck of the boat, probably all hoping to catch a sight of a shipwreck or the actual Flaming Ship. Which seemed fairly unlikely in the middle of the afternoon; but Captain Darvill had been sure to tout his midnight cruise as an option.

"So?"

Dean glanced down at Bennett and asked, "What?"

"So. Is it a case?" She asked from behind her sunglasses.

Narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously, Dean asked, "What are you talking about?"

"A case. You know. Spooky stuff?" Bennett said, tilting her head. For once her hair wasn't in her eyes, thanks to the pink knit beanie he'd bought for her at one of the souvenir shops along with an assortment of candy and the sunglasses. She pushed her sunglasses up on her nose, peering at him from under them before letting them drop back down. Standing on her tiptoes, Bennett whispered loudly, "Is there something here to gank?"

Dean rolled his eyes and put his finger against her lips as he shushed her. He tugged her by the elbow until they'd moved a few steps away from the crowd. Then he asked, "Why would you ask that?"

"Because it's what you're thinking, isn't it?" Bennett smiled widely, "I can read your mind and you're not even a demon."

"I'm not thinking that there's a case here."

"Yes you are. You've been thinking that since we started on this trip. You just haven't wanted to bring it up because you're worried about Casey."

Dean shook a finger at her and said, "Ok seriously. Enough. There's no case here. Just a boring museum job that is absolutely not at all suspicious."

"Nope. Not at all."

"Not even a little."

"Because ghost ships appearing aren't weird enough, now they're appearing out of season right after a bunch of centuries old wreckage has been brought up." Bennett said, leaning back against the rail of the boat, hair fluttering in the breeze.

"Exactly." Dean said, then shook his head, "Wait, what?"

Bennett just lowered her sunglasses this time and peered over the top of them, pursing her lips as she stared him down.

"Stop it."

"Weird."

"Nothing's weird here."

"Weird weird weird." Bennett continued, shaking her head slowly back and forth.

Dean lowered his head, bracing his hands on the railing and groaning. He straightened up and said softly, "It is weird, isn't it?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Great. That's exactly what I was afraid of."

Bennett nodded and said, "So what do we do about it?"

"Nothing right now. Because we don't have anything. Not really. Just your weird feeling."

"And yours."

"And mine. So we keep our eyes open. And we keep it between us." He said, shooting her his most serious look. The one he'd come to realize usually bounced off her as easily as it bounced off Sam. "The geeks can geek and you and I will…"

"Sleuth."

"What?"

"Sleuth. Like Nancy Drew." Bennett explained patiently.

"That's not a word."

"Totally is."

"Whatever." Dean said, looking out over the waves. This was exactly what he'd been afraid of when Casey had answered that phone call from Yvette in the first place. They needed a break, not another case. And yet here they were. Ghosts. And weirdness. And most likely a case.

"What do we do now?" Bennett asked, interrupting his dismal thoughts.

Dean sighed and met her gaze. He said, "For now, we keep our eyes open. Ok? We observe with our eyes. There's always a chance this is all a hoax and the wreckage is...just wreckage."

Bennett nodded slowly and said, "Yeah. And I'm a nice, normal girl from Michigan."

Putting an arm around her shoulders, Dean kissed the top of her head and said, "You are a nice, normal girl from Michigan."

Ocracoke Museum
Evening

"Well, I think we have a good start anyway," Casey said, untwisting the rubber band in her hair and letting her curls flow down her back. She stretched her back and stared at the artifacts they had spread across the tables in the back room of the little museum.

Matilda nodded with a heavy sigh. She said, "Until Mr. Darvill brings up more of the wreckage, I'd say we have made progress."

"How much more does he think he'll be able to bring up?" Sam asked, carefully

settling one of the smaller artifacts in a wooden box that Matilda had prepared for shipment to Chicago.

"I'm not exactly sure." Matilda said, "He's not exactly organized, but he has been doing this sort of thing for years. And since there really isn't any funding for this project, and the wreckage has yet to be confirmed as a legitimate historical finding, I'm left with Mr. Darvill as my recovery agent."

Casey nodded, slipping her notes into the box that Sam was packing. She said confidently, "I'm sure the museum can help with all of that. From what I'm seeing, it all looks legitimate and like it should be confirmed rather easily with a few tests in Chicago. I'll call Yvette and let her know to be expecting the deliveries."

Matilda nodded her appreciation, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead and stacking the rest of her notes on the table. She was about to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted her. Casey turned and smiled at the sight of Dean and Bennett poking their heads around the sides of the door.

"Hey." Dean said, catching her eye and grinning as he walked into the room.

"Hi." Casey said, rising from the table and motioning for them to come closer. She noted Matilda's eyes widening and she tried to stifle her grin. Apparently there weren't many prime male specimens on the island of Ocracoke.

Matilda was already across the room and extending her hand to Dean even though Bennett was closer. Casey caught Bennett's slightly confused, but mostly annoyed expression as Matilda swept by her and clasped Dean's hand with more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary. Casey heard Sam snickering behind her and wanted to laugh too at the expression on Dean's face as Matilda eagerly shook his hand.

"Hello, welcome to the Ocracoke Museum. My name is Matilda Corprew," Matilda said, still shaking Dean's hand, "Can I help you?"

"Um." Dean said, eyes almost nervously flicking to Casey and then back to Matilda, "Hi." He said, extricating his hand from her grip and not very subtly wiping his hand on his jacket. Pointing a finger at Sam and Casey, Dean said, "We're with them."

"Oh!" Matilda smiled, "Welcome to the museum. Yes, please come in. Are you buff too? I mean, obviously you are, but are you a history buff?"

Casey rolled her eyes at Sam as Matilda turned a bright shade of pink again. Dean didn't look like he had a clue what to say or do and Casey loved that he was looking at her like he was afraid of her. Or afraid of Matilda. Or both probably. Dean finally managed to stammer out, "I'm not...no I'm not...I'm just here for...this is Bennett."

It was becoming incredibly difficult to contain her laughter, Casey found as Dean put a hand on Bennett's back and pushed her toward Matilda. He sidestepped around them both and hurried to her side, his eyes wide as he mouthed what the heck? Casey just shook her head and watched as Bennett and Matilda shook hands rather awkwardly and without any friendly conversation. Once that deed was done, Matilda was turning around and seeming to have a hard time choosing where to rest her eyes; on Sam or on Dean.

Casey knew she had to step in before someone died from the awkwardness of the situation or Bennett punched Matilda. Since that actually seemed the most likely thing to happen next given the way Bennett was glaring at the back of the woman's head, Casey stepped forward quickly and said, "Matilda, what time would you like for me to come back in the morning? I'm available any time and I think we could make great progress on the rest of this in a few hours."

Matilda's eyes were still bouncing from Dean to Sam and back again, but she said, "Oh, please come whenever you'd like to. I appreciate all of your help."

"Uh huh." Casey said, finally feeling just a pinch annoyed with the pretty museum

caretaker. She didn't feel in the slightest threatened by the flaky woman's obvious interest in Dean, but the fact that she was now basically ignoring her, the actual expert, was grating on her nerves. So she gave Sam a look and he nodded quickly, moving past Matilda and tugging at Bennett's arm to get her to leave the room. Casey smiled at Matilda and said, "I'll come by around ten."

"Thank you." Matilda beamed, eyes on Dean.

"You're welcome." Casey said, pushing Dean past the woman as she added with no small degree of emphasis, "I'll see you in the morning, Matilda."

"Oh," Matilda finally met Casey's eyes again and she seemed to get the picture. "Oh, yes. Ok. Thank you, Casey. Have a good evening. If you're looking for a place for dinner, check out Flying Melon or Dajio. Best places on the island."

"Thank you, I'm sure we will." Casey said, then quickly followed Dean out the door.

They'd only made it a few yards away before Dean turned to her and said, "Wow."

"I know." Casey smiled, pulling him farther away from the museum. "I don't think she gets out much."

"Or maybe she just hasn't seen such a fine specimen…" Dean started, grinning and waving a hand at himself.

Casey simply said, "She was all over Sam too, dear."

Dean's grin faded as he looked for his brother. He and Bennett were already halfway down the street, walking straight past the Impala. Dean said, "I'm thinking she didn't exactly make a friend with Bennett today."

"No." Casey smiled, putting her arm around Dean's. "I don't think so either. It would probably be best if you three found something fun to do tomorrow while I go back to meet with Matilda."

"Didn't you two geeks have fun?"

"Yes, but I really don't want to have to fight Matilda off your brother tomorrow." Casey said, "Or try to keep Bennett from killing her."

Dean paused at the car and said, "Deal. I'm sure we can find some fun in town."

"Good. I'm eager to hear what you two got up to this afternoon, but right now I'm starving."

"Me too."
Casey raised an eyebrow, "You two didn't already eat?"

Dean grinned, "Well, if we did, we're ready to eat again."

"Of course you are." Casey rolled her eyes and got into the car. She stared at Sam and Bennett who were still walking farther away down the road that led to town. "You better drive fast or they're going to be all the way back to town before we leave the parking lot."

Ocracoke Beach
10:45pm

"This place is a mess." Dean said, feeling the annoyance that came from having to actually battle traffic on an itty bitty island to get to a beach. He didn't like traffic on a good day. There was a freakin' reason he stayed to the good old two lane blacktop as much as humanly possible.

"Maybe you should have stayed at the cottage, Deano." Casey laughed, tugging him forward just as he started digging in his heels.

He shook his head, mumbling under his breath in irritation. Following the crowd, they walked past a dozen cars before they could even get close enough to see sand. The beach was swarming with people. Dean was still surprised by the sheer number of people, considering how small the island was in the first place. When they'd arrived earlier in the day, he'd seen that the island was busy with enthusiastic tourists and enthusiastic locals eager to take advantage of the enthusiastic tourists. But it hadn't been a concentrated grouping of them all on one beach at one time before now. It looked like a small city had sprung up on the shores.

"Are they actually selling food?" Sam asked, following Dean's own gaze at the tents to the left.

Dean nodded, warming to the situation. He said, "Bet they're charging double what they should be for a pretzel."

"I want a pretzel." Bennett said, already weaving her way through the milling people.

"Sam!" Casey waved a hand.

"I've got her." Sam said, pushing past a group of giggling middle-aged women as he hurried to not lose sight of Bennett.

"Bring me one too!" Dean shouted after him.

"Seriously?" Casey rolled her eyes.

"It's been hours since I've had anything to eat."

Checking her watch, Casey had to nod, "You're right. Two whole hours."

Dean touched her elbow and guided her closer to the water. He shrugged, "It's a pretzel. It's a tourist trap."

"Mmhm." Casey nodded as they walked closer to the water. The beach was lit up some campfires, lots of torches posted in the sand and a few spotlights nearer to the vendors. She pointed up the beach, "Let's go there."

In the pale moonlight, Dean saw the sharp shape of some large boulders a good twenty yards up the beach from where they were standing and nodded. The boulders were a nice distance from the main hubbub and he was ready to be done with the crazy. Casey tucked herself under his left arm as they strolled the beach. The wind was brisk along the water's edge and the temperature had dropped significantly from the pleasant coolness of the sunny day. He felt Casey slip her right hand in his back pocket.

"You feeling me up, Dr. Economou?"

"Just warming my fingers. No pockets in this coat." Casey said, reaching up with her left hand to grasp his hand. He tightened his fingers around her cool ones and held her hand up at her shoulder level.

"So you're saying it's too cold…"

"Yes, Dean, it's too cold for a bikini." She laughed, reading his mind all too easily.

"I knew I hated this trip."

"Would it make you feel better if I pointed out Florida isn't terribly far from here?" Casey looked up at him in the darkness but he could see the whiteness of her teeth as she smiled up at him. "We could always go to Florida...where it is warm enough for bikinis."

Dean brightened, "I like this idea. When do we leave?"

Casey led him to the boulders and they climbed up onto the lowest one, sitting so they could see the water and the commotion up the beach. She said, "I need to finish helping Matilda deal with the artifacts."

"I know." Dean said, putting his arms around her shoulders. "How did that go today? She seemed a bit...well, distracted."

Casey laughed, "I'm just glad Bennett wasn't there when Matilda first caught sight of Sam. But once she got past his height, and muscles, and hair, and…"

"Enough, enough." Dean shuddered, "I don't need to hear this."

"She actually is very intelligent and focused on her job. Matilda was raised on this island and actually helped get the museum founded. They'd had a very small historical society for many years, but interest had waned."

"History isn't as flashy as Hollywood makes it." Dean nodded, gaze on the crowd. A few people were spreading blankets out on the sand, facing the ocean. He said, "Of course, this is a bit flashy."

Casey said, "A ghost ship, or a ghost anything, does tend to pique people's interest."

"You think we're going to see anything?"

"I don't know." Casey said, glancing out at the whitecaps. "Maybe. It could be all hype, but if anyone around here knows better than to write off ghost stories, it should be us."

Dean's jaw tightened. He'd already been thinking it, trying to deny it, but there it was on the table. Casey thought there was a chance something was going on here too. This was so not the way he'd wanted this trip to go. They hadn't even been on the island for 24 hours and they were sitting on a beach waiting to see if a ghost ship was going to appear.
Casey's voice broke into his thoughts. She leaned closer into his embrace and said, "You were already thinking that, weren't you?"

Begrudgingly, Dean said, "Yes. Bennett had a weird feeling about this place from the start."

"Demons?" Casey straightened up in alarm.

"No. She just said it felt freaky."

"And you thought so too."

"Yeah."

"You weren't going to say anything?" Casey stared up at him, not really in accusation, just in inquiry. Lightning split the sky, giving her a good glimpse of Dean's worried expression. "You thought something was up and you were keeping it to yourself?"

Dean straightened a bit and said, "I have nothing hard and fast, just a freaky feeling. And I didn't want to make a big deal of it. Because it might be nothing."

When the wind abruptly picked up and fat, heavy raindrops that felt like fingers of ice began to fall, they both exchanged a resigned glance. When a shout of excitement in the distance turned into several screams of fright, their resignation turned to knowing. And when they turned to the ocean and saw the ship on the water, flames licking up to the suddenly dark and stormy sky, they rose from the boulders as one and Dean started fumbling for his cell phone.

He never had the chance to use it. A ten foot high wave of freezing ocean water came straight at them.

"I thought you wanted a pretzel."

"I did." Bennett said, not slowing her pace, "but now I want hot chocolate." She paused at the end of a short line at a beverage tent. Looking up at Sam, she asked, "Could you please get me one?"

Sam nodded, then frowned as she immediately began to move away from him. He caught her arm and asked, "Where are you going?"

Bennett held up a pack of cigarettes, then turned tail and ran for the edge of the road before he had a chance to say anything. Because with angels and demons and the potential of flaming ghost ships, she'd gone about as long as she could bloody well manage without a cigarette. Lighting up before she'd even made it the five yards to the edge of the road, Bennett knew smoking wasn't going to solve her problems. Taking a long drag on the cigarette and sitting heavily on the trunk of an ugly brown compact car, she decided she didn't care if it was going to solve her problems or not.

It was just a good distraction.

What had seemed to be a festive event now just seemed dark and scary. The blackness and coldness of the night stole any excitement she might have felt earlier. Even the carnival-like atmosphere seemed somehow dark and foreboding. Lifting her cigarette with a shaky hand, Bennett tried to find Sam in the crowd. Only when she caught sight of him stepping up to the counter to order did her pounding heart slow a notch. She hadn't wanted to walk away from him, but she needed the space from the crowds and she really needed the smoke.

Bad habit or not, it was keeping her from far worse habits she might otherwise have chosen to indulge in. Cold rain began to fall and she wished that she'd kept her pink knit hat on instead of leaving it in the Impala. She glanced up the road, wishing she could see the now comforting sight of the black muscle car. And even if the rain was making her shiver, the island was giving her the creeps and she had an unusually strong desire to pull every last strand of hair off Matilda Corprew's head, Bennett couldn't help but smile.

"You look happy." Sam said, walking up to her and offering her a Styrofoam cup. "Good cigarette?"

"Yes." Bennett grinned, taking the cup, and lifting the cigarette again. Despite the rain, she felt nothing but warmth flooding through her. Because for the first time in her life, she had a family. One that brought her hot chocolate on a cold night, one that didn't even complain when she left pink accessories on the back seat of his 1967 classic car, and one that was the best sister a girl could hope to find.

Sam raised an eyebrow and asked, "Tell the truth now; is it the cigarette or the lovely weather tonight?"

"Neither." She said, taking a sip of the hot chocolate and motioning him closer.

"So what is it?" Sam asked sitting down next to her.

"You. Dean. Casey. I've never had this before. And I'm kinda glad I do."

"I am too." He said, leaning closer. "If you ditch that cigarette, I might not be able to keep myself from kissing you."

The cigarette hit the pavement.

If it hadn't been for the hurricane force winds that started up a few moments later, they might have completely missed the Flaming Ship as it appeared on the stormy seas. They turned and stared for a moment, mesmerized by the shocking sight, then Sam was pulling her off the car and dragging her across the street. Because the ghost ship was nowhere near as frightening as the wall of water that was heading straight for them.

Well. That could certainly be a problem. :) Thanks for reading! Stay tuned...more to come!