A/N: Hey guys! I added a new character in this chapter to spice things up in Allie's life and make it more interesting. There will be more for this to come, but this chapter is just his introduction so it's not much. I hope you guys like it though! Let me know what you think in the reviews.
Disclaimer: I only own Allie.
Episode: The Benders
Dean overheard on his police scanner a kid who apparently saw a man disappear into thin air. And since we haven't had a good hunt in over two weeks, Dean drove to Hibbing, Minnesota.
Dean and I dressed as sheriffs to interview the kid while Sam stayed back and did some research on the case through Dad's journal and the library, probably his favorite place on Earth. What a geek.
"Mrs. McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities," I said, speaking to the kid's mother.
"But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so…" Dean continued.
"Don't worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan," I looked down at the adorable kid who couldn't be more than six. He kinda looked liked Sam when we were that young. "You just tell us what you saw."
"I was up late, watching TV," Evan explained. "When I heard this weird noise."
"What did it sound like?"
"It sounded like…a monster." Evan said.
Dean and I glanced at each other discreetly. We were hoping for more of a specific kind of sound but what could you expect from a six year old kid? But at least it sounded like our kind of case.
Mrs. McKay placed her hands on Evan's shoulders, "Tell the officers what you were watching on TV."
Evan sighed. "Godzilla vs. Mothra."
Dean smiled and got excited, "That's my favorite Godzilla movie. It's so much better than the original, huh?"
"Totally," Evan smiled back.
"Yeah," Dean nodded in my direction, "She likes the remake."
"Yuck!"
I looked over at my older brother and glared, clearing my throat. Dean's grin falters and he went back to his professional stature.
"Evan, did you see what this thing was?" I asked.
"No." He said. "But I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car."
"Then what?"
"It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound."
"What did it sound like, Evan?"
"Like this…whining growl," Evan tried to explain.
Again, Dean and I looked at each other, feeling a little more confident about the case but I didn't know what to match a whining growl with.
"Thanks for your time." Dean said.
We met Sam at a nearby bar to take a small breather before diving into another case. Recently, we've been trying to research anything we could find on Sam's psychic abilities and the kind of weapon demons were looking for, but every night we came up with nothing.
"So, local police have now ruled out foul play. Apparently, there are worse signs of a struggle." Sam said. He was sitting at a high top table while Dean and I played darts absent mindedly.
"Well, they could be right, it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn't our kind of gig." Dean shrugged.
"Yeah, maybe not. Except for this—Dad marked the area, Dean." Sam pointed to Dad's journal. "Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker."
"Why would he even do that?" I asked, walking over to look at the journal. But it was hard to decipher what he was trying to say 'cause his handwriting sucks and looks like scribbles.
"Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, then vanishes. He found this too—this county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state."
"That is weird." Dean said.
"Yeah." Sam agreed.
"Don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Jenkins was taken from a parking lot." I said.
"Well, there are all kinds. You know, Springhill Jacks, phantom gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, Dean, I don't know if this is our kind of gig either." Sam said.
"Yeah, you're right, we should ask around more tomorrow."
"Right," Sam pulled out his wallet and slapped a twenty on the table. "I saw a motel about five miles back."
"Whoa, whoa, easy," Dean held his hands up. "Let's have another round."
"We should get an early start."
"You really know how to have fun, don't you, Grandma?" I said, raising my empty beer bottle in a salute.
"Well well well, if it isn't Dean Winchester." Someone behind me said.
I froze in my spot, my feet glued to the floor. That voice…that voice turned my body stone cold, brought back good memories, then stomped all over those good memories to make them permanently bad memories.
Remember when Cassie asked me if I've ever been in love? And remember when I hesitated in answering. Meet the reason for my hesitation, Dean's friend Chris Hanson.
"Chris," Dean grew the biggest smile and walked over and gave Chris one of those man hug hand shakes like dudes do when they see their friends after a while. You know what I'm talking about. "What are you doing here?"
"My sister had her baby back in Montana, so I was there for a little bit, but now I'm heading back to meet up with the guys in Illinois. Figured I'd stop for a drink and just crash around here for the night."
"How are they doing?"
"Jack and Liam? Same 'ol hunting drunks, probably tearing up the motel room instead of researching as we speak."
"I kinda miss those idiots," Dean reminisced. "Oh, you remember Allie and this is my brother, Sam. He's been at Stanford for the past four years."
"Oh yeah," Chris smiled. He and Sam shook hands. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard good things."
"Really?" Sam sounded surprised and looked over at Dean.
"Whatever," Dean rolled his eyes.
"Hey Allie," Chris grinned.
Chris was tall, athletically built, and insanely handsome. Usually Chris was clean shaven but today he had short groomed stubble, and it looked freaking great and I hate what it was doing to my emotions at the moment. He was wearing dark denim jeans and a navy blue v neck t shirt, showing off his muscles immaculately. His blue eyes were still piercingly beautiful and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away.
My heart was beating insanely fast. I never thought I'd see Chris again. I just assumed if he and Dean were to hang out again, Dean would travel to wherever Chris was and I wouldn't ever have to have this exact awkward moment that is happening right now.
"Hey," I said shortly. If I didn't answer at all, which is what I wanted to do, Dean would find it suspicious and I couldn't deal with that right now. Or ever.
Chris coughed, "So, what are you guys doing here?"
"We might've caught a case. It's still up in the air as of right now." Dean paused. I could see it in his eyes how happy he was to see his friend. Because we're on the road all the time, we don't make those bffs everyone else has. But Dean's closest friend was Chris. And that meant something. "We should get together soon," Dean said. "Find a case for 'ol time's sake."
"Yeah definitely."
"I need a refill," I mumbled.
My empty beer bottle felt heavy in my hand, urging me to get another one and drown myself in as much alcohol as possible.
"Allie, we're leaving." Sam said in a disapproving tone.
"Fine. Shots, whatever." At least shots were faster so I wouldn't have to worry about Sam being on my tail about time and getting out of here.
I felt Sam's stare on me as I made my way to the bar. Unfortunately, he isn't dumb, and he was probably noticing the awkwardness and the tension since Chris walked over. I glanced over my shoulder to see if I was right, and guess what, I was. Sam was staring at me with furrowed brows and a questionable expression.
"Two tequila shots please," I grinned at the bar tender.
The bar tender brought out two shot glasses from underneath the bar and filled it with a gold-amber liquid.
I down the two shots in less than thirty seconds. The alcohol burned my throat, basically killed my taste buds, and made me nauseas because of how fast I threw them down. I felt so pathetic. I wasn't one to emotionally drink…okay that's not exactly true but I never did for some guy.
"Hey Ted, add those on my tab." Chris walked over and took the stool next to mine.
"No, Ted. Don't." I pulled out a ten from my back pocket and slid it across the wooden bar.
"You're still mad at me, huh?" Chris shook his head.
I scoffed. "Mad? No, I just have no respect for you anymore. I thought I made that pretty clear."
"You have." Chris brought his bottle to his lips and I thought I saw him wince, but I could have imagined it. I slipped off the bar stool and shrugged on my jacket. "Look, I might stay an extra night in Minnesota. If you wanna talk…"
"What's there to talk about?"
"I made a mistake – "
"Yeah, you did." I snapped.
Dean whistled behind me by the exit and nodded his head towards the door, indicating that it was our time to leave.
"I gotta go."
Dean waved one last time to Chris and walked outside with me, instantly getting smacked in the face with cold wind. Minnesota is freaking cold.
"What are the odds of us seeing Chris Hanson in the middle of a random town in Minnesota?" Dean shook his head, a smile playing on his lips.
"Weird." I crossed my arms over and hugged them close to my chest. It was so cold I could see my breath.
"Did he seem kind of off to you?"
"Didn't notice."
"I think once we find Dad, I might head out to wherever they are and find a case for us to work on."
"You should."
Dean eyed me from his peripheral vision. "Why are you acting weird?"
"I'm not," I said a little too defensively.
"Whatever," Dean rolled his eyes.
We passed a random cat sitting on the trunk of someone's car. It caught mine and Dean's eye since it was kind of odd. The two of us were about to hop into the impala, but paused when we noticed that Sam wasn't in it.
"Wasn't Sam supposed to meet us at the car?" I asked.
"Yeah…" Dean picked up Dad's journal from the ground. Sam was holding onto Dad's journal in the bar…this wasn't good.
"Shit." I cursed.
"Sam!" Dean called out.
"Sam!" I shouted after him as if he would hear me over Dean.
Dean sped walked to a group of biker people walking out of the bar. "Hey, you guys been outside, around here in the last hour or so?" They shook their heads and walked away without a second glance.
"Sam!"
"Sammy!" Dean looked around frantically.
I looked up for any kind of sign that could lead us to Sam and somehow I found exactly what I was looking for. "Dean." I grabbed my brother by his arm and pointed up to the surveillance camera.
"Sam," Dean whispered to himself. "Good going Shortstack. Come on."
Dean sped to the police department to get a look at those cameras. As soon as we got there, the police woman helping us ran our fake ID badges.
"So, what can we do for you, Officer Washington and Officer Pierce?" She asked.
"We're working a missing persons." Dean answered.
"I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police."
"Oh, no. No, there's someone else. Actually, it's my cousin. We were havin' a few last night at this bar down by the highway. And I haven't seen him since."
"Does your cousin have a drinking problem?"
"Sam? Two beers and he's doing karaoke," I chuckled.
The officer smiled at me but Dean coughed and didn't look amused. Usually he was all for busting Sam's nuts, but the stress of Sam missing must be really getting to him.
"No, he wasn't drunk," Dean said. "He was taken."
The officer nodded and took a seat at her desk and started typing away at her computer. Dean took a seat across from her and I followed his lead and sat down next to him.
"Alright. What's his name?"
"Winchester. Sam Winchester."
"Like the rifle?" The officer smirked.
"Like the rifle," Dean said as a matter-of-factly.
The officer typed in Sam's name and scrolled through whatever came up about him. "Samuel Winchester. So, you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, died in St. Louis. And, uh, was suspected of murder." She glanced up at us unimpressed and now a little weary of why Sam could be missing.
"Yeah, Dean. Kind of the black sheep of the family." Dean tried to look nonchalant. "Handsome, though." I rolled my eyes.
"Even his sister has a bad rep too. She's got multiple counts of credit card scams, breaking and entering, theft…she even broke out of prison and stole a police car…"
I looked down at my hands awkwardly and twiddled my thumbs. Dean stared at me with an eyebrow quirked up and an evident frown. Yeah, he didn't know about that last one…
"Yeah…she can be kind of reckless…"
"And stupid," Dean added. Again, I rolled my eyes.
"Uh-huh," The officer continued typing away. "Well, he's not showing up in any current field reports."
"Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway," I said.
"Uh-huh. The county traffic cam?"
"Right. Yeah. We're thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever." Dean said.
She nodded, "Well, I have access to the traffic cam footage down at the county works department, but—well, anyhow, let's do this the right way." She grabbed some paper out of her filing cabinet and gave it to Dean. "Why don't you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?"
Dean looked over the paper and shook his head, "Officer, look, uh, he's family. I kind of—I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
"Well, tell me something. Your county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of 'em come back?" Dean asked. The officer didn't answer and looked down at the floor, guiltily. "Sam's my responsibility. And he's comin' back. I'm bringin' him back."
Somehow Dean talked his way into her heart and told us to come back in the morning to see the surveillance footage. Although we were on a time crunch, we accepted the help and left.
"You broke out of jail and stole a police car?" Dean glared at me as we walked out.
"You were working a case with your friends… ironically." Weird how that's brought up right after seeing Chris Hanson in the middle of nowhere. "It was the one that lasted two and a half weeks because you guys kept hitting dead ends."
"Yeah…"
"Yeah well I was in prison for breaking and entering for about a week of that time."
"Allie!"
"Hey, I got out didn't I?" I raised my hand in surrender. "Plus, you've broken out of prison before. When we working the woman in white case with Sam back in California."
"I broke out of an interrogation room." Dean corrected.
"Eh, toh-mate-oh toh-mot-toh. Same difference."
"Where was Dad?"
"Working his own case a couple states down," I scoffed.
"He left you by yourself?" Dean asked surprised. It was one thing for Dean to go out alone. He was twenty six and a man. Dad would never let me go out by myself since I was only twenty-two and his baby girl.
"He said it was important. Told me to stay back and not leave the motel."
"Nice listening skills," Dean scoffed. "Why didn't you call me?"
"Because Dean," I sighed. "You were with your friends and I remember how excited you were to hang out with them again. I didn't want to be annoying and make you drive all the way back to help me."
"You could have gotten hurt…or killed."
"But I didn't," I teasingly smirked.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
For the next couple of hours, Dean and I drove around town to look for any signs of where Sam could have gone, but just like we suspected, there were no signs of Sam anywhere. No bread crumbs, no signs of struggle. Nothing.
By the time we gave up, the sun was already shining and it was about time to head back to the County Works Department to talk to the officer, whose name I recently learned was Kathleen.
Dean and I waited on a bench outside the department, figuring it was best if neither of us went inside there again.
"Greg," Kathleen called Dean's fake name as she approached the bench from behind. "I think we've got something." She handed Dean the print outs from the security footage. I stood next to him, staring down at the evidence. "These traffic cams take an image every three seconds as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared."
"This really isn't what I'm looking for."
"Just wait, wait – next one." She assured. Dean flipped over to the next picture. It was a black and white blurry photo of a rusty looking truck turning out of the bar parking lot. "This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing. Now, look at the plates."
Dean flipped the page again to a close up image of the truck's license plate.
"The plates look new. It's probably stolen." I said.
"So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved." Kathleen pointed out.
Mine and Dean's ears perked up when a car pulled out of the lot and into the street. It's engine was loud, making a gurgling scene.
"Hear that engine?" Dean asked me.
"Yeah," I said, already knowing what he was thinking.
"Kind of a whining growl, isn't it?"
"Sure," Kathleen shrugged, not really understanding the big deal.
"I'll be damned." Dean said to himself.
What are the odds that we heard the same sound the first kid we interviewed did…and it didn't come from a monster. It came from a car.
Kathleen drove Dean and I in the direction we thought the rusty van might have taken off to. I sat in the back of the squad car, bouncing my knee up and down anxiously, and constantly looking at my phone. I kept thinking that Chris was going to call or text me, and I couldn't tell if I was relived or disappointed that he hasn't yet. Which was really annoying.
Kathleen pointed to another traffic cam as we drove past, "Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one, so…."
"So, it must've pulled off somewhere. I didn't see any other roads here." Dean said.
"Well, a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads."
"Great." Dean said, annoyed. I continued looking out the window.
"So, Gregory," Kathleen cleared her throat after typing away on the monitor in her car.
"Yeah?"
"I ran your badge number. It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you."
My head snapped up and I looked over her shoulder at her monitor. There was a picture of a heavy set black man in a police uniform.
"Mmhmm," Dean hummed, somehow still not concerned with where she was going with this.
"And, uh, they just got back to me." Kathleen veered the car to the side of the road and put it in park. "It says here your badge was stolen." Now Dean's eyes grew in surprise. "And there's a picture of you."
Dean tried laughing it off, "I lost some weight. And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease."
"And I bet when I pull up Officer Pierce's picture, it's gonna be the exact opposite too." She said, looking at me from the rearview mirror. I pursed my lips and looked down awkwardly. "Okay, would you two step out of the car, please?"
"Look, look, look," Dean said quickly. Kathleen paused and stared at him like he had grown two heads. "If you wanna arrest us, that's fine. We'll cooperate, I swear. But, first, please – let me find Sam."
"I don't even know who you are. Or if this Sam person is missing."
"Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this." Dean said seriously.
"Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer," She said incredulously.
"It could be worse," I said, as if that was going to make us look any better.
Dean shot me a warning look, "Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him and his sister from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for them. Like it's my job to keep them safe. I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast—please." His voice broke, "He's my family."
Dean always acted like some macho big man in front of everyone, so it was always heartwarming to see his soft side come out every once in a while. My heart swelled as he talked about our family.
Kathleen shook her head, "I'm sorry. You've given me no choice." My head fell back as I silently cursed in frustration and disappointment. We were so close. Kathleen paused before turning the car back on and she bit her lip in silent debate. "After we find Sam Winchester," She said confidently and clipped her seatbelt back in.
Dean and I didn't say anything for the next couple minutes, too afraid of saying something that would make her change her mind and turn back around. My eyes caught a glimpse of a small wallet picture on her visor. It was of a man around Sam's age.
"Hey, Officer? Look, I don't mean to press my luck – "
"Your luck is so pressed," She scowled.
"Right. I was wondering—why are you helping me out, anyway? Why don't you just lock us up?" Dean asked.
"My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago. A lot like Sam. We searched for him, but—nothing. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone, and for them—" She stopped. "We'll keep looking."
I stared out the window again, feeling my nerves raise more than ever. I felt bad that Kathleen's brother hasn't returned, and it made me more worried about finding Sam.
"Wait, wait, what – pull over here. Pull over," Dean said, pointing to his side of the car. Kathleen did as Dean asked and parked the car off to the side of road. The three of us got out and walked towards the forest. "It's the first turn-off I've seen so far."
Kathleen nodded, also feeling good about Dean's hunch. "You stay here. I'll check it out."
"No way." I stepped forward. I'd be damned if I was going to just wait here on my ass while she went to see if Sam was taken here.
"Yeah, not happening," Dean agreed next to me.
"Hey," Kathleen stopped and held her hand out to stop Dean and I. "You're civilians. And felons, I think. I'm not taking you with me."
"You're not going without us." Dean said.
Kathleen sighed and looked towards the woods. "Alright. You promise you wont get involved? You'll let me handle it?"
"Yeah, I promise," Dean agreed.
She nodded, "Shake on it." She extended her hand out to Dean. As their hands connected, Kathleen sneakily clipped a pair of handcuffs around his wrist. Before I could even react, she somehow whipped out another pair of handcuffs, grabbed my wrist, and captured me too.
"Oh come on!" I groaned.
She pulled Dean and I to her car and hooked the other end of our handcuffs to the outside door handle. Once she felt we were secured, she walked away.
"This is ridiculous." Dean said. "Kathleen, I really think you're gonna need our help."
"I'll manage," She locked the car. "Thank you."
Dean patted down his jean pockets and his jacket and sighed. "I gotta start carrying paper clips. What about you? You gotta bobby pin or something?"
"No, I've got nothing," I sighed.
"Dammit. How'd you even get caught anyway? You saw her cuff me. You had the chance to run."
"It didn't click in my brain what was happening," I admitted. I had a lot on my mind between finding Sam and seeing Chris yesterday. I knew it shouldn't be, but my mind was somewhere else and not focused on reality. "Sorry."
"Don't go getting slow on me now," Dean said, scanning the ground for something to use. Dean paused to look at me curiously. "Are you okay?"
"Sam's missing Dean of course I'm not okay," I rolled my eyes and pulled on the handcuffs frustratingly.
"Yeah but – "
"Oh, Dean!" I cut him off when I spot the antenna on top of Kathleen's car. I tried reaching for it, but I didn't get the Sasquatch genes like my brothers did so my short arms couldn't reach. "Can you reach?"
Dean swiveled around awkwardly due to his handcuffs and stretched his arms out. His fingers brushed against the antenna, not quite grasping it like we needed. However, the both of us froze when we heard the screeching of a truck engine.
"Oh son of a bitch," Dean cursed and worked feverishly to get that antenna.
"How much you wanna bet Kathleen got herself into some trouble." I said, watching Dean anxiously reach for the antenna.
Dean finally grasped the antenna and unscrewed it from its latch and was able to pick the lock of his handcuffs with it. The engine sound was getting closer as he fumbled with my handcuffs but the second they unclipped, Dean led me towards the woods with our heads ducked and body crouched.
We hid behind the trees to wait out the truck. When they come across the police car, they stop and got out to look at it. Two grown men with beards and dirty flannels and jeans approach the car and laughed. They had southern accents and by the look of their faces, I don't think they've had a shower in a very long time.
"Well, I've never seen him so angry before," One of the men said.
"I've never been followed by the police before," The other said.
My eyes narrowed at the two men. Were these the guys that took Sam? Humans?
One of the men twirled a key chain around his finger and laughed to himself. He unlocked the car, and the two men drove off with the police car.
Well now we know for sure that Kathleen was screwed.
"Well that's not good." Dean stated the obvious.
"Come on," I grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him in the direction that Kathleen took off to.
Dean and I approached a house in the middle of the woods surrounded by trees that looked like they were touching the sky. The house was made of wood, cabin style, and smoke was coming out of the chimney, indicating someone was home. Behind the house was a lot filled with about dozens of cars, and I was fairly positive they didn't belong to these rednecks. Instead of going to the front door, which was probably Kathleen's first mistake, we rounded the house and found a back door that led us into a barn styled basement.
The door opened up to a cement covered room, with hay lying around everywhere. It was cold and dark and definitely somewhere crazy people would keep their victims. Humans, man. They're the worst.
As we walked deeper into the barn, we came across two large cages. Like cages you would keep an animal but bigger. Then as we got closer, we saw that people were being held in those cages, and I think I almost leapt out of my pants when I saw the long hair of Sam's in one of them.
"Sam!" I gleamed and ran over to his cage. "If you ask me, it looks like someone finally caught big foot." I chuckled.
"You're hilarious," Sam deadpanned. He was probably ready to get out of here and me cracking jokes was not on his agenda at the moment.
"Sam?" Dean walked up to the cage and linked his fingers through it. "Are you hurt?"
Sam grinned this time, "No."
"Damn, it's good to see you," Dean let out a deep breath.
"How did you get out of the cuffs?" Someone asked behind us.
Dean and I whipped around. In the other cage was Officer Kathleen. She was stripped of her police uniform and was left in just a white under shirt and her pants. Her face looked a little beat up but overall she looked okay.
Dean shrugged, "Oh, I know a trick or two." I smirked at her confused face. Dean moved to look at the door of Sam's cage, more specifically look at the locks. "Oh, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch."
"Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there." Sam pointed to the control panel by the stairs that led up to the main house.
"Have you seen them?" I asked Sam.
"Yeah. They're just people," Sam said.
Dean looked over his shoulder, "And they jumped you? Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo." I chuckled. "What do they want?"
"I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me."
"Well, that's the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy."
"See anything else out there?"
"They have a bunch of cars hidden in the back." I said. "The plates are from all over, so I'm thinkin' when they take someone, they take their car too."
"Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?" Kathleen asked.
"Yeah actually," I nodded. Kathleen's face changed to a saddened expression and I suddenly felt horrible. "Your brother's?" I asked. She nodded sullenly. I couldn't imagine the pain. "I'm sorry."
"Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards," Dean said, nodding towards Kathleen, acknowledging her pain. He pointed to the control panel. "This thing takes a key. Know where it is?"
"I don't know," Sam said.
"Alright, I better go find it." Dean said. I moved to walk next to him, but Dean held out his hand to stop me. "No, no, no. You stay here. I don't know what's up there. Okay? Stay down here."
"Dean –"
"I'm serious Allie!" Dean whisper-barked.
"Allie?" Kathleen repeated, tasting the name on her tongue. "As in Allie Winchester? Sam Winchester's sister?"
I pursed my lips and fumbled with my thumbs. "Yeah about that…"
"Sorry, Al," Dean whispered, but by the time I looked up, he was already halfway up the steps.
"What's going on?" Sam asked, glancing between me and the sheriff.
"Uh, when Kathleen looked up your name in the police database, my – I mean your sister's rep sheet came up as well…"
"There should be a big Wanted poster with your name on it." Kathleen said. She didn't seem mad or threatening. She was just stating the facts and yeah I kind of agree with her but cut me some slack here, I didn't kill anybody.
"What was on it?" Sam asked. I forgot he didn't know about my multiple charges since he was away at school.
"Breaking and entering, fraud, assaulting a police officer, escaping prison – " Kathleen listed them off.
"Don't make me keep you in this cage," I pointed at her.
"Allie!" Sam hissed, although I couldn't tell if it was due to me threatening a cop or the fact that I escaped prison before. Seriously, I don't know why he and Dean were so surprised.
"I'm just kidding. Jeez. I would never do that officer."
There was a loud crash from upstairs, followed by a couple of thumps and loud groans coming from grown men. I looked over at the stairs, immediately thinking of Dean. Before anyone could stop me, although they couldn't do much since they were locked in a cage, I ran up the steps to find Dean. I swear if those bastards hurt him too I was going to be real pissed.
The upstairs consisted of a kitchen and a living room with rugs made out of animal skin and multiple animal heads were mounted to the wooden walls. The place smelled like tobacco, and someone was playing an old record that made this experience extra creepy. I tip toed through the living room, noticing that most of the commotion was coming from the kitchen. In my silent venture, I accidently kicked an end table. Luckily it didn't make a lot of noise but what was on top of that small table caught my attention.
I picked up a mason jar looking thing and held it up to the light. It was hard to tell at first but eventually I made out the small objects inside to be teeth. And they didn't look like animal teeth if you asked me. Next to the jar was a couple of polaroid pictures I wish I could unsee. These rednecks held onto to lifeless human bodies like they were trophies and smiled triumphantly at the camera. That's when it clicked in my head. These psychos hunted humans.
Aside from all that stuff was a small hunting knife. It wouldn't do much, but at least it was something. I picked it up and moved closer to where everyone was.
I hid behind the wall closest to the kitchen so I could hear what they were saying. This small dagger wasn't going to be enough against three burly men so if I were to get caught eavesdropping, I was gonna have to find some creative way to protect myself.
"You ever kill before?" One of them asked.
I took a chance and peeked out from behind the wall to see what I was dealing with. There was an old man I assumed to be the father figure. Next to him were the two men I saw outside that took the police car, and next to them was a little girl, maybe 10, who looked like she never bathed a day in her life.
They were all looking down at Dean like he was a piece of meat. Dean was tied to a chair in front of them with his hands behind his back. My blood boiled just seeing him in a position like that and I was ready to make some bastards pay. First Sam and now Dean? No way.
"Well that depends on what you mean," Dean replied.
"I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear—I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful, alive." The father explained.
"You're a sick puppy."
"We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy."
"Yeah well, don't see yourself short. You're plenty sloppy," Dean retorted.
"So, what, you with that pretty cop? Are you a cop?"
"If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?" Dean said. One of the brothers walked over to him and punched him across the face. Dean groaned in pain and spat out a glob of blood.
When he straightened up, he caught my eye peeking out from behind the wall. My fist clenched, ready to go out there and somehow battle three heavy men and a little brat, but Dean discreetly shook his head and warned me not to make any moves. Not yet.
The father walked around to the fireplace and picked up a hot poker. My heart fell to the floor. "Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know."
"Yeah, how 'bout it's not nice to marry your sister?"
Dean never learns when to shut his mouth, does he? I guess I know where I get it from.
"Tell me—any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you?"
"Oh, eat me," Dean scoffed but then his eyes went wide and he tilted away from the men, "No, no, no wait. You actually might."
The other brother marched over to Dean and held him by the back of his head to hold it in place.
"You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games." The father turned around to look at his sons, "Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys." He looked back at Dean and pointed. "And you get to pick the animal. The boy or the cop?"
"Okay, wait, wait—look, nobody's comin' for me, alright? It's just us."
"You don't choose. I will." The father threatened.
My stomach dropped thinking about Sam being hunted like some animal. The grip on my knife tightened and I was itching to stomp in there and stab every one of them in their necks.
The father placed the orange-red burning hot poker to Dean's shoulder over his shirt. Dean screamed out in pain, clenching his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.
"Oh you son of a bitch!" Dean cursed loudly.
The father placed the poker dangerously close to Dean's eye, threatening to stick it in there if he didn't choose.
"Next time, I'll take an eye."
"Alright, the guy, the guy!" Take the guy!" Dean shouted, and that was my cue to leave.
I didn't blame Dean for picking Sam. In fact, that's who I would have chosen too. At least with Sam, he had a better chance. We grew up fighting every kind of creature. Usually they're never human, but same skills apply. Sam would be better off than Kathleen.
"Lee, go do it. Don't let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage." I heard the father say as I reached the stairs.
"Shit," I mumbled and sped down the stairs.
"Allie," Sam perked up when he saw me. "What's going on?"
"Someone's about to come down here and try to shoot you," I explained bluntly.
"What? What about Dean?"
"Yeah, he's not doing so swell at the moment either. I guess you can say this is my big superhero moment I've been waiting to have since I was five."
One of the brothers, named Lee from what I heard the father call him, walked in through the door. I dove behind one of the cement pillars and nodded at Sam to let him know it was going to be okay.
Lee walked over to the control panel and inserted the key. Sam's cage door opened and Lee approached him with an aimed shotgun.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked.
I didn't have a plan in my head, but I also didn't have time to think of one. So I came out of the shadows with a shoot first think second attitude and whistled. Lee looked up at me surprised to see a third party and pointed his gun at me.
I feigned a cocky attitude even though on the inside I was freaking the fuck out. I cocked an eyebrow and plastered on a smirk. "You so messed with the wrong family, dickhead."
I threw the small knife at him like a baseball pitcher. Before he could react, the dagger stabbed into his shoulder. He stumbled backwards, pulling the trigger of his gun and accidentally firing into the ceiling.
Sam took Lee's distraction as an opportunity to tackle him to the ground. Fortunately Sam got the upper hand due to Lee's injury and pinned him down, throwing a few punches here and there. Sam ripped the shotgun out of his hands and hit Lee in the face with it three times. Lee dropped unconscious. Sam tried pulling the trigger on him but the gun was out of bullets. What idiot doesn't check how many bullets he has before using the gun?
As Sam was fighting psycho number one, I had moved over to the control panel to let Kathleen free. From upstairs, I heard the father calling out Lee's name.
"Sam, we've got to move," I told him, helping Kathleen to her feet.
"Okay," Sam nodded. He grabbed Lee by the arms and dragged him into the cage. He shut the door and locked it behind him. Okay, one psycho down.
I punched the control panel repeatedly as hard as I could so that Lee couldn't find a way to get out. The machine definitely broke under my fist, and it even caused the lights to go out too.
The three of us moved deeper into the barn. I didn't realize how big it actually was. There were barrels of hay everywhere and empty chicken coops and smaller cages for actual animals.
As the three of us hid all in different locations, I realized that the knife I was using was still jabbed into Lee's shoulder and I was back to square one. Great.
"I have an idea but you're not going to like it," I whispered to Sam.
The father and his other son come down stairs looking for us, checking two different parts of the barn. Both were holding shotguns aimed out in front of them with an itching finger over the trigger.
"Then don't do it." Sam said.
If I didn't run out of here and distract at least one of them, there was no way that three of us were going to get out of here alive. Not bare handed.
"Sorry, I have to. Find Kathleen."
Before Sam could stop me, I ran out from behind the barrel where I was hiding. Unfortunately, the first guy I found was the father who also happened to be the scariest of the two, but he was also the one I most wanted to kill.
"Hey grandpa," I called out. "You call yourself a hunter?"
The father took a shot at me but missed my shoulder by a couple of centimeters. It was so close, I felt the wind gush past me as the bullet hit the wooden post behind me. I ducked behind another barrel and soon we were playing a game of cat and mouse.
On the other side of the barn I heard groaning and quarrel. I couldn't see anything so I could only hope that Sam was winning the fight.
Another bullet was shot at me, this time grazing my outer thigh. The wound stung and ripped my jeans, but other than that I was going to be okay. I rounded back to Sam and Kathleen. They were on the ground, staring into the barrel of the other guy's gun.
"Hey!" I shouted loudly to grab his attention.
The man snapped in my direction. I ducked, predicting that he was going to pull the trigger of his gun. Behind me I heard a groan and a thump. The father was hit with his son's bullet. I shuffled over to him quickly and stole the gun out of his grasp. I stood over him, pointing the barrel at his head and deathly glared.
Behind me, Sam had taken control of the son and beat him unconscious with his gun too.
"You hurt my family," The father glared up at me. "I'm gonna bleed you, bitch."
"You just got taken down by a 22 year old girl," I smirked. "I'd love to see you try."
"Allie." Kathleen slowly approached me and touched my shoulder comfortingly. "I'll watch this one."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, go see your brother," She assured me.
I nodded and handed her the shotgun. She took it and instantly pointed it down at the piece of crap lying on the floor.
I followed Sam to the kitchen where Dean was still being watched by the little girl. Sam nodded at me to deal with it since he didn't want to hurt a kid. However, since I basically had no heart, I had no problem doing it.
I snuck up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. The second she turned around to look at me, I clocked her right into the nose. Her head snapped back and she cried in agony. I grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her into the storage closet off to the side.
"Dean, are you okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Dean said, glancing over at me. He scanned me up and down, taking in my appearance. My hand looked like it had been mauled by a bear after breaking the control panel and my jeans were now ripped and my wound was slightly bleeding form the grazed bullet. Then he looked over at the closet where the little brat was screaming and banging on the door. "A little heartless right there don't you think?"
I shrugged, "She deserved it."
"Where's Kathleen?"
"Downstairs watching the dad. The other two are laying unconscious in the barn." I said. The three of us paused for a moment to take a breather and just relish in the fact that we were all okay. "I'm glad to two are okay."
"Yeah same." Dean said. "Alright, let's go find Kathleen and get the hell out of here."
As the three of us walked out of the redneck's house, Kathleen was walking out of the barn. My brows scrunch in confusion now that she's not watching over the dad.
"Where's the girl?" She asked.
"Locked her in a closet," I said. "What about the dad?"
Kathleen pressed her lips into a straight line, "Shot. Trying to escape."
There was a hidden expression passed on between the four of us. It was clear that Kathleen lied to us and that the dad was clearly shot out of revenge for her brother's death, but none of us blamed her. If it were my family, I would do the exact same thing just like Sam and Dean would. We had Kathleen's back on this one and were going to follow her story with no questions asked.
After Kathleen found her uniform, she radioed in to her unit and told them to come to the location so an investigation could officially begin.
"So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They're gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you're long gone by then."
"Thanks." Dean said. "Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?"
"Start walking," Kathleen said, not to any of our surprise. I was just happy she wasn't going to keep Dean and I here for our previous felonies. "Duck if you see a squad car."
"Sounds great to me," Sam said gratefully. "Thanks."
"Listen, uh…I'm sorry about your brother," Dean said sincerely.
"Thank you," Kathleen teared up. "It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth—but it isn't really." She paused. "Anyway, you should go."
We nodded and turned around to walk down the back narrow roads. Luckily, the sun was coming up soon and it wouldn't be as creepy in a couple minutes.
"Never do that again," Dean said to Sam.
"Do what?" Sam asked.
"Go missin' like that."
Sam laughed, "You were worried about me."
"All I'm sayin' is, you vanish like that again, I'm not lookin' for ya."
I rolled my eyes at that one. There would never be a day where Dean wouldn't come to our rescue.
"Sure, you won't." Sam said sarcastically.
"I'm not."
Sam chuckled, "So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?"
I cracked a smile and glanced up at Dean teasingly. He looked between the two of us and rolled his eyes, "Oh, shut up."
"Just sayin', getting rusty there, kiddo," Sam mocked.
This time Dean chuckled, "Shut up."
And we're back.