Two days after she left her uncle's home, she was deep in a case in McMinnville, the past day, she had found several connections between the men. First, they were all known to be womanizers, rarely in relationships but if they were, they were never faithful. They also had records including drunk and disorderly, assault, battery, domestic violence. None of them were gems. There were a number of vengeful spirits and creatures who would take their revenge out on men like that.

A vengeful spirit or creature draining the life out of men. She had more than enough details to get a short list of possibilities. She had a few books with her on creatures, spirits, and all manner of monsters with her but spent several hours scouring the web looking for those creatures and more importantly what could take them out. Mae had narrowed down the creature taking out the men in Oregon to some kind of kitsune, a spirit fox.

Mae thought talking it out with someone might help her organize her thoughts. Instead, she looked over the articles and pictures she'd added to her wall as she paced. There were a number of different types and lore around them, ranging from some kind of fox-based lycanthropy to a traditional rice god. There were some good types and some evil types. Of the evil ones, most engaged in either possession or imitation of a beautiful woman, luring men to their eventual deaths.

There was no sign she was dealing with a shapeshifter, which left her looking for the other type. Now was it one that leaned towards mischief, like a trickster or was it the malicious type? The dead guys would certainly lean one way but maybe on a fox spirit level, they were just being taught a lesson.

Night had fallen by the time Mae drove to the house of the first victim, Parker Farewell. The house was unimpressive, with virtually nothing distinctive. It was a single-story ranch style house and looked almost exactly the same as the rest on the block. She suspected the residents were similarly homogeneous but for now, she was focused on this one, while trying not to draw any unnecessary attention to herself as she snuck into the back yard so she could break in through the back door, for a subtler approach.

After picking the lock on the back door, she put her kit back in one of her jacket pockets and slipped inside. It wasn't a crime scene, but no one had come to clean the place up or try to get new occupants in there yet. At least that made her job easier. Still, stealth was an objective while inside. From a different pocket, she pulled out a small flashlight and EMF detector.

On the inside, the house was just as basic and boring as the outside. Mid-priced but boring furniture. Nothing that gave any suggestion of who he was, what he did, what he liked. There were a few framed movie posters which she supposed counted as art for this guy. The kitchen was sparse. An incomplete set of dishes, plastic forks and spoons but real steak knives. No glassware, only plastic take out cups. The fridge was equally barren save for a few beers and well past expired takeout.

There were slightly more signs of a life in the living room, if it could be called that. A leather sofa that had seen better days occupied most of the wall under the window facing the street. Across from it was a large TV. He had a fair number of DVDs, CDs, and video games. She didn't peruse the selection. The kitchen and living room both registered clean on the EMF. Nothing seemed odd, out of place. It was all painfully normal.

Mae moved down the hallway, passing the bathroom of a man who clearly lived alone some if not all the time. Across from the bathroom was a spare room that had been set up as a home gym. This too look, and smelled, well used. So, he was likely in good shape before his death, strong enough to put up a fight even against a creature, she thought.

At the end of the hall was the main bedroom. A king-sized bed took up most of the room, A nightstand flanked one side of the bed but not the other. The bed was still unmade, sheets and blankets in a messy heap on the mattress. The closet door was still partly open. She nudged the doors wider with the flashlight. Again, there was nothing particularly stand out about the clothes there. A few boring suits, trousers, nondescript sweaters. Nothing flashy, eye catching, or particularly expensive looking.

The nearby dresser contained the same non-treasure trove. It all appeared to her to be the plain life or a plain man who only seemed to work out and drink too much. There wasn't any particular reason, so far, to target him unless this creature was really into white bread. Turning from the closet to the nearby bookshelf she was startled by the sudden, sharp whine of the EMF.

Mae frowned as she backtracked, scanning the room once again. The room was hot but when she moved the device in front of the bookcase, it spiked again. Was it a cursed object or fetish kept among the knickknacks or books? The shelf was light on books, heavier on what she would consider junk. Bobbleheads, an empty cup, even crumpled tissues, absolutely nothing that screamed out to her as being supernatural.

But there was something there. She knew there had to be something. Pocketing the EMF reader, she carefully inspected the items in the bookcase, the shelves, everything, before moving on to the outside. When she ran her hands along the side, against the wall, she felt something. It wasn't a gust of cold air. It was more of cold spot. That tingle of being on the right train and near something otherworldly ran down her spine. A tension settled in her through as she looked for a way to move the bookcase.

Holding the flashlight in her mouth, she tried to shove the case to the side. It didn't slide with a push, rather it nudged forward, on hinges. It opened like a door, revealing the secret behind it. She took the flashlight in her hand again. The beam of light swept over the small room hidden behind the shelf. "Holy shit." she muttered to herself.

Now this was something that said what kind of person he was, what he liked, what he did. His record of assaults and public drunkenness wasn't exactly a strike against him. Those could have been anything but this, there was no question about this.

Initially, she had not liked Parker Farewell but now she was solidly on the side of the kitsune. In the room, no larger than 8 by 8 foot was a cage with a dish of water and what she assumed was food, bedding, discarded women's clothing, and a pair of black high heel shoes. Here was a light switch on the wall, which she flicked with her elbow. The single, bare light bulb was screwed into the socket in the ceiling, making the room seem so much darker and colder. Mae nudged the pile of clothing with the toe of her boot. It looked to be a tight red dress, nothing else.

No blood, no hair, no sign of a struggle. No sign that perhaps a dog or other animal had been kept in the cage, not that it would make anything better because the conditions were appealing for either human or animal. The man had died unusually but not enough to make the police suspect foul play so the hadn't searched the house extensively. The room wasn't on display, but it wasn't impossible to find.

She turned the light off in the room with her elbow, careful not to touch anything more. Tracing her steps back through the house, she wiped down every surface she had touched. It mucked what would be a crime scene a bit more, which was regrettable, but at this point unavoidable.

The authorities would need to get in here again. This was something the authorities obviously hadn't investigated, and they needed to, for the sake of whoever had been in that secret room. It gummed up the work for her. Because now there were dead men and a missing woman. Or maybe she was now found. Maybe she was dead too. She didn't know. How it tied back into the kitsune, she didn't know yet.


5 Days Later

When her phone rand, she checked the caller ID warily. While she wasn't pissed off with Dean, she wasn't looking for another lecture or pointless argument. Eventually, she would have to talk to him, eventually she would want to but for now, the break might have been for the best. The call wasn't from Dean however, it was Sam. Every annoyed or angry thought she'd ever held for him melted away as her heart sank. When they weren't working a case together, a call from Sam was never a good thing.

She answered because she didn't want to hear that something bad happened to Dean via voicemail. The panic was laced through her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing. Everything's okay, mostly."

"Mostly? Is Dean okay? Are you okay? Are you both okay?"

"Yeah," Sam let a smile ease into his words, "We're just on another job and I had a question."

Knowing that this wasn't that call, she eased back in her chair. "I'm sure you and Dean can figure out what you're after."

"It's not that. We're after vampires."

"Again? Dean must practically be wetting his pants about that. Is it the same ones we squared off against last time? They get your scent for life and those ones wouldn't hesitate to take you both out."

"Yeah, I know, that's not my question. You know a lot of hunters, right?"

"Do I know a lot of hunters? I guess. I know enough."

Same cleared his throat. "You know a guy name Gordon Walker?"

"Gordon? Yeah. Vampires? Listen, you should just-maybe just walk away on this one."

"He's dangerous?"

"If he's not hunting you, no. But he's...intense. And not in the healthy way like your dad."

Sam chuckled halfheartedly. "Dean seems to get along with him pretty well. I don't know I don't really trust him."

"I mean...I could see Dean finding Gordon's style kinda appealing."

"I'm worried about him Mae."

"He…"she paused "just give him time, man. Seems pretty obvious he's having a rough time dealing with your dad's death. Who could blame him, you know? But...maybe you can convince him there's a better case to take."

Sam sighed. "Wish you were here. You might be able to do that."

"I doubt that."

"I'm serious. Any chance you could make it to Red Lodge? I know Bobby said you had taken another job but...I could use the back up."

Had Dean completely glossed over their last conversation? How had he explained to Sam why she wasn't there? Maybe Sam didn't ask or didn't care. He'd been told some level of detail, which seemed to be enough for him. "Montana?"

"Yeah."

"So…Dean finished the car?

"Yeah. We took off on a job right after though."

"Oh well…I'm not sure I can take off right now. I'm really in the middle of things here."

"Then can you call Dean? Just talk to him a little. Maybe-"

"Sam, I think you're overestimating my power over him right now. You can handle this, really. If it gets worse, call me. Or Bobby, okay?"

"Yeah. Is everything okay with you?"

Mae actually considered the question a minute. "Yeah, I'm fine. Everything is just...weird, you know?"

"That's for sure."

"Listen, take care of yourself. And Dean. Okay? Promise me that."

"Of course. Why are you talking like you'll never see me again?"

"It's not that. I'm just not there right now and I know Dean isn't himself right now."

"I know. Are you?"

With a sigh, she rolled her eyes. "Dude, I don't need a therapy session."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure I need many. But not tonight and not from you. I'll let you get back to it. Stay safe, okay?"