(S1EP7 - Hook Man)

Alina was running around the park for a good hour now, when she received a message from Sam, giving her the address of the Café where he and Dean were waiting for her. Alina put the device back in her pocket without even answering the message, and resumed her relentless run. She needed to let off steam. She couldn't let herself think about the horrible nightmare she had the night before. When she first dreamed that she was kissing Dean at night in his car, she thought that the recent events with the Shapeshifter were coming back to haunt her, even after several days had already passed. But she quickly realized that it was something else, when she woke up with the shocking vision of Dean Winchester's mutilated dead body. She still had chills thinking about it. When she'd woke up, she'd spent several minutes observing the peacefully sleeping face of her friend near her. She was afraid to blink, and see him again covered in blood. Alina was so upset by this vision that she ended up putting on shorts and a tank top to go run around the park.

However, she stopped when she heard a scream coming from the playground. Nothing to worry about, just kids playing normally. But as her eyes landed on the tunnel, making her think about the discussion she had with Dean about her secrets, she suddenly felt uneasy. What if that nightmare wasn't just a nightmare?

No. She couldn't let this kind of thoughts poison her mind. She couldn't see the future, she just had this weird connection with people, animals, and spirits. Nothing weird at all…

She sighed, took a deep breath, and started to run towards the Café.

When she arrived, she found the boys at a table outside, talking about what seemed to be a new case Dean had found for them. "Could be something interesting."

"Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man."

"But what if it is? Dad would check it out."

"Check what out?" Alina joined the conversation as she reached their table.

The brothers first took a look at the panting girl. She was sweating from all the efforts, and yet, she looked so full of energy that they could only be impressed by her. But then, Dean realized that he'd really been worried about her ever since he'd woke up in an empty bed this morning. If Sam hadn't told him about her going out for a run, he probably would've searched the whole town for her. "What's with the run at 4 a.m, Frenchy?"

Alina smirked and took the seat in front of them. "I just wanted to get out of that motel room. I feel like all we do when we're not hunting, is driving and watching TV. I'm not complaining, but this morning I needed to do something different. So did you guys find a case?"

Sam shrugged and turned the computer in her direction to get her opinion on the matter. But the moment she saw the victim's photo, she had a flashback of her dream with the images of Dean's dead body, glitching and turning into this person she didn't even know.

"The mutilated body was found near the victim's car. The sole eyewitness says the attacker was invisible." Dean explained to her, trying to convince his friend that this was their kind of job.

Alina was being violently thrown back into her dream, when she suddenly closed the computer to the brothers' surprise. She was now breathing heavily, and her left hand under the table had turned into a trembling fist without her noticing it. She stood up, trying to hide her anxiety behind a smile. "I'm gonna grab a coffee."

She turned around, bumping into a stranger without stopping to apologize like she usually would. The boys watched her walk inside the Café worryingly. Sam was already getting up to follow her, but Dean stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go." He informed his brother and went to check on the girl.

Alina was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to stop the visions of horror from invading her mind. All she could see now was Dean's dead body, but she knew it wasn't him in real life now. "Come on Alina…It had to be a dream…It couldn't be real…"

She opened her eyes the moment she felt a hand on her back, and turned to see Dean standing next to her with a frowning face. "You okay?" He asked her instantly as he put both his hands on her waist to make her face him completely. She instinctively grabbed his jacket to keep her balance and kept looking down at her feet.

"I don't know… Dean things are getting worse."

"What happened? Alina look at me."

She nodded, took a deep breath, and finally lifted her head to meet his concerned green eyes. And the visions finally stopped. Dean was here, in front of her, and he was alive. There was no blood, no wounds. It was just him, and she wasn't dreaming.

"Talk to me. What's getting worse?" The hunter was relieved to see her calming down, but didn't want her to avoid the topic and hide things again. He had to insist.

"This new case you found…I think I dreamed of it last night."

"What do you mean? You dreamed of that guy in the photo?"

"No, not him. Not really. It was…it was you. But it wasn't you. I don't know why but I saw it from the witness' eyes, I think it was his girlfriend. I didn't see everything clearly, it was kinda blurry but…I saw you dead, covered in blood and…it was horrible."

"Okay hold on…" Dean clearly was trying to be patient and listen to her story. Although it was hard to believe, he couldn't show her any signs of doubt, but he also needed answers to his questions. "So if I was the victim in your dream, how do you know it was actually that guy? Maybe it was just a nightmare."

"No Dean it wasn't just a nightmare." Alina didn't want to feel crazy, but that was happening anyway. "I told you, I don't know why these things happen to me, but it wasn't just a nightmare. You have to believe me…"

Dean could see the distress in her eyes, so he lifted his hands to her face and slowly caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. "Hey I believe you, okay?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I believe you Alina."

The young woman knew how hard it must've been for him to say this, despite having so many unanswered questions. Dean was the kind of person that was ready to accept any crazy explanation, as long as there was one. But here, things were just complicated and he hated this. Especially because he couldn't help Alina feeling better. He could only protect her. "We'll find another case, leave this one to someone else."

"What?" Alina immediately took a step away from him in shock. "No we have to go."

"I'm not taking the risk."

"Dean I saw what the witness saw, I felt what she felt. We need to help her. That's what we do."

"Alina you're still shaking from whatever you saw in that dream. If you really wanna help that girl, Sam and I can handle this one on our own and..."

"No. No you're not doing this without me. I can and I will help, no matter how weak you see me, I can handle myself. This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about my secret."

Alina was already walking towards the door, angry and frustrated, but Dean grabbed her hand the moment she walked pass him. He held it tightly, forcing her to stay. And she didn't fight back. She was already tired of fighting with him. "Alina…" He was scared to say something clumsy again, while he actually wanted to talk to her with the softness she needed him to use. He wanted to tell her that he didn't care about anyone else as long as she was safe. He could even drive as far away as he could from that new job, if it meant her not having this nightmare again. He wanted to tell her how weak she actually made him feel, by acting so carelessly. She was so brave, and it was so scary. "I don't want you to regret sharing your secret with me. We'll go help that girl from your dream, but you need to understand that Sam and I, we need you. So stop being selfish, acting like you don't matter as much as the people we save. Okay?"

Alina didn't know what to say to that. Of course, she wasn't angry at him anymore. How could she be? He and Sam mattered just as much to her, and she would've reacted the same way if she'd been in Dean's place. So she nodded, moved her hand in his to hold it back, and smiled at him. "I don't regret anything."

LATER

"Hi." Alina smiled at the group of girls in front of the sorority house. They were all looking at her with judgmental eyes, until she decided to use the most stereotypical French accent she could do. "I am the…comment vous dites…exchanged? I come from France and need one bedroom." The moment the girls heard her accent, they all seemed way more interested by the newcomer and welcomed her without hesitation.

"Oh my god, you're French? That's so cool."

"Do you come from Paris? I love your jacket by the way."

Alina pretended to be interested too and answered their questions, making sure to stutter and talk like she was still learning one of her native languages. She hated this. After a few minutes, the girls took her to a bedroom upstairs that she would have to share with another girl. The girl named Stacy, insisted multiple times on introducing her to every frat boys her boyfriend knew, and invited her to the little party they were throwing later at night to cheer up one of the sorority girls.

"What happen to the girl?" Alina cringed at her own words.

"Oh, her boyfriend died in front of her last week." Stacy responded while letting herself fall on her bed, and playing with her hair with a way too dramatic look on her face. "They say some psycho with a knife did it. She's a reverend's daughter so there's a service in Rich's honor today at the church."

Alina was glad that she could get all these informations so easily, but also missed her boys. She wasn't used to being separated from them anymore.

"But you just arrived, so you don't have to worry about it."

"No but…can I be at the service too? I am sad for her."

"Aww, you're so cute." Stacy got back up and walked towards Alina, to stop in front of her and smile. "I'll introduce you to her roommate. I think she's about to leave for the church. Come on."

They walked out and almost bumped into another girl that was coming out of the room next door. "Oh Taylor, I was looking for you." Stacy immediately smiled.

"Hey Stacy. Is that your new roommate? The French girl?"

"Yes that's her. Actually she wanted to…" She was interrupted by her phone ringing, and got even more excited when she saw the caller ID. "It's Davis! Taylor you can take care of the new girl, right? Thanks!"

And she left before the girls were able to say anything in response. Alina turned to Taylor with a confused look, which made the sorority girl laugh. "Davis is her boyfriend. You won't see Stacy a lot actually, she's always with him. But anyway, I'm Taylor it's nice to meet you."

Alina shook her hand, relieved to hear that she wouldn't have to see her new roommate that much. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Alina." She decided to let go of the ridiculous accent, knowing she wouldn't have to stay here long enough for the girls to notice anything strange. "Stacy told me you were going to the church, I wanted to know if I could join you."

"Sure honey. Let's go, I'll introduce you to my roommate."

Alina followed her to her car, where she had to convince the girl that she was really a new student here. Luckily, her ability to lie was good enough for her to become Taylor's new friend before they even arrived to the church. That's where they found Lori, and the moment Alina laid her eyes on the girl, she felt a strange connection between them.

"Lori, that's Alina. Stacy's new roommate. She's an exchanged student from France."

Alina could feel that their connection was due to her nightmare. She'd seen a person she love die, in the exact same way Lori's boyfriend had died. And from the way Lori was staring back at her, it was almost as if she could feel it too. "Hi, I'm Lori. It's nice to meet you."

Alina smiled at her and shook her hand. She wanted to talk a little more with her, but everyone was already entering the church, so she followed the two girls and let them sit in the front row, while she chose to stay behind in the last row. Something definitely felt off with Lori, but Alina just couldn't figure out what it was. She didn't seem dangerous, and yet…she gave the hunter chills.

Fortunately, Alina was saved from her boredom after a few minutes, when she heard the door behind her opening, then close in a deafening noise that forced everyone to turn around. Alina did the same, and couldn't hold back her smile when she finally recognized the familiar faces that had just entered the church. Dean and Sam joined her on the bench, and of course, the eldest didn't wait any longer to look at her, insistently. He'd been worried for her ever since he'd dropped her in front of that sorority house. But she simply smiled at him in a comforting way and looked away, pretending to be focused on what the reverend was saying.

Once the service was over, Alina walked out of the church with Taylor and Lori as they were talking about the party they were having later.

"I can't. It's Sunday night."

Taylor didn't hesitate to argue with her. "It's just us girls. We're gonna do tequila shots and watch Reality Bites. Plus, it's gonna be Alina's first night with us." She turned to the new girl, expecting some kind of support. "You're coming right?"

"Yeah sure." Alina nodded. "I wouldn't miss it."

Lori smiled at her, but quickly returned to her serious expression. "My dad makes dinner every Sunday night."

"Come on, Lori. I know this has been hard, but you are allowed to have fun."

Alina could clearly see that Lori was lost between her family, and her sorority friends. And she felt bad for the girl who'd already been through so much. She didn't need so much pressure. And yet, she couldn't just refuse Taylor's invitation. "I'll try."

Her friend rolled her eyes at the answer, but didn't insist. "Okay." The two friends hugged, then Taylor turned to Alina. "Need a drive back?"

"Oh no thank you. I think I'll just stick around for a bit, but I'll see you tonight."

Taylor nodded, gave Lori one last glance, and turned around to leave. Alina took the opportunity to talk with Lori. "Hey are you okay? You know you don't have to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, right?"

"Yeah I know. Taylor's always been like that anyway." Lori reassured her with a thankful look. "I just don't think this is the kind of lifestyle I want for myself."

Alina rubbed her arm to show her support. This connection she had with Lori made her feel bad for the girl. She wanted to help.

"Are you Lori?" Alina recognized Sam's voice before they even turned to the two boys that had just arrived.

"Yeah."

Lori seemed intrigued by the youngest Winchester, which made Alina smile. She didn't want to reveal her relation to the boys, since she was supposed to have just arrived from France, so she pretended to not know them and let Sam do the introduction. "My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean."

Dean waved at the girl, and winked at his friend. "Hi."

Alina discreetly rolled her eyes as Dean was hiding his smile.

"We just transferred here to the university." Sam kept going, ignoring the other two.

"I saw you inside."

But she didn't even noticed that they were sitting next to Alina. Which could only mean one thing…she actually saw one person only.

"We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..."

"We wanted to say how sorry we were."

"I kind of know what you're going through. I…I saw someone...get hurt once. It's something you don't forget."

While Lori nodded slightly, Alina tried not to show how sad it made her feel to hear her friend talk about his recent trauma. That's when Lori's dad, the reverend, walked up to them. "Dad…this is Sam and Dean. They're new students. And this is Alina, she's an exchanged student from France."

Dean shook the reverend's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon."

"Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message."

Dean chuckled at the comment, so Alina decided to take the lead. She felt like Sam would be more able to talk to Lori. "I actually wanted to talk to you." She told Lori's dad. "I was also really inspired by the things you said and I was wondering if you could help me find a church group."

"Oh I second that." Dean said as they were both leading the reverend away from Sam and Lori.

"Well I'm sure I'll be able to provide two young believers like you all the help you'll need. Tell me, are you looking for any specific kind of group?"

Alina and Dean shared the same confused looks as they were searching for a good lie, until Alina decided to give the first answer that came to her mind. "Sexual abstinence?" She almost hit Dean when she heard him scoff next to her.

Luckily for them, the reverend seemed more than concerned about the matter. "Yes of course. If you'll give me one minute I'll bring you a copy of our abstinence group agenda for this month."

It only took a few seconds after the man left, for Dean to look at Alina with a childish grin on his lips.

"Oh come on Winchester!" Alina tried to defend herself without even looking at him. "Grow up!" And she ignored his laughter as she started to walk towards the church to wait for the reverend to come back.

LATER

The hunters were talking about what Lori had told Sam, while walking throughout the university library. From what they'd learned, and Alina's nightmare to confirm most of the story, they realized they could be facing the Hook Man. But just like the Bloody Mary case, it had to be another spirit starting a well known legend. And so they all sat at a table, and started to check the arrest records going back to 1851. It took them hours to finally find a lead.

"Hey, check this out." Sam called them as Dean and Alina were starting to yawn over the documents. "1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Right here, 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh'."

"Sins of the flesh?" Dean repeated, suddenly thinking about Alina's dream. "Wait…what were we doing in your drea…"

Alina hit him behind the head before he could finish his sentence. Firstly because Sam wasn't supposed to hear about that dream, and secondly because she didn't want to talk about that embarrassing part with Dean. She'd already kissed him too many times in real life, even if the second kiss wasn't actually with him, she couldn't also admit that she'd dreamed about doing it.

Dean noticed her embarrassment and looked back at the pages, finding another interesting detail about their suspect. "Get this, the murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook."

Sam pointed to another page. "Look where all this happened."

"9 Mile Road."

"Same place where the frat boy was killed."

"Nice job, Dr. Venkmen. Let's check it out." The boys started to leave, but stopped once they realized that Alina wasn't following them. They looked back at the girl, who was checking her phone. "You coming Frenchy?"

"Yeah… I mean, no. I can't, the girls are throwing a party tonight and they want the new girl to come."

"Okay…skip it." Dean complained, not liking the idea of her going to a sorority party in her current state. He didn't even want her to go to that sorority house by herself after seeing how shaken she was from her nightmare, and had spent the whole time away from her, worrying like crazy.

"Someone has to keep an eye on Lori in case the spirit comes after her again."

"That's another reason why you shouldn't go."

"Don't worry Winchester." She walked up to him and affectionately slapped his cheek. "I think I can handle myself in a sorority party. Or did you already forgot about the abstinence group?"

She then smiled at Sam, and left the boys in the middle of the library. Sam turned to his brother with an amused smile on his face. "Dude, you're becoming more and more obvious."

"Shut up Sammy. Let's go find our spirit and get the hell out of this town."

THE NEXT DAY

Alina was woken up by a terrifying scream coming from the room next door. She'd spent the whole night with the other girls, and was surprised to recognize Lori's voice as she hadn't showed up at the party. She didn't know when she'd came back, but her scream couldn't mean anything good. So she quickly jumped off her bed, and rushed towards Lori and Taylor's room to find another horrifying vision. Taylor's bedsheets were soaked in blood, and the poor girl was lying in her bed with her eyes completely open and her throat cut. Alina didn't think twice before grabbing Lori's arm and getting her out of the room. The other girls, alarmed by the noise, came rushing in the corridor where they found Lori crying in Alina's arms. "Call the police now!" Alina shouted to avoid looking suspicious, when she obviously knew that the police couldn't do anything about this.

She stayed by Lori's side after that, but the moment her father arrived to take care of her, she rushed back to her room to try and contact the boys again. She was worried about not getting any news from them, until Sam finally answered his phone. "Alina?"

"Damnit Sam! I've been trying to call you all morning, where the hell were you?!"

"The sheriff found us yesterday with a shotgun at the crime scene. We spent the entire night at the police station. Why? What happened?"

Alina tried not to yell at him for getting arrested once again, especially since Dean had recently been declared dead in St. Louis. while being the prime suspect of multiple murders and attempted murders. However, she decided to make the current situation their top priority. "You guys need to come here right now. Lori's roommate was killed last night."

"Wait…you think the Hook Man did it?"

Alina heard Dean's voice behind Sam. "What about the Hook Man? Is Alina okay?"

The girl sighed at her overreacting friend. "I'm fine, just get there as soon as you can."

And she didn't have to wait too long, because ten minutes later she saw the Impala driving around the house to go park on another street.

The boys quickly got out of the car and started to walk around to the back of the sorority's house.

"Why would the Hook Man come here?" Sam asked his brother, as they were trying to find a way to enter the place without being seen by the police. "This is a long way from 9 Mile Road."

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime. Maybe it's about something else. I knew we shouldn't have let Alina come here by herself."

"She said she was fine. Let's just find a way to get up there."

They kept walking until two sorority girls came out of the side entrance of the building, forcing them to lean against the side of the house next to some bushes to hide themselves. Dean took a look at them with a mischievous smile on his face. "Dude, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?" He proudly turned, only to find Sam trying to climb onto the balcony of the house. Once they finally got up there, they noticed Alina's head coming out of a window and quickly joined her.

"Perfect timing guys." The girl joked. "I was just done with my naked pillow fight."

Sam instantly turned to Dean with a big grin that his brother had to hide on his own face. Alina noticed it and frowned. "What?"

"Seriously, you guys are like the same person." Sam said before sneaking in the room first.

He was then followed by Dean, who fell on top of him. "Oh, sorry!"

"Be quiet!" Sam scolded him.

"Me be quiet? You be quiet!"

"Both of you shut up!" Alina ended the argument and helped them get back up. "We'll have to be quick, I saw the officer in Lori's room leaving about two minutes ago. Come on." She gestured to the boys to follow her, but a familiar voice downstairs made her stop before they could even reach the door.

"Alina?! Are you up there?!"

"Shit! Stacy!"

"Who's Stacy?" The brothers asked in chorus, before Alina started to push them towards the closet. There was enough place for only one of them, so Alina pushed Sam inside, shut the door, and started panicking again as she could hear Stacy's footsteps in the stairs.

"Fuck!" She not only had to hide the boys, she also needed to prevent the girl from staying for too long. And since she didn't have time to think of a better way to do it, she sighed and turned to Dean. "Just follow my lead."

"Wha…" Alina didn't let him finish. She pushed him on her bed, climbed on top of him, took off her shirt to throw it on the ground, and grabbed his hands to put them on her waist. Dean couldn't take his eyes off the girl wearing only a bra on top of him, and he didn't even have time to realize what was happening, because Alina's lips were crashing onto his before he could say anything.

It was obviously a diversion, but damn it felt amazing. Their first kiss tasted like rum. It was the middle of the night, and none of them really knew what they were doing. But this time, Alina's bare skin under his fingers was like a completely different sensation. Her lips, that were way more commanding the first time, were now kissing him with patience and…envy.

She just couldn't describe how different this felt from the kiss she'd shared with the Shapeshifter pretending to be Dean. Here it was again. The feeling of a kiss so right it couldn't be anything else but wrong. She loved the way their lips were colliding like it was the hundredth time they did it. They knew each other. They wanted each other. And yet, they had to separate when the door opened and Stacy let out a little surprised scream.

Alina, still sitting on top of Dean, lifted her body up to act embarrassed by the intrusion. "Stacy?" Of course, she had to use her fake accent again. "I didn't know you are here!"

"Yeah I can see that." Stacy said with a big grin.

Alina quickly got back up, and picked up her shirt on the floor to put it on while walking out of the room with Stacy. The moment Sam heard the door closing behind the girls, he came out of his hiding spot and looked at his brother, still lying on the bed with his hands in the air, at the same place they were touching Alina's skin a few seconds ago.

"Hey Dean!" Sam whispered as he snapped his fingers in front of Dean, and managed to bring him back to reality. He did his best not to laugh at his brother's shy look, sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping his lips with the sleeve of his jacket. As if to remove the distracting and persistent sensation of Alina's lips on his. "Come on man, we gotta stay focused."

"Yeah I know I'm not an idi…" Dean stopped himself and stood up completely when the door opened again, and Alina came back into the room.

"Okay this bought us some time but we still have to hurry."

Sam nodded, and quickly joined his friend next to the door, but Dean didn't move. Alina turned to him, acting like she wasn't also trying to calm her heartbeats down. She couldn't believe how easy it felt to kiss Dean. Again. "Good job Winchester. We were pretty convincing, huh?"

"Yeah I mean…that was a great diversion Frenchy."

And they kept staring at each other in silence for a few seconds, until Sam decided to clear his throat with impatience. "Guys? The victim?"

"Right! The victim!" Alina responded way too quickly to sound natural. "Let's go check the crime scene…" She turned around, made sure that no one was around when she opened the door, and guided the boys towards the room next to hers. When they arrived, they found the bloody words written on the wall that gave Alina chills the first time she'd seen them.

"Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" Sam read. "That's right out of the legend."

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man all right. And it's definitely a spirit."

"Yeah, I've never smelled ozone this strong before."

Alina kept listening to the boys doing their investigation, until she noticed a symbol on the wall, that she hadn't seen the first time she'd came into that room. A familiar one. "Guys? That's the Jerusalem cross." The boys joined her in front of it and took a closer look at the symbol. "Remember where we last saw it?"

They left the house as soon as they realized this was the clue they were looking for, and went back to the car, where they'd left the researches about Jacob Karns. It didn't take too long for them to find the same symbol on one of the pictures, confirming the identity of the spirit. All they had to do now, was to find the grave of Jacob Karns, salt the bones, and burn them to stop him. But Sam soon realized that it wouldn't be that easy as he read another document. "After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave."

The hunters all shared an annoyed look.

"Super." Dean complained.

"Okay. So we know it's Jacob Karns. But we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why."

"I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this."

"What do you mean?" Sam didn't seem to like this theory.

"First her boyfriend, now her roommate." Alina had to admit that something was wrong about her. "Even if she didn't do anything, clearly the spirit's victims are only people that are close to her. And since she's clearly into you, we better find out why before you become the next target."

"She's not into me." Sam immediately replied.

Alina and Dean shared the same amused expression before looking back at him. "Right…" They said in chorus as they got in the car.

So I loved Dean and Sam's dynamic in this episode, but I wasn't a big fan of Lori. I mean…Sarah Blake is my Queen…

Anyway! Hope you enjoyed this chapter with the little present in it! Shy Dean *chef kiss* I love him!

I'll see you guys in part 2! Have a nice day/night!