Chicago, Illinois
'So much for that.'
Nancy looks at her phone, her HiThere message flashing that there was a change of plans. Instead of her date picking her up, he asked her to meet her at a nearby coffee shop.
'At least it's nearby.'
She heard too many horror stories, but at least she can take her coffee to go if things go south. She goes to the bathroom to change her clothes, her dress and heels were way too formal for a casual coffee date.
Ten minutes later she was walking down the street, her umbrella shielding her blonde hair from getting wet. She was about to cross the street when something caught her eye.
'Huh?'
She walked over to the abandoned doll lying on the ground.
"What are you doing out here alone?" Poor thing. The doll was old, most likely vintage. She was debating on taking it home, letting her date know she'll be a few minutes late when she heard crying.
A figure of a person was bundled over in the alley beside her, crying inside their wet tarp.
''Hello? Are you okay?" Forgetting about the doll, she walks to the crying figure. The person was most likely homeless, Chicago was full of people like them. Ignoring her inner voice, she walks towards the person checking to see if they were okay. No one deserves to be sleeping in the heavy rain.
The figure sobs quietly, they didn't move when they heard footsteps.
"Hey. Um. You need help?" She couldn't afford to get them a room, but she can offer cab fare to the nearest homeless shelter. When the figure stood up, she was startled to see who was under it.
The serial killer picks up their scalpel. And seeing the fear in her eyes, they knew they only had a few seconds before she took off running. Luckily they knew human autonomy better than anyone.
The woman screamed as the scalpel cut her. She couldn't run, her killer to be sliced her neck, making her helpless. It took her a few minutes to die, the killer only needed one thing from her.
The doll stares blankly up at the sky, its glass eyes getting splashed with the never-ending rains.
Lawrence, Kansas
"Hey Dean, did you hear what's on the news?" Sam was on his laptop, Sam was visiting Dean who was packing up to head to San Francisco for Phoebe's graduation. Sam was hitching a ride, both Piper and Jenna wanted to fly instead, and took both the babies with them along with their nanny.
"You mean that psycho Jason getting put away, yeah." Dean wasn't surprised, Jason was a maniac. "He and Gordon Walker, can't decide who's worse." Dean was glad Gordon was dead, he was killed when his car exploded.
Sam and Dean hated Jason. They lost count of how much he screwed up on jobs, leaving behind unnecessary messes like dead bodies. But it was what he did to John that nearly killed all three that one summer. John barely escaped with their lives, he, Sam, and Dean were forced to run with nothing but the Impala.
"Remind me to buy that guy a beer." Sam was just as shocked when he saw Jason's mug on the news, he was wanted as a serial killer. "Anyways, that's not what I'm talking about. Chicago. A dead woman was found in an alley."
"Yeah. So were countless others." Dean was debating on if he needed to pack his Fed clothes, just in case. "For all we know, it has nothing to do with us."
"Yeah. But. Listen to this." Sam clears his throat while Dean packed. "Four murders in six months, all women with blonde hair, blue eyes."
"That sucks." Dean packed his jacket, never know who he'll meet. He carefully packed it, he didn't want to wrinkle it.
"Yeah, but it was the way they were killed. Every one had their organs harvested."
"So a psycho with a fetish." Dean zips up his duffle. "Bundy had a type, maybe this is some guy wanting to make a name for himself." Dean didn't carry a gun in the house anymore, he was still haunted by what he almost did, although he did keep one in the Impala.
"Every fifteen years?" Sam saw Dean looking up. "A nude woman was found dead in the alley, her chest cut open with a surgical tool. Her lungs missing."
"Her lungs?" Dean looked disgusted. "Pretty sloppy for someone in the organ black market."
"Yeah. But she was the fourth victim. In Chicago. Another blonde woman was found washed ashore in Arizona. Same time Jen was on her road trip." That made Dean look up.
"I'm gonna kill her." Jenna must have been hunting, which would explain her cuts and bruises. "She said she injured herself getting off her bike."
"She's also lucky. She fits the serial killer's M.O." She was blonde with blue eyes. "Dean. Calm down." Dean was angrily pacing back and forth.
"She promised me she wouldn't hunt." No wonder she took off. "I'm gonna wring her neck when I see her." Dean's fists were clenched in anger.
"It could also be a coincidence." Sam had to placate Dean before he blew his top. "Jenna wouldn't have deliberately hunted alone. Even she knows better." Sam and Dean were good hunters, but even with their skills knew it was idiotic to hunt alone.
"Still." Dean and Jenna needed to talk. "This serial killer. Chicago and Arizona are far away from one another. Witch?"
"Maybe." Satanic rituals called for blood sacrifices. "But the one in Arizona was almost identical. Heart was missing, coroner says it looked like she was operated on."
Dean sighed.
"Guess we're heading to Chicago." He didn't have a gun in his house, but he did store extra ammo. He took down a box of silver bullets from the top of the closet. "Phoebe's graduation. How long do we have?" Their wives left first to find room for their kids. Sam and Dean stayed behind, Dean preferred to drive and Sam wanted to come along.
"Three days." Sam could have used his magic, but to his and Piper's dismay, Mel was starting to use hers and both were afraid she'll try mimicking them. Orbing magic wasn't exclusive to certain witches. "If we leave now, we can fly to San Francisco as soon as we solve this case."
"Fill me in the car." Dean already packed for their road trip, and knew Sam had his bag in the trunk. "It'll take us a few hours to get there."
Chicago, Illinois
Sam and Dean were posing as Feds, using ID names from Iron Maiden.
"Agents Dickinson and Murray."
The Chief of Police sighed.
"I already talked to your bosses, I don't know what else to tell you. Yes, there were four women, and we don't know who's doing it. We don't have any leads."
"But there is a pattern. Blonde hair, young, organs missing." Sam and Dean poured through every article they could find, this serial killer went around. "Were there any prints? DNA? Anything?"
The Chief threw up his hands.
"If there was anything, I would have already told you guys." The Chicago Police hated to involve the Feds, but they were stumped. "Four deaths in under six months. The press is having a field day with this! College women are afraid to leave their dorms! Mothers won't let their teen girls out of their sight, including mine!" He was breathing hard.
Both men exchange glances. They did their research, whoever this was, they had been around for a very long time. Killings across the country since 1962, they were determined to end this streak once and for all.
"The last victim. Can you describe the body?" Sam asked.
"See for yourself." The guy threw a folder on the desk. When Sam opened it, and shared the contents with Dean, both faces were grim looking at the pictures.
The woman was dead, she was lying on her side with her chest cut open. Her chest cavity was almost empty, other than her heart, her lungs were missing. She was nude, whoever the killer was, they most likely took her clothes and jewelry as a souvenir.
"Why an alley?" Dean and Sam read the reports. Every fifteen years dead bodies started dropping. But other than the missing body parts, every body was killed elsewhere. "Why would anyone perform surgery in the rain?" It was foolish but also wasteful.
"Wish I knew." The Chief stood up. "Nancy Morgan was a kindergarten teacher. She just graduated from college and was offered a job last week. Whoever did this to her, they operated on her while she was still alive."
"Ugh." Dean looked at the pictures. Rain was super heavy the night she was killed, whoever this psycho was, they knew exactly what they were doing. "Washing away the evidence, with no witnesses."
"Yep. The other three, their bodies were found in garbage dumpsters. All operated on, all nude."
"Can we see their files?"
"Be my guest." He walks over to the cabinet and takes out three folders. "They were clean when we found them, some with just minor parts missing, others with their kidneys or livers gone."
Sam didn't know anything about medical procedures, but looking at the photographs, he saw something.
"Thanks for your time."
Before they left, the Chief stops them.
"We didn't find any DNA on any of the victims, however, we did find a print on Nancy. But.'' The Chief looked straight into their eyes. "The fingerprint doesn't look like it came from anyone alive. Most likely the killer was trying to throw us off."
"What do you think?" Sam texted Piper, letting him know what he and Dean were doing. Piper wasn't happy, but when Sam told her Jenna may have had a brush with the killer, she swore to keep her safe. As for Dean and Jenna, Jenna swore she didn't see anything suspicious.
"Copycat?" Dean was looking at Jenna's and Laura's pictures. Both had blonde hair and blue eyes. Dean swore to get this killer to justice. They were in the Impala, they were heading to the coroner's to see Nancy's body.
''Maybe. But I doubt this guy was working alone." Poor women must have been terrified. "Whoever this guy is, that must have been his apprentice.''
"So we're either dealing with a witch, psycho, or zombie." Doc Benton must have rotted away by now. "Why would he kill every fifteen years? Doc Benton's only lasted a few years at most, and didn't have a schedule." Dean was so glad he got to Sam in time, Doc Benton nearly harvested Sam's body parts.
"Beats me." Sam read every record of dead or missing blondes dating back to the sixties. He shuddered thinking of Jessica, she fit the killer's description. He shook the memory away, Jessica was at peace. "But once we figure out a pattern."
"We take him out." Dean rarely used witch-killing bullets, but if there was a blood witch, Dean wasn't hesitating. He loaded his chamber. "Let's hit the morgue, I want to see the body for myself."
Sam and Dean were staring at Nancy's body. She was already closed up, but they saw how her rib cage sagged, a clear sign there were things missing inside.
"What can you tell me about her death?" Sam was checking out the body, while Dean was looking over her autopsy report.
"Like I wrote in my reports, Nancy was killed. You see that slice on her neck? That was meant to subdue her." He moved her, showing the back of her neck. There was a slice on her spine axis. "The axis was the first to be cut, making her powerless to move. Then when she fell, the killer started operating on her." He moves her back on her back. "He took his time, he started with her rib cage, then slowly and carefully took out her lungs. Whoever did this clearly had a background in the medical field."
Dean shook his head.
"Poor girl." He didn't care about Heaven or God, but he prayed that she was at peace. "Any leads on the killer or killers?"
"Wish I knew. Sure the cops told you about the other three?" When they nodded, the coroner starts to cover her up. "The difference between Nancy and the others is that Nancy has traces of formaldehyde on her."
"Did you say formaldehyde?" Before Nancy was sipped back up, Dean took a sniff. Yep. He and Sam saw enough morgues to recognize that smell.
"I didn't have a chance to properly prepare the body for burial, we're just waiting for the family to sign the papers." Once Nancy was zipped back up, he puts her back in the freezer. "Whoever killed Nancy, I bet they worked the same background as myself."
"Before we go," Sam asked. Dean was still reading the reports. "The other three, they all fit the same physical description?"
"Yeah. All young, blonde hair, blue eyes, all between eighteen to thirty-five. The killer has a type."
"And Nancy?"
"Same thing. However, I'm positive she wasn't killed by the same killer."
Once they were back in their motel rooms they exchange notes.
"So we have two killers, both with medical backgrounds." Dean was stumped. "But why kill Nancy in an alley? She was young and healthy, if the killer wanted organs to live, the rain would have would automatically tainted the organs." What a waste of life. Dean grimaced at how much she must have suffered for nothing. "The other women, were they reported missing first?"
"Yeah." Sam was pouring over old articles. "The first victim was Carol Eagle, age 21. She was working as a waitress when she disappeared."
"Here?"
"Yeah. But the year after, there was another killing in Santa Barbara, California. Then San Francisco fifteen years after that; then Seattle, Miami, then Austin, Texas. All blondes."
"Then the killer came back to his old stomping grounds. Why start here again? There has to be a pattern." Doc Benton did something similar, but he targeted small towns. "Why large cities?"
"Maybe because the hospitals have the best equipment he needs to harvest organs. Doc Benton had his own clinic and wasn't choosy about his victims. Whoever these guys are, they must have come back for a good reason."
"I'm gonna call Jen, ask her if she saw anything unusual. Sam, keep searching. There has to be something we missed."
While Dean was calling his wife, Sam looked back at the first killing. Carol was working a late shift when she disappeared, then when her body was discovered a few days later, most of her organs were gone, her body discovered in a shallow grave. Then one year later, another body in Santa Barbara. Then San Francisco fifteen years later.
Thinking about the first killing, Sam searched for any news articles dating from the early sixties.
"Bingo."
TRAGIC CAR ACCIDENT TAKES DOCTOR'S WIFE
June 19, 1962
'At approximately 8:21 pm, Doctor Richard Sullivan and his wife were heading home from dinner, when a runaway truck ran straight into them, severely injuring Mrs Sullivan. She was taken away to the nearest hospital where she died shortly after. The drunk driver, Gregory Morris was charged with vehicular manslaughter, while Richard Sullivan was found to be not at fault.'
Sam dug further, he saw that Doctor Sullivan had her buried in her hometown.
Her obituary was pretty standard, she was loved by her family and friends, especially her new husband. Only married for a year, she left her husband a widow.
"This can't be a coincidence." Did Doctor Sullivan attempt to bring back his wife by killing young women? Sam knew about necromancy, but it was very unpredictable. Most don't reanimate as the person they were before, and immortality was tricky. "Dean?"
"Yeah." He just got off the phone with his wife, Jenna swore she didn't see anything weird. But Dean knowing Jenna well, had a feeling she was hiding something.
"Found out something. A Doctor Sullivan. He was involved in a car crash that killed his wife, she was buried in Southern California."
"Okay. So this guy, dabbled in witchcraft? Or made a Deal." Dean asked. He just wanted this over and done with, he needed to see his family.
"That's what I'm looking into." Old medical records would be hard to find, especially those from sixty years ago. "We may have to ask Paige for a lift."
"Fine." Dean didn't care about magic much, but they only had so much time before they needed to leave. "If she was buried in California, explain the dead bodies."
"Let me find out." Sam picked up the phone. "Hi honey. Need a favor. You know anyone that dabbles in witchcraft? The dark kind. Santa Barbara."
While Sam was talking on the phone, Dean looks at Sam's laptop. There was the article. Doctor Sullivan. If he was involved in witchcraft, there's no way he could have done this alone. Dean didn't know jack shit about witchcraft, but he knew about hunting. If he made a Deal, there had to be someone that knew about it. Hunters talk.
"So no Crossroads. How about witchcraft." There had to be a clue.
"An Avatar?" Sam remembered Cole being one, plus that woman who brought back Piper and Phoebe from the dead. "I thought they were neutral?" The Avatars stayed out of human matters, except under extreme circumstances. "Why would one care about some random woman?" As far as Sam knew, Abigail wasn't anyone special. "The Campbells? That explains a lot." Piper didn't know much about Sam's maternal side, but her grandma was acquaintances with them when she was younger. They were written in Penny's diaries.
"Why would that old geezer want with a doctor? Never mind." John saw Doctor Roberts, he dabbled in the dark stuff himself, although he assured John it was only because he was curious about the Astral Plane. "Yeah, a doctor on call is smart." Dean and Sam remembered Ava, the Halliwell's Romanian gypsy friend. "Thanks." Dean hung up his phone.
"Dean, Doctor Sullivan."
"Yeah, our family is really fucked up." Dean hated that old bastard. John wasn't the best father, but he tried his best. "You worked with Samuel, did he ever mention him?" Dean talked to a hunter he worked with back in the day, he hunted with him in some cases, like that time they hunted a wayward ghoul.
"You mean when I was soulless?" Sam barely remembered what went on during those times. "I remember our cousins seeing a doctor, but they never gave me names."
"Could be our doctor." Who was this guy? "Is he someone special? Other than being a possible killer."
"If he was, he'll be in his nineties. It would be hard to kill people at his age."
"Unless he had help." Dean was getting a headache. "Why would a guy keep a dead woman around? At his age, he knows he can't leave her alive forever."
"Unless she is helping him." A zombie would do anything to stay alive. "Nancy, you think her lungs were harvested for food?"
"Thanks Sammy. Now I just lost my appetite." Angela Mason didn't eat flesh, but Jody's young son Owen did. "We got to kill both. Will your magic find them?" Dean wished there was a photo of Abigail, it would make their jobs earlier.
"I can try. But I managed to track down Sullivan." Sam saw his picture, he was retired and living alone in a senior rest home. "Want to take a drive?"
"So what's next?" They were waiting outside a room, both were pretending to be medical interns. Both were glamoured, they didn't want to spook the doctor who may recognize them, although Dean felt stupid with his disguise. "Old age homes. Ugh!" Dean shuddered. Old people gave him the creeps.
"Cheer up Deanna." Sam teased. He was disguised as well, they even rented a random car popular with college students. Once the door opened, both smile politely.
"Can I help you?" Dr Sullivan was older than they expected. They knew he was 91, but he looked weak and frail.
"Dr Sullivan? My name is James, and this is my classmate, Amber." Sam introduces himself with a petite blonde standing beside him.
"How can I help you." He was shaking in his walker, he looked like he had a hard time standing up.
"We're medical students at the local university." Amber tells the old doctor smiling charmingly. Immediately she could see the doctor relax. "We need to write a report for our journals for school, and our professor gave us your name." They looked up Dr Sullivan and knew he wrote several scientific journals.
"Which professor?" Dr Sullivan did several lectures at Rosalind Franklin University of Chicago.
"Professor Green." Sam did his research, plus Phoebe had him one semester while she attended school here.
"Please, my parents are very strict, I need to get at least an A on my paper so my parents can continue paying for my tuition." Amber begged, her blue eyes pleading. Already she could see him studying her.
"Come on in." He had a hard time walking but declined help from both James and Amber. "Forgive me if I can't provide you with much information, I have been retired for many years, and my memory..."
"We won't take much of your time." James cleared his throat. "Your reports about a second chance, you brought research miles ahead about organ transplants!" James gushed. He saw a slight smile on the old doctor's face. "I mean, I'm studying to be a surgeon, and I have always been fascinated with your work. You must've saved several lives over the years."
"It was so long ago. Back in my day organ donations were tricky, most patients didn't survive for very long, maybe a few years at most. My colleagues, they all told me it was just luck that certain patients survive." He slowly and carefully sits down, groaning as he did so. "Phew. You're lucky you're young. When you get to be my age, it's a whole workout to get off the couch." Once he got comfortable, he asked if they would like some lemonade. "I have some fresh lemonade, would you like a cup?" When his guests shook their heads, he started talking again. "Like I was saying. Organ transplantation wasn't easy. Even now it is tricky. There's blood type, size, age, rejection, the list goes on. When I went to med school, it was in its infancy." He coughs.
"Look, if this is too much.''
The doctor shook his head.
"It's fine. It's nice to see women in the medical field, especially one so young." He smiles charmingly at Amber, making her blush. "I always wanted to save lives, even after I retired from my career, I still wanted to contribute." He points shakily to the books on the wall. "My research. I wanted to tell the world about all the medical possibilities out there." He looks at the picture on the bookshelf. "My seventieth birthday. I won a Nobel Peace Prize for my stem cell research.'' He cleared his throat. "Because of that, fewer and fewer people needed transplants, plus those in serious accidents can..." He teared up.
"I think that's enough." A beautiful woman wearing scrubs walked into the room. "Mr Sullivan, it's time for your medicine."
Dean and Sam were taken aback by the nurse.
''She's gorgeous." Dean whispered. He was married, but he couldn't help but check her out. ''She can give me a sponge bath anytime." Dean was awed by her beauty.
Sam agreed with Dean, she was beautiful.
"Like a porcelain doll." He wrinkled his nose. "Phew. Who wears that much perfume?" He looked around the small room. So many dolls. "Wonder how much those are worth?" Sam wondered if Mel would like one when he saw the nurse walking out of the room.
"Michelle. She works here as a nurse." Dr Sullivan smiled at her backside as she walked out. "Reminds me of my late wife."
"You were married?" Amber saw his wedding ring. "How long ago. If you don't mind me asking."
"Only a year." He saw their puzzled faces. "We were very young. There was an accident, and she, she died." He looked down.
"I'm so sorry." Poor Amber was pink.
"It's okay. It's been almost sixty years. She was the love of my life. Abigail." He tears up. "I don't have a picture to remember her by." He looks at his wedding band, the gold faded and tarnished over the years. "When she passed away, I swore to save others, I don't want anyone losing those they loved."
Sam and Dean exchange looks. This guy? A killer?
"And you never remarried."
Dr Sullivan nodded at Sam's words.
"I couldn't love another. Abby. She was my only love, other than my work." He sighed. "If only I wasn't so focused on my career back then. We could have had children, grandchildren, by now." He smiled when Michelle walked past the room. "She's the closest to having a family."
"Thank you for your time." James helps Amber up. "Our paper, mind if I borrow a book?"
"Take them all. I rather see the next generation utilize those books than them collecting dust." He closes his eyes and immediately falls asleep.
Sam and Dean carefully and quietly walk out, but not before taking the books off the shelf.
They walked past Michelle who was preparing medicine in cups, she smiled at both when they walked by.
"Thank you for visiting. The Doctor, he rarely gets visitors."
"You're welcome." Sam wrinkled his nose at her perfume. Just how much was she wearing? He saw the beauty mark on her neck. "Hope you don't mind us taking his books. We're med students."
"He said we could have these." Dean added. He couldn't help but check out a candy striper because over to pick up a magazine she dropped.
"Oh, I wasn't going to accuse you of stealing. The good doctor, he always said his work was never done." Michelle takes her tray and goes inside a random room.
Later that night, both were pouring over the books. Dean was reading about organ transplantation, how complicated it really was.
"Man. You read this? Organ rejection can happen to anyone. Even when you're young, you may need a new one after a decade or so." Dean wondered about the doctor. "Sullivan, you think he stole them when he was young?"
"Possibly." Sam was reading old articles online. "The Nobel Prize isn't the only thing he won, he won countless awards over the years, the stem cell research? He found out things that didn't exist yet. Like self-repair."
"Did it work?"
"To an extent. Those missing and dead women? Not all were used for organ transplants. It's possible they were used as experiments."
"Like those freaks back in World War Two." Dean did his history back in high school, plus watched countless documentaries about those horrific experiments they did on innocent people. Dean shuddered. "I didn't see any zombie wife at the home, did you?"
"No." Sam checked around the room, other than the dolls, it was pretty bare. "One thing bothers me."
"What?" Dean was reading about twin experiments. God.
"Nurse Michelle. She was wearing a lot of perfume."
"So?" Dean grimaced at the pictures. He'll stick to killing, thanks.
"That's a retirement home. There are strict rules about fragrances at work."
"Okay." Dean did occasionally treat wounds and delivered a baby once, but surgery? He'll gladly drive his patients to the nearest hospital. "What does that have to do with that doctor?"
Before Sam could answer, his cell rang.
"Hello?"
Dean looked over the article Dr Sullivan wrote. It was full of medical jargon Dean somewhat understood, he watched a lot of "Dr Sexy." He wrote that stem cells were the way of the future and that they can be used to repair and clone themselves.
"People need to stop playing god." Dean was getting a headache.
"You sure? Thanks Paige." Sam hangs up the phone.
"Well?" It was getting late, they needed to hit the road by tomorrow.
"Abigail Sullivan? Her grave was empty."
"Like I thought." Dean yawned. "So where is she?" When Sam handed Dean his phone, Dean couldn't believe it. "No way. That's that hot nurse!" Michelle looked exactly like Abigail. "Sam?" There was a wedding picture in the empty coffin. Dr Sullivan and Abigail were smiling in their wedding photo.
"Remember that night when everyone came back from the dead?"
"Sioux Falls? Don't remind me." Lucifer and his minions raised the dead to hide the fact that he was looking for Death. Many, if not all were alive in a way, the former dead were alive and walking around in their bodies. But the so-called 'miracle' turned sour when those people turned feral and started eating people. Sam and Dean had no choice but to kill and burn all the undead. "It's been sixty years. Even a necromancer couldn't keep anyone alive that long. Michelle could be Abigail's relative."
"I thought about that. But look at her neck. See that mole?" Abigail had that exact mark on Michelle. "It's the same woman."
"Which explains the perfume." Formaldehyde had this distinct smell to it. Michelle was bathed in perfume to mask it. "Even so, sixty years is a long time." Those people in Sioux Falls lasted less than a week before going feral. "You think Michelle killed all those people?"
"She does work as a nurse. She must be killing to stay alive, and to satisfy her hunger."
"Good enough for me." Dean cocked his gun. "What about the doctor, he brought this monster to life."
"We'll deal with it when we get there." Sam handed him a coat.
Dean rolled his eyes.
"At least my gun's bigger."
A stalker watches as a young blonde woman walks in the rain. She was carrying a heavy backpack, a sign that she just came from the university library. Knowing it was the end of the year for students, the stalker took out their tool. They followed the young woman down the block, they needed her out of the rain to get what she was carrying inside. When she used her key to open her apartment building, the stalker got ready. They waited till she walked inside to strike, that way her organs could be harvested.
"Freeze!" Sam appeared right behind Michelle and held a gun to the back of her head. "Put the surgical tool down. Slowly."
Dean ripped off his blonde wig and held his gun to the killer's neck.
"We can end this in less than a second. Put down the knife." When they heard a sigh, both were startled when the person put down her hood. "Dr Sullivan?"
Dr Sullivan wasn't shaking, or using a walker, he was walking like he was young. He drops his tool.
"It isn't what it looks like. Michelle, she has nothing to do with this."
"Yeah right." Dean held the gun harder against his chin. "Talk. Before I blow your brains out, and Michelle or Abigail ends up alone."
"You heard my brother." Sam warns. "Don't bother asking for help, this building is empty.'' Sam used his magic to make the empty warehouse look like an apartment building. On cue, the bright hallway transforms into an empty room.
"Fine." Dr Sullivan sighs. "Abigail, when she died, it was like my whole world ended.
FLASHBACK
Richard was kneeling on the floor sobbing. It has only been a few days since Abigail died, but he was still processing her death.
"Abby." Sob. "Why did you leave me? We were together only a short time." He cried harder. "Abby."
Dr Sullivan was looking far away, he was lost in his memories.
"You ever have the love of your life ripped away like nothing? Abby, she wasn't the only one that died, I did too."
Dean scoffed. Sam sighed.
"I know. I deserve it. All those women. I was desperate!"
"You're insane." Sam knew Piper would kill him if he did anything like that.
"You two are married. You would've done the same thing." He saw them wearing rings.
"I doubt Abby approved. A living death, she must be praying every day for release." Dean remarked.
"You would think so, but there is more to this world than you think."
"Abby." Richard Sullivan holds her picture, his tears splashing on the glass. "I'm sorry I took you out in the rain. I'm sorry I didn't see that truck coming. I'm sorry I...let you die."
Dr Sullivan stares into Dean's eyes.
"I was a doctor. And I couldn't save her."
"Then how is your wife alive? Necromancy is bad news."
"It wasn't necromancy. I'll never do that to her." He tells Sam.
"Then how..." Dean was confused.
"I'm a doctor, but I also studied things my colleagues didn't know about. You know about those angels a few years ago?"
"Don't remind me." Other than Castiel and Hannah, Dean hated those things.
"They ignored my prayers. But someone answered."
"You made a Deal?" Sam still didn't put down his gun.
Once again Dr Sullivan shook his head.
"It wasn't an angel. He called himself an Avatar."
Richard was crying quietly when he heard a voice.
"You don't need to be sad."
Richard jumped hearing a voice. He turned his head and saw a man looking at him.
"Who...who are you? How did you get in here?"
The Avatar just looked at him.
"I heard your pain."
"Leave." Richard turns back to his picture.
"I can heal your pain."
"My Abby's gone. If you came here to rob me take anything you want. I already lost everything." He didn't flinch when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You can have her back."
Both Sam and Dean were confused. They knew Avatars could bring back the dead, but unlike angels, they could only do it immediately after the person died. Sam figured they drew the reapers away before they could collect the soul.
"Your wife was dead. It only can be done in a short amount of time." Sam read the obituary.
"I know. But he sensed my pain. What he offered me, I couldn't resist."
"My wife is gone. I already buried her." He buried her in Santa Barbara, it was her hometown. "Even if I could bring her back, it wouldn't be my Abby." Richard studied more than medicine and science. He wouldn't risk releasing a monster in the world. He looked up at the Avatar. "Why do you care?" Richard was wondering why this man was standing in his living room.
The Avatar looked down at Richard with pity.
"Because I do." He looked up. "If it's any consolation, she is in Heaven, waiting for you."
"Then kill me. At least I could see her again." Richard stares at his wife's face. What the Avatar said next, Richard couldn't believe it.
"It won't be your wife, but what I am giving you, it will be like Abby never left."
"Huh?" Both Sam and Dean were confused.
The doctor sighed.
"He gave me a gift. It wasn't Abby, not really. But what he showed me, I wouldn't be alone anymore."
"My Abigail? How? Who are you?" He was looking hard at the man in black now. He was smiling down at Richard with a kind smile.
"Kierkan." He put his hand under Richard's chin. "I almost never answer prayers. But I know what it's like to lose someone you love." He sighed. "My partner, she died a long time ago. And there's was nothing I could do." He helped Richard up from the floor. "I don't want you to suffer the way I suffered. I can create a new Abby, exactly like yours. Same memories, same personality, same body."
"Making a Deal? The hell were you thinking?" All those women. "What was he asking for? Their souls?" Dean was itching to blow his brains out. "Deals are bad news."
Dr Sullivan looked pleadingly at Dean.
"He didn't ask for anything. All he wanted is for me to stop crying."
Sam shakes his head.
"A Life Essense." Sam heard of those creatures, but those so-called 'lab-grown' souls were very unpredictable. Most go mad after a few days and start killing people. He pressed his gun harder against his head. "Your wife is a killer."
"Michelle is innocent. Like Kierkan said, she would be exactly like Abby, Michelle, she wouldn't hurt a fly." He turned his head looking at Sam.
"An essence could only last a few years before it needs a new host. Why kill all those women." Sam demanded. "Any dead body could hold her." What a selfish prick.
"But it wouldn't be Abby." Dr Sullivan's face had this look of insanity. "I dug her up with the bottle he handed me, with explicit instructions. He said, and I quote. I almost perfected the formula."
Richard was looking at his wife's body. She looked so peaceful. Abigail's body was laying still in her coffin, she was only there a week.
"Abby. Oh Abby." Richard was staring at her with love. "I'm sorry I took so long, I had to find a body." He picked up a waitress near his hospital, it was risky, luckily she was a nobody. "I can bring you home."
Dr Sullivan's eyes were far away, he was too far gone.
"I brought her home. Then with my medical knowledge, I created new life."
Richard took no time harvesting the new organs. He made sure Carol didn't suffer long, Richard put her in a deep coma. He worked tirelessly to make sure New Abby had a body to use. It took hours, but when he felt like Abby was ready, he a bottle near her mouth.
"I hope this works." Kierkan warned him that using a dead body wasn't enough, and told Richard a living woman would be easier to use. But Richard wanted his wife. He opened his bottle and put the essence inside her mouth, wondering if he was insane instead. He then turned on his machines.
"I thought I was mad. But when Abby opened her eyes, I collapsed in relief."
"Richard?" Abigail was looking up at the doctor. "Where am I?" She was confused seeing him in surgical scrubs.
"You just got out of surgery." Richard's eyes were full of love. "Welcome back."
"Abigail" smiled back. She didn't know who he was, but she saw his wife's memories.
"Thank you." She looked over at the other table, there was a dead body covered in a sheet. ''Richard?"
''Don't worry about it. Rest."
Sam and Dean were fascinated by the story. Sam was shaking his head.
"But Kierkan's spell was flawed."
Dr Sullivan sighed at Sam's words.
"Yes. It wasn't Abby, but everything was almost identical. Her mannerisms, her voice, the way she cooked, made love." He didn't notice their disgusted expressions. "It was like she never left."
"But she started falling apart." Dean wasn't a killer, but he wanted to bury this guy right then and there.
Dr Sullivan sighed in sadness.
"Yes. She was Abby, but her body was unstable. She started to die, not right away, but after a year, I had to find a cure."
Sam felt white hot anger.
"How many women? Dozens? Hundreds? How many families never saw their daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, or aunts, ever again?" Dr Sullivan was insane. Sam saw things in Hell, but even Satan wouldn't want him downstairs.
"I know. Kierkan warned me. But..." He sighed. "Her spirit was her, but her body, made me realize she was an organic creature. Organ donation wasn't enough, I had to feed her." Then he did something drastic. He maneuvered himself underneath their guns, ran behind Sam, and took out his own gun to Sam's head. "One move, and I blow his brains out." Dr Sullivan warned. He clicked his gun.
"Okay. Okay." The old man knew how to move. "I'm putting down the gun." Dean slowly puts it on the ground.
"This isn't the way." Sam warned. "Abigail, you know you can't protect her forever." Dr Sullivan was nearing the end of his life.
"Shut up." Dr Sullivan worried about that every day, Abby/Michelle, she'll be all alone. Instead, he presses down on the trigger, ready to kill both to protect his wife.
"Richard. Stop." All three look up at the voice. Michelle was looking at Richard with sadness.
"Abby. You should be in bed." Dr Sullivan lowered his gun. Sam took no time scrambling away.
"No more. I don't want any more blood. Abigail, you know she won't approve." Michelle was wearing her scrubs. "Don't kill to keep a memory alive." She looked pleadingly at the doctor who was crying. "Kierkan, he made a mistake."
Michelle was staring in horror at the Doctor harvesting the young woman's lungs. She knew he was harvesting organs, but not to living people. He always said he chosen those in car crashes and coma victims. She should have known better.
"I'm so sorry." Michelle closes the young woman's eyes. Richard, he should have been locked up years ago. He killed all those women for a ghost. "Abigail, forgive me." Michelle cried.
Michelle walked up to Dr Sullivan.
"Abby..."
Michelle shook her head.
"It's Michelle." She didn't mind being called Abigail, but for legal purposes, Dr Sullivan called her Michelle. Supposedly she was a distant relative of his dead wife. He named her after an old classmate. "Kierkan made a mistake. He should have healed your pain, not accelerate it." She took his hands, which were still holding on to Sam's gun. "Abigail, she wouldn't want this." She held Dr Sullivan's hands to her face. "I will always love you." She teared up. Michelle knew what she was, but even without Abby's memories, she loved Richard unconditionally. "Farewell my love." She pulled the trigger.
Sam and Dean jumped upon hearing the gunshot. They watched as Doctor Sullivan sobbed over Michelle/Abigail's body.
"I think it's fair to say we saw everything." Dean remarked. He called 911.
Sam said nothing, but he couldn't help but wonder who Kierkan was. Creating an actual soul out of an essence.
They watch as Dr Sullivan gets taken away in handcuffs. He confessed to the confused police officers that he was a serial killer and also was responsible for the death of Nancy Morgan.
"He won't ever see prison." Dean remarked. He was old, the prosecution will be forced to let him go due to his age.
"But that doesn't mean he won't have lawsuits." Dr Sullivan was incredibly wealthy. He'll die a poor man.
"I doubt he'll care. He already lost everything." Dean shook his head. They already gave their statements, that they were in town investigating Richard Sullivan and his assistant. "If we leave now, we can make it to Phoebe's graduation if we take turns driving. Let's hit the nearest drive-thru for strong coffee."
"Dean, the coroner says Sullivan wasn't working alone. The second killer, we know Michelle didn't do it but who was the second killer?" Sam wondered as he climbs in the passenger seat.
"That's the job of the police." They dealt with the supernatural, not police matters. Dean puts the key in the ignition.
Curious onlookers watch as they watched the coroner take the body away. Among them a young woman watches the Impala drive off in the distance.
A police officer finished interviewing the witnesses. He swore he saw one of them with black eyes. He really needed a cup of coffee, he's been working too hard.
Apocalypse World
"Leo, you should really take a break." Jim Murphy, former pastor, turned hunter warned. "You have two young women that need their father."
"Not till every demon bastard is clean from this Earth." Earth was a dump, but it was their home. "Pass me your knife." Leo glared at the demon growling at him. "Meg, you made a huge mistake." Like all demons, she had a horned appearance. "Die."
Pastor Jim said a prayer for her soul.
"What's the point?" Leo was cleaning his demon killing blade. "We tortured her for days, and she refused to tell us the location of Lucifer's crypts." Leo needed the location of Hell's weapons, especially the Noose of Judas. "We need to arm ourselves." Christy, Mrs Butters, his adopted daughter, they all needed to be safe.
"Against The Beast?" Jim became a pastor after his mother was locked away for drowning his older brother when they were kids. Luckily he survived when a passing jogger heard his mother's cries and managed to revive Jim before he drowned. He always claimed it was his older brother that was the one that saved him, that he used his life force to revive Jim. Other than a few hunters, no one ever believed Jim's stories. "This world is finished." Jim was religious, but he took great pleasure killing angels. "The Beast, It won't bother coming here.''
"But it doesn't mean It doesn't exist." Leo saw It, sort of. "Its terror, It won't stop till every world bleeds onto one another." He pawed through Meg's clothes. "I'll take any weapon or magic." He was human, and ex-whitelighter, but he didn't have the luxury of being picky. He pulled out a picture. "Castiel?" He scoffs and throws the picture on the ground.
"So did I." Pastor Jim was psychic. "That weapon, it will corrupt you." Judas Iscariot was once of the Twelve Apostles back in the day. When he betrayed his Lord and Master, out of guilt he committed suicide and sent his own soul to Hell.
"I was a whitelighter, and it got me nowhere. Maybe dark magic is the way to go." He swore when he couldn't find anything else.
"Let's go back Leo. Your family is waiting for you." He touches Leo's shoulder.
"Might as well. It's time for church." Both Leo and Jim still regularly attended, both were deeply faithful to the Greater Good. "I'm sure Mrs Butters is tired of babysitting." Christy was an adult woman, but tended to rebel. "Her younger sister, she is looking forward to seeing you."
The demon waited till they left the area before he walked over to the dead body. Taking out his knife, he cuts open Meg's corpse and pulls out a small satchel.
"Thirty shekels." Judas throws the coins on the ground. "Trust me, nothing is worth losing the one you love." He takes Castiel's picture and puts it inside Meg's breast pocket. He then crosses his chest. "Sleep. You and your angel, may you see each other in your dreams."