Brinley stepped away from him, and grabbed her bag, then headed into the bathroom to put her pajamas on. She took a few minutes to cry it out while she had privacy. She finally emerged to find that John had left the room. She could hear their voices coming from the other room, and contemplated going in there. She was curious why it was more important for her Dad to come for her friend instead of her. She poked her head in the room, and Sam noticed immediately. He motioned for her to take a seat on the empty chair beside him. She nodded her head and headed into the room.

"So, you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. He was... he was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting," John replied.

"Well you never mentioned him to us," Sam commented.

"Hey kid," Dean greeted as Brinley took the seat next to Sam, and across from Dean.

"Hey," she replied quietly. Sam and Dean exchanged glances, both still worried about her personality change.

"We had a... we had kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years," John said as he fumbled with the envelope in his hands. It was the envelope that Dean had retrieved from the post office. "I should look at this," he said as he started to open it. "That son of a bitch," he commented as he read the letter.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"He had it the whole time," John replied.

"Dad, what?" Sam asked,

"When you searched the place, did you, did you see a gun? An antique, a Colt revolver, did you see it?" John questioned.

"Ah, there was, there was an old case, but it was empty," Dean replied.

"They have it," John sighed.

"You mean whatever killed Elkins?" Dean questioned.

"We gotta pick up the trail. We should go," John stated.

"Wait. You want us to come with you?" Sam questioned.

"If Elkins was telling the truth, we gotta find this gun," John replied.

"The gun, why?" Sam questioned.

"Because it's important, that's why," John stated.

"Dad, we don't even know what these things are yet," Sam commented.

"They were what Daniel Elkins killed best…..Vampires," John replied.

"Vampires? I thought there was no such thing," Dean said with surprise. Brinley couldn't believe she was hearing that vampires were real. She glanced around the table at the seriousness on all their faces and it scared her. She thought back to the vampire shows and movies she had watched, and wondered if there were any similarities to those vampires.

"You never even mentioned them, Dad," Sam said with annoyance to his voice.

"I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and others had wiped them out. I was wrong," John replied. "Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them, and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust, that part's true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late."

"Will they come here?" Brinley questioned worriedly. She was still having nightmares about the scarecrow, she couldn't imagine coming face to face with a vampire.

"You're safe here with us," John replied reassuringly. He glanced down at his watch. "It's late. Let's try to get some sleep." Brinley liked the idea of getting sleep, and yawned as she made her way into the other room, but instead of sleeping, she laid awake for hours. Every noise she heard terrified her, and she watched as shadows appeared and disappeared outside the motel window. She kept telling herself it was just people out and about. She finally got up to use the bathroom and then made her way back to her bed. "Can't sleep?" she heard John's voice question from the darkness.

"No," she replied quietly. John flicked on the lamp next to his bed and looked over at her.

"Me neither," he replied with a sigh. Brinley climbed back into her bed and propped herself into a sitting position with her pillows. She pulled her knees into her chest and squeezed them close with her arms.

"How did you know my Mom?" she asked. John sighed and sat up.

"Well, we worked a case together for a few weeks," he replied. Brinley's eyes widened with surprise as she turned toward John. "Yes, your Mom was a hunter, one of the best. You knew you were safe if she had your back."

"I never knew," Brinley replied, surprised by the news. She always thought her Mom was a bad ass, but now it made even more sense to her. Brinley thought back to the locked closet in their basement that she was never allowed to go near, let alone see what was inside. Her surprise turned to anger when she thought about all the secrets that were kept from her.

"She quit hunting when she found out she was pregnant with you," John explained. "I know you probably don't remember, but I was around as much as I could be when you were little…..that's how I knew your nickname, Brinny. Your Mom and I had a disagreement when you were about 3 and well…..she moved and we never saw each other again." John sighed. "There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't of you, but I knew you were safe with your Mom."

"Oh," Brinley replied as tears filled her eyes. "Did you know she was sick?"

"No…and if I did, I would've been there for you," he replied. "I'm sorry your stepfather wasn't a better man."

"I guess she really knew how to pick them," Brinley blurted out without thinking, and clenched her lips once she did. John's eyes met hers, and she prepared herself for his wrath, but his demeanor remained calmed and relaxed.

"I guess I deserved that," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm sorry kiddo, I'm sorry things turned out so badly for you." Brinley was surprised by his sincerity.

"It's fine," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I survived." John smiled slightly. He was impressed with her resilience.

"So listen, your Mom has a brother, she cut ties with him years before you were born, and well, I've done some research and it looks like he lives in Florida with a wife and a daughter about your age….I was thinking, when this case is over, maybe we should go meet him and his family," John explained as Brinley eyed him suspiciously.

"Why would we do that?" she questioned.

John sighed. "Well, it's not safe for you with us and I just thought you'd probably be better off with him and a normal family life." Brinley scrunched down under the covers and pulled the blankets over her heard. She couldn't understand why he was already trying to pawn her off on someone else, and why he just couldn't quit hunting and give her a normal life. Tears fell from her eyes as she realized why her Mom had left him. He was too selfish to give himself completely to his family.