p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Emma wasn't steady on her feet, not one bit. She had taken a blow that would have killed a normal human. In the past, the worse thing she had healed on herself was a cut up knee, that is until she got monster whumped upside the head. Still, she needed to find her brother even though grandpa and nana told her to rest. Here the girl was, staggering around like when her mom imbibed in too much whisky. It was a hot day so she went barefoot, clad in Dean's old Marshall Tucker Band tee shirt, looking for her overly emotional brother. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Story of her life, watching after Nick though she didn't mind it one bit. She was the oldest after all and it was her responsibly. Of course, Nick thought he was the oldest and over the years arguments over a few minutes pushed their parents into saying they couldn't remember so as not to play favorites. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""The basement maybe…the doors open. I hate the basement and that weird ass room of Grandpa's…bad juju…I smell it, feel it, see it and hate it…still, if your down there, little brother I'll suck it up and get you…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She didn't sneak down the stairs like her brother, instead Emma puffed out her chest, squared her shoulders to make herself look bigger and tromped down them, prepared to act the big sister and drag him back upstairs. Instead of Nick she found her mother crouched over a tarp gripping a rope and on that tarp was a mangled human who was missing an eye, bones at strange angles and his viscera on display. The sight and smell hit her hard and Emma barely missed her feet as she projectile vomited all over the cement./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Without looking up, Dean growled, "get out of here Emma." He quickly folded the tarp over to cover his handiwork. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Dean looked scary all covered in blood as if he'd been dragged through Countess Bathory's tub. When Dean raised his head, she could see his handsome face was covered in arterial spray like a macabre mask. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe looked his daughter straight in the eye and yelled, "Get out and go back to bed!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mom, you barking at me won't make me go up those stairs until I know you're alright." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Don't freak out, don't freak out…Mom wouldn't do this if he didn't have a good reason…Grandpa said, some people deserve killing…It smells so bad in here…don't puke again…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm fine. Go away."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mom, who was he?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Dean pulled the other side of the tarp over and began wrapping rope around the bundle. "This was the guy who oversaw killing the omegas, their kids, and my friend. He also hurt your dad a long time ago. Emma just listen to me for once and go. I never wanted you kids to see something like this."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, he had it coming."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yeah."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mom, I-I'll heat some water for a bath so you can wash up."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'll do it when I'm done. How about you use that water to wash up and then go rest."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I can't, I gotta find Nick. He ran through the house like he was on fire plus he's acting weirder that usual. Besides, grandpa always says there will be enough time to sleep when your dead."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"…./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Bobby found Nick hiding behind the hen house petting his favorite chicken. He crouched down to get on his level even though the man's back was hurting like hell that day, but what's a little pain when your grandson is having some sort of meltdown./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Alright, tell grandpa what's got you riled up."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Nick burst out in tears and words spilled out a mile a minute./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm presenting and I've got a hole in me and I'm bleeding and Mom is murdering someone in the basement and, and there was an eyeball and guts and I hurt really, really bad and," he held up the chicken, "Dolly crapped all over me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Bobby took the chicken from him and shooed her off then sat down in front of him because this was going to take a while./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Alright, first things first, get rid of that chicken shit covered shirt before you go in the house because Cay is gonna have a brain hemorrhage if you don't. Did I ever tell you the difference between murder, revenge, self-preservation and justice?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Nick, busy picking the threads on the hole in his jeans, shook his head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Murder is straight up killing someone because you want to, there is no rhyme or reason for it, the person enjoys killing, seeks people out to do it. A murder fueled by revenge is a sticky area depending on what happened to make that person want revenge. Was it something that in the grand scheme of things could have been forgotten or did this person kill someone you know, a friend, a loved one or killed a whole lot of people."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So Mom is revenge murdering?"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Hold on, I'm not done. Self-preservation is killing someone before they can kill you, a simple example would be a guy holding a gun on you and he says he's gonna to kill you but you have a gun also, what do you do?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I-I shoot him so I don't die."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Exactly. Now justice means a lot of things to a lot of people but basically, it's when someone has done an egregious act upon you or people you care about, a horrible wrong where there is no forgiving and forgetting and the person must pay for these evil deeds in some way. In the old world, most of these people would end up in prison and some would be put to death."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, what was Mom doing?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Your mom was getting information. He followed that up with a little revenge and big dose of justice. See, that guy in there, he and his men murdered all those people at the omega compound, kids included. Your mom's mentor, Cal was murdered, Cal's mate was murdered and they had a baby, that baby is Mia. It's unforgivable and a man like that shouldn't be allowed to draw another breath on this earth. All the pain your mom inflicted on him is nothing compared to the pain that monster left behind. For Dean, what he did was cathartic. Your mom has always protected and defended pretty much everyone his whole life. That's a real burden to carry and puttin' down a monster like Edgar…well, it gives Dean some relief from all that burden and anger inside him. He meted out justice."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Nick felt another cramp coming and the already raw flesh between his legs tore just a little more when he doubled over. Bobby let out a groan of his own getting to his feet. He held out a calloused hand and Nick grabbed it and his grandpa pulled him up as if the teen were a feather. Feeling Bobby's big rough hand gripping his was a comfort just like when he was a kid. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm not much help with the rest of your problems but I bet Nana can handle it. For now, give your mom a little space, let him finish, wash up and get a sandwich in him. He's no good to you right now. Will yah do that for me, let Cay handle things for the time being?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"When Nick nodded, it struck Bobby how much he reminded him of Sam at that age. A little guarded, shy, quiet, and smart as a whip. A good boy with a lot on his mind, Bobby could practically see the gears working in that big brain of his. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Grandpa, where is Danny?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""He is at the school, nice and safe. I'll pick him up same time I get Mia. I'm going to leave them there until we get things sorted out here. Got bodies to get rid of, you to tend to and some hazard clean up to do."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""He doesn't need to be here while you're going through this…for a lot of reasons…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"…./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Sam didn't have to scavenge for gas this time. He got a full tank and a couple of jumbo gas cans full of the liquid gold back in Atlanta. He was given that, food, supplies and the promise his loved ones would be first on the list for the perfected vaccine. He hoped that would come sooner than later. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The hunter made a pit stop at an abandoned Babies R Us, it was foolish, not necessary at all and there could be danger around every corner but stores like this usually weren't completely ransacked even after all the years that passed. The ones that took the hits were grocery stores, pharmacies, gun stores, hospitals and the like. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The inside gave off an eerie feeling even to Sam who knew eerie all too well. Down one aisle rows of ownerless dolls in dusty boxes stared back at him. He looked them over and picked two, a big rag doll and the other a princess doll with long dark hair and brown eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Sam traveled up and down the aisles until he came across one of the sick, the creature shambled toward the hunter but he didn't waste a bullet, instead he bashed its skull in with a junior baseball bat. It was second nature now killing these things that used to be human but he'd never get used to it, not like Dean who had an off switch in his brain and did what had to be done. Sam didn't fault him for it, he wished sometimes he had that same switch but he didn't. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"In the small warehouse in back, Sam picked through the contents. He chose a lavender music box, the kind with a little ballerina that danced inside it and the tune it played was "What a Wonderful World". He had a cartful when it was all said and done. The gifts were for the new baby in the family, their little orphan, Mia. Sam felt responsible for her, if not for those men chasing after him, Mia's parents would still be alive. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"A ghost manifested itself right in front of him in a desperate attempt to have the living see her, listen to her and to find her body. For the first time in his life he denied a trapped spirit release, there was no time to search for her bones./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Maybe someday I'll come back to help but I-I just can't right now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He heard her screams all the way out in the abandoned parking lot. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm almost home, Dean…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"TBC/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Story of her life, watching after Nick though she didn't mind it one bit. She was the oldest after all and it was her responsibly. Of course, Nick thought he was the oldest and over the years arguments over a few minutes pushed their parents into saying they couldn't remember so as not to play favorites. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""The basement maybe…the doors open. I hate the basement and that weird ass room of Grandpa's…bad juju…I smell it, feel it, see it and hate it…still, if your down there, little brother I'll suck it up and get you…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She didn't sneak down the stairs like her brother, instead Emma puffed out her chest, squared her shoulders to make herself look bigger and tromped down them, prepared to act the big sister and drag him back upstairs. Instead of Nick she found her mother crouched over a tarp gripping a rope and on that tarp was a mangled human who was missing an eye, bones at strange angles and his viscera on display. The sight and smell hit her hard and Emma barely missed her feet as she projectile vomited all over the cement./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Without looking up, Dean growled, "get out of here Emma." He quickly folded the tarp over to cover his handiwork. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Dean looked scary all covered in blood as if he'd been dragged through Countess Bathory's tub. When Dean raised his head, she could see his handsome face was covered in arterial spray like a macabre mask. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe looked his daughter straight in the eye and yelled, "Get out and go back to bed!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mom, you barking at me won't make me go up those stairs until I know you're alright." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Don't freak out, don't freak out…Mom wouldn't do this if he didn't have a good reason…Grandpa said, some people deserve killing…It smells so bad in here…don't puke again…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm fine. Go away."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mom, who was he?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Dean pulled the other side of the tarp over and began wrapping rope around the bundle. "This was the guy who oversaw killing the omegas, their kids, and my friend. He also hurt your dad a long time ago. Emma just listen to me for once and go. I never wanted you kids to see something like this."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, he had it coming."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yeah."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mom, I-I'll heat some water for a bath so you can wash up."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'll do it when I'm done. How about you use that water to wash up and then go rest."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I can't, I gotta find Nick. He ran through the house like he was on fire plus he's acting weirder that usual. Besides, grandpa always says there will be enough time to sleep when your dead."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"…./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Bobby found Nick hiding behind the hen house petting his favorite chicken. He crouched down to get on his level even though the man's back was hurting like hell that day, but what's a little pain when your grandson is having some sort of meltdown./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Alright, tell grandpa what's got you riled up."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Nick burst out in tears and words spilled out a mile a minute./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm presenting and I've got a hole in me and I'm bleeding and Mom is murdering someone in the basement and, and there was an eyeball and guts and I hurt really, really bad and," he held up the chicken, "Dolly crapped all over me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Bobby took the chicken from him and shooed her off then sat down in front of him because this was going to take a while./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Alright, first things first, get rid of that chicken shit covered shirt before you go in the house because Cay is gonna have a brain hemorrhage if you don't. Did I ever tell you the difference between murder, revenge, self-preservation and justice?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Nick, busy picking the threads on the hole in his jeans, shook his head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Murder is straight up killing someone because you want to, there is no rhyme or reason for it, the person enjoys killing, seeks people out to do it. A murder fueled by revenge is a sticky area depending on what happened to make that person want revenge. Was it something that in the grand scheme of things could have been forgotten or did this person kill someone you know, a friend, a loved one or killed a whole lot of people."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So Mom is revenge murdering?"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Hold on, I'm not done. Self-preservation is killing someone before they can kill you, a simple example would be a guy holding a gun on you and he says he's gonna to kill you but you have a gun also, what do you do?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I-I shoot him so I don't die."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Exactly. Now justice means a lot of things to a lot of people but basically, it's when someone has done an egregious act upon you or people you care about, a horrible wrong where there is no forgiving and forgetting and the person must pay for these evil deeds in some way. In the old world, most of these people would end up in prison and some would be put to death."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, what was Mom doing?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Your mom was getting information. He followed that up with a little revenge and big dose of justice. See, that guy in there, he and his men murdered all those people at the omega compound, kids included. Your mom's mentor, Cal was murdered, Cal's mate was murdered and they had a baby, that baby is Mia. It's unforgivable and a man like that shouldn't be allowed to draw another breath on this earth. All the pain your mom inflicted on him is nothing compared to the pain that monster left behind. For Dean, what he did was cathartic. Your mom has always protected and defended pretty much everyone his whole life. That's a real burden to carry and puttin' down a monster like Edgar…well, it gives Dean some relief from all that burden and anger inside him. He meted out justice."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Nick felt another cramp coming and the already raw flesh between his legs tore just a little more when he doubled over. Bobby let out a groan of his own getting to his feet. He held out a calloused hand and Nick grabbed it and his grandpa pulled him up as if the teen were a feather. Feeling Bobby's big rough hand gripping his was a comfort just like when he was a kid. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm not much help with the rest of your problems but I bet Nana can handle it. For now, give your mom a little space, let him finish, wash up and get a sandwich in him. He's no good to you right now. Will yah do that for me, let Cay handle things for the time being?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"When Nick nodded, it struck Bobby how much he reminded him of Sam at that age. A little guarded, shy, quiet, and smart as a whip. A good boy with a lot on his mind, Bobby could practically see the gears working in that big brain of his. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Grandpa, where is Danny?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""He is at the school, nice and safe. I'll pick him up same time I get Mia. I'm going to leave them there until we get things sorted out here. Got bodies to get rid of, you to tend to and some hazard clean up to do."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""He doesn't need to be here while you're going through this…for a lot of reasons…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"…./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Sam didn't have to scavenge for gas this time. He got a full tank and a couple of jumbo gas cans full of the liquid gold back in Atlanta. He was given that, food, supplies and the promise his loved ones would be first on the list for the perfected vaccine. He hoped that would come sooner than later. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The hunter made a pit stop at an abandoned Babies R Us, it was foolish, not necessary at all and there could be danger around every corner but stores like this usually weren't completely ransacked even after all the years that passed. The ones that took the hits were grocery stores, pharmacies, gun stores, hospitals and the like. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The inside gave off an eerie feeling even to Sam who knew eerie all too well. Down one aisle rows of ownerless dolls in dusty boxes stared back at him. He looked them over and picked two, a big rag doll and the other a princess doll with long dark hair and brown eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Sam traveled up and down the aisles until he came across one of the sick, the creature shambled toward the hunter but he didn't waste a bullet, instead he bashed its skull in with a junior baseball bat. It was second nature now killing these things that used to be human but he'd never get used to it, not like Dean who had an off switch in his brain and did what had to be done. Sam didn't fault him for it, he wished sometimes he had that same switch but he didn't. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"In the small warehouse in back, Sam picked through the contents. He chose a lavender music box, the kind with a little ballerina that danced inside it and the tune it played was "What a Wonderful World". He had a cartful when it was all said and done. The gifts were for the new baby in the family, their little orphan, Mia. Sam felt responsible for her, if not for those men chasing after him, Mia's parents would still be alive. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"A ghost manifested itself right in front of him in a desperate attempt to have the living see her, listen to her and to find her body. For the first time in his life he denied a trapped spirit release, there was no time to search for her bones./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Maybe someday I'll come back to help but I-I just can't right now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He heard her screams all the way out in the abandoned parking lot. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm almost home, Dean…"/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"TBC/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p