Hookman

I looked into Sam's hazel eyes as he spilled everything about his dream with Jessica. He'd seen her die over and over again in his nightmares. It was why he'd been so quick to catch onto what was happening even when Dean was struggling to get a grip on the situation.

"I need you," he pleaded. "Please stay."

"I don't want to– you know– mess things up again."

"It wasn't your fault. Maybe he'd killed that family and they just never showed it on screen." He was right. "That was a TV show. And this is reality. A lot of things could be different. You don't know."

I nodded. All good points. "Okay," I let out a shaky breath and leaned back on my arms.

"So… we're good…? You'll stay?" Sam looked down at me from his spot on the other bed.

I pressed my lips together to not burst into tears again and nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay," I cleared my throat. "And those nightmares of yours– don't worry too much. But try to distinguish them from normal nightmares."

"Just as I thought. They really aren't normal." He laced his fingers together and knelt forward on his knees. "Jess was gonna die. You saved her. Thank you."

"If you wanna talk about those dreams… then I'm always here," I offered him my support. It was only fair. The kid in front of me was a constant wall of support. It was the least I could do as his older sister to do the same.

"I got beer!" Dean sang as he walked in through the door. "And coke." he threw a bottle in my direction that I instinctively dodged. He cringed when the bottle almost fell off the bed it had plopped on. "This might be the last night all three of us share a motel room. So let's make it good!"

"I'm staying," I couldn't help but smile at the real smile that took over the one he had been forcing.

"Yes!" he cheered. "Bottle, Sammy?"

"Yes please," Sam broke a grin too.

And the next week after a long ride, we were at an outdoor cafe, sitting under those thin plastic umbrellas that did little to nothing to block out the sun. The only reason we were even here was because of the sheer number of locals that were chilling in this small place. Dean was digging into a pile of pancakes that had too much butter and too much syrup. I shuddered at the amount. How did men eat that much, I had no idea.

He leaned over my shoulder to see what I was doing on the laptop. "First one." he said through a mouthful of pancake.

I smacked his shoulder. "Don't talk while chewing." I clicked on the first link. "Ankeny, Iowa…" I blinked at the words two lines under. "'The attacker was invisible'?" I scrolled through the article.

"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis."

"Bite me," I looked up as Sam sat down defending his cup of coffee.

"So, anything?" Dean asked. There was eagerness in his eyes but he sounded like he'd accepted that they would never get to find their Dad so easily.

"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank." Sam stared into his cup, looking dejected. "No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean swallowed the last piece.

"We might have a case though." I spun the laptop towards Sam who squinted at the screen.

"'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road.'" He read. "What's so special about…" I reached over the laptop to scroll a little lower. "Oh."

"Sole eyewitness says the attacker was invisible."

"Could be something interesting." Dean mentioned.

"Or it could be nothing at all." Sam shrugged. "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." Dean insisted.

Sam thought for a moment before tipping his coffee cup all the way back. "Fine. Let's go."

We stopped at a frat house. I wiggled my key out of the ignition and eyed the white building. I'd never been to a frat house, not even during college. It had been go to classes, hang out with friends in the hallway outside classes, then go back home and study for classes. There had been no room or time for boys.

"You might wanna wait out here." Sam mentioned.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay outside. You boys go and make some friends."

"With our new roommates!" Dean said loudly when a frat boy walked past. "Stick to yourself, sweetheart."

I fixed a blank stare on the guy across the street with a beer bottle in his hand. "You don't have to tell me that twice."

"We'll be back as soon as we find what we need." Sam said gently and hurried inside. "Come on Dean. Let's finish this quick."

I kept my guard up and held onto my helmet tightly. Anyone tried to make a move and I would smash their head in with it. Being outside a frat house as a woman on a bike was hardly a safe idea. Frat boys didn't care about who they banged as long as it added to their body count.

I ignored the hoots and catcalls being thrown in my direction. Should I just send Dean and Sam a message and wait at the gas station we were at earlier? Actually, probably even the gas station wasn't safe. Frat boys owned cars more often than not, and cars needed gas.

I stiffened when a hand landed around my shoulder.

"Hey, nice ride."

I could smell the alcohol on this dude's breath. I gave him the side eye and shrugged off his arm. I hated this. Did people not understand personal space?

"Is it really that hard to get a ride?"

I knew he wasn't talking about my bike. I put my helmet back over my head and shifted my weight to kick up the kickstand. I gripped my keys between my fingers even as the guy continued saying things. Persistent little prick.

"Oh, come on sweetheart."

I swung my leg off my bike and hit the guy square in the ribs. Only Dean called me 'sweetheart'. Anyone else could go eff themselves.

"Bitch!" the frat boy spat. "You don't know who my father is!"

Seriously, I didn't know who his father was.

A bunch of other guys snickered. Shoot, I'd drawn a crowd. I turned around to get back on my bike. Until a hand decided to smack my rear. Alright. That was it. This was war. I took off my helmet and threw it into the Impala parked on my other side.

"Ohhh, she's mad." said one of the boys. Alright, he was third.

I took a step towards the guy that had dared to touch me. He was full of openings. I swung a punch at his jaw. My knuckles rattled with the force, and the guy stumbled while holding onto his now bleeding mouth. Awesome.

Now for the guy that had called me a bitch. Well, he was already swinging drunkenly in my direction. Easy. I held my palms open in his direction as he charged. I held his wrist with one hand when he got close enough and smacked his shoulder in the middle to send him crashing into the sidewalk. Self defence classes went hard. I held back a grin when the other guys started muttering amongst themselves. They didn't deserve my reaction.

Alright, time for the third guy. I heard footsteps behind me and turned so I could see him from the corner of my eye. I rocked back and stuck out a foot. He went stumbling into another guy and they both fell to the sidewalk. It was fun beating up drunk guys.

I spotted another guy taking a video across the street. I held up a hand as if beckoning him closer. He breathed in sharply before turning tail and running. By the time I turned around, the boys that had gathered around me were stumbling backwards.

Hmph! Weaklings.

"That was a good show." I heard Dean's voice beside me.

I turned around and relaxed under his gaze. "Where were you when I was being ganged up on?"

"Those guys were drunk." Dean stifled a laugh. "They weren't much of a threat."

"You handled that really well," Sam added. "Dean was a little worried."

Dean scoffed. "No, I wasn't."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

Dean groaned. "I knew she could handle it alright? But what if one of the guys pulled out a knife?"

"I'll pull out my gun." I lifted my jacket to remind him.

"Oh, right."

"So, what did you guys find out?"

"Other than your awesome fighting skills? We have a hot reverend's daughter to find."

"Like the reverend is hot, or the daughter is hot? Cause I'm down for a handsome reverend."

Sam choked. "The daughter."

"Can we go now?" Dean was already opening the door to the Impala. "I wanna see this Lori Sorensen."

By the time we got to the Church, service was almost over.

Dean, Sam, and I chose to sit in the last row to not attract any attention. But a bunch of eyes were on us already. We didn't exactly look the part for Church, and the tussle with the boys from earlier had messed up my hair even more.

I gave a nod to the old lady who was looking at us curiously. She gave a warm smile and turned back around. Thank God for sweet old ladies.

I vaguely paid attention to the reverend's speech. "Our hearts go out to the family of a young man who perished. And my personal prayers of thanks go out as well because I believe he died trying to protect my daughter." A pretty blonde in the front looked down and her cheeks reddened slightly. "And now, as time heals all our wounds, we should reflect on what this tragedy means. To us, as a church." the Reverend raised his arms as if embracing the entire room. Cheey. "As a community, and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings. So, please, let us pray."

'Lettuce pray, ramen.' I sucked in my cheeks to keep myself from bursting into giggles. God, even in my mid 20s the memes refused to leave my brain.

"For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children."

Everyone bowed their heads in silent prayer. I peeked out of the curtain of my hair and realised that Dean had zoned out and not even realised he needed to lower his head. Sam was already on it though and shoved Dean's head down to his knees. Man, I missed those moments with my own brother.

Mass ended after another prayer. Finally. My back was starting to hurt from keeping it straight to look even remotely interested. We hung out in the back for a while. Lori Sorensen was in the middle of hugging her friend. Once the crowd had mostly dissipated, Lori made her way towards the exit.

"Um, hey." I put on a smile as I approached her. "My name is Sharon. That's my boyfriend Dean, and his brother Sam." She looked confused. "Would you happen to be Lori?"

"We just transferred to your university." Dean flashed a flirty smile.

"We heard about what had happened. And we just wanted to offer our condolences." Sam said with his best sympathetic look.

"It must have been horrible." I threw in.

"Yeah, we're extremely sorry." Dean nodded along.

Lori nodded slowly. She spotted the Reverend walking towards us and stepped aside a little to do introductions. "Dad, um, this is Sharon, Dean and Sam. They're new students."

Dean immediately went for the handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon." What a lie. He had almost fallen asleep with his eyes open.

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

Sure. I wasn't even Christian. I glanced at Sam and he gave me a look that said 'keep him busy'.

"So… Reverend Sorensen?" I flashed my best good girl smile. "Did I get that right?"

The man chuckled. He seemed like a pleasant fellow. "Yes, my dear. You said you were…"

"Sharon," I shook his hand. "We're new in town. Transferred to the university."

"Oh, how are you liking it so far?"

"Quite good, actually. And, uh, my fiance and I," I looked at Dean who nudged me to start walking. "We were looking for a local Church group."

I started walking slowly, and the Reverend followed along with Dean. success.

"Well, we do have Mass every Sunday. But we also have a few smaller Church groups catering to everyone's special interests. We have a cooking group and a knitting group." He said to me. Then he turned to Dean. "And we have a carpenting group as well."

The conversation sounded like it was about to end.

"We were, uh, actually looking for something for married couples." Dean clasped my hand in his. "We were planning to be married soon." He kissed the back of my hand. "We have the dress and everything picked out…"

His hand was warm. It reminded me of the day he had held my hand to put the ring on it. He'd been so gentle. I had been in an over the top red and black gown instead of the classic Christian white. The dress was still in the attic at Bobby's. My bouquet had been red roses with lavenders in between. And the wedding venue was at the largest national park in Texas. It had been a tiny affair, with Bobby walking me down the aisle, Sam being the ring bearer, and John being the officiant. There were some other Hunters there too, much to Sam's chagrin, but he wasn't about to miss it even for the world.

"Sharon," I snapped back from my memory when my name was called. I quickly focused on the Reverend who was holding out his hand. "It was nice to meet you."

I grabbed it and gave a weak shake. "It was nice to meet you too."

Dean didn't let go of my hand even when the man was out of sight. "You zoned out." I could feel his eyes on me.

"Yeah, sorry."

"No, no. It's, uh, it's fine."

"Thanks." I squeezed his larger hand. "Where are we going now?"

"Sammy said to meet him at the library."

"What are we waiting for, then?"

"So you believe her?" Dean gave an incredulous look at Sam.

"I do."

"Yeah, I think she's hot too."

"No, man, there's something in her eyes. And listen to this–" Sam excitedly leaned forward as he described Lori's story. "She heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car."

"Wait, the body suspended?" Dean's eyes widened at the statement. "That sounds like the–"

"Yeah, I know, the Hook Man legend." Sam grinned. Okay, I knew this case. We had to burn the girl's silver necklace. And any other thing that was made out of the silver of the dude's hook. And we should probably salt and burn his bones too for good measure. Except I had no idea who this guy was or where he was buried.

Dean, however, scoffed. "That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man."

"Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began."

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?"

"Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?"

Yeah the stupid silver necklace.

I couldn't remember any more people dying in this episode. All I remembered was the cross necklace that needed to be burned. How could I forget details so quickly? It had only been eight years!

"Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851." The librarian dumped a giant box of files onto the table.

Dean blew the dust off the top of the pile. He and I both choked on the dust that flew off.

"Thanks." Sam smiled.

"Sure," the librarian walked away.

"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" Dean stared at the giant box.

"Welcome to higher education." Sam smirked at his brother's miserable look and began reading.

"You did all this too?" Dean stared in disgust as I started flipping through the files.

I blinked in guiltiness. "I used ChatGPT."

"Chat– what?"

"ChatGPT. It's an AI tool. Like the machine does everything for you– did wonders for my homework assignments by the way."

Sam nodded, impressed.

"Cheater."

"I cheated on exams, not women."

"Dammit."

Several hours and a painful coffee drink because Sam forgot my oatmilk later, Dean was ready to give up.

"We have nothing." Dean groaned.

The library announced its closing in an hour.

"I think this is something." I passed them the file I was reading. "In 1862, a preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder." Dude killed 13 prostitutes in one night because Christianity and the Bible." Man, some of these preachers were crazy. "Some of the women were found in their beds surrounded by blood. And a few others were hung upside down from trees. Something about a warning against sins and whatnot. Go to the next page." The boys flipped it to a picture. "He had a silver hook. Because that's what one gets when they lose their hand in an accident. Obviously. Even better is where he killed all those prostitutes."

"9 Mile Road." Sam looked up, excited.

"Same place the frat boy was killed." Dean heaved a sigh of relief.

I suddenly remembered. Lori's roommate. "I should go talk to Lori Sorensen. Her sorority is on the other side of town, right? By the diner?"

"What? You think the Hookman might attack the sorority?" Dean questioned. "That's a long way from the 9 Mile Road."

I fixed him with a pleading look. I couldn't say that Lori's roommate was going to be murdered. But surely I could save her.

"Dean, we might be able to get more information out of her." Sam jumped in. "Besides, it's not like men are going to be allowed in the sorority house anyway."

Dean sighed. "Fine. I'll write down the address–" He looked at me and realised that I still had no idea how to get around without a GPS. "Ugh, women." He playfully rolled his eyes. I hit his shin with my shoe. He smirked. "C'mon. I'll show you the way."

My bike purred to a stop as I wiggled out the keys from the ignition. I tucked them into my jumpsuit pockets where I felt for my handgun loaded with salt bullets, thank God for pockets and hung my helmet off the handle bars. I kicked down the stand and stared at the giant three storeyed house filled with women.

Sororities were terrifying. Everyone was thin, tall, blonde, flat as a board but boys still wanted to rail them, and had blue eyes. Not to mention rich. And white.

I looked down at myself. Frayed denim jumpsuit with old worn out boots. Short, stout, curvier than the integral symbol, and hair and eyes that matched the darkness of the night. My skin was paler than most from my country, but that could hardly compete with the whiteness of pure Redneck American women.

"Oh, hi."

I looked up as an African-American girl walked up to me. My God, diversity? In a sorority? "Hi," I responded.

"I saw you at Church. Talking to Lori." She stuck out a hand. "I'm Taylor."

"Sharon," I grasped her pink palms in mine. They were warm. "I was wondering if I could take a look around the sorority." I lied. "I always wanted to join one, but never got the opportunity to until I came here. Heard this was the best one." I hated sororities. They reeked of booze and 'you slept with my boyfriend' and more than one catfight an hour.

Her pretty pink lips broke into a smile. "Of course. I'm one of the sisters in charge of recruiting new members." She gave me a once over. "We do have an application fee." Was I being looked down on?

"That shouldn't be a problem."

"It's 500 to join. And 500 per month for rent."

Oh she was definitely looking down on me. I pulled out my wallet and made a show of counting the bills. I pulled out ten 50s and shrugged before putting them back in. "I have enough to apply right now. My fiance can probably pay for the semester in cash right now too. Any other requirements I should be aware of?"

She looked a little taken aback. "Nothing else."

I put on my best polite smile. "I think I should take a look around and see if this sorority really is a fit for me. You don't mind, do you?"

She swallowed. "Of course not. I'll, uh, I can show you around."

I followed her as she showed me around. "Here is the kitchen." There were already three girls passed out on the table with a couple more pulling out drinks from the fridge. "And we have a communal bathroom." She opened the door to hell. The stench was foul. "Uh, sorry, cleaning day is tomorrow." Was that supposed to make it better? "We have fifteen rooms here." She led me upstairs. "Some are single." She opened the door to one of the single rooms. It was tiny with a loft bed and looked like someone had barfed pink glitter everywhere. But I could respect the dedication to the theme. She opened another door. "Others are double." I blinked at the sheer number of shirtless men on the walls. I thought my room was bad. This was somehow worse. "We have a few triple as well." She led me to the opposite side of the house. "These are our largest rooms." There were three beds on three different walls and a giant table in the middle where three girls were playing poker.

They looked up at me and smirked. "New member?" I could recognise disdain when I heard it.

"Maybe. If I like it enough." I crossed my arm and pushed out my hip to define my waist a little more. "My fiance wants me to live with him," I made sure they could see the silver of my ring glinting under the LED light strips in the room. "But I'm looking into options."

They fell into silence. "Um, next card?"

Taylor cleared her throat and pulled the door shut. I let out a huff of satisfaction and turned around to face Taylor. "Have you felt anything strange lately? Like cold spots. Lights flickering… radio not working or whatever."

"What?" Taylor laughed with surprise. "Are you asking about the electricity in this place?"

"Maybe you've seen something. Or heard something."

"What are you talking about?" Taylor looked genuinely confused.

As if on cue, the room suddenly got several degrees colder.

"Oh my God." Taylor's breath came out in a fog.

I could hear a hook scrape against the wall. It was here. The ghost of Karns.

"I highly recommend getting out with everyone." I told Taylor.

"What? Why would we do that?"

I pulled out my gun. "Because I said so." I cocked my gun in preparation.

Taylor screamed and turned tail. Only to come face to face with a man that looked like Captain Hook.

I took aim and pulled the trigger. The salt went straight through the ghost. Taylor kept screaming the whole time. "Salt the doors and the windows." I grasped Taylor's hand and pulled her to an empty room. The ghost was here only for Taylor. I could kind of remember Lori's roommate being African-American, and there weren't any others that fit the description in this sorority.

I threw her into that room and fished out a container of rocksalt from my jacket pockets.

"Salt it." I salted the door and handed the container to the girl. "Stay inside this room." From the small space between the door and the floor I could see the lights flickering in the hallway. It was still here.

"What? What's going on?" Taylor looked terrified, confused, and angry.

"It's the man that killed the frat guy."

"What?!"

She obviously wasn't moving to salt the window so I snatched the container from her and did it myself. I searched the empty room for anything iron. I yanked the door to the closet open. Awesome.

I hefted the iron rod meant for hanging clothes – what were they called? – and handed it to her. "If it comes. Swing. But don't leave the room. Okay?"

She stared with wide eyes as I kept my eyes and gun focused on the door. "I'm gonna die. We're all gonna die."

Oh my God, this woman was getting on my nerves. I hated sororities. "Would you shut up for a moment?"

She clammed up immediately. The scraping of something had us stiffening.

"What was that?" she whispered.

I tightened my hold on the gun. The scraping suddenly stopped. And so did the flickering of the lights. The hallway remained lit. It was gone, most likely. I kept my gun up and opened the door. 'I will come for you' had been etched into the fresh yellow paint, signed with a cross on the bottom of the sentence.

"Oh my God…" Taylor collapsed on the floor. "What the hell? What just happened?"

"I have no idea." I put my gun back in my pocket. That thing probably wasn't coming back any time soon. But Lori definitely had something to do with this.

"So you think Lori has something to do with this?" Sam said as soon as I told them about what had happened.

"Yeah," I worked my comb through the tangles.

"You said there was a symbol," Dean sat down next to Sam. "Do you have a picture?"

"Here," I passed my phone to them. They zoomed in and started copying it down.

I yawned and leaned back on the bed. "I'm gonna go to sleep." It was around 1:00 AM, I could probably get a couple of hours of sleep. I crawled up on the bed and laid my head on the pillow.

Dean turned the lights off next to my bed. "G'night, sweetheart."

"Mm," I rolled over and closed my eyes.

When I woke up, I was in a softly snoring Dean's arms. I shifted a little bit and he stirred.

"What time is it?" he grumbled.

I looked at the clock. "7:13."

"Coulda said 15." his brows furrowed.

"When'd you go to sleep?" I mumbled. I grabbed onto his large hands holding me in place. His fingers were fun to play with.

"Dunno. 4:00?"

"That's late."

"Broke into the library."

Oh. "Grave?"

"Unmarked."

"Damn."

"Mm."

"Oh, good, you two are up."

Dean and I both groaned when the resident early riser walked out of the bathroom, fresh and ready to go for the day.

Sam chuckled. "Rise and shine." he opened the curtains and we hissed.

"Close that thing, Sammy." Dean demanded but sat up anyway.

I missed the warmth from his body. But I had to get up at some point. "What're we doing today?"

"Party." Sam answered. "I'll go grab breakfast. You two get ready."

"Mkay mom." I pulled the covers over my face. "You first, Dean."

"We can just shower toge–"

"No."

I hated college parties. They weren't my scene. I did terrible in large groups. And Sam was also struggling. He and I stuck together as Dean happily pranced around the drinks and women. Why were we even at a party?

"You two never told me this college thing could be this awesome!" Dean eyed a passing girl. Jealousy bubbled inside, but it quickly died when Dean gave me an excited wink.

"This wasn't exactly either of our experiences." Sam gave a polite smile as he shied away from another girl's touch on his arm.

I pulled him aside from the flock of girls making their way towards him and Dean. Man, these girls were persistent. Dean also made his way to my side and placed a hand on the small of my back. Really, Dean? "Guy at three o'clock." he muttered. Oh. "But let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A's? Both of you?" Sam and I shrugged. "What geeks." Dean teased lovingly.

"Moving on, what'd you guys find?" I steered the conversation back to work.

"Yeah. It was bugging me, right? So how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori? So I think I came up with something." Sam pulled out a piece of paper.

I opened it up and started reading.

"1932. Clergyman arrested for murder. 1967. Seminarian held in hippie rampage." Dean summarised.

"There's a pattern here. In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings carried out, get this, with a sharp instrument."

"What about Lori?"

"A man of religion? Who openly preaches against immorality?" Oh, Reverend I forgot his– Sorensen– Reverend Sorensen. "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter." Sam explained.

"So… Reverend Sorensen is summoning the Hookman?" Was that in the show? Man, I really should have paid attention.

"Maybe. Or, you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?"

"Uhhuh…?" I nodded slowly.

"The spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them,"

"Okay…?" My brain was refusing to work. "So the reverend is behind all of this?"

"Could be. Without the reverend ever even knowing it."

"Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight." Dean's fingers curled ever so slightly into my side when another guy walked by.

"And you guys…?" Sam eyed the way Dean was holding me.

He reluctantly let go. "We're gonna go see if we can find that unmarked grave."

"This the one?" I looked down at a grave with the same symbol as the one from the message at the sorority house.

"Looks like it." Dean handed me a shovel. "Let's get diggin'."

I pushed the shovel into the ground. I could feel my shoulder and arm muscles flexing. No matter how many times I dug up a grave, my body always ached the next morning.

"So," Dean said in between shovels. "Why did a pretty girl like you never join a sorority?"

"They were expensive as hell." I grunted as I came across a harder patch of dirt.

"Yeah? Well, you had enough money to go to college, so why not cough up a few more bucks?"

"I wasn't rich, Dean." I managed to get the tough spot out.

"Yeah? I'm sure there were a few free ones."

"There were,"

"Then why not join?"

"Because." I took a minute to catch my breath. "I didn't fit."

Dean scoffed. "What do you mean you didn't fit."

"All the partying, all the drinking… all the drugs… the people. It wasn't me." I continued digging.

"What is that supposed to mean? I mean I know you don't like partying, drinking, drugs… but you thrive when you're chatting with people."

"I had my own group of people. My own group of friends." I leaned on the shovel. "I don't do well in huge groups."

"But you have a ton of friends. You said someone contacted you to ask for comfort after a breakup yesterday."

"I said 'groups'. Not individuals."

Dean's shovel hit something.

"6 or less. I do fine in that. Add another one and I'm struggling."

"Sounds like there's a little more than that to a sorority."

I sighed. "I hated this one girl. She did nothing wrong to me. It was- it was petty– salt?"

"Salt." Dean lifted the head of the coffin. I dumped a whole pack of salt on the body. "Continue," he urged.

"Right, so, uh, girl I hated. Did nothing wrong– Okay, yeah, she came to class drunk. She bragged about getting roofied."

"Al… right…? That's definitely weird. But why the hate?"

"I dunno. I just didn't like her."

"So that's why you hate sororities?"

"They suck, alright? All blonde. All tall. All flat. All blue eyed. Racist as hell. I mean you know they didn't even think I could afford to be in a sorority. They look down on me. So I hate them. And not to mention the catfights. Everyone has beef with everybody and it's like a constant battlefield."

Dean emptied a can of lighter fluid on the corpse and lit a handful of matches. "You had personal experience with that?"

"I was in a twelve girl group in high school. I saw how they screwed up one girl. I hated her too, but that's not the point–"

"Well, what'd she do?"

"Sheesh, it's a whole story. I can't do it in one sitting!"

"Try me." He threw the matches into the grave, and the bones burst into flames.

I took a deep breath. "She talked behind everyone's back. Lied about her family situation. Refused to show gratitude when needed. Etc, etc."

"Then she deserved it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. Women can be scary." The smell of the body burning filled my nose.

"But they liked you?"

The body continued burning. "It was more out of politeness. I didn't fit in."

"Oh,"

"Yeah,"

I watched as Dean walked around the dug up grave. He stood next to me and we both watched the final embers of the fire die out.

"You belong with us," Dean finally said. "I don't know if you feel like it, but, you do belong with me, and Sam, and Dad, and Bobby." I could feel his eyes on me. "Bobby thinks of you as his own daughter. So does Dad. Sam's been following you like a puppy since you got here. And to me– you're my wife. So stay. Please." I finally looked up to his green eyes that looked like they were going to burst into tears. "If you need anything, ever, then just say it. One of us will get it for you."

They could never bring back my family, the time I'd lost with them and my close friends. But I appreciated the sentiment, so I put on a smile. I'd come to peace with making this place my home anyway. Those dreams of mine were just that, dreams. My reality was here, with Dean, and the others. Not in some dumb sorority or a stupid shallow group of friends.

"I'm not leaving Dean." I stepped closer to him. He stood there, as if he moved then I would disappear. I grabbed his arm and pulled. He immediately lowered his head to meet mine. "You're my home. With Sammy, John, Bobby– You guys are my home." I pushed my weight onto my toes and tilted my head up to meet his lips.

The corpse had long since burned out, but the passion with which he returned the kiss was still burning.

"How does that kid keep getting into trouble?" Dean groaned as we pulled up by a bunch of police cars.

"Keep? This happened before?"

"Sam got caught with a shotgun in the forest. I told the police I was hazin' him."

Dean climbed out of Baby and tried to walk towards Sam. Two policemen immediately blocked his path. "No, it's alright, I'm with him. He's my brother." I joined him. "And this is my fiancee." He looked past the sheriffs and waved. "Hey! Brother!"

"Let them through." A much older gentleman with the badge labeled sheriff waved us in.

"Thanks." I muttered as Dean made a beeline for Sam.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

"What the hell happened?"

"Hook Man."

"You saw him?"

"Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?" Sam glared.

"We did." I answered. "Jacob Karns. The unmarked grave had the same symbol he leaves everywhere."

"You're telling me it wasn't that guy?" Dean clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"It sure as hell looked like him. And that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the reverend."

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself."

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman."

"Damn," I looked at the Reverend who was shaking as he was questioned by the police. It was always the Fathers that were the most unholiest.

"So what?" Dean looked exasperated.

"So she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished." Sam's eyes landed on the blonde Lori looking down at her feet as if she was embarrassed about her dad's affair.

"Ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?"

"Right. Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair." Sam listed.

"Remind me not to piss this girl off." Dean scratched his head. "But we burned those bones, we buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?"

"You must have missed something."

"No. We burned everything in that coffin." Dean insisted.

"Did you get the hook?"

"The hook?"

"Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was part of him."

"So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power."

"So if we find the hook…" Sam looked at me and Dean.

"We stop the Hookman." Dean finished with an excited grin.

We were inside the library again. Legally, for once.

Dean ushered us over to his side where he was looking at a document. "Here's something, I think. Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary." He cleared his throat. "'Karns, Jacob. Personal affects: disposition thereof.'"

"Does it mention the hook?" Sam turned over a page.

"Yeah, maybe. 'Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church.'"

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?"

"Yeah."

"Where Lori lives?"

"Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past 200 years."

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?"

"Check the church records."

I was pretty sure I'd never had to read so many documents even for college. Hunts were usually easy too. Salt and burn. But this specific ghost was being a pain along with the Church and the stupid hook.

"Here." Sam spoke up. Dean and I leaned in to listen. "St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged." The brothers collectively groaned. "They melted it down. Made it into something else."

But one giant hook did not need to be melted to make a cross necklace. There must have been other things made out of it. "Of course they did." I got up and closed the document I was reading. "I'll go check out Lori's house, I guess."

"We'll take the Church." Dean nodded. "Meet us in the basement."

"Aye aye."

Carrying a bunch of silver items on a bike was pretty odd. It felt odder than breaking into a girl's house in the middle of the night. I had to pull out the storage container and strap it to the body before I could even make a move. I stretched out my back and walked in through the Church door.

"Got everything from her house." I dumped the Chinese take out bags of silver items on the floor.

Dean nodded and tossed more lighter fluid into the fire he'd lit. "Throw 'em in there."

Sam helped me throw every single silver thing into the fire. Until we heard a noise upstairs. Dean looked away from the fire to stand up. I stopped him. "It's probably–" 'Lori' got stuck in my throat. "I'll go see what happened."

"Take a salt gun with you."

I lifted my jacket to show him the gun tucked into my belt. "Iron."

"Good enough."

I walked up to see Lori sitting on one of the benches, her eyes closed in meditation with her hands clenched together.

She must have heard my boots on the stone floor because she snapped her eyes open. "Why are you here?"

"Uh," I searched my head for a lie. "Dean and I were to be wed soon. I thought I would come in and seek God's blessing." All lies. I needed no one's blessing. "I guess I'm kind of nervous." I forced out a laugh.

"Oh," She looked up at the crucifix.

"What are you here for?" I sat on the bench next to hers.

"I've been trying to understand what's been happening. Why? Now I know so I'm praying for forgiveness." She closed her eyes again.

"Forgiveness for what?"

"Don't you see? I'm to blame for all this. I've read in the Bible about avenging angels." She shuddered.

"Angel? This guy is no Angel."

"I was so angry at my father. Part of me wanted him punished. And then he came and he punished him." She clenched her fists together and prayed. "Forgive me,"

"It's not exactly your fault." I offered uselessly.

"Yes, it is. I don't know how, but it is." Something metallic clanged in the back of the Church. He was here. "I killed Rich. Taylor, too. I nearly killed my father."

"Come with me." I reached up and grabbed Lori's hand.

She screamed as I dragged her towards the door to the basement.

Karns' spirit appeared in front of us, but I was ready. I took aim and shot him in the chest. He vanished. Lori was still looking around frantically and shrieking at every little thing.

I grabbed her shoulders to ground her. "What's silver on you?"

"What?!"

"Sharon!" Sam came running up the stairs and forced the door open. "Are you guys alright?"

"Sam?" Lori looked relieved to see the younger Winchester. "What's going on?"

A shot rang out down the stairs.

"Let's go." Sam grabbed us and ushered us downstairs.

"Silver. Lori, what silver things do you have?" I demanded again.

"What does it matter?!" she cried.

"Everything!" I dug my fingers into her shoulders.

Sam raised his gun and shot.

"Tell us so we can get this thing over with!"

"Uh-uh," she looked down at her necklace. "My-my necklace– please don't kill me."

"Okay," I grabbed the chain from around her neck and yanked.

"Ouch!" her hand flew to the back of her neck from where the necklace had snapped.

I drew my hand back to throw it into the fire, but something metallic wrapped around my neck. It dug into my flesh and I could feel warm blood drip down my neck. Shit. I needed to burn the stupid metal.

"Sharon!" Sam and Dean were both aiming the gun at the spirit, but Karns was using me as a shield. I wouldn't get out of this unharmed.

The fire. I needed to get the necklace to the fire.

Could I use my powers? I ignored the burning sensation against my throat and willed the necklace to fly into the fire.

It was suddenly wrenched out of my hand and it sank into the flames. I did it.

"NO!" Karns' spirit cried as it let go of me. Its body started glowing and burning. I'd done it. I did it. I succeeded.

I stumbled back onto my feet and grabbed at my neck. Dean immediately reached out with a piece of cloth to put pressure on the wound on my neck. "You okay?" He looked around cautiously.

"Is he gone?" Lori whimpered.

Sam, Dean, and I looked at each other. It was gone.

Dean was chatting and hashing out some of the details with the sheriff, Sam was saying his goodbyes to Lori, which left me alone leaning against my bike.

I felt the bandage around my neck. Just another scar to add to my collection. That is if it did scar. It felt pretty shallow. It would most likely heal just fine. But until then I was stuck to wearing my turtleneck in public.

Been a while.

My skin bristled when the Angel spoke again. Why was it here, now?

Just dropping by… You seem to have gotten a hand on your powers.

Yeah, no kidding. It made my head hurt like hell, but it was starting to get better. It felt shockingly similar to what Sam had gone through in the series with the demon blood and whatnot.

You don't have demon blood. I thought I already told you that.

Didn't mean I had to trust that statement.

I have no reason to lie.

For someone that didn't have a reason to lie sure didn't mind forcing me to lie.

Everything has a purpose.

And mine was to be a telekinetic freak?

… You are what you make of yourself.

The hell? What was with the philosophical talk?

I am merely telling the truth. Believe what you want. But know that I am on your side.

The hell?

Stop saying that word.

Hell.

…

Well that shut him up quick.

Your resilience amazes me.

Oh, so he was just going to ignore me, huh. But what resilience? I was a mess. My emotions were all over the place. And I could hardly keep myself motivated enough to keep going along with whatever this was.

You might want to reconsider that. You are doing exceptionally well. I had expected you to give up on yourself a few days after everything started.

Wow. Then why did he even bring me here?

I don't call the shots.

What?

I have already said too much. I will be back.

The hell?

…

Nothing more. I sighed and pulled my flannel around me tighter. Sam walked up to stand next to me.

"You're done talking to her?" I glanced at a sad looking Lori. "We could have stayed a few more days."

"It's fine." he had his hands shoved into his pockets. "I just wanna find Dad."

I nodded. "Me too Sam. Dean as well. We just want to find John, but– you should also do the things you want, you know? You did get out."

"Did I though?" He looked at the ground bitterly. "Jess was supposed to die."

"But she didn't."

He pressed his lips together and gave a jerky nod. "Yeah. You didn't let her. But I feel like something is going to happen."

I looked at him with a frown. "Something?"

"Yeah," I could see his fingers wiggling in his pockets. "My nightmares. I'm seeing things I didn't know I remembered."

"What are you seeing, Sam?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Dean walked over to us at that moment, and he clammed up. "Later," he mouthed.

Alright then.

"What were you two talking about?" Dean squinted against the sunlight as he got into his car.

"Nothing." Sam got in too.

I swung my leg over and strapped my helmet on.

Baby and my bike revved to life, and we were already on the move.

A/N: Should I start adding my AO3 A/Ns to this? Just a trial run but lmk if I should continue this :)

Sorry for the late update. Classes started and college is being a pain already. But get this- there's this super cute guy in ALL of my classes but I think he has a gf. I couldn't find his insta either to confirm. :') BUT OMG yall he does modern and kpop dance and like that's exactly my type? His voice is like heaven too. And he is an older sibling and his apple watch ipad pro expensive gaming laptop scream rich. And his friends are cute too. He recently cleaned his new balance shoes and they look so much better than they did the first day of class. He works at this korean bbq place where a lot of kpop idols come to eat when they come to this area too apparently? He spoke so much during neuro today I just keep falling for him more and more. And he sits across from me so like how the hell am I supposed to focus on the lecture when there's this EYECANDY in front of me? idk wish me luck. No I'm not gonna talk to him one on one. HE BETTER NOT BE IN MY CHEMISTRY LAB TOMORROW OTHERWISE I WILL ACTUALLY DIE IF I HAVE TO SEE HIM 4 DAYS A WEEK.
Why did I share all of this T_T