Sorry once again for the slow updates. Hopefully I can get these out a bit more frequently. Sorry in advance. Thanks for the understanding.
Chapter 13
Christina sighed in contentment as she returned a few minutes later with a grape soda for herself and a ginger ale for Sam as she knew what he like when researching. He smiled graciously when she handed him the cool can. "Has Dean called saying where he's at? I'm getting a little hungry."
Sam nodded. "He called saying he was almost here." He closed his laptop when his own search didn't yield anything useful. "You know how he is about food and everything."
"Yeah. I know." Christina scoffed as she leaned back in her chair and took a glance at the clock. It was nearly nine at night and she sighed. Even if Dean ran every speed limit from here to Louisiana she knew they wouldn't make it in time, and Sam could see that in his sister's face. "Why am I still feeling like I'm useless when I couldn't convince Sarah to come back?"
"I think you never had experience a loss of an innocent quite like this." Sam said, trying to sound comforting to not make Christina go back to being uptight and quick to anger much like earlier. "I mean I remember one time Dean and I were on a case, before we met up, there had been this plane crash that a few people had survived. But in an EVP from the plane's black box there was a voice 'No survivors.'"
"I remember hearing something like that on the news once. Didn't the main pilot crash like a week later or something just a few minutes after take off killing him and his co-pilot?"
Sam nodded. "Turns out it was a demon that makes whomever they had possess cause the plane to crash like forty or so minutes after the flight was in the air."
"So what was that whole point of that story again?" Christina asked trying to make sense why Sam had told her what had happened.
"My point is, Dean and I couldn't save the main pilot on what he did before he killed another person. Much like Sarah and Sean. Even if there was a way to have saved them we still might not be able to save them. We can't save everyone."
"Much like Max." Christina said her voice soft as she still felt heartbroken for that poor kid.
"Yeah, just like Max." Sam said with a sigh of the same inner pain about that. "So don't feel responsible. There's nothing we could do to change anything."
"Glad to see I'm not alone." Christina said and turned to face their hotel door. Both of them heard the familiar rumble of the Impala and both relaxed. "Good I thought I was going to have to eat my hand, I was getting so hungry."
Sam couldn't help but smile at his sister's attempt to change the subject and cleared off the table so they could eat. Dean walked in quickly with a large smile on his face and holding a couple of large pizzas.
"Looks like someone got lucky today." Christina teased as she took one of the boxes. "So what's the name? It's so that I can send a sorry note later."
"George Darrow." Dean said setting down some paper plates the restaurant had provided.
"Didn't know you swung that way, bro." Christina said with a surprised look on her face. "But I guess there's a first for everything."
"No." Dean said seeing as Sam struggled not to burst out laughing and realizing what his sister was saying. "That's the name of one of the two other men who made deals with the devil. He lives nearby too. But since it's a bit too late we'll go around noon tomorrow."
"Oh." Christina said with a giggle. "I thought it was the reason it took so long to get food back to us."
"That would be Rina. She's the one that got us a good deal on this pizza." Dean smirked making Christina freeze with a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth. "Makes this so worth it."
"You're a jerk." Christina said fighting to urge to throw the pizza down in disgust but her growling stomach won the argument and she silently began to finish the slice.
"Any luck on Sarah?" Dean asked and saw Christina flinch and so he looked to his brother.
"She tried to call her. But Sarah's in Louisiana." Sam said quickly. "Let's not talk about it right now. I think we're all hungry."
"Yeah..." Dean said sitting down and grabbing himself a plate. "That's fine." He glanced at his sister and brother as they ate in silence, and was worried about both their situations as for some reason he was feeling like this case was more close to home then it appeared, but that would be a discussion for the morning when all of them had a decent night sleep.
~DSCWIN~
Christina woke up to hearing soft tapping on a keyboard and saw Sam, the glow from the laptop screen illuminating his face.
"Did I wake you?" Sam asked seeing his sister slowly sitting up.
"Yes and no." Christina replied glancing at the large mound that was their brother rolled over and fell still once again. "I have these nights were I'll just randomly wake up. It happened a lot in college during tests. But I think I'm just stressed out because of this case. I don't know. I guess since I haven't done this my entire life, I feel like I need to save everyone I come across."
"It's normal. If you save any that's a win. It does suck when you do loose people, but it's sadly part of the job and in life." Sam said his voice hinting something that Christina picked up by how she frowned and leaned back against the wall her pull away bed was placed. "You did everything you can."
"Yeah. I know. Doesn't make it any easier." Christina said before grabbing her backpack and went into the bathroom closing the door softly.
The closing of the door made the sleeping mound of the older Winchester to stir and Dean slowly sat up one of his eyes closed. "What?" He asked wiping the side of his mouth and winced at the drool that he swiped using his hand and grimaced. "Did she just get in there?"
"Yeah, she did." Sam said going back to his laptop. "I don't think she's taking a shower as I don't hear the water running."
Just then the door opened back up and Christina walked out wearing her outdoor clothes and she was brushing her hair. "Bathroom's free." She said and Dean slowly climbed out of his bed and disappeared into the bathroom.
~DSCWIN~
"So what was this guys name?" Sam asked a little after twelve thirty that afternoon.
"George Darrow." Dean answered looking down at a small piece of paper with an address on it.
"How did you come up with that?" Sam asked before they stopped in front of an apartment building glancing down and noticing a dark powder substance that he lifted his foot to play with it but was stopped by Christina who silently shook her head.
"Just asked around." Dean said before knocking on the door of the apartment building and just noticed the same dark powder on the floor just outside the door. "Guess they need to talk to the housekeeper about the dirt."
The door swung open showing a aging black man with greying hair. His dark eyes looked tired a he stared at the three that stood in front of him. "What do you want?"
"George Darrow?" Sam asked calmly as they saw the man peer at them with suspicion in his eyes.
"Who wants to know?" George spoke his eyes threatening as if he knew they were after him.
"Mr. Darrow," Christina said stepping in front of her brothers with a calming expression that has helped get her into places easier in the past. "We're here to talk about what you did ten years ago at a bar named Lloyd's."
The man's face shifted slightly as he looked between the three standing in front of him and sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about." George said pushing the door closed but Dean, following his sister's actions, lifted his hand and stopped him from closing the door and held out a picture of a scary looking dog like creature and narrowed his eyes. "What do you three want?" George asked his voice tired just like how his eyes looked.
"Just five minutes." Sam said and George sighed before he allowed the three into his house.
As the three stepped into the small cramp apartment they saw hundreds of paintings all looking amazing and saw one that was in the process of being completed. "You're five minutes is ticking. Get to the point." George said grabbing a small leather pouch and sprinkling it into a circle around the door.
"If you were wanting protection why not use salt?" Dean asked but was rewarded with a glare from George. "What?"
"You know what is after me but you don't know anything about Gopher dust?" George gently began to toss the leather pouch into the air a couple of times before setting the bag on a small desk that sat just behind the couch. "Had gotten this from an old friend of my mothers. It's to protect me from that thing getting me since I'm not fully ready to leave. But when I am I'll glad accept my fate."
"Mr. Darrow, what did you wish for?" Christina asked knowing their precious time to try and talk to him was slowly ticking away.
"I like you. You're straight to the point." George smile looked tired as he glanced at all the paintings that were placed around his apartment. "If the pictures didn't give it away, I asked for the talent to paint. Honestly I wish I could ask for fame like those two young kids that recently died. Man I wish I could have stopped them. Spent the first several weeks at Lloyd's trying to stop people from making these deals. Tried to talk this one fella into not making the deal but he was a man on a mission."
"Do you know what his name is?" Dean asked searching through his pockets and pulled out a picture he had taken from the last box he and his siblings had found. He lifted it to show George who nodded and pointed at the picture.
"Yeah that was him. Evan Hudson. That was his name. Don't know much about him. I just know he was desperate about something."
"Mr. Darrow," Christina began. "What are you planning on doing with those hounds that are after you? Just keep yourself locked away in this place for the end of your natural life?"
George Darrow sighed as he slumped his shoulders. He looked around at all his paintings that he worked tirelessly but wasn't able to sell in the ten years after selling his soul. "I honestly don't want die but I'm just tired. So I plan on finishing up my last painting and then just walking out of here with my head held high. I'm just going to prolong this for one maybe two days tops."
"So you have accepted your fate too?" Christina asked starting to looked deflated she couldn't save another soul.
"Your five minutes are up." George Darrow said his voice crisp as he picked up a large bristled brush. "Fill free to take that pouch of dust with you. I have enough for me."
Dean had to gently grab his sister's hand and pull her out of the apartment as she seemed to freeze there. He snagged the small leather pouch as he ushered his two siblings out the door. As soon as the door closed behind them they heard music begin to play.
I can't save everyone, Christina thought as she followed Dean and Sam down the apartment stairs. Especially when they don't want to be saved.
Dean seemed to try and change the gloomy atmosphere as he quickly drove down to the police station.
"Christy, you mind going in and seeing if you can get any information on this Evan Hudson guy?"
"No." Christina said, her voice lacking in her usual upbeat attitude. She didn't even look at her brothers as they stopped in front of the police station and she exited the car. She did start to wonder if there was any point in trying to save Evan, when the last victim just wanted to give up. She spent the small trip to the front doors trying to calm herself down as she could feel herself feel angry and second guess trying to save the last victim when she bumped into a deputy with a pile of folders in their arms.
"Sorry ma'am." The deputy said bending down and starting to pick up folders luckily none of the papers that were inside didn't spill out over the floor. "Guess I wasn't paying attention."
"No that was my fault." Christina said helping the deputy picking up the folder and handing it back to the deputy. "This case I'm on has my mind on other things."
"Oh, you're on a case?" The deputy asked as they both stood up. He clearly didn't hear the internal scream from Christina as she realized she let something fall out of her mouth and was now struggling to figure out what to say.
"Yeah, you see I'm a private eye and I have been trying to find someone. I do have an address but my sources aren't the best so I was hoping the local police could help me to double check an address for me."
"Well, you did help me with my folders," the deputy said leading Christina to his desk in a corner of the large police office. "Let me help you."
"Thanks so much." Christina couldn't help but felt her cheeks heat up as the deputy was easy on the eyes and taking a quick inventory of his desk and his hands, he didn't have any pictures of a girlfriend or wife and wasn't wearing a ring. "I'm trying to verify the address of a Evan Hudson. Could you see if you can find him?"
"Let me look. What is he being investigated for?" the deputy asked turning his monitor on and typed in his password.
"I can't disclose, sadly. I have to follow orders from my boss." Christina said drawing a blank on what excuse she could use that wouldn't involve the actual police.
"I understand that." The deputy chuckled and began to type in Evan's name in his search engine. "There's not going to be any report on this will it?"
"No, this is strictly off the books. We like to keep it that way just in case something goes sideways." Christina said with the most reassuring smile she could muster.
"Fair enough." The deputy said and quickly pulled up information he had on Evan Hudson and wrote down the information he had found. "Is this what your sources said?" He asked handing Christina the small piece of paper with an address.
Christina nodded and smiled up at the deputy. "Yes, thank you. I've been making sure my sources hasn't let me down. Thank you for this."
"Maybe we can talk about this over dinner?" The deputy asked knowing he was very gutsy to ask someone he barely knew.
Christina felt her cheeks burn as this had been the second guy in the last couple of weeks to ask her out on a date. She felt embarrassed as she didn't feel like she was all that pretty to begin with. "I'm not sure to be honest. I've been super busy that I don't have much time for myself."
"Say no more. Thought I'd at least try to ask you. You are really pretty."
Christina didn't say anything else as she politely left trying to hide the deep blush that was spreading across her cheeks as she got out of the station without running for the Impala. She didn't say anything as she handed Dean the piece of paper with the address on it when she climbed in and quickly covered her face with her hands trying to hide the blush.
"Wow, you're ears are red." Sam said looking over and seeing Christina try and make herself smaller. "What happened in there?"
"Don't want to talk about it." Christina mumbled around her hands. "Let's just get out of here." She thought she heard Dean or Sam chuckle but guessed it was from the car revving up and them speeding through town.