Chapter One

We got to the motel late that night. That's probably why I was so crabby. My family knew I didn't run well on lack of sleep and since I was with my brother Dean, he was getting the brunt of it. (Alright I was biting his head off, but I would never admit it). And to add to my problems, my father had been missing for almost two and a half weeks. I wasn't sure why he hadn't just taken us with him. I had a feeling it had something to do with me. I was too small. I was a girl. I wasn't properly trained yet.

I was fifteen, a little small for my age but could tussle with the best of them, and had been training since I was four. I was ready. But, since I was the baby of the family and the only girl, I couldn't be trusted.

Dean had been fighting with dad since he was eleven. It just wasn't fair. I lay on my bed as soon as we got in, too stuffed to sit up. We'd eaten at some rundown diner since Dean wanted some of their pie. I just wanted to go to sleep.

"Dean" I sighed with a huff, "Where do you think dad is?" We'd been doing some job in New Orleans without him.

"I don't know, kiddo" he replied, turning on the television.

"You think something happened?" I said after a little while. I wasn't going to ask, mostly because I was scared of the answer, but decided to ask anyway. I needed to know, after all.

"No" Dean replied coldly. He flopped on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "Go to bed"

I huffed and glared at him."That's it?" I asked. "That's all I get?" He didn't answer me. "Why won't you talk to me?" I asked. "You ways used to talk to Sam! Why can't you talk to me? I'm not a baby Dean!"

Dean sat up straight and glared at me. "What the fuck are you talking about? And what's with the shit about Sam? You know he's gone. He's been gone for four years and we haven't heard from him in two. And I do talk to you!"

"No you don't!" I cried. "It's gonna be okay Lex go to bed doesn't count. I mean like talk. You know, like when you say more than five words to me a day" He just scoffed and ignored me again. I just huffed and snuggled down in the covers. "Could you at least turn that down?" I asked meanly.

Frustrated, Dean looked at me and turned the volume up. I got out of the bed and stood in front of the TV. "Move" he scoffed, motioning with his hand. I didn't move an inch. I folded my arms. "Move your ass, Lexie" he growled. Dean came over by me and I sized myself up to him. He was nowhere near as tall as Sam, but still a whole head taller than me. I knew he threatened it a lot but he didn't have it in it to hit me.

"You're an ass" I stated coldly.

"If you talked to dad like that he would beat the crap outta you" he stated smirking at my defiant expression.

"I'm not talking to dad I'm talking to you" I remarked. He sighed and smiled.

"You look like mom when you're pissed"

I looked down at the floor. He knew that saying stuff like that always got to me. "Dean what are we gonna do?" I asked trying to keep us on topic. "We can't just wait here for dad the rest of our lives"

"We're waiting for dad, Lex" He stated coldly.

"I don't mean we should leave him" I grumbled. "I mean we should go save his ass"

"We can't Lex" he said. "And would you just watch the language?" He looked right at me now. "Now just sit down and shut up"

I went to punch him, but he swiftly caught my arm. He smirked. "Nice try kid" I pulled away and went to the door. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"Away from you!" I shouted in anger.

"Don't let the door smack you on the way out!" He yelled rolling his eyes.

I walked up to the gas on the corner. I felt like punching something. I walked in a circle around the store just to calm myself down. I stopped by the cooked food. They had pie in little containers. I smirked. Dean loved pie. I stared at them for like five minutes before just getting two.

I walked back really slowly, not wanting to go back right away. I wanted to take my grand old time, hoping that Dean was worrying about me at least a little.

I knocked for Dean to let me back in. He opened the door with a dumb smirk on his face. "Password?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes and went to push past him. He went to close the door. "Dean" I sighed.

He sighed and let me in. I smiled and sat at the table. "I'm not sorry" I stated.

"For being a bitch or trying to hit me?" he asked, trying to look genuine.

"Shut up" I smiled. "You deserved to be hit"

He smirked and shook his head. I sighed, reached into my jacket, and pulled out my cell phone. No missed calls. No dad. "I got a plan" He said suddenly.

"What?" I asked. "What is it?"

He smiled and gave me a goofy look. "It's a surprise"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it is"

When I opened my eyes the next morning it was still semi dark out. "What time is it?" I grumbled.

"5:45" Dean replied. "Now move it" I just sank back into the bed, wanting to be difficult. Dean scoffed and shook his head. "You asked for it" He pulled me by my ankles onto the floor. I landed with a thud.

"Ow" I grimaced, getting up. I shoved him and went into the bathroom to change.

He chuckled as I exited the bathroom with my jeans on. "Get in the car ankle biter" I climbed into the passenger seat and started playing with the dials. "Don't touch" He said.

I sighed. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise" He urged with a smile.

"I don't like surprises" I said coldly. I stared out the window. "And why do we have to be up so damn early?"

"You're still upset from last night, aren't you?" he said, rolling his eyes. I didn't answer. "Listen, because I'm only gonna say this once" he sighed. "I don't talk to you like I do Sammy because you're my little sister. It's not because I don't trust you, I just…I don't know where dad is or even if he's okay, and I don't want to scare you. You're only fifteen, you shouldn't have to deal with this stuff" He stopped. "Alright?"

"Dean" I sighed. "Whether you like it or not, it's just me and you. Sammy's gone. So I have to deal with this stuff"

"Not for long" he said softly.

"What?" I asked.

"We're going to Stanford" he stated. "We need Sam's help on this one"

"You really think he'll come?" I asked.

Dean sighed. "Only one way to find out" He pressed the gas harder.

We drove in silence for a little bit. We stopped to go to the bathroom at a rest stop, and I brought out the pie I bought and handed both to him. He smiled and stuffed his face. "You shouldn't have to deal with it either, you know" I said suddenly. It was on my mind and I just needed to get it out.

"What?" he said, glancing at me?

"You said I shouldn't have to deal with this stuff" I explained. "You shouldn't have to take care of me, or worry about me, or-"

"Lexis, even if we were the freaking Brady bunch I would worry about you" Dean scoffed. "It's my damn job" He paused. "Now are we cool?"

I was silent for a second. There was no winning when Dean was around. "Yeah" I sighed. "We're cool"

"Alright" Dean stated. "Now this chick flick stuff stops for at least a couple hundred miles"

I smiled, but didn't respond. We drove for a day and a half before we made it to California. "Hey Lex?" Dean said suddenly. I glanced at him. "You haven't…"

"No" I replied quickly knowing where he was going. "I haven't felt anything from dad"

And that was that. At least, until we got the voicemail.

It was dad, but he sounded scared. That made me nervous. "Dean, something is starting to happen, I think it's serious. I need to try to figure out what's going on. Be very careful Dean, we're all in danger" it said.

"Run it" Dean stated. "There's EVP on it"

"Never go home" said a voice. I looked to Dean, but he just took his cell away and went back to driving.

It was late, and I just figured we were gonna wait until morning, but Dean pulled into the college. "What are you doing?" I asked as we pulled up to a student apartment building. "Can't we wait until morning?"

"C'mon Lexie, where's your sense of adventure?" Dean laughed. He got out of the car and went to the front door. He started to pick the lock.

"Dean, it's called a doorbell" I said shaking my head.

"It's three in the morning" he said. "He wouldn't answer" He opened the door and I hesitantly followed. I closed the door quietly behind me. A loud scuffling noise from up ahead made me jump. I ran to see Sam on top of Dean, then vice versa.

"Whoa, easy, tiger" Dean laughed.

"Dean?" Sam said in shock. "You scared the crap out of me"

"That's cause you're out of practice" Dean smirked. Sam flipped them over again. "Or not…Get off me"

"Having fun?" I asked with a smile.

"Alexis?" Sam said, looking at me.

"In the flesh, Sasquatch" I grinned, stepping next to Dean.

"Don't call me that, squirt. Dean, what the hell are you doing here?" Sam said, turning back to Dean.

"Well I was looking for a beer" he grinned.

Sam wasn't amused. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Dean put his hands up to calm him down. "Okay, all right, we gotta talk"

"Uh, the phone?" Sam said, shaking his head.

"If I'd have called, would you have picked up?" Dean asked.

The lights flicked on. "Sam?" said a voice. It came from a good looking girl, who I knew was Sam's girlfriend Jess.

"Jess, hey" he smiled. "Dean, Lex, this is my girlfriend Jessica"

"Wait, your brother and sister?" she asked.

"I love the Smurfs" Dean smiled, pointing to her shirt. "You know I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league" I rolled my eyes.

"Just let me put something on" she smirked.

"No, no, no, I wouldn't dream of it…Seriously" he finished. I nudged him to make him stop. "Anyway, me and Lex gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business, but, uh, nice meeting you"

"No. No. Whatever you wanna say you can say it in front of her" Sam insisted, putting an arm protectively around her waist.

"Okay. Um…dad hasn't been home in a few days" he replied, glancing at me for support. I nodded to Sam.

Sam just shrugged. "So he's working over-time on a "Miller Time" shift; he'll stumble back in sooner or later"

"Dad's on a hunting trip" I added, hoping he would get the point. "And he hasn't been home in a few days."

"Jess, excuse us" Sam said gravely. "We have to go outside"

Dean started. "We need your help, Sammy"

"No" Sam chuckled. "I mean come on; you can't just break in, in the middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you"

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it would be stupid"

"You're not hearing me Sammy" Dean butted in. "Dad's missing; I need you to help me find him"

"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst, or the devil's gates in Clifton?" Sam said. "He was missing then too, he's always missing and he's always fine"

"Not for this long. Now you gonna come with me or not?" Dean asked.

"I'm not Dean" Sam sighed.

"Why not?" Dean asked, frustrated.

"I swore I was done hunting for good"

"Come on, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad" Dean shook his head.

"Yeah? When I told dad when I was scared of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45" Sam said.

Dean glanced at me. "Take a walk Lexis"

I rolled my eyes with a sigh and went ahead to the car without them. This was a stupid idea. Sam was never going to leave college and come with us. I leaned on the hood of the Impala. We had no idea what dad had even gone to do. Not that he usually ever really told us in the first place. Hell, he never even told me the truth until I was six. I smirked to myself. That had been an interesting experience. I thought about dad, and how he was probably kicking something's ass right now. And about how I first found out about his job.

My seven year old body squirmed in my bed. "Dean?" I questioned. We were just in the crappy motel room like normal, but there was a wall separating the two beds. "Sammy?" I got no reply. I wanted to leave the room so bad, but I was too scared to even take myself out of the covers. There was something under my bed. I knew it.

"Sammy!" I yelled louder. They should be able to hear me. A low growl came from under the bed. I whimpered. "Dean, Help!"

Dean came running in the room, Sam right on his heels. "What?" Sammy asked. "What's wrong?"

"There's something under my bed" I sniffed, remembering how my bed moved and growls resounded.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked. Sammy gave him an odd look. At twelve he was so overprotective. Dean stared at him, as though willing him to say something. At sixteen, he wasn't so eager to help me with my monster problems.

"Yeah" I nodded.

"Sweetie, I'm sure there's nothing there" Sammy replied, putting a hand on my shoulder, and coaxing me to lie back down. I fought against him. Sammy was always the one to try and calm me down.

"Sam" Dean sighed. Sammy just glared at him.

"Will you check?" I asked, showing my best puppy dog eyes.

Sammy sighed and looked to Dean. Dean smirked. "What, is Sammy scared of the boogie man?" My tiny eyes widened. He looked to me, then back at Sammy. "Well you shouldn't be cuz he ain't real"

Sammy rolled his eyes. "Nice"

"Look" I urged. Dean stood up and leaned over, looking under the bed. When he wasn't grabbed, I felt a lot better.

"There see" Sammy smiled, "Nothing. Now go to sleep okay?"

"Kay" I said, snuggling down into the covers. I knew Sammy would come to bed eventually. That thought alone just made me feel better. I watched them leave and found myself slowly relaxing. I finally got my eyes to close.

Not two seconds later, my bed was being shaken violently. It shook back and forth like as though something underneath it was struggling to get out. I jolted awake and moved towards the middle of the bed. "SAMMY!" I screamed, feeling tears coming. "DEAN!"

A hand shot up from the edge of the bed and got a strong hold on my leg. I flipped off the bed, hitting my head on the nightstand, and found myself holding onto nothing as I was dragged under. "HELP ME!" I yelled as Dean and Sam came running over. Sam grabbed my hands and pulled. Dean took a shot gun and started shooting under the bed. Panicked, I latched onto Sammy. The thing let go and I went flying into Sammy's arms.

"It…what…" I cried, not even knowing what to ask. I hiccupped on my tears, feeling betrayed. My older brothers said there was nothing to be scared of. They said it was okay. "You told me there was nothing there" I said, voicing my concerns.

"There wasn't" Dean replied, shaking his head. "I swear, I'm sorry Lex"

I just held onto Sammy and tried to control my heart rate. When I could breathe, I let go and went by Dean. "Did you kill it?" I asked.

"I think so" he said with a slight nod. "Lemme see your legs"

I looked down. I hadn't even known I was bleeding. The sight of blood made me want to cry again. Dean picked me up and put me on the counter. He instructed Sammy to get the first aid kit. That was when my father walked in the door. "Alexis?" he asked, looking at me. "What happened?" The question was directed at Dean.

"We were attacked by a…well I don't really know" Dean replied, looking sheepish. He held up my legs. "It tried to pull her under the bed" Then he added, "Sir" as an after point.

He nodded, and looked at me. "I guess it's time to tell her" he sighed. He helped to bandage my legs and looked me over. I only had a billion little cuts all over, nothing that wouldn't heal in a week. He made me sit on the couch with him. "Listen, Alexis…" he started. "The thing that tried to pull you under the bed is real. Many monsters are real. They're evil and…I hunt them. That's why I disappear all the time"

"But why do you have to hunt them?" I asked.

"Because it's my job" He said. "Understand?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir" I was lying. I was scared and tired and I just wanted my brothers to let us leave so nothing else could get us.

"Good" he said. "We're going to start training her next time I come back" he said to Dean. Dean looked at me and nodded. "I'll be back in a couple days" Then he took his bag, and left.

We went to sleep that night with fear. At least I did. I slept with Sammy. I think it was because Dean wasn't actually going to go to sleep. He kept a good eye on us. I nudged Sammy. "Sammy" I whispered.

"Hmm" he mumbled.

"Did one of the monsters kill mommy?" I asked. Even as a little kid I was very intuitive.

Sammy flipped over so he was facing me and didn't smile. "Yeah"

I nodded and thought about that. "Is that why daddy fights them?" Sam nodded. I flipped over and snuggled into the blankets. "I don't think I wanna fight monsters" I whispered.

"It's okay squirt" Sammy said. "Me and Dean will protect you"

That was how I found out that my life was never going to be normal.

The boys rounding the corner brought me out of my daze. "Yeah well dad's in real trouble if he's not dead already, I can feel it" Dean said, coming to the car. "I can't do this alone"

"What the hell am I?" I asked. "Chopped liver?"

"You're just a kid" Dean remarked. I shut up.

"You can do this without me" Sam sighed.

"Yeah. Well, I don't want to"

"What was he hunting?" Sam asked.

Dean opened the trunk. The cases of guns and knives stood out. "All right, let's see. Where the hell did I put that thing?" he mumbled.

"So when dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asked as Dean rummaged through the trunk.

"I was working my own gig with Lex" he said. "This voodoo thing down in New Orleans"

"Dad let you two go on a hunting trip by yourselves?" Sam asked.

"I'm 26, dude." Dean remarked. "Where the hell is the-"I reached into the trunk and pulled out the book and papers. "Thanks" He sighed "All right, here we go. So dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago this guy" He pulled out the newspaper clipping. "- they found his car but he'd vanished, completely M.I.A."

"So maybe he was kidnapped" Sam shrugged. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, dad went all brigades on us because some guy was kidnapped.

"Yeah well, here's another one in April, another one in December '04, '03, '98, '92; Ten of them over the past 20 years, all men, all same 5-mile stretch of road. Started happening more and more so dad went to go dig around" He looked to me.

"That was about three weeks ago" I added.

"We hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough. Then I get this voicemail yesterday" I listened to the voicemail again.

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam asked.

"Not bad, Sammy. Kind of like riding a bike isn't it?" Dean smiled. "All right. Lex slowed the message down, and ran it through a Gold Wave took out the hiss, and this is what we got."

"Never go home" Sam said, repeating the message.

Dean threw his cell in the trunk and slammed it shut. "You know in almost two years I've never bothered you. Never asked you for a thing…" he started.

"All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him" Sam stated. "But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here"

"What's first thing Monday?" Dean asked.

"I have this…I have an interview"

Dean smirked. "What, a job interview? Skip it"

"It's a law-school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate"

"Law school?" Dean asked.

"So we got a deal or not?" Sam asked, going back inside. Dean nodded.

He jumped in the car and I followed, now getting into the back seat. I didn't mind. In the backseat you could ignore the people in the front seat and stretch out. Dean was silent in the driver's seat, which was odd, but I didn't say anything to him. He was going through something, and when Dean was emotional, it was best to stay out of the target range.

Sammy came back to the car with his duffel, and threw it in the trunk. He got into the passenger seat, casting a glance at me, and we left without a single word. I rolled my eyes and smirked. Leave it to these two to have a happy freaking reunion.

"So how's Jessica?" dean asked. "Got quite a nice set of-"

"Dean" I sighed, cutting him off. "Spare me"

Dean smirked and Sam chuckled. "She's great" Sammy replied.

"You living together, then?" he asked casually. What this question really meant was "I can't ask if you're sleeping with her, because Alexis is here, but is it any good?"

"Yeah" Sammy replied. A hint of a smile played on his face that I don't think even Dean caught. I knew he really liked Jess. I had been secretly talking to Sammy the entire time he'd been gone, even though dad told Dean and I not too. I couldn't help it. Me and Sam just…we got along good. Not that Dean and I didn't, but with Sammy you could talk about stuff. Dean just didn't want to.

"How did you do on the LSAT's?" I asked, "You got the results right?"

Sammy turned around. "I got a 176" he said. Just from the look on his face I could tell it was really good.

"Nice, Sam" I smiled enthusiastically. "So you're pretty much guaranteed an in with this interview right?"

"I don't know" he said nervously. "I mean, I did well, but plenty did better"

"Yeah, yeah" I laughed. "Save it"

Dean glared at me in the mirror. "How do you know about all this stuff?" he asked me with a curious glance.

"He told me" I replied, leaving it at that.

"When?" Dean wanted to know.

I felt myself start to blush. "When I called him"

"You called him?" he said, sounding mad.

"Yeah, on a telephone. You might've heard of them" I said, letting my sarcastic self take over. It was easier to just be sarcastic than let Dean know I was scared of his reaction.

Dean didn't respond to my comment. I knew he would pounce on me later, but as long as it was over for now I was fine. We drove for an hour or two when Dean stopped to get some food. It was light out now. "Lex, come in with me" Dean said, walking towards the gas station.

I hesitantly got out of the car and glanced at Sam. "If I don't come out alive, you know who to blame" I whispered. Sammy just shook his head and chuckled.

"You are coming?" Dean yelled.

I hurried to catch up. We went into the station and I followed him to the back. He grabbed three juices and a handful of breakfast bars. He pretended to scan the magazines, while I waited. "Would you just yell at me already?" I said, frustrated.

"Why didn't you tell me you were talking with Sam?" he asked, turning to face me.

I sighed. "Because you would've told dad" I replied. "Or you would've taken the phone and tried to convince him to come back. That's why he never answered your calls. "

He thought for a second. "When were you calling him?"

"Whenever you weren't around" I said. "Once a month or so, maybe more"

He paid for the stuff and grabbed me before we got all the way back to the car. "No more secrets, okay?" he said slowly. "Just…tell me stuff"

I nodded and walked back to the car, annoyed. Yeah, no more secrets. Because Dean totally doesn't keep secrets from me. Sam was ruffling through Dean's tapes. "Hey, you want breakfast?"

"No thanks" he said, glancing up. "So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and dad still running credit card scams?"

"Yeah well…hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career" Dean smiled. "Besides, all we do is apply, it's not our fault they send us the cards"

"Yeah and what names did you write on the application this time?" Sammy smirked.

Dean got back in the driver's seat. "Uh…Bert Aframian and his son, Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal"

"Sounds about right" Sam smirked.

"But none for me" I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"You're sixteen" Dean remarked. "And I buy you everything you want anyway"

"I swear man; you gotta update your cassette-tape collection" Sam said, interrupting our argument.

Dean looked offended. "Why?"

"Well for one they are cassette tapes, and two—"he said, pulling a few out. "Black Sabbath? Motor-head? Metallica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock"

Dean grabbed one out of his hands and popped it in the player. "House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole"

Sam rolled his eyes. "You know Sammy is a chubby 12 years old. It's Sam, okay?"

Dean turned up the music. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you" he remarked, pulling out of the gas station. "The music's too loud"

Sam hung up his cell phone. "All right, so there's no one matching dad at the hospital or morgue, so that's something, I guess"

"Yeah, he's not registered to be hurt or dead" I said, rolling my eyes. "So that leaves…pretty much everything" Sam just sighed.

"Check it out" Dean said. Up ahead, there was a bridge with police swarming it. Looks like an accident or something. Dean pulled up and pulled out two fake IDs, handing one to Sammy. "You're an intern" he said to me. I nodded. "Let's go"

"Did you guys find anything?" a police officer asked, yelling to a guy off the bridge.

"No, nothing!" he called back.

Another officer came out of the abandoned car. "No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless, it's almost too clean"

"So this kid Troy, he's dating your daughter isn't he?" one asked.

"Yeah" another replied.

"How's Amy doing?" he asked.

"She's putting up missing posters downtown"

Dean stepped in front of me and glanced at the car. "You fella's had another one just like this last month, didn't ya?" he asked.

"Who are you?" the policeman asked, narrowing his eyes.

Dean smirked, flipping open his wallet with the fake ID in it, "Federal Marshals"

"You two are a little young for Marshals, aren't you?" the officer asked.

Dean just smiled. "Thanks, that's awfully kind of you" he remarked. "You did have another one just likes this correct?"

"Yeah, about miles up the road" he pointed. "There have been others before that"

"So this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked.

The policeman nodded. "In a town like this, everybody knows everybody"

Dean circled the car, trying to look professional. "Any connections between the victims besides that they're all men?" he asked,

The policeman shook his head. "No, not so far as we can tell"

"So what's the theory?" Sam asked, walking towards Dean. I followed, just scanning the car for signs of anything suspicious.

"Honestly? We don't know" he replied. "Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Well that is exactly the kind of crack police work that I'd expect out of you guys"

Sam stomped on his foot. "Thank you for your time" he smiled at the officer. We walked off and Dean immediately smacked Sam over the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Why do you have to step on my foot?" Dean asked.

"Why do you have to talk to police like that?"

Dean scoffed. "Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean if we're gonna find dad we've gotta get to the bottom of this thing ourselves"

I cleared my throat as I saw two officers and agent of some sort walking towards us. "Can I help you?" asked the sheriff.

"No sir, we were just leaving" Dean smiled. We walked to the car and I felt the sheriff staring at our backs.

"So what now?" Sammy asked as we got back in the car.

"I think we should go find that Amy girl" I said. "She was his girlfriend, so maybe he knows something"

"Sounds like a plan" Dean said, starting the car up and driving. "Where would she be? You got a last name?"

"No, but she's downtown hanging up posters. Shouldn't be too difficult" I sighed, leaning back in the seat.

Both Sam and Dean looked back at me. I gave them a sheepish smile. "What?"

"How do you know that?" Sam asked.

"I can't eavesdrop on cops?" I asked smugly. "Geez guys, I am some help, you know"

They turned around and Dean took off for downtown. We came into the town. It wasn't huge or anything, but wasn't too small either. It was a good size. I pointed silently across Dean to the girl hanging putting up the posters under a theater.

"You must be Amy" Dean said as we approached her.

"Yeah" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Troy told us about you, we're his uncles. I'm Dean, this is Sammy" he said. "And his cousin, Lexie" I smiled.

"He never mentioned you to me" she replied.

"Well that's Troy, I guess" Dean sighed. I had to say, we were good liars. Even I would believe us." We're not around much; we're up in Modesto. So we're looking for him too, and we're kind of asking around"

"Hey, are you okay?" a girl asked, glaring at us in the process. Amy nodded at her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Do you mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sammy asked.

"I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home" Amy stated. We took a seat in a local diner. "He said he would call me right back, and he never did"

"He didn't say anything strange or out of the ordinary?" Sam hinted.

Amy shook her head. "No, nothing I can remember"

Sam pointed to her neck. "I like your necklace"

Amy looked down and pulled it all the way out of her shirt. She smiled "Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff"

"What a wonderful boyfriend" I retorted. Dean stomped on my foot and I grimaced.

"Actually, it means just the opposite." Sam explained. "A pentagram is protection against evil, really powerful" He looked at me and I gave him a surprised look. "I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing" he added quickly.

"Okay, thank you "Unsolved Mysteries"." Dean scoffed. "Here are the deal ladies-the way Troy disappeared—something's not right. So if you've heard anything…" The girl and Amy looked at each other uneasily. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well, it's just…with all these guys going missing, people talk" Amy said, uncomfortably.

"What do they talk about?" Sam, Dean and I said in almost perfect unison.

"It's kind of this local legend" her friend responded. "This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial like…decades ago. Well supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up—"She paused. "Well, they disappear forever" she finished.

I glanced at Dean, not really saying much, then at Sammy.

Great.

We were in the library. Dean thought for a second and typed "Female Murder Hitchhiking". The page came back saying, "No results found." He tried typing in "Female Murder Centennial Highway", again, "No results found" came up.

Sam went to go grab the mouse away from Dean. "Let me try"

Dean smacked Sam's hand away. "I got it" Sam rolled his eyes and pushed Dean's rolling chair out of the way. "Dude" he remarked, annoyed. "You're such a control freak"

"So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah" I replied.

"Maybe it's not murder" he sighed. He typed in "Female Suicide Centennial Highway" and a result actually came up. I sat down, waiting for Sam to read it aloud. "This was 1981. Constance Welch, 24 years old; Jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river"

"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asked.

"Yeah" Sam stated, grimacing.

"What?" I asked, dreading the answer a little after that look.

"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Her two little kids are in the bathtub, she leaves them alone for a minute, she comes back, and they aren't breathing. Both die"

"Pleasant" I remarked.

""Our baby's were gone and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband, Joseph Welch" Sam read.

"Does that bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asked with a smile, pointing at the screen. It was the same place from this morning.

We had to wait until night. That was when the spirits came out. The bridge was dark and empty, with no one around. No matter how many hunts I went on, which at fifteen was a lot, I never got used to going around town in the dead of night with a gun in my pants and knife hidden on my leg. I felt badass, but still. There was something about carrying a gun around that made you feel less safe.

"So this is where Constance took the swan dive" Dean said, peering over the edge.

"So you think dad would have been here?" Sam asked, glancing over.

"Well he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him" Dean shrugged. He looked at me for a second, and then looked away.

"Okay so now what?" Sam asked.

"Now we keep digging till we find him" Dean explained. He sighed. "It might take a while"

"Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by—"

"Monday." Dean interjected. "Right, the interview"

"Yeah" Sam sighed, looking forlorn.

"Yeah, I forgot" Dean stated. By the look on his face, I knew he hadn't forgotten. I also knew my brothers well enough to know that they were about to start something. "You're really serious about this aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asked.

"Maybe" Sam shrugged. "Why not?"

"Does Jessica know the truth about you?" Dean asked. "I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

"Here we go" I mumbled, moving away from the two of them. If they wanted to fight over something stupid, well good for them.

"No and she's not ever going to know" Sam stated coldly.

"Well that's healthy" Dean scoffed. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are" He started walking away towards where I moved to.

Sam followed him. "Who is that?"

"One of us" Dean said, pointing to him and me.

"No, I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life"

Dean sighed. "Well you've got a responsibility"

"To dad and his crusade?" Sam asked incredulously. "If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what mom looks like. What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone, and she isn't coming back"

Dean grabbed Sam by the shirt and shoved him against a bridge rail. "Don't talk about her like that" he growled.

I quickly moved in between them. "Stop it!" I yelled. Dean hesitantly let Sam go, and turned to face me. He stared in shock. I looked behind me to see the woman with long dark hair and a flowing white dress standing on the side of the bridge. She suddenly turned and let go of the rail, falling into the water. I ran to the edge, but there was no movement in the water below. She was just gone.

"Where'd she go?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know"

I stared into the water. "She's just gone" All the sudden, a car engine started. I glanced up. It was the Impala.

"Who's driving your car?" Sam asked. Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. The Impala started moving. At us. Really fast. We started running down the bridge. The car was closing in on us. Dean was ahead of me, and Sammy was behind me. "Come on Dean. Let's go! Go!" Sam shouted. He pulled me over to the edge of the bridge and we jumped off.

I grabbed the side of the railing to keep myself from falling all the way. I struggled to pull myself up, but was able to get to a sitting position. I glanced up to see Sam right in front of me. "You okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "Where's Dean?" I panted, trying to stay balanced.

Sam's eyes widened. "Dean!" he yelled to the water. "Dean!"

Dean came out of the water completely muddy and exhausted. "What?" he yelled back, frustrated.

"Hey, are you all right?" Sam called back.

"I'm super" he shouted, collapsing on the bank.

Sam helped me over the edge of the bridge again and over to the car. Dean made it back up too, and he smelled. And of course, the first thing he did was check on the car. "You look beautiful" I remarked, wrinkling my nose in disgust. He just glared at me.

"Car all right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah whatever she did to it, it seems all right now" he sighed. "That Constance chick—what a bitch!" he yelled.

"Well she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure" Sam added. I sat on the hood of the car, as Sam and Dean joined me. "So where's the trail go from here, genius?" Sam asked. Dean just shrugged. Sam thought for a second and grimaced. "Dude, you smell like a toilet"

I waited by the car with Sam while Dean got us a room at a local motel. He walked out, a strained look on his face. "What's up?" I asked.

"C'mon" he said. "Dad was here"

Dean knew what room it was, and I picked the lock with a bobby pin. Sam smiled. "Impressive" he stated.

I smiled. "If there's one thing you need to learn, it's how to pick a lock"

We went inside. There were pictures on the walls and the room was pretty messy. "Whoa" I grimaced.

Dean turned the light on and held up a half eaten cheeseburger. "I don't think he's been here for a couple days, at least" he said, sniffing it. He held it out to me.

"I don't want it" I scoffed. He shoved it towards my face. I punched it out of his hands, it crumpling on a mess on the floor. "You're disgusting" I said, as he picked it up.

"Salt, cats-eye shells" Sam sighed. "He was worried. Trying to keep something from coming. What do you got here?" He looked to Dean, who was now looking at the pictures on the wall.

"Centennial Highway victims" he replied. I glanced them over. "I don't get it. I mean different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?" I shrugged. Hell if I knew.

"Dad figured it out" Sam laughed.

"What?" I asked, walking over.

"He found the same article we did. Constance Welch, she's a woman in white" Sam explained.

Dean shook his head. "You sly dogs"

"What's a woman in white?" I asked. Dean smirked. "Wait" I said, putting a hand up to stop him. "I don't want to know"

"All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it" Dean said, after laughing at me.

"She might have another weakness" Sam suggested.

"No, dad would want to make sure, he'd dig her up" Dean argued. "Does it say where she's buried?"

"No, not that I can tell" Sam said. "If I were dad though, I'd go ask her husband. If he's still alive"

"All right, why don't you see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up" Dean said.

"Good idea" I replied, grimacing. He still smelled like pee. He gave me a look and grabbed his bag heading to the bathroom.

"Hey Dean-What I said earlier, about mom and dad, I'm sorry" Sam said. I rolled my eyes.

Dean held his hand up. "No chick flick moments" he stated.

"All right, jerk" Sam smiled.

Dean smirked. "Bitch" He went into the bathroom and shut the door. I'd forgotten about their little game. Every time Sam called Dean a jerk, bitch was sure to follow.

I lay down on the bed and buried my face into the pillow. "Is that a gun?" Sam asked.

"What?" I asked, picking my head up.

"You have a gun on you?" Sam asked in shock.

"I'm fifteen, Sammy" I smiled. "I can't go on hunts empty-handed"

"But…"

"But what?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "I swear to God, you say you're a girl…"

Sammy laughed and picked up his phone. "Never mind" I buried my face again. "Lex, what are you doing?"

"Smelling the pillow" I stated. "It smells like dad" He left me alone after that. I just focused on trying to think about how we had to find dad. I mean, he had to be around, didn't he? He wouldn't have sent us the voicemail if he didn't need help. We would find him.

"Hey man, I'm starving. I'm gonna grab a little something to eat at that diner down the street. You want anything?" Dean asked us.

"No" Sam responded.

"Aframian's buying" Dean taunted, looking at me.

"I'm gonna come" I stated, getting up.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because I don't know what I want" I said matter-of-factly. He stuck his tongue out at me, and I waltzed past, grabbing the card out of his hands.

We walked out and I headed to the car. He stopped me, motioning at the bushes. Not even thinking about it, I covered in them. You got used to listening when you were in life and death situations a lot. We may be siblings, but I knew when to listen. It wasn't until I peeked out a little that I saw why he made me get in the bushed. Cops were at the end, talking to the check-in guy. He pointed at Dean. Dean held up five fingers at me. That meant; get out ASAP, it was the authorities. He called Sam too. "Dude, five-o take off" he whispered. "Uh, they kind of spotted me. Go find dad"

He hung up and turned around to two police officers. "Problem officers?" he asked with a smile.

"Where's your partners?" one asked.

"Partners? What—what partners?" Dean lied.

The one policeman went towards our hotel room. "And didn't one come out with you?"

"Nope, it's just me" he grinned.

"So. Fake US Marshal, fake credit cards" Listed the policeman. "You got anything that's real?" I prayed he wouldn't say anything stupid.

"My boobs" he smiled. I scoffed. Yeah, that was stupid.

I made it around the block, where I met Sam. "Where's Dean?" he asked.

I sighed. "With his boobs"

"What?" he asked.

"The cops took him in"

"Well we should go see Mr. Welch" he stated. "We can worry about him later"

We rode all the way out to Mr. Welch's house. It was close to where the bridge was at. "Okay" Sam sighed, turning the car off. "We're reporters, you're an intern. Try not to talk too much, understand?"

I rolled my eyes, but opened the glove box. "Who do you wanna be?" I asked. "Charles Aberforth or Harold Cunningham?"

He grabbed the Harold one and I grabbed the one for me, Casey Cunningham, which went with it. We walked to the door and Sam knocked. "Hi, uh, are you Joseph Welch?" he asked.

"Yeah" he replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Harold Cunningham" Sam stated. "This is my intern, Casey" Mr. Welch didn't say anything, so Sam pulled out a picture. It was of dad, him and Dean from when he took them hunting. I couldn't go, I was only seven. "Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, he was older, but that's him" he said, stepping into his yard. "He came by three or four days ago. Said he was a reporter"

"That's right" Sam nodded, giving me a glance. "We're working on a story together"

"Well I don't know what the hell kind of story you're working on. The questions he asked me" he sighed,

"About your late wife Constance?" I asked. Sam shot me a look.

"He asked me where she was buried" Mr. Welch stated, only looking at Sam.

"And where is that again?" Sam asked.

Mr. Welch glared at him. "What, I got to go through these twice?"

"Its fact checking" Sam said, making him calm down. "If you don't mind"

"In a plot behind my old place over on Breckenridge" he said, pointing towards it.

"Why did you move?" I asked. Sam nudged me with his elbow, but I ignored him.

Mr. Welch shot me a matter-of-fact look. "I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died"

"Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?" Sam asked.

"No way" he stated. He had a look of nostalgia on his face. "Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known"

Sam looked at me, and then to Welch again. "So you had a happy marriage?"

He hesitated. "Definitely"

"Well that should do it" Sam nodded, and I headed for the car. "Thanks for your time"

I opened the door and was about to get in. "Mr. Welch, you ever hear of a woman in white?" Sam asked suddenly.

Welch just looked confused. "A what?"

"A woman in white, or sometimes a weeping woman" Sam explained. "It's a ghost story. Well it's more of a phenomenon really. Um, they're spirits. They've been cited for hundreds of years. Dozens of places; in Hawaii and Mexico. Lately in Arizona and Indiana." He listed. "All these are different women, you understand. But all share the same story"

"Boy I don't care much for nonsense" Welch said, turning around.

"You see, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them" Sam went on. What was he doing? "And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children. Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed. Walking back roads, waterways, and if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him, and that man is never seen again"

"You think-You think that has something to do with Constance?" Welch asked incredulously. "You smartass"

"You tell me" Sam shrugged, not even flinching.

"I mean maybe—maybe I made some mistakes, but no matter what I did, Constance would never would have killed her own children" Welch scoffed. "Now you get the hell out of here, and you don't come back"

"Yes, sir" I nodded. "Harold" Sam looked at me, and just got in the car. We started driving away by the time Welch had stopped staring at us.

"Well that went well" I remarked. Sammy just smirked. "There's something I don't get though"

"What?" he asked, pulling out his cell phone?

"Why did Dean smirk earlier about the women in white?" I asked,

Sammy just gave me an uncomfortable grin. "She lures the men in" he said. "Like a prostitute or something. Then she jumps them, and-"

"Okay" I cut him off. "That's all the detail I need" We drove and I thought for a second. "What are we going to do about Dean?"

"I don't know" Sam sighed.

I thought. "Can I see your cell?"

"Use yours" he scoffed.

"I can't Dean broke it" I said, holding up the broken screen.

He handed it to me. I dialed 911. "911, what is your emergency?" a lady asked. Sam glared at me.

"Yeah, I heard shots going off on Whiteford Road?" I said. "I don't know what it is, but the police might want to check it out"

"Thank you" the lady said. "Someone should be there immediately"

I hung up and he took the cell phone out of my hands. "Dude!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his eyes on the road and glare at me at the same time.

"What?" I asked, hearing sirens behind us.

"A fake 911 call?" he asked. "Seriously? Remind me to never let you borrow my phone again" His cell phone rang. He picked it up, still glaring at me. "Hello?"

"Fake 911 phone call Sammy?" Dean asked. "I don't know, that's pretty illegal" I could hear him on the cell.

"That wasn't me that was Lexie" Sam said. "Did you teach her that?"

"You're welcome" I said into the phone. Dean laughed,

"Listen, we gotta talk" Dean said.

"Tell me about it" Sam sighed. "So the husband was unfaithful, we are dealing with a woman in white. She's buried behind her old house. So that should have been dad's next stop"

"Sammy would you shut up for a second" Dean asked, cutting him off.

"I just can't figure out why he hasn't destroyed the corpse yet" Sam went on.

"Well that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone" Dean explained. "Dad left Jericho"

"What? How do you know?" Sam asked. I leaned over to hear well.

"I've got his journal" Dean replied.

"He left his journal?" I asked, looking at Sam.

Sam sighed. "He doesn't go anywhere without that"

"Yeah, well he did this time"

"What's it say?" Sam asked.

"Same old ex-marine crap when he wants to let us know where he's going" Dean replied.

"Coordinates" I sighed.

"Coordinates?" Sam asked Dean. "Where to?"

"I'm not sure yet

"Let me talk to him" I said, reaching for the phone.

"I don't understand, I mean what could be so important that dad would just skip out in the middle of a job?" Sam went on. I tried to pull on the phone, but Sam slapped me away. "Dean, what the hell is going on?"

I sat back. "SAM!" I screamed.

"Whoa!" He yelled, slamming on the brakes. The woman in white had been in the road directly in front of us. We went right through her. She had disappeared as fast as she had appeared.

"Take me home" said a cold voice. I turned around to see Constance Welch sitting in the backseat. "Take me home" she demanded.

Sam gripped the steering wheel harder. "No" The locks on the car door locked by themselves. I tried to pry them open, but it was useless. We were trapped. Then, when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the car started gunning down the road.

"Sam! Stop!" I yelled. He gave me a helpless look, and pressed the brake harder. We didn't stop. Next, he tried to control the steering wheel but no matter what he did we kept going. He let go and went back to the door. I did the same. I kicked at the door, trying to claw my way out.

We pulled up to a broken old house. I knew it was hers. This was her home. The car stopped and shut off. "Don't do this" Sam said.

"I can never go home" she said, just staring at the house.

"You're scared to go home" he said. He went to turn around, but that was the last thing I saw. I was catapulted out of the car. I flew out; feeling like something had thrown me from my middle. I lay on the ground, moaning. The flying might have been cool, but the landing? Not so great.

I groaned, and sat up. She had totally knocked the wind out of me. Stupid ghost bitch. Dean came running up the drive, stopping to kneel by me. "Are you okay?" I nodded, and pointed to the car, trying to say that Sammy needed help. I heard Sam's screams. I stood up and ran with Dean to the car. Dean pulled out his gun and shot into the car, shattering the window.

Sam was able to move and turned the car on. "I'm taking you home" He groaned, and floored it. He went right through the house.

"Sam!" Dean and I yelled in unison. We ran in together, him handing me a gun.

"Sam! You okay?"Dean asked, helping Sammy to sit up.

"I think" He replied.

"Can you move?" Dean asked him.

Sam groaned and moved a little. "Yeah. Help me"

Dean helped him out while I watched Constance, my gun pointed. She was picking up a picture. I glanced back at Sam and Dean, who were out of the car now. Suddenly, a dresser came at us really fast. I tried to move, but we were pinned. I pushed the edge, tried to kick with my feet, everything, but we were trapped.

The lights in the house flickered on. I glanced up to where she was looking. At the top of the stairs were two kids. "You've come home to us mommy" they spoke.

Suddenly, the kids were behind her. They grabbed Constance and she screamed in pain. They turned a weird purple and flickered like lights. Slowly, they melted into the floor. The dresser stopped pushing into us, and we could move it. We walked over sort of hesitantly.

"So this is where she drowned her kids" Dean spoke, pointing at the wet spot on the rug.

"That's why she could never go home" Sammy said. "She was too scared to face them"

"You found her weak spot. Nice work Sammy" Dean smiled, clapping him on the back.

Sam laughed, "I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"

"Hey, saved your ass" Dean smiled. He walked to the car and inspected it. "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car, I'll kill you" He moved wood off, and Sammy and I helped.

Thankfully for Sam's life, the car wasn't badly damaged. Only one headlight was busted, much to the chagrin of Dean. I was in the backseat again, and watching Sammy look on the map for the coordinate's dad gave us. I held the flashlight for him.

"Okay here's where dad went" Sam spoke. "It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado"

"Sounds charming" Dean smirked. "How far?"

Sam added in his head. "About 600 miles"

Dean nodded. "If we shag ass we can make it by morning"

Sam squirmed uncomfortably. "Dean, um…"

"You're not going" he stated, sadly.

"The interviews in 10 hours, I gotta be there" Sam explained.

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, whatever" he said quickly. "I'll take you home"

I couldn't help but be jealous of Sam. He had a home to go to. He had friends; a girlfriend; a teacher. I just homeschooled. I wished I could talk about what being normal was like with someone. If I tried to talk about it with Sam or Dean, all I would get would be a sappy tale from Sam and a death sentence from dean. Normal. I wished I could escape like Sam did sometimes. We got back to Sammy's place in a few hours. Dean pulled up and Sam got out of the car in silence. "You'll call me if you find him?" he asked. Dean only nodded. "Maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?"

"Yeah, all right" Dean replied, but from the look on his face I could tell that he wouldn't be contacting Sam anytime soon. Sam looked at me and smiled.

"Good luck, Sasquatch" I stated, trying not to sound upset. Sam smiled still, and turned to walk away.

"Sam" Dean spoke. Sam stopped and turned around. "You know we made a hell of a team back there"

"Yeah" Sam sighed. Then he walked to the door.

I hopped into the front seat and Dean drove off. As we made it down the street, I felt nauseous. I felt like something bad was going to happen. I felt nervous. I closed my eyes and hid my face in my hands. Pain shot through me and I felt dizzy. I gripped Dean's arm. "What?" he asked, shaking his arm a little? "What's wrong?"

"I feel…" I said slowly. I clenched my jaw.

"Is it dad?" he asked excitedly.

I shook my head as the pain subsided a little. "Dean" I said, letting go of his arm. "Turn around right now"

With no questions asked, Dean did an illegal U-turn and drove right back to Sam. "What is it?" he asked, glancing at me. I was still holding my head.

I opened my eyes, which were watering. "I don't know" I stated. We came back to the apartment house where there was a silent street. I got out of the car and ran up to the house. Dean moved me out of the way. He broke the door down when he heard Sam scream from inside.

"Sam!" he yelled, kicking it down. "Lex, stay here"

Too scared to protest, I held my ground, just waiting. "Sam!" I heard him yell. I could see smoke pouring out of the doorway. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Jess! No!" he yelled. I felt sick to my stomach. I decided to ignore Dean and into the room. There was fire erupting from the ceiling and Jess was pinned to the ceiling, her stomach slashed open. Just like my mom. Dean grabbed Sam and my arm and shoved us out into the street.

We waited for the firefighters, and I just stayed back by the car in silence. Dean watched the house and Sam was in the trunk. Dean slowly walked to Sammy and nodded at me. I followed. Sam had a loaded pistol. He sighed, throwing it in the trunk. "We got work to do" he stated.

Silly me. There was no such thing as normal.