Thanks to sapphireswimming for providing the base prompt that inspired this (like a year ago).

Summary: One winter night, a lonely kid walks into a bar...

The Wisconsin Incident

It was midwinter, and the kid wasn't dressed for the cold.

Gordon sat at a table, eating his burger, when the kid came into the bar Dressed in rags, he wouldn't've given the kid a second glance, but it was in the negatives outside, and this part of Wisconsin was deep in a hard blizzard. Even Gordon was dressed in three sweaters, two jackets, and the thickets, heaviest coat he could find – and he was still feeling the chill in his bones.

But this kid. This kid wasn't even shivering. Hell, the kid didn't even look like he'd noticed that there was a blizzard raging outside. And... he was barefoot too, now that Gordon took a real good look. Barefoot, and thin – the kind of thin where a guy figured the phrase "skin and bones" was made for. The kid's hair was a stark white, long and hiding a gaunt face.

It was a vampire. Had to be. Even if it was something else, slicing off the head was always effective – he could always figure out what Thing it was afterwards.

So Gordon watched as the kid sat down at the bar, dug through his pockets for money – the waitress took pity on him, giving him a burger on the house – and eat the food brought to him. He didn't say anything to anyone, looking nervously at everyone every few seconds, and then left.

By that point, he'd caught the interest of everyone in the bar, and Gordon was the one who made the big offer of taking the kid to the motel for the night; he was already staying there, and in this weather it was better than anyone else going out of their way to help the kid. The kid had tried to get out of it, but with everyone urging him to accept, he had no choice but to go outside with Gordon.

Outside, the wind and snow made visibility not much further than the guy's nose, but he made sure to keep the kid in his line of sight all the way to the car. With so much attention brought on in the bar, this would have to be Gordon's last time passing through this part of Wisconsin for several years, at least. It wasn't the first time he'd had to put himself on the radar as a murderer, but Gordon had quite enjoyed this town as a resting stop – that bar made the best burgers he'd ever had.

At the car, Gordon graciously got out his keys – and two knives (one iron, one silver) – and made his move. The iron knife was the first strike, moving to gut the kid, only to pass right through the kid like he wasn't even there. The kid stumbled backward, falling away and trying to run as Gordon lunged with the silver knife in a reverse grip. He landed on top of the kid, both knives perfectly poised to slice off the kid's head when–

It wasn't snowing anymore.

Gordon blinked, jerking backwards as he took stock of his situation.

It was a college campus of some sort, and he was standing outside some lab, looking in at some couple tinkering away at some fancy contraption. He checked himself for anything missing – all the loose money in his wallet, but nothing else – and then moved toward a payphone to call up that Singer guy.

He had a feeling that he'd need to take special care against whatever demon that kid had been, when they met again in the future. Possession was something that he'd hadn't known he'd need to protect himself against – but next time, he'd be prepared.