Written by Andy Epsilantis (Stokes)
Chapter One:
It was a brisk night in Quantico, Virginia. The air had the hint of autumn on it, and the stars were bright in the sky. The silence of a sleepy town hung thick in the air. Most students were in their own homes with their families, winding down from the hard week at school. The excitement the base carried during the day had long ago died down.
Inside of the library at William Henry Harrison Preparatory Academy, however, two minds raced over thick volumes of literature books.
The two sat surrounded by tall bookcases in a seldom-used part of the library, attempting to translate an old, German tale into English. The seventeen-year-old girl, Jade Queen, stared at her book with a look of deep concentration furrowing her eyebrows. The boy, Ron Hardison, couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He had long ago decided she was the one for him, but never had the guts to tell her. He came to the conclusion that he would tell her tonight. Try as he might, he could not find the words to do so.
While the teenage boy fought hard to find the words, a man sat on a stage in a night club not far from the school. The man smiled out to the audience, charisma seeping from his pores. Catcalls screeched out from the audience with a few women and men screaming a fun, “We love you, Cy!” He waved at the regulars he recognized and began playing the first few chords to “L.A. Song.” Cyrus Knoxx, a regular on the scene for the past few months, had captured the hearts of these club-goers with his amazing guitar skills, and his beautiful voice.
“Pretty girl on every corner
Sunshine turns the sky to gold
Warm, warm, it’s always warm here
And I can’t take the cold…”
The club quieted down as his voice carried passion and soul onto the airwaves. The people who had come to drink away their problems merely watched and listened to him; misery had paused for them all.
Back at the library, no such melodious tunes were heard. Just the faint scratching of pencil on paper and the soft turn of a page in an old book. Jade felt the tingling feeling one gets when being watched and looked up to Ron, a soft smile forming on her lips.
“What?” she asked, giggling.
Ron snapped out of his trance and shook his head, an embarrassed smile forming on his face. “Nothing,” he said as he focused on the book in front of him. Jade fixed him with a quizzical look for a few moments, but then looked back down at her own book. Ron held his book up in front of him and continued to stare at her, hidden behind. He almost let out a sigh that would have betrayed his true thoughts.
“Street's littered with diamonds
And everyone's glistenin'
This whole world shines so brightly
And I can't see a thing…”
Cyrus focused only on his music, aware that he was being watched, but not caring. It was one of the very few ways he allowed his heart to be seen and it was only behind the words of another.
“She's pretty as a picture
She is like a golden ring
Settles me with love and laughter
And I can't feel a thing…
The sky's gonna open
People gonna pray and crawl
It's gonna rain down fire
It's gonna burn us all…
“The sky's gonna open
People gonna pray and sing
I can't feel a thing…”
The withered Mrs. Nestruck, a woman of sixty years, approached the two students. She fixed them with an apologetic smile; she didn’t enjoy having to kick out such great and quiet scholars. “Kids, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I really shouldn't have let you stay this late.”
Ron jerked his head back from his book and looked over to Mrs. Nestruck; she had startled him. He had forgotten that they were not completely alone. He looked back to Jade.
“No problem. Thanks for the help, Mrs. Nestruck,” Jade replied politely. She put in a marker in each of the books she used and stuffed them into her backpack.
“It's no problem at all, Jade,” Mrs. Nestruck said with a smile. “I like having the company.”
“She's pretty as a picture
She is like a golden ring
Settles me with love and laughter
And I can't feel a thing…”
Ron and Jade slung their backpacks over their shoulders and left the library. The echoes of their footsteps faded as Mrs. Nestruck picked up a book from the table with a frown.
“The sky's gonna open
People gonna pray and crawl
It's gonna rain down in fire
It's gonna burn us all…”
Ron stared at the ground as he walked, deciding it was now or never, but then he stopped walking. “Crap! I forgot one of my books. I'll be right back. Wait for me, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Jade said, nodding. She turned and watched him run back into the building, her head tilted slightly to the side. She knew he was preoccupied with something, but wished she knew what.
“The sky's gonna open
People gonna pray and sing
And I can't feel a thing…”
A loud, male scream echoed through the courtyard. Jade dropped her backpack to the ground in fright. Her eyes widened in recognition of the voice.
“Ron?!” she yelled as she ran back into the school. Jade burst through the library doors and found Mrs. Nestruck kneeling over Ron’s body. A frantic look sat in her eyes as she pressed her fingers to his neck and then wrist.
“I can't find a pulse. Call 9-1-1!” she commanded. Jade ran to the phone behind the desk and dialed.
Back at the nightclub, everything was how it should be, the sounds from echoing sirens drowned out by the dulcet tones of the man on stage.
“Oh, I can't feel...”
Cyrus finished the song. He stood up to the thundering applause and bowed to the audience, a smile on his face.
*****
Opening Credits rollTheme Song: “Quicksilver,” by the Cruxshadows
*****
Guest Starring
Molly Quinn as Jade Queen
Christian Kane as Cyrus Knoxx
Frances Conroy as Mrs. Nestruck
Armin Shimerman as Principal Wilkins
*****
Everything was bright and sunny for the man and woman in the dingy motel room. The peaceful silence of a quiet night was shattered by a baby’s cry. He rolled out of bed and shot up with the speed of light as he looked around for a threat, calming when he saw nothing wrong.
He ran his hand through his hair as he watched Grace cradle the baby in her arms in the bed. Her eyes shot up at Sam as he jumped out and looked around. A sad smile hit her face at the thought of the life the baby would have.
She turned her attention back on the young one and played with his mouth for a moment with her finger. He smiled at her with the soft and overly happy smile of an innocent child, and she returned it with equal exuberance. “God, he's beautiful,” she said softly as he yawned the after-sleep yawn.
“So is the woman holding him,” Sam replied with a smile. He sat back down on the bed and looked down at the boy. The little guy returned the stare, unabashed and inquisitive.
“What are we going to name him, Sam? It's been three weeks and we still haven't come up with one.”
Sam let a bit of a mischievous smirk play across his face. “I've got an idea.”
“What is it?”
“Daniel,” he answered.
Grace looked up at him, confusion played in her eyes. “Why?”
Sam chuckled. ”Remember that first day we met? At the Roadhouse? Ellen gave you that PRP job and you walked out. I said, ‘Bye,’ and you shouted back, ‘See ya later, Dan.’ That hard-to-get and gritty hunter was what I initially fell in love with.”
Grace smiled brightly at him, and then turned her attention back to the baby. “Daniel it is, then. Daniel Caleb Winchester.”
Sam’s dazzling smile echoed Grace’s bright one, “Caleb was your father’s name, right?” She nodded in response.
Ruby entered from the bathroom. She tossed the towel she wiped her hands with aside. With a roll of the eyes, she said, “Okay, enough with the chick flick.”
Grace narrowed her eyes. “Nice to see you, too, Ruby.”
Ruby scoffed. “Damn, I can just sense all the love in that sentence.”
Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “What's on the bill today, Ruby?”
“How's Virginia grab you?”
“Elaborate...”
Ruby paced as she explained the situation. “Boy and friend stay at school late to work on a project. Librarian tells them it's time to leave. Boy runs back in after forgetting a book and, 30 seconds later, he screams and is dead.”
Sam looked at Grace. “What do you think?”
Grace grinned, a spark of fire lighting up her eyes. “Sounds like getting back to the basics. I'm game.”
Sam turned to Ruby. “Go get Travis and Zach. Next stop, Virginia.”
“They're already packed and waiting for us at the car.”
Sam crossed his arms over his chest. “And what if we had said no?”
Ruby shrugged, unconcerned, and answered honestly, “Then we'd go without you. We don't get paid to do this. You two aren't our bosses.”
Sam shrugged it off. “Point taken. I'll get us packed and meet you out in the car.”
Ruby headed over to the door. Right before she exited, Sam called out to her, “Where in Virginia are we going exactly?”
*****
The sun’s bright rays glimmered off of the Impala and Grace’s Mustang as they pulled up to the edge of the road. Sam drove the Impala with Grace and Danny in the front passenger's seat and Zach lounged in the back. Ruby drove the Mustang and Travis rode shotgun. Sam looked wound up as he spoke to Ruby over the phone.
“Quantico?!”
“Yeah, so?”
Sam gripped the phone tightly as he spoke in utter annoyance. “Ruby, you do realize that Quantico is home to the largest Marine Corps base in America and the FBI Academy?”
“And the training academy for the DEA. Again, I ask, so? It's not like the Feds haven't been an issue on other hunts.”
“Maybe, but we've never actually walked onto one of their bases, Ruby!”
“Look, I'm heading in there Sam. If you want to hold back on me, send Zach over here, and then be my guest. I’d be more than happy to handle this alone with him and Travis.” Ruby sped down the road ahead of him.
Sam hung up the phone and slammed his hands on the steering wheel. “Damn.” He stomped the pedal to the floor and followed the brazen Ruby to the biggest backyard of the most highly trained federal employees in the United States.
*****
Later in the day, the Impala and the Mustang reached the gates to the base. A guard in his late twenties walked up to the Mustang, Ruby rolling down the window in anticipation.
“Can I help you?” the guard asked in his official, yet far-too-bored, voice.
“Not quite. See my friend in the car behind me? He's being called in as a substitute for W.H.H. Prep. We're just tagging along.”
“I'm afraid I can't let you on the base if you don't have any business here.”
Ruby asked flirtatiously, “Aw... are you sure? I was really looking forward to seeing it from the inside.” She quivered her lip and looked sympathetically at the guard. He blushed slightly, clearly enjoying the attention of the pretty woman.
“I'm sorry, but it's against the rules.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, her eyes looking down sadly. “Okay. Rules are rules...”
Ruby turned the Mustang around and pulled away. As she passed Sam, she shot him a look that told him he had to be prepared for what was about to happen and that she wished him good luck. The guard knocked on the window.
“You're the new sub?” the guard asked suspiciously.
“Yes, sir,” Sam answered, relieved that Ruby had gone ahead of him.
“ID?”
Sam opened the glove compartment and pulled out an ID. The guard looked at it and then pulled out his radio.
“Front gate to W.H.H.”
“Go for W.H.H,” a voice answered from the other end.
“I've got a man out here claiming to be your new sub. A Thomas Wade.”
Silence followed the announcement, Sam growing nervous. But then, the voice replied, “Send him in. I've been expecting him.”
“And the people with him? They aren’t cleared on the forms sent up earlier.”
“Stop being such a hard ass. Let 'em come in,” the voice sounded slightly exasperated.
The guard replaced the radio on his belt. He smiled sheepishly at Sam and the other people in the car. “Give me one second and you'll be all set.”
“Thanks,” Sam replied, his relief well hidden.
The guard walked back into the booth and pressed a few buttons on the computer console. The chain-link gate slowly opened. Sam retrieved his ID from the guard as he drove by and pulled past the gates.
*****
A soft thud on a mahogany door caused Principal Wilkins to look up from his paperwork. The man adjusted the silver-framed glasses and affixed a smile to his well-creased face. “Yes?”
A woman entered the room, a questioning look on her face. “A Thomas Wade for you, sir?”
Principal Wilkins nodded his head. “Yes, Ms. Hawkes, send him in.” She stood aside and motioned for Sam, Grace, Danny, and Zach to enter. The aged man spread his arms wide in welcome, “The cavalry.”
Sam shook his head and let a rueful smile play on his face, “Not quite. Principal Wilkins, I'm Thomas Wade. This is my wife, Judith, and our sons, Randy and Keegan.”
“Welcome to Quantico.”
Principal Wilkins held out his hand to Sam. Sam took it into his own for a brief handshake, “Thank you, sir. So, how does this work? My résumé consists strictly of public high school.”
“Nothing's any different than a normal high school. But, if we put up high appearances, the students' minds follow.”
Sam nodded. “I see.”
Principal Wilkins motioned toward the door and cleared his throat. “Just go see Ms. Hawkes for your class list. She's who led you in here.”
“And what about Keegan?”
“I'm sorry? What about him?”
Sam gave tiled his head slightly to the side. “Where can he pick up his registrar?” Principal Wilkins stared at him inquiringly. Sam chuckled sheepishly, “I'm sorry. I should've explained better. Keegan's still a senior. I need to enroll him in the school while I'm here.”
“Okay, I got you now. Ms. Hawkes can help him with that, too.”
“Okay. Thank you, sir.” Sam exited the room with the others in tow. Zach closed the door behind the group and gave the back of Sam’s head a bit of a glare.
Inside the main office, Ms. Hawkes sat at an old, oak desk. Instead of a relic of a computer, however, a Macbook Pro sat on her desk beside an iMac. The laptop was clearly for pleasure, while the iMac had a number of work applications on it. Her fingers clicked expertly on the keyboard before glancing up at Sam’s rather tall form as he approached.
“Yes?” she asked professionally.
“Principal Wilkins told me to see you for the enrollment papers for my son here and my class list.” Sam gestured to Zach as he spoke.
“Sure thing. Give me one second.” She finished her report and sent it to Principal Wilkins before she hit the switch user button on her iMac and exited the room. She dug through a slightly haphazard filing cabinet, her eyes searching for the proper forms and schedule sheet.
Zach leaned forward and asked in a hushed voice, “You're enrolling me here?!”
Sam whispered back, “You got any better ideas on how to get you in the building? I need somebody to back me up here, Zach. I can't ask Grace to do it and Ruby and Travis can't even get onto the base.”
Ms. Hawkes walked back in after she closed and locked the cabinet door. She handed Sam a thin packet of papers. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, ma'am. And I will see you tomorrow,” he replied pleasantly as he flipped through the papers with a professional interest.
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Wade.” Sam and his family exited the office.
As they walked through the lobby, Zach watched a girl enter the library. He cracked a small smile as she turned her head toward him. She sent him one back before she disappeared into the stacks. Zach rolled his shoulders back and stood a bit taller as he followed Sam and Grace out of the school.
*****
Later that night, the four sat in a motel room filling out their papers. Zach scratched his head as he looked at the papers. A frown pulled his lips back into a frustrated grimace. “Name… what's my name again?”
Sam looked up from his own paperwork with a slightly thoughtful expression. “Uh... Kasey?”
“Keegan,” Grace called from the bed.
“That's right. Keegan Wade. Come up with a middle name for yourself.” Sam looked back at his paperwork. A slight smile sat on his face; it felt like old times again.
Zach almost growled in agitation. “I can't believe I have to sit through classes with these snobs. All cash, no brains.”
“Look, Zach, if you can come up with a better idea, feel free to throw it my way. Until then, this is all I can come up with. I'm sorry you don't like it.”
“Just remember that I'm doing this to back you up. Nothing else.” Zach liked being on equal footing with the adults in his life. He knew he could do the things they did and he wanted respect afforded to a fellow hunter.
“I appreciate that,” Sam replied, knowing not to roll his eyes at the youth.
Danny started to cry. Grace rolled off of the bed and walked over to the makeshift crib to cradle him. She rocked him in her arms as Sam looked at his watch. He tossed the pen onto the desk and stood up. Zach grinned as he stood beside Sam. Sam gave Grace a kiss on the forehead, poked Danny softly on the nose, and left the motel room with Zach on his heels.
“Don’t wait up!” he called over his shoulder as he slammed the door shut.
*****
Zach stood watch outside of the Academy as Sam used a crowbar to pop one of the office windows open. He scanned the area briefly and climbed in. After a cautionary glance, Zach followed. He leaped lightly from the window sill to the ground and shook his head at Sam, who had fallen, with a slight crash, after climbing in.
“I'm gettin' too old for this,” Sam groaned.
Zach rolled his eyes. “C'mon, Sam. Really?”
“Help me up, man.” Zach chuckled as he gave him a hand and helped pull him up. “Thanks.”
“Sure,” Zach replied with a glint in his eyes that said he would be telling everyone of the great Sam Winchester’s fall.
Soft footfalls echoed in the empty halls as they entered the main library. The lights were off and it signaled to the two that they were likely alone. Sam moved deeper into the library and turned into a hallway.
Zach whispered, “What are we looking for?”
“Anything.”
Sam pulled out an EMF detector. It started to beep as he turned it on. He held it in front of him as he measured the frequencies in his immediate area. He turned toward the strongest hit on the detector when a beam of light fell upon them. “Freeze!” a voice yelled.
Sam and Zach shot their hands immediately up, waiting for a moment they could run because having a B&E on their record was the last thing they needed at the very start of an undercover operation.
Travis and Ruby grinned as they mockingly sang, “Now throw your hands in the air! And wave 'em like you just don't care!”
Zach stood dumbfounded as Sam asked, “What the hell are you two doing here? I thought the guard wouldn't let you on base.”
“Not of his own volition at any rate,” Travis answered, turning off the flashlight. He sent a conspiratorial grin to Ruby.
“You didn't…?” Sam asked with a groan.
Ruby gave him a cocky smile. “I did.”
“Ruby…” Sam wanted to lecture her, but in all honesty, did not have the words to do so. Demons couldn’t be told what to do – not now, not ever.
Ruby shrugged uncaringly. “What? All I did was possess him for a few minutes. Long enough to have him turn off the security cameras and let us through.”
Sam walked off, shaking his head in silent surrender.
Ruby looked at Travis and Zach, a baffled look on her face. “What?”
*****
Chapter Two:
Golden sunlight entered Sam’s classroom from the half-covered windows. Sam sat at the front desk and sipped a cup of herbal tea. He knew dealing with high school kids would be trying on his nerves and he aimed to keep as relaxed as possible during this ordeal.
Some kids sat scattered around the room as others trickled in. Each one took their seats as the bell rang.
Olivia, a girl of seventeen, eagerly walked over to Sam’s desk and put an apple on it. She pushed her librarian glasses up to her face before she proclaimed, “From all of us to you, welcome to W.H.H. Prep!”
Sam smiled. “Thank you, Miss...”
“Olivia Allen, sir.”
“Thank you, Ms. Allen,” Sam allowed himself to briefly think that dealing with preparatory students would be different.
However, as Olivia turned to return to her seat, another student of the same age, Jackie, decided to throw in her two cents. In a feigned cough, she called out, “Kiss ass!” The other students in the room laughed as Olivia slid into her seat, embarrassed.
Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose as he realized that these kids were just as mean-spirited as most others. “All right, that's enough. For those of you who haven't seen me in the halls or heard of me, I'm Mr. Wade. I'll be subbing for Mrs. McWhirter for a couple of days while she recuperates.”
A male student by the name of Ben, a bad boy to the bone dressed all in black and a hostile expression on his privileged face, snorted. “She's not sick. Bitch ran scared.”
Sam narrowed his eyes. “Hey. Watch it!”
“Whatcha gonna do? Put me in detention?” He feigned horror and scoffed once more.
“Worse,” Sam said with a sinister smile.
“Oh...? Let's hear it, tough guy.”
Sam knew the only way to get through to a tough guy was to embarrass them, so he stood up and pointed to the board. “I'm gonna make you go ahead and translate that.”
The class looked at the complicated phrase and immediately went to whispering to each other. A few of the students sucked in their breath in shock. Most of them said a shaken, “Damn!”
Sam smirked at Ben, “Welcome to class.”
*****
Zach stood awkwardly in front of the class; first introductions were always the worst part of joining a class in any part of the school year besides the beginning of it. He sighed heavily as he was introduced.
“Class, please welcome Keegan Wade,” Ms. Cooper instructed, the young English teacher smiling politely as she motioned for Zach to step forward. A few mumbled hello’s rang hollowly through the room. “Keegan, is there anything that you'd like to tell the class about yourself?”
Zach shrugged, bored out of his mind. “Nope. Not really.”
Ms. Cooper pointed to an empty desk near the door. “Go ahead and take a seat, then.”
Zach walked to an empty desk and sat heavily into the seat. His book bag dropped heavily to the ground.
“Hey,” said the girl seated next to him with a smile, reaching out a hand.
Zach looked at her with a slight smile of his own. “Hey.”
“I'm Jade. You're the sub's kid, right?” Her voice lowered to a whisper as class started.
Zach nodded. “Keegan.” He took her hand into his and gave it a brief squeeze and shake.
“Welcome to William Henry Harrison,” she honestly retorted.
Zach and Jade returned their attention to the front of the room. Ms. Cooper had her back to the class as she wrote the lesson plan on the board. Zach turned back to Jade after thinking for a few minutes.
He narrowed his eyes in an act of feigned bewilderment. “Wait a minute, Jade Queen?”
“That's right,” she replied with a raised eyebrow.
“I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Ron, was it?”
Jade grew a little uneasy, but nevertheless nodded.
Zach averted his eyes, apologetic, and said softly, “Sorry. Tender topic.”
“It's okay. Yeah, it was Ron. Such a sweet guy. He didn't deserve to die.” Jade took a deep breath to keep her nerves steady.
“What happened to him?” Genuine concern peppered Zach’s question. He wanted to be professionally withdrawn, but could not help the need to protect this powerless girl. He did not like seeing a girl in pain, be it emotional, physical, or otherwise.
Jade shrugged, unsure as to why she decided to open up to the new kid. “One minute, he was fine, and the next, his heart just gave out. It's weird. The funeral's today, if you're interested.”
“I don't think so. I didn't even know him,” Zach said, trying to hide his actual desire to check out the body; he knew that to jump onto the offer quickly would just confirm his unusualness.
She gave Zach a sad smile. “You don't have to know somebody to wish them well in the afterlife. Come with me,” she pleaded.
Zach thought about it for a moment, offered her a small smile, and answered, “Okay, why not?”
Jade’s warm smile was all the thanks Zach needed to know he did the right thing. “Meet me in the courtyard out front after classes.”
Ms. Cooper called out to the talkative students, exasperation evident in her voice, “Ms. Queen, Mr. Wade, please pay attention.”
“Sorry,” both students replied, deference in their voices.
Ms. Cooper eyed them, then shook her head and turned back to the board. The lesson continued. Zach nodded his agreement to Jade and faced forward in his seat.
*****
Zach walked down the aisle carrying his lunch, his eyes searching for an unoccupied place to sit. Jade watched him enter and called him over to her table.
“Keegan!” Zach turned to her voice. She smiled and waved him over. She pointed to an empty chair. “C'mon, we've got an open seat here.”
Zach walked over and looked at each person at the table. “You sure? You guys don't mind?”
The other people at the table shook their head, each intrigued by the new guy. Zach put his tray on the table and took the open seat. His backpack dropped to the ground.
Jade eagerly introduced Zach to her friends. “Guys, this is Keegan. He's the new sub's kid.”
Dawn grinned mischievously at Zach. “Oh, my God, I love your dad! What he did to Ben Granger in Latin today was awesome!”
Zach held back a chuckle. He knew how Sam did not like to take crap from anyone. “What'd he do?”
*****
Sam sat at a desk in the front of the room facing the blackboard; his long legs were sprawled out in front of him. Ben glared at the board in the front of the room as he tried to translate the Latin into English.
“Mr. Granger? Need some help?” Sam held his humor at the situation in check, though a triumphant smile sat on his face. Ben looked at him in defeat. “Would you like to ask the audience or phone a friend?” Sam stood up and walked over to the blackboard, his face serious. “Take a seat.”
Ben walked back to his seat, embarrassed, and sat down. He did not look at any of the other students in the class and kept his mouth closed tightly.
“Now, I'm not the kind of guy to embarrass kids. You guys are students. You're here to learn, not made to feel stupid. Unfortunately though, a little embarrassment is sometimes the only thing that gets through to some of you.”
He focused on the impertinent youth that sat avoiding everyone’s stare. “Mr. Granger, I'm sorry. Now, are we ready to start class with a fresh slate and learn some Latin?”
The class seemed more interested than earlier. Most answered yes. The answers remained partially scattered.
*****
Zach chuckled, “Sounds like dad.”
“He's the best sub I've ever had,” Dawn said with a bit of a dreamy expression on her face.
Jade shook her head at her friend and turned toward Zach. “Where do you live, Keegan?”
Zach shrugged, playing every bit the part of the lone wolf traveler. “Wherever the work takes my dad. Never in one place for too long. Cruise the map in his '67 Impala.”
Nick looked jealously at Zach. “Sounds like you've got a cool dad.”
Zach nodded. “The best I've ever met.”
He poked at his food and made a face. You’d think for a school with such expensive tuition, they’d have better food than this, he thought to himself. He made a bit of a face before he began eating the mush he had bought.
*****
The bell tolled several hours later, its signal ending classes for the day.
Zach walked around the courtyard looking for Jade. He spotted her as she exited the building and jogged over when she waved at him. As he got closer, she gave him a thankful smile. “You ready?”
“Not really. I still don't feel right,” Zach replied as he suppressed his eagerness to examine to body.
Jade gave Zach an encouraging smile. “Oh, don't worry about it. The Hardisons aren't like that.”
“Okay...” Zach said, a little uncertainty in his voice.
Zach walked in silence beside Jadzia as she told him about the family and how close she was to Ron. At one point, she grew tearful. He let his bag drop to the ground as he comforted her through her sudden hysterics. The fresh wound still ripped at her heart and he felt terrible having to open and pick at it.
After she calmed down, they resumed walking and soon entered the funeral home. An older man stood beside his frazzled wife. Jade walked over to the woman and wrapped her in a tight hug.
“Hey, Mrs. Hardison.”
“Hey, Jade.”
Zach held out his hand out to shake Mr. Hardison's. “I'm sorry for your loss, sir.”
“Thank you,” he said, stone-faced, as he took Zach’s hand briefly.
Jade and Zach proceeded further into the funeral home. They prepared to turn a corner, but Zach looked back to the entrance to see a man suddenly speaking with the Hardisons. He flashed a badge at them and Zach recognized it as FBI, but he couldn’t read the name.
He withheld a sigh as he and Jade entered the room that held Ron's casket. As they approached the casket, Jade’s eyes misted up again and her sobs started to take her. Ron’s eyes were shut and his hands were in the customary prayer position.
“Jade?” a voice choked with the sobs of a woman who had been through way too much in way too little time, belonging to Sara Hardison, beckoned. Zach and Jade turned around to face Sara; her husband, Dennis; and the agent.
“This is Agent Rodney Atkins with the FBI.”
“Hi,” she said nervously. The FBI here meant that this was a Federal case.
“He has some questions he'd like to ask you, if you don't mind.” She moved closer to Dennis; he had one arm wrapped around her to keep her close and safe.
Jade nodded. “Of course.”
Agent Atkins looked the kids up and down before he pulled out his notebook and began questioning them. “You two were friends with the deceased?”
Zach shook his head; he knew better than to be led into strenuous questioning by a fed. “I wasn't. I just got into town yesterday. Jade brought me to pay my respects.”
Rodney stared hard at Zach before he turned to Jade. “Okay. Ms. Queen?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding.
“Did Ron seem different that night? Something seem odd about him?”
Jade shook her head rapidly. “No. He was fine – smiling and laughing, being Ron.” She sniffled, then. “I’m sorry, but can we do this later?”
He closed his notebook. “Absolutely. My condolences.”
The middle-aged priest moved to the podium and looked out to the people milling about with a solemn expression. “If people will take their seats, it is time to begin.”
The mourners took their seats. Many had silent tears running down their cheeks. All were being comforted by their loved ones. “The first thing, I think, to do is share our memories of the deceased. Is there anybody who'd like to come up here and tell us a little something about Ron?”
Dennis walked up to the podium. The priest stepped to the side and faded into the background. “My son was the best. I mean, he could be stubborn at times, but that was him just being a teenager. I remember one time when Ron was eight, he and his grandfather got into a big argument. Ron shouted ‘I hate you!’ at my father and stormed out. He spent the next week crying because that was the last thing he said to his grandfather; my dad died of a heart attack four hours later.
I remember holding him tight and saying, ‘Son, Pop knew you loved him. He forgave you. And when the two of you meet in Heaven, you'll find out that fact.’” Dennis turned to his son's body. “I'm just sorry it had to be this soon. I'm so sorry, buddy.”
Sara ran up to hug her husband. As they walked back to their seats crying, Jade stood and headed to the podium. She looked to Zach for a little support from someone not as emotionally invested in sadness as the rest of the congregation before she started speaking.
“Ron was my best friend. He was kind... and gentle. He was—” She turned to Ron so she could look at him one last time and stepped back, startled. Her hands moved to her face to hide the horror that she knew formed on it. “Oh, my God.”
Her hands fell from her face as she stared, open-mouthed, at Ron. Agent Atkins stood up and walked over to the casket. Ron's eyes were secreting some kind of black liquid.
He pulled a vial and an eye dropper out from his coat pocket and collected some of the fluid. He turned away from the casket and walked out of the funeral home without so much as a word. Zach stood and quickly followed him.
“Hey!” Zach called after him as he rounded the corner. His eyes scanned the hallway in shock… Atkins was nowhere to be found.
*****
Chapter Three:
Hours later, Zach found himself back at the hotel. His head hurt from faking horror and sadness. He took a deep breath, collected his thoughts, and walked in. Grace lay in bed with Danny, Sam hunched over his laptop at the desk, and Travis and Ruby were laying on the second bed in deep conversation with Sam. Zach closed the door on a setting sun behind him.
Sam looked up from the laptop at the sound of the door shutting. “How was the funeral?”
Zach smirked. “Very informative.” Each head turned to look at him curiously. “An FBI agent stopped by; Rodney Atkins, his name was. He's a hunter.”
Grace looked down at a sleeping Danny before she tilted her head to the side and asked, “What makes you think that?”
“Well, for one, Rodney Atkins is a country music artist, not an FBI agent. And then, when the guy's corpse started leaking something black from his eyes, ‘Agent Atkins’ pulled out a test tube and one of those tiny eye dropper things, took a sample, and then left. It was like he was just waiting for it to happen. I think we should go talk to him.” Zach dropped his pack into a vacant chair and eagerly looked around the room.
Ruby scoffed. “You expect us to find one person in a town of 500?”
Zach rolled his eyes. “I used skill and cunning to learn his real identity.” He pulled the man’s wallet from his pocket.
Travis’ eyes bulged in shock. “You picked his pocket?”
Zach gave a self-satisfied grin and nodded. “I picked his pocket. His real name is Cyrus Knoxx and, judging by the twenty receipts spanning the last three weeks for a place called J.R.'s, he's a regular there.”
“J.R.'s is one of those karaoke/night club joints. Doesn't sound like a place to find a hunter.” Travis did not sound all too convinced about this so-called ‘real identity.’
Zach shrugged. “It's worth a shot.”
Sam nodded. “Zach's right. It may turn out to be a bust, but it's worth looking into.”
Ruby and Travis nodded and left the room with Zach on their heels. Sam saved his work and shut his laptop. He walked over to Grace and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Don’t wait up.”
*****
Within twenty minutes, Sam and the others walked into the nightclub. Cyrus sat on the stage, the audience cheering him on. He was clearly a favorite act.
“Thank you. Tonight, I'm gonna perform one of my favorite songs: ‘Rattlesnake Smile,’ by Christian Kane.”
He began playing. The audience had settled and was now captivated by his voice. After a short intro, he began singing…
“It's been a long time since I wore this rattlesnake smile
And a lotta my friends haven't seen it in quite a while
I feel my eyes rollin' deep inside my head
And there's a feeling of misconception in the air…”
Sam watched him as he sat down at a table in the back. His raised eyebrows echoed the thoughts of the others. This hunter was pretty damn good.
“Yeah, I'm startin' to see
Yeah, I do believe…
I used to have a soft, Southern, glowing face
I used to lead my heartaches away on the chase
When you get stung with the heart of a little child…
Well, that's how you get that rattlesnake smile.”
Sam waved off a waitress that had begun to make her way over to the group. He leaned back in his chair and studied the man singing on the stage.
“You better keep your distance from this tangled shape I'm in
Now, no one had better touch me right now in this cold-blooded, thick skin
Oh, I said you better run real fast when you hear that rattlin' sound
Well, you better run real fast, man, or this one's gonna knock you down.
I sit alone and try to shed this skin that I live in
Trying to clear my vision once again…”
Cyrus fell into the song, his emotion washing over the audience. It was impossible to tune him out for other conversations or heavy drinking.
“Well, I ain't no good to no one, no how, not right now
'Cause I forgot to run myself and I got run down
Do I look like something you can put in a friggin' cage?!
Come over here and gimme a kiss…
Yeah, I'm startin' to see
Yeah, I do believe…
Better keep your distance from this tangled shape I'm in
Now, no one better touch me right now in this cold-blooded, thick skin
Better, well, well, now, I said you better run real fast when you hear that rattlin' sound
Oh, I said you better run real fast or this one's gonna knock you down…
And I sit alone in the desert rain with my tail in the air
Oh...”
The whole club erupted into cheers as he finished. He stood and bowed toward the audience. As he straightened, his eyes landed on Zach. He walked off of the stage and straight toward the table. “You're the kid from the funeral, right?”
Zach nodded. “Yeah. What happened in there?”
Cyrus straightened his stance, his voice dipping into an authoritative cadence, “Took a sample for our crime labs to process.”
Zach snorted cynically. “Cut the crap, man. We know you're a hunter.”
Cyrus cleared his throat and suddenly asked, “You all like beer?” He turned to the bar and shouted to the tender. “Round for my friends on me.”
“You got it, Cy,” the bartender replied, flashing him a thumbs-up.
Ruby lowered her voice to a hushed whisper, “Only one person's died so far. We're lucky. But who knows when this thing's gonna want to raise the body count. We're here to take care of it.”
Cyrus sighed. “Okay, okay, okay. I get it. Look, this isn't my first rodeo. I do this job to protect people, just like you do.”
“Do you know what it is?” Zach asked with a raised eyebrow.
Cyrus pulled an empty chair from a different table and sat down. “The creature? Yeah. It's a basilisk. You remember that black sludge comin' from Ron's eyes? That was the poison that killed him.”
Ruby leaned back in her chair and stared at Cyrus skeptically. “A basilisk? You're kidding, right? It's Harry Potter all over again.”
“Actually, J.K. Rowling got that pretty close. The only thing wrong with it is that basilisks aren't giant snakes. They're demonic creatures and they manifest in a human form.”
“Human? Like they possess people?” Zach leaned forward.
Cyrus shook his head. “No, like they look human. A stare that kills, a reflection that petrifies? That's all true. But they look like humans instead of enormous snakes.”
The bartender delivered the drinks. Cyrus gave the man a fifty. “Keep the change.”
The tender gave him a companionable pat on the back and said with a smile, “That's very generous, Cy. Thanks!”
Cyrus waved the thanks away. “Don't mention it.”
As the bartender walked away, he lowered his voice and returned to the conversation. “Anyway, basilisks are kinda the origin for the Medusa legend. Woman with a stare that turns people to stone? Except for the petrifying stare, she was human.”
“And the snakes for hair,” Zach said as he recalled his Greek mythology from his Humanities course back in Wichita.
Cyrus shook his head once more. “Nope. No snakes for hair. That detail's just pulp fiction. Most people disagree on what a basilisk looks like. They say that it's impossible to see one and live. That's not always true. Basilisks have a personal on/off switch. They can turn their powers off when they choose, makes 'em blend in easier. The real reason that it's impossible to say what a basilisk looks like is because they all look different. They're demonic. They could be anyone.”
Sam stared Cyrus down. “Who's this one?”
The hunter sighed once more and rubbed his face. He was obviously tired. “I don't know. There's a way to find out, though,” he said with a grin.
“How?” Sam asked, distrusting the grin.
*****
Sam found himself in the Academy at night once more, but he now had Cyrus, instead of Zach, at his side and a cage of weasels at his feet. They pawed at the ground and screeched insanely at the captivity.
“We're seriously letting a bunch of weasels loose in the school, and to think I've seen it all.” Sam looked at the cage and wondered, not for the first time, when exactly he had gone insane.
Cyrus felt the need to defend his position, and so he replied, “Let's just say that weasels are like the basilisk's version of a bloodhound.”
“You learn something new every day, I suppose,” Sam sighed.
Cyrus opened the cage, and, like convicts escaping from prison, the weasels ran out and in separate directions. “Let's go.”
Sam stared at Cyrus as he prepared to leave. “Shouldn't we follow them?”
“No. Man, these weasels aren't trained. I just picked 'em up in a pet store five hours ago. They're just scattering right now. They're gonna find the basilisk tomorrow when the building starts filling up.”
Sam groaned, “I hope you're right...”
*****
The sun cresting the horizon just started to peak through the windows of the Academy. The front doors slightly shook and the locks clicked. Then, Principal Wilkins walked through, his eyes staring at the floor, deep in thought. As his eyes focused on a streak of red, he let out a, “What the—?”
His eyes followed the semi-dry streak to the pool of blood. A single drop of blood splattered to the ground and his eyes tilted upward. “Oh, my God,” his voice was choked with disgust.
A group of weasels hung from the ceiling, beheaded and still dripping blood.
It was at that point that Sam walked in with Zach in tow. At the sound of the opening door, Principal Wilkins turned to them. His eyes were wary; he obviously did not want the new additions to the staff and student body to see the display. “What are you two doing here so early?”
Sam’s eyes focused immediately on the hanging weasels as he answered, “Early bird gets the worm. What happened here?”
“Damn kids and their pranks, I suspect. Help me get them down.”
Sam nodded. “Sure. Keegan, go get a mop or something.”
Zach ran off. Principal Wilkins called after him, “There's one in the closet in my office.”
Sam pulled out a pocket knife, opened it, and began to cut the ropes. Two weasels fell to the ground with a dull thud.
“This is sickening,” Wilkins said as he held a hand to his mouth.
Sam held back a smile as he asked, “Blood make you squeamish, sir?”
“You could say that.”
Sam cut another down. “Go ahead to your office then. Keegan and I have this covered.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you, then,” Wilkins replied as he averted his eyes from the sight.
“Anytime.”
Zach returned with the mop and a bucket filled with sudsy water as Principal Wilkins walked off. “Something sure didn't want to be found. Why didn't it just kill them like it does everything else?”
“I did some research last night. Apparently, basilisks' glares have no effect on weasels. It can stare at them all it wants. The weasel will get slowed down, but it'll push through.” Sam held out his hand for the mop. Zach dipped it in the bucket, squeezed the excess water out of it, and handed it to him.
“I'll be right back. I need to make a phone call.”
“Okay.” Sam started the laborious job of mopping the dried and drying weasel blood from the floor.
Zach walked away and pulled his cell from his pocket. He dialed a few digits and waited patiently as the phone rang. Jade’s voice sounded over the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jade. It's Keegan.”
Her voice lifted from the typical morning lethargy. “Hey, what's up?”
“Something's happened at the school. Do me a favor and meet me at the library after hours. Don't go through the lobby entrance either when you get here this morning. This is something you really don't need to see.”
“What's wrong?” Jade fearfully asked.
“Nothing.”
She sighed. “Something must be.”
“It's nothing. Just trust me, okay?” Zach pleaded.
After a brief pause, she reluctantly said, “Okay...”
“Alright. See you later.” He hung up the phone. He shuddered at the thought of cleaning up the weasel blood, but took a deep breath and walked back over to Sam to help finish the job.
*****
Zach and Jade sat at a desk in the library. Their eyes focused on the books on mythology in front of them. Jade closed a book, frustrated with the silence. “Tell me again why we're looking up this stuff.”
Zach, never looking up from his book, smiled slightly as he replied, “I never told you a first time.”
“Then explain.”
Zach shut the book he was reading and looked at it with a pain on his face. “Trust me, Jade. You don't want to know.”
“Keegan, if this has something to do with Ron's death, I need to know.” He glanced back up at her. “Please,” she said pleadingly.
Zach sighed and threw all of his caution to the wind. “Okay. First off, it's not Keegan. It's Zach. Zach Winchester. And the sub's not my dad. He's my cousin. His real name's Sam. We're here on a job.”
Jade nodded. “A teaching job. I know.”
Zach shook his head. “No, a hunting job. It's sort of a family business. We hunt the supernatural. Ghosts, demons, the things that go bump in the night.”
Jade raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless replied, “Okay...”
Zach chuckled. “Well, you aren't running away screaming. That's a good sign.”
“Honestly, I'm an urban legend buff. Believing in that stuff keeps life interesting.”
“Well, unfortunately, some of that stuff kills people.” He paused briefly. “Something killed your friend.”
Jade narrowed her eyes. “What?”
“A basilisk is the running theory. That FBI agent at Ron's funeral? He's one of us. He says that this hunt has all the signs of one.”
“And that's what we're looking up? Stuff about these basilisks?” She motioned to the books about the histories of Greek mythologies, modern theory on ancient Greek psychology, and the like.
“Yeah. We don't have a whole lot to go on. All we know is that it's somebody in the building and they were with Ron the night he died.”
Jade stared at him, her mind obviously running circles around itself. Zach tilted his head at her curious look, “What?”
“These basilisks? What do they look like?”
Zach nervously answered, “They look human. And like humans, they all look different.”
Jadzia slammed a fist on the desk. “Mrs. Nestruck,” she said, “the librarian. She was the first one to Ron's body. It was only me, him, and her in the building. It's gotta be her.”
The hacking sound of a cleared throat brought them back to their surroundings. “Excuse me.”
Their eyes darted to the bookcases behind them to see Mrs. Nestruck glaring at them from the shadows. “It's not nice to talk about somebody behind their back.” Her eyes clicked and started to light up. Jade screamed in undiluted fright. Zach threw his chair back as he jumped up from the desk.
“Jade!” he yelled as he hurdled across the table. He tackled her to the floor and pulled a glinting object from his pocket. He turned the small mirror to the left and right and cautiously looked up to where he last saw Mrs. Nestruck. She was gone.
He spun toward Jade; she appeared unconscious. His hands felt for a pulse and lowered his head to check for breathing. “JADE?!” he shouted, his eyes tearing up. There was no response.
“JADE!” he called to her again as he began the rescue breaths.
*****
Chapter Four:
White-washed walls and bright lights did nothing to lift the pall that hung over the interior of the hospital room. A slight beep stopped a heavy silence from lingering as well as the heart monitor strapped to Jade reads her soft and shallow heartbeats. Zach sat next to her, holding her hand. Her prematurely graying doctor walked in.
“Excuse me? Mr. Wade?” he asked in a soft voice that was better left to funeral homes and not the hearts of a person watching a friend die.
Zach lifted his head to look at him. “Yes? What's wrong?”
“Nothing. Well, okay, obviously not nothing, but you know what I mean.”
Zach sighed and looked back to his friend. “Is she going to be okay?”
“It's tough to say. Your friend was poisoned by cobra venom,” he read off of the chart, “which is interesting enough on its own because cobras are not indigenous to the United States.”
Zach smiled softly and replied assumingly, “So there's anti-venom.”
“Well, that's the other interesting thing. All the tox screens show that your friend has been poisoned by a cobra, but the anti-venom doesn't work. It doesn't even slightly affect it,” the doctor said, perplexed.
“Maybe it's a bad batch?” Zach’s eyes narrowed as he refused to believe his friend was slowly dying of curable cobra venom.
“Each of the three administrations came from a different batch. The odds of that are slim-to-none.”
Zach closed his eyes. “So she's stuck like this.”
“We're going to keep trying. Don't give up. But for now, unfortunately, yes. Ms. Queen is going to be in her coma for the time being.”
Zach opened his eyes and stared at Jade. The doctor left without another word, sympathy in his eyes.
A few moments after the doctor left, Zach shut and locked the door. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit the quick dial for a newly added number.
Cyrus answered. “Hello?”
“Cy, it's Zach. You were right. We are dealing with a basilisk.”
“You know who it is?”
He looked out of the window in the door as he responded, “Yeah. It’s the librarian.”
“I'm on it.”
Zach sighed. “Don't. She's long gone by now. I'm sure of it. She knows I'm a hunter and she knows that I know what she is. Where do basilisks like to live?”
Cyrus’ calm and professional answer grated on Zach’s nerves. “It's not so much a choice of like or dislike, but they tend to hang out in the desert.”
“Super. Where the hell is there a desert in Virginia?!” he whispered angrily.
Cy’s voice took on a concerned tone. “Zach, are you okay? You seem stressed.”
“I'm not stressed. I'm pissed.” He turned his back to the door to look at Jade. “That bitch put one of my friends in a coma.”
There was a brief pause on the other end as Cyrus took in the information. “I'm sorry.”
“Thanks.”
The rustling of paper echoed over the phone as Cyrus spread a map out on the bed in the room he stayed in, “Anyway, I don't think we'll find any deserts in the area, but what about a beach?”
“Virginia Beach?” Zach asked.
“I was thinking more along the lines of Fairview. As opposed to Virginia Beach's 100+-mile distance, Fairview's only about 30.”
Zach covered his lack of geography with a bit of bravado. “It's a start. Sam and I will meet you there.”
He hung up and dialed Sam's number. After three rings, Sam answered, “Yeah, Zach?”
Zach furtively said, “Sam, I know who the basilisk is. Swing by the hospital and pick me up. We need to meet Cy at Fairview Beach.”
“Okay. Ruby, Travis, and I will be right there.” The line disconnected and Sam closed the phone.
“C'mon. Zach and Cyrus have a lead on the basilisk. We need to pick Zach up at the hospital and then meet Cyrus at Fairview Beach.”
Travis jumped up from the chair and walked to the door. As he opened the door, he asked, “What's Zach doing at the hospital?”
“I don't know. But we'll find out when we get there.” The door closed and the locks slid into place.
*****
A derelict shack sat on Fairview Beach. The windows were boarded up and the door was completely made of wood. It was dark; there was not a single reflective surface on the outside.
Within the home, the same was true; no reflective surfaces sat in the home. No mirrors, chrome or steel appliances, or metal frames. In addition, several thuds and a hissed curse were the only noises.
Mrs. Nestruck ran frantically around the house and picked up everything she could pack into a suitcase. She refused to clean anything she dropped; her only thought was to get out of the town before daybreak.
Outside of the shack, the Impala pulled up with Cyrus right on its tail in his own car. The headlights shut off and the engines turned off.
Inside, Mrs. Nestruck slammed her suitcase shut and locked it, just in time to hear the sound of the front door caving in.
The five hunters walked in.
Cyrus whispered, “This is Nestruck's place, according to school records. It definitely looks like the lair of a deranged monster and not the home of a high school librarian to me.”
Zach almost growled as he took charge and said, “Split up. This ends tonight.”
Mrs. Nestruck kicked the boards from her bedroom window out and threw her suitcase to the ground below. She followed its descent shortly after.
Travis and Ruby entered the living room and shined their flashlights around. They kicked over the scant furniture and saw no sign of the woman. Ruby yelled, “Clear!”
Cyrus and Sam searched the foyer and dug through the deep piles of rubbish on the floor. Their eyes saw nothing and Cyrus called out, “Clear!”
Zach looked through the kitchen, determination set deeply in the lines on his face. He chanced a look up and saw Mrs. Nestruck running down the beach, suitcase in hand. “She went out the back!” he yelled as he kicked down the door in the kitchen that led to the back of the house.
Mrs. Nestruck ran down the beach as fast as she could. The sand grasped at her, however, as if it knew she was unnatural and needed to be stopped. She ditched her shoes so that she could run faster.
Zach and the others had caught up in that brief time it took to get her shoes off. Mrs. Nestruck's eyes clicked and started to glow.
She turned and shrieked, “Die!”
The might of her glowing eyes reached its fullest intensity. Sam and the older hunters dropped to the ground to avoid the blast of her deathly stare. Zach still ran, a pair of sunglasses freshly placed over his face to protect his eyes from the magic of her eyes.
“Zach!” Sam called out to hopefully stop his suicidal run.
Mrs. Nestruck hissed and ran once more. It was too late with Zach almost at her. He dove and grabbed her feet. He pulled her to the ground with savage ferocity. She kicked at him, trying to dislodge him. He grabbed the mirror in his pocket as he pulled her closer to him. The click sounded and her eyes began to glow once more.
She flipped herself over, fully intending to get the pest off of her back… but then, she screamed. Her eyes absorbed the full impact of her own terrifying visage in the mirror. They burned brighter and brighter, and, as they did, her own screech grew louder. Slow seconds ticked by as her power consumed her and her eyes caught fire.
At the peak, her scream fell to a gurgle and her body sagged. The dead and empty stare landed on Zach and the mirror.
Zach stood as Sam and the others rushed to his aid. He threw the mirror on the corpse of Mrs. Nestruck and coldly stated, “She should've picked a different poison.”
*****
A day had gone by and the night once again took the town. Cyrus sat on stage once more and stared out at the local fans that adored him. He lowered his head, ignored the stares, and began to sing…
“Mary and her man live in a two-bedroom beside me
Used to see her in the hall and pass her on the street
But lately, she ain’t comin’ around no more; she hides indoors
Afraid of what the world might say if they knew what I know…”
Each face focused on him. Every hand was steady and each mouth was dry as every person in the audience listened intently to his song.
“Mary, can you come outside?
Take a walk with me in the sunshine?
Maybe then you could tell me why
All in all, you seem to have it all, so why do you cry?
I hear you through the walls at night
Mary, can you come outside?”
His hands moved over the guitar almost as if it was a part of his physical being.
“It’s two a.m. and the battle starts again
I pray for your innocence in a war you’ll never win
Should I just sit here on these hands of mine one more time?
Or should I use them to do what he does to you?”
Grace saw Sam’s mouth moving and had to strain a bit to hear his tired and silent voice singing a lullaby to his son. Danny reached out his finger and touched Sam on the lips. He laughed and did the same. “Right back at you.”
Grace laid her head down on the pillow and shut her eyes, a content smile playing upon her face.
“Mary, can you come outside?
Take a walk with me in the moonlight?
Maybe then you could tell me why
All in all, you seem to have it all, so why do you cry?
I hear you through the walls at night
Mary, can you come outside?”
Many miles from the hotel and base, Travis and Ruby stood next to Mrs. Nestruck's funeral pyre. Travis salted the cocooned-up body as Ruby doused it in lighter fluid. She clicked a cheap Bic and chucked it on the body. It immediately went up in flames.
“Should I just sit here on these hands of mine one more time?
Or should I use them to do what he…
“Mary, can you come outside?
Take a walk with me in the moonlight?
Maybe then you could tell me why
All in all, you seem to have it all, so why do you cry?
I hear you through the walls at night…”
Inside the hospital on base, Jade laid in her hospital bed stuck in her unconscious state. Zach sat in a chair next to her, holding her hand. “I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this.” He closed his eyes and kissed her hand.
“Oh, Mary, can you come outside?
Take a walk, take a walk with me tonight?
Maybe then you could tell me why…
Can you come outside?
Sweet Mary, can you come outside?”
A tear slid down Zach’s cheek in the final moments of the night…
*****
END OF EPISODE
*****
In Three Weeks on Sam:
The crew gets back to basics with a hunt for your common poltergeist. But, since when are things exactly like they seem?
Be sure to catch “Knock, Knock…” by Nightshadeisis on Thursday, November 4, 2010!
Also, be sure to leave your comments about this week’s episode. We love those comments… good or bad.
