Darkness within the Light, Sequel to "She Could Come In Handy"

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 1

As Nadia walked the still unfamiliar path back to Andrea’s apartment, she was too lost in Dean to notice her surroundings. It was late and she was alone again, which was always a recipe for a bad time. The memories dug at her again as she thought back to the times she and Dean had spent at the shooting range, in the impala, and alone in her room—those were always the worst. What is he thinking right now? What did he say? What did he do? What did he think when he woke up three days ago? Three hundred and sixty two days until she would ever be able to see him again. That thought knocked the wind out of her and she had to fight to keep moving. All she wanted to do was drop to the sidewalk, crawl into the alley and curl into a ball.

She was too absorbed to notice the footsteps behind her. Normally, she was hyper aware of such things; but Aidan was making that more and more difficult. While Nadia wallowed, Aidan complained. She resented Nadia for every moment of ecstasy and pain Nadia reran over and over in her head. What she despised the most was that this weak emotional state was all that allowed her to come out anymore; what with Themi always popping up and alerting Nadia to how close she was to finally breaking out. So she was resigned to either fighting to get through while subjecting herself to that self-inflicted pain or distance herself back to the safe and quiet vault she had fought so long and hard to escape. Take it or leave it.

But now they were both too distracted with trying to block each other out, that neither of them noticed that the footsteps were getting closer. At least not until a sharp pain at the base of Nadia’s neck made everything silent. Her legs gave out and she fell hard to the pavement and held on to what little consciousness she could.

She was confused by the pain, the hard surface against her back, the tugging under her arms and ankles, and the thick fog she was engulfed in. The voices didn’t help; they were too far away to understand. A sharp pressure wrapped around her wrists and pulled them over her head, where they were forced to stay. The tugging left her ankles and moved to her waist; the sensation was confusingly familiar. It was almost as if someone was trying to unfasten her belt… Someone is unfastening your belt! The new comprehension rocketed through her and her body froze. Her breath caught in her throat as her head tried to clear.

The sudden change in demeanor took the man off guard and his hold on her wrists loosened in response. The slight decrease in pressure caused Nadia to react instinctively. Her mind flashed through her options in a split second: Scream…Fight…Make them stop…

Making them stop was something she could do so easily; all she had to do was concentrate long enough to make the command stick. It was then that she realized the pronoun her brain had chosen, “them.” There is more than one! One man was holding her hands and another straddled her while he unbuttoned her jeans. In the split second it took her to understand this, the man with her wrists hadn’t yet realized his mistake. She was vaguely aware of the threats and compliments they whispered to her as she tried to focus on their minds well enough to have an affect on them. But she couldn’t possibly focus well enough in this condition so she gave up that avenue and turned to years of preparation she had under her belt. She yanked her hands free of his grip and forced herself to sit up as fast as she could. There wasn’t much she could do with the straddler holding her down, so she went after him first. As she sat upright, the other man leaned forward and her forehead connected hard with his chin and he fell backward. The straddler froze in shock as she came at him; they had never done this before. It was always so easy with the others; what is she thinking? He heard her elbow slam into his nose before he felt it and he fell back against the ground. This is all wrong. It’s not supposed to happen like this!

She reached for the knife strapped to her leg but her pant leg was in the way and the first man wrapped his arm around her neck. Fight! Aidan screamed at her. Before she could ask how, she felt completely detached from her body and her hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. A putrid smell filled Nadia’s nose as the man started to scream and pulled away from her. He stumbled backward and Nadia saw the glow emanating from her palm. Of course! She told herself; she had forgotten all about her other abilities—but as she tried to pull her body back, nothing happened. She was no longer in control of herself, Aidan was fighting this fight. Fear and comfort flooded her body as she watched the men stagger back in overwhelming fear.

Aidan stood up while she pulled the knife from the sheath on her ankle. She could sense how small the distance had become between her and the bigger threat, the man she had already burned. She spun and stretched her arm out as the knife sank deep into is carotid. He immediately fell to his knees and the other man started running away as fast as he could. Aidan slowly turned her head toward him and the rest of her body followed. She watched him for a second and just as he was about to reach the end of the alley, she reached out her arm and yanked it to the right. His body was forced backward and slammed into a wall.

The sound was sickeningly familiar to Nadia and she thought back to the night at the fairgrounds with Cyprien. Then her mind returned to the realizations that night had brought and how Dean had reacted. “Oh, would you shut up already!?” Aidan interrupted her.

She walked to the man slumped against the building and watched him long enough to confirm he was dead. Then she walked back to the larger man laying on the ground gasping for air. The knife had kept enough blood in his artery to keep him alive until now. Aidan reached down, grabbed the knife, and yanked it straight through his windpipe with no more expression than as if she had dropped a pen. She wiped the blade clean with the man’s shirt and slid it back where it belonged. She stared down at him before saying, “Two down, 998 to go.”

Aidan’s words flashed another memory through her mind. A gentle looking old man walking up to her, a man she still didn’t know the name of…

“Ba’al Zebub,” Aidan answered.

How do you know that? Don’t you know as much as I do? Nadia snapped back. Their body shrugged its shoulders. …Ba’al Zebub, walking up to her and making a deal; where she agreed to collect one thousand souls in exchange for Dean’s life.

“Collecting souls…” Aidan scoffed, “does that make it sound better to you? You are killing a thousand people, get over it,” Aidan rolled her eyes.

It does actually. Now get back where you belong…

“Why? Do you really still think that you can do this?” she swept her arms over the alley.

It doesn’t matter what I think I can do; I have to. That’s all there is to it. Now, give me my body back!

“Make me…” Aidan challenged.

Nadia was taken aback but she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she really expected Aidan to just bow out gracefully.

“Seriously,” Aidan commented.

Nadia fought hard to push herself back into her limbs and to the forefront of her mind but it was like trying to squeeze an orange through the opening of a pop bottle, in one piece. She could feel that she was getting nowhere fast, “I swear I will do nothing but think of Dean and every moment we spent together; if you do not get back where you belong!” She felt her body tighten but Aidan’s defenses weakened slightly. Just like when Nadia was thinking of Dean, the control eased up when Aidan was distracted. Nadia thought of Dean’s laugh, smile, her favorite smirk, the way his arms wrapped protectively around her, and his voice when he finally said, “I love you.” She held onto Dean’s face while she pushed through and regained control of her body.

“Crap!” Aidan repeated over and over again as she was forced back into the deep corners of their mind.

“Ha!” Nadia fired back loudly, just for emphasis. Footsteps echoed down the alley from the end of the alley and caught her attention. Her eyes flashed to the men on the ground. That’ll serve you right. Get yourself caught…Aidan fired back. But if we are going to go to prison, could you at least zip your fly? We don’t need to send out an open invitation.

Nadia rolled her eyes, refastened her pants and belt and scanned the alley for an escape route. She ran to the nearest fire escape and launched herself up to the ladder and climbed onto the roof as fast as she could. A few seconds later a man turned to face the alley and stopped cold.

~~

Nadia was already to the other side of the building and climbing down another fire escape. She dropped to the sidewalk and glanced around but no one was there to witness her sudden appearance. She looked down at herself and saw blood covering her jacket so she pulled it off and folded it, inside out, over her arm. She took out her ponytail and brought her hair over her shoulders to obscure her face as much as she could. She was still too shaken up to use her abilities and make her self look like someone else; so she tried to look as innocent as possible. She had to walk back by the alley from which she had just fled.

Her jeans had a few spots of blood on them so she crossed the street and avoided the circles of light left by streetlamps. Nadia had vehemently encouraged her best friend, Andrea, to choose the apartment she now lived in. With the police station just around the corner, she was cursing that decision.

The lights flashing off the buildings made the scene look even worse. Nadia kept her head down and continued forward. The realization of what had happened was just starting to come to her attention and panic was rising.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 2

Lakewood, Colorado

The bad attitude Sam had expected. He knew the conversations would be short, sharp, and like pulling teeth. He even expected the denial; but not to this degree. The anger and pain that radiated off Dean reminded Sam of after John had died. Thinking back to those hostile conversations and thrown punches, Sam began to grow more and more worried about what Dean would turn into this time around.

That night on the docks when they saved Gordon--that came back to bite us--from the vampire came flooding to the forefront of his mind. Cutting off the heads of vampires was bad enough; but Dean had taken that task to another level entirely. The look on his face as he pulled the saw down on its neck, still sent shivers down his spine.

“Tell me why were here again,” Dean’s frustrated voice broke Sam out of his reverie.

Sam stifled an annoyed sigh before answering, “Six men were murdered in the last two weeks. No prints, no trace, no anything…you know, the usual.”

“And what makes you think this is our kind of thing?” Dean asked for the fifth time.

Sam couldn’t decide which Dean he preferred. The Dean who had been dying for a case, any case, after John died; or the one who questioned every possible case Sam brought to his attention. “Well, the cops have absolutely no leads and two of the guys were on their way back from the gym…where they were very devoted members. Not to mention, one was a trained cop; on the force 10 years.”

“So they were Schwarzenegger wannabes that doesn’t make them karate masters. Some strung-out mugger probably got the jump on them.”

“You know, I don’t get you. After dad died you wanted to take any case you could get your hands on and now you act like demons and spirits and werewolves don’t even exist anymore.” Sam turned towards Dean, “She left, Dean. But she’s coming back; it’s only a year.”

He pulled the car into the first hotel parking lot he saw and shifted into park. “Yeah, Sam, it’s only a year. But do you remember some of the things that have happened in just a year? I almost died, we finally killed the demon, dad died, and we literally opened the gates to hell! She is half demon, Sam! I try…but I still find it hard to completely believe that she can always be on our side. God knows what she is doing right now…” he shook his head.

Sam couldn’t help but look away at those words. He knew what she was doing and Dean had a right to worry; even if he didn’t know it. “You just have to trust her,” the words were barely above a whisper and more to himself than anyone else. He felt guilty because since they had left Michigan he hadn’t really thought about Nadia. He was too preoccupied with worrying about Dean and trying to put up with him. Now all he could think about was what she could be doing at that exact moment. Killing was never easy, not even for the most experienced hunter; let alone for someone like her. Nadia was good, loyal, and viciously protective; if he hadn’t been in that barn in Montana he never would have believed she were capable of such a thing. She had looked like a completely different person in that one minute of confrontation.

“…I don’t know what she agreed to, Sammy, and that scares the hell out of me. My mind flies to the worst situations it can possibly come up with and I can’t help wondering if one of them is right on the money.” They sat for a long time in silence before Dean opened the door and climbed out.

Sam watched him shuffle through the credit cards in his wallet—he still refused to use the card from Nadia—and walk into the front office. What are you doing right now, Nadia? He couldn’t help but ask himself. He grabbed the door handle, I hope for both your sakes he’s wrong, and closed and leaned on the door while he waited for Dean to reappear.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 3

Nadia was almost to Andrea’s apartment when it started to pour rain. She stopped on the sidewalk and stared down at the gum and trash that littered the path in front of her; oblivious to the downpour. There are much easier ways to take a shower, you know. Aidan’s sarcasm snapped Nadia back enough to realize the rain had nearly completely soaked through her clothes. A shiver ran down her spine but she didn’t hurry along. Instead, she closed her eyes, and looked up at the smog-filled sky. The large drops hurt her eyeballs when they hit her lids but she still didn’t move. You are such a freak, Aidan muttered inside her head; Nadia smiled. Back home at this time of year, she would be shaking relentlessly from the biting cold; but here the coolness of the rain was soothing. It made her feel grounded again and gave her something to hold onto to keep the panic at bay.

She jumped when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She stepped under a nearby awning and took the phone from her pocket; it was Andrea. Nadia debated whether to answer or not, until she saw what time it was and knew why she was calling. “Hey,” she said into the phone.

“Where are you? Are you alright? I heard sirens and you weren’t home yet, so I got worried,” Andrea said, panicked.

“I’m fine. I got slowed down by the cops…um, I’m almost there. Give me two minutes,” she didn’t even let Andrea respond before she closed the phone. She glanced around one more time and then started running as fast as she could to the apartment.

~~

Andrea must have been waiting at the door; because as soon as Nadia hit the stairs, the door opened. Andrea stared at her friend as she came to the top of the stairs, “What happened to you?”

“Caught in the rain,” Nadia muttered as she pushed past her.

“It helps if you put the jacket on instead of carrying it over your arm,” she closed the door while nodding at Nadia’s jacket.

“That makes sense,” she wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying or hearing. All she could do was think of the best way to get rid of the jacket for good. Aidan helped her out, a trash can and snap of the fingers, duh. “I really could do without the attitude,” she noticed Andrea look at her and she realized she had said that comment out loud. Smooth...

“Well, excuse me…” Andrea snapped back.

“Not you,” Nadia said apologetically. Who then? Aidan mocked.

“Who then?” Andrea looked at her like she had lost her mind. “Are you sure you’re alright? You didn’t bump your head or anything?”

“No. I’m fine, really…” the words didn’t sound convincing and she knew it. Part of her wanted to tell her best friend all about the voice in her head; lord knows she’s handled worse…she thought to herself.

Go ahead. Tell her all about how you have this evil twin in your head that wants to take over your body and use it to commit all its evil atrocities. Then you can tell her about the two men we just killed, Aidan mocked.

Nadia’s shoulders slumped as she heard the obvious truth in Aidan’s words. This time she really would think I’d lost my mind.

Of course she would probably just think that it was because of losing the love of your life Aidan said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bite me. “I’m just really tired. I think I’m going to crash after I take a shower.”

She started down the hall with long, fast strides but nearly fell on her face at Andrea’s words. “Did you see what all the police were around for?”

Nadia steadied herself against the hallway wall, “Uh…I think some drug dealer died of an overdose or something…” She glanced back towards Andrea but didn’t look anywhere but at her feet. “See you in the morning,” now she practically ran to the spare bedroom.

~~

Nadia was determined to stay focused enough to get herself clean before she let the panic take over. It wasn’t until she was finished rinsing the conditioner out, that she completely lost control. She squatted down beneath the falling water, fighting nausea and tried to let the heat calm her. Nothing was working. Water ran into her mouth as she struggled to take a decent breath. Get a grip, Aidan muttered.

Nadia sat with her hands wrapped around her knees until the water grew too cold to stand any longer. Her muscles were stiff from the held position and didn’t want to cooperate long enough to get her out of the tub. She fought back the images of what had happened in the alley only an hour ago. Aidan, on the other hand, was focusing on them to relive every second. It was like trying to watch a tv show that keeps changing because your neighbor has the same remote. Only quick flashes made it to Nadia’s brain. Please stop, she begged.

Why? You have to get used to it sometime—at that Aidan forcibly showed her the restrainer’s face when she had pulled the knife through his throat. Her body couldn’t take anymore and her legs gave out on her. She grabbed the counter for support but let herself drop to her knees and sat her forehead against the edge. She fought to catch her breath and Aidan didn’t show her anything else. She rolled to her left and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and curled herself up as small as she could get. She let the silent tears fall until she could get her legs and arms to get her off the floor and into the bedroom. She threw on the first pajamas she found and crawled into bed where the pictures were more tolerable in the safety of nightmares.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 4

As much as he hated to admit it, Sam was right; this looked like one of their kind of cases. Six fully grown men had been slain on the sidewalks of the 1st street-Franklin-Monroe-Slope block. Cops never found any trace, prints, or witnesses; of course.

“Alright, so what do you think it is?” Dean yawned.

Sam sighed, “I don’t know. We barely have anything to even begin research. I mean no one knows if it makes any certain sound, it doesn’t leave any sulfur residue, no smell, no markings, no…anything.”

“Demon?”

“No sulfur residue,” Sam reminded him. “And what would be the point in killing six—as far as we can tell—unrelated men? And we haven’t found any of the usual markers; no electrical storms, missing persons, cattle mutilations…”

“Alright, so…shape shifter?” Dean pondered.

“Again, no motive. I mean, what’s the point? The only thing these guys had in common was that city block.”

“So we start there…maybe there’s some really pissed off vengeful spirit roaming the sidewalks.”

Sam took a deep breath, “Maybe.” Here they sat again, in another diner in another town; sipping coffee and blocking out meaningless conversations around them. Sam, desperate for something to do, started searching news articles based on that city block and ignored Dean’s impatient fidgeting.

Finally Dean couldn’t take the boredom any longer and went to the diner’s baked goods counter. He stood there staring at the brownies and cookies for a long time before he realized what he wanted wasn’t ever going to be found behind a chocolate-ladened counter. “Get me one of those brownies with the white crap on top,” he didn’t look at the cashier as he ordered and paid. He tucked the brownie in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Nadia’s number was listed second on his phone, right under Bobby. He knew it was a fruitless move even before he pressed “send;” but he listened to it ring until her voicemail answered. Maybe she didn’t have a new phone yet or maybe she was keeping hers, just in case. He opened his mouth to say something but instead made a frustrated sound and snapped it shut.

As Dean turned, Sam flashed his eyes back to the screen in front of him and pretended like he hadn’t been watching. Dean sat back down, “So far there have been no violent deaths, accidents, or suicides anywhere on that block.”

Dean blew a frustrated breath through his pooched lips, “Figures. Why can’t it ever be easy?”

Sam smiled, “I think you and I would be out of a job then.”

“Fine with me.”

“Uh, huh,” Sam muttered.

Dean gave him an inquisitive look but got no response from his brother. Boredom seemed to hit faster and faster these days. He fought letting it go on too long, or else he was destined to think about things he didn’t want to think about; people he didn’t want to worry about. “We should go check it out.”

Sam pulled his brows together, “Check what out? Just walk the block a couple of times? There is nothing to see; it’s just cement and dried gum, Dean.”

Dean rolled his eyes and gave a frustrated sigh, “There has to be something we can do.” He stared at the wall above Sam’s head for awhile, “Is there a pattern to this thing?”

“Not that I’ve found. I mean the murders keep getting closer and closer together…”

“That’s kinda odd,” Dean interrupted, “I mean most of our kind of things tend to stick to a schedule.”

“Unless they have a reason to accelerate it.”

“Yeah, like if the place is going to be demolished; but unless Colorado is planning on wiping out an entire city block…” Dean pointed out.

“We keep searching,” Sam muttered.

Dean drummed his hands on the table and just when Sam was about to bite his head off; he jumped up, “Be right back.” Sam closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed before watching Dean sit at the bar and engage the waiter in conversation.

~~

“Hey buddy, can I talk to you for a sec?” Dean called over the counter. The waiter finished wiping off the counter as he walked towards him. He was young, probably 16 years old, no doubt his first real job. Poor kid was the classic awkward prepubescent teenage boy; blotchy face and all.

“Yeah?”

Work on the vocabulary dude, Dean thought to himself. Yes, sir. How can I help you? “Black coffee”, two can play this game. He sat down on one of the empty stools and pulled out his FBI badge.

“Yeah?” He looked Dean up and down. “What can I help you with, officer?” the last word dripped with sarcasm.

Dean smiled and fought the urge to punch the kid in the face. “My partner and I are investigating the deaths down the street,” the kid looked unimpressed. “This is a pretty small town, I’m sure talk gets thrown around in a diner like this…”

“Yeah, I hear Mrs. Miller is having an affair with Mr. Sawyer.”

Dean forced another smirk on his face, “That so.” The boy nodded, “Well, I was actually wondering if you’d heard any theories about what was going on with the murders around here. You know, people who swear it must be their paper-stealing neighbor or the squirrelly young kid down at the local diner.”

The kid smirked back at him and seemed to think something over, “No, I haven’t heard any theories bounced around here. I mean there are the things people say about Mr. Crawford; but he’s just a weird old man.” His demeanor changed from reluctance to cooperation so fast it threw Dean for a loop for a second.

And Sam says I’m not relatable to people, ha. They just have to be the right kind of people. “This Mr. Crawford, he live anywhere near the crime scenes?”

“Nope. He lives up on Blueberry Hill; creepy old house and all. But I’m telling ya, you’re barking up the wrong tree,” he shrugged his shoulders, “guy just wants to be left alone.”

Dean leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, “Yeah? What makes you say that?”

“Well, first of all he’s my grandpa; so I know his pretty well. Second, he’s been in a wheelchair since Vietnam.” Dean tried to slip easily from the arrogant posture while the kid continued. “So I doubt he’s sneaking out at night, driving himself into town, and then hacking up grown men.”

“Logical conclusion,” Dean murmured. “You ever heard about any other killings in that area? Suicides? Accidents? Those kinds of things…” he waited for the kid to tell him his name.

“Warren. Can’t say as I have…” he thought for awhile, “No, nothing ringing any bells. Sorry, this is a quiet town…present topic excluded” he added.

“Well,” Dean took one last sip from his cup, “Thanks Warren. You’ve been…” Dean searched for an appropriate adjective.

Warren chuckled, “Don’t strain yourself, man.”

Dean’s face lit up in realization and he snapped his fingers, “A smartass, that’s it.” He smiled and returned to the table where Sam still sat searching through missing persons reports.

[irisheyes]

Hahahahaha......on Blueberry Hill....I like that. LOL

Nice start.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 5

The sun was too bright as it came through the window and covered Nadia’s body. I miss Michigan…she groaned in her head, Frickin sun. She mashed her pillow over her face and tried to get back to sleep but she was starting to feel the uncomfortable heat on her legs and she forced herself out of bed. She could hear Andrea in the kitchen and she took her time getting ready; hoping Andrea would leave before she couldn’t stall any longer. Then she realized it was the weekend and Andrea wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Fantastic. Maybe she forgot what happened last night… She threw her hair into a clip and slipped on some jersey shorts and a tank top before taking a deep breath and stepping into the hallway.

Andrea paused pouring cereal into a bowl and glanced up at Nadia. “Morning,” her tone told Nadia that she wasn’t lucky enough to get her wish. Andrea sat at the island and stared at her bowl while Nadia grabbed a juice from the fridge. Neither of them wanted to be the one to bring the topic up; so they sat in silence for a long time.

Nadia knew Andrea would be the one to cave, so she waited. It didn’t take long. “So are you going to tell me what all that was about last night?” She stared at the side of Nadia’s face and waited for her to turn and face her.

Nadia continued to flip the juice bottle lid between her fingers, “There isn’t anything to tell. I was walking home, the cops came to an alley a little ways from where I was, it started to rain, you called, I came right here.”

Andrea huffed, “That’s it?” Nadia shrugged and Andrea continued, “You expect me to believe that all that weirdness, awkwardness was just the rain?”

“What weirdness?” Nadia asked defensively.

“What weirdness? Gee, I don’t know. Maybe the whole you talking to me but saying that you weren’t talking to me. Or you almost falling on your face when I asked about the cops…” She continued to stare at Nadia, “By the way, I watched the news this morning. That wasn’t any overdosed drug dealer.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Two men were found dead. Two men who just so happened to have been wanted for a string of rapes in the area…”

Nadia concentrated on screwing the top on her juice, “Sounds like someone did the city a favor.” She slipped off the stool and headed back to the bedroom.

“That’s what I was thinking,” she stared at Nadia’s back.

In that second, Nadia was positive that Andrea knew what had happened. She paused, “You don’t mean that,” and she walked back in the room and closed the door.

~~

Nadia was in the middle of packing her things when Andrea knocked softly on the door. She debated whether or not she wanted her to know that she was planning on leaving that night. “Can I come in?” Andrea hesitantly asked.

Nadia dropped the bag on the floor beside her bed but made no effort to hide it, “Sure.”

Andrea cautiously poked her head in the room before stepping inside. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Nadia sat on the bed and stared at Andrea, waiting for her to continue.

“Um,” she slid her toes back and forth on the carpet, “What happened?”

Nadia looked away and didn’t answer for a long time. “They attacked me and…tried to knock me unconscious and I fought back.” She looked up at Andrea, analyzing her reaction. Andrea looked like she didn’t understand as she sat down on the edge of the bed. “There’s more…”

Andrea watched her with questioning eyes, “What is it?”

Nadia took a deep breath and blew it through her lips before she continued. “You know how people can be possessed, right?” Andrea nodded, “Well sometimes if the person is strong enough, they are awake for some of it. If they’re really strong then they may even be able to break through for short spurts.” She paused and thought about how she was going to continue. “I am sort of like that…but in reverse…” she was afraid to look at Andrea.

“I…don’t understand,” Andrea said.

Nadia sighed, “Keep in mind that you already found out that I am half demon and you took that pretty well…” Andrea smiled, and Nadia continued, “I have a voice in my head,” she cringed, waiting for the accusations.

“Okay…explain.”

She decided it was better to just let the words rush out of her mouth. “Her name is Aidan and she is in my head. She’s like my other half; my evil twin,” she laughed at herself. “She kind of took over the other night when I…we got attacked. I let her—even knowing what she would do—I didn’t stop her.”

“She took over?” Nadia could hear the struggle Andrea was having in keeping her words from sounding critical.

“We sort of have an agreement. I mean I would rather she didn’t exist and she would rather I didn’t exist; but we do. So, she wants to take over when I am working on the task and I take over the rest of the time.”

I never agreed to that, Aidan snapped.

Nadia rolled her eyes upwards and sighed, that’s all I’m offering. Take it or leave it. She could feel Aidan fuming in her head and tried to ignore it. Andrea gave her an odd look, “Sorry. She didn’t agree with what I said.”

“She…as in Aidan, your inner demon?”

Nadia burst out laughing and couldn’t stop, soon Andrea was laughing too. Tears were running down their faces by the time they were finally able to stop. “I guess I just had so many inner demons that they literally manifested.”

Andrea sighed, “It isn’t fair. How much are you expected to handle?”

Nadia was surprised; she had never heard Andrea talk like this before. Nadia was about to say something when her phone rang. She jumped, grabbed her pocket and breathed a calming sigh. She glanced apologetically at Andrea and pulled the phone from her pocket. She looked at the screen but it was blank and she realized the ringing wasn’t coming from the phone in her hand. She looked at Andrea, who took hers out and shook her head; it wasn’t hers either. It rang again and Nadia realized where it was coming from. She reached over the side of the bed and dug into one of the bag’s pocket until she felt the familiar shape of her old cell.

Before she could get the signal to open the phone to her arm; Aidan beat her to it. She couldn’t even comprehend what had happened until the pieces that used to be her cell phone scattered over the floor. “No!” she stared at the wall where the phone had hit, stunned.

“Nadia, what did you do that for?” Andrea asked in surprise. Nadia didn’t respond and it all clicked in Andrea’s head, “Aidan?”

Nadia still didn’t respond, she just continued staring in disbelief. What did you do that for!?

You need to let it go! Torturing yourself, and me by the way, is not going to help anyone.

I don’t have to do this and be completely cut off!

Isn’t that exactly what you were planning on doing to begin with?

Because I didn’t think he would want to talk to me. But he does.

I guarantee he didn’t leave a voicemail and he was never planning on actually talking to you at all. He would have hung up as soon as you answered and then you would have been wallowing all over again!

What do you care?

What don’t you seem to get about ‘I feel what you feel?’ Only you feel it because you want to hold on to him and I can’t stand him. How would you feel if I shocked you every time I thought about…I don’t know…something evil?

I hate you!

Ditto! But I will take that deal. For now.

You’ve got balls... Aidan knew Nadia was thinking about it and waited for an answer, Fine. You kill and leave me the hell alone the rest of the time!

Deal.

Andrea was watching Nadia’s face and saw the ferocity of her side of the internal battle. It was like watching an actor act out a fight where he couldn’t move his mouth at all; it was weird and fascinating.

Nadia finally broke the silence with an angry and frustrated growl at the ceiling. After closing her eyes and calming herself down, she turned to Andrea, “Sorry about that. You must really think I’m a freak show.”

Andrea opened her mouth, “It was…” she struggled for the right words “…different.” Nadia chuckled and Andrea continued, still a bit dazed and confused. “I mean, I have argued with myself about certain decisions before…that just must be more…” She let out a huff of surrender, “So an evil twin, huh?”

Nadia smirked, “Yeah…if you take that twin and put her in my brain. Then you pretty much get the idea.”

“So can she hear like, all your thoughts?”

Unfortunately, Aidan interjected. “Pretty much, yeah,” she took a deep breath, “that can get uncomfortable at times.” Aidan disgustedly thought about Nadia’s more intimate memories of Dean; while Nadia thought back to what Aidan flashed in front of her last night and shivered.

“That must suck!” Andrea said.

“You have no idea. But at least she can’t tell anyone.”

I could; but like I’d want to. Nadia rolled her eyes at the voice in her head.

Andrea’s face suddenly turned grim and she stared at the carpet, “Will they find out it was you?”

Nadia didn’t need her to elaborate any further, “I don’t think so. I mean Aidan was pretty thorough. She was…born…to do that. I think I will start wearing gloves from now on though. I mean, my prints aren’t in the system or anything; but after this year, I don’t want to have to worry about everything I touch.”

“You think you can do it,” Andrea looked up at her.

Even though she said it was a statement, it was obvious it was meant as a question. “I have to.” She paused for a long time and thought, “I grew up with everyone thinking I was a freak, which” she chuckled, “it turns out I am. But they didn’t know that; I didn’t know that. Then this one guy raises his hand to answer a question and he’s wrong; and I correct him. The average Joe wouldn’t be able to get over his bruised ego. But he became my friend and then I find out he grew up hunting monsters… Any normal person would have thought he was crazy; but I was happy, ecstatic actually, I found hope in his crazy stories. Maybe he could help me find out what killed my family. But then his apartment catches on fire and he disappears.” It was quiet for a long time until Nadia brought herself back to the present day, “Then one day I’m studying in the library and, low and behold, there he is. And I meet his brother, hate him, hate that I’m starting to like him, make out with him, and then fall for him.” She smirked but quickly grew serious, “And even when he finds out that I am half demon, something he hates and hunts every chance he gets, he doesn’t leave.” She looked at Andrea for the first time in awhile, “How could I not believe that I can do this? For him.

“Do you know how hard it is to change what your past has made you? You get so used to keeping your head down; trying not to make anyone dislike you anymore than they already do. You end up becoming this person frozen into a certain shape…and you think, ‘I’ll melt someday. I’ll find out who I’m really gonna be. I’ll melt; I have to right?’ But what so many fail to realize is that ice needs change to melt. It needs warmth and…if we continue to wait for us to melt and do nothing to change our lives; we are doing nothing to warm the air around us.

“If I just kept living like I was; like I killed everyone around me. If I hadn’t allowed myself to care so much about Dean; then…” she paused for a long time, struggling with what she was about to say, “I don’t know what would have happened to me. If Cyprien had found me earlier; I would either be dead or I wouldn’t know there was something that made it so worth fighting becoming what would be so much easier to be. Dean warmed the air around me…” she rolled her eyes, “as cheesy as that sounds. I allowed myself to melt.” She stopped for a long time, staring at place where her phone had hit the wall. “I may end up paying for that; but I’ll never regret it. And I’m gonna try as hard as I can to pay him back for what he did for me. No matter what that means.”

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 6

“Found anything yet?” Dean asked again.

“Not since the last time you asked…” Sam looked at his watch, “two minutes ago.” Dean huffed and continued staring out the window and fidgeting. “Why don’t you just call her?”

Dean’s head snapped in Sam’s direction, “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Sam rolled his eyes and looked back at the computer. “Look, what if this really isn’t our kind of thing? I mean what if there really is just some serial killer running around out there; so there is nothing to find?”

“Dude, if that’s the case then how does this guy get around without ever being seen in the middle of downtown on the side of the road? And, how does he get the jump on over-muscled grown men?”

“I don’t know; but if we don’t find something soon…”

“What? You’re gonna leave? Dean, it’s been a day and a half. We’ve spent longer than this on research on a lot of cases. Just take a deep breath, relax, and…” Sam slides a stack of papers towards Dean, “it would go a lot faster if you helped out.”

Dean took a second to try and think of another excuse; but he came up empty and settled more comfortably into his chair before setting the papers on his lap.

~~

Three hours and many complaints later, Dean was starting to drift off when something grabbed his attention. “Might have actually found something,” he handed the paper to Sam.

“Man attacked outside jewelry store; critical condition…” Sam glanced up at Dean. “You think he’s like that doctor’s daughter a few months back? Haunting people while not completely crossed over?”

Dean raised his eye brows, “Okay Jennifer Love. It’s not that uncommon; I mean I did it. You talked to me at the hospital after the crash and I wasn’t completely gone yet.” He stood up and stretched, “But, no I don’t think that.” He handed Sam another paper, “This Emmett Hale, died last week…a few days before the killings started.”

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” Sam said and Dean smirked and shrugged. “Did they ever find out who killed him?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t get that far,” Dean grabbed a beer and plopped back into his chair and waited for Sam to read further.

Sam started to open his mouth to yell at Dean but he bit his lip and closed his eyes while he tried to calm himself down. He looked over the paper quickly and found what he was looking for, “As of the day he died, there are still no suspects. This could be it.”

“I have been doing this longer than you Sammy; you don’t have to sound so surprised.” Sam just smirked. “So does this mean we’re done with the homework and get to go a field trip now?” Dean bounced up and down with feigned excitement.

“That depends…”

Dean stopped mid-bounce, “On what?”

“Did you remember your permission slip?”

Dean rolled his eyes and was already walking towards the door before Sam even had the computer closed.

~~


Dean pulled the Impala up to the curb at the end of the walkway that led to Jasper Morris’ house. The police officer was the latest victim and had direct ties to Emmett Hale. Sam handed Dean his fake F.B.I. badge and they found Mrs. Morris digging in the flower beds around the front steps.

~~

“So Mrs. Morris, your husband was leaving the gym that night?” Sam asked.

Leah Morris pulled the gardening gloves off her hands before speaking, “No. There was this mission just down from the gym you’re talking about.” She cleared her throat, “He used to go down there every weekend and drop off leftovers from some of the local restaurants. It wasn’t exactly allowed; but he said it was his little way of helping.” She shook her head, “Which is stupid, I know. He was a cop after all; he helped a lot of people.”

“He did that every weekend?”

“Like clockwork,” she glanced from Dean to Sam. “You think whoever did this learned his routine, followed him. Easy way to kill a cop; knowing their every move outside of the precinct.” Sam and Dean’s eye brows shot upward and they glanced at each other. “My husband was a cop and though he lived it everyday; he watched a lot of Law & Order. After awhile you get pretty good at guessing their next move.”

Dean got sidetracked, “Oh yeah, SVU; Mariska’s hot,” he stared off into the distance. Sam cleared his throat to pull his brother back to reality, “Oh. Sorry, I get easily distracted.”

She gave him an odd look, “Yeah, you and my husband both.”

Sam jumped in before Dean could get started again, “Your husband was the lead investigator in the case of Emmett Hale, correct?”

Surprise flashed across Leah’s face before she looked away. “Yeah, he was the first one to get to the scene. It was horrible…” she paused for awhile, “that one stuck with him. He kept saying that he should have gotten there faster; that it was his fault. But he got there before everyone else… That was when he started going to the mission. I think he felt like…like somehow he could make him wake up; make Emmett get better…”

“Why did he feel so guilty about this case? Why did he take it so hard?”

“He did all he could, I know that; but he didn’t. He felt like he should have known something to do to keep him conscious or to stop some of the damage. Rebecca didn’t make it any easier…”

“Rebecca?” Dean interrupted.

“Emmett’s wife. Sorry, maybe you know her as Becca; that’s what he always called her.”

“What did you mean; ‘she didn’t make it any easier?’” Dean asked.

“She just pressured him a lot. To find out what happened. Understandably; I’d want to know too…but it took a toll on him. He hardly ever looked like he wasn’t thinking about it. He was always beating himself up. She called everyday, until the day Emmett died.” She stopped herself, as if just remembering something, “The last conversation they had was intense. Jasper took it hard and I’m pretty sure she was yelling at him…I don’t know why. He was even worse after that…”

“You don’t know what she said to make him so upset?” Sam gently asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I have no idea. She was always pretty understanding, you know. I mean she wanted to know who killed her husband; but she never got nasty about it.”

“Could it have been something else?”

She looked at him confused for a long time, “Like what?”

Sam glanced uncomfortably at Dean, “She was a widow….and she might have…found comfort in Jasper.”

“Are you asking me if I think my husband could have been cheating on me?” She stared at Sam until he looked away. “My husband has his past just like everyone else; but he changed a long time ago.”

“No offense, mam, but how can you be sure?” Dean asked.

“Because the last time he was with another woman, I got in a car accident. A drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned me at 70 mph. The ER did everything they could to keep me alive while they tried to reach him. I needed someone to sign papers to do some procedure; and I have no other family so he was…who I needed. He just…didn’t answer. Finally someone saw that he was a police officer and they called the station and had them radio him. He came right down, signed the papers, stayed there all week and he hasn’t strayed since. So, you ask how I can know that he wasn’t cheating on me; that’s how. He realized what he could lose and didn’t like that reality.” She looked straight at Dean, “Near death experiences with the ones you love; they make you realize what you can and can’t live without…they change you.”

Dean couldn’t look away, until Sam cleared his throat, “Well, thank you Mrs. Morris. We apologize for the forwardness and we’re very sorry about your loss.” Dean glanced from Sam to her and nodded in uncommitted agreement before he followed Sam back to the car.

~~

“Guess we better so and see Rebecca Hale…” Sam glanced over at Dean.

Dean’s head snapped to face Sam, “Huh?”

“I said I guess we need to go and talk to Rebecca Hale. So we can find out what was going on with her and Jasper.”

“Yeah…” Dean settled into the seat, “Where we going?”

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 7

“Are you ever going to actually let me out to have some fun? If we don’t get started soon, we’ll run out of time and your precious Dean will die.” Aidan was yet again pestering Nadia about how long she was going to wait until she started making good on her deal.

“I am one step ahead of you. I already have a plan; I found a place to start. How do you not know this already?” Nadia asked Aidan aloud.

“You think I just set up here all day long listening to everything you think?” Aidan mocked Nadia’s voice, “‘Do I look fat in these pants? I wonder who thought of calling a poster a poster? What ever made someone look at a potato and say ‘I wonder what this tastes like.’ How did they even find it to begin with? Was it an accident, did they just stumble across it?’ Seriously! Like I want to listen to that all day long…”

Nadia couldn’t help but listen and laugh, “Did I really think that?”

“Pathetically, on more than one occasion.”

“Wow,” she laughed at herself, “sorry.”

“The point is I just block you out most of the time; so no, I didn’t know you had anything fun planned.”

“I don’t know how fun it will be…”

“Your idea of fun and mine greatly differ.”

“True.”

“So what’s the plan?” Aidan eagerly asked.

“Did you know that the only states without the death penalty are: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin?”

“Who cares?”

Nadia huffed, “I do and so do you.”

“And why is that?”

“Wow you really don’t listen very often do you?”

“Haven’t we already established the reasons why? Now, moving on…why do I care?”

“Because California does have the death penalty; so they have a death row. Which means that they have a cell block full of people (675 according to the website) that are already set to die. We…you, I mean, can go in there and subtract them from our agreed on 1,000 souls.” She smiled smugly to herself.

Nadia could feel Aidan smirk, “A loop hole. Nice.”

“Thank you,” she bowed. “And, thinking like you, if we can take all of them out; that only leaves us 325…no, 323 (with the two men from the other night) souls left to gather. There was a reason I wanted to hit California up first. They have the highest number of inmates sitting on death row.”

“I must admit, I am impressed; you are speaking of killing people so cavalierly. It seems you have finally come to accept your new role…”

“I don’t feel any more indifferent about this killing thing than I ever did before. But I have to think like a business woman. I have a huge task to perform and the smarter I am about completing it; the sooner I can get it done and the sooner I can see Dean.”

Aidan sighed, “You really don’t want me to have any fun do you?”

Nadia laughed, “A thousand souls in a couple of months…I think you’ll make quite an intimidating name for yourself.”

She could feel Aidan thinking that idea over, “Alright so you have a point,” she grudgingly admitted. “So, when do we get to go?” she was busting with excited anticipation.

Nadia rolled her eyes, “It’s not a fieldtrip to the zoo, it’s San Quentin for crying out loud.”

“Actually it will be a lot like a trip to the zoo… Angry, horny men in cages…it will be just like a visit to the guerilla exhibit,” they both laughed.

“There is still a lot of planning to do before we go anywhere.” She felt Aidan groan, “You can tide yourself over with planning the whole thing.”

“Okay, so we’ll have to stake the place out so that we can see exactly where all the entrances and exits are. Where all the cameras are located and then we have to figure out how we’re going to take them out and get over the fence…”

“Yeah…or we could just knock out a guard and take on his appearance and then just…walk through the front door. I know it’s a little out there, but…” Nadia mocked.

“Ugh, you have no flare for the dramatic! Could you come up with a more boring plan?”

“I believe the word you are looking for is safer.”

“Because safe is so much fun!”

“I am not doing this for fun.”

Aidan rolled her figurative eyes, “I know. But we had an agreement; I get to take over the body when we get there. So you will have no say in what I do or do not do. Huh, do or do not do…”

“Sometimes it’s like having a five year old in my brain. You are greatly mistaken if you think I will have no say in what you do. If you’re going to go out all half-cocked; then you won’t be going out at all,” Nadia crossed her arms.

“Fine,” Aidan huffed, “I will think about every move before I make it and be smart about it and logical and boring… And I swear to…I swear that I will not do anything that will get me into trouble with you or anyone else. God, it’s like living in a covenant,” Aidan complained.

Nadia couldn’t help but smile at Aidan’s rant, “Good. Because I will be listening to everything you think and if I don’t like it…you are going back to the nuns.”

“Funny.”

~~

Nadia had been scouring the internet for any map of San Quentin’s layout for 2 hours; but was coming up with nothing.

“We’re just gonna have to go there,” Aidan said again.

“Fine, we’ll go. But there is only so much that one can see from outside and we still don’t even know where death row is. Got any bright ideas?”

“Well, remember your boring plan from before? We can do that now. I want them to see my face for the actual event; but just for recon, it’ll do.”

“You mean becoming one of the guards?”

“Do you not remember your own plans?”

“Do you have to be such a smart ass?”

“Demon.”

“Human.”

“Not completely.”

“Ditto. Moving on,” she sneered, “we should find someone who isn’t on duty.”

“Why? That’s just more work when we could just come up behind some guy as he walks in and stuff him in his trunk.”

“And then we have to worry about cameras, witnesses, and a guy who wakes up in his trunk and raises the alert at the prison.”

Aidan sighed, “Such a stickler for details.”

Nadia looked at the clock, “It’s 4:30 now; if we leave soon we can get there by maybe 10:00 at night… I hate California traffic! And then we still have to find an off duty officer…” she turned back to the computer and began searching for any mentions of current employees.

“What about him?” Aidan asked.

“You mean the Warden?”

“Yeah. I bet he could get us into all sorts of places…”

“I am not going to attack the frick’in warden!”

“Well, why not?”

“Because…he’s the frick’in warden!”

“I really don’t see what the difference is between attacking him or a guard when we are just doing it so that we can ultimately get in there and kill 675 people. Does it really matter who other people see!?”

“The warden is high profile and he’s probably there like, all the time. How are we gonna look like him and then walk into a prison that he is already inside of? I think someone will notice the sudden appearance of a second Robert K. Wong!”

“I’m not an idiot! We’ll wait until he is leaving for the night and then you can do what you did to Dean and make him fall asleep. Then you can walk back in the place, pretend like you forgot something, and when it’s all over and you have a prison map in hand, walk back out and let him wake up none the wiser. He’ll drive home thinking that he was just really tired and fell asleep in his car.”

Nadia tried desperately to find some blatant reason this idea wouldn’t work; but was coming up blank. With each passing second, Aidan listened to her thoughts and grew more and more smug. “Fine. We should still go up there tonight and try to learn as much of his routine as we can before we attempt this.”

“Very Girl Scout of you.”

“Be prepared.”

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 8

The Hale house looked more like it belonged in a quaint little town in England; than in the middle of Lakewood, Colorado. It was small and charming; complete with an overcrowded flower garden and strings of ivy making their way up the house. For some reason it made Sam and Dean feel strangely opposed to what they were about to do.

Dean knocked on the door and fidgeted uneasily as they waited for Rachel to answer the door. They could hear footsteps coming from inside and Dean settled himself just as the handle turned.

Rachel was strikingly beautiful, in a non-classic way. She was average height and weight, with long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Her face was square and strong; with full lips, one brow arched slightly more than the other, and her nose went perfectly with the rest of her features. She looked from Dean to Sam and waited for them to speak. After a few seconds she initiated conversation, “Can I help you?”

Her eyes had caught both of the boys’ attention and they were both hard to look away from and hard to look at. They made Dean feel uneasy and he was the first to respond, “Hi. I’m Agent Hatfield, this is Agent Hammett,” Dean and Sam showed their badges. “We would like to ask you a few questions for you.”

“We’re sorry about your loss,” Sam quickly added.

Rachel looked away and took a deep breath, “Did you find out who killed him?”

Hope faintly colored her question; which made Sam and Dean feel even worse about their coming conversation. “I’m sorry, no we haven’t yet,” Sam softly responded.

Her face fell and she struggled to steady her voice, “Then what do you want?”

“We’re here about Jasper Morris,” Dean responded.

“What about him?”

“He was killed the other day…”

“I know that,” she snapped, “…it’s a small town.”

“Right, well we…” Dean tried to find some way of getting their questions answered without being brutally blunt. “We have been talking with Mrs. Morris and she said that you talked with him on the phone a lot. We thought maybe he had said something to you about being followed or threatened…”

Anger flashed in her eyes for a split second before it was replaced with surprise. “Oh, um…” she thought about their question for awhile, “no, nothing jumps out at me. I mean I think I would remember something like a threat.”

Sam jumped in, “Well, it may not have sounded like a threat at the time. Did he mention any suspects or leads…the smallest thing could help.”

“No, he never had any suspects or leads,” anger was biting at the back of her words. “He never had anything.” She paused and fought to get control of her self, “A year…and he never found anything. He always said he was working on it and I thought he was…he made me believe that. But…someone must have seen something, heard something; but every day it was, ‘I’m sorry Rachel, there just isn’t anything new. No one knows anything about your husband being attacked.’” Rachel’s façade was cracking, tears started to roll down her cheek and she let them fall.

Sam put his hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her; but she winced and pulled away. “I’m sorry; we’re sorry for your loss. Unfortunately the answers we want just can’t always come.”

She looked up at him for a long time before saying, “That’s my phone. I should get that.” She looked at Dean, “You know where to find me…” she stepped back inside and closed the door before either of them could respond.

“Nice going Dr. Phil,” Dean told Sam as he started down the stairs.

Sam looked confused and quickly hopped down the stairs after Dean, “What do you mean?”

Dean looked questioningly back at his brother, “What do I mean? Did you hear her phone ring?” Sam looked back at the house with a thoughtful look, “You ticked her off; would’ve ticked me off too.” Sam still looked confused so Dean stopped at turned to face him, “‘Unfortunately the answers we want just can’t always come?’ You trying to make her suicidal?”

“I was just trying to tell her the truth,” Sam shot back.

“Well, why stop there? You shoulda just said, ‘Your husband’s killer will most likely never be found; get over it.’”

“Oh come on, Dean! You have a problem with what I said? You’re usually the one going in there, guns drawn, and accusing people just like her of killing their loved one!”

“Yeah, well I guess we’ve both changed,” Dean opened the driver’s side door.

“You’ve definitely changed. Nadia made you a practically different person.” Dean stopped halfway in the car and stood back up and stared angrily at Sam over the top of the Impala. “Oh yeah, I forgot. She-who-must-not-be-named…well screw that! You fell in love and she, by some reason that’s beyond me, fell in love with you too. So much so that she gave up the person she was to save your ungrateful ass!”

Dean turned white, “What?”

Sam looked away and tried to backtrack, “What?” he innocently asked.

“Sam, what do you mean she gave up the person she was?”

Sam stared at his brother and tried to think of some way to change the subject, it was hopeless. He sighed in surrender, “I can’t tell you. I promised her.”

“Is she, is she going dark…”

“No! God, Dean. She just had to do something that changed the type of person she is.”

“As in she’s not human anymore?”

“What? No. Dean, she isn’t a demon or evil in anyway; okay?”

“Is she something we would try to stop? Something we would hunt?” Dean stared relentlessly at his brother.

Sam swallowed and thought quickly. Technically she’s a reaper; which we might want to stop but can’t… She is killing people before their time. But they are going to die eventually and she is trying hard to only kill those who deserve it. Think of how many people we’ve killed because we had to; there was no other choice… “No. No she isn’t anything we would hunt,” Sam truthfully told his brother. By the look on Dean’s face he knew he had taken too long to answer. Even if he, himself didn’t think Nadia was something to hunt; Dean could very well think otherwise.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 9

Nadia had decided to wait and leave in the morning so that they would have all day to learn the prison schedule and form an infiltration plan. The ride to San Quentin had been long and full of frustration and she was starting to regret her decision. The traffic seemed unusually heavy, even for California. Nadia’s nerves were to the point of breaking and Aidan’s added comments weren’t helping. Blinkers people, blinkers! How hard is that? Oh, come on it’s the longer pedal on the right!

By the time Nadia pulled the bike into the prison parking lot, she felt she was about to either burst into tears or kill someone. I miss Michigan, she repeated again to herself.

~~

“I told you we should have rented a car. We look so inconspicuous sitting on a crotch rocket staring at a prison…” Nadia groaned to Aidan.

“And you’re just adding to the whole picture by talking to yourself,” Aidan pointed out.

“Good, that’s what I was going for,” Nadia snapped back; as she did so, a couple walking by quickened their pace and glanced cautiously back at her. She rolled her eyes and ignored Aidan’s further comments. She was emotionally exhausted and the sun and curious eyes weren’t helping any.

~~

“Can I help you?”

Nadia jumped and spun around to face the deep voice that had come from behind her. She was dumbstruck when she immediately recognized the face that stared back at her. On the opposite side of the bike, waiting for an answer, stood Robert K. Wong; the warden of San Quentin prison. All she could think to say was the first thing that naturally popped in her head, “Oh, you scared the crap out of me,” her hand pressed against her chest.

“Sorry about that;” he smiled. “I just noticed you standing there for awhile and wondered if you needed to make a phone call or something.” Nadia frantically searched for a reason that would explain why she had been sitting on a parked bike outside a prison in the hot sun for 4 hours. He mistook her desperate thinking for confusion, “For a, uh…a ride…”

“Oh, no I’m uh…waiting for someone,” she tried to make the sentence sound more like a statement than a question; but wasn’t doing it very well.

“An employee?”

Before she could answer, Aidan jumped in, “Just repeat after me.” Nadia was hesitant to follow her instructions; but was afraid of hesitating herself into suspicion so she listened to what Aidan had to say.

“Yeah, my boyfriend. I am starting to get the feeling that he got his shifts mixed up; but he won’t answer his phone so that I can find out if he’s alright.” The words were coming flawlessly off Nadia’s tongue and she was acting every bit as blasé as they sounded. She was starting to think Aidan was coming out a little too much again. “Oh, don’t worry about that!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Nadia snapped and then immediately realized she wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. Aidan laughed, “You still afraid I’m taking over too much?”

The warden stepped back, “Sorry, I…I just thought you could use a little help…”

“No,” Nadia threw up her hands in an attempt to stop him. “Sorry,” she slyly reached her hand into her pocket and grabbed her Bluetooth earpiece, “I, was talking to someone else…” she brushed her hair behind her ear and slipped the piece on and turned her ear towards him. “Technology,” she smiled and laughed it off.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he laughed. “It’s California; I thought you were talking with some voice in your head or something.”

Nadia laughed, “Yeah, there are a lot of crazy people around here…”

“You’re not from around here, I take it.”

“No, I’m from Mi…nnesota,” he gave her an odd look. “Sorry, hiccup.”

“Would you like me to get your boyfriend out here? I’m the warden; I can get him down here with one call…”

“Gross, dude you’re like 50!” Aidan said in disgust.

Would you shut up! Nadia thought back.

“Oh yes, because all girls fantasize about prison wardens…” Aidan sarcastically groaned.

Nadia burst out laughing but quickly stopped herself and covered it with a fake cough, “Sorry, I had a tickle.” She returned her attention to the warden, “You were saying?”

“Uh, do you want me to go and get your boyfriend to come down here?”

“Right,” she said to herself. “Thanks, but no. I’m gonna try calling him again and if he doesn’t answer I’m going to go get something to eat; I’ve been out here awhile…”

The warden started to turn and walk to the prison, “Alright; but if you still can’t get a hold of him and you come back, just go to the front door and ask for me.”

Aidan rolled her eyes. “Thanks, that’s really sweet.” She started to get on the bike but stopped and turned to try and catch him before he got too far away. “Can I ask you a weird question?”

“Great, now he’s gonna think you want to ask him out…” Aidan groaned; but Nadia ignored her.

“Sure,” the warden started to walk back to her.

“I know this is a really weird thing to ask…but; I’ve heard so many different things.” She paused and waited to see what his reaction would be; when he only looked expectant, she continued. “Where is death row? I mean I’ve heard that it is the wing closest to the water so that if they escaped they would have to go back by the entire prison. But I’ve also heard that it is at a completely different compound…” She tried to talk fast and all over the place to make him feel more comfortable with why she would be asking such a thing.

He raised his hand to stop her and chuckled, “It is here, first of all. And who ever told you about the water thing is right on. The wing pointed directly at the pacific, directly across from where we’re standing, is death row. You should’ve just asked your boyfriend, he would’ve known.”

Nadia and Aidan were completely engrossed in what he was saying; already planning their escape. “Huh? Oh, yeah well we try not to talk about work too much… Anyway, it was nice meeting you,” she quickly threw her hair back and pulled on her helmet. Before he could even get halfway to the front steps, she was pulling out of the parking lot and headed to nowhere in particular.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 10

The tension that had been present since they left Nadia’s was finally beginning to cease; but this new argument snapped it back into place. Sam knew that for awhile Dean would only speak to him when absolutely necessary and then things would shift and it would be like it had never happened. The silence wasn’t the bad part; it was the discomfort that he felt being around someone he was around practically 24/7.

He’s being such a baby, Sam thought to himself as he, yet again, walked the infamous city block. At least he has a chance of ever seeing her again; that’s more than I got. He had to back track a few paces before he reached the alley where Jeffrey Weston had been killed. At first glance it looked like every other alley in the world. There was no visible stain on the concrete, no spatters of blood coloring the walls, or obvious signs of struggle. He glanced from the ground to the wall not knowing where to start. Alright, I just killed someone... First, I have to get out of here… He glanced around him for possible escape roots. Run out this or the other end of the alley of course, or…he paused at the manhole cover behind him, please not again… He continued looking in hopes of finding a more sanitary escape path. The bottom of a fire escape ladder caught his eye. The ladder provided a great escape route; except for the fact that it was about eight feet off the ground. Sam jumped but was still unable to reach the bottom rung.

Suddenly a door in the alley behind him opened and Sam grabbed his phone and held it to his ear. A young girl stepped through the door and struggled to keep hold of the box she was carrying. Sam put his phone back in his pocket and hurried over to help her. “Please don’t rip, please don’t rip…” she kept saying to herself. She was almost to the dumpster when the handle started to give way, “No, no, no. Not yet,” she quickened her pace.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Sam offered.

The girl screamed, jumped, and spun around to see him. As she stopped herself, the handles completely ripped away and the box crashed to the ground. She looked from Sam to the box and dropped her head and her shoulders in defeat, “Crap.”

Sam chuckled, “Let me get that…” He slid his fingers beneath the box and lifted it to his waist, “In the dumpster?”

She was wiping her hands on her pants, “You can just set it on the stack beside the dumpster… Just because he calls me mighty mouse, doesn’t mean I can lift a car over my head. They call him tiny and he weighs 300 lbs…” she angrily mumbled to herself.

“Are you alright?” Sam asked.

She sighed and smiled, “Yeah. You know, you shouldn’t sneak up behind people in allies.”

“Sorry,” he pulled out his badge, “I’m just taking a look around.”

“That was like two weeks ago; you really think there’s anything left to see?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “You never know… Hey, do you remember anything about that night?”

“You mean other than the sirens and swarms of on-lookers?” She paused, “No. I mean there wasn’t really anything around the dead body that jumped out at me and said, ‘Hey I’m weird.’” Sam laughed and shook his head. “What?” she asked in response.

“You just really remind me of someone,” he smiled.

“Hum,” she paused for a long time and glanced anywhere but directly at Sam. “So…did you find anything?”

Sam shrugged his shoulders, “Not really. I mean I figured that the perp had to get away somehow…”

“Wow, a real leap to come to that conclusion, seeing as how the killer wasn’t caught; but I guess that’s why they give you the suit, huh?” she sarcastically interrupted him.

Sam gave his usual annoyed but coping and polite smile which he had perfected over years of working with Dean and continued his thought. “…but I can’t quite figure that one out.”

She looked from one end of the alley to the other, “Well, I’m guessing it’s a fifty/fifty shot…”

He was so used to speaking his thoughts and ideas with Dean that he didn’t even think about what he was doing. “I doubt if it left either of those two ways…”

“It?”

“He or she…it. It probably found some other, safer route of escape… I thought maybe it used the fire escape; but even I can’t reach that…” he looked thoughtfully at the ladder.

The girl followed his gaze and thought about how she, herself, would get to the ladder. A sudden memory came back to her, “Hey…I do kinda remember something weird about that night; well the next day anyway.” She thought for awhile, “I don’t know if they were like that the night it happened; but the next day some of our boxes were piled right under that ladder.”

“Like someone moved them, you mean?”

“We always put them next to the dumpster and then, Al (this big guy that works here) comes out and puts them inside. But when I came out here they were way over there. I figured some of the stupid neighborhood boys that hangout around here were being… well, stupid.”

“Those boxes were the same as these ones here? Like the one you carried out?”

She nodded, “Three of them. Stacked like…a pyramid.”

“Like steps…” Sam said to himself.

“Anyway, I gotta get back inside. Anything else?” she asked as she walked back to the door.

“Uh, no… Thank you,” he answered. She nodded and pulled the door closed behind her.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 11

Nadia ended up at the nearest hotel. She quickly paid and headed straight to her room. She tried to keep herself preoccupied with transferring her toiletries from her small bag to the bathroom counter. Meanwhile Aidan planned; fantasized would probably be a more fitting word; she saw explosions and a Mission Impossible style entrance. Nadia laughed and rolled her eyes at that one.

Once there was no longer a thing to be taken care of or straightened, Nadia sat in the middle of the bed. “Okay, slow down there cowboy. We have to first plan out the best…and most realistic, entrance; and then, and only then can you start fantasizing about what you’ll do once inside.”

Aidan gave a figurative sigh, “You are such a party pooper.”

“And you are such a child,” Nadia shot back.

Aidan gave what would translate into sticking out her tongue in response. “Okay, well if we’re gonna think boringly…I say we do what we thought of first.”

“You mean what I thought of first? Or yours?” she asked.

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, if I remember correctly; my idea was to knock out a guard and take his appearance and yours was to take out all the cameras and hop the fence.”

“Yours...” she grudgingly responded; but quickly added, “I can't help it if i'm a sucker for the dramatic.”

“Sometimes,” Nadia said under her breath. “Anyway…if we take out the first guard we see, where are we gonna put him?”

“That depends; does he need air or not?”

“What do you think?”

“Right, no fun… Do you know how to hotwire a car?”

“Give me five minutes and the internet and yes, I do.”

“You steal a van, shut him inside, keep him unconscious to the world and we’re as good as in.”

“Great, so not only am I gonna break into a prison to kill over 600 people; but I have to tack on a few more felonies while I’m at it. It’s dang near irresistible.”

“Quit whining about the details. Try and remember the big picture here. Once this is done, we only have 325 left to go…” she was growing less and less enthusiastic as she spoke.

“Don’t even think about having second thoughts about this! I know the numbers are shrinking much faster than you would like; but you’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m not the one who you have to worry about flaking… Just remember to keep yourself in check. Yes I would like a bit more time; but like you said, I’m gonna make a damn good name for myself after this little adventure." She paused briefly, "And for you…gloves.”

~~

Nadia had made her way through three different cars and one van by the time Aidan was confident in her internet-gotten talent. She pulled off the new black leather gloves she had purchased at a Harley Davidson dealership and dropped them on the bed. On her way back to the hotel, she passed a moving company with a parking lot full of vans and panel trucks. In a moment of inspiration, Nadia came up with a plan that even Aidan was vastly impressed by. Now it all came down to the details.

They spent the next three hours making calls and planning out every aspect of the settled on plan. Nadia practiced taking on different appearances in front of the bathroom mirror and doing the same to various items in the room. She changed the cheap, paper covered table to cow, motorcycle, and what ever else came to mind. Soon she could change the appearance of the entire room around her without more concentration than it took to dial a phone number. They were both growing more and more confident that everything would go smoothly. That is until they thought about the fact that once they made it inside the prison, all bets were off.

“Would you focus on the good here? You are such a pessimist,” Aidan huffed.

“I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist. Ever heard of my good friend Murphy? He came up with this unfortunate; but pretty much true law…”

“Like I said, pessimist. You are forgetting about something very important that Murphy didn’t factor into his stupid law.” Aidan waited while Nadia thought about that, “Us. Together we can make everyone in that prison think that they're…blind and deaf.”

“A few maybe; but not all of them. I don’t even know how much I can keep up in the air…let alone while I’m also trying to pull off a mass murder. I mean I have to keep one guy asleep while I take on his appearance, try to find my way to death row, and keep others from coming near; all before the most important thing...getting out alive,” she listed them off on her fingers.

“Then, we’ll have to find out…” Aidan responded.

~~

Nadia took the 580 from San Quentin to the University of California Berkeley’s massive campus. She parked the bike in the first place she could find and took a second to look at all the commotion around her. “You have to try to fit in…” Aidan pointed out. Nadia took her riding jacket off and draped it over her arm, shoved the key in her pocket, and let her hair fall around her shoulders. This shouldn’t be so hard, she thought to herself. I was one of these guys just a few months ago.

Aidan was scanning the area ahead of them, “Yeah, yeah poor you. Now…” She focused on an area in front of one of the buildings where people sat studying amongst all the crossing foot traffic. “There.”

“Why there?” she asked.

Aidan sighed, “Because there are a lot of people. The more people, the more we can see just what you can do.”

“I’m not a car,” Nadia thought in reply.

She merged into the flow of traffic and fell into step behind a small group of obviously freshman girls. For awhile Nadia focused on their conversation. The blonde in the middle was definitely the queen bee; she made sure everyone’s attention stayed on her. “I swear, if he breaks up with me before that party this weekend; I’m gonna die! I have so much to deal with right now. I have a test today and one the day after tomorrow,” she sighed, “I can hardly cope.” Nadia was suddenly over come with a powerful urge to push her down onto her pretty little over-worked face. Boyfriends and parties and tests, oh my! How dare a college schedule two tests in the same week as a party! OMG. Why don’t you try selling your soul to the devil! Or committing mass murder? I’d like to hear you complain about your idgit of a boyfriend then, Nadia fumed in her head.

Aidan was quiet and listened while a smile grew bigger and bigger on her mental face, “Now this side of you I like.”

Nadia gave a wicked little smirk, “Watch and learn.”

Nadia focused hard on the back of the girl’s head; while the girl dug in her purse for something. She pulled out a compact and looked at herself in the mirror. She screamed and dropped the compact. The other girls jumped and stared at her, “What happened?” one girl asked.

Nadia stepped around them and couldn’t help herself, “Zit?” The girl stopped and glared at her before staring after Nadia as she walked away. Nadia heard her huff after her as she walked away.

“What happened?” another girl asked.

“I don’t know. I looked in the mirror and I saw…I saw…a clown…” the blonde replied. Nadia listened to the conversation trail off as she continued toward the center of the square.

Aidan laughed and watched Nadia’s thoughts closely. “You want me to like you…” she stated with an air of haughtiness.

Nadia’s pace faltered for a second, I do not. I don’t care what you think about me.

Aidan laughed, “You do. You want me to like you. You are a people pleaser.”

“I am not,” she fought to keep her side of the conversation inside her head. I’ve spent my entire life pushing people away, avoiding them.

“Yes, because people avoided you for so long. But once someone comes around that doesn’t steer clear of you; you try anything you can to keep it that way. Therefore; people pleaser,” Aidan declared.

As Nadia stepped inside the square, she ignored Aidan and her pompous attitude and focused on the commotion around her. “Now what?”

Aidan reluctantly shifted gears, “Now, you make them see something.”

“Alright, I get it…but what do I make them see? Something that will get their attention…” she was coming up blank.

“Would you put that Bluetoe, or whatever you call it in your ear; so people don’t think you’re crazy?”

Nadia laughed, “Tooth, Bluetooth. Like I’d want to put a Bluetoe in my ear…”

“But you don’t mind a tooth?” Aidan pointed out.

Nadia conceded that one and slipped the device around her ear. What about a sign that says something…?

“Oh, now you keep it in your head… Says something like what? ‘If you can see this stand on your head?’”

Nadia bit her tongue, “You got an idea I’m all for hearing it.” She watched an image pass through Aidan’s mind. “No, I am not going to make them see a flying saucer!”

“Why not? It would totally work!” Aidan snapped back.

“Yeah, for those looking into the sky!” she paused and watched more images in Aidan’s mind. “No tigers or people with guns or ships either!” she responded irritated.

“Fine, then what would you suggest?”

She thought for awhile, “Well, I could start with making people stop and then work up to the vision stuff…” She could feel Aidan looking for an argument; drop it, she warned.

She focused on people as they passed and pushed Aidan to the back of her mind. She zeroed in on the first person that caught her attention. The first victim was a young man whose hurried pace had caught her eye. She almost felt bad doing it; but she focused on her goal. The man stopped a few paces away. Anyone else would’ve thought he was trying to remember something he’d forgotten. He stood there looking dazed and confused and Nadia moved on to the next person.

“You don’t want to have to wait until you can see every person who comes around at the prison. You have to stop them without looking at them; a mass stoppage would be preferable.”

“Sounds like a health problem to me,” Nadia muttered. She looked at the ground at her feet and focused on projecting the inaction to those around her. Slowly, the sounds around her grew quieter and quieter. She tried not to focus on the success she was having and on the continuation of it instead. She carefully raised her head and looked around her. Everyone in a 35 foot radius were standing still and staring at their feet. Those outside the circle hardly seemed to notice; they assumed it was some sort of protest. Like testing the door of a closet stuffed with toys, she little by little eased her strain on the hold she had on them. She found that she was able to keep them in place with much less effort, the longer she held them. After two minutes, holding them was as easy as juggling two balls; she wanted to test herself more.

She pushed the feeling out as hard as she could again and slowly more people stopped further out in the circle. She was holding at least 70 people within a 45 foot radius when she started to feel the strain on her body and her grasp started to slip. She looked around her and tried to let only certain people go about their business. One by one she picked people from all areas of the circle and they walked away. After 20 minutes she couldn’t hold them any longer and in a split second the entire group jumped back to what they were doing. Only a few glanced around in confusion before walking away.

How about we say that the whole vision thing has about the same range? Nadia thought to herself.

Aidan had used all she could gather to help Nadia and strengthen her hold and she was feeling the affects of it as well. “Sounds good to me. Besides, if we do have a problem at the prison; we won’t be taking on that many at a time.”

“I should hope not,” Nadia said. “Let’s call it an even 40 feet and at most, 45 people; just to be safe.”

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 12

“Hey, Bobby,” Dean said.

“Dean. What can’t you idgits figure out this time?” Bobby responded with his usual loving annoyance.

Dean rolled his eyes, “We’ve got a weird one…”

“That tends to come with the job description,” Bobby interrupted.

“Yeah, well this one doesn’t have anything that really jumps out at you. I mean; six guys bite the dust in two weeks and one’s a cop.”

“And the weird part?”

“No sulfur, no electrical problems and none of them have any alters in their basement. So, it’s not a demon problem. They all have a heart, so no werewolves. And we’ve spent hours scouring the net and libraries for untimely deaths, murders, and suicides and came up with butkiss.”

“So what do you have?”

“It looks like whatever it is, used a knife. The first guy was stabbed in the side and neck and the second guy was lucky enough to only get one to the jugular. After that they got worse and quicker; slit throats and a couple straight heart shots. As far as the guys themselves go; they spent most of their time at the gym, so they weren’t the easiest targets. Actually, the gym is one link we do have. The first three were gym bunnies; but after that they were all over the place. All the murders took place in a one block area, so that’s where we’ve been focusing but it isn’t taking us very far. Sam’s out walking the area again to see if he can use his puppy eyes of doom to extract any new info,” he rolled his eyes.

“How you two doing anyway?”

Dean knew he was really asking just about him, “We’re fine, Bobby. There was a guy, Emmett Hale, who was mugged on the same block a few weeks before the killings started. He was in a comma for awhile; but he died just before the whole thing started.”

“Well it sounds pretty obvious then…” He paused for a second, “You haven’t salt and burned him yet, have you?” his tone was harsh.

“No, not yet. Once Sam gets back that’s the first thing we plan on doing. I just wanted your take on this whole thing…”

“My take, is light him up.”

“We’re on it, Bobby,” he snapped.

“Good,” Bobby snapped back and hung up.

Dean snapped his phone shut with a growl and threw it on the bed. Sam walked through the door, “It’s about time,” Dean snapped and grabbed his jacket. “Let’s go.”

Sam watched him walk out the door, “Yeah, my walk was nice, thanks. I found out something new, by the way,” he said to himself before following him out.

~~

“So whatever this thing is, it had to have an exit?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, I mean once I got up the ladder and onto the roof; it was obvious that someone had been up there. Not only that; but there was a burnt pile of clothes up there too. They were just setting in the corner.”

“So you’re telling me someone started a fire on the roof and no one noticed?”

Sam shrugged, “Misdirection. People were focused on the commotion around the scene.”

Dean shook his head, “Hours passed before anyone found Morris. The thing would’ve been long gone by then.”

Sam sighed, “Yeah, you’d think…”

Dean gave him a weird look before turning back to face the road in front of him. “So this isn’t Hale then?”

“Seeing as how ghosts can just up and disappear, clothes and all… I’m thinking not.”

“So, what the frick?” he growled. They were quiet for awhile and Dean continued to drive. Finally he pulled over, “I guess going to the cemetery would be a waste of time…”

Sam gave him a look, “Yeah, unless we’re looking for a zombie; then it is a waste of time.” Dean lifted his brows and tipped his head at the possibility. “Dude, we are not looking for a zombie,” Sam snapped.

“Are you sure? Remember that guy who was so desperate to get laid that he brought that hot friend of his back from the dead? Maybe Rebecca thought she got jipped and wanted more time with her dearly departed.”

He was making some good points and so Sam thought about it; but realized some missed points. “If this were Emmett Hale, then why would he burn his clothes? No one would suspect him of killing six guys after he died. There wouldn’t be any reason to try and cover something like that up.”

Dean sighed, “So there is a reason I put up with you.”

Sam could feel the tension easing so he smiled back, “If you didn’t you would have, let’s see…salt and burned a corpse for no reason and went after an innocent woman.”

Dean smirked, “Details, Sammy, details.”

Sam laughed, “Yeah, nothing important or anything.”

Dean shrugged and turned the Impala around. “So where to now Mr. Logic?”

“We should probably go back to the other scenes and find out how the thing escaped there.”

“Right. And then you can leave the cops a little roof-top tip. I’m sure they’re dying for some kind of break; after all, it is one of their own. They can run their little tests, we’ll don the suits again, and soon we’ll all be right back in the loop.”

Sam laughed, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.”

“I prefer to see it as, equitable allocation of responsibility.”

Sam gave him a slightly shocked look, “Impressive…”

Dean smirked and Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 13

Everything that could be planned out was set. A moving van had been rented for two days, under Aidan Sawyer; of course. Nadia had changed the plates with another van in the yard and inconspicuously scattered papers over the dashboard to cover the VIN number. A quick stop at Menards filled a duffle bag with duct tape, rope, a black bandana, and lots of sound proofing foam; just in cause. Luckily, it seemed that the owner of the van was used to the neighborhood and didn't care much about what happened to his truck once money was in hand. The bike was already parked in the back and ready to be removed.

Everything was planned for first thing the next night. She parked the van in the lot of a hotel down the street and tried to do the impossible and get some sleep before sunset. When she finally gave up, she sat quietly in the back and went over everything repeatedly in her head. Aidan didn't need to say anything, Nadia could feel every tinge of excitement radiate off her and she tried to ignore it. "Would you settle down? I can't think..." she snapped at the empty air in the back of the van.

"Well, excuse me," Aidan snapped back. "This must be what they all feel like when their about to get out."

"Sure know how to make a girl feel special," Nadia muttered.

Before Aidan could respond, the alarm on Nadia's phone started to ring. "It's time!" Aidan chimed in.

Nadia rolled her eyes and mumbled about her having to get a new phone after Aidan had caused her to smash her's against the wall while she opened the back door. After a quick glance around, she was satisfied that no one was watching and she pulled out the ramp and rolled the bike out of the van. After it was parked a few spots from the van, she closed the door and climbed into the driver's seat. After a couple of days of watching the shift changes at the prison, Nadia and Aidan had decided on their target: David Sinclair who worked the 9:00 p.m. shift. He was always on time, small in stature, and light in weight; in other words, easy to move.

It was 8:55 when Nadia parked the van in the lot and like clock work, David pulled in a minute later. She parked the van out of camera shot and turned off the ignition. Before going any further, she quickly made herself look like the first person she thought of. A billboard caught her eye, so she became a red head with bright blue eyes from a Dairy Queen ad. She jumped out and walked around to open the hood. From the corner of her eye, she watched him gather his things and lock his doors. Action, she thought to herself. She sighed as loud as she could, placed her hands on her hips, and stared at the engine. He was too preoccupied with his own belongings to even notice her standing there; so she tried to call more attention to herself. She sighed again, ran her hands thought her hair, wiggled parts of the engine that she could see, smacked a few of them, threw up her hands, and gave an angry growl. If that didn't work she knew she would have to reinforce every stereotype out there and start crying; that was something she desperately didn't want to do. Thankfully, he was making his way over to her with an annoyingly heroic look on his face.

"Car trouble?"

"Wow, he's bloody brilliant," Aidan groaned.

"Yeah," Nadia frustratedly sighed, "I don't know much about cars... If it isn't something obvious; like something unhooked or melted, then it's all Greek to me."

He laughed, "I might be able to help..." He sat his things on the ground by the left front tire and looked over the engine. "I can't see much....I have a flashlight in my glove box, I'll be right back."

Before he took two steps, Nadia replied, "I have one in the back, actually. Let me get it..." She walked around to the back of the van, but tripped and twisted her ankle as she went to turn the back corner, "Ouch!"

David jogged around the van, "Are you alright?"

"Smooth move ex-lax," Aidan sneered.

"Ouch...yeah, I think so..." she started to get up but her hand slipped off the bumper and she fell back to the ground.”That was graceful..."

"Oh. Here, let me help you..." he squatted down and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Thanks...and sorry about this..." she said.

"Sorry? About what?" he questioningly smiled.

"This," she laid her palm on his forehead and he went limp and fell to the ground. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she mumbled to herself as she jumped up and ran into the back of the van. A wheelchair she had bought at a Goodwill leaned against the side of the van. She snapped it open and pushed it down the ramp to the parking lot; once she locked the brake, she grabbed him under the arms and lifted his torso into the chair. Once he was completely in it; she pushed him back into the van, tied him to the chair, duct taped his mouth, and tied the bandana over his eyes. She locked the brake again and then screwed down the steel brackets she had bolted to the floor of the van. She had faith that she could keep him knocked out while she was inside but she had to be ready; there was no telling what could happen once she was inside.

She paused in the back of the van for a second and concentrated on David Sinclair's appearance; once she felt the familiar pulling in her abdomen, she jumped out and closed and locked the doors. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and slipped it under the wiper blade. It read: "A tow truck is on its way." Hopefully that will keep them from getting too curious. She picked David's things up from the ground, took a deep breath, and walked to the front gate.

~~

"Hey, Dave. Ever heard of a backpack?" The guard at the entrance asked.

Nadia smiled, "Feels too much like a purse."

The man had an intimidating laugh, and it matched his stature. He hardly seemed to fit in the little room behind the glass; he was nearly 275lbs, extremely well built, with military hair cut and a hard expression which melted away when he laughed. "Alright, I'll buy it..." he glanced at his watch, "well mark this in the record books; you're late!"

Nadia shrugged, "I dropped my stuff and some of it rolled under a car..."

He laughed and shook his head, "See ya later."

Nadia nodded, "See ya." She walked towards the door and bumped into it when it didn't open.

"You need your card..." the man said, "like always."

She sighed, "Right... Uh, you think maybe this once..."

He laughed and shook his head, "This once."

A loud buzz sounded and the door opened, the air inside was cold and smelled like a dirty hospital. She glanced over the sign and followed the arrow to the guards' locker room. Once inside, she dropped all of Sinclair's things on a bench and found a map of the prison framed just outside the locker room. She was looking it over when she was startled by the face reflected back at her. She spun around but there was no one there. "It's you, stupid," Aidan pointed out. Nadia sighed, "Right. I am never going to get used to this." She turned back to the map, You're being awfully quiet. I figured you'd be bugging me as soon as stepped through the door.

"Would it make a difference?" Aidan asked.

No, Nadia responded.

"I am keeping myself busy in here until you realize you can't go any further."

That sounds dirty, Nadia chuckled.

"Oh yes, I'm the child..."

Nadia ignored her and found death row on the map and then their location; when she heard someone coming up behind her. "Five years, Sinclair. If you don't know your way around by now, I’m not holding out much hope for ya."

Nadia turned around and was taken aback by the man looking back at her. "He's cute..." Aidan said. Nadia smiled and tried to ignore what she was feeling too, "Ha, ha," she casually glanced at his name tag, "Chance." She had to look away, his face made her uncomfortable for reasons Nadia didn't like; she was attracted to him. He had a strong jaw line, incredible blue eyes, messy dark brown hair, a sharp nose, and full lips. In some ways she was reminded of Dean; which only made it worse. "Oh, come on. Dean would totally understand..." Nadia felt like she had been punched in the gut, when Aidan said those words.

"You alright, man? You don't look so good," he reached out to catch Sinclair.

She stepped back, "I'm fine..." She clamed herself and turned back to the map so that she wouldn't have to look at him. "I was just trying to figure out the most efficient ways around here."

There was a long pause before he answered, "O...kay." He laughed, "Sometimes I think there is really something wrong with you." Nadia didn't respond, "Where you trying to get to so fast, anyway?"

"You know the cafeteria, the different cell blocks, the warden's office, death row, the nearest bathrooms... You know, that sort of thing."

"In a real hurry to get to death row, are we?"

Aidan was flashing pictures of the very inappropriate things she would do to Officer Chance if she were given the opportunity and Nadia was having a hard time ignoring them. "Time is money."

"That it is." He reached toward the map, "It's a pretty straight shot from here," he traced a path to death row, "I mean you have the checkpoints here and here with guards; but other than that...it's a clear shot. So it, uh...saves money I guess," Nadia turned towards him without thinking and was a little stunned by his smile.

"You know you want to... He is cuter than Dean. Admit it."

I will not. Because he isn't. He's just different...it's his eyes.

"Get a little lost in your head sometimes, don't ya?" he smirked.

She laughed, "Yeah, you could say that."

"And those lips... Just plant one on him, you know you want to."

No! Besides I don't think he would take being kissed by David Sinclair to well.

"You never know... I mean he is really hot; so knowing the way things usually go...he probably swings that way."

Nadia ignored her, "Well, I better get to work; I'm already behind."

He stepped out of the way, "See ya around." Nadia nodded and walked passed him, "Hey," she turned around to hear what he had to say, "being in your head too much here can be kind of dangerous."

"Thanks," she smirked and returned to walking down the hall.

~~

Nadia didn't know what to expect as she walked toward the west wing of the prison; also known as death row. Movies and TV had her heart racing as it anticipated riots and shives and she tried to calm herself. Movies, movies are fake. They exaggerate the dramatic. How noisy could a place full of people who have nothing to do but sitting and waiting be? Seriously. You're going to walk in there and there maybe a few negative comments about you as you walk by, but they are talking about Sinclair. Sinclair, not you. You are not Sinclair. You are not Aidan.

"Ouch, that hurt."

Nadia rolled her eyes and was taken aback as she rounded the corner and came face to face with a bored looking guard. He was sitting on a plastic chair and leaning back on the bars behind him. She scanned the bars quickly and realized this was one of the checkpoints Chance had been talking about. The man was lost somewhere far away as he stared at the wall across from him, oblivious to Sinclair standing next to him. Nadia waited but it was obvious that he wasn't going to come out of his reverie on his own anytime soon, "A little bored are we?"

The sudden break in the silence around him caused him to jump and reach toward his belt until he recognized the face looking back at him. "Jeez, Sinclair. What the f***? You can't go sneaking up on people in a prison; you're going to get yourself killed."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you..." Nadia started to respond.

"You didn't scare me," he quickly shot back.

Nadia fought to keep from rolling her eyes, tough guy, "Fine, I didn't mean to surprise you then. I wasn't trying to sneak; you were just off somewhere...totally not here. Can I get through?"

The man, whose name tag read, Kipper, stood up and reached out his hand, "That depends, you have your card?"

"Of course," Nadia lied as she pulled her debit card out of her pocket and handed it to him. She concentrated on the cards sudden change of appearance in his eyes from a debit card to a San Quentin i.d. card while she glanced around her. There was a camera behind her pointing down the hall towards the second and last checkpoint and into death row. Another was mounted ahead and to the right so that it captured every face that passed through Kipper's gate.

"Alright," he handed the card back to her and turned his key in the slot until he could pull the heavy door open.

She thanked him and walked toward the final gate. Before she even got there, the guard stood up aggressively and stared at her with a menacing look, "Well, if isn't St. Sinclair. Surprised you could pry your lips off Wong's ass long enough to make it all the way down here."

Perfect. "Look I just need to get through, alright?" Nadia was starting to grow weary of this whole ordeal.

"Already? It's just about to get good," Aidan replied.

"Wong send you down here for one of your stupid inspections?" he sneered.

Nadia sighed, "I don't even know what you're talking about. Here's my card," she reached out Sinclair's hand and glanced at his name tag, "James. Just let me by."

He glanced down at her hand, "You know, I don't think I feel like it. You can go and whine about it to Wong; see if I give a rat's ass."

Nadia was starting to lose her temper; every minute she stood here was another minute she had to keep the real Sinclair asleep and the higher the risk of the entire mission grew. "Why do you insist on doing this like a normal human? You could make him let you through in a heartbeat; but you insist on wasting time..."

Shut up, Aidan. Nadia could feel Aidan's furious disapproval at that demand as she tried to push her way to the surface. Not yet.

"Bite me. If you can't take care of this one little problem, I'll do it myself..." Aidan pushed harder and harder until Nadia gave up and let her past. Aidan smirked and stepped closer to James, "You know what? I think you just like saying his name."

James was taken aback for a second; but he stood his ground, "Is that right?"

"Yeah," she paused, "I think it makes you feel better about how impotent you are."

James clenched his jaw and his face turned a bright, angry shade of red as he stepped towards Sinclair, "I will gut you where you stand," he spat.

"Boy, you really are desperate to get all up close and personal with all your friends in there aren't you? Do they make you feel all warm and good about yourself? No need to worry about your little impotency problem if you're on the right end, huh?" Aidan recognized his slight shift in weight as he prepared to punch her in the face; but she was a step ahead. It takes twice as much power to swing and miss than it does to actually hit someone, Nadia internally rolled her eyes at the unnecessary and inappropriate fact that she had a compulsion to share at a time like this. She was right though; in his effort to hit Sinclair, he threw himself off balance and started to fall forward. As he stumbled forward and tried to regain his balance, Aidan slammed her elbow into his face. Nadia winced at the sickening sound his nose made as it crushed under the force of the hit. He fell to his knees spouting obscenities and threats; but Aidan cut him off with a quick knee to the face. His large body slumped back like a ragdoll propped against a wall. Aidan watched to make sure he was out and then looked straight at the camera. She raised her hand and flicked it as thought she were waving some annoying person away and the camera twisted, snapped off its bracket, and crashed to the floor.

"Holy crap," Nadia mumbled.

"Thank you," Aidan smiled.

"I'm sure you just attracted a lot of unneeded attention to us. Guards beating on guards, malfunctioning cameras...oh yes, this is going perfectly," her words dripped with sarcasm.

"I can't deal with half my brain freaking out right now. So you need to shut it and let me do what I do best." Aidan shoved Nadia's card back in her pocket and grabbed the key from James' belt. As she slid the gate open, she searched for cameras down the cell block. The sound of the fight and opening gate had grabbed the attention of most of the inmates on the block. Mirrors flashed into the hall as they tried to see what had happened. Aidan ignored them and grabbed James by the ankle and dragged him through the gate and closed it behind him. "Dude, you need to go on a diet," Aidan mumbled to an unconscious James.

Part of Nadia wanted to shut herself away in the back corner of her mind as Aidan worked; but the majority was entranced with a morbid curiosity that kept her wide-eyed. Aidan took out the two cameras down the block the same way she had the others and listened hard for approaching guards, but she couldn't hear anything over the loud curiosity of the inmates ahead of her. Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way, she thought to herself. Before Nadia could ask what that meant, Aidan concentrated on projecting a complete blackout to the hallway behind her.

"What are you doing?" Nadia asked.

Anyone who comes down here will collapse and blackout before they even now what hit them. I've kept a few tricks up my sleeve...

"I should say so," Nadia was flabbergasted at Aidan's abilities.

You could do it too, you know. All you have to do is give in and accept it.

"I don't really think this the time for a conversion of my beliefs."

Aidan shrugged, fine. She walked down the row but stopped about halfway and turned in a circle to look at the curious and harassing faces around her. A young, scrawny man to her right caught her eye. He wasn't standing at the bars like everyone else; instead he was standing in the middle of his cell, staring back at her. She couldn't tell if he was afraid, curious, or just stupid. She watched him for awhile until Nadia interrupted with a shocking realization, "There aren't enough... There aren't 675 inmates here..."

What?

"This isn't right. There are supposed to be 675 inmates on death row; they couldn't possibly all fit here." Nadia was starting to panic the more the realization sunk in.

Aidan looked at the ground in shock and tried to make everything make sense; then she thought of something. She looked at the first inmate she saw and asked him, "Is this death row?"

He gave her an odd look, "You're the guard. Aren't you supposed to know these things?" He laughed and Aidan let her appearance drop. He jumped back in shock and Aidan heard the first guards running towards her and drop to the floor. She drilled her eyes into his and made him talk, "This is one. There are two more."

"What?" Aidan snapped.

"There is the North-Segregation where all the white collar good death row guys are. This one; the East block. I guess we're the medium violent ones, and then there's the Adjustment Center; the worst of the worst," he spat out the words in a rush.

"Where are they?"

"Well, the North Segregation is to the north..." he paused and winced as Aidan grew angrier at his attempt at humor, "go back to the gate and turn right. That's North Segregation. The Adjustment Center is the opposite way, to the South; at least until the new facility opens in 2011."

You could have done a bit more research I guess, Aidan angrily snapped at Nadia.

"You were there too you know. Now what? This was supposed to a quick in and out operation. Now our time just tripled!"

Relax, Aidan frantically thought for a few seconds, I can still do this. I just won't be able to enjoy it as much as I'd thought; I'll have to rush.

The other inmates were starting to get over the shock and confusion of what they had just seen and heard take place and they were getting noisy and perverse. Aidan quickly thought of what she could do to kill them all quickly so that she could move on to the next cell block. As she thought over the different scenarios she had come up with in the last few days, the nearest faucets blew off the sinks and water started to spray every where. "That will take too long," as she said the words, the water suddenly stopped. She bit her lip out of stress and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Hey chica, how about you come over here; I'll make you forget all about whatever's bothering you," an inmate to her left purred through the bars.

Aidan snapped her head in his direction and she walked over to him, "Is that right?" She pushed away the panic and smiled.

"Absolutamente," he smiled back.

"Pipes burst for no reason in a couple of cells and all you can think about is how horny you are?"

"It's been a long time," he explained with a smile.

She gave him a sweet smile, "Oh don't worry, you won't have to wait much longer."

His smile grew, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she raised her hand and ran the back of her finger along his jaw. Then she pulled it away and flicked it just as she had with the cameras and his head snapped around; breaking his neck and killing him instantly.

"We don't have time for this," Nadia pointed out as more guards dropped behind her.

"I know," Aidan said under her breath. Now the inmates were shifting into a flight or fight response; which was quickly dampened by the bars around them. She turned to the cell across from the man she had just killed and ripped the bed from the bolts on the floor and slammed it into him. She walked down the block, repeating the move over and over again until the only inmate still alive was the scrawny man from before. She was taken aback when not a cell in his body looked fearful.

"Christo," he tightly said without taking his eyes off her.

Shock jolted through her body, "You're a hunter."

"What?" Nadia said in surprise.

He glanced around him, "Use demonic possession as your defense for why you killed 10 people and you tend to look a little crazy."

"What?" Nadia repeated in shock.

Get a hold of yourself, Aidan snapped at her.

"So you're not a demon. What are you?" he asked.

"I'm a whole new level of freak," she smirked. "Love to stay and chat but...places to go, people to kill."

"No! You can't kill him!" Nadia fought to regain control of her body; but Aidan was holding firmly on.

"I have to," Aidan snapped. "I can't just let him go." The man watched her with confusion.

"You have to. We can't kill a hunter!"

"Exactly! He's a hunter. Hunter's talk; if I let him go word spreads. We will be on every hunters hit list," she let the words sink in.

Nadia felt like she had been punched in the gut, Dean.

"Yes. Now what's it going to be?"

"What the hell are you?" he asked again.

Aidan and Nadia ignored him. She knew it was selfish; but Nadia new that if Dean found out what she had let Aidan do, she would never see him again, "Do it."

Aidan waited for Nadia to decide and could feel tears come to her eyes as Nadia said the words. It'll be quick, she told Nadia. Without a sign of what was coming, her hand flashed up and his head snapped to the side before he could even process what was happening.

[Lawrence_K]

Chapter 14

"Who is this again?" Dean asked.

"T.J. Donovan; stab wound to the jugular." Sam looked around him, "There are three alleys within running distance; he could have hid out in anyone of them. Probably used another fire escape."

Dean was distracted by something across the road, "What day was this?"

"Uh," Sam glanced at the notepad in his hand, "Tuesday around 8:00. Why?"

Dean nodded to the building he had been staring at, "Bet that class meets every Tuesday at the same time..." He could see the look of confusion on Sam's face, "Two of those alleys you mentioned a minute ago flank each side of that very open building. Lots of windows means lots of opportunity to be seen."

"So he probably chose the one over by the pet store; away from all the hubbub," Sam responded.

"Hubbub?" Dean gave Sam an odd look and shook his head before crossing the street to the alley. A quick game of rock, paper, scissors, and a climb up another fire escape; and Dean verified their suspicion. "Another pile of what used to be clothes. Extra large male; he's a big guy."

~~

Robert Carlisle, the third victim was killed in a parking lot across from the gym at about 10:00 on a Friday night. "Knife to the chest," Sam said. "I guess it's pretty obvious that this time, he escape in a car. Big open lot like this one, it's not easy not to be seen."

~~

"Isn't this where Emmett Hale was killed?" Dean asked.

"He was closer to the mouth of the alley. Jasper Morris, on the other hand was killed exactly where Hale was found," Sam responded. "Michael Patterson, 35, died on Saturday of a slit throat; first time this thing went all out. There's no way of coming back after a cut to the throat that deep."

"Escalation." Dean stared down the alley in thought, "Is it just me or is this seeming more and more like a problem for the cops?"

"Whatever it is, it's following a classic criminal pattern."

They were quiet for awhile until Dean headed for the mouth of the alley, "Who's next?"

~~

"Brad Arnold; died Wednesday in his apartment. This one seems different; it didn't take happen in public place, he was stabbed multiple times, and there weren't any signs of forced entry," Sam told his brother as they climbed the stairs to the third floor. "3B."

Dean picked the lock of apartment 3B and glanced down the hall before entering, "Maybe this one isn't even related. Spurned lover, jealous coworker, plain old robbery maybe."

"Definitely not a robbery. He still had money in his wallet and there aren't any signs of rummaging or searching for anything."

"Multiple stabbing?"

Sam nodded, "I think 17 times counts as multiple."

"Psht, my money's on the lover," Dean responded. They looked some more around the apartment; but they had no idea what they were looking for. They both felt out of their element. "There is something off about this case. I can feel it," Dean said.

~~

Dean was plotting each crime scene on a map in an effort to make some sense out of the mess of facts they had. Sam was looking in the files for some sort of pattern; neither of them were having any luck. Dean was growing increasingly frustrated every time he looked at the map, "I hate this case!" Sam ignored him, "There aren't any coins, amulets, symbols, residues, or giant pentagrams formed by the locations on a map! We're missing something. We have to be."

"Well, there inlays the problem. We have nothing until we find what we're missing, and we have no idea what that is," Sam didn't look up from the files as he talked.

"We have to try something new. This case is different somehow...maybe we need to look at it differently."

"Like?"

Dean ran his hand over his head, "I don't know... What ever this thing is, it hasn't been caught; so it must be smart..."

Sam nodded, "Have some sort of planning behind it, so... There has to be some connection..." They thought for awhile and then Sam stood up, "I have an idea." He grabbed a stack of blank and scrapped papers and started to write on them. "What things define a person?" Six sheets of paper with the six victims names on them, and then he stuck them to the wall in order from left to right. "Their name." He grabbed more papers, "Where they live," he wrote down their addresses and stuck them to the wall. "Their job. Weston was a teacher, Donovan a contractor, Carlisle owned a sporting goods store, Patterson was an EMT, so was Arnold, and Morris was a cop." He stuck them to the wall, "Their hobbies... Fishing, hiking, hunting, baseball, cars, and hunting."

"Two EMTs and two who liked hunting... Maybe this thing goes after people who save lives and those who take lives?" Dean stretched.

"This is Colorado, 90 percent of the state hunts. What kind of people are we left with?" Dean stared at the wall annoyed so Sam answered his own question, "A teacher, a builder, a...supplier, two life savers, and a protector."

"Things in a high school janitor's closet!"

Sam rolled his eyes, "The EMTs and the cop are the only things that could even go into the same category."

"The hospital is on the south west corner of the block kitty-corner to the gym; I'm sure the EMTs and Morris all frequented that place." Dean thought for a second, "A teacher probably goes to the doctors a lot with all the sick kids and I'm sure the contractor has had a few accidents on the job."

"It's a place to look," Sam conceded.

"For what though?" He gave a frustrated growl, "I'm stretching, making connections where there aren't any..."

"Maybe; but right now it's all we have...might have. I say we pay the hospital a visit."

"Cops or doctors?"

"Cops." Sam chuckled, "People work years making such a decision and we decide in a second."

"It's good to be us."

"Ha! Yeah, right."