Chapter Text
Dean gets a text from Cas not long after they leave St. Louis - an old friend called for some help and he’ll have to reunite with them all later than expected. He frowns as he types out a reply before snapping his phone shut. Even though the two of them can’t really do anything with Sam and Jess around, it’s nice to have him there. Sam flips between sitting in the passenger seat staring longingly at Jess or just sitting in the back with her, and Dean’s starting to feel more like a chauffeur than anything else.
“So, who’s Cas seeing?” Sam asks him once he relays the message.
“Don’t know, probably someone he met on a hunt.” He turns off the highway.
“You don’t know?”
“Uh, yeah, Sam. I don’t keep the dude on a leash.”
“Right, sure, a strange supernatural creature with crazy powers - don’t need to watch him or anything.”
Dean actually turns his head around to look at his brother. “What is it with you and Cas, man? You’re acting like a -” He glances at Jess, then turns back around.
“A what?”
“I was going to say jealous girlfriend, but Jess and Cas get along fine, right Jess?”
“Well, he saved my life,” she says breezily. “It’d be kind of stupid to not like him.”
“I just think it’s weird that this - guy came out of nowhere three years ago, no one’s heard of him, he has the ability to make all our lives easier, and no one is questioning it?”
“Yeah, someone who makes all our problems magically go away - what a hardship.”
“Yeah, for someone like you. Any time something good happens to us, you’re the one that can’t put any faith in it, and here you are, trusting this guy implicitly.”
“Okay, I did not trust him implicitly,” Dean argues, “we had a whole blow-up fight about it and I kept my head up my ass for months. We’re good now. You can trust him.”
“Why? Because you said so?”
Dean sighs. “Because he’s saved me about a handful of times, he’s saved Jess, and he’s saved all these other people on our hunts.”
“Your brother has a point,” Jess tells him, “if he really wanted to do something - bad. He’s had the chance.”
“Yeah, well, we both thought Brady was our friend, didn’t we?” The car goes quiet. “And look how that turned out.”
“Cas isn’t a demon.”
“We don’t know what he is!” Dean shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything else. Maybe it’s for the best Cas stays away from them until his brother works out - whatever the hell his problem is.
-
The next morning Dean’s skimming through the paper. He flips the page around so Sam and Jess can get a look. “Mutilated body found near victim’s car, parked on 9 mile road. It’s from Ankeny, Iowa. Not too far from here.”
Sam pushes the paper away. “We’re eating.”
“So? Never bothered you before.” Sam gestures at Jess, who’s eating a bowl of questionable looking oatmeal - complete with fruit on the side. At least Dean knows who’s been enabling his brother’s obsessive healthy habits. Her eyes are on the article.
“Not that I’m the one with experience, but this looks like a case.”
“Not every gross-out thing Dean likes to force on us counts as a case,” Sam says.
“‘Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer,’” Jess reads, “‘The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.’” She glances at the two of them. “Sounds like it’s up your alley.” She takes another bite of oatmeal.
“You’re smarter than you look,” Dean says, pulling the paper back towards his side of the table.
“About how smart do I look, on a scale from one to ten?” She raises an eyebrow. Dean flounders for a moment, and she leans back in her seat, laughing. “Oh Dean, your face!”
Dean can, once in a while, admit when he’s been beat. He smiles. “Come on, let’s pack up and check this thing out. Maybe Jess can -”
“Can what?” Sam interrupts. “Don’t tell me you want her to help us hunt?”
“Hey, it’s not about what I want, it’s just that we’ve been dragging Jess around for months - don’t tell me you don’t want to see a little action.” Sam turns to look at Jess, incredulous.
“What? I didn’t say anything.” She takes a sip of coffee. “Are you two finished? If we want to figure out what’s going on, we’re gonna have to track down the eyewitness.” Dean smirks at his brother while Jess flags their waitress over.
-
Dean doesn’t realize until they’re pulling off the exit, but the place is a college town. “Huh. Eastern Iowa State,” he mumbles, reading the sign, “go hawks.”
The address they find for the victim turns out to be a frat house. A few guys are out on the lawn, working on their cars. They look up and stare at them when Dean parks.
“Did you want to stay in the car?” Sam asks.
“Oh, what’s the worst that can happen? I’m gonna get hit on by a bunch of football geeks?" She grins at him, wiggling her fingers. "Scary.” She gets out of the car and even Sam manages a laugh as he follows her. She does get a few looks, but Sam has his arm around her waist and they spin some story about being transferred.
They figure out what room Rich lived in and head inside. Dean was figuring they could snoop around, but instead they see a guy trying to paint his body purple. Dean briefly thinks back to his time in Ohio, but those memories are pretty clean of painted up sports fans. “Who are you?” the guy asks.
“Uh, your new roommates.”
The kid’s gaze goes over to Jess. “Do me a favor, get my back?”
“Oh, no, this guy’s the artist,” he pats Sam’s shoulder. “The things he can do with a brush.” Jess keeps her face straight, just barely. “So, Murph,” Dean says, glancing at the guy’s magazine with his mailing address on it, “We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week. Is it true?”
“Yeah. They’re saying some psycho with a knife. Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy.”
“Was he with anybody?” Sam asks.
“Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen.” At their blank looks the guy continues, “she’s a freshman, super hot, and a preacher’s daughter. It’s like a perfect storm of pent up -”
“ - Mm, charming,” Jess says. “Her dad’s a preacher, you said? You… wouldn’t happen to know where her dad’s church is, would you?”
-
They find the church and sneak in for Sunday Mass. Sam glares at Dean for making too much noise, fidgeting, not looking pious enough or whatever. Afterwards Dean talks to the reverend, Sam talks to Lori. After smiling and nodding through a fifteen minute long sermon about youth groups, he heads back to the car. Sam’s looking around, and when he sees Dean, his face falls.
“Where’s Jess?”
“She wasn’t with you?”
“No, I thought she went - damn it.” He digs out his phone.
“Whoa, calm down. Maybe she just went to stretch her legs.”
“Something tried to kill her, Dean. If we just let her out of our sight, then -”
“We’ve been on the road for months Sam, and no one’s come after her. She has the anti-possession necklace and she’s not an idiot.”
“She’s not a hunter, either! She’s -”
“Right here. Sorry.” Jess comes up to them from somewhere in the dispersing crowd. “I saw Lori talking to some other girl so I struck up a conversation. Apparently Lori’s in a sorority. A pretty low-key one, though. Her friend was saying that their idea of girls gone wild is some tequila shots and Reality Bites marathons.”
“Jess, I appreciate the help, but you really shouldn’t -”
“What sorority?” Dean interrupts.
-
“Okay, so maybe taking Jess around was actually a genius idea,” Dean admits, watching Jess flip her hair and point at Sam and Dean to the head Theta sorority girl in charge, or whatever they call them. She reluctantly waves them through and they head up the stairs.
As they’re passing by, the sorority girl remarks that they’ve been getting way too many off campus boyfriends in.
“Off campus boyfriends?” Dean mutters. Sam shrugs and they climb the stairs up to the top floor. There’s little signs on the doors with different names and messages. “Wow. This place is actually nice.”
“Sorority girls go to party at the frat houses - that’s how they keep everything so clean,” Jess says. “You know. Allegedly.”
“Not part of that scene?”
“Oh, no, there’s a reason why Sam and I get along so well, right?”
“Yeah, most of our dating life was in the library,” Sam says, smile peeking through.
Dean’s had enough of his brother staring forlornly at Jess to last a lifetime, so he goes back to the case at hand. He reads off the names on the bedroom doors. “Madison and Lydia, Alexa and Claire, awesome - Lori and Taylor.” He opens the door and stops in his tracks.
The room is small, with white walls and matching twin beds, desks pressed to opposite sides of the room laden with books. There’s a girl sitting in one of the chairs, and a man she's looking up at. Jeans, t-shirt, dark, unkempt hair. Dean can’t see his face, but thinks that at this point he would know him anywhere. “...Cas?”
“Cas?” he hears Sam echo.
He turns. “Dean? I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“Yeah, me neither.” The three of them come into the room and shut the door. The girl in the chair isn’t Lori, so Dean assumes it’s the roommate. He points. “So. This was the old friend of yours?"
“Yes. Taylor and I crossed paths last winter."
"Huh. Doesn't seem that old of a friend to me." Cas rolls his eyes.
"It was on that case where I found the knife.”
“Oh, so. Um. She…” Dean blanches inwardly. Taylor just gets up and walks over to him, shakes his hand.
“Yeah, hi. Got possessed by a demon, almost died from a stab wound, Cas and I got matching tattoos, you know.” Taylor does look like someone who might get matching tattoos with someone for the sake of a good story, but between the halter top and mini skirt combo, she doesn’t strike Dean as the type who’d get possessed and then just go to school afterwards. Not that he'd be able to pick that sort out of a lineup.
“You were - possessed?” Sam chokes out.
“For two months my senior year of high school, yeah.” She runs a hand through her hair. “The uh, less said about that the better.”
“Matching tattoos?” Jess adds. Taylor pats her hip.
“Cas showed me a sigil to stop that from happening again, and I thought maybe we’d be better off getting some ink done. I called him here when my roommate, Lori, went on a date with this guy and he didn’t make it back. Lori kept telling me stuff that just didn't add up, you know? And Cas told me I could call him if I ever experienced something weird, so…” She shrugs. “Here we are.”
“Where’s Lori right now?” Dean asks.
“With her dad. I wanted her to come by - figured I could invite Cas in as my long distance boyfriend or something and he could talk to her directly, but she always does Sunday dinners at home.”
“We talked to her after Mass,” Sam says. “She told me about the scratching on the roof of the car.”
Taylor nods. “Yeah, she told me that too. It sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t remember why until I looked it up. Rich’s body was - well, she said he was tied up and suspended, and his fingers dragged on the roof of his car and made this awful noise. I don’t know about you guys, but to me, that sounded exactly like -”
“The hook man legend,” Sam finishes.
“The hook man?” Jess says. “Like, the urban legend from the ‘50s?”
“Hey, we found a bona fide Bloody Mary story last week,” Dean points out.
“And I remember you hunting the Jersey Devil down a while back,” Cas adds, “strange urban myths and local legends can have some grain of truth in them. Sometimes more than we’d like to admit.”
“Jesus,” Taylor says, rubbing her forehead. “Please tell me whatever this thing is, you guys can get rid of it.”
“We’ll do our best,” Cas tells her. “In the meantime, I can go around the room to protect it.”
“Yeah, let’s draw weird, esoteric symbols on the walls and put salt on the window sill. My roommate who’s a preacher’s daughter definitely won’t freak out.”
“What are you suggesting?”
Taylor sucks her teeth, eyes going dark. For a moment, Dean sees something there that goes beyond studying and hanging out on campus. “I had to - live with that thing inside of me for two months. I’m not just going to sit by and let something hurt me or Lori or - anyone else. I don’t know much about what you guys do, but if this is some local legend come to life, then - I don’t know. Maybe a local can help you guys find what you’re looking for?”
Cas coughs. “You’re from Vermont, if I recall.”
“ Whatever , Cas. You get what I’m saying. Come on, it’ll be like a fun sleepover, or something.”
“Is hunting down the hook man legend your idea of a fun sleepover?” Sam asks her.
“Or something. ”
Sam and Cas glance at him. Jess’s eyes are trained on Taylor’s.
“As long as I don’t have to stare at any microfiche,” Dean manages, “I’m good.”
-
Sam and Dean go straight to the reference desk, and Cas stays back with Taylor and Jess, watching them. “So, you’re all hunters?” Taylor asks.
“Not exactly. Sam and Dean, they’re brothers, they were raised like that,” Jess tells her. “I was dating Sam at Stanford when uh, a demon attacked me. Cas came in time to save me and we’ve been on the road since, trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“Do you think that demon was the same one that…” Cas shakes his head.
“It felt different. I had hoped that demon would return for the knife, or that it just went back to hell, but I haven’t run across it yet, Taylor.” She nods, crossing her arms, eyes on a random part of the library. Cas clears his throat. “Well. You passed the SATs after all, didn’t you?”
She looks back at him. “Hah, yeah. Had to start a semester late, but you know. Got some scholarships together, convinced my parents I was back on the straight and narrow.”
“Are you?”
Taylor laughs. “Okay, not so straight and narrow, but nothing like the frat house Rich is from. Those guys are crazy.” Cas sees Dean gesture for them and he starts walking through the library, Jess and Taylor behind him.
“Yeah, they all seemed a little sleazy,” Jess offers.
“And Lori went out with one of them?” Taylor winces at his comment.
“Yeah. I mean, Rich was a really popular guy, you know? And he seemed into Lori. I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed them both together when they went out. Like, maybe if things went differently…”
“We can talk ourselves in circles about that sort of thing until we go crazy,” Jess tells her. “I’ve been doing that nonstop. And anyway, I remember being a freshman, partying and stuff - you’re allowed to have fun. Especially after everything that happened to you.” Taylor smiles.
“Hey, so are you,” Taylor returns. “I’m telling you, tequila and Reality Bites marathons. Really takes the edge off those 8am gen eds.”
They all read through the arrest records of the town. It goes faster with five people searching. Cas has full confidence in Taylor and Jess - even if they’re not hunters, they have plenty of experience doing research.
“Hey, check this out,” Jess holds up a journal. “1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he -” She grimaces. “He killed thirteen prostitutes.”
“Fun guy,” Taylor supplies.
“It also says that some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.” She sniffs. “Little hypocritical, I guess.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asks.
“Well, he’s mad about this town running to ruin, but he’s killing prostitutes, not, you know, the men who are buying what they’re selling.” She passes the book over to him. “I think the term is ‘double standards.’”
Dean leans over his brother’s shoulder. “Whoa, it says that the murder weapon was the preacher’s prosthetic. Apparently he lost his hand in an accident and had it replaced with a silver hook.”
“And said accident happened on 9 mile road,” Sam concludes, shutting the book. “Looks like it’s an angry spirit.”
“Okay, cool,” Taylor says. “Angry ghosts sound a little easier to deal with.”
“Yeah, you’d be surprised,” Dean says. “Okay. I bet we can go down there and get the spirit to appear.”
“With us as bait?” Jess asks.
“Bait? Why do we need bait?”
“The article said this guy killed prostitutes,” Jess says. “I mean, my social life isn’t that exciting these days, but in 1862 I’m pretty sure something as blase as, I don’t know, premarital sex would really piss off this ghost.” She glances at Taylor. Dean flattens his mouth, considering.
“I mean, yeah, guess so.”
“We’re not using you two as bait,” Sam says. “We don’t need bait. We can just - go there, look around, and move from there. Dean and I can check it out.” He gathers up the research from the table.
Dean glances at Cas, then shrugs. “We’ll call if anything comes up.” He follows his brother out. Jess sighs.
“We could have been bait.”
“I’m sure Sam just wants you to be safe. Both of you,” Cas says. Jess stares at him, lips tugged down.
“So, uh,” Taylor starts. “Since we still have an angry spirit roaming around, and I definitely am not 'final girl' material… is that a no on the sleepover idea?”
-
Cas drives Taylor and Jess back to the sorority house so Taylor can grab an overnight bag. When she heads inside, Jess looks over at him. “So. She’s cute.”
“I… suppose?”
Jess blinks. “What, you save her life, get matching tats, and you two call it a day?”
“I helped her and tried to make her feel as safe as possible before driving her back to her parents’. There’s not much else to say.” He frowns. “Also, not that I know how old I am, but I think I’m too old for a freshman in college.” Jess laughs.
“Okay, you’re right. Sam and I have been together for ages and Dean seems…” She pauses.
“Dean seems…?”
She shrugs. “Sam always seems to imply he’s a ladies’ man, so I guess I was curious about you.” Cas shrugs non-committedly. Another car pulls up next to them. “Hey, it’s Lori and her dad.” Cas can’t make out what they’re saying, but from their pinched faces it looks like an argument. Lori leaves the car, slamming it shut. She glances at Taylor as she comes out of the house, but they don’t stop and chat.
“Okay, so, I got out of there just in time,” Taylor says, slipping into the backseat. Cas turns again and sees Lori’s dad glaring at him as he reverses in the driveway and heads back to the motel.
“I don’t think the reverend thought very highly of me just now,” Cas says. Taylor snorts.
“Yeah, I get that a lot. He thinks I’m corrupting Lori or something, like all I do is party and date boys and drink or whatever.”
“You did say you do those things,” Cas says, good-naturedly.
“Sure, but like. A normal amount. I only invite Lori out to that sort of thing because I’m worried she’s gonna miss out. I mean, in our sorority you can’t get in unless you have a GPA of 3.5 or higher. We only have this sorority because it’s like a legacy of the woman’s college that was here before it went co-ed. We do leadership stuff and volunteering, too.” She fiddles with her bag, looking back at the house. “I guess her dad doesn’t understand you can do both.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Jess says. “At the risk of sounding like an extra in a horror movie, should we stop at a package store? If Sam and Dean don’t want our help, I think I’d like some wine for a change.”
“I don’t know if I’m a wine person.”
“Me neither. But there’s a place off of fifth, after this light, if you’re paying,” Taylor says.
-
Jess has decent taste in wine, and there’s a Chinese take out place next to the package store. They get back to the motel room with enough food for an army - or for the three of them and Dean and Sam, whenever they get back. They split a bottle and watch Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie stumble through rural jobs for a few hours.
“No, like, I get it’s a level 100 class,” Taylor says, “I just think we’re learning way too much about Kant. Also I feel like there’s this one dude in class? Who, you know, brings up Nietzsche even if it has nothing to do with what we’re talking about.”
“There’s always a guy in class who brings up Nietzsche, get used to it,” Jess says.
“Or Marx,” Cas adds. Taylor and Jess both nod. Cas reaches over to grab the remote when a sense of dread crawls up his spine. He sits up from the bed. “Hold on. I feel something.”
“A hangover coming on?” Jess asks.
“The urge to write my ethics paper for me?” Taylor adds.
“No.” As though following a cue, the window in the motel room begins to rattle, lightbulbs flickering.
Taylor stands up. “What was that?” Her breath mists, the room’s air suddenly freezing.
“It could be the spirit.” Cas gets up and goes through his bag. “Jess, double check the window and door, make sure that the salt line is there.”
“Got it.”
Cas takes out his flashlight and passes it to Taylor. “The shotgun is in the car,” he says, “If the spirit can break through, I’ll hold it off while we get there, okay?” He stands in front of Taylor, watching for any changes. Just as Jess finishes adding an additional line by the window, a large bang! hits against the glass. Taylor jumps.
Jess looks out at the motel lot through the gauzy, white curtains. “I don’t see anything.” Cas glares harder, trying to focus.
“I - I do,” Taylor says. Cas sees it, too. The figure of an old man with stringy, black hair in old garb, a hook gleaming in the darkness. It meanders forward and drags the blade along the glass. “What’s it doing?”
“It’s drawing something,” he says, standing at the ready. “It looks like some sort of episcopal symbol.” Once the spirit finishes drawing out a large cross with smaller crosses in the empty spaces, it vanishes. After another minute, the lights flicker back on.
“...Is it gone?”
“For now,” Cas says. “I can call Dean -”
“And I’ll call Sam,” Jess says. “See if they’re close to finding anything out there.”
“W-what about Lori?” Taylor asks.
“Call her, too,” Jess says. “If she doesn’t pick up, then - we’ll worry about that later.”
Dean and Sam go to voicemail. Luckily, Lori picks up right away, asking where Taylor went off to. “Yeah, no, I just wanted to visit with my friends. They’re, uh, my mentors. From another school?” she says, glancing at the two of them. “Um. By the way, Lori, did you notice anything strange in our room? Oh, okay. Yeah, just checking. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Night.” She hangs up, sighing. “She said everything was fine. Maybe I should go back, just in case.”
“We can watch the house, if it makes you feel better,” Cas says, “but considering that spirit wanted to attack you, maybe you should stay with us.”
“I don’t get it - why does it want me? I’m just some normal - well. Normal enough person.” She sits on the bed, hands pressed to her mouth. “Is it because of what happened last year? Do you think it can, I don’t know, sense something inside me? Like, maybe that demon left something behind...”
“No, I promise that’s not what’s happening.”
“How do you know, Cas?" She looks up at him. "I wanted to believe this was some random fluke, you know, solving a fun little mystery, but what if -" Her face pinches tight and she looks away. "What if this is my life now? Waiting for one thing after another until eventually…"
“Taylor,” Jess starts, “you said that Lori’s dad doesn’t like you, and he’s a reverend, right?”
“Yeah, I mean. It’s not hard to get on his shit list," she says, snide. "He didn’t like Rich, either, and he probably doesn’t like either of you, even though you never talked to him.”
“The reverend from the 1800s committed those murders because he was worried about sin spreading through his town,” Jess says, eyes on the window. “Maybe there’s a connection between Lori’s dad and this spirit? Something about them picking targets based on how sinful we are, or something.”
“It’s worth looking into,” Cas admits.
“I think the library is closed,” Taylor says.
“And Sam scooped up most of the research,” Jess adds. “I think we’ll have to go meet up with them and tell them what happened.”
“You don’t think the spirit is after them, do you?”
“Hm. Probably not, if my pet theory holds water, I don’t think the reverend saw them in any compromising situations. ‘Sides, they can protect themselves against one ghost, right?”
-
Cas cruises down 9 Mile Road and spots the Impala, but no Sam or Dean. He gets out to take a look when several cops jump out of the bushes. They’re all twitchy, apparently waiting on the killer returning to the scene of the crime. Jess and Taylor come out to spin some story about how they were on a late night drive and got curious about the car, and the police let them go with a warning to quit snooping around.
“What about the people who own this car?” Cas asks.
“We took ‘em in. They had weapons on them.”
The three of them get back into the Honda. “So,” he says. “The spirit was no problem, as it turns out.”
-
Dean spends most of the night on a bare mattress in the local drunk tank, and the rest of the morning talking down some overhyped police officers. He has them send the fine to a mailing address that may or may not exist, and hauls him and Sam out of there before anyone inside can change their mind.
“Saved your ass! Talked them down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock. I should’ve been pre-law.”
“But how?”
“I told them you were a dumbass pledge and that we were hazing you.”
“What about the shotgun?”
“I said that you were hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know, typical Hell Week prank.”
“And they believed you?”
“Well, you look like a dumbass pledge,” Dean says, grinning. He checks his phone and reads a few texts Cas sent him over the course of the night. “Let’s head back to the library. Cas says Taylor stayed in the motel room with him and Jess and the hookman tried to attack her. They think the spirit is connected to the reverend somehow.”
“Our motel isn’t even near 9 mile road. How did it get out there?”
“I dunno. He texted this picture, too. It got scratched into the window.” He shows Sam, wrinkling his nose. “Not gonna get the security deposit back on that one.”
“Does that look familiar to you?”
“Yeah. Come on - they got a head start on us. Hopefully they have some answers.”
“They?”
“What?” Sam makes a face at him that is very obviously code for you’re seriously playing dumb with me right now? “I don’t know, Sam, having extra eyes on this isn’t a bad thing.”
“Dean, I went to school to get away from all of this, okay? Hunting, monsters, moving from place to place, not having a normal life - and now Jess is getting dragged into it.”
“Nobody’s dragging her into anything." He keeps moving, leading them back to campus. "We’ve been on the road for four months, Sam. Maybe she’s a little antsy.”
“We wouldn’t be on the road for four months if -”
“If what?” Dean turns around, glaring up at his brother. “If dad was here? Because he’s not, okay? We checked the missing person’s database, we’ve run his plates, we’ve called the morgue of damn near every place we hang around in, and we’ve got nothing, Sam. You’re here because you want Jess safe, right? Well, until we kill whatever’s out there, you’re stuck with me, and she’s stuck with you, and -” He snaps his mouth shut.
“And? And what, Dean?”
“...Let’s get moving,” he mutters, “before anyone else gets hurt.”
-
They’re in the stacks for a few minutes until Sam spots Jess and makes a beeline towards her. “Wow, nice little study group,” Dean says. “So whatcha find?”
“In 1932 and 1967 two different members of clergy in town were accused of killing other townsfolk,” Cas says. “The first one attacked women who were suspected of extra marital affairs, and the second killed members of a hippie commune.”
“In both cases, they were known for their fire and brimstone speeches,” Jess adds, “and then found themselves wanted for killings both claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings that were carried out with a sharp instrument.”
“So basically this is a ghost out for revenge that no one actually wants,” Taylor offers. “Maybe instead of trying to save a whole town, reverend Sorensen is just trying to protect Lori. Which, you know, would be sweet except for the fact that I almost got gutted like a fish for getting too into the Pinot.”
“Okay okay,” Sam says. “This spirit is somehow attaching itself to the reverend and doing his dirty work. Subconscious dirty work, at least.”
“We should keep some eyes on Lori - and you,” Dean tells Taylor. “Do we know where that Jacob Karns guy was buried?”
“Uh… an unmarked grave in Old North Cemetery,” Sam says, reading over Jess’s shoulder. He claps Dean on the back. “Not it.”
-
“Shouldn’t we help them?” Taylor asks, glancing over at where Sam and Dean are talking. It’s a campus bar with alright food, according to her.
“They can take care of themselves,” Jess says, flipping through the sticky, laminated menu. Usually when he’s in places like this Cas just orders a burger and prays to a higher power - it’s what Dean does, and it hasn’t failed him yet. “Probably just deciding if they want to hustle pool.”
“Pool? What is this, the ‘70s?”
“It’s not like we get paid for what we do,” Cas tells her.
“Right, right,” she takes a sip of her drink. “So, um. Driving around, you guys must see some interesting stuff. How’s the night life?”
“Full of monsters or absolutely nothing,” Jess says. “I used to think I was too old for clubs, but I was very, very wrong.” Dean catches Cas’s eye, taking a sip of his beer.
“Excuse me,” he says, wandering over. Just as he gets close, Sam excuses himself. “Is your brother alright?”
“Yeah, he’s alright. Think he’s gonna piss off Jess soon enough though - it’s like we’re a rotating cast of bodyguards.” Cas watches for a moment. Taylor is nodding along to whatever Sam’s saying, Jess’s eyes over at the pool table. After a few minutes she gets up and heads over, taking the cue from one of the girls who had been fiddling with it.
“I’m sure his intentions are good,” Cas tries.
“Sure, they’re good. I’m just saying - trying to wrangle him on dad’s orders was not fun.” He takes another sip of his beer. “How’s Taylor?”
“She’s doing well.”
“Gonna get some more ink together?”
Cas’s face falls. “Dean.”
“I’m just asking, I swear.”
“She’s… doing okay. I hope she’s not downplaying how often she goes out for my sake. I worry that I couldn’t do more to help her, after everything.”
“Going through something like that probably changes you for good,” Dean says, “at least she can talk to you about it - you know, if she wanted to.”
“I suppose.” Dean’s lips are idly pressed against the rim of the bottle, watching the crowd. “Jess seemed to think there was something between Taylor and I.”
He makes a face. “Okay. Why would you tell me that?”
“Testing the waters,” he says, smiling. “She also said you were a real ladies’ man.”
“Oh. Well, I mean. Obviously.” The sound of pool balls knocking together drags his gaze back. “Did Jess sink those?”
Cas turns. “Looks like it.”
“You mean I could’ve been using her as a prime hustler the whole time?” Cas shrugs. “Alright, well. I’d ask if you want to come along, dig up some bones like the good ol’ days, but.”
“We were digging up graves together two weeks ago, Dean.” He finishes his beer.
“Yeah, whatever. If you end up doing another girl’s night, save me some takeout.” He waves over his shoulder and heads out.
-
“Cas,”
“Dean? Did you get the right grave?”
“Pretty sure, but, uh - no dice. I’m driving to the hospital now. Sam went out to talk to Lori and the hookman grabbed her dad, messed him up pretty bad, I think.”
“Is he going to make it?”
“Not sure, Sam just called to tell me. I was positive I burned everything -”
“...What about the hook?”
“The hook?”
“It’s not just his appendage, it’s the murder weapon.”
“Shit, yeah. I don’t think I saw it down there -”
“I’ll look. Maybe there’s something in the records about a hook.”
“Yeah, maybe. Thanks. Tell me if you find anything.”
-
“So, this is fun,” Taylor says, watching Cas shovel more silver into the church basement’s boiler. At some point Jess had started helping him as well, shovelling cups and chains and jewelry into the fire. “Is this just a Saturday night activity for you two?”
“Kinda, yeah,” Jess says, easing back. “Is that everything?”
“Everything that I could find, yes,” Cas tosses a final goblet into the fire before stepping back, texting Dean the same message. “If that hook was remade into anything the church uses, it’s gone now.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jess sighs, wiping at the sweat beading on her forehead. “Let’s get out of here before anyone catches us.”
They’re at the entryway when Cas hears someone in the meeting house. Taylor ducks her head in, frowning. “It’s Lori,” she whispers.
“What’s she doing here?”
“I don’t know.” Before Cas can suggest otherwise, Taylor creeps in. “Hey, Lor, fancy seeing you here.”
“What are you doing here, Taylor?”
“What, can’t sneak a late night confessional in before the weekend starts?” Lori wipes at her eyes and Taylor sits down next to her. “No, hey, I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you, okay? Wanted to check up.”
“Well, here I am, all checked up. You can go now.”
“No way. I heard what happened to your dad. Between that and Rich, this past week has been crazy - I don’t blame you for needing space.”
“It’s just - you’ve seen those two transfers on campus right? The two tall guys?”
“Oh, the frat guys?” Taylor lies, “Sure, what about them?”
“One of them, he’s… I dunno, he kept talking to me about everything that’s been happening on campus. He seems really nice. And earlier tonight I - I mean, I kissed him but he let it happen before just - saying he had a girlfriend…” Cas hears Jess move behind him; he holds a hand up. “He just seemed so sweet and I told him - everything.”
“Everything?”
Lori lets out another sob. “I just found out my dad is having an affair with a woman - a married woman! Her family comes to his service and he keeps telling me that I’m doing all these awful things. I just - I got so angry, and then that thing appeared, the thing that killed Rich, it almost killed my dad and - what if it’s my fault?”
“I don’t think it’s your fault,” Taylor says. Cas feels his hackles rising. He turns around, but doesn’t see anything. Yet.
“No, no - I just wanted my dad to be punished, and Rich - I just wanted him to stop touching me." She sniffs. "I read in the Bible about avenging angels, you know, that can punish the wicked?”
“I don’t know how literal you should be taking that -”
“But they didn’t deserve to be punished,” Lori says, “I do.”
Sam and Dean burst through the main entrance just as the spirit breaks down the basement door. Dean shoots at it with a shotgun blast of rock salt and it dissipates. “Get Lori out of here, Taylor!”
“What -”
“That thing’s no angel,” Taylor says, pulling Lori out of her seat, “it’s just some pissed off ghost with a hook for a hand, and we’re not sticking around to see which order it wants to pick us off in -” Taylor screams when the spirit reappears in front of them.
“Cas!” Dean shouts. Cas runs to meet Lori and Taylor, hand out, but the spirit vanishes before he can use his power. “I thought you guys said this was taken care of!”
“The records said the hook got melted down and went back to the church,” Jess says, “we melted anything silver that in here!”
"We must have missed something!" Taylor shouts, looking around. "Heirlooms, antiques? What if it's not even in the church anymore?"
Lori glances down at her necklace. “Silver..?” She takes it off. Just as she’s about to hand it to Cas, the spirit reappears. Taylor pushes them both down, narrowly missing the sharp gleam of the hook. It spins in an arc, and Cas feels the point of it sink into the meat of his arm. He drops to the ground and Lori slides her necklace across the floor as the thing vanishes again. He feels blood seeping through his clothes, the muscle protesting with the movement.
“Dean, here!” He tosses the necklace further down. Just as Dean opens the steps to the basement the spirit flings him back, hook catching on his shoulder, the necklace slipping from his grip. Cas watches the silver glint as it falls to the ground. Dean scrabbles for his shotgun.
Sam and Jess dive for the necklace - Jess makes it first. She runs down the stairwell, the ghost on her heels. “Jess!” Sam yells, disappearing down the steps along with Dean. Cas helps Taylor and Lori up, gets them to the front of the church - just in time to hear a deep groan of pain echoing along the church walls then - nothing.
“Is it over?” Taylor asks. The stairs creak. Cas stands his ground, watching the dark of the doorway as the wood shifts, only to reveal Sam, Jess, and Dean coming back from the basement.
“It’s over,” Jess says. “It’s done.”
-
They decide to stick around another day, make sure the hookman really is gone for good. They had one last hurrah at the same campus bar and parted ways there.
“You know,” Dean says, shoving his bag in the Impala’s trunk, “I miss college.”
“You didn’t really go to college,” Cas says, watching Dean shrug. “But I understand. I miss it too.” He leans up against the Impala.
“Did you want to stick around? Make sure Taylor and Lori are alright?”
“No, no I - Taylor knows she can call me if she needs me. And at least this time she can be with someone who lived through this with her.”
“It’s nice to be needed,” Dean says.
“It is. I think I know where I’m needed most.” Dean raises an eyebrow, and Cas tips his chin forward, challenging.
“Have you seen Jess?” Sam asks, coming out of the motel room. “Her stuff’s packed but she’s nowhere inside.” He freezes when he spots Cas. “You’re here.”
Dean frowns. “Thought she was getting a ride over.”
“Yeah, I figured with Cas.”
“...Jess told me Taylor and Lori wanted to show her something at the sorority house.”
Dean glances between the two of them. “Come on. Cas, follow us.”
-
“Why are you so calm about this?”
“I’m not calm, I’m driving the speed limit.”
“That is calm for you.”
“Only ‘cause it’s Friday night and there’s a bunch of drunk freshers around. Did she reply to any texts?” Sam glances at his phone.
“Nothing. Do you think something -”
“If it was a demon, Cas probably would’ve sensed it.”
“Probably. And how do we know that this wasn’t some plan?”
“Plan to do what? That demon said it wanted you back in this life - so long as you’re hunting with us, there’s no point in capturing Jess.”
“What about - if it was trying to get to dad through us?”
“Maybe. Let’s hold the theories until we leave town at least.” He pulls up to the frat house they were in the first day.
“Why are we here?”
“Like I said, it’s Friday night. This is the place to be, isn’t it?” Dean has to do his usual smoke and mirrors routine so the guys let him in. Once they pass through Sam starts looking around, frantic. “Dude, at least pretend you’re not about to lose it. Here.” He passes a red solo cup over, but Sam waves him off.
“We don’t even know if she’s -” There’s some yelling over at one corner of the house.
“Hey. Tall, blonde, crushing it at beer pong over there?” He points. Sam doesn’t sprint, but it’s a near thing. Dean texts Cas that they found Jess and he ambles back outside, gets in the car. After a few minutes Jess comes out, Sam following closely behind. He’s talking, saying something to her, but Dean can’t make it out over the din of the music and the crowd. He watches his brother make a broad gesture, arm going wide, face pulled into a scowl.
Sam gets in the passenger seat and Jess slinks into the back. He clears his throat. “All ready to go?”
“Just drive,” Sam says. Jess is staring at her feet, head bent forward. Dean starts the car and pulls away.
Sam and Jess are guilty of doing random coupley shit - inside jokes, pairing off to go do something, unconsciously sliding into the booth together when they go out and sitting in the back seat of the Impala - but Dean hasn’t heard much of their conversations, the serious, one-on-one stuff. The closest he’s come is hearing Jess soothe Sam back to sleep when he has nightmares, or those first few weeks when Sam pushed back against the hunting tooth and nail.
“So, uh,” he says, after about twenty minutes of frigid silence, “some party in there, huh?”
“Taylor told me I should swing by,” Jess says from the back, “since it’s been a while since I got to be around people my age doing something fun.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sam asks, turning his head. “We could have -”
“It’s always ‘we’, Sam - we’re together twenty-four-seven. Maybe I wanted to go do something on my own.”
“You can’t. It’s too dangerous.”
“So you say - we haven’t seen that demon since Stanford. It’s been months. Four months of us driving around.”
“You think I want to be here?” Sam argues, “I left this life to go to college.”
“Yeah, you did. But you didn’t tell me about any of it, and then it came knocking on our door anyway!”
“I didn’t know that would happen.”
“But you knew about all this shit and you didn’t tell me. You were going to propose to someone that you kept your entire life from?”
“You haven’t told me everything either," Sam accuses. Jess just scoffs.
“Yeah, that my parents were out of the picture - not that demons exist. Kind of a different ballpark.” She sucks in a deep breath. “We haven’t seen that demon, the ghost is gone, I just wanted a few hours where I could be a normal person again -”
“You can’t!” Sam interrupts. “I’m sorry Jess, but -"
"But you had your fun with Lori, huh?"
"What?"
"You two had a moment last night, didn't you? She seemed pretty broken up about it, when you got around to telling her we were together."
"She - that was all her. I didn't -" Jess crosses her arms, staring out the window. "Listen Jess, now that you know what's out there, you have to be more careful. If something happened to you -”
“Things have already happened to me, Sam! Maybe if I was able to do more I could learn how to protect myself or - help you find your dad so this can be over.”
Dean bites his cheek. Next to him Sam sighs, body twisted up in the front seat like he wants to be back there with Jess more than anything. “I’m sorry, Jessica, but - I can't. I just can't."
Jess stares at him. “You can’t or you won’t?” Sam closes his mouth. Shakes his head. “Dean,” she says, putting her hand on the door handle, “stop the car.”
“Jess,” Sam starts, “you need to calm down.”
“I need to calm down? Dean, I swear if you don’t -” Dean glances at the two of them, slows down before pumping the brakes. Jess forces open the door and hops out, Sam following her as she pops open the trunk, digs out her duffel, and slams it shut. Sam reaches for it only for Jess to wrench it away, marching down the road the way they had come.
“Jesus, really?” Dean mutters, getting out of the car himself. Sam’s trying his soft voice, that emotionally available tactic he uses on freshly made widows and spooked teenagers. He's standing in front of Jess when she knocks her arm against his chest and keeps walking.
“Where are you going?” Sam shouts. “Jess! You can’t just leave!”
“I can do whatever I want,” Jess says, “and I’m choosing to do it, okay? So whatever issue you have about your mom or dad or your life or - whatever - you can leave me out of it! I - I can’t do this anymore, Sam. I can’t. ”
“So you’re just -”
“I don't know! I’m not ‘just’ doing anything. I need a break. I need a real bed, some real clothes, a real place to live in! And then maybe we can - I don’t know.” She holds her bag across her front like a shield, staring out at the dark country road. “But I need to do this without you.”
“How are you gonna do that?” Dean sees another car in the distance, puttering along, following the speed limit. It sees the three of them and cruises to a stop. A window rolls down.
“Uh,” Cas starts, glancing at them, “car trouble?”
“Just relationship trouble, actually,” Dean quips. Sam turns to glare at him.
“Cas,” Jess starts, “I’m getting in with you.”
“Jess, he’s -”
“What, dangerous, evil? Hasn’t stopped you from letting him watch me while you and Dean fuck around.” She opens the back seat door and tosses her bag in, stops for a second to look at Sam. There’s no light out here except for the headlights of the cars, and it elongates her features, makes her eyes impossible to see. “I do love you, Sam,” she murmurs, “I just - I can’t do this right now.” She gets into the passenger seat and shuts the door.
-
“Um,” Cas says, watching Jess get into the car, slam the door shut, and buckle herself in.
“Drive.”
“Um,” Cas says again, emphatically.
“I can’t deal with - with Sam and him trying to ‘protect’ me and all of this hunting bullshit, I -” She breathes out hard through her nose. “Please, Cas. Just drive.”
Cas blinks, looks out at the Impala in front of him. “Okay.” He slowly eases off the brake and drives around the Impala. Sam watches, turning his head as Jess goes by. Dean’s eyes are on his brother. Cas keeps glancing in the rearview mirror, but their car doesn’t follow them immediately.
Once Cas reaches the end of the lonely country road, he turns onto the state highway heading west. Then he doesn’t see the Impala at all.