I Can't Go Back Now (Supernatural- Alexis Hammel)

Secrets Ruin Relationships

The diner we had eaten at a few days ago was now an active crime scene.

"You think it's thinman?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," I said, getting out of the back of the car, wincing at the pain in my shoulder. "He was at the hotel last night."

"Agents, thank you for coming," the deputy said as we approached.

"What are these crapshoots doing here?" Dean asked, nodding over to Ed and Harry. I hadn't even realized they were there.

"Figured it wouldn't hurt to go a little medium, hmm? A few counties over cops were looking for a dead boy. A psychic hopped on the case and the next day he was found."

"Yeah, give me a second," Dean said, walking over the guys.

"Go with him," Sam said, the look he gave me saying to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. I nodded and followed him.

"Hey," Dean said, scaring Ed and Harry. "I thought I told you to beat it."

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Harry asked. "Out me, 'agents'?"

"Look," I said. "Playing paparazzi at a crime scene? Who does that help but yourselves?"

"The bloggers, chick. The believers. Everyone who needs a little proof that thinman is out there."

"For the last time my name is Lexi."

"So you're saying people out there are pretty die-hard about this thing," Dean said.

"Oh yeah," Harry said, smiling.

"Oh, yeah, uh-huh," Ed continued.

"You dumbasses ever think that this thing is a Tulpa?" Dean asked. He'd told me about them last night, how they were creatures that came to life if enough people believed in them.

"Oh, yeah, because thousands of people can believe thinman is any one thing?" Ed said. "The lore changes blog to blog. This isn't a Tulpa."

"Okay, cut the crap right here and now," I said. "Do either of you know what thinman really is?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "No, we just play supernaturalists on TV."

"We have no idea what we're doing," Harry said, sarcastic. "Of course we do."

"Thinman is part man, part tree."

"Okay well explain to me how this part man, part tree can be in two places at once," I said, confusing the two.

"What do you mean?"

"He showed up at my hotel room last night," I said, moving my jacket off of my injured shoulder, showing the patch of gauze there. "Attacked me. But, he was here at the same time."

"I-" Ed started.

"You have no idea what this thing is," I laughed.

"Guys, you might want to see this," The deputy called. Me and Dean turned, walking to them, Ed and Harry behind us.

"Check this out," Sam said, showing us the security camera footage.

Sam replays the footage, showing thinman stabbing the worker. "Okay so how did he get from the parking lot to the diner?"

"The footage shows Trey locking the doors ten minutes beforehand," the deputy answers.

"Locked, not locked, it doesn't matter," Harry said. "Everyone knows thinman can teleport."

"I didn't get anything on my EMF," Ed said.

"So it's not a ghost," Dean said.

"Good work, deputy, agent, we'll be going now."

A few hours later we were back in our new hotel room, eating at the table and talking about the case. "Okay, just grasping at crap here, but when I think of 'teleport' I think of a crossroads demon," Sam said.

"Crossroads demon," I repeated. "Like Crowley?"

"Yeah, a demon that likes to stab and watch Youtube," Dean answered sarcastically.

"Oh, by the way, the video of Trey is already online," I said. "It has over two thousand views. It's like someone wanted everyone to see it."

"It's because people want to watch because people are sick," Dean answered.

"And when did 'viral' go from baby monkeys to killer 'Candid Camera'?" Sam asked, throwing one of his fries back down on the table.

Dean suddenly relaxed, smiling. "You know what video would have gone viral, if we still had it? When you were five you got dressed up as batman and you jumped off the shed because you thought you could fly."

I laughed, struggling to keep my sip of soda in my mouth. "After you jumped first," Sam answered.

"Hey, I was nine and dressed like Superman," Dean retorted. "Okay, everybody knows that batman can't fly."

"Well I didn't," Sam laughed, which ended in a coughing fit. "I broke my arm."

"Man, I drove you to the E.R. on my handlebars," Dean laughed long and loud. It felt nice to sit here and talk to them like we were normal.

A knock on the door stopped the laughing, and I got up to answer it. Looking through the peephole, (I had to stand on my tip toes, which Dean made fun of) I saw none other than Ed. I rolled my eyes, unlocking the door and opening it. Ed pushed past me. "Come on in," I rolled my eyes.

"I have to tell you guys something important, and then the case is yours."

"Okay," Sam said, standing up in front of Ed as he sat on the bed.

"Harry was going to leave Ghostfacers, and I didn't want that to happen. I made up thinman."

The three of us stood, shocked. "So you're saying this crap is actual crap?" Dean asked.

"One old photo of a butler, a lot of photoshop later and I posted on one of the horror forums under 'anonymous'. And it blew up. Yeah, I only faked one case for us. But then, when we were packing up to go home, another case popped up. Then we went after it."

"Ed, you have to tell him," Sam said.

"You don't get it!" Ed exclaimed. "We were the- the thinman guys. Without thinman we're just guys. Just- just puffs."

"What?" I asked.

"If I tell Harry, he'll leave Ghostfacers," Ed said, clearly looking disappointed.

"If you don't tell him, he's gonna leave anyway," Sam said. "Trust me, secrets ruin relationships."

I looked at Sam, then glanced at Dean. Then I realized, maybe there was something going on between them.

"I'll tell him when the time is right."

"The right time is now," Dean said.

"Well he, uh, he isn't here. He's in the woods looking for thinman. Well, actually, more like 'wood'. I dropped him off by a local supermarket."