The Heroes' Paradox

22. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

Daisy narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't step within a hundred yards of it. Look. Maybe you're imagining a hunt where there isn't one so you don't have to think about Mom. Or Dad." Dean turned to look at her. "You wanna take another swing? Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better."

"I don't need this crap." He grabbed his jacket and started for the door. "I'm not gonna hit a girl."

"Dean, where are you going?" Sam and Reagan asked.

"I'm going to go get a drink. Alone."

He left the room. Madelyn sighed and followed Dean.

He frowned, seeing her. "The hell are you doing here?"

"I didn't want you to be alone," she replied. "What, would you like me to leave?"

Dean met her eyes and slowly shook his head.

---

The next day, Dean and Madelyn broke into Angela's home and poked around. He glimpsed a figure in reflection just before she saw him. It was Angela's roommate, Lindsey.

"Who the hell are you?" Lindsey demanded, turning and shutting herself in her bedroom.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on!" Dean said.

"I'm calling 911!"

"I'm Angela's cousin!"

"What?"

"Yeah, her dad sent me over to, uh, pick up her stuff, my name is Alan? Alan Stanwick? This is my girlfriend Annie?"

Lindsey opened the door. "Her dad didn't say that you were coming."

"Well, I mean," Madelyn held up the keys he'd snaked when she and Dean first entered, "how else would I get the keys to your place?"

They sat in the living room and Dean handed Lindsey a Kleenex. She was crying, and Dean looked slightly uncomfortable.

"So. I'm sure you got a view of Angela that none of her family got to see. Tell me, what, what was she like? I mean, what was she really like?"

"She was great," Lindsey said. "Just great. I mean, she was so..."

"Great."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

Madelyn handed her another tissue. "Here you go. You two must have been really close, huh?"

"We were," Lindsey replied. "But it's not just her, it's Matt."

"Who?"

"Angela's boyfriend."

"Right, Matt. What about him?"

"He killed himself last night. Cut his own throat. Who does that?"

"That's terrible," Dean said.

"He was taking Angela's death pretty hard, and I guess... I mean, he'd been messed up about it for days."

"Messed up how?"

"He kept saying that he saw her everywhere."

"Well, I'm, I'm sure that normal, with everything that he was going through."

"No, he said that he saw her. As in, an acid trip or something."

"Were Angela and Matt a happy couple? I mean, is there any reason that Angela would be angry with him?"

"What? No, of course not, why do you ask?"

"Just asking. Where did Matt live?"

MOTEL ROOM