American Noise

16. Unhuman Nature

"I left Pike Creek six years ago. I'm working at the here in Wilmington."

"Oh. What can I get you?"

"Coffee, please."

"Well, thanks for seeing me. I didn't think you were gonna remember who I am."

"Of course I do. I spoke to you the morning after your family was..."

"Slaughtered."

"And then you left town."

"Yeah, just... I couldn't stay, you know? Too much baggage. I had to rebuild."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," the waitress said.

"My ex-neighbor, Arty Nielsen, was killed a few weeks ago," Nick informed.

"Really?" Diane asked.

"Yeah, so... just brought back all kinds of bad memories, you know, and, uh, I was just looking for some answers."

"To...?"

"My family."

"The case was never solved."

"The one witness was Arty, and he said that he saw someone leaving my house the night of the murders, and then he changed his story."

"It happens. People say things in the heat of the moment, and then realize they're not so sure. Nick; even you gave up on the story."

"There was almost no evidence at the crime scene."

"Mm-hmm."

"The cops had zero to say to me. I even played with the idea you did it, but you..."

"Well, I was getting hammered at the Elks Lodge that night."

"So... I moved on."

"Yeah, well, I can't."

"Nick?"

"No, I'm good."

"Seriously."

"As -- As soon as I figure out what happened that night, these demons will disappear. Look, you were a crime reporter, right? So you've got to know all the beat cops in Pike Creek."

"Sure."

"Okay, do you happen to remember who was assigned, to my neighborhood that night?"

"I think so."

"All right."

"I'm... pretty sure, it was Frank -- Frank Kellogg."

"Frank Kellogg."

"Last I heard, he was doing private security up in Montauk."

"Frank Kellogg, Montauk."

HOSPITAL

"This is crazy. When Jack became human, I was worried, you know, given what we do, that -- that something would happen to him, but I thought it'd be a vampire or a ghoul, not a friggin' cough. He's just a kid-" Dean was cut off.

"Hey, hey, hey. Cas. Doctor. So, um... What do we know?" Sam asked.

"Well, I can tell you what we don't know," the doctor replied.

"I don't like the sound of that," Dean said.

"Jack's test results all came back negative."

"That's great, right?" Sam questioned.

"Well, Jack -- he's very ill. We're just not sure what we're up against."

"You just said his tests came back negative," Dean said.