What Makes a Hunter

Chapter 9

It was cold outside the grocery store. Dean's breath fogged in the air and he shoved his fists deeper into the pockets of his leather jacket, trying to huddle closer under the bus stop's shelter. Sam was busy doing something on his phone and Cas looked completely unfazed by the cold––despite the fact that his trench coat couldn't have been warm enough.

Dean shifted his weight uncomfortably. He was torn between stubbornly saying put or going over to sit on the bench with Cas. He didn't know which one would be a better idea, especially with Sammy so nearby. Although he hadn't felt nervous in the motel room he was beginning to get anxious about the situation now. It wasn't that he was embarrassed about being into Cas––I mean, not with Sam anyway. It was that he didn't know what it was exactly that Cas had in mind. There was a distinct possibility that the two of them could want very different things and that scared Dean. There was a chance that this could ruin what he and Cas had going already and Dean didn't want to lose his best friend. That was too high a price to pay for a few heated moments of bad impulse control.

"The bus is arriving." Cas announced, startling Dean back to reality. Sam looked up and stowed his phone in his pocket.

"Okay, so like I said we don't know exactly what we're looking for. It'll be small and inconspicuous." he passed the two other men each a pair of gloves. "Don't touch it." he warned. Dean rolled his eyes dramatically.

"We know how this works, Sam. Let's just go." the hunter snapped. He clambered onto the bus, Cas right behind him. Like right behind him. Dean's mouth suddenly felt a little too dry. He gulped. Cas didn't seem to notice.

They presented their tickets to the bus driver who waved them through. The only other people on the bus were a nurse coming from the hospital and a couple of teenagers who smelled vaguely like weed. Dean chuckled to himself as he slid into one of the seats in the middle of the bus. Cas sidled into the back and Sam took the front.

Sam's brilliant insight from earlier had seemed glaringly obvious to Dean once his brother had explained it. They had been working on the assumption that the buildings themselves were the basis of whatever was happening. But when Sam had gone to visit Halley Wilson she had mentioned meeting her sister Rebecca at the bus stop. Later, when he got back to the hotel room, Sam had looked up the bus routes for the area and had been pleased to find that there was one bus line that linked all three buildings. Each of the three buildings also had their own bus stop––it was mandatory for both the hospital and the nursing home, and the grocery store was close enough to the center of town that it was just the most convenient place to put it. So Sam had hit the books and discovered a curse that one could put on an object that had the same effect as the deaths they'd already seen.

Dean glanced around surreptitiously and slid a gloved hand under the cushion of the seat next to him. Nothing. He peered at the ground beneath his feet but all that was down there was dirt and a ripped paper napkin. Sam had been very clear––the object had to be something valuable. A dirty scrap of paper wasn't going to cut it.

Doing the best he could not to be too conspicuous, Dean got up and moved to the row of seats behind him. The nurse gave him a judgmental look but Dean just smiled at her sarcastically and she tutted and went back to looking out the window. The kids didn't even notice––they were busy staring out the window at the passing cars in fascination.

Dean went back to examining the seat next to him but something on the floor caught his eye. A shiny silver coin glittered invitingly. The hunter reached down with his gloved hand to pick it up but it was stuck. He tried kicking it, but it didn't move.

"Sammy!" he called. His little brother turned from what he was doing and got up to join Dean in the middle of the bus. The nurse squinted at them curiously but Dean ignored her this time.