Once we got to a bar in town, we walked in to find Dean and who I figured was Jamie sitting at a booth drinking whiskey.
"Hey. You guys all right?" Sam asked.
Jamie gave me a strange look.
I waved at her. "Maddison."
She looked confused but didn't question it.
Dean nodded. "I think I know what's going on." He put a folded-up towel on the table.
"Yeah?" Sam asked.
Dean nodded. "Part of it, at least."
Sam opened the towel and revealed a gelatinous piece of flesh with a human ear attached to it. "Uh, the ear part?"
I frowned at how nasty it was.
"Ripped it off of Dracula's head." Dean pointed to it. "Touch it."
Sam and I both touched it and groaned.
"Feel familiar to you?" Dean asked.
"Shapeshifter?" I asked.
Dean nodded. "Just like St. Louis and just like Milwaukee. Of course, this one's all holding buckets of crazy. Oh, and, uh..." He pulled a medallion out of his pocket and handed it to Sam. "This, I uh, pulled it off during the fight. Look at the label on the ribbon."
Sam flipped it over and read the back. "It's a costume rental."
Dean nodded. "All three monsters... the Dracula, Wolf Man, and the Mummy... all the same critter, which means we need to catch this freak before he Creature from the Black Lagoon's, somebody."
Jamie furrowed her brow and pointed at Sam and Dean. "So, you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something, and The X-Files are real?"
Dean shook his head. "No, The X-Files is a TV show. This is real."
Jamie's eyes widened. "Oh."
"Okay, so, the stagecraft, the costuming... it's like he's trying to re-enact his favorite monster movie moments, right down to the bloody murders," Sam said.
"Wait a second. Who the hell is Mina?" Jamie asked.
"Mina?" Sam asked.
Dean nodded. "Yeah. That's what he called Jamie. And he called me Mr. Harker."
A moment of realization hit me. "Oh, in the movie, Mina is who Dracula wanted to marry."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, and Jonathan Harker was her fiancé that stood in the way. Seems like he's fixating on you like he sees you as his bride."
"Wow. Lucky me," Jamie said sarcastically.
"But to fixate on you, my guess is that the shifter has to have seen you before or been around you," Sam said.
"Jamie, has anybody strange come to town, somebody that has taken a specific notice of you?" Dean asked.
Jamie shrugged. "I don't know, Dean. It's Oktoberfest. I'm a bartender. There's lots of people. I—" She thought for a second. "Wait a second. There is Ed."
"Ed Brewer, Ed?" Sam asked.
Jamie nodded. "Yeah. He moved here about a month ago. Lucy swears he has a crush on me. He comes in almost every night. But, you know, I don't think he's the type of guy—"
"Where does Ed live?" Dean asked.
Jamie shook her head. "I don't know. But he works at the old movie theater. I think he's the projectionist there."
"Take care of Mina?" Sam asked, looking from Dean to me.
Dean nodded. "Yup."
Sam nodded and left the bar, so I sat down next to Dean.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After explaining what a shapeshifter was and giving her the usual "monsters are real" talk, Jamie got up and started pacing, trying to comprehend everything we had told her.
"So, monsters are real," Jamie said, for the third time.
Dean nodded. "Some of them, yeah."
"And the shapeshifter, he can turn into different people?" she asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, except this one's turning into the great monsters of screenland, which is a new one for us," Dean said.
"You're not really FBI, are you?" Jamie asked.
Dean shook his head. "Not so much."
"So, this is what you do?" Jamie asked. "You and your partner—"
"Actually..." Dean interrupted. "My partner is my brother, and this..." He put his hand on my back. "Is our sister."
Jamie raised her eyebrows. "Okay, so you and your family just tramp across the country on your own dime until you find some horrible nightmare to fight?"
Dean shrugged. "Some people paint."
Jamie looked surprised. "Wow."
"What?" Dean asked.
She shrugged. "That must suck. I mean, you're giving up your life for this terrible... I don't know... responsibility."
Dean nodded. "Last few years, I started thinking that way, and, uh, it started sort of weighing on me. Of course, that was before... a little while ago, I had this... let's call it a near-death experience. Very near."
Jamie sat down across from us.
"And, uh, when I came to... things were different. My life's been different. I realize that I help people. Not just help them, though. I save them. I guess it's— it's awesome. It's kind of like a gift... like a mission. Kind of like a— a mission from God," Dean explained.
"So, does that make you... some kind of monk or something? You know, celibate?" Jamie asked.
"Man, I hope not," Dean said and then stared into Jamie's eyes.
I cleared my throat and sat there awkwardly twiddling my thumbs.
They stopped staring at each other when the overhead lights clicked on, and a woman walked in.
"Holy crap. Guys, I'm— I'm sorry. I thought you guys were going out," the woman said as she approached.
I carefully examined her face, she looked super familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Dean seemed to know who she was, so she must've just had one of those faces.
"Lucy, it's— it's okay," Jamie said, "Uh, listen—"
"Ya know what? I just— I came to borrow a bottle. I kind of got something going back at my... anyway, uh, I'm just gonna get out of your hair," Lucy said as she picked up a bottle behind the bar.
Jamie shook her head. "No, seriously, Lucy, it's been a crazy night. Stay for a drink."
Dean nodded. "Yeah. Stay for a drink."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After several more drinks and Jamie explaining to Lucy everything that happened to her, aside from the whole shapeshifter aspect of the story, Jamie was starting to slur her words.
Lucy had joined us at the table, but I still couldn't figure out why she looked so familiar, but I felt like I needed to tell Dean. The only problem was, I didn't know how to do that without drawing attention to the issue.
"Oh, that sounds awful. Jamie, honey, are you okay?" Lucy asked.
"Oh, I am fine. He didn't even touch me." Jamie giggled. "Dean, he just flew right in and fought him off."
Dean smirked. "Well, I didn't actually fly, but I'm sure it seemed that way at the time."
"It was really, really something," Jamie said, and then her eyes got really heavy. She looked super tired.
"Jamie?" Dean asked.
She smiled back at him and sat there with her eyes closed.
"So, Dean, are you like a black belt or what?" Lucy asked.
Dean looked down at his glass and shook his head as if he was trying to shake something off.
"Dean?" I asked, now concerned.
"Well, I guess they train you to fight at the academy or whatever," Lucy said, "Who's the kid, anyway?" She looked at me with a slightly sinister look in her eyes.
Dean quickly reached across and punched Lucy in her face, causing her to hit the ground immediately. He jumped up and moved me out of the way.
"Dean, what are you doing?!" Jamie yelled and then passed out in the booth.
"It's you, isn't it?" Dean asked, looking down at Lucy.
Lucy looked up at us and pushed her clearly displaced jaw back into place with a crack.
Dean kicked her. "Oh, damn it!" He clutched his head. "What did you put in our drinks?!" He grabbed a bottle and smashed it against the table. "That's all right. I'll skin you myself." As he stepped forward, he collapsed.
I jumped and stepped away from Lucy.
"And... scene." She smiled up at me.
"Oh, my god! I know who you are now!" I pointed. "You're one of Dracula's brides."
Lucy smiled. "Smart." She stood up. "I didn't anticipate you being here." She lunged forward and tried to grab me, but I dodged out of the way and ran for the door.
"No, you don't!" she yelled and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back into a chokehold.
"Get off of me!" I yelled and reached back, shoving my thumbs into her eyes as hard as I could.
She screamed and let me go. "You little bitch!"
I swung the door open and looked back one more time to see her grabbing her face as I ran out of the door and down the street.
I ducked into a grocery store, pulled out my phone, and called Sam. After a few rings, he picked up. "Sam! It was Dracula's bride! I thought it was her—"
"Maddi?" Sam asked.
"And— And I was right!" I continued, "She was the shapeshifter, and she—"
"I'm on my way. Just slow down, what happened?" Sam asked.
I took a deep breath and slowed down a little. "The shapeshifter got Dean and Jamie. She tried to get me too, but I got away. I should've known it was her. I knew something wasn't right and—"
"Okay, okay, listen... did she say anything to you, anything that could be important?" Sam asked calmly.
I thought for a second. "Uh... no? Jamie said her name was Lucy, but that's the only thing—"
"Lucy?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"I met her, she worked at the bar with Jamie. Where are you?" he asked.
"I'm at a grocery store down the street from the bar," I said.
"Okay, sit tight, I'll be there soon," Sam said and then hung up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *