~*****~
"She was so scared...." Mr. Dutton says softly. "I couldn't help. I couldn't do anything to stop it... A-And, I've talked to the police. And I've talked to the medical examiner, and no one can explain it."
"Well, that's why they put the call into us, Mr. Dutton." Dean explains.
"But the CDC-- that's disease control, right?" Mr. Dutton asks. "What do you think it's some kind of--" Mr. Dutton is muffled a little as I close the door to the bathroom to keep searching for anything.
I kneel down to the sink and peer inwards as Sam rummages around the other shelves. "Hey," I hum softly as I reach in. Sam drops down besides me and gazes down at the hex bag in my hand. "Witches." I hum before standing up. I grasp onto the sink counter as a wave of dizziness hits me.
"You all right?" Sam asks.
"Yeah," I nod quickly. "Sorry, I just didn't sleep well last night." I explain meekly. Sam nods and opens the door to the bathroom.
"Mr. Dutton?" Dean asks as the man stares off into space.
"Uh, everyone loved Janet." Mr. Dutton states.
Dean glanced over at us, and I nodded my head to the door. "Okay, thank you very much. I think we got everything we need. We'll be out of your way now." We exit the house with a collective sigh. "That guy seem a little evasive to you?"
"I don't know," I hum. "I was under a sink... pulling this out." I state as I hold up the hex bag. "Hex bag."
Dean groaned. "Oh, gross."
"Yep. Bird bones, rabbit's teeth. This cloth was probably cut from something Janet Dutton owned." I explain.
"So, we're thinking witch?" Dean asked as he handed the bag back over.
"Uh, yeah. And not some new-age Wiccan Water Douser, either." I say. "This is old-world black magic, Dean. I mean, warts and all."
We climb into the car and sigh. "I hate witches." Dean says to me. "Always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere"
"Pretty much," I laugh.
"It's creepy! It's downright unsanitary!"
"Yeah, well, someone definitely had it out for Janet Dutton." Sam stated.
"Yeah, someone who snuck into that house and planted the bag." Dean hums. "So, what are we thinking? Looking for some craggy old Blair Bitch in the woods?"
"No, it could be anyone. A neighbor, coworker, man, woman. That's the problem, I mean, they're human. They're like everyone else." Sam explains.
"Great, how are we gonna find them?" Dean asks.
"This wasn't random, Dean," I say. "Someone in Janet Dutton's life had an ugly ax to grind. We find the motive--"
"We find the murderer." Dean finishes. I nod with a hum.
~*****~
"You sure you'll be all right, baby?" Dean asks before he and Sam leave.
"Yes, Dean. I'm just exhausted. I'm gonna do some research here, okay?" Sam gives me a pointed look from behind Dean. "Go. Go find that guy before the witch gets him, too."
Dean nods and kisses me softly. I lock the door firmly behind them and sigh heavily. Tromping to the bathroom, I gaze at the mirror a little too long before tugging my shirt up a little. I grimace at the swell beginning to form. My body jolted upwards as the door rattles with knocking.
An unfamiliar face pops up in the window, and offers a wide grin. I raise an eyebrow, pull out my gun and hold it up as if to threaten him. The man rolls his eyes and in an instant, he's in the hotel room. "WHAT THE HELL!" I shout loudly and back up, holding my gun up.
"Thanks for the warm welcome." The man scoffs. "It hasn't been that long a time since we saw each other."
"I have no idea what you're talking about--" I hiss. "Get the hell out before I fry your ass!"
The man held up his hands. "Okay, let's breathe for a minute. Did the others wipe your memory or something? It's me, Gabriel."
My brows furrowed. "You're... Gabriel. You're affiliated with those assholes who caused my parents death?"
Gabriel shook his head. "No way. I was out of the picture already." He snorts. "I'm here because you, my friend, have a giant target painted right on you-- well, in you."
"Excuse me?" I snap.
"Yeah, I could feel the kids essence half way across the world." Gabriel mentioned. "And odds are, if I can feel it-- so can demons."
I chew on my lip. "Okay... so why did you come here?"
He held up a small, fancy bottle with a paintbrush. "I'm here to hide it's essence. I like ya kid, I'd hate to see you torn open just for the little powerhouse."
"What exactly are you going to do?" I ask softly.
"Just a little ward. Neat little fact, it's completely hidden from the prying eye." Gabriel explains. "You want it or not?" I chew on my lip again and nod. Gabriel paints a strange set of symbols on my belly. The symbols light up for a moment before sinking into my skin. "There. Not a trace left. It'll pass onto the kid once it's born, so you'll be able to hide it for a while."
I nod. "You should get out of here. My friends won't be gone long. And if you're someone we've seen in the past, and neither of them have mentioned it, they won't like you here."
Gabriel laughed. "Yeah, no, they won't like me here. Besides, I couldn't miss an opportunity to mess with those jerks. See ya later, kid." Gabriel leans over and pokes at my belly. "Make sure your mom brings you to visit Uncle Gabriel!" Before I can call him out on it, he disappears from sight with a strange fluttering noise.
True to my word, Sam and Dean are back within twenty minutes. "What happened?" I ask curiously as they step in with heavy sighs.
"You were right. The witch went after Mr. Dutton, too. We got a name after we torched the hex bag, but the witch was dead by the time we arrived." Dean explains.
"What?"
"Yeah, and get this," Sam hums. "There was a hex bag in her house."
"Witches are killing each other now?" I ask. "I thought there was some stupid sisterhood or something."
Dean shrugs. "No clue, but I've said it once already-- I hate witches!"
I shoot Sam a confused look before shaking my head. "Okay... Then we need to figure out the witches social circle, and go from there."
"I got it," Sam hums. "You get some rest." I give Sam a grateful smile and settle back onto the bed. Dean collapses on the bed besides me and curls his arm around my waist.
~*****~
The next morning, we arrived at Elizabeth Higgins home, and she's tending to a garden chock full of herbs that are out of season. "You must have a green thumb!" Sam exclaimed as we approached her.
"Excuse me?" Ms. Higgins hummed.
"Getting these herbs to grow out of season like this." Sam states. Ms. Higgins gazes back down at it, and I can just feel the anxiety rolling off of her. "Quite impressive."
"Anything's impressive to you and your black thumb," I retort irritably. "I'm sorry, we should've introduced ourselves first." I chirp as I tug out my badge. "I'm Detective Cruz, this is Detective's Bachman, and Turner." I introduce us. "We're following up on Amanda's Burns' death. Going around the neighborhood, talking to her neighbors. Stuff like that."
"But didn't she-- I mean, she killed herself, right?" Ms. Higgins asked meekly.
"Maybe, maybe not," Sam cuts in.
"We heard you were friends with the deceased, is that right?" Dean asks.
"Yeah, I guess so." Ms. Higgins cast her gaze onto the ground.
"Do you have any idea about her practices?" Dean asks.
"I'm sorry?" She was definitely nervous now. "What-- What kind of practices?"
"Well, you see, her house was littered with Satanic paraphernalia." I explain.
"It was a regular Black Sabbath." Dean adds.
"No, th-- But she was an Episcopalian." Ms. Higgins quickly said.
"Well, then we're pretty sure she was using the wrong bible." Dean explains.
"Elizabeth!" A new voice chirps. Two women are approaching from behind. "Are you all right?" The blonde one asks.
"I'm fine. Uh, Renee, these are detectives." Ms. Higgins states in a slightly nervous tone. The woman are crowded around Ms. Higgins now, almost like they were protecting her. "They say Amanda was-- she was practicing--"
"Sorry, detectives, you can tell that Elizabeth is a little upset." Renee chirped.
"Of course, Miss..." Dean trails off.
The blonde is all teeth. "Mrs. Renee Van Allen." I furrow my brows at her tone. "Would you like me to spell it for you?"
"I'll get by, thanks." Dean retorts in a condescending tone.
"This Amanda business has been hard for Liz, for all of us." Renee hums.
"Yeah, I mean, you think you know a person." The other woman sighs.
Dean and I share a look before I hum. "Well, I guess we all have secrets, don't we?" I mention. "Well, thanks. We'll be in touch."
"Have a nice day." Dean adds before following after Sam and I.
~*****~
"Well, I'm already sold on that Elizabeth chick. Did you see that victory garden of hers?" Dean mentions later that night. "Belladonna, Wolfsbane, Mandrake. Not to mention that little flinch she threw when we mentioned the occult."
"Well, she's definitely had a good run lately," I hum plainly as I gaze down at the files in my lap. "Gone up a few tax brackets, won almost too many raffles-- The kind of thing a little black magic always helps with." Dean hums out an agreement. "I don't think she's alone, either. It looks like Mrs. Renee Van Allen has won every craft contest she's entered in the past three months."
"A regular Martha Stewart, huh?" Dean hums. "Except for the Devil Worship. I'm thinking that was the coven we met back there, minus one member."
"Amanda was clearly going off the reservation." Sam states. "You think they killed her to keep up appearances?"
"Seems like an appearance kind of crowd, don't you think?" Dean asks. Sam and I shared a look before nodding in agreement. "If they killed a nut job, should we thank them or what?"
"They work in Black Magic, too, Dean." Sam said. "They need to be stopped."
I glanced back at Sam in surprise before returning to the files. "Stopped, like stopped?" Dean asked. Sam shrugged. "They're human, Sam."
"They're murderers." Sam retorted.
Dean hummed and smirked. "Burn, witch, burn." I give a sharp gasp as the engine begins to sputter and fizz. "What the hell?" Dean hummed.
"Who the hell--" I stammer as I peer over the dashboard.
"Ruby." Sam says as he opens his door.
"Sam, listen to me. There's no time." Ruby says in an almost breathless tone.
"For what? What are you talking about?" Sam asks as I get out of the Impala.
"You have to get out of town." She says.
"So, this is Ruby, huh?" Dean asks. Dean holds up the colt with a growl. "Never had the pleasure." Sam tries to reason with his brother. "I was hoping you'd show up again."
"Point that thing somewhere else." Ruby retorts irritably.
Dean gives a fake laugh. "Right."
"Sam, please. Go." Ruby pleads. "Get in the car, and don't look back."
"Why? I don't understand?" Sam asked.
"Hey, Hot Stuff, we can take care of a few kitchen witches, thanks." Dean butts in.
"I'm not talking about Witches, you jackass!" Ruby snaps. "Witches are whores. I'm talking about who they serve."
I glance at Sam curiously before speaking. "Demons." I hum. "They're getting their power from demons, aren't they?"
"Yeah... And there's one here now." Ruby states.
"Oh, what, you mean besides you?" Dean asks.
"Sam, it knows you're in town, and it's gonna come after you, and it's way more than you can handle." Ruby expresses.
"Oh, come on. What is this, huh?" Dean asks. "Please tell me you're not listening to this crap."
"Put a leash on your brother, Sam, if you want to keep him." Ruby snaps.
"Dean, please just chill out." Sam asks.
"No, no! She's messing with your head! God knows why. That's who they are!" Dean exclaims.
"I'm telling you the truth!" Ruby barks.
"And I'm telling you to shut up, bitch!" Dean shouts.
"I'm sorry, why are you even a part of this conversation?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because he's my brother, you black-eyed skank!"
"Oh, right, right. And you care about your brother so much! That's why you're checking out in a few months and leaving him all alone."
"Shut up."
"At least let me try and save him since you won't be here to do it anymore!"
"I said shut up--"
"Enough!" I shout. The ground shakes violently, and Ruby is no where to be seen. "Get in the car, now." I snap to both of them. Sam and Dean nod quickly before hurrying to their doors. I grimace and grasp onto the car hood before getting into the car.