8
The Impala was parked nearby in the small run-down lot of the shabby motel with a row of identical doors along the long run of concrete as Dean stood watch, carefully scanning the area as Sam stood on one knee and quickly used the small thin metal pins to sink each locking mechanism together until the door creaked open. With cautious glances, they both entered the darkened motel room and closed the door behind themselves to begin the investigation.
Sam stepped further into the room, an uneasy look on his face as he silently scanned the mostly tidy room when his and Dean's eyes seemed to simultaneously notice the linoleum streaked with dried dark blood and an angel blade with blood staining the tip
Dean stepped closer, glancing back at Sam and noticing the look in his eyes when he shook his head, "We'll find her, Sammy. We just gotta work this like any other case, okay? Just think of it like that."
Sam shut his eyes and turned away as he dropped his head, "She could be anywhere, Dean... If this is Meg or Diana behind this-"
"We don't know that yet, Sammy."
Sam stopped, looking back when Dean shrugged, looking around the room, "I'll take the bathroom and the kitchen, you check around out here, okay? We didn't just drive out all this way for nothin'..."
Sam let out a soft sigh, nodding before they split up and began to search the room quickly and quietly. Sam took note of the perfectly made bed, checking the windows for salt lines and the drawers of the nightstands on either side of the bed. He moved on to the small black trash can, picking it up and emptying it onto the bed when a black phone with a shattered screen bounced onto the blanket, ignoring the feeling of dread in his chest that told him it was my phone and quietly pocketed it.
"Hey, Sammy. Check this out."
Sam turned back, watching as Dean stepped out of the bathroom with his pocket knife in hand that had a small piece of slimy flesh hanging from the end as they exchanged knowing glances.
Sam furrowed his brows, shaking his head, "Is that what I think it is?"
Dean nodded, flicking the piece of flesh onto the tile floor behind him and wiping the blade against his jeans, "Yep... I don't know how the hell Mandy got tangled into this, but there was blonde and black hair in the tub too."
Sam shook his head, furrowing his brows as he looked back at him, "Shapeshifters? What the hell is Meg doing with shapeshifters-"
"We can't just assume the worst, Sammy, we gotta go with what we know."
Sam raised his eyebrows, giving him a look, "A shapeshifter wouldn't have gotten the drop on Cat like this, Dean. Meg is behind this, or- Diana? Or both, for all we know? We could already be too late-"
"I'm not seeing any storm clouds or blood moons, Sammy. The world's still turning, so that must mean Cat is still alive."
Sam eased up as he looked away at the ground when Dean shook his head, "I think I saw a camera outside, we'll just go to the office and check the tapes. Shapeshifters can't just disappear, so maybe the camera caught someone comin' or goin' from here?"
Sam nodded in response, taking in a breath and looking back at Dean, "Okay. Do we still have those U.S. Marshal badges in the car?"
Dean nodded, flashing a brief smile as he headed back towards the door, "Attaboy, Sammy. It's just like riding a bike, isn't it?"
Sam let out a light laugh, shaking his head and turning back to follow after him, "It's not like it's been that long since we've been on a-"
Sam's eyes then stopped on something silver just out of sight underneath the bed when Dean stopped, turning back and narrowing his eyes slightly, "What? You find somethin'?"
Sam kneeled down and reached under the bed, glancing back at Dean and shaking his head, "Maybe?"
The cold metal chain slipped through his fingers as he picked it up, his eyes stopping cold on the heart-shaped locket with one of the angel wings opened to reveal a small ultrasound photo.
Dean's expression fell as he watched the fear grow in Sam's eyes, glancing down at the floor and shaking his head, "Don't worry about her, she's gonna be fine, Sammy. She's a tough cookie, she can handle whatever this is. I'd be surprised if she didn't already make her way out of this and is waiting for us back home."
Sam shook his head, pocketing the necklace and looking back as he stood tall again, "Something's wrong, Dean. I can't explain it, but I think she left this as a warning, or- I don't know, a message? This isn't just shapeshifters we're dealing with..."
Dean looked back, letting out a short breath and shaking his head, "Well, I guess you've been pretty right about this so far? This sure would be a hell of a lot easier with Cat's ESP, but we've always seemed to manage without any psychic abilities before? We'll figure this out, Sammy."
Dean was the first to walk through the open screen door into the dinky motel office, Sam following closely behind as they both flashed their forged badges to the old man behind the counter, Dean plastering an all-business half smile on his face as he stepped up to the counter, "U.S. Marshals. I'm Dean, this is my partner, Sam. We have reason to believe a possible suspect was staying in one of your rooms. We need access to the security footage just outside room eleven."
The frail old man with greasy gray hair stood up from the other side of the counter, furrowing his brows as he scanned their badges before they both slipped it into the inside pocket of their jackets and shook his head in confusion, "U.S. Marshals? What kind of suspect? What'd he do?"
Sam stepped forward, shaking his head lightly, "We're not at liberty to say. Do you have the name or credit card information for the last person to book that room?"
The man nodded, gesturing with his hand as he headed for the back office, "Follow me."
Sam was now sitting at the cluttered desk as he typed away on the old-school computer, watching the gray footage play at twice the speed with as careful an eye as he could manage, still fighting the effects of the cocktail. Dean stood at a counter with the frail old man as he flipped through the ledger, raising his eyebrows and looking back at the old clerk, "Vincent McCleoud? Was he the only one stayin' in that room?"
The man shook his head, shrugging, "I wasn't on the night shift last night, but I had seen a few women coming in and out of the room."
Dean raised his eyebrows slightly, giving him a look as he shook his head, "A few women? What'd they look like?"
The man shrugged, "I only got a good look at the one? A blonde lady, with black streaks and dressed like one of them devil worshippers."
Dean turned away, hiding his annoyed reaction as he closed the ledger and tossed it onto the desk, "Anything else you remember? Maybe what kind of car she was driving?"
The man shook his head, "I didn't see her drive up in a car, she came here with him. It was a red Dodge charger, I think?"
Dean raised his eyebrows, shrugging to himself as he turned and looked back at the man, "Well, I think that's all we need from you for now. Thanks for your cooperation."
The man nodded, leaving them alone in the office when Dean turned back, letting out a sigh as he stepped up behind Sam's chair at the desk, "You find anythin' yet, Sammy?"
Sam slowed down the footage, shrugging and shaking his head as he blinked his eyes to readjust his focus, "Just whoever that Vincent guy is going in with whoever looked like Mandy? I didn't catch any flares, but we pretty much know at this point that that wasn't Mandy..."
Dean shrugged in agreement, shaking his head, "Still doesn't explain how the hell they got her phone? Or where the hell she is..."
Sam stopped, glancing back at Dean when Dean caught the concerned look in Sam's eyes and shrugged it off, "It's alright, just focus on one thing at a time. I'm gonna give Bobby a call and update him on the situation. It might be a good idea to stick around in town if this isn't Psycho or Skank we're dealing with? Cat could still be in the area."
Sam nodded, looking back at the screen when they both stopped in place, noticing a woman with long dark hair step out of the room just behind the man they now knew as Vincent, Sam slowing down the footage with a few clicks as Dean leaned in closer, "Is that Cat or Meg? Or... A shapeshifter, I guess?"
Sam rewound the tape, going back a few seconds to catch the quick silver eye-flare and paused the image of the shapeshifter sporting my face, letting out a frustrated sigh and shaking his head, "As if trying to keep track of two of them wasn't hard enough already, now there's a third? And who the hell is this Vincent guy?"
Dean shrugged, raising his eyebrows slightly as he stood up straight again, "Maybe this doesn't have anything to do with Meg or Diana after all? Whoever this guy is, he was dumb enough to use a credit card to book the room."
Sam tapped away on the keyboard, playing the footage again and watching as the figures walked around the red charger when he stopped the tape again, shaking his head and shrugging, "He was also dumb enough to park with his license plate fully visible to the camera, apparently."
Dean raised his eyebrows, letting out a short laugh and shrugging, "This might be easier than we thought? He's practically doing our job for us?"
Sam stopped, turning back and looking up at Dean as the cogs turned in his machine-like brain, even if it was still a little delayed, "What if that's the point? It's like he wants us to catch him."
Dean looked back at him, shrugging and shaking his head, "Either way, it makes it easier for us? I'm not complaining."
Sam looked down at the floor with an uneasy expression, shaking his head lightly, "If this is just some guy and a shapeshifter, then where's Cat? As far as I know, not a lot of even the most seasoned hunters know how to trap an Archangel?"
Dean eased up slightly, shrugging and shaking his head, "If all else fails, we've still got the Colt. I don't know if it'll do much for Diana, but we already know Meg is afraid of it."
Sam nodded as he stood up from the chair, pausing and looking back at Dean with a curious look in his eyes, "We still have that angel blade in the trunk too, right? Again, I don't know if it'll work on Diana but it's one more thing we can use to our advantage?"
Dean nodded, shrugging, "Okay, you get the blade, and I'll carry the Colt."
Sam furrowed his brows, shaking his head as he gave him a look, "Why do you get the Colt?"
Dean raised his eyebrows, shaking his head, "Cause I'm the oldest?"
Sam gave him a bitchface, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows, "Yeah, well, technically Billie made it for me? I think that means that I should be the one to carry it."
Dean furrowed his brows, shaking his head as he made a face, "What? She didn't make it just for you-"
"Okay, fine?"
Sam gave him a look as he held his fist out when Dean's face fell, giving him a look and raising his eyebrows, "Really?"
Sam shrugged with a slight smirk, "What? You afraid you're gonna lose?"
Dean rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh as he lifted his fist out in front of him, silently playing a quick game of 'rock, paper, scissors' when Sam bumped his fist against Dean's 'scissors' with a smirk.
Dean grumbled to himself, turning away and punching the air as he shook his head angrily, "Son of a bitch."
Sam let out a laugh as he followed Dean out of the office, Dean furrowing his brows and shooting Sam a look, "How the hell am I supposed to carry around a friggin' angel sword all day?"
Sam had a smug smirk on his face as he shrugged, "Guess you'll have to figure that out? I won fair and square."
Dean made a mocking face, turning away and grumbling to himself, "Yeah, right, fair and square... Stupid scissors..."
*
The freezing temperature of the blacked out meat locker was finally starting to get to me as I sat crouched in the corner with my arms inside my tank top, keeping my knees up close to my shivering body with my head hung forward and faintly mumbling to myself as I started to drift in and out of sleep, "Somehow I'll... Make a man... Out of you..."
The harsh bright lights suddenly flooded the room, temporarily disorienting me as I slid my arms back out of my sleeves and covered my eyes, hearing the door open when I let out a sigh, "If you're gonna kill me, can you at least do it a little faster?"
I took my hands away, looking up and freezing in place when I saw Meg enter the room with Vince shortly behind her as he set two metal buckets on the floor.
Meg let out a harsh laugh, raising one eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side, "Oh, kitty-cat, this isn't about killing you? You'd already be dead if it was."
I pulled myself up to my feet, shivering from the intense cold and shaking my head with a sarcastic smirk, "Why don't you let me out of here, and we'll see just how easy it is to kill me?"
Meg strode past a pig carcass, stopping by one of the trays of metal tools and picking up a heavy ball-pein hammer, "What's the rush, sis? I like to take my time with things like this... I've already waited over two-thousand years for this. What's another few hundred years?"
I slowly reached behind my back, pulling out a long thin blade from my jeans and shrugged as I glared at her with a sinister smirk, "Yeah, well... I've got better things to do."
I ran forward and spun around as I kicked the carcass towards her, knocking it off the hook as Meg caught it with her arms and knocked the tray over in the process when I kicked her back again, sending her body along with the dead pig crashing into a metal exam table.
Suddenly, I was doused with icy-cold water from behind, the sudden shock to my system being enough to slow me down before I could stop Vince from swinging the empty metal bucket at my head with a loud clang.
I stumbled forward slightly, shaking it off and spinning around as I slashed at Vince with the knife, Vince backing away before I lunged forward again and buried it between his ribs when Vince grabbed me by my hair without flinching, his face stone cold and blank as he pulled me closer when I fought back, ramming my elbow into his arm to break his hold and driving my opposite palm into his throat.
Vince stumbled back a few steps when I launched myself into the air, spinning around and whipping my foot across his face and followed it up with a kick to his chest, sending him back into the frozen metal door with a thud and crumbling to the ground face first.
My chest heaved with hot breaths, feeling the cold air sting my lungs as I rushed forward and grabbed the knife from his side, pressing my knee down on his back and grabbing his head by the hair as I pressed the thin blade against his neck and snarled, "How are you getting in and out? You have some kind of charm or something, huh? Where is it?"
I heard a grunt from Meg along with metal clanging, my eyes shooting back to the other side of the room when I reacted quickly, launching the knife towards the locking mechanism of the hook that hung a much larger cow carcass, and triggering the trap I had laid earlier as the dead cow fell on top of Meg and slowing her down further as she let out a frustrated cry.
I felt Vince's hand reach behind him and grab onto my leg when I leaned forward and slammed his head against the cold metal floor, feeling my almost frozen damp hair brush along my arms as I picked myself up off his body and turned him over, beginning to desperately search through his clothing for anything that could be used to escape.
I glanced up at Meg from across the room, watching as she tossed the carcass off of her body and realizing my time was running out when Vince reached up and grabbed me by the throat, snapping my attention back to his face when I saw his eyes up close for the first time, with the inky black splotches spreading past the red bloodshot veins in his eyes and a haunting thin grin on his face.
"Aren't you at least going to buy me a drink first, Cupcate?"
I grabbed at his arm as choked gasps escaped from my throat, with my eyes being caught by his darkened stare, and my ears filling with a loud ringing as my mind began to be infiltrated by a vivid flashback while staring into the eyes of my would be killer.
"Vince, please... It's me... Why are you doing this?"
The room around me shifted until I felt as if I were the one being pinned against the floor and the harsh fluorescent lights being replaced by hazy orange sunlight spilling into the dirty sage green hallway, staring at Vince's bloodied emotionless face and seeing his dark green eyes with his pupils widely enlarged.
I then felt the crack of a hammer against the back of my skull, the pain being enough to snap me back into my reality before Vince tossed me to the ground.
I fought to keep my eyes focused as my vision began to distort with the room filling with a shrill high-pitched ringing and muffled grunts when I then felt my hair get pulled back, using what strength I could to pull away but being helpless as my vision started to darken.
Meg easily overpowered me as she lifted me from the ground and grabbed me by the shoulder and neck, before violently lifting my shoulder onto a swinging meat hook. I cried out in agony, the shock of pain being enough to keep me conscious as I reached for the wound in my shoulder and felt the warm blood begin to stain my numb fingertips.
A wide smile spread across Meg's face as she looked up at me, letting out a laugh and raising her eyebrows, "Now there's the sister that I know. You were one of the best, weren't you? How many souls did you drag to Hell in just that short seventy-nine year period? Certainly enough to get your name on the leaderboard."
I felt my teeth begin to chatter involuntarily, my chest trembling from the mixture of pain and frigid atmosphere, gripping into the end of the meat hook and refusing to grimace as I glared down at her, "You think... I was just- gonna let you- beat me like that? Not a chance- Bitch."
Vince slowly stepped forward behind Meg when she crossed her arms and shook her head with a grin, "This isn't a sprint, Cat, it's a marathon. You know as well as I do that you won't last as long as I will. Unlike you, I'm not carrying all of that weight that's slowing you down. You think that little family of yours has made you stronger? It's only made you go soft."
I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, letting out a pained laugh, "What's wrong... with being soft? Turns out... Being a MILF has its benefits?"
Meg furrowed her brows, giving me a dirty look when I let out a short laugh, raising my eyebrows with a shit-eating grin as blood began to drip from my hairline and down my face as I lifted up my head, "Nothing wrong with having... A little extra weight?"
Vince smiled a thin tight smile as his dark eyes scanned my body, "Certainly gives us more to grab onto?"
I clenched my jaw, steeling my nerves and narrowing my eyes at him as I shook my head, "Oh, I would destroy you, buddy... It takes a stronger man to handle all of this?"
Meg grimaced slightly, shaking her head as she shot me a look, "You laugh now, but all of your immaturity will gain you is a faster trip to crazy town. You're really so arrogant that you would actually believe that your mental fortitude is stronger than mine? I was raised in Hell by Diana for over two-thousand years..."
I raised my eyebrows, giving her a look, "Exactly. I think you pretty much just proved my point right there?"
Meg narrowed her eyes, shaking her head as a smirk began to spread across her face, "Do you think Daddy has retained his sanity or sense of humor after how long he's been trapped in that cage for? He's not the same as he was before, and that will be our same fate unless one of us takes this seriously."
I felt tears sting my eyes, biting down and shaking my head, "You really call him Daddy? How delusional can you be? You've never even met the guy."
Meg's face fell a little, darting her eyes away and shaking her head as she furrowed her brows angrily, "You had your fairytales, and I had mine?"
She turned back, glaring daggers up at me, "At least my knight in shining armor wasn't a weak, pathetic excuse for a man."
I felt a flare of fire burn up in my chest, attempting to rip my body from the hook as I kicked my legs and sneered at her, "You keep him out of this, you psycho bitch! This has nothing to do with him, this is just between you and me!"
Meg turned back, stepping closer and dropping her arms as she snarled at me, "You honestly think you would last a minute if you started this now? You think you're ready, but you're not! I would destroy you!-"
"Well, then do it already?! You really think I have anything to lose? No, the way I see it- you kill me like this? And someone is gonna send another messenger to pull me from the pit and restart this whole thing all over again? Or...? I tear you apart with my bare hands and throw what's left of you into the pit."
Meg furrowed her brows, shaking her head as she looked up at me, "You're bluffing. You think anyone in Heaven is listening to you right now? Your own mother abandoned you and your son."
I grit my teeth, forcing a tight smile and glaring at her, "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"
I closed my eyes, smiling to myself, "If you're listening? I could really use a favor right now? Pretty please..."
Meg furrowed her brows, letting out a harsh laugh and raising her eyebrows as she gave me a look, "You're praying now? How do you even know if you're doing it right? You're no saint."
I opened my eyes, raising my eyebrows slightly and grinning as I tilted my head, "I said the magic word, right? Please?"
Meg shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly as she walked past Vince and picked up a separate metal bucket filled with ice cold water, "We'll see how well your little prayer works in a few hours, won't we?"
Vince walked across the room, picking up an aluminum bat and hearing the metal slide against the tray as he looked back at me with a slight smile, "Time goes faster in here, remember Cupcate? It's Hell on Earth."
I shut my eyes, bracing myself before Meg splashed me again with the freezing cold water, immediately being followed with the crack of the bat against my legs and feeling something break, biting down and holding back the urge to show any kind of reaction.
Over and over I heard the swing of the bat slice through the air and connect with a different part of my body, the pain becoming increasingly harder to conceal or fight through as the icy-hot metal meat hook began to shift in my shoulder from the movement.
"That's enough." barked Meg.
Vince eased up, dropping the bat to his side when Meg narrowed her eyes at me, "Good luck getting yourself down from there. Though, it may be better if you stay up there? You may last a little longer if you don't bleed out."
I hung my head forward, sucking in a shaky breath through my nose and shook my head, "You don't stand... A chance against me... You never did..."
Meg gave me a dirty look when I forced my head back up, giving her a sneering grin, "You had your chance to be born first... This isn't a marathon, or an arms race, Aster. It's a prophecy."
Meg scoffed, shaking her head and turning away, "We'll see about that..."
Vince turned back with her when I grinned and started to bob my head up and down to the beat in my head, singing out loud with a laugh, "This ain't a scene- it's a God! Damn! Arms! Race! This ain't a scene- it's a God-"
I then stopped myself, making a face and freezing a little, "Oh wait, did I just hurt my chances? Crap."
Meg rolled her eyes and shook her head, shutting the metal door behind her and plunging me back into darkness when I hung my head forward and closed my eyes, mumbling to myself under my breath, "Sorry, big guy. I'm still new to this whole faith thing? It's honestly a little weird for me... Not gonna lie... Of course, you know that?"
I sat in silence for a brief moment, shaking my head and looking around in the darkness, "I really am losing my mind..."