We had just arrived in Rock Ridge. Colorado. I had banished Sam to the back seat of the Impala. We were dressed in our FBI attire, we currently were heading to the morgue.
"Agent Tyler, Agent Perry, Agent Franks, meet Frank O'Brien." The doctor said as he opened up the black bag to show the corps to us.
"He died of a heart attack, right?" Sam asked as we looked at the body.
"Three days ago." The doctor confirmed.
"But O'Brien was 44 years old and, according to this, a marathon runner." Sam pointed out as he opened the folder we had obtained on Frank O'Brien.
"Everybody drops dead sooner or later. It's why I got job security." I sighed quietly at the doctor.
"Yeah, but Frank kicked it here. Now, just yesterday, two perfectly healthy men bit in Maumee. All heart attacks. You don't think that's strange?" Dean questioned.
"Sounds like Maumee's problem to me. Why's the FBI give a damn, anyway?" The doctor questioned.
"We just want to see the results of Frank's autopsy." Dean clarified for him.
"What autopsy?"
"The one you're gonna do." I say with a sarcastic smile. The doctor gave out a huff before suiting up to do the autopsy.
"First dead body?" The doctor asked as we watched him cut into the body.
"Far from it." Dean said, I glanced up at him, we were dressed in similar attire to the doctor, protective clothing over our clothing.
"Oh, good. Because these suckers can get pretty ripe. Hey, hand me those rib cutters, would you?" Dean handed him the rib cutters. I pulled a small face as I listened to the cutters cutting the ribs, the sound was not a pleasant sound to hear. My brother's and I all glanced at each other for a second.
"Is that from a wedding ring?" Dean asked, I turned my head and saw a white ring mark around Frank's finger. "I didn't think Frank was married."
"Ain't my department." The doctor said instantly.
"Any idea how he got these?" Sam asked lifting the hand up, cuts and bruises littered the guys hand, almost like he was in a bar fight. Sam turned his wrist and then I saw what looked like some serious scratch marks on his forearms, like he was digging at them.
"When you drop dead, you actually tend to drop. Body probably got scraped up when it hit the ground." The doctor paused for a second before humming like he found something interesting.
"What?" Sam asked.
"I-I can't find any blockages in any of the major arteries." The doctor leaned forward as he grabbed the heart, I watched as he twisted his arm and the heart just came out, I put my hand over my mouth as he lifted the heart up. "Heart looks pretty damn healthy. Hold that a second would you?" The doctor placed the heart in my hands, I stared at the heart with wide eyes, my arms were outstretched completely. When I saw something spray up, I flinched and moved into Dean. "Oh, sorry. Spleen juice." I moved and held the heart out to Dean.
"Take it, or so help me, I will make you eat it." I say, he instantly took the heart out of my hands. He stared at the heart with the same outstretched arms like I did. I took a deep breath trying to get rid of nauseousness.
Later on we sat in the police station waiting to talk to the Sheriff. The young guy sitting at the desk, kept pausing from doing whatever it was he was doing, and smiling at us. I scratched the back of my head as he did it again.
"Hell's bells, Linus have you seen my--" The Sheriff asked as soon as he opened his office door. One cue the three of us stood up so he could see us. "Who are they?"
"Federal Agents. I, uh--" Linus began to say.
"And you kept them waiting?" The Sheriff asked.
"You-- you said not to disturb." Linus said.
"Come on back, guys." Sam, Dean and I moved towards his office, once we got to the office, he stopped us. "Shoes off." Sam, Dean and I all kind of looked at each other before slipping off our shoes, once my shoes came off, I dropped a good couple inches. We walked inside, my bare feet padded against the floor lightly. "Al Britton. Good to meet you." Sheriff Britton shook our hands, we took a seat in the chairs provided, well Dean and I did, Sam was left standing since he offered me his seat. I watched as Sheriff Britton used a good amount of hand sanitizer after shaking our hands.
"So..." Sam started off after we all glanced at each other.
"What can I do for Uncle Sam?" He asked sitting down in his chair.
"Well, we're looking into the death of Frank O'Brien. We understand some of your men found his body." Sam said.
"They did." Sheriff Britton said, nodding his head slightly, his face was as hard as a stone. "Me and Frank-- We were friends. Hell, we were Gamecocks." Dean chuckled slightly, then instantly stopped when Sheriff Britton looked at him. "That's our softball team's name."
"Mm." Dean hummed nodding his head.
"They're majestic animals. I knew Frank since high school. To be honest, I just this morning got up the strength to go see him. Frank was... He was a good man."
"Yeah." Dean mumbled as the three of us nodded our heads slightly. "Big heart." Sam and I both glanced at Dean for a second.
"Before he died, did you notice Frank acting strange? Maybe scared of something?" I asked, looking at Britton.
"Oh, hell, yeah. Real jumpy." He said leaning forward and resting his arms on his desk.
"You know what scared him?" I questioned a little farther.
"No. Wouldn't answer his phone. Finally, I sent some of my boys over to check on him, and, well, you know the rest." He said, he started coughing a little, he used some more of his hand sanitizer, once again using a good amount while doing so. "So, why the feds give a crap? You don't really think there's a case here?"
"No, no. It's probably nothing. Just a heart attack." Dean said. I nodded my head slightly, we all talked a little more about Frank before we left.
We were walking down the sidewalk away from the station, I was lagging a little behind the guys thinking about what could be going on.
"No way that was a heart attack." Dean said.
"Definitely no way." Sam agreed. "Three victims, all with those same red scratches, all went from jittery too terrified to dead within 48 hours."
"Something scared them to death?" Dean questioned.
"Alright, so, what can do that?"
"What can't? Ghosts, vampires, chupacabra? It could be a hundred things." I explained to the guys, they glanced back at me, pausing for a second so I could walk with them.
"Yeah. So we make a list and start crossing things off." Sam said.
"Alright, who's the last person to see Frank O'Brien alive?" Dean questioned.
"Uh, his neighbor, Mark Hutchins." Sam answered.
"Hang on, hey." Dean said, stopping us from walking any farther.
"What?" Sam asked.
"I don't like the looks of those teenagers down there." Dean said, Sam and I turned our heads to see a group of teenagers standing or sitting on their bikes talking.
"I have to agree." I say quietly, feeling the anxiety running through my veins.
"Let's walk this way." Dean said, he started walking a different way, I soon followed after him.
We soon found ourselves at Mark Hutchins home. I sat between the two boys on the couch, this guy had a lot of reptiles around his living room, I found myself looking at all of them.
"Tyler and Perry. Just like Aerosmith." Mark said, I turned my attention towards him, he had a snake wrapped around his upper shoulders as he sat there with a smile on his face. I could feel the anxiety on a rise again as I shifted uncomfortably.
"Yeah, small world. So, the last time you saw Frank O'Brien?" Sam questioned.
"Monday. He was watching me from this window. I waved at him but he just closed the curtains." Mark said, we all looked at the window that he pointed out.
"Hmm. Did you speak to him recently? Did he seem different? Uh, scared?" Sam questioned a little farther.
"Oh, totally. He was freaking out." I heard a splash of water, I turned my head and saw an alligator swimming around in its tank, my eyes widened a little and I immediately looked away and down at my lap, to try and sooth the anxious feeling clawing at my neck.
"Do you know, uh-- do you know what scared him?" Dean asked, apparently being here had the same affect on him like it did me.
"Well, yeah, witches." Mark responded in a matter of fact tone.
"Witches?" Sam questioned, the three of us looked at each other for a second. "Like...?"
"Well, 'Wizard of Oz' was on TV the other night, right?And he said that green bitch was totally out to get him." Mark explained.
"Anything else scare him?" I found myself looking around the room again at all the animals in this guy's house, my eyes came into contact with a tarantula, my eyes widened again as I just stared at it for a second.
"Everything else scared him-- Al-Qaeda, ferrets, artificial sweetener, those PEZ dispensers with their dead little eyes-- Lots of stuff." Mark explained to us, my eyes tore from the tarantula and back to him, only to focus on the snake around his neck.
"So, tell me what was Frank like?" Sam questioned again.
"I mean, he's dead, you know? I-I don't want to hammer him, but he got better."
"He got better?"
"Well, in high school he was-- He was a dick."
"A dick?"
"Like a bully. I mean, he probably taped half the town's butt cheeks together, mine included." Dean let out a chuckle as Mark spoke, I liked my lips a little as I glanced at Dean for a second, before my eyes moved back to the snake.
"So he pissed a lot of people off. You think anyone would have wanted to get revenge?" Dena questioned soon after.
"Well, I don't... Frank had a heart attack, right?"
"Just answer the question, sir." Sam said.
"No. I don't think so. Like I said, he got better. After what happened to his wife." Mark said.
"His wife?" Dean questioned. "So he was married."
"She died about 20 years ago. Frank was really broken up about it." He started laughing slightly, my eyes moved from the snake to his face, as he glanced between Dean and I. "Don't be scared of Donny. He's a sweetheart. It's Marie you got to look out for. She smells fear." Mark's eyes landed between Dean and I, I turned my head slightly, to see a yellow snake crawling up the side of the couch, I took a deep breath and held it, turning my head away from it. I turned my head slightly to see it crawling over Dean. Its head turned towards me and moved to crawl over me as well. I sat there like a statue, not moving a single muscle. I turned my head slightly towards Sam who had a conflicted look on his face. Once the snake was off of Dean and I, we took our leave, I have never rushed out of somewhere so quickly as I did that day.
Later on, we were back in our normal clothing, it was night. Dean and I were in the Impala, I stared out the window, scratching at my arm lightly, we had just gotten done with the Count Clerk's office. The car door opened, slightly making me jump a little, I turned my head and saw Sam getting into the car.
"Any luck at the County Clerk's office?" Sam asked as he got settled in.
"I'm not sure I'd call it luck." I say quietly, shifting so I was leaning against the front seat, my head between the two.
"Frank's wife, Jessie, was manic-depressive. She went off her meds back in '88 and vanished. They found her two weeks later, three towns over, strung up in her motel room-- Suicide." Dean added.
"Any chance Frank helped her along to the other side?" Sam questioned.
"No, Frank was working the swing shift when she disappeared. Airtight alibi." Dean answered, he then started the Impala and we went to go back to the motel. I sat quietly in the back watching the cars go by.
"How was Frank's pad?" I asked turning my head to Sam, trying to get my mind off of the cars possibly crashing into us.
"Clean. Searched it top to bottom. No EMF, no hex bags, no sulfur." Sam said.
"So, probably no ghosts, no witches, no demons. 3 down and 97 to go." Dena said.
"Yeah." We were quiet for a second. "Dude, you're going 20."
"And?" Dean questioned.
"That's the speed limit."
"What? Safety's a crime now?" Dean questioned. I pierced my lips slightly, thankful that he was going the speed limit.
"Dude, where are you going? That was our hotel." Sam said, I turned my head and saw we did pass our motel.
"Sam, I'm not gonna make a left-hand turn into oncoming traffic. I'm not suicidal." Dean argued. Sam turned to look back at me, I shifted uncomfortably as he did so. I heard the humming of the EMF detector. "Did I just say that? That was kind of weird." Dean chuckled slightly, Sam took out the EMF detector and pointed it towards Dean for a second, then he turned towards me abruptly causing me to jump. He did the same thing, the EMF detector buzzed and hummed as it got closer to me.
"Are we haunted? Are we haunted?!" Dean yelled freaking out slightly as he looked away from the road raising my anxiety quickly.
"Dean the road!" I yelled at him.