IDENTITY CRISIS CH.22

Alex opened her eyes and saw a metal wall above her and could feel her body moving. It was like she was shooting up vertically in a rocket, the way she was shaking. She turned to her left and saw a man looking at a chart of some sort in his hands. She opened her mouth to talk, but there was something covering her entire mouth preventing her from doing so. As she looked to her right she saw a woman holding a towel against her head. The towel was warm and soothing and almost eased her into a deep sleep.

Behind the woman, there was small white cabinets. In fact, most of the things in there were white and some red. Alex couldn't figure out where she was or what was going on.

"Don't worry miss, we're almost to the hospital." The man to her left reassured her with a warm smile.

Alex tried to nod her head, but it was held in place with a soft neck brace. She could feel that her entire body was strapped down to a narrow bed. It was obvious to her now, that she was in an ambulance. Which explained the vertical motion and the occasional bump. And the bed, wasn't a bed but a gurney.

Out of all the times she's been to the hospital, this was her first time in an ambulance. When she was in the car accident, she was told that she was in a helicopter, by Sam and Dean. When she went the time after that, Dean and Sam drove her there in their car.
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"Its definitely hypothermia."

A middle-aged female doctor with short blond hair was explaining to Dean what was wrong. He was being skeptical about the whole thing, because he desperately wanted to get out of there.

Dean and Maz had arrived at the hospital first. They had to call in a second ambulance for Alex, since all three of them couldn't fit into one. Sam on the other hand drove the Impala to the hospital with Hana in the backseat. Now that the roads were clearing up, Sam was able to go to the local store and pick up a car seat for Hana.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Alex lied there and tried to figure out why she was going to the hospital, she heard a loud noise. It was high pitched and it wasn't the constant sound of the siren blaring. It was different, and yet it sounded so familiar to her. Then all of sudden, before her mind could register what had happened, she felt herself get thrown to the left. The gurney she was on was thrown into the man who was trying to comfort her.

The motion caused his head to slam backwards into a cabinet and cracked his head. His body went limp and fell right on top of her. Although she couldn't see it, she could feel his blood was drizzling on to her chest.

The whole time she had forgotten about the woman, who was now holding her arm and had a look of terror in her eyes. Her arm was bleeding bad and the woman was now more concerned about her serious wound, then holding the towel on Alex's forehead.

Alex thought it was all over, but then there was another sudden thrust. This time the gurney tipped over towards the woman and the man's body was thrown on top of her. With the weight off of her, Alex tried to struggle free but it was no use. It was then that she realized the vehicle was still moving, but no longer in a vertical motion. The vehicle now, what she imagined, was rolling side ways.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Just give me a cup of coffee and I'll be fine." Dean said with his arms folded. After he arrived at the hospital, they put an IV in him with warm fluids to warm his body back up. His face was still pale and he was slightly shaking and trying to adjust to the warmth. Although the coffee would warm him up, it would also keep him awake. The effects of the medication was making him drowsy, but he wanted to stay awake and talk to Alex. And he knew that coffee was the trick that would work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After slamming her head into a cabinet, cutting her lip, and getting stabbed by something sharp in her stomach, the movement stopped. She opened her eyes, after shutting them from the pain, and saw the metal ceiling was pressed up against her face. The cool steal caused a shiver to run down her spine.

Now that it was all over, Alex had realized that the high pitched sound was so familiar because it was the sound of tires squealing. She had known that sound too well and hated it more then the pain she was feeling. The sound had happened right before Danny crashed her car into the woods.

Out of nowhere there was a sudden force and the vehicle was being forced to move vertical again at an alarming speed. The sound of metal screeching as it was rubbed against concrete wasn't the only thing that she could hear. There was another noise. It was low and deep, but most of all very loud. It was the sound of a horn, one that belonged to a semi truck.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I would highly advice against that Mr.Traven." The doctor said referring to the name on Dean's insurance card. "You need your rest. We're going to keep you here for a couple of days for observation at your brother's request." The doctor left before Dean could get in another word.

"I can't believe this." Dean muttered as he slumped into the hospital bed and glared at his brother.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The force and speed of the truck caused the metal to crunch under pressure. The metal got closer to her and soon she could feel the the damaged back doors press into her bare feet. The doors were rigged now and there were sharp edges that touched the tip of her toes and the soles of her feet.

Soon she let out a scream of pain as she felt the shards penetrate the bottom of her foot. Piercing her soles deeper and deeper until they were forced to stop by the bone. Just when she didn't think she could stand it any longer, the front end stopped. Although the front end had stopped, the back end was still moving and squishing the vehicle together. She desperately tried to break free, but she couldn't. The force on both ends came together and finally met her gurney.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"At least you won't be alone." Sam said as he glanced to his right where a white curtain separated the two beds in the room. He was standing by the foot of Dean's bed while the doctor was explaining everything.

Dean sighed as he looked at the white curtain. "Are they sure that she is going to be all right?"

"Yeah. They said that she just has the stomach flu." Sam walked between Dean's bed and the white curtain.

"What about the hypothermia?" Dean asked confused at the previous doctor's claims.

Sam just shook his head and replied, "I asked the doctor about it and she that there were no signs or symptoms."

"That's a little odd, don't ya think?" Dean said with a look of suspicion on his face. "I mean, wouldn't you think that Dr.Williams would have known that?"

"Maybe-" Sam was cut off by the sound of a heart monitor beeping faster then normal. He quickly yanked the curtain away and looked at the bed.

Both Dean and Sam were looking at Alex's sweating body as it was shaking uncontrollably. Sam forcibly grabbed her arms and started to shake Alex awake.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alex knew this was the end. As the area got smaller, she could feel the gurney bend her back in an arch. Then without warning, the gurney snapped in half. The force of the snap shot the metal right into her back, causing the worst pain that she had ever felt. Her eyes started to see spots and white lights from the intense pain. The cool trickle of blood was running down her back as her ribs snapped and pierced her organs. She coughed up blood then felt another snap and could feel every bone in her body being crushed at once.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Alex!" Sam yelled hoping to wake her before he called a doctor.

At this point Dean was now standing next to Sam and watching as his brother tried to wake her up.

It didn't take long before Alex whipped her eyes open and gasped. When she realized she was safe, she started to take in deep breaths and the monitor started to slow back down to a normal pace.

She looked up and saw Sam and Dean looking down at her worried. They had obviously known that she had a nightmare by the looks on their faces. And there it was again, the same look she had gotten from them before. Pity. When she looked around and saw white and light blue every where, she recognized where she was. And by the looks of Dean's odd clothes, she knew that she was right, because there was no way that Dean would wear scrubs on his own free will.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Sam asked when he thought she was now fully aware of where she was. He watched as she shook her head and still looked around the room.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Dean asked as he sat down on the side of her bed. All the standing was wearing him out and he had to sit down. His body was still weak and the medication was part of the cause.

Alex sat there silently then explained in a soft voice, "I was in a car crash. The ambulance was pancaked by a semi..." Tears filled her eyes. "...And I was inside." She started to cry and held her head in hands as she rested in the bed.

Sam and Dean both couldn't imagine what had happened, but by the looks of her reaction, it wasn't an experience that they would want her to go through for real.

After some time had passed, Dean had sat back down in his own bed and Sam was now sitting in a chair between them. Alex had kept silent and every time she did try to speak, tears would start to well up in her eyes. She finally gained her composure and asked, "Where's Hana?"

Sam got up and walked to the end of her bed where a crib was set up. He picked up Hana in his arms and carried her over to Alex. "I would let you hold her, but the doctor said that you should wait another day for the medication to take effect before you hold her again."

"Just as long as she's safe, that's all that matters." Alex was looking at her daughter play with the folds of Sam's shirt, and smiled.

A couple hours went by and Alex didn't say much which didn't really surprise them. The only time she did speak, it was about Hana. They recognized what she was doing. It was the same thing that she did after the car crash, and after her step-father died, and the time she shrunk. She just kept avoiding the topic of concern and they wondered if she would ever tell them how she really feels.

After Sam stood up they heard a knock on the door before it slowly opened. They all weren't too surprised to see Dr.Williams standing in the door way. He said hello to them and looked around seeing Dean sitting up in his bed, Alex laying down in her bed, Sam standing at the foot of Alex's bed, And Hana asleep in a crib.

"I didn't know that you worked here?" Dean questioned the doctor after he closed the door behind him.

"I don't." He said with as his mouth curved into a smirk and his eyes turned pitch black.

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.21

Dean followed Sam into the room with the security cameras, and set his duffel on a chair. "Alright, so where do you think they are?" Dean said scanning the different screens.

"Dean, it could just be a coincidence that Maz also isn't here right now. He probably went on a break or something." Sam suggested as he started looking at the screens.

"Yeah, well my mind is set on the 'or something' part."

When they had went down to the front desk, Maz wasn't there or in his office. Sure, it made looking at the cameras easier, but now the young manager of the hotel was missing and nobody was at the front desk.

"Does this have to do with what I said about his odd behavior?" Sam asked looking over at Dean for a second.

"Come on, Sam. The guy was being a jerk this entire time and all of a sudden he's mister nice-and-trusting? I don't think so. Something is definitely not right here." Dean continued looking at the screens on the right, while Sam was looking at the ones on the left. "Found him." Dean pointed to the top right screen.

"Where?" Sam said looking over at Dean's half.

"The pool." Dean turned to Sam with an odd look. "He's swimming."

"Looks like he's not alone." Sam pointed to the screen as Dean turned around.

"Morana. Well that's going to make things..." Right before Dean could finish his sentence, Morana dived into the pool. They saw Morana swim under Maz and drag him under water. He struggled out of instinct, but lost the battle. "D*mn it!"

"Come on." Sam said as he ran towards the door.

Dean grabbed his duffel and followed Sam out of the room and into the lobby. "Which way is the pool?"

"Uh, this way." Sam pointed to the opposite direction of the elevators.

The guys both ran down the long hallway that ended with two glass doors. As they got closer they slowed down, knowing that it was the pool. Dean set his duffel on the ground and pulled out a blow torch.

Sam was keeping watch, but noticed something was wrong. "Dean, Morana isn't in here."

"What?" Dean stood up and looked into the pool area and didn't see her either. "Where did she go?"

They both carefully entered the large glass room, looking around for Morana. Dean and Sam looked in the water and saw Maz at the bottom of the pool, not moving.

"Here, you go after Morana." Dean handed the blow torch to Sam then pulled out his pocket knife. Getting a running start, Dean jumps into the water and swims towards Maz. At the bottom of the pool, Dean could see Maz was tied down to one of the drains. When he reached him, Dean took the knife out of his jaws and started to cut the rope.

Meanwhile; Sam was checking the restrooms, but didn't see anyone. As he started checking one of the empty showers, he noticed that the room was starting to get colder. Knowing that temperature changes were never a good sign, Sam slowly walked out of the shower. He checked the pool, but didn't see anything and decided to check the men's shower. Right before he walked in, a chill ran up his spine and he let out a breath which he could see. Sam quickly turned around with the blow torch in hand.

"Hello Sam." Morana smiled at him. She was now wearing tight jeans and a black tank top. Being the goddess of winter made the weather have no effect on her.

Sam noticed that the ground around her bare feet was crystallized with ice and frost. Each step she took would freeze the ground around her.

"You weren't planning on using that on me, where you?" She motioned towards the blow torch.

"I was thinking about it." Sam said aiming it at her.

"Aww, why would do that? I never did anything to you." Morana acted like she was offended by the comment. "Wait. Does this have to do with what I did to Alex?" She smiled at him.

Sam's anger rose and he took a step closer to her.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." She told him with her own anger rising.

The whole time she had been standing between Sam and the pool. Unfortunately, Sam wasn't close enough to hit her with the flames, so he gradually walked closer to her.

Under water, Dean had just finished untying Maz. They both started swimming to the surface of the eight foot deep pool.

Morana was now standing by the edge of the pool with Sam still aiming the blow torch at her. Sensing that Dean was rising up in the water behind her, Morana placed her foot on the tip of the surface. Right as her bare toe touched the surface, the water around it froze in place. The ice started to spread further, growing and expanding.

Sam watched as the pool completely froze over, trapping his brother inside.

Dean felt the water get colder and bumped his head on ice. On impact he instinctively opened his mouth and let in a little water. When he looked up, he saw the bubbles from his breath stop in little clear beads on the surface. Reaching up and touching the solid object, Dean's hands froze at the touch. By now Maz had also noticed the problem and they both started banging on the ice, hoping to break free.

"Let them go!" Sam yelled and walked closer to Morana, who had now stepped away from the pool.

"Why? So you both can kill me?" She said as she took two steps closer to the door. "I don't think so."

Sam watched the young woman walk backwards and grinned. "No. Just so I can kill you."

"Ooh. Aren't we-Ahh!" Morana screamed as she fell backwards. What she didn't know was that her foot had just stepped into a large puddle of water, that was made when Dean had jumped in the pool.

Knowing that she would fall, Sam ran towards her and fired the torch at her. She screamed as the fire quickly engulfed her entire body. The fire was working on her clothes and she tried to get up, but Sam just shot at her again. She crawled towards the water to put out the flames, but it was all frozen over because of her.

"Fine! You win! But keep this in mind!" Morana said before the flames reached her head. "I wasn't controlling Alex!"

This statement shocked and confused Sam. But most of all it angered him more, so he shot the flames directly at her face. He watched as she finally stopped moving, then he turned towards the water.

"Dean!" Sam yelled as he saw his brother struggling to get out of the still very frozen water. The ice was too think to break by kicking it in, so Sam looked around for something that would work. Looking down at the torch, Sam got an idea. He rushed over to an area near Dean and Maz, then fired the gun at the ice. The ice started to melt fast, then eventually water seeped through. Now there was a hole big enough for them to climb through.

Sam tossed the torch to the side and crawled down next to the hole. Not wanting to risk falling in, he sat on the edge of the pool and reached his hand into the water.

Dean let Maz swim through first since he had been under water longer. Now that the panic of getting out was all over, Dean started to feel his lungs were getting tight and cold. His body started shaking to get warm, but it wasn't helping. After he saw Maz's feet slipped through, Dean quickly reached up and grabbed Sam's hand. As he was pulled out and onto the surface of the ice, Dean started shaking uncontrollably.

Sam then helped pull Dean onto the concrete and saw that he and Maz were both very pale. When he saw Dean attempt to stand up, but start to fall over from shaking too much, Sam rushed to his side and helped keep him from falling over.

"S-Sam, I'm f-fine." Dean said pushing his brother's hand off of him.

"Oh really? Try saying that again without stuttering." Sam watched his brother lean against a wall.

"S...am, I'm f...ine." Dean tried not to stutter, but it just butchered up his words.

"Yeah, right. I'm calling an ambulance." Sam pulled out his cell phone and started to dial.

"Sam!" Dean yelled and tried to grab his cell phone, but Sam used his height to his advantage and raised the phone out of his reach.

"Dean, you can't stand on your own." Sam pointed to the wall then said, "And you are shaking more then a vibrating bed."

"Like the M-Magic F-Fingers." Dean smirked.

Just after he said that, an operator answered the phone. Sam explained to the woman that the pool was frozen over because of a recent break in. Then he explained that Dean had went to save Maz, but fell through the ice along with him. After she told him that an ambulance was coming, Sam hung up his phone.

Maz was laying on the ground trying to steady his breathing and Dean was still leaning against the wall. He watched as his brother ran over to the one of the large glass windows.

"W-what are y-you d-doing?" Dean's hot breath passed over his cold lips and was visible in a small cloudy mist in front of him. Not only was he pale, but his lips had a hint of blue in them.

Sam pulled out his gun and shot the window open. Glass shattered and fell to the ground as multiple bangs rang through out the room. "I told the operator that there was a break in."

Dean nodded his head, but it looked more like he was just shaking from the cold. "Is sh-she d-dead?" The stutter was starting to annoy Dean, because it proved that something was wrong with him. And if something was wrong with him, then Sam was right, and he hated when Sam was right.

As he walked over to Dean, Sam looked at Morana's charred body. "Yeah. I'm gonna get Alex, she should go with you guys."

After Sam left, Dean slid down to the floor in relief because he couldn't hold himself up any longer. He didn't want Sam to see him being too weak to stand.

While entering the room, Sam had pushed some salt around when he stepped into it. He put his key back into his pocket and walked over to Alex. Her head was hanging down with her chin touching her chest.

Before he started to untie her, Sam shook her shoulder to wake her up. "Hey, Alex. Wake up, we have to get you to the hospital." She didn't answer and her eyes stayed closed.

Sam unties her feet from the legs of the chair, then starts on her wrists. Once she was free Sam tried waking her up again. "Come on." He shakes her knee, but she doesn't respond. "Alex."

He patted her arm, but it fell off of the arm rest from the shaking.

"Alex?" Sam repeats again but Alex still doesn't wake up, so he checks her pulse and it was very weak. "Alex!" Sam shakes her again, this time grabbing both of her shoulders. The only response he gets is Alex falling forward into his arms as he catches her, preventing her from hitting the floor. "Oh no."

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.20

Dean glanced over at Sam, to see what he thought about letting Alex watch the tape. They both knew what was going to happen to Alex, but she had blacked out before the beating. Of course she had heard of what her back looked like and feel the pain, but she didn't know the severity of the situation.

"Alright." Sam said softly. "You can watch the tape. But if it gets to be too much for you, just let us know and we'll stop the tape."

Alex looked at the television and back to Sam. She nodded her head slowly.

"You know what? I think I'll get some ice for your head before we start it up again. Ok?" Dean waited for an answer, but Alex kept silent. The look on her face was hard for him to read, but it almost looked like she didn't want to be touched. It was as if Alex could not trust him any more, which made Dean feel horrible.

He went into the bathroom and grabbed a small towell. When he came back out he saw Sam giving him a concerned look. Dean knew that Sam could see his guilt and realized why he was doing this for Alex. This was his way of repairing the damage that he caused and trying to make things better.

After Dean had come out of the bathroom, he grabbed the icebucket and scooped out ice onto the towell. When he had enough ice, he tied a knot in the towell. He walked over to Alex and pulled the chair up next to her. Once he was seated, he lightly pressed the cold cloth against Alex's red and purple face. He heard her take in a sharp breath through her teeth, from the pain of the ice pressing against her bruise. "Sorry."

"Ready?" Sam was holding up the remote, with his thumb hovering over the play button.

Alex nodded her head. "Yeah."

Sam pressed play and they all watched what happened next. They saw Alex stand up and face the woman, then suddenly get punched in the face.

As Alex watched her body fall to the ground, she jumped a little. The events of that night were still fuzzy, but now it was all too clear on what had happened. What happened next took Alex by surprise. The woman started kicking her body over and over. She would stomp her boot down on top of Alex's back, then go back to full force kicking.

Sam and Dean watched the terrible beating and felt worse for Alex. Sam glanced at Alex and saw her just staring at the television. He thought for sure that she would have closed her eyes or start to cry, but she wasn't. She didn't show any visible emotion.

After they saw the woman leave, they tried to pause the tape and see if they could get a good look at her face. Unfortunatly the hood was pulled down so far that they could only see her lips. Sam sighed and turned off the tape. He was about to turn off the TV when he noticed there was a special news update. The newscaster was talking about a major car crash that happened not too far from where they were.

"Hey. Check this out." Sam said, getting Dean's and Alex's attention.

They both looked at the car crash on the screen. "Why does that car look familiar to me?" Dean said pointing to a blue Jeep.

"Kyle has a blue Jeep." Alex said with her eyes going wide.

Sam and Dean both looked at Alex. "You sure?" Sam asked worried.

"Yeah, we went on a road trip in it for a whole summer. I know that car like that back of my hand. Why do you ask?"

Sam was silent for a minute and Dean knew that it wasn't good. "Alex...They said that the driver was hospitalized."

After Sam said this, Dean lowered the ice off of Alex's face and they both watched her try to comprehend what had just happened.

"No." Alex said softly. "He's fine. I know it."

"Alex..." Sam tried to comfort her.

"Its not him, Sam." Alex said firmly. "If anyone is going to die, its Morana."

"What?" Sam and Dean said at the same time in shock.

"She's the woman on the tape. The one who ruined my life." Alex explained and paused. "I've been trying to think of what I did wrong that would make her mad at me. Then I realized that I didn't do anything. I did exactly what she told me to do, so it just doesn't make sense on why she would do this."

"I think I know why." Sam said, then looked over to Dean. "You forgot all about that date you two were supposed to go on. And I bet you didn't even reschedual, did you?"

Dean sat there thinking about it for a minute as Sam and Alex waited for a reaction. "So she's a feisty one, huh?" Dean said with a sly smirk.

Sam was annoyed with his brother's light hearted tone. "Dude, can you focus?"

"I am focusing. I was just making a statement, that's all."

"I knew your flirting would get us into trouble one of these days."

Dean turned and glared at Sam. "I can't help that women think I'm attractive."

"I think I'm going to throw up." Alex said with a sigh.

"See? Even Alex thinks you have a problem."

"Her opinion is compromised, because she's related to me." Dean got up to get more fresh ice.

"Uh, guys?" Alex said interupting them. "I was serious. I don't feel too good."

"What's wrong?" Sam asked walking over to Alex.

"Trash can. Now." Alex clentched her mouth shut.

"Dean." Sam pointed to the trash can next to the dresser.

Dean guickly got the bucket and put it in front of Alex, while Sam pulled back her hair for her. Before they could prepare themselves, it was too late. Dean and Sam both looked away feeling very uncomfortable and waited until Alex was done. After Dean came back from placing the bucket outside of the room, Sam got Alex a glass of water.

"I guess you're still not feeling too good, huh?" Sam said while tilting the glass of water for Alex to drink.

Alex shook her head after she was done drinking the water.

Dean looked at Sam, then back to Alex and saw her cut up wrists. "Sam, we need to wrap up her wrists. They're bleeding pretty badly."

After Sam looked over Alex's wrists, he went into his room and found some gauze, medical tape and a pair of sissors in his bag. When he came back he saw Dean getting some fresh ice for the towell.

They were now both sitting down next to Alex. Dean to her right, holding the ice against her cheek, and Sam was sitting in front of her, starting to untie her left wrist. The thick rope fell to the floor and her sleeve fell back over her wrist. Sam rolled up the long, black, sleeve of Alex's shirt to wrap up her wrist.

"Why do these things always happen to me?" Alex said in a soft tone.

Sam stopped wrapping up her wrist and looked at Dean, who glanced back at him. They knew the exact answer, but they couldn't tell her. They wanted to find out more about the curse and a way to break it, with out her knowing.

"I think they happen, because you are a klutz." Dean said with a smirk to lighten up the mood.

"Cody was right." Alex said looking at her wrists. "I do need bubble wrap to protect me." She looked up and smiled.

Sam and Dean couldn't help but laugh at hearing that, and Alex joined them.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Cody on that one." Dean said with a smirk.

Once her wrist was tapped up, Sam pulled her sleeve back down over her wrist. "That should help with the bleeding."

"Thanks." Alex watched as Sam picked the rope back up and start to wrap it around her covered wrist. "What are you doing?" She asked, partially knowing the answer.

After he finished tying her up, he said, "We have to be sure that you won't kill anyone again." Sam then started to untie her other wrist.

Alex silently nodded her head and Sam finished wrapping up her wrist. When he was done, he got another rag to wipe the blood off of her face. Once Alex was cleaned up, Dean started to feed Hana and Sam went on his laptop to do research.

"Hey, Dean?"

"Yeah." Dean said as Hana finally started drinking her milk. She had been stubborn with them for the past four days. It would take them a while before she gave in and drank the milk.

"What was Morana's nationality?" Sam looked up at Dean and stopped typing.

"Um, Slavic." Dean said as he walked over to Sam.

After a couple of minutes, Sam found out what Morana was. "Well that explains a lot."

Dean looked away from Hana and looked at the screen. "What is it?"

"Morana means death in Slavic, and she's a goddess of winter and death. Which explains the odd weather and the body count."

"Something tells me that our date wouldn't have ended the way I thought it would." Dean said as he leaned in closer with Hana in his arms. "Does it say how to kill her?"

"Some people have said that fire might work, but nobody knows for sure."

"Alright, so how are we going to do this?"

"I'm not sure. Morana wasn't at the front desk when I went down there this morning." Sam rested his head on hand trying to think of a plan.

"She told me that she doesn't work on sundays." Dean said, looking at Hana holding onto the bottle that was too big for her hands.

"I take back what I said about your flirting." Sam said, then looked over at Alex. "What are we going to do about her?"

Dean looked over to Alex and sighed. "We're gonna have to lock her up in here with Hana, and salt the doors and windows."

"You're going to leave me here all alone?" Alex asked in surprise.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Alex on this one." Sam said in concern. "What if she turns and breaks loose?"

After finding what he needed from his bag, Dean looked up at Sam. "She won't."

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.19

The door to Dean's room was busted open, as Sam kicked it in. Dean quickly turned after he heard the loud bang.

"Dean, no! Stop!" Sam yelled as he ran into the room.

"Dude. Was that necessary?" Dean said looking at his door that was barely hanging on its hinges.

"She's not a shapeshifter." Sam explained as he cought his breath.

"What? How do you know?" Dean was now facing Sam, still holding his gun.

Sam looked from Alex and back to Dean. "Trust me. I think it's something else."

"What do you mean, you THINK it's something else? Sam, what is going on?"

"I didn't find anything in the basement. I checked everywhere, and I didn't find Alex or any sign that a shapshifter was there."

"So... wait a minute. You're telling me that this is Alex." Dean said pointing to her with his gun.

"Yes." Sam said pushing the gun down away from Alex.

"Alex doesn't kill people. You said yourself."

"You said the same thing about me when I was possessed, remember?"

Dean was about to say something, but a lightbulb went off in his head. He looked over at the chair and said, "Demon?"

"I'll get the holy water." After Sam came back, he untwisted the cap to the flask and looked Dean. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Dean sighed.

Sam splashed the holy water on Alex, but nothing happened. The guys both glanced at each other confused. "Isn't this the part where she starts smoking in pain?" Sam questioned as he looked at Alex.

"Maybe you did something wrong." Dean scratched his head, trying to think of why the holy water didn't work.

"Dude, there is no wrong way to splash water." Sam said annoyed.

"Yeah, well I think you just succeeded in being the first person to do it."

"It's holy water, Dean. You splash it on demons and it burns them."

"Let me see that." Dean asked with his hand stretched out towards the flask. Sam handed it over, and Dean held it up to his nose then drank some. "That's definatly not any sort of alcohol."

"So, if the holy water didn't work on her, then that means she's not possessed."

They both stared at Alex, then Dean spoke up with a suggestion. "Werewolf?"

"Wrong time of the lunar cycle." Sam said with a sigh.

"Vampire?"

Sam shrugged then walked over to Alex. He lifted up her lip, but everything looked normal. "No fangs."

"Dude, what the hell is going on?" Dean sat down in the chair that was in front of Alex, then ran his hands over his face trying to think of what was wrong. After he lowered his hands, he looked up at Alex's closed eyes. "You don't think she was right, do you?"

"Right about what?" Sam was now sitting on the bed to the left of Dean.

"That we don't really know her that well? That she could be some sort of psycho killer?"

Sam looked at Alex's battered face, then got an idea. "Wait a minute."

"What is it?" Dean asked as Sam got up and pulled a tape out of his jacket.

"Somebody beat up Alex, right?" He said as he pushed the tape in and rewound it.

"Yeah?" Dean said not knowing where his brother was going with this.

"Then Alex had said that we should watch the security tape of her getting beat up. So maybe whoever did that, is controling her or manipulating her in some way."

"But then why would she tell us how to figure out who it is? If she was being controlled, I'd think that would be the last thing that they would do."

"Not unless a part of her realizes what she's doing, and that was her way of calling out for help."

Dean sighed and closed his eyes.

Sam looked at Dean, when he heard him sigh. "What?"

"Sam, I've been beating Alex around for the past half hour. I've hit her in the face nine times, thinking she was somebody else."

"You didn't know it was her, Dean."

"That's not the point. While you were gone, she was trying to get out. She wouldn't stop, so I ended up gripping her wrists and making her suffer for what she did to Alex. But it turns out I was just torturing my own cousin."

"I'm sure she'll forgive you. Or, maybe she won't even remember." He watched as Dean lowered his head, then Sam sat down next to him. "Did you say that you hit her nine times? I only remember the five."

"I hit her when we were fighting in the hallway, then I knocked her out with my gun, and there was the five that you saw. When you were gone I slapped her, then I knocked her out with the gun again."

"Wow." Sam said in shock as he looked at his brother. "Maybe she won't forgive you."

"Dude, I'm feeling guilty as it is."

"Seriously. Nine's a little excessive, don't you think?" Sam said worried about Alex.

"Sam!" Dean tried to get his brother to stop laying the guilt on him.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Lets just watch the tape. When we figure out what did this to her, you can beat them up twice as bad."

"Fine. But I think we should take her to the hospital when this is all over." Dean said looking over at Alex. "I think I gave her a concussion."

"Have you ever considered anger management?"

Dean turned and glared at Sam. "Just play the tape."

The tape started playing, but it was still bright outside. Sam fast-forward the tape and they both watched as snow flew past the screen and covered the ground more. Then suddenly a dark figure appeared on the screen.

"Whoa, stop." Dean told Sam as he looked at the screen. "Rewind that a little."

Sam backed the tape up, then pressed play. They saw a girl run into view from the bottom of the screen and drop to her knees looking for something. "That's Alex alright. No doubt about it." Sam said, recognizing the cloths and hair.

They watched as Alex started to dig holes in the snow, then another figure showed up. The figure bent down and picked something up, but they couldn't tell what it was. The person had their back to the screen the entire time.

While the guys watched the tape, Alex's eyes slowly opened. She looked around the room, but everything was fuzzy. After blinking a few times, her vision finally cleared up and she recognized where she was. When she saw Dean and Sam everything started to come back to her. Then she noticed that they were both staring at the television. At first she couldn't tell what was going on, but then she knew exactly what or who they were watching. When she saw the other person walk up behind her, Alex started to make muffled noises and rocked her chair a little to get Dean and Sam's attention.

They both glanced at Alex right away and saw that she was shakily pointing to the screen. Sam paused the tape, as Dean walked over to Alex's side.

"Alex?" He knelt down next to her. "Is that really you?" Dean looked into Alex's eyes and saw fear. He knew right away that it really was her. After she nodded her head, Dean gently pulled the tape off of her mouth. "What is it?"

"That's her. Sh-she...she" Alex started to choke up as she remembered what happened.

"She what?" Sam asked hoping that she would know what was going on.

A tear ran down Alex's face as she looked at the television.

"Alex?" Dean could tell something was wrong.

"She's the one that told me to wear this and who to kill. She said that they were all bad people and that I had to kill them."

"When did this happen?" Sam wondered, because they had been with her for most of the day.

"Right before I killed them." Alex whispered and looked back at the screen. "That was when I went to find my cell phone, isn't it?" She nodded her head towards the screen.

"Yeah." Dean sighed. "Alex, we have to finish watching the tape, you might not want to watch this."

"No. I want to."

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.18

Sam ran down the stairwell and skipped the last step. There was no time to waste, he had to find Alex.

Now that the power was back on and the weather was cleared up a bit, people were starting to leave the hotel. Sam ran past a few of the guests that were checking out. One of the guests was blocking his way and the other side of the hall had her bags. As Sam ran closer, she didn't notice him coming because she was tying her shoe. Sam jumped over her small bags and darted down the hall. Since the door to the basement was behind the front desk, Sam would have to talk to Maz first.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After Sam had left, Dean walked back into his room. When he looked at the shapeshifter, he saw that she was struggling to get her wrists out of the rope. "You can tug all you want, but you'll only get a rope burn." Dean said as he pulled the other chair in front of her and sat down. "You're not going any where, so you might as well get comfortable."

Alex looked up at Dean with a glare, then went back to pulling her wrists out.

"Fine. Don't listen to me." Dean folded his arms and watched her useless struggles.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The main lobby was surprizingly empty, so Sam had no trouble running up to the desk. Luckily for him, Maz was standing behind the desk looking quite bored. When he saw Sam, he perked his head up. "Hi. Do you need anything?"

"I don't really have time to explain, but I need to go into your basement." Sam said getting down to business.

"Sure. No problem." Maz said as he lead Sam to the back door.

Sam was confused as to why Maz was suddenly acting really friendly and not asking any questions.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dean sat there watching as what looked like Alex, tried to escape. He started wondering where the real Alex was, and if she was alright. The thought of her being tied up somewhere in the dark basement, struggling to break free, was making Dean furious. For all he knew, she could have been unconsious or worse.

"I think it's about time you and I had a little chat." Dean said, standing up. When she didn't look up, Dean walked up to her and slapped her face. "Hey! I'm talking to you, so you better listen. If not, I can keep slapping and punching you all day long." Dean smirked. "So what's it going to be?"

This had gotten her attention. She stopped pulling at the rope for a minute and looked at Dean.

"That's what I thought." Dean paused for a minute, then walked over to his gun, which was resting on the dresser. "She's a good person. She doesn't deserve any of this or what you have done to her!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maz opened the door for Sam. "If you need anything, just call me." He smiled and walked away.

Sam cocked an eyebrow, watching Maz walk out of sight. He was about to walk down the stairs when he noticed that the security door was right next to him. Since he was already back there, he decided to quickly go into the room.

The room had six televisions set up at the far end. Sam looked at the screens first to find the right camera. After a few seconds, he found the right one and looked for the tape.

The tapes were under the table that the television sets were sitting on. Sam crouched down, and once he got the tape, he quickly ran out of there.

Before he left the room, he made sure that Maz or any other hotel employee wasn't around. He then walked over to the basement door and ran down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What? No sarcastic comment or witty remark this time?" Dean asked mocking her. "Oh, that's right. You can't talk."

She glared at Dean and pulled harder on her wrists. The rope rubbing her skin was starting to hurt more then her face, which was throbbing in pain.

Her pain was obvious to Dean, so he bent over and gripped her wrists tight. "You think you're gonna get her, but you're not. This is the end of the line for you." Dean was satisfied when he saw her head bend back and heard a muffled cry.

"I'm sorry, does this hurt?" Dean said as he squeezed tighter on her wrists.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The basement was well lit, as Sam turned on the lights. He looked around and saw the dead bodies of all the other victims laying side by side. They were sitting there until the cops could come and take them away.

"Alex?" Sam called out, but there was no answer.

There were a few storage rooms in the basement, so Sam started checking every single one.

"Alex?" Sam yelled louder. He still didn't get a response, so he figured that the shapeshifter had gagged her mouth some how.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I am sick of you and your kind thinking that you can get away with killing innocent people. Stealing their identities just so you can get away with cold blooded murder just for kicks." Dean was circling the chair like a vulture to it's pray. The chair was scratching the floor, as Alex was trying to escape the binds of the rope. Her wrists were rubbing against the rope, making the skin raw and bleed. The sounds of plea to escape were muffled by the ducktape closing her mouth shut tight, once and for all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam was half way through searching the rooms, and still didn't see any sign of Alex.

"Alex!" Sam yelled and stood still to listen for any movement. When he heard a light tapping coming from a room he hadn't checked, he quickly ran over to the door and opened it. The room was dark, so he turned on a light. Looking around the empty room, he didn't see any sign of Alex, but he did find the cause of the tapping. One of the pipes was loose, so it kept hitting another pipe.

Sam sighed at the sight. "Great." He went back to searching the rest of the rooms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"If you ask me, that sounds like the most cowardly thing I've ever heard of." Dean continued as he stopped in front of his vicitm."Were you just born that ugly, that you had to change? Well it doesn't matter, because after tonight..." He paused as he leaned in closer to the young woman tied to the chair."...You're never going to do it again." His anger raised when he saw her roll her eyes. "You hear me?!" Dean used the back of his gun to hit her on the head, causing her to black out. The squirming in the chair stops, as her head rolls to the side and her muscles relax, causing her hands to hang off the arm rests.

Dean raises his gun and aims it at her chest. As Dean thought back on what had happend the last few days, he knew he was doing the right thing. The way the shapeshifter had gained his trust so fast, he couldn't believe he fell for such a rookie move. He never doubted for a minute that it wasn't Alex. There were signs all around him and he just never noticed them until now. All of those people died and he could have saved them. Even though Angela was a b*tch, he would have saved her...maybe. If he would have payed closer attention he could have done something...anything. All he needed was one silver bullet and the job would be done. All he hoped for now was that he could save Alex. Save her so she could be with Kyle and Hana and have their own little family.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was one room left and Sam knew this was where Alex was. He opened the door and was confused at the sight. The room was empty and there was no sign of Alex or anything for that matter.

Sam quickly scanned the rest of the basement. He searched up and down, but still didn't find anything. Panic started to raise when he checked every corner and under every table, and didn't find Alex.

After thoroughly searching the entire basement, Sam didn't find Alex. And most importantly, he didn't find any sign of skin from the shapeshifter. Sam didn't know where else she could be, then he came to a conclusion. He knew exactly where Alex was. Alex was tied up to a chair in Dean's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dean still hasn't heard anything from his brother yet, and his patients was running thin. The sound of the cold wind blowing through the window, causing earie whistling noises throughout the night, along with Hana crying and children running down the halls upstaires, and the faint sound of the evelvator ping. If it wasn't for this thing, this monster, he would have been able to relax and possibly enjoy the nice hotel and it's atmosphere.

The one thing he hated the most was the way they knew exactly which buttons to press. They knew what cords to strike, just to get you on their side, trying to make you believe them. Dean remembered how the shapeshifter in St. Louis stole his identity and framed him. I mean, how could he not forget? It ruined his life. The thought of more of these things ruining other peoples lives, started to make Dean wonder; how many innocent people were in jail suffering just because of these creatures.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam ran up the stairs and out to the lobby, heading for the stairwell. If Sam was right, he knew his brother wouldn't wait for a call before he shot her. He had to get there before it was too late.

The stairwell door was getting closer as Sam ran past various guests. He ended up pushing a guy out of his way, but he didn't care. He had to get to Dean and explain.

A couple of kids were playing in the hallway and saw him coming. "Get out of my way!" Sam yelled, not wanting to stop or slow down.

The children quickly backed out of his way screaming as he ran past them. Sam ran up the stairs, sometimes skipping a step or two.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That was it. He couldn't take it any more, and now he could finally get his revenge. Dean narrowed his eyes on her, with a piercing glare and clentched jaw. He adgusted his gun and steadied his aim. His finger slowly started to tighten on the trigger. The time had come, then a loud bang was heard throughout the hotel room.

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.17

The power finally came back on that morning and their cell phones had low signals. Things were starting to look up for them, but they still had one problem.

"Wake up sleepy head!" Dean yelled after he smacked the shapeshifter upside the head.

Alex groaned from sleep and pain. She tried to stretch, but her arms were met with resistance. "What's going on?"

Dean stood in front of the chair with Sam by his side. "Playing dumb? We've never seen that before, right Sam?"

"Where's Alex?" Sam asked, getting down to business.

"What are you talking about?" She asked confused. "I am Alex."

Dean smiled then said, "Wow, that's a shocker. Now can you tell us something that we haven't heard before?"

"What's going on?" She asked getting angry. "Can you please just untie me?"

"Nice try." Sam said glaring at her. "You know we can't."

"I don't believe this." Aex said shaking her head with a small laugh.

"What have you done with Alex?" Dean was now getting angry and tired of this game that she was playing.

"What have I done with her? It's me, Dean. You don't recognize your own cousin?"

"Alex wouldn't kill people. She's a good person." Sam explained with anger in his eyes.

"How well do you know me, Sam?" Alex asked. "Honestly, we've only known eachother for less then two months, if you think about it. I mean you never called or came in contact with me over the past seven months. You barely know me."

"Right. So with that little speech, we're supposed to believe that you really are Alex?" Sam asked annoyed.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm a little cranky right now. You see my cousins tied me up and don't believe a word that's coming out of my mouth."

"Maybe that's because you're being a smart*ss." Dean suggested with a cocky grin and shrug.

"No. I think you're confusing me with you." Alex snapped back with a smirk.

Dean couldn't hold back his anger and smacked her again. "Let her go, you son of a b*tch!"

"Don't call me that!" Alex yelled at Dean furiously.

"What? B*tch?" Dean said with a smirk.

"Why did you do it?" Sam asked.

"Anger." She noticed that they didn't understand, so she explained, "They say that if you leave your anger bottled up inside of you for too long, that it will eventually explode out of you. Do you have any idea how long I have had this anger and rage built up inside of me? It feels so good to finally let it all it all out. So if I want to kill a few people from my rage, I'm gonna do it."

"You're telling me that anger's the reason why you killed innocent people?" Dean questioned.

"Innocent? Are you kidding me?! You don't know those people! You don't know what they have done!"

"Oh, right, and you do?" Sam said.

"Clarissa the maid stole from guests at this hotel while she was cleaning their rooms. Richard cheated on his wife with five different women. He broke Karen's heart, so I broke his. Steve stole from old couples. Angela...Well besides the obvious, she abandoned her child and never told the father where his daughter was. David the cop...Well there was nothing wrong with him. He just saw what I did and I couldn't let him get away with that."

"What about the man that hung himself?" Sam asked, noticing that she didn't mention him.

"What are you talking about? What man?"

"When I took Alex to her room, a man had hung himself!"

"Well that answers your question, Genious. I was with you when it happened."

"No, Alex was with me. Not you."

"Oh and what am I then?"

Dean decked her in the face again, causing more blood to flow out of her nose. "A shapeshifter you smart*ss!"

"Oh really?" She asked cocking her head to the side. "How did you come up with this theory, Scooby Doo?"

"Comparing me to a cartoon dog, cute. Now how about you tell us where Alex is?"

"The woman you're looking for is at the front desk. Trust me."

"You don't say."

"You should be more worried about her right now, instead of me."

"Why would we be worried about her when you're the one killing people."

"Why should I tell you? You haven't exactly been-"

"You know what? Just cut the cr*p! I'm tired of this!" Sam said cutting her off. "I just want to know where my cousin is!"

"Fine. But you should check the security cameras. They run on a back up system when ever the power goes out, so you should find what ever it is that you are looking for."

"Yeah, because you're so willing to help us?"

"Maybe I'm hoping that you'll let me go."

"You wish." Dean said folding his arms.

"It was worth a shot, wasn't it?" She shrugged.

"I'll give you that. Although, the real Alex would have known that wouldn't work with us." Dean said with a grin. "Then again, you're not Alex."

She sat there silently, then finally looked up and said, "Fine. You're right, I was making it up. I'm not Alex. I never have been. But then again, if I'm not Alex, then where is she?" She said with her anger now rising.

"That's what we'd like to know." Sam glared at her.

"Remember that boot print you saw on my back? I'd start searching for the owner of those shoes. Then maybe you'll get the answers you're looking for." She suggested with the blood coming into her mouth. "Go to the main office and check the video footage. There's a camera right outside the door where I got beat up, you might want to check that out." Then she smiled at them.

"Right, and we're supposed to trust you?" Sam said furiously, raising his voice. "You just want us to run down there, so you can break free and start killing more people! Now tell us where Alex is!"

"She's being interrogated by her abnormally tall cousins!"

Dean punched her and yelled, "You wanna try answering that again?!"

She spit some blood out of her mouth and looked up at them with a few strands of hair hanging over face. "When I break free, I'm going to kill you both."

"You'll be dead before you get the chance to break free." Dean leaned in closer and came down to eye level with her. "Now look here. We can do this the easy way or we could do this the hard way. Either way, we will get our cousin back, so you better start talking and tell us where she is!" They both wait for a response, but don't get one. "What, you suddenly don't have anything to say?" Dean hits her again. This time his ring caused a small cut on her cheek bone, right over her bruise. She screamed in pain as the blood started to fall down her face. "Feel like talkin' now b*tch?!"

She panted and shook the pain away. "It doesn't matter what I say any more, because you won't believe me. So if you're going to kill me, then do it already."

"Don't tempt me." Dean gets up and grabs some duck tape. "And you're right. It doesn't matter what you say any more." Dean used his teeth to rip off a piece of tape. Sam held her head still so Dean could place the tape over her mouth.

Sam and Dean walked into Sam's room to check up on Hana, and to talk so the shapeshifter couldn't hear them.

"I say we just kill her now. She's not gonna talk." Dean told Sam.

"Dean, we can't."

"Why not?" Dean asked annoyed.

"Because we don't know if she's telling us the truth." Sam explained to his stubborn brother.

"Sam, she's lying. That's what they do, they lie. That's not Alex."

"We don't know for sure." Sam said.

"Alex is not a killer, Sam!"

"Alright, but think about this. If you shoot her and I don't find Alex and we come to the conclusion that it is her in there," Sam pointed to Dean's closed door. "How are you going to feel, knowing that you killed your own cousin?"

Dean sighed and looked at the door, then looked back at Sam. "Fine. Check the basement. If she is a shapeshifter, then that's where it would probably shed its skin and where Alex would be. I'm gonna stay here."

"Don't kill her until I come back with Alex." Sam left the room and headed down stairs.

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.16

Dean sat there trying to figure out what was going on. At first he thought he had made a mistake, but he saw the fresh bruise on her face and the blood coming out of her nose. The thing that cleared up his confusion was the long scar that extended from the corner of her mouth all the way next to her eye, on the right side of her face. That scar told him that it was definatly Alex. He also noticed that Alex was struggling to get out of his grip. "Whoa! Alex what's going on?" Dean asked trying to get her to calm down.

"Get off of me!" Alex snapped.

"Alex, its just me. Calm down."

"I know who you are, I'm not an idiot." Alex growled while trying to pull her wrists out of Dean's grip.

As Alex continued her struggles, Dean decided that he should take her out of the hallway before any of the other guests came out and saw them. Dean had a feeling that Alex wasn't going to stop struggling until he let her go. "If I let you go, will you calm down?"

"If you let me go, is Sam going to beat me up for what I did to him?" Alex said then yanked her arms, hoping that Dean had loosened his grip, but she was wrong.

Dean gripped tighter looking in her eyes. He didn't see the fear that he saw earlier, he saw pure anger and hatred. "Why are you acting like this?"

"You're so smart, why don't you figure it out yourself. After all, it is your job, isn't it?" Alex said with a smirk.

"I'm sorry."

"What? You're not as smart as I thought you were?"

"No. That I have to do this." Dean said decking Alex in the face and knocking her out. He sat there for a second looking at her unconsious body, then he got off of her. After he stood up, he knelt down and picked her up again for the fourth time that day.

Sam came out of the bedroom limping a little and saw Dean carrying an unconsious body wearing a black cloak. "You caught her, I take it?"

"Oh, I caught somebody."

"What?" Sam asked following Dean to the stairs.

"Hey, grab Hana and her crib." Dean told Sam.

"Dean what's going on?" Sam said stopping in front of Alex's door.

Dean stopped and looked at Alex's body, then he looked up at his brother. "I'm not sure."

Even though he was confused, Sam got Hana from her crib and carried her upstairs. When he entered his room, he didn't see Dean so he checked his room. He opened the connecting door and saw Dean standing in front of a chair tying up the body. Sam shined his flashlight and was confused at what he saw.

"Uh Dean? You do realize that you're tying up Alex, right?" Sam questioned as he looked at the blood coming out of her nose.

"Yes, I realize it, but I don't believe it." Dean finished tying Alex's arms to the chair then he stood up and looked at Hana. "You know it's a really good thing that she won't remember this, because that would be awkward. Where'd you put her crib?"

"It's still in Alex's room." Sam winced a little.

"Why didn't you..." Dean trailed off when he saw the blood on Sam's pants. "Right."

Dean got Hana's crib and set it up in Sam's room. Once they had settled her in for the night, Dean helped Sam patch up his leg. Luckily the wound wasn't too bad and he was able to walk on it.

Sam was sitting on Dean's bed to let his leg rest, while Dean was standing in front of Alex.

"So, she attacked you?" Sam asked trying to comprehend what his brother had told him.

"Yeah." Dean said. "She put up a pretty good fight too."

"Dean, it was dark in the hallway, she probably did it in self defence. I mean you did say that you ran after her, right?" Sam explained. "So she probably didn't realize it was you."

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right about all of this."

"Well you did just tie your cousin up in a chair."

"That's not what I meant. She's not acting like herself, she's different." Dean said then handed Sam the pocket knife that had stabbed him. "Take a look at this. Does that look familiar to you?"

"That's the pocket knife that you gave Alex." Sam looked up at Alex. "So if she stabbed me, then she shot the cop and Angela. I didn't see anyone else go into that room, Dean. Do you really think that she's the one that's been killing these people?"

"Well she definatly killed the cop and Angela if you didn't see anyone else go into that room. Then again, who's the one that beat her up?" Dean looked at Sam.

"And who hung the man in the stairwell? Alex was in her room when I saw that guy, there's no way she could have done it."

"I don't think it was Alex that killed those people. I think we're dealing with a shapeshifter." Dean sat down next to Sam. "We did leave her alone plenty of times, giving the shifter plenty of chances to make the switch."

"So if that's not Alex, then where is she?" Sam asked worried about Alex's safety.

"We're gonna have to wait until it wakes up. We could check now, but its getting too dark. We'd probably miss something and I don't want to take that chance."

They ended up sleeping in shifts to make sure the shapeshifter didn't try to get away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning Kyle heard a tapping. Half awake, he looks out his window and jumps when he sees a woman standing outside.

"Sorry!" She said feeling guilty of waking him up.

Kyle took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the woman and saw that she had long wavy black hair and a tan complection. At first glance, Kyle was hoping that it had been Alex who was knocking on his window. Kyle then started to remember what happened last night and where he was.

"Are you ok?" The woman asked through the window.

Kyle nodded his head and opened his door. The bitterly cold wind didn't fail to great him as he climbed out of his car. "I'm fine. Just stuck in this ditch."

"Do you need help?" She offered with a small smile.

"Yeah." Kyle looked at his Jeep, semi covered in snow, then back to the woman. "I'm Kyle." He said holding out his hand.

"Luisa." They shook hands, then Kyle explained how they should get out of the ditch.

After a lot of struggling and pushing, they both were able to get the Jeep back onto the road. The ditch was small, so it wasn't too difficult to get it out. They both sat for a minute catching their breaths.

Kyle looked at Luisa. "Thanks."

"No problem." She said rubbing her arms to keep warm.

"Do you need ride some where?" Kyle offered as a favor in return.

"Um, yeah actually." She looked at the road behind them. "My car broke down about a mile back."

"Well I'm headed to a hotel, you can call somebody for help there." Kyle put the keys into the ignition and started up his car.

"No offence but we just met...I'm not so sure a hotel-"

"Oh no! It's not like." Kyle explained. "My wife is there. She just had our baby girl and now she's sick."

"So you risked going out in this wearher to be with her?"

Kyle started driving down the road and glanced at the woman. "Definatly."

"Figures." She said leaning back in the passanger seat.

"What?" Kyle asked confused.

"Every guy I meet that is extremely nice, is either taken or I never see them again." Luisa saw a picture on the dashboard and picked it up. "Is this her?"

"Yeah."

"She's pretty. I can only imagine what your daughter looks like."

"Yeah," Kyle sighed. "Me too."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hana opened her eyes and started crying. She needed to be fed and wanted to be held. The blanket fell off of her as she started waving around her arms and kicking her legs. The sun was shining through the crib and a shadow fell upon her. Through her tears, she saw a man standing there. He bent down and reached his arms towards her. She then felt his hands slid under her and scoop her up and out of the crib. Her watery blue eyes looked at the man with shaggy brown hair.

"Shh. It's ok, Hana. I got ya." Sam said trying to comfort the crying child. "Here. Have some milk."

Hana felt one arm supporting her back, while she was held next to the soft fabric of Sam's shirt. Once she felt the rubber tip of the bottle touch her lips, she stopped crying and started to drink the warm milk.

IDENTITY CRISIS CH.15

After Alex had calmed down, Dean picked up his sandwich and left the room with Sam. As they were walking up the stairs, Dean was finishing off his sandwich.

"I don't see how you can still eat that after what Alex said." Sam said looking at the sandwich in disgust.

"I'm not just going to let it go to waste, Sam. There are starving children in the world."

"Maybe they're starving because you're eating all of their food." Sam smirked, then continued walking up the stairs. While walking up, Sam noticed that something was bothering his brother. "Dean, what is it?"

"I was just thinking about those nightmares. She didn't start having them until after she got out of the hospital. And when she got out of the hospital it was her birthday, which was when her curse started." Dean explained as they walked into their rooms.

"So the nightmares must be a part of her curse."

"Which is just another piece of the puzzle. But when we stop the curse, we stop the nightmares." Dean said then took a bite out of his sandwich. When Dean started chew, both him and Sam heard a crunch. Sam watched as Dean pulled a half eaten pickle out of his mouth. "She ruined the eating experience for me. I can't eat a pickle the same way ever again." Dean said while tossing the pickle into the trash can.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Later that night Alex and Hana were sound asleep in their room. Most of the other guests were also sleeping in their own rooms. With the power still out, the hallways were all dark and covered in shadows.

Sam and Dean were loading up their guns and getting ready to hunt.

"I'll take the bottom three floors this time, and you can take the top three. We'll meet in the middle." Sam told Dean as he grabbed his flashlight.

"Alright." Dean checked his cell phone for a signal. "Great. Looks like we're going to have to yell if we need back up. Now listen to me. We're killing this thing tonight. I'm sure it knows that Alex is still alive, and I don't want it to finish the job."

Sam and Dean turned on their flashlights and split up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Come on!" Kyle yelled while trying to push his car out of the ditch. "D*mn it." Kyle said out of breath.

He had been trying to get out of the ditch for hours and nothing was working. His hands were getting numb and weak from the bitter cold night air. Finally giving up for the night, Kyle climbed back into his jeep.

As he was sitting there he looked up and saw a picture sticking out from his visor. Forgetting it was there, Kyle pulled it out and looked at it. The picture was of him and Alex standing next to his car. Kyle smiled at remembering what the occasion was. They had gone on a road trip the day after Alex's graduation party two summers ago. Everything was going fine, but things took a turn for the worse five hours into the trip...

"I can't believe this." Alex sighed and leaned her head against the passanger window.

"Hey, there's nothing to worry about. We just have to wait until morning." Kyle said looking out into the pitch black night.

"Kyle, we're stuck out in the middle of nowhere and we ran out of gas." Alex explained in a surprizingly calm tone.

"Think of it as an adventure." Kyle smiled at Alex who was sitting in the passanger seat. "Did you try calling your dad?"

"No signal." Alex sighed. "And I'd say it's more like a test in our relationship."

"What? Weather or not you'll kill me to survive?" Kyle asked jokingly.

Alex laughed then said, "I could never do that. I'd die of a broken heart."

They ended up having to sleep in the car. Kyle noticed that Alex was uncomfortable, so he offered for her to use his lap as a headrest. He stroked her hair out of har face until she fell asleep.

Kyle looked at the empty passanger seat and let out a heavy sigh. As he remembered what happened the next day, he couldn't help but laugh a little. Their car had run out of gas near a gas station. Now Kyle could only hope that his luck would be just as good when he wakes up the next morning.

Before he went to sleep, Kyle kissed the picture of Alex and placed it on the dashboard. "I love you." Kyle whispered. He leaned back in his seat and settled in for the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In room 327 a woman in her late twenties with wavy black hair, was getting a bubble bath ready. Warm water was slowly filling up the bathtub with foamy bubbles all around. Soft music was playing from a portable radio that was sitting next to the sink. Candles were sitting around the tub and sink, lighting up the dark room.

After she got undressed, she stepped into the tub feeling the warm water. Then she sat down and layed in the tub with her head resting on a small blow up pillow.

As soon as she was relaxed and breathing in the sweet smell of the soup, she heard a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" She yelled annoyed by the disturbance.

"Angela, its your brother! Open up! I need to borrow something!" Ricky yelled through the door.

"Its unlocked!" She said while pulling the shower curtain closed.

Ricky walked into the room and knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey, Marcy needs to borrow your hair brush. I dropped hers in the toilet. Can I come in?"

"Just hurry up!" Angela groaned.

She heard the door open, as Ricky walked in. He picked up the hair brush and smirked. "So the beast finally cleans her self off."

"Shut up and leave before I change my mind!" Angela warned, splashing water at her brother.

"Alright, Alright! I'm leaving. Geez, tough crowd." Ricky said before walking out of the room.

After she heard the bathroom door close, Angela let out a deep breath and relaxed. Unknown to Angela somebody else had entered her room.

A woman wearing a black cloak carefully entered the room. She saw the bed was empty and looked around the room. Her eyes fell upon the bathroom door. At the bottom, there was a faint light coming out. She knew this is where the woman was, so she pulled out a pocket knife. The woman gently wraps her hand around the doorknob and slowly turns it. As she carefully enters the room, she sees the shower curtain pulled closed.

What the woman didn't realize, was that there was water covering part of the floor. She took step into it and started slipping. Reaching for the towel bar, she catches herself before any damage is done. Unfortunatly she had made too much noise, which her victim had heard.

"Who's there? Ricky? I told you to-" She opens the curtain enough to poke her head out. When she saw it wasn't her brother, she screamed for help.

The woman ran over to Angela and tried to stab her, but she dogded out of the way. The fight was cut short when the door busted open. Aiming a gun at the woman in the cloak, was the young cop.

"Freeze!" David yelled firmly.

The woman looked at him and smirked with her hands up in the air.

"Now drop the knife and walk away from the tub." David was satisfied when he saw the knife hit the floor. As he was about to pull out a pair of hand cuffs, the woman took the oportunity to grab his hand and turn the gun towards himself. She squeezed his fingers and heard a loud bang as David got shot in the chest.

Once he dropped to the floor, the woman picked up the gun with grin. "Thank you officer. You made my job easier." She stood back up and looked at Angela, who was cowering in the corner of the tub with a towel wrapped around her. The woman didn't give it a second thought as she shot Angela in the chest three times. Just as she made the last shot, she heard somebody enter the room. She pulled her hood down further, pulled the shower curtain closed, and hid behind the door.

Sam carefully entered the bathroom, his gun raised, ready to shoot anything that tried to attack him. He pointed the barrel of his gun at the shower, the curtain was drawn shut. He reached his hand over to the curtain and snatched it back, just as he did he felt a sharp intense pain in his left thigh. Looking down, he saw a pocket knife sticking out of his leg. Sam couldn't help but bend over and groan in pain. A woman came out from behind the bathroom door, and before Sam could have a chance to fight back she knocked him out with the back of her gun. Sam's unconscious body landed in the puddle of water on the floor.

The woman quickly snuck out of the bathroom and started walking towards the stairs. As she got closer, she heard footsteps running down them. Before she had a chance to react she saw a man enter the hallway.

Dean ran into the hallway and saw the mystery woman from the video tape. He aimed the colt at her, but she ran down the hall out of range.

"Hey!" Dean yelled trying to get her to stop.

Because it was so dark, Dean couldn't see where she had went. He slowly walked down the hallway and saw an open door. Laying on the floor was the dead cop. As Dean walked in further, he heard a groaning coming from the bathroom. When Dean saw an injured Sam laying on the floor, he quickly knelt down to his brother's aide. "That b*tch do this to you?" Dean asked when he saw the knife in Sam's leg.

"Yeah." Sam groaned.

After checking to make sure the killer wasn't in the room, Dean helped Sam take the knife out his leg. He set the colt down and pulled on the knife with his right hand, while holding down Sam's leg with the other. As soon as Dean pulled the knife out, he heard footsteps in the hallway. Not thinking twice, Dean ran out into the hallway and after her with the knife in his hand. As the woman was running down the opposite end of the hallway, her left knee gave out.

When she tried to get up, she saw Dean about to lunge the knife in her. She quickly kicked Dean between the legs, causing him to hunch over. The woman then decided to take a swing at his face.

Getting more frustrated, Dean punched the woman in the face. He saw her stumble backwards wiping blood from her nose, almost loosing her balance. Dean quickly kicked her into the wall, where she let out a cry of pain. The woman then fell to the ground, too weak to move. She had landed on her side, so Dean roughly forced her onto her back. He straddled his legs on either side of her and grabbed her wrists. He held them together in one hand and pulled her hood up with the other. Dean was taken aback by the ghostly pale complection and the dark eyes that looked up at him. "Alex?!"