FIB, Chapter 3

Dean tossed his bags on the dresser of their motel room and threw his coat on his bed.

“Dean…” Sam began as he closed the motel door.

“What happened?” Dean demanded as he turned around.

“What?”

“What happened between you and Alex while I was in hell?” Dean stared at Sam with piercing eyes.

Sam put his bag on his bed and shrugged out of his coat. “Nothing. We just had a falling out. I was too busy-“

“Sending demons to hell with Ruby?”

Sam felt his brother’s judging eyes on him as he hung up his coat in the closet. He sighed remembering what had happened four months ago. The conversation was cloudy, and with good reason.

“Well?” Dean pressed for an answer.

Sam turned around and faced his brother, who was now closer. “I was in a bad place, Dean.”

“So, what?” Dean’s eyes widened with anger. “You ignore everyone, then? Bobby? Alex? Even Hana?”

“Dean, how did you feel when I died?” Sam asked, getting frustrated with his brother’s accusations. “Did you go and have a family reunion? Have a beer or two with Bobby and share stories about me?”

Dean didn’t say anything, but his expression slightly softened.

“You dealt with me dead for a fraction of how long you were dead. I didn’t think I would see you again. Ever. How was I supposed to feel knowing that you were in hell?”

Sam and Dean just stared at each other for a minute. The silence was interrupted when Sam’s cell phone rang. He answered the phone, not recognizing the number.

“Hello?”

“Sam?” a hoarse voice on the other end answered.

“Who is this?” Sam asked, not recognizing the voice.

There was a whimper, followed by a sniffle. “Luisa. Sam, please. You’re the only other person that I know, that can help me.”

“Luisa, what’s wrong?”

Luisa sobbed, “He’s after me. My ex-boyfriend is trying to kill me. I think he knows where I am.”

Sam quickly grabbed his coat off of the rack. “Can you make it to a hotel or something?”

“No.” There was more sobbing now. “I think I twisted my ankle.”

“Alright, listen. I need to know exactly where you are.” After Sam wrote down the address on a pad of paper on the nightstand, he told her, “Alright, I need you to hide somewhere and don’t come out until you hear me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’m leaving right now. I’ll be there in a few hours.” Sam hung up the phone and started taking his bags back out to the car.

“Luisa’s said her ex is trying to kill her. Sounds like she broke her foot, we need to-“

“I’m not going,” Dean said as he walked back into the motel room.

Confused, Sam followed after Dean, wondering what was going on. “Why not? She’s in danger, Dean.”

“I’m sorry, but Alex just saw her dead cousin chase her through the woods. I’m pretty sure she’s freaked out. I can’t just leave her like that. I won’t. Besides,” Dean said as he started unpacking his bag. “Maybe she will tell me what happened between you two.”

“Dean,” Sam began with determination, “Luisa is in real danger. We don’t know what is really after her. Now, Alex doesn’t have somebody trying to kill her. She’ll be here when we get back.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I’m sure Luisa is a good person and doesn’t deserve this, but I saw the look in Alex’s eyes and I can’t ignore that. Besides, you can take care of this alone.” With that, Dean tossed his keys over to Sam. “Good luck.”

Sam waited for a minute before he left the motel, closing the door behind him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Woodstock, Illinois

“Why do you want him?” Luisa cried, struggling to get her wrists free from the rope. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Matt grinned. “It seems that your boyfriend is a high priority with my friend, Kate, here.”

“What?” Luisa looked at them with worry. “No. NO! Leave him out of this!”

Kate walked up and smacked Luisa across the face. “Right now I care more about him than you. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Baby,” Matt said as he brushed aside a few strands of hair behind her ear and whispered, “The Winchesters are going to get it a lot worse than you.”

He kissed her on the forehead and walked away; leaving Luisa tied to a post supporting the basement of the late Miss. Dennley’s house. He kicked what was left of Erika out of the way as he and Kate walked up the stairs, locking Luisa down their alone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After Kyle put Hana down to bed, he grabbed the baby monitor and walked down the hall to his room. Upon opening the door, he realized that Alex wasn’t in there. He stuffed the monitor in his pocket and walked back into the hallway. He checked the bathroom, but she wasn’t there either, so he continued his search through the dining room and living room. Realizing she wasn’t there, he decided to check the basement. He flicked the switch and slowly started to walk down the creaking stairs.

“Alex?” Kyle called out as he reached the bottom step. He looked around and saw her sitting on the other side her old bed. Her back was leaning against the bed for support.

“Was he…real?” Alex asked as she looked up from a journal that she held tightly in her grip.
“
Yeah,” Kyle said softly as he sat down next to her on the floor. “He was.”

Alex sighed and looked down at the closed book. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, resting his hand on her knee, eyeing the journal.

“I don’t know,” Alex shrugged. Images started flashing in Alex’s head from her nightmares. “It’s just a little overwhelming, you know?”

“Trust me, I know.” Kyle sympathetically smiled at Alex, knowing she was struggling with this.

“Did Sam… Did he... say anything?” Alex turned her head and looked into her husband’s eyes.

“No.” Kyle moved his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “I’m sorry.”

Alex started to cry and leaned in to Kyle’s grip.

“He did look like he was sorry. I mean, as much as I hate the guy for what he did, you can’t really blame him. He was drunk and he lost his brother,” Kyle said, thinking back. “I’m not saying that that is right or an excuse, but you can’t be mad at him forever.”

“It’s not just that,” Alex said wiping the tears away. “It’s just that… I really could have used his help on something.”

Kyle pulled back and looked at her confused. “Why didn’t you just ask me? You know I would do anything for you.”

Alex gave him a small smile. “I know you would, but this is something that only he would understand.”

“Does it…” Kyle hesitated, “Have to do with their job?”

Alex nodded her head.

Kyle nodded back, “Right.”

There was silence for a minute.

“Do you want me to tell you?” Alex asked.

Kyle quickly looked at Alex, but she was looking straight ahead.

“Well, if you don’t mind. I mean, I may not know what they do, but I could at least try to help.” He gently squeezed her shoulders. “If I can’t help fix the problem, I’ll help you deal with it.”

“Not now.”

Kyle’s face fell.

Alex kissed him on the cheek. “Tomorrow, I promise. I’m too tired to explain it all tonight.”

Kyle smiled, “It’s a date.”

They both got up and walked towards the stairs when they heard Hana crying on the monitor.

“Apparently not all of us want to go to bed,” Kyle groaned.

Alex suppressed a laugh and was about to head upstairs when she remembered that she was still holding the journal.

“Um, I’ll be up in a few minutes. Okay?”

Kyle glanced at the journal and nodded his head, “Sure thing.”

Alex watched Kyle walk up the stairs before she turned around, heading for her old bed. She kneeled down on the floor and pulled a wooden brown box out from underneath the bed. Once she flipped open the lid, she took a long look at the contents and sighed. After a minute she gently placed the journal in the box, resting it on top of a book about ancient symbols. A book she had found in her mother’s chest over the summer, which held a sealed note inside.

Alex stared at the box after she closed the lid. She had not opened the letter yet. She wasn’t ready to read something that her mother had left for her.

Eventually, she pushed the box back under the bed and walked back upstairs.