CHAPTER EIGHT

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine this morning?" Dean says, and​ Nyx sighs as she looks at him. They're sitting at an outdoor café. "Still having nightmares about that night?"

"If it makes you feel any better, it doesn't look like you anymore." She tells him, and his eyebrows furrow.

"Then who does it look like?"

She hesitates for a second before answering. "It looks like me." She finally tells him. "Katherine."

"She'll get what she deserves. Try not to worry about it too much." He says, and his younger brother walks back over to them then. "Your half-caff venti vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis."

"Bite me." Sam retorts as he sits down at their table.

"Anything?" Nyx asks him.

"I had them check the FBI missing-persons database. No John Does fitting Dad's description." He says. "I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"I'm telling you, I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean tells him and then slides the laptop in front of him over toward his brother. "Check this out."

"I'll be right back." Nyx tells​ the boys as she gets up from her seat.

She goes​ to get another coffee, needing it to stay awake during their drives, and then her phone rings. She looks​ at the caller ID and is a little surprised to see that it's Caroline.

"Hey, what's up?" She asks when she answers the call.

"I talked to Stefan and Damon. They said that you're the one who started getting us all together for this plan." She says.

"I am, yeah." She nods as a worker gives her her coffee, and she pays for it.

"Are you sure about this, Nyx?"

"Is that really even a question? After everyone she's threatened, everyone that​ she's hurt..." She says. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"I heard what happened to you." She says, and Nyx sits down next to the boys again.

"And you're afraid it'll happen again?"

"You seem to think that you're indestructible. I just don't want to see you get into something you don't walk away from."

"Believe me, Caroline, I know I'm not indestructible." She tells her. "But I also can't just sit back and do nothing while she threatens the people I care about."

"Just promise me that you won't do anything to get yourself killed." She says, and Nyx takes a deep breath.

"I can promise not to intentionally do anything to get myself killed." She says, and the blonde sighs. "I'll be fine, Care. And as far as Katherine goes... It's not like I'm working alone."

"Be careful out there."

"I always am." She tells her. "You be careful over there."

—

"Why are we here?" Sam whispers as they start walking up to a frat house.

"Victim lived here." Nyx tells him.

"Nice wheels." Dean says as a guy comes out from under a silver car in their driveway. "We're your fraternity brothers from Ohio. We're new in town, transfers. Looking for a place to stay."

"Who's the chick?" One of them asks.

"His girlfriend." Sam says before either of them can answer, and Dean looks at his brother, slightly annoyed, as Nycole looks at the ground.

The guys let them go inside and they go to find someone to talk to. The three hunters walk into a room and see a shirtless guy in yellow basketball shorts painting his upper body purple. "Who are you?" He asks when he sees them.

"We're your new roommates." Dean lies. "This is, uh... My girlfriend." He motions toward Nyx and then looks at his brother, who's trying not to laugh.

Sam wasn't in the room for their conversation when she told Dean about what the shapeshifter said to her that night. So, he has no idea that this is all ten times more awkward for them than he's intending for it to be.

"Do me a favor? Get my back." The guy holds his paint​brush out toward them. "Big game today."

"He's the artist." Nyx points at Sam and grabs Dean's hand. "The things he can do with a brush..." She smiles at the younger boy as she pulls his brother away from the purple kid.

Dean laughs as he sits down and picks up a magazine. "So..." He looks at the name on it. "Murph, is it true?"

"What?" Murph asks.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week." He says as Sam reluctantly starts painting his back.

"Yeah."

"What happened?" Nyx asks.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife, maybe a drifter passing through." He tells them. "Rich was a good guy."

"Rich was with somebody?" Sam asks.

"Not just somebody. Lori Sorenson."

"Who's Lori Sorenson?" Nycole asks.

"You missed a spot down on the bottom." Dean tells his brother, and she purses her lips so she won't laugh at Sam's discomfort and obvious annoyance with Dean.

"Lori's a Freshman. She's a local. Super hot." Murph says. "And get this, she's a reverend's daughter."

"You wouldn't happen to know which church, would you?" Dean asks.

"I thought... I mean, isn't she..." Murph points to Nyx, and she glances at Dean awkwardly.

"I'm asking for my brother here." He motions to Sam, and she rolls her eyes.

Murph tells them which church, and they head over there to see what they can find.

"...we should reflect on what this tragedy means to us as a church—" The reverend stops talking when the door slams shut behind the hunters. Dean and Nyx look at Sam and he doesn't say anything. They then go to sit down."—as a community, and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings. So, please, let us pray for peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children."

The sermon ends soon after and everyone heads outside. Nyx hears someone call a girl Lori and they walk over to her.

"Are you Lori?" Sam asks, and she turns to face them.

"Yeah."

"My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean. And this is Nycole." He tells her, and Dean and Nyx both smile at the girl. "We just transferred here​ to the university."

"I saw you inside." She says, and Nyx looks at him because he was the one who let the door slam. He puts his hand on the side of her face and pushes her into his brother.

"Ow." Nyx punches Sam and that hurts her hand. She's still sore from her fight with the shapeshifter. Nyx shakes her hand as she flexes her fingers, and Dean pulls her away from his brother.

"Are you alright?" Lori asks, and she nods.

"We don't mean to bother you. We heard​ about what happened." Sam says, ignoring Nycole.

"We wanted to say how sorry we were." Dean adds.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I— I saw someone get hurt once. It's something you don't forget."

Lori nods as the reverend walks over to them. "Dad, this is Sam, Dean, and Nycole. They're new students."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Dean reaches out to shake his hand. "I must say that was an inspiring sermon."

"Thank you very much." The reverend says with a smile. "It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message."

Nyx's​ phone starts ringing and she sighs as she looks at the reverend. "If you'll excuse me, it's probably my sister. She's been trying to get ahold of me, but I've been busy."

"Of course." He nods, and she walks away from them.

"What?" Nyx answers the phone.

"We have a date for the plan." Damon's voice comes through the phone.

"Which is?"

"The night of the masquerade ball."

"Large crowd. She won't expect it." She nods. "Not bad."

"You gonna be able to make it back in time?" He asks.

"We're starting a job now, but yeah. I can always go back without the boys if I have to." She tells him.

"We'll let you know if anything changes." He says and then hangs up.

—

"So, you believe her?" Dean asks Sam as they walk through a library.

"I do." He says.

"I think she's hot too." He comments, and Nyx keeps her head down as she walks behind them.

"No, man, there was something in her eyes. And listen to this, she heard scratching on the roof and found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." Sam tells them.

"Bloody body suspended? That sounds like—"

"The Hook Man legend." Sam finishes for him.

"Huh?" Nyx looks between the two of them.

"It's one of the most famous urban legends." Dean tells her and then looks at his brother. "You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man?"

"Every urban legend has a source, a place where it all began." Sam says.

"What about the scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?"

"Maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?"

"Honestly, after Bloody Mary, I'll believe whatever the hell you two tell me at this point." She says as she walks away from them.

Nyx asks a woman who works at the library for some information, and she brings them boxes full of stuff to look through. They start reading through all of it, and Nyx is getting annoyed. She tosses a paper to the side after they've been at it for a while and then lays​ her head down on the table​.

"Hey, check this out." Sam says, and she groans. "1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. He was so angry over the Red-Light District in town that he killed thirteen prostitutes."

"So many things wrong with that." Nyx mutters as she looks at the brothers. They're reading off the paper in front of them.

"Some of the deceased were found in their beds, sheets soaked with blood, others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh." Sam reads.

"Get this, the murder weapon?" Dean says.

"A hook." Nyx says, and he looks at her

"Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident, had to replace it with a silver hook." He says, and she gets​ up from her chair and walks over to them.

"Look where all this happened." Sam says.

"Nine Mile Road."

"Same place where the frat boy was killed."

"Nice job, Mr. Venkman. Let's check it out." Dean says.

"Thank God. I hate the research part of this job." Nyx says as she follows them out of the library.

That night, the three hunters are on Nine Mile Road to see what they can find at the scene of the murder. "Here you go." Dean says as he hands his brother a gun from the trunk of the car.

"If it's a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." Sam says.

"Yeah. Rock salt."

"Salt being a spirit deterrent." Sam tells Nyx, and she nods.

"Yeah. It won't kill 'em, but it'll slow 'em down." Dean adds, and her phone starts ringing again. "Seriously?"

"It's Matt, he doesn't​ know what we do." She tells him. "He doesn't know that I can't talk all the time."

"Either answer the phone or turn it off." He says. "It's driving me crazy."

The boys walk away from her, and she sighs as she looks at her phone. They're talking, and she's leaning against the back of the car.

"Put the gun down now!" Someone yells, and Nyx declines the call as she ducks down behind the car. "Put your hands behind your head!" It's a cop yelling at the boys.

Nycole quickly puts her phone on silent and watches the others from around the car. The officer hasn't seen her so there's no reason for her to announce her presence and arrested along with the boys.

"Wait, wait, wait! Okay, okay." Dean says.

"Get down on your knees! Come on, do it! On your knees." He orders. "Get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!"

"He had the gun." Dean grumbles, and Nyx shakes her head as she peeks around the side of the car.

She waits for an opportunity and then runs so that she won't get caught. She makes it out of there, and her phone lights up. She sighs as she looks down at it.

She's now walking along the side of the road, and there's no way that she can be tied to the boys who were just arrested. She figures she might as well talk to someone on her long walk back to the motel.

Nyx calls Matt back and the two talk for a while. He's been having a really hard time because he and Caroline broke up, and he hasn't been hanging out with Tyler lately. He doesn't really have anyone else right now.

—

"Please, officer." Nyx begs. "My boyfriend's an idiot. It was a hazing. He was just messing with a new pledge."

He sighs. "I can't just let them go. There has to be some kind of punishment​." He says, and she nods.

"Of course, I totally agree."

"Alright, let me see what I can do." He says, and she goes outside to wait by the car.

The two boys walk out of the police station half an hour later, and Dean smiles when he sees the brunette. They make their way over to her, and she stands up straight.

"You are a friggin' genius." Dean says as he hugs her, lifting her off the ground. She smiles as she wraps an arm around his neck, her other one is pinned between them.

"Guys." Sam get their attention, and Dean sets her down, but doesn't let go of her.

They turn and see a few officers running to their squad cars. They get in and immediately turn on their​ lights and sirens. Tires screech as they speed away, and Nyx and the guys look at each other. They quickly get in the car, and Dean starts driving as soon as she gives him the keys.

The hunters get to where the police went and there are squad cars all over the place, along with an ambulance. Lori's sitting in the back of the ambulance when they pull up. Dean drives past them and parks a little farther away.

He tosses Nyx the keys after they get out of the car. "Stay here in case we need to get the hell out fast. I don't think you'll be able to talk them down to a fine if we get busted for breaking into a sorority house." He says, and she nods in agreement.

They get back to the car a little while later, and Sam goes to grab something from the back. He shows them the picture of the hook from the preacher from 1862.

"This symbol was carved into the wall and had blood traced over it." He quickly tells Nyx as she looks at the paper in his hand. "Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

"Let's find the dude's​ grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down." Dean says.

"After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in old North Cemetery in an unmarked grave." Sam reads.

"Super." Dean says sarcastically, and they start walking to get back in the car.

"Okay, so, we know it's Jacob Karns, but we still don't know where he'll manifest next." Sam says. "Or why."

"I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your friend Lori has something to do with this." He tells him, and they all climb into the car.