CHAPTER FOUR

"Alright. I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch. Then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." Dean's​ saying as they pull into a gas station, but neither of the other two are really paying any attention to him. "Sam wears women's underwear." He says, and Nyx chuckles from behind him.

"I'm listening. I'm just busy." Sam says.

"Busy doing what?"

"Reading emails." He says, and she gets out of the car.

"I have to pee." Nyx says as she starts toward the mini-mart.

"Thanks for the oversharing!" Dean calls after her, but she ignores him.

She's walking back outside a couple minutes later and hears the end of their conversation. "A job like this, you can't get close to people." Dean says.

"And that's why you've been getting closer to Nyx, right?" Sam questions.

"Shut up." He retorts, and her eyebrows furrow as she looks down.

"Whatever." He goes back to reading his emails on his phone.

"How's Caroline doing?" Dean asks as Nyx walks back over to them.

"Stefan's​ having Bonnie make her a daylight ring right now and then he's taking her to the woods to teach her how to hunt." She tells him. "She said something about trying to convince him to take her to Tyler's party at the lake on the old Lockwood property."

"God." Sam mutters, and they both turn to him.

"What?" Nyx asks as she and his brother lean down to look into his window.

"This email from this girl Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine."

"Is she hot?" Dean asks, trying to get under his brother's skin, and Nyx shakes her head as she tries to ignore his comment.

"I went to school with her and her brother, Zach. She says Zach's been charged with murder — he's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." Sam tells them.

"Dude, what kind of people you hangin' out with?"

"No, man. I know Zach. He's no killer."

"I'd say the same about Stefan if I didn't know he was a vampire." Nyx says.

"Maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you." Dean adds.

"They're in St. Louis. We're going." Sam says.

"I'm sorry about your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." He argues.

"It is our problem. They're my friends."

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam."

"And we'd be headed to Virginia right now if it were one of my friends​." Nyx says,​ and they both look at her. "It's not our fault your only friends are your brother and a girl that you picked up outside of a diner in North Carolina."

He sighs. "Get in the car." He tells her and then takes the gas pump out. He gets in the driver's seat and they turn to head back in the direction they came from.

—

Sam knocks on the front door and a blonde woman answers. She smiles when she sees him. "Oh my God, Sam."

"Well, if it isn't Little Becky." He says with a smile on his face.

"You know what you can do with that Little Becky crap." She hugs him.

"I got your email." Sam tells her as they pull away from each other.

"I didn't think that you would come here."

"Dean. Older brother." He cuts in, and Nyx shakes her head at him. "Nycole. Hitchhiker."

She punches him in the arm and then shakes Becky's hand. "You can just call me Nyx. I'm a friend of Sam's." The younger girl tells her, and she nods.

"What about me?" Dean asks.

"Did you hear something?" She asks Becky, who laughs.

"Ignore them. We're here to help." Sam tells her. "Whatever we can do."

"Come in." Becky says as she steps out of the doorway.

"Nice place." Dean says as they walk inside.

"It's my parents." She tells them. "I was crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zach's free."

"Where are your folks?" Sam asks.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." She explains, and he nods. "Do you guys want a beer or something?"

"Hey." Dean smiles, his version of yes.

"No, thanks." Sam says. "So, tell us what happened."

"Well, um, Zach came home and he found Emily​ tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing. And so he... He called 9-1-1. And the police — they showed up, and... And they arrested him. But the thing is, the only way that Zach could have killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time." She says. "The police, they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zach coming home at ten-thirty. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." She tells them.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene — Zach's house." Sam says.

"We could?" Dean questions.

"Why? What could you do?" Becky asks, obviously confused.

"Well, me, not much." Sam says. "But Dean and Nycole are cops."

Dean and Nyx glance at each other, and he chuckles. "Detectives, actually." He says.

"Really? Where?" Becky asks.

"Bisbee, Arizona." He continues his brother's lie. "But we're off duty now."

"I don't know. You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just— I don't know."

"Beck, look. I know Zach didn't do this." Sam says. "Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent."

Becky looks between the three of them before agreeing. "Okay." She says. "I'm gonna go get the keys."

She walks away, and Dean whistles as he moves to the other side of his brother. "You're a real straight shooter with your friends." He says. "Both of you, actually."

"Shut up, asshole." Nyx says.

"Look, Zach and Becky need our help." Sam says.

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem." Dean argues.

"Two places at once?" Sam questions. "We've looked into less."

"He has a point." She says. "We followed your dad's coordinates into the woods in Colorado​, not having any idea what was out there."

"You're only taking his side because I don't agree with it." Dean argues.

"If I really wanted to disagree with you on something that much, I'd start an argument about my driving." She says, and he opens his mouth. "Don't." She cuts him off, and he sighs as he looks at her.

They head to Zach's house after that, and Becky looks at Dean as they get out of the car. "You're sure this is okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, I am an officer of the law."

"And a major pain in my ass." Nyx says as she walks past him.

"I heard that."

"I'd have to have you get your ears checked if you hadn't." She says, and he mutters something behind her.

The four of them go inside and start looking around at everything. The place is trashed and there's blood everywhere.

"Beck, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asks​ her, and she shakes her head.

"No, I wanna help​." She ducks under the police tape and follows the hunters into the house.

"Tell us what else the police said."

"Well... There was no sign of a break in." She says as Dean and Nyx continue looking around the place. "They say that Emily let her attacker in. And the lawyers are already talking about a plea bargain."

"Look, Beck. If Zach didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" He asks​ her.

"Uh, there was something." She says, and Nyx looks​ at her, mostly because she wants​ to stop looking at the blood all over the place. "About a week before, somebody broke in here and stole some clothes. Zach's clothes. And the police — they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed."

A dog starts barking outside, and Dean and Nyx walk over to the window to look at it because it's barking at them.

"You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." Becky says as she walks over to them.

"What happened?" Dean asks her.

"He just changed."

"Do you remember when he changed?"

"I guess around the time of the murder." She says, and Nyx looks up at Dean.

He looks at her and nods before walking over to talk to his brother.

"So, the tape— The security footage?" Dean asks Becky as the two girls walk over to the brothers. "Think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it? We just don't have that kind of jurisdiction."

"I've already got it." Becky tells them. "I didn't want to say anything in front of the cops." She then looks between Nyx and Dean, causing them to smirk. "I, um, I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see for myself." She says, and Nyx nods.

"Alright." Dean says, and with that, they leave.

They go back to her house to watch the security tape to see if they can find anything useful on it from that night.

"Here he comes." Becky says.

"Twenty-two o-four. That's just after ten." Dean says, referring to the time stamp on bottom of the video. "You said time of death was about ten-thirty."

"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert, he says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." She tells them.

"Hey, Beck. Can we take those beers now?" Sam asks, wanting her to leave the room so the hunters can talk.

"Oh, sure." She gets up and starts for the kitchen.

"Hey, uh... Maybe some sandwiches too?" He asks.

She laughs. "What do you think this is, Hooters?"

"I wish." Dean says as she leaves the living room. "What is it?"

"Check this out." Sam says, and the other two walk a little closer to the tv.

He rewinds it and plays the video slower as Zach turns toward the camera. They see his eyes on the screen, almost like they glow or something's being reflected off of them.

"Maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean suggests.

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen." Sam says. "You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photo can catch a glimpse of the soul."

"Right."

"Remember that dog that was freaking out? Maybe​ he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's — something that looks like him that isn't him."

"Like a doppelganger." Nyx's voice is low as she speaks, and the boys look at her.

"That would explain how he was in two places at once." Sam says, and she nods.

"I don't like this case already." She sighs.

—

"Alright. What are we doing here at five-thirty in the morning?" Dean questions as the three of them get out of the car. They're outside of Zach's house.

"I realized something." Sam says. "The video shows the killer going in, but not coming out."

"So, he came out the back door?"

"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue."

"And this had to happen at five-thirty in the morning?" Nyx mutters as she leans against the hood of the car.

"You know you have to actually open your eyes in order to see anything, right?" Dean asks and she looks at him.

"You're annoying."

"So you've said." He says and then turns back to Sam. "The police think the killer never left. They​ caught your friend Zach inside."

"Still don't know what we're doing here at five-thirty​ in the morning." She grumbles, and Dean shakes his head as he leans against the car next to her.

"Blood." Sam says, and they both look over at him. He's standing next to a telephone poll with a blood smear on it. "Somebody came this way."

"Maybe the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." Dean tells him, and Nyx leans her head on his shoulder.

"You're also not looking." She argues, and he pushes her away from him.

She steadies herself as an ambulance goes by them, and they all watch it pass before looking​ at each other. They start walking​ to find what's going on.

"What happened?" Dean asks a woman when they find the area where police are taping off someone's​ home.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." The woman tells them.

"Really?" Sam asks, and she nods.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." She says, and Nyx looks up at the two boys.

"I'm definitely awake now." She says as she looks back and sees an officer putting an Asian guy in a suit in the back of a squad car.

The hunters each go to try and find some information. Nyx doesn't find anything so she walks over to the guys to see what they found.

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam's saying, and she sighs.

"I really don't like this whole dark double thing." Nyx mumbles to herself.

"Could be the same thing doing it too." Dean says; he didn't hear her.

"Shapeshifter?" Sam asks, and his brother shrugs. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?"

"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. Legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men."

"Skinwalkers. Werewolves." Sam lists two types of legends.

"Two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessing we got a shapeshifter problem in the neighborhood." Dean says.

"Let me ask you this. In all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?"

"Dracula turns into a bat." Nyx says sarcastically.

"Not that I know of." Dean ignores her, and Sam shoots her a dirty look, not appreciating her lame attempt at a joke.

"I picked up a trail here." Sam says as he walks away from Nycole. "Someone ran out of the back of this building, headed off this way."

"Just like your friend's house."

"Yeah. And just like at Zach's house, the trail suddenly ends." He says. "Whatever it is, it just disappeared."

"Unless you're looking in the wrong direction." Nyx says, and the brothers turn to look at the brunette. "Rather than flying, maybe this thing went the other way."

"Down." Dean says, and she nods.

They all look at the ground and find a sewer entrance under Sam's foot.

"I love when I make suggestions." She says sarcastically​ as they start going down into the sewer.

"I bet this runs right by Zach's house too." Sam says when he reaches​ the bottom of the iron ladder. Nyx's foot slips on a bar toward the bottom, and he quickly places his hands on her waist to steady her. "Careful." He says, and she sighs.

"Thanks." She says after she makes it to the ground without falling.

"The shapeshifter​ could be using the sewer system to get around." He says as they walk over to his brother.

"I think you're right." Dean says as he looks at something on the ground.

"That's worse than the guy with the liquefied eyeballs." Nyx says as she looks at the goop on the ground.

"Is this from his victims?" Sam asks.

"You know, I just had a sick thought." Dean says. "When the shapeshifter changes shape, maybe it sheds."

"That is sick." Sam agrees, and Nyx nods.

—

"Well, one thing I learned from Dad, no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." Dean tells them, bent over their weapons in the trunk of the Impala.

"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam says.

"That's right."

Sam's phone starts ringing and he walks away from them to answer it.

Dean looks up at Nyx. "Hey, are you alright? You seemed a little off when we were talking about the possibility of dark doubles before."

She nods. "Yeah, I just, uh... It's the Katherine of it all. She's in Mystic Falls, looking exactly like me and Elena."

He nods as he straightens up. "You're worried she's gonna keep pretending to be you." He says, and she nods.

"It's gotta be a lot easier now that I'm not there." She sighs, shaking her head. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me." She tells him, and he goes back to what he was doing before, getting the guns ready with silver bullets.

Nyx's phone rings and she looks at the caller ID. She's hoping that it's going to be Bonnie, but it's her sister. She answers and starts talking to her while they get things ready to kill this sicko shapeshifter.

"Hey." Dean calls, and Nyx looks at him. He motions for them to start moving, and she nods.

"Listen, I gotta go. We've got a shapeshifter to kill." Nyx tells her sister.

"Can I talk to Dean for a second?" Elena asks, and her eyebrows furrow at the question.

"Why?"

"Just give the phone to Dean." She says, and her sister walks over to him.

"Elena wants to talk to you." Nyx tells him, and he's obviously just as confused, but takes it.

"Hello?"

"While my sister's with you, I'm holding you personally responsible for her safety." Elena tells him. "Jeremy and I have lost a lot already, I won't lose her too. I can't."

"Understood."

"Do you understand? Because Nyx would die for anyone that she loves, including​ you and your brother. And I need to make sure that that never happens — not for any of us."

"I promise, Elena." He tells her and then they hang up the phone.

"What did she say?" Nyx asks as he hands her phone back to her.

"To stay safe and she loves you." He says before walking away from her.

Sam hands Nycole a gun and they follow after his older brother. The trio go back into the sewer to look for the shapeshifter.

"I think we're close to the lair." Dean says after they've been walking a while.

"Why do you say that?" His brother asks.

"'Cause there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face." He says as he shines a flashlight on it, and Nyx buries her face in the back of Dean's shoulder.

"Oh, God." Sam says, disgusted.

"It looks like it's lived here for a while." She says as she unwillingly​ looks past them and sees more sickening piles. "Who knows how many murders it's gotten away with."

Sam turns to face them and his eyes widen. "Nycole!" He yells, and she whirls around.

She sees a man who looks like the guy the police put in the squad car earlier. He slams her head into the sewer wall and then turns around and runs. Sam fires off two shots, but misses.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks her.

"I got her, you get the son of a bitch." Dean tells his brother, and Sam takes off running.

"Hey, I thought I was the one who had a twin." Nyx says as she looks up at him. "Oh, and we're back to one Dean. Hi."

"How's your head?" He asks, holding her up as he cradles her head in one of his hands.

"It's throbbing." She tells him.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." He says, and they start walking.

They manage to get up the ladder without too much difficulty, and Sam helps her when she reaches the top. Dean comes up after her, and they both look at his brother.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks again, and Nyx nods.

"Yeah, I'll be alright." She tells them.

"Let's split up." He says.

"Alright, we'll meet you around the other side." Dean says and he makes her stay with him as they start to run around the park.

Someone hits Nyx in the back of the head from behind, and then everything goes completely black in a matter of seconds.