CHAPTER NINE

The hunters are at a party at the frat house, and a guy asks Nyx to dance with him. She shakes her head. "I'm good." She says, and he tries to hand her a cup. "And I'm also not dumb."

"I didn't put anything in it." He says.

"I'm not taking my chances."

"Come on. You're standing here all by yourself, and you look like you could use a little fun. Dance with me, just for one song."

"I don't dance."

"Look around. Nobody here really does." He says, and she looks at all of the college kids.

"That's a fair point, but the answer is still no." She tells him.

"Who's it gonna hurt for you to let loose for a few minutes?"

"It might hurt you." Dean says as he walks up behind Nycole. He puts​ his arm around her shoulders, and the guy nods as he looks between the two of them.

"Boyfriend." He says. "Got it."

The frat boy walks away from them, and Dean then lowers his head so his lips are closer to Nyx's ear. "Sam found something. He's keeping an eye on Lori tonight." He tells her, and she nods.

"So, what are we—" She turns her head to look up at him, and their faces wind up so close that her nose lightly brushes against his. Her gaze suddenly falls to his lips, and her breathing hitches. She takes a deep breath, and then steps away from him.

He clears his throat as he looks down at the floor for a second. "We're gonna go look for that unmarked grave." He tells her, and she simply nods in response.

The pair go straight to the cemetery from the frat house, looking for the unmarked grave of Jacob Karns. They hear rustling behind them and both turn to see what it is, but it seems like it was just the wind so they continue walking. Dean finally sees something and they make their way toward it. It's a grave marker with the same symbol from the hook.

Dean starts digging, and he refuses to let her help because she hasn't completely healed yet. So, she holds the flashlight for him and tries not to think about what almost, maybe, could've happened back there at the party.

"You know, I haven't heard your phone all day." He says, and she looks at him.

"Yeah, not much is going on in Mystic Falls." She tells him. "Katherine seems to have settled now that Elena and Stefan are no longer together."

"What a bitch." He says, and she nods.

"She claims that she's still in love with him. Personally, I think she just enjoys tormenting people who are weaker than she is." Nycole says, and he looks up at her. He can see that that's all she plans to say on the matter, so he simply continues digging up the grave.

Dean finally reaches the casket, and he busts it open. "Hello, preacher." He says and then climbs out of the grave.

Nyx hands him what he needs to salt and burn the bones. He hands her the matches after pouring the salt and lighter fluid on the remains. She sighs and takes it from him. After striking the match, she drops it on the bones and they go up in flames.

"Goodbye, preacher." Nyx mumbles as they catch fire.

Dean turns his entire body then and looks down at her. She looks up and then turns to face him as well.

"A normal person wouldn't​ be standing here right now after everything that you've been through." He says.

"What about my life has been normal since I met you?"

"You're stronger than anybody else I've ever met." He brushes her hair back and tucks it behind her ear. "How do you do it? How do you keep going?"

"Honestly?" She asks as she looks into his green eyes. "I would've fallen apart a long time ago if it weren't for you. Every time I feel like the world's crumbling down around me, I turn around and...and there you are."

"You were doing alright before you met me." He says as he lowers his head toward hers a little.

"I was running before I met you. You saved me from a lot more than just that vampire that night."

"Best damn job I've ever worked." He says, and a smile spreads across her face as she moves closer to him.

His phone suddenly starts ringing, and he sighs as he closes his eyes and reaches into his front pocket. "Yours​ is off, so mine rings." He mumbles to himself as she then takes a step away from him. He reluctantly answers the call. "What?"

—

"It's alright. We're with him." Dean says as two officers try to keep him and Nyx from going any farther than they already have. "That's my brother. Hey, brother." He calls, and Sam and the cop he's talking to turn to face them.

They're at the hospital now because Lori's dad was attacked by the Hook Man. That's why Sam called Dean while he and Nyx were at the cemetery.

"Let them through." The officer with Sam tells the others.

"Thanks." Nyx says as they walk past the two officers and over to Sam.

"You okay?" Dean asks his brother.

"Yeah."

"What the hell happened?"

"Hook Man." Sam says.

"You saw him?" Nyx asks.

"Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?" He looks between the two of them.

"What are you talking about? We did." She tells him.

"Are you sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" Dean asks.

"Sure as hell looked like him. And that's not all." Sam says. "I don't think the spirit is latching onto the reverend."

"Yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself."

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out that her father is having an affair with a married woman." He tells them.

"So what?" Dean questions.

"So, she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it. She was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished."

"Okay, so, she's conflicted, and the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching onto her emotions and doing the punishing for her."

"Right."

"That made my head hurt." Nyx mutters.

"Rich comes on too strong. Taylor tries to make her into a party girl. Dad has an affair." Sam says.

"Remind me not to piss this girl off." His brother says, and Nyx nods. "But​ we burned those bones. I buried them in salt. Why didn't​ that stop him?"

"You guys must've missed something."

"No, I buried everything in that coffin."

"Did you get the hook?" Sam asks, and Dean and Nycole look at each other. "It was the murder weapon, and in a way it was part of him."

They look up at Sam. "So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power." Nyx says.

"So, if we find the hook..." Dean says.

"We stop the Hook Man." They say in unison.

"Geeks." Nyx says as she walks away from them.

"What was that?" Dean calls after her, but she keeps walking.

They go back to the library to do more research on Jacob Karns and find out what happened to his hook after he was executed and buried.

"Here's something, I think." Dean says eventually, and Sam and Nyx both look at him. "Logbook, Iowa State penitentiary. Karns, Jacob. Personal effects, disposition thereof."

"Does it mention the hook?" Sam asks.

"Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church." He reads.

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" Nyx asks.

"Yeah."

"Where Lori lives?" Sam asks.

"That's why the Hook Man's​ been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past two hundred years." Dean says.

"But if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it?" He asks. "I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?"

"Check the church records." Dean says and then gets up.

They find out that the hook was reforged and decide to go to where Lori lives to have a look around. They have to find whatever it is and destroy it before Hook Man kills anyone else.

"Alright, we can't take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire." Dean says as they get out of the car.

"I agree." Sam says, and Nyx nods. "Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in."

"Alright, take your pick." Dean says.

"I'll take the house." Sam says and starts walking in that direction.

"Hey." Dean calls, and his brother turns back around. "Stay out of her underwear drawer." He says, and Nycole smacks him before walking toward the church.

Dean and Nycole go inside and grab anything and everything that's​ silver to throw in the fire and melt down. They then go down to the basement, and he starts a fire in the furnace.

Something creeks behind them and they turn around to see Sam walking down the stairs with a full bag of stuff.

"I got everything that even looks silver." He tells them. "Better safe than sorry."

Dean starts tossing stuff in from the bag Sam brought down and then they hear footsteps above them. They all look up.

Dean starts for the stairs and they follow after him. They see that it's just Lori, and he tells Sam to talk to her. He and Nyx go back downstairs to finish burning the silver that they collected.

Not long after, they hear screams coming from upstairs and both start running. Dean grabs a rock salt gun as he runs, and Nyx takes the one she was already holding. They follow the sounds of things breaking until they find Sam and Lori.

"Sam, drop!" Dean yells when he sees him behind the Hook Man.

Sam drops to the floor, and the older boy fires off a shot, but the spirit disappears before it hits him. They all start looking around, trying to find where it went.

"I thought we got all the silver." Sam says. "Why is he still here?"

"Maybe we missed something." Dean says as they look around the room.

"Lori, where did you get that chain?"

Dean and Nycole both look over at Sam and Lori when they hear his question.

"My father gave it to me." Lori tells him.

"Where'd your​ dad get it?" Dean asks.

"It was a church heirloom. He gave it to me when I started school." She says quickly.

"Is it silver?" Sam asks her.

"Yes." She tells him, and he reaches forward and pulls it from her neck.

They hear something behind Dean and Nyx, and the four of them look to see what it is. There's a line being carved into​ the wall, but they don't see a person or spirit doing it.

"Sam!" Dean tosses Sam his gun and his brother tosses him the necklace.

Dean runs back in the direction of the basement, and Sam shoots where the wall's being carved into now. It shows up beside Nyx, and she quickly raises her gun, but it knocks it out of her hand and shoves her backward.

The spirit turns to face Sam and Lori, and raises his hook to kill them, but then it starts to melt just before he seems to go up in flames. Then he disappears completely​.

"Nyx." Dean kneels down beside her, and she looks up at him.

"I'm okay." She tells him, and he helps her to her feet.

The pair then walk over to Sam and Lori, and Nyx sighs​ in relief when they see that they're both okay as well.

—

The hunters and Lori give their half BS story about what happened last night, and then Nyx goes to lean against the car. Dean walks over to her, and she looks up at him, waiting for him to say what's obviously​ on his mind.

"We never got to finish our conversation the other night​." He says, and she shakes her head.

"No, we didn't."

"It's probably for the best." He says, and she looks away from him and nods, trying to act like he just said didn't​ hurt at all.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right." She agrees, looking over at Sam, who's sitting at the back of an ambulance.

She still doesn't have a solid grasp on her life right now anyway. Especially with what's going on with Katherine. She has to focus on that and help her family before anything else.

"Yeah." Dean continues. "Because the next time I kiss you, it's not gonna be standing over some psycho murderer's grave." He says, and she looks back up at him with a quirked brow, surprised.

"Is that right?" She asks with a small smile on her face.

"That's right." He says with a smile of his own. And he definitely plans to kiss her again at some point, hopefully soon.

"Are we gonna go or are you two just gonna keep standing there smiling at each other like a couple of freaks?" Sam asks as he walks over to them, and they both look over at him, neither one amused by his comment.