CHAPTER THREE

The hunters are now in an Oregon town because Sam had a vision of Dean killing some guy who seemed to be completely human. They have no idea what's actually going on there, so now they're looking for answers, talking to a local.

"Can I help you?" The man that they just approached asks.

"Yeah. Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, Diana Hill." Dean says as they take out their fake badges. "U.S. Marshals."

"What's this about?"

"We're looking for someone."

"A young man, early twenties." Sam tells him. "He'd have a thin scar right below his hairline."

"What'd he do?" The man asks.

"We're actually looking for someone else, but we think this young man can help us."

"He's not in any kind of trouble or anything." Nyx tells him. "Not yet."

"I think maybe you know who he is, Master Sergeant." Dean says, taking notice of the tattoo on the man's forearm. "My dad was in the Corps. He was a corporal."

"What company?" Serge asks.

"Echo-2-1."

"So, can you help us?" Sam asks.

He looks between the three of them for a second. "Duane Tanner's got a scar like that. But​ I know him. Good kid. Keeps his nose clean." He tells them.

"Oh, I'm sure he does." Nyx nods. "Do you know where he lives?"

"With his family, up Aspen way."

"Thank you." She smiles at him.

"Thanks." Both boys say.

The trio crosses the street and starts up the sidewalk on the opposite end. Sam hits his shoulder on a telephone pole and stops walking before getting their attention. He points out a word that's been carved into the wood there.

"Croatoan?" Dean reads.

"Like Roanoke?" Nyx asks, and they both look at her.

"I think so." Sam says, but his brother looks confused.

"The lost colony." She tells Dean, but he still doesn't understand what they're talking about. "No? Nothing?"

"Dean, did you pay any attention in History class?" His brother asks him.

"Yeah. The shot heard around the world. How bills become laws." Dean says.

"Oh, jeez." Nyx shakes her head.

"That's not school. That's Schoolhouse Rock." Sam looks at her. "And you have kids with him."

"Shut up, Sam." Dean and Nyx say in unison, and she turns to face Dean.

"Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America — late 1500's." She tells him, and he nods.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I do remember that. The only thing they left behind was a single word carved into a tree." He says. "Croatoan."

"Yeah." Sam nods. "And there were theories — Indian raid, disease — but nobody knows what really happened. They were all just gone, wiped out overnight​."

"You two don't think that's what's going on here." Dean says, and Nyx shrugs.

"Whatever I saw in my head, it sure wasn't good." He looks back at the word. "What do you think could do that?"

"What about demons?" Nyx asks, and they look at her. "I remember you guys telling me about that job you did a while ago, when you had to get on the plane. You said that some cultures believe that demons were behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made." She says.

"You think that's what this is?" Dean asks, and she shrugs.

"You got a better theory?"

"Actually, Sam's weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow, so..." He says, and they both look at Sam.

"We should get help." Sam says. "Bobby. Ellen, maybe."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Dean pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts back toward the car. "I don't have a signal."

Sam and Nyx both pull their phones out. "I don't either." Sam says, and they look at her. She shakes her head, and they both sigh.

Dean then walks over to a payphone, but that doesn't work either. "Line's dead." He tells them.

Well, there goes Nyx's promise to be there if Elena needs to talk to her about anything. Or being able to talk to Meredith about the twins.

"I'll tell you one thing," Dean says. "If I was gonna massacre a town, that'd be my first step."

"Yeah, well, I'll tell you one thing." She looks at him. "Whoever's behind this is dead if we miss an important call from Meredith."

—

They finally get to Duane Tanner's house, and Dean knocks on the door. A guy who looks like he's probably around Jeremy's age answers.

"Yeah?" He looks at each of them.

Dean holds up his Marshal's badge. "Hi, we're looking for Duane Tanner. He lives here, right?" He asks the kid.

"He's my brother." Something about this kid is giving Nyx the creeps.

"Can we talk to him?"

"He's not here right now." He tells them, and she then starts listening for anything inside the house.

Including the three boys standing directly with her, she can hear five heartbeats. There are two people inside, and one of them is definitely scared — their heart is beating really fast.

"Do you know where he is?" Dean asks.

The kid nods. "Yeah, he went on a fishing trip up by Roslyn Lake."

"Are your parents home?" Sam asks him.

"Yeah, they're inside."

"Jake, who is it?" A man calls, and Nyx hears him moving toward them.

"Hi, U.S. Marshals." Dean says as the dad walks up behind his son. "We're looking for your son, Duane."

"He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No, no. We just need to ask him a couple routine questions."

"When is he due back from his​ trip?" Sam asks the two men before them.

"I'm not sure."

"Maybe your wife knows​." Nyx suggests, really wanting to know who else is inside.

"No, I don't know. She's not here right now."

"Your son said she was."

"Did I?" The kid asks innocently, and her eyes narrow at him ever so slightly.

"She's getting groceries." His dad says, and she then grabs the back of Dean's jacket. "So, when Duane gets back, is there a number where we can get ahold of you?"

"Oh, no, we'll just check in with you later." Dean says, and the two inside the house turn around. The door closes behind them and he then looks down at Nycole. "What?"

"They're both lying. Someone else is inside that house, and whoever it is — they're scared." She tells the brothers.

"How do you know?" Sam asks.

"I could hear their heartbeat, it was beating a mile a minute." She says, and they go around the side of the house to try and get a look inside.

The hunters see the dad cut the boy's arm, and he starts bleeding on his mom's shoulder. Nyx immediately moves back, and Dean kicks the back door in. She hears gunshots and smells more blood. The kid jumps out the window and takes off toward the woods.

Nyx doesn't help the boys — she can't, instead she runs back to the car and does like Stefan taught her to control her breathing. She slowly manages to suppress the bloodlust. She closes her eyes as she leans against the back of the car, breathing only through her mouth so she can't smell all the blood like she could before.

The boys walk back out to the car with the mom, and Nyx can tell that Dean's pissed, but she doesn't really care at the moment. It takes everything in her not to attack the woman and feed on her.

Nyx keeps her eyes closed, and her hands are clutching the backseat all the way to the doctor's office because the mom is still bloody. The open windows don't do as much to rid the air of the smell when there's a bleeding wound.

Sam quickly​ takes the terrified woman inside, and Dean goes to the trunk. Nyx gets out of the backseat and leans against the side of the car. Dean gets the dad's body from the trunk and then takes him inside. Nycole stays out by the car, wanting to stay as far away from all of the blood as possible.

Dean walks back outside half an hour later and looks at her. "You plan staying out here the whole time?" He questions, obviously still mad at her for letting the teenage boy get away.

"You know what, screw you." Nyx says as she looks at him.

"What?"

"I know you're mad because I took off, and the crazed kid from hell got away. I just don't give a damn." She tells him. "I told you before, I'm not like I was. I'm different and I have certain limitations that you don't. At some point, maybe I'll be able to be around blood again and not bat an eye. But​ I've only been this for a few weeks, okay? I'm trying here."

"The mom said that they were her family one minute and had the devil in them the next." He tells her, and her heart sinks when he doesn't even try to talk to her about her problem. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm heading​ to the next town over to see if I can get a signal. You can come with me or you can keep standing out here."

"It's a little less hostile standing by myself. So, you go ahead." She says, and he gets back into the car without another word.

Nycole steps away from the Impala, and he takes off. As she watches the car disappear down the road, she feels that same guilt and shame rush over her again. She knows that the kid was their best lead, and she let him get away because she could smell his blood, and she knew that she couldn't be near him and not feed on him.

Nyx hears screaming inside the clinic a little later and she quickly runs in, but doesn't go very far because she can smell blood. "Sammy!" She calls.

"I'm okay!" He yells. "I'm coming out."

He walks over and looks at her. "What​ the hell happened?" She questions.

"It's some kind of disease, I think. She was fine and then she just...wasn't." He says. "I was talking to the doctor, and she said it looks like there's sulfuric residue in the man's blood."

"Sulfur?" Her eyebrows furrow, and he nods. "Great."

"Why didn't you go with Dean?" He asks, and she takes a deep breath.

"Because I don't like the way he was looking at me — angry that I was useless." She tells him.

"I don't think that's what it is."

"Either way, I don't want to be around him right now... Not when he looks at me like..." She shakes her head, and he simply nods when he sees the tears in her eyes. "I'm gonna stay over here, away from...all the blood."

"Okay. I'll let you know anything else I find out." He tells her, and she just nods.