Dad hadn't contacted in weeks, we hadn't heard anything out of him. Until that one voicemail, it was full of EVP. So we headed to where Sammy left to go to school, I didn't really remember him though. Dean tells me he left when I was a baby. It was dark when we pulled up to an apartment building. Dean turned back to face me, "Chris stay here okay?" I nodded my head and yawned. Dean grabbed my blanket off of the floorboard and handed it to me, "Get some sleep short stack." I took it and curled up with a grumble of, "Not short," I heard Dean get out of the car. About twenty minutes later, I heard Dean and another man arguing. "The weapons training? The melting of silver into bullets? Man Dean, we were raised like warriors!" I heard the other say, I assumed he was Sam. "So what are you gonna do? Just live some apple pie life? Is that it?" That was Dean, "Not normal, safe." That was Sam, "And that's why you ran away," and that was Dean. "I was just going to college, it was Dad that told me if I was gonna go I should stay gone, and that's what I'm doing." That was Sam, dad wasn't that mean, was he? "Yeah well dads in trouble now, and he's not dead I can feel it. I can't do this alone." I heard a disbelieving, "Yes you can." I yawned and sat up, "Yeah but I don't want to," I heard Dean say as I opened the car door. Dean noticed, "Hey short stack, decided to join the party?" I padded over to his side with the blanket around my shoulders, it was cold. "Is that Christina?" I heard Sam ask, "We just call her Chris." Dean told him as he opened the trunk, "She knows?" Dean nodded when I put my face in his flannel, "She found out when she saw a skin-walker change." Sam sighed, "So what was he hunting?" I felt Dean move, so I backed up. I watched Dean open the trunk and use one of the shotguns to prop up the stash lid. "Alright, now let's see where the hell I put that thing..." Dean muttered as he dug through the stash. "So if Dad went hunting, why didn't you go with him?" Dean glanced at him, "I was working my own gig, voodoo thing down in New Orleans." Sam's reply sounded, skeptical to say none the least, "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Dean gave him a look, "I'm 26 dude. Ah, here we go," Dean said the last part as he took out a few papers from a Manila envelope. "So dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy," Dean handed Sam a piece of paper from the stack, "They found his car, vanished. Completely MIA," Sam skimmed over the paper, "So maybe he was kidnapped." Dean smacked his lips, "Yeah, well, here's another one in April, another in December 04, 03, 98, 92, ten of 'em over the last 20 years. All men, all same 5 mile stretch of road." Dean put up the papers and started digging through more stuff, "Started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about 3 weeks ago. We haven't heard from him since," I yawned again, Dean noticed, "Short stack if you're that tired then go to sleep." I shook my head and leaned against his side again, Dean picked me up and put me in the backseat. "I know you didn't nap today, go sleep. Sammy's probably gonna come with us." Dean whispered to me. I hugged him and took a deep breath. Before curling up in a ball in the back seat. I heard Dean close the door before walking over to Sam. I tried to pay attention to their conversation, but I fell asleep trying.

When I woke up, we were stopped at a gas station. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, "Good morning Chris." I heard, I knew that wasn't Dean. My attention snapped to the front seat, it was Sam. I forgot about him... "Hey," I turned my head to look out the rear window, there's where Dean went... he had a candy bar in his mouth and was holding multiple bags of chips, other candies, and drinks. "You want breakfast?" Dean asked Sam, I rolled down the window and Dean passed me a bottle of water and two bags of Cheetos. "No thanks," Sam said as he dug through Dean's box of music. "So how'd you pay for that stuff anyway? You and Dad still running credit card scams?" Sam all but yelled. I moved up so he was within arms reach and punched his arm. "Hey! What was that for?" Sam asked looking back at me, "Dean says we don't tell people that," I told him while munching on a Cheeto. "Really Dean?" Sam asked, he only smirked, "You're just mad because she hit you." Dean told him as he put the gas pump back in its slot. "Besides," Dean started saying as he got in the driver's side, "We just apply, it's not our fault they send us the cards." Sam scoffed, "And what names did you put on the application this time?" Dean thought for a moment, "Bert Afriamian and his son Hector, scored two cards out of the deal." Sam rolled his eyes and dug through Dean's cassettes, "Sounds about right. I swear, you gotta update your cassette tape collection." Dean looked incredulous, "Why?" Sam gave him an 'are you serious' look before grabbing one tape after another, "Well for one they're cassette tapes, and two: Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica? They're the greatest hits of mullet rock." Dean grabbed one of the tapes, "House rules Sammy, Driver picks the music and-" he pointed in the back for me to finish. "Shotgun shuts his cakehole!" I finished, Dean gave me a candy bar and a fist bump while Sam rolled his eyes. "You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old, it's Sam." Dean rolled his eyes, "Can't hear you." Dean turned up the music, "Music's too loud." Dean smirked again as he drove out of the gas station and we continued on our way.

We drove for a couple hours before we drove past a black and white sign that read, "JERICHO 7," the scenery was pretty. So, I looked out the window and watched all the trees go by. Soon though, Dean slowed to a stop near a bridge when Sam finished saying, "No one matching Dad's description at the morgue, so that's something I guess..." Dean pointed to the cops on the bridge, "Check it out," Dean pulled the keys out of the car and assessed the people on the bridge before opening the glove compartment. He took the box that held all his fake badges and took out two of them that were for marshalls. He handed one to Sam, smirking as he said, "Let's go," and opened the door. "Chris get down," Dean told me. Not that he needed to, I was already moving myself to the floorboards until they came back.

It took them about five minutes after they got out of the car to get back in. They were arguing when they did so. I crawled back up onto my seat as Dean pulled away. I rolled my eyes as I buckled back in, "Don't argue," I told them as I grabbed my blanket off the floor and wrapped myself in it. It didn't take long for us to get to town. Dean pulled over on the side of the road in the town. The three of us got out when I pointed out a girl with a bag she kept putting her hand into. She kept taking out the papers she was stapling everywhere. "Is that her?" I asked. Dean pat my head, "I bet you that's her, good eye kiddo." I was pleased with myself as Dean walked up to her as she put up another poster, "Amy right?" the girl looked over, "Yeah," she looked a little suspicious. "Yeah, Troy told us about you, we're his uncles. I'm Dean, this is Sam and this is his cousin Chris." She looked down at me before turning after she finished hanging the poster, "He never mentioned you to me." Dean scoffed, "Well, that's Troy I guess, we're not around much. We're up in Modesto." Sam interrupted whatever Dean was fixing to say, "So, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around." A girl came from across the road and put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, are you alright?" she sounded concerned. She also looked at us suspiciously. Amy waved her off, "I'm fine," Sam didn't wait for long, "So, do you mind if we ask a couple questions?" The girl shook her head and led us to a nearby diner. We were quickly seated, the other girl came with us. Amy started her story when we were all seated, "He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and he never did." Amy sounded distraught. Sam spoke quietly, "He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" Dean was focusing on the conversation, I was bored. Amy shook her head, "No, nothing I can remember..." Dean decided to start his own little interrogation, "Here's the deal ladies, the way Troy disappeared. Something's not right, so if you've head anything..." Dean trailed off at the look on the girl's faces, "What is it?" The other girl made a small motion with her hand, "Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk." Dean and Sam both spoke at the same time, "What do they talk about?" The two looked at each other uncomfortably when they spoke at the same time, I chirped in a small, "Jinx." Dean gave me a look. "It's kinda this local legend. This one girl, she got murdered out on centennial like decades ago. Well supposedly, she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up... Well, they disappear forever." Sam and Dean looked at each other knowingly. I picked up a menu, "Dean, can we get something to eat?" Dean nodded his head at me and looked at Amy and her friend, "We'd better get back to putting up Troy's flyers..." Amy said as she scooted out of the booth. Her friend followed her. Sam moved to the other side of the booth, Dean scooted over and looked at the menu. Sam did too. The waitress came over with her notepad, "What can I get for you?" Dean looked up from his menu and ordered his usual. "I'll take a cheeseburger with extra onions and fries," the waitress looked to Sam, "I'll take a salad thanks." She took both of their menus and looked at me, "What can I get for you hon?" I looked at my little kids menu, "Chicken nuggets please!" I told her, she wrote down my order and walked to the kitchen. I sipped on my water and waited on our meals while Sam and Dean talked about where to go next.

Next was apparently the library, where Dean plopped himself at a computer and started looking at Jericho's archive. I wandered over to the kid's section and decided to try to find a book. The kid's section was pretty far from where the computers were, I guessed it was like that so kids didn't get distracted by the computers... I picked out a book called, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. By the time I'd finished, Sam had come to find me. "Chris?" he called, I looked up as I closed my book, I'd been sitting on the floor as I'd read it. "Hi Sam," Sam made his way over, "You find a good book?" I picked it up and showed him the cover, "I finished it." I told him, he looked a little surprised. "Do you go to school?" I shook my head, "Dean homeschools me sometimes." Sam raised an eyebrow, "And how often is that?" I shrugged, "Usually when we're on car rides or doing research for a case. He gives me a book and tells me to read it..." Sam raised an eyebrow again, "Well, Dean's waiting for us in the car. Was it a good book?" I nodded my head and put it back where I'd found it. As we walked outside into the parking lot, Sam looked down at me again, "What kind of books do you read when Dean gives you one?" I thought for a moment, "He gave me a book about history once, and he taught me how to do addition and subtraction. And how to read." I told Sam with a nod of my head as we got to the car. Dean was waiting for us, "What'd you find short stuff?" Dean asked me as I buckled myself in the car, Sam was walking to the passenger seat, "I read a book called 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'." I told him, Dean nodded his head as Sam got in. "What was it about?" Dean asked as he pulled out of his parking spot. I launched myself into an explanation of the story about the caterpillar. Dean nodded his head along with what I was saying.

It was dark when we drove back to the bridge, Sam and Dean had found something while they were looking through the computer. The three of us got out again as Dean pulled up to the bridge, I followed Sam and Dean as they walked up the bridge. "So this is where Constance took the swan dive," Dean said as he peered over the railing. "So do you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked as he looked down at the water, I looked down at it as well, it was moving fast. "Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him," Dean said, it was a bit cold outside. "Okay, so now what?" Sam asked as Dean pushed away from the railing. I followed Dean, "Now we keep digging till we find him. It might take a while." Dean told him, Sam stopped a few feet away from the railing, "Dean, I told you I've got to get back by-" Dean cut him off, "Monday. Right, the interview." Sam raised an eyebrow, "Yeah." Dean turned to face Sam, "Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer, marry your girl?" Dean asked, he seemed a little agitated "Maybe, why not?" Sam asked back. "Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" Sam seemed agitated now, "No, and she's not ever going to know." Dean looked at Sam, looking skeptical, "Well that's healthy. You can pretend all you want Sammy. But sooner or later you're gonna have to stand up to who you really are." Dean sounded knowing when he said that. "Yeah? And who's that?" Dean turned and started walking again, "One of us," he said gesturing to himself and I. "No, I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life." Sam said as he darted in front of Dean. "Well, you have a responsibility," Dean started. Sam never let him finish, "To Dad and his crusade? If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like, what difference would it make? Even if we find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone and she isn't coming back." Even I could tell that Sam stepped over the line, Dean grabbed Sam by the collar and slammed him against one of the bridge supports. Not enough to hurt, but enough to warn Sam. Dean had to take a moment to think of what to say, "Don't talk about her like that." Dean said in a tone that said that was final. I happened to look over and see a woman in a white dress looking down at the water, she was standing on the rail. After a moment of shock, I put my hand on Dean's arm to get his attention. He jerked his arms away from Sam and turned away. Sam stayed where Dean had put him, Dean froze as he saw what I'd seen, "Sam." Sam turned to look at Dean and quickly saw her, he ran over to Dean's side. The woman turned to look at us for a few seconds before she jumped off the bridge. I was frozen while Sam and Dean ran over to look down into the water, "Where'd she go?" I heard Dean ask. Not even five seconds later, the car started. I'd seen Dean take the keys out of the engine. I didn't know a lot about cars, but I knew they weren't supposed to turn on without the keys. Sam and Dean turned to look at the car, "What the-?" Dean didn't even finish his sentence. "Who's driving your car?" Sam asked, sounding equally confused. Dean took his keys out of his pocket before putting them back. The car lurched forward, I hopped up on the railing and watched as the car barreled towards Sam and Dean. "Come on Dean, let's go. Go!" The two took off, I watched as the headlights illuminated Sam and Dean both jumping off the bridge. I gave a startled noise as the ghost appeared in front of me. She looked down at my sadly, putting a hand under my chin, "I can never go home..." she said sadly before giving me a light shove. I gave a loud, startled noise as I fell off the bridge and into the water. The water was freezing. I distantly heard Sam yelling for Dean and I as I went under water. One thing Dean didn't teach me, was how to swim...

I woke up in a hotel room, it smelled like old McDonalds though... I made a small groaning noise and sat up, rubbing my head. "Easy Chris," it sounded like Sam. There was a hand on my back, helping me sit up. "Do you want some water?" Yeah, that was Sam. I shook my head and looked around, there was a wall covered in newspaper clippings, pictures, missing posters, and paragraphs. The curtains were drawn and the lights were off, but I could hear the shower running. I also noticed that I was dry and clean, I thought I fell in the water? "You did, Dean washed you off." Oh, I must've said that aloud... The shower cut off and after two minutes of Sam questioning me, he started checking voicemails on his phone. A few minutes later, Dean walked out of the bathroom pulling on his leather jacket. "Hey man, I'm starving. I'm gonna grab something to eat at that diner down the street, you want anything?" Sam shook his head as he listened to another voicemail, "No." Dean turned at the door, "Aframian's buying," Dean tried to convince. Sam just hummed in acknowledgment. Dean turned to look at me, "You want to go short stuff?" I nodded my head and held up my arms. Dean rolled his eyes, but came and picked me up anyway. Dean opened the door and walked out, Dean got halfway to his car when I noticed the officers. An old man pointed at us and the two officers started heading this way. "Dean, five-oh," I whispered to him, he froze and turned to see the two before digging his phone out of his pocket. He called Sam, "Dude five-oh take off." I didn't hear Sam's reply, but Dean added, "They kinda spotted us. Go find Dad," before he turned to see the officers. "Problem officers?" I heard one of their loud jackets shift, "Where's your partner?" I knew Dean could be a convincing liar, but he was a bad one when he said, "Partner, w-what partner?" I internally facepalmed. I saw one of the officers heading to the motel room that Dean and I'd just come out of. "Fake U.S. marshalls, fake credit cards, you got anything that's real?" The black officer asked as Dean put me down next to him. Dean smirked, "My boobs." Before giving a cheesy smile. The officer then proceeded to slam Dean on the hood of our car, "You have the right to remain silent..." And with that, Dean and I were placed into the back of a police cruiser. That was the first time I found myself in the back of a police cruiser...

When we arrived at the station, Dean was taken to an interrogation room and I was placed in a different one with a younger, nicer looking officer. "Hey there, do you want to tell me your name?" he asked as he sat at the table, I was in another chair across from him. I shook my head, "D told me not to talk to strangers." I told him matter of factly. "My name's Officer Bradley, I'm not that much of a stranger now am I?" I hummed as if thinking about it, "Still a stranger. You could be lying." I told him smartly, he frowned. I don't think he thought I'd be this sassy. He dug into his pocket and took out his wallet, getting his drivers license and showing it to me, "Jeremy Bradley, see? I'm not lying. Why don't you tell me your name?" It wasn't hard to make one up, "I'm Dani Willow." I told him, he quickly wrote it down in a little notepad. "How do you know the man in the other room? Did he kidnap you?" he asked, I shook my head, "He's my brother. His name's Dean Willow." Bradley quickly wrote that down as well, "Do you know who his friend is?" I giggled, "D doesn't have friends." I told him, it was mostly true. No friends that we kept in contact with anyway. Bradley frowned, "There's no need to lie, Dani, this is a safe place..." He tried to tell me, I continued to tell him, "Dean doesn't have friends," I insisted on it. Eventually, he turned to bribery, "If I go get you some food, will you tell me who Dean's friend is?" I nodded my head, free food. Yes. Jeremy seemed a little excited now, "What can I get for you?" he asked, he sounded like the waiter from yesterday, "Chicken nuggets." I told him shortly and seriously. He wrote it down and stood up, "I'll be right back with you some chicken nuggets okay? Do you want anything to drink?" I nodded. "H2O," I told him as I brought my legs onto the chair to sit criss-cross. The officer quickly left the room to get my food, I had a feeling it wouldn't take long.

I was correct, it took him less than ten minutes. He walked into the room carrying a little cardboard box happy meal from McDonald's. He placed it on the table, pushing it a little closer towards me, and put a water bottle next to it. "Thank you," I told him as I opened the box. I made a squeaking noise as I took out a little stuffed gray cat, which was the toy the meal came with. I was delighted, I'd never had a stuffed animal before... "You like the cat?" Jeremy asked, a little incredulous at the cat's enormous eyes. I hugged it, "I love the cat." I told him. I put the cat on my lap before digging into the rest of the happy meal, starting with the fries. After I'd finished the meal, I took a few sips of the water and closed it. I put my cat on the table, facing Jeremy. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with the cat. He opened his mouth to say something, but another officer barged in, "Shooting reported on Whiteford Road, sheriff wants all units." Jeremy stood up, "I'll be back in a little while okay Dani?" I nodded my head and picked up my cat, I'd named it Sylvester. Not even five minutes after the officer had left, Dean walked in the door, "Come on short stack," I got up, making sure to take the cat with me, and followed Dean to the roof. He climbed down a ladder and jumped the last three or four feet, he caught me when I jumped down from the ladder. Dean jogged over to the nearest payphone and put in Sam's number. "What's with the cat?" he asked, seeing Sylvester. "He came in my happy meal I got the cop to get me." I told Dean, he patted my head, "Atta girl Chris." I smiled up at him. "Fake 911 phone call Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal," Dean said into the payphone. I tucked myself next to Dean, "Listen, we gotta talk," Dean waited a few moments, "Sammy would you shut up for a second? Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone, Dad left Jericho." A few seconds later, Dean brought Dad's journal up to his face, "I've got his journal... Well, he did this time... Same old ex-Marine crap when he wants to let us know where he's going... I'm not sure yet... Sam? Sam? Sam!" Dean slammed the payphone on the box. "We're stealing a car," he told me while darting over to one. The lock was an easy pick, Dean hopped in, I followed. He quickly hotwired it before taking off out of its parking space and off we went to find Sam.

Around ten minutes later, Dean stopped in front of an old, abandoned looking house. Dean's car was in front of it. Dean jumped out of the car, taking a gun out of his waistband, and shooting into the driverside window. I jumped out and went to Dean's side, the woman who pushed me off the bridge was in the car. I heard Sam snap, "I'm taking you home," before Dean's car lurched forward. "Sam!" Dean yelled as his car rammed into the front of the house. Dean ran after the car, I followed him. I was still holding Sylvester. Dean pulled Sam out of the car, he was holding his chest where there were five holes in his shirt layers. I wasn't really paying attention to them though, I was staring at the woman who'd shoved me off the bridge. She was staring at a photo of two kids. She threw the photo on the ground, looking upset. A dresser slammed into Sam and Dean, pinning them to a wall. I was still frozen, she turned to me and raised her hand like she was about to do something. But a noise came from upstairs. It distracted her, seeing as how she appeared in front of the stairwell. "You've come home to us mommy." I heard two children's voices say together. Not even a moment later, the two were behind her. She turned to face them and they hugged her waist. She screamed, loudly. Like they were killing her, but it looked like they were seeing as how she sunk into the floor into what looked like a portal. I was never going to unsee that, was my only thought as Sam and Dean shoved the dresser away from themselves. Dean ran over and picked me up before the two walked over to the water puddle where the ghost and two children had been. "This must be where she drowned her kids. This must've been why she couldn't go home. She was too scared to face them..." Sam concluded, Dean looked at Sam, "You found her weak spot, nice work Sammy." he said patting Sam on the chest. Sam gave a pained groan, "I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face you freak?" Dean pointed at Sam, "Hey, saved your ass," That was before he turned towards his car, "I'll tell you another thing, if you screwed up my car," Dean said while he was bent over looking at it. Dean turned to look at Sam, "I'll kill you." Sam laughed before we all got in the car, I climbed in the back with Sylvester and picked my blanket off the floorboard. Sam turned to look into the back as Dean pulled out of the house and onto the road, "Where'd you get the cat?" he asked, looking confused. "I got one of the cops to get me food and he brought the cat with it. I named him Sylvester." I told Sam holding up the cat for him to see better. I yawned a few seconds afterward though, "Get some sleep short stack," I nodded my head, curling up in a ball under the blanket clinging to Sylvester.

I woke up from one of my naps the next day when Dean stopped in front of where Sam lived. I felt sad though, I didn't want Sam to leave. Dean and I watched Sam walk into the building, Dean and I watched where he'd disappeared for a few moments, before Dean turned the car around to leave. We only made it a few seconds up the road before Dean turned around, "I have a bad feeling," he told me to answer my unasked question. When we got back, there was smoke coming from the window of one of the apartments. Dean jumped out of the car telling me, "Stay here!" and ran inside. He came out a few minutes later practically dragging Sam out. Sam was trying to get back into the building though, he was yelling for Jess... I got out of the car, leaving Sylvester on my blanket, and ran up to Sam. Hugging his leg since it was the only thing I could reach. The fire department showed up not long after, Sam had stood in shock for almost ten minutes. He hadn't moved or talked for those ten minutes. Dean ran over to the cops who were closing off the area, that's when Sam started to move again. He unlocked the back of the Impala, opening the secret compartment, and started to take apart one of the sawed-off shotguns. He finished putting it back together when Dean came back, "We have work to do." Sam said in a final sounding tone as he tossed the shotgun back. He slammed the trunk of the impala shut and we loaded into the Impala and took off.

(Picture is Sylvester)