The black Impale sped back to the dorm room at Stanford. Sam and Dean exchanged a look before Sam finally said something.
"I still think this is a bad idea. I mean...Demons lie, right? That's who they are. He's probably lying about Jess too."
"Maybe," Dean wasn't as trusting, "but are you really willing to take the chances? She may be possessed by a Demon right now. Hell, she might have been possessed the entire time she was with us! Have you tested her?"
"No…"
"Exactly my point. Let's hope it's not too late to do that now."
Dean silently poured some liquid from a metal container into a plastic bottle.
Holy Water. Created by blessing a source of water with a rosary in hand. Holy Water could burn Demons, but its most popular purpose was testing to see if humans were possessed. Any human with a Demon inside would be burned by this seemingly innocent liquid.
Sam sighed. Jessica has made it very clear that she wanted the Winchesters to stay away, and who could blame her? He was the one that confronted her first, but now, the situation has forced him to go back to her.
He just hoped Jess wouldn't be too mad at him.
The Winchesters got off the car and walked to the second floor. Dean gave the door a couple of knocks.
No answer.
Dean turned back to Sam. His suspicion doubling.
"Didn't she say she was coming back to school?"
"She said she needed some time off." Sam protested. "For all we know, she may be touring the world right now."
"I really hope that's true, Sammy." Dean replied quietly. "Because the alternate possibilities aren't looking well."
Sam gave Dean a threatening glare before taking out his own key and opening the door. He made a quick search of the room. No one was inside. Fortunately, there wasn't any sign of struggle or forced entry, but there was no Jessica Moore in the room.
He turned back to Dean.
"Call around. She may be in trouble."
Dean nodded and started contacting all the hunters he knew.
Toledo, Ohio.
"His eyes are liquified. His brain is filled with blood. That's a bad way to go."
The coroner's office attendant looked at the blonde girl beside him, hoping to see her faint or something.
He had to admit when this girl came to him and straight up asked to see the body of Steven Shoemaker, he wasn't quite content with letting that happen. What changed his mind? Well, everyone has a price. For the attendant, that was two hundred dollar bills.
Jessica had to disappoint him, because before she could feel any discomfort, Killian has taken over. In Jessica's body, Killian knelt down and examined the two empty eye sockets so close he was almost touching them.
"Are you sure the eyes are liquified? Not removed?"
"Yeah, well, that's what the initial examination said." The attendant gulped.
Killian nodded. He was just checking. "Thanks." He turned back to the attendant, tapped his shoulder, and then left.
It has been a full day since he formed the Crimson Net. After sending the four women on their way, each with their own mission, he followed Jessica through supernatural cases. Eventually, they stumbled their way here.
Steven Shoemaker. Widower with two girls. Donna and Lily. Donna, the older daughter, was the one who walked into a room and found his father dead on the ground.
Jessica immediately decided this was her type of case and came over.
Killian followed. Partially because he felt like he owed Jessica, but also partially because he was looking to add more to his stack of cards.
Demons were powerful, but to guide them down the intended path, Killian needed leverage. He needed people to do his bidding that he could trust. The Crimson Net served that purpose. Every member had his or her life in Killian's hands. With Killian's gift, their power exceeded most supernatural being in this world.
But there was only so much power Killian could give out, and in the World of Supernatural, he would be a fool not to incorporate the locals into his ranks. Granted, most forces of justice wouldn't find in their lines monsters and ghosts, but since he started his quest in this world, Killian knew he would never lead a force of justice.
The creature from Black Water Ridge would be a good cannon fodder if he could produce them in mass, but he didn't quite know how. Pass for now.
The water ghost. At first, an entity with the power to kill with the natural elements of the world seemed quite tempting, but it didn't take Killian long to realize such a creature would take a very specific situation and, more importantly, a lot of time to be ready. Vengeful spirits weren't exactly obedient either. Pass for now.
This case seemed promising. Something melted the eyes of a grown man without him letting out the slightest sound. He could use such a silent killer.
Of course, Jessica didn't need to know that. As far as she knew, Killian was just doing his job as a guardian. He preferred to keep it that way.
"Find anything?" Jessica asked.
"Nope."
"Then we should go visit the Shoemaker house." Jessica replied. "Look around. Talk to the witnesses. Find out what might have killed him and put that thing down forever."
"Agreed."
Jessica went back to her car. It was a rental car that she purchased after deciding that walking from case to case simply wasn't realistic. The car was a black Toyota. Cost her 80 bucks a day.
The Shoemaker house was in mourning. When Jessica's car stopped in front of the front, she realized she wasn't the only guest here. At least half a dozen cars were parked outside on the road and in the driveway. Families with men and women in black suits dragging their children along walked through the backyard and the house, quietly talking to each other.
Jessica walked into the house. It didn't take her long to find a group of girls. The visitors occasionally stopped in front of the girls and told them how sorry they were about the loss. Jessica slowly approached them before giving voice to a well-crafted lie.
"Who among you is Donna Shoemaker?"
"Yeah. I am." A short woman replied, looking up at Jessica. "How may I help you?" Despite grieving, she tried to be as polite as possible.
"My name is Jessica Moore." Jessica said quietly. "Can I talk to you in private?"
"I don't think she wants to talk to you now." A blonde girl beside Donna defended her.
"I fully understand." Jessica pushed on. "But do you really think this is a stroke?" She referred to what happened to Donna's father.
"I'm no doctor but I've seen enough bodies to know a stroke doesn't do that." Killian commented quietly inside Jessica's head.
"Shush!" That was Jessica's only response. Can't you tell I'm leading the girls in? If I thought it was a stroke I wouldn't be here! Do I look like a doctor to you?
"It's not a stroke!" Before Donna could say anything, a shorter girl on the side, cut in. "Dad's dead because of me! I said it! It happened because of me!"
She was Lily, Donna's younger sister.
"Sweetie, it's not your fault!" Donna comforted her sister before snapping back to Jessica. "Who even are you?"
"Hmmm…" Jessica froze before coming up with a shady answer. "I'm a private investigator." She took out a piece of paper and flashed it in front of the girls so quickly none of them saw its content. Good. That was exactly what she wanted. "What did you say? Lily, right?" She wisely switched the topic.
"Bloody Mary. Three times in the bathroom mirror." Lily answered. "She took his eyes. That's what she does!"
Jessica nodded slowly. She has heard of the horror story. Basically, individuals could invoke her name in front of a mirror to summon her. When Bloody Mary appears, she could either be friendly or evil. If things went wrong, Bloody Mary would do a lot of things to those that summoned her, including scratching their eyes out.
"Can Bloody Mary be real?" Jessica turned to her friend.
"I wouldn't be surprised. This world is a weird one. An evil woman spirit that scratches eyes out is the least of my concerns." Killian tossed his arms up.
"I see," Jessica turned back to Donna. "Do you mind taking me to the room. You know, where everything happened?"
That was the last straw.
"Wait? Are you seriously believing this? Bloody Mary?" Donna raised her voice. "Look, I don't know who you are and I don't care! Get out of this house! You are not welcomed here!"
A few guests turned their gaze over, and Donna lowered her voice, slightly embarrassed.
"Well if you don't believe it's a thing, then what's the harm in taking us there? It never hurts to be sure." Jessica retaliated, unfazed.
"This is ridiculous…" Donna was about to say something when one of her friends cut in.
"Actually," The girl cut Donna off. "I can take her there. I mean...if nothing else, it can make her stop bothering us."
Donna sighed. "Fine, Charlie, but after that, she's leaving!" She turned back to her friends, but not before giving Jessica a threatening glare.
Wow! Careful with the attitudes! I'm trying to save you!
Jessica was a bit annoyed, but she did understand where Donna was coming from. After all, if she didn't know any better, someone who came to her the day after a member of her family died and declaring it murder by ghosts, she would call the police.
The other girl, Charlie, led Jessica into the house. As they walked, Charlie started talking.
"So, what exactly do you do? I mean...you're a private investigator but you're asking about ghosts."
"You think I'm a fraud, don't you?" Jessica sighed. "Look, I know you're not gonna believe anything I say unless you see things for yourself, which is exactly what I'm going to show you."
"Show me what?"
"Show you ghosts and how I hunt them down."
"Wait…" Charlie suddenly grinned. "assuming ghosts are real, which is a big assumption, why are you walking around showing them to people. I mean...shouldn't you be dealing with them in private. To avoid mass panic or something like that?"
"Yeah...about that…" Jessica suddenly looked like she wanted to run away. "Hmmm...you know...my service...it's not free..."
"Wait, what?" Charlie paused.
"I charge a fee for helping people. Well, I didn't, but I do now." Jessica was talking faster than she has ever spoken. "Don't worry, it's after the case is solved!"
What? I'm offering a service to people! What's wrong with charging people for that service? If you look at it, hunting ghosts isn't really that different than hunting criminals, and police officers get paid!
Look at the Winchester brothers! They're so cool, right? Driving around and taking out supernatural threats in private and leaving with a few words of gratitude by those they helped, but they are literally living off of credit card fraud! Sometimes, they would even be treated as thieves and get chased off by the people they're trying to help!
It's like they're volunteer hunters! Amateurs! Hunters for free!
As for me, oh no...I'm a professional, and professionals get paid!
Jessica has saved up some money during her college days, but that piggie bank was running dry and there was no way she was living off her parents so she could go around and fight evil. Starting up a goFundMe page didn't sound that wise either, so...paid service it is!
Of course, Jessica would charge people based on what they could afford. She wanted money, but it wasn't like she would watch people die if they couldn't pay.
But that didn't seem to go well for Charlie, because the intrigued smile on her face was now nowhere to be seen.
"Oh...so you're one of those people." She spoke with disgust. "Let me guess. You're gonna take me to the mirror, say something, and then do some special tricks. And then you're going to tell Donna her father's killer has been brought to justice and demand to be paid? Is that it?"
"That's actually a good idea…" Jessica was just wondering if she could do that to a few wealthy families with Killian's power during her downtime. They would be more than happy to pay her! That was when she realized what Charlie was saying. "Wait! No! I swear this is real..."
"Well, this is a mistake!" But Charlie wasn't listening. She declared and turned around, but just as she was about to leave, Jessica grabbed onto her arm, and Charlie immediately realized the girl was stronger than she looked. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break free.
"What do you want!" She turned around to Jessica. Had the fraud being turned to a kidnapping? "Let me go or I'll start screaming right now!"
What the hell? I'm trying to help you! Stop treating me like a criminal!
"Oh god…" Jessica was speechless. All she could do was point at one of the rooms. "that's the room, right?"
"Yes…"
"Ok! Just wait a couple of seconds! I'm going to show you something! After that, if you want to leave, I will!" Jessica let go of Charlie and stepped into the room. Right in front of her was a mirror.
Ha! Foolish mortals...time to show you my true power! And after that, can you pay me like three hundred bucks? This goddess here needs to eat…
"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." Jessica said slowly, with Killian's crimson power cruising all across her body. She felt like she could punch through a wall. "Bloody Mary!"
And then, all of a sudden, the world exploded...nope. Actually, nothing happened.
"Uh…" Jessica felt like her face was on fire. "Bloody Mary?"
Nothing.
"Mary? Mary? Here! Some fresh eyes for you to gouge out!"
Nope.
"Come on! These...these are real mirrors, right? Bloody...wait, is Bloody your real name or is it just an adjective? Anyways, come out here!"
Nice try.
"I don't sense anything." Killian frowned.
Thank you, Killian, very helpful! Now, if you're done stating the obvious, please help me find a way to get out of here without feeling like a total madwoman!
Jessica slowly turned back to Charlie, who was looking at her like she was an idiot. Screw 911 and calling the cops! What's the phone number of the nearest mental hospital?
"Ok…" Jessica said slowly. "I might have made a mistake." She suddenly reached forward and tapped Charlie in the arm. A flicker of red light followed Jessica's finger to Charlie's shoulder. Charlie immediately took a few steps back.
"What was that?"
"A sorry gift." Jessica held her hands out apologetically. "Don't worry. It's not going to cost you anything. Have a good day."
She turned and dashed out of the house with almost supernatural speed. She just passed a tiny fraction of Killian's power into Charlie. It wouldn't make her a god or anything, but it would circulate through her body and, in a year's time, enhance it and get rid of anything malicious like cancer tumors. Not much, but something that made her feel better about being a total fool and disturbing a grieving family for no real reason.
Behind her, Charlie frowned.
This is truly a weird day.
