Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Seventy-Eight - Witch Wasters

"Wow. Okay, for starters," Sam began - his first words in fifteen minutes. "Not a spell. More like an Aramaic curse."
"What?" Eden frowned. "Let me see that."
She moved over to the table, taking the piece of paper Sam held out to her.
"Yes, this is a Kiss of Death. It's specifics, however, are always unique to the Witch who makes it - in this case, your hairdresser." She explained.
"That'll be why I found no lore on it." Sam nodded.
"Yeah, but the result is always the same. It takes the form of whoever you're in love with. One kiss from them doesn't kill the curse, it simply passes it along." Eden continued.
"Alright, so what do we know?" Dean put down the beer bottle in his hand as he sat down at the table. "You kiss someone and then they die."
"But... You didn't kiss Stacey, the babysitter." Sam looked to Melissa, who was sat in a chair half way into the room now.
"No, of course not." Melissa replied.
"No, but, Dan did." Dean interjected.
"So, the kiss is transmittable like Eden said. What she's talking about is definitely what we're talking about, yeah?" Sam nodded.
"Like a magic STD." Dean smirked. "Okay, yeah, that works. Kinda makes you nostalgic for good old fashioned herpes..."
"Gross." Eden scrunched up her nose.
"Oh God..." Melissa breathed. "I killed Dan and Stacey..."
"You didn't kill anyone." Sam told her, putting a hand out in her direction. "This is all on that Witch."
"Riddle me this," Dean frowned in thought. "Why did Stacey die first if she was kissed second?"
"I don't know. Maybe you're safe if you can pass the curse on." Sam replied in a questioning tone.
"That sounds about right, to be honest. These types of Aramaic spells are tricky little buggers." Eden shrugged.
"And then if that person dies, it comes back to you." Dean added, earning a confirming nod from Eden.
"That would make sense. That would explain why this is working its way back to Melissa." Sam pointed a thumb in her direction.
"I'm sorry, I'm confused." Melissa frowned.
"Yeah, 'cause its freaking confusing." Dean retorted. "The long and short, it seems like a game of hot potato - you gotta keep paying it forward. If you don't you die. That sound about right to you, Eden?"
"That's about the jist of it, yes." She nodded.
"Melissa, this curse started with you." Sam told the woman. "I think it wants to end with you."
Melissa's lips parted in shock.
"Don't worry. We're not gunna let that happen." Dean gave her a reassuring smile as something behind her caught his eye.
The window to the motel patio at the back of the room smashed through, revealing Melissa's husband; Dan.
Sam moved to take him on, but he threw his arm up, smacking Sam so hard, it threw him across the room towards the bathroom door.
Dean let off a few gunshots at Dan, making Melissa scream out from behind the older brother.
It did absolutely nothing but knock him back a few paces.
Eden was about to have her turn, but Dean turned and kissed Melissa.
"You bloody idiot, what did you do that for?" Eden snapped.
"I was protecting Melissa. If it makes you feel better, protect me!" Dean retorted as 'Dan' looked to him with murderous eyes.
Before the Angel of Darkness could do anything, Sam grabbed a chair and swung it straight in 'Dan's' face, knocking him to the floor.
"Come on, let's go." Dean instructed, moving Melissa out of the motel room door.
They practically wheel-spun out of the parking lot in the Impala just as the fake Dan got up and changed form.

"Well, I'd say that went pretty well. What do you think?" Dean groaned, getting out of the car.
"I think you're a bloody idiot." Eden growled.
"Yeah, you mentioned." The older brother retorted.
"You think it's a good idea to give yourself a fatal curse?" Sam added as they went to the trunk of the Impala.
"Well, target's off her back, ain't it?" Dean shrugged as he put his jacket on.
"I'm just saying, you don't have to do this - be the Guinea pig." Sam huffed.
"What?"
"The martyr. Try and carry the weight by yourself. Doing this." Sam raised his voice.
"I'm gunna be fine, okay? And as long as I'm good, she's good and that's the important thing." The older brother said.
"If we were passing it off on anyone, it should've been me. I'm the most invulnerable here." Eden sighed.
"Well, feel free to pucker up, not-so-Vampy Pants." Dean replied as he leaned down to load up their guns.
"Dude..." Sam protested.
"What? If she's offering to be the more durable Guinea pig, then fine by me."
"How long do you think we have?" The younger brother asked.
"I don't know, it's not like this thing is exactly following a pattern. I don't even know what I'm looking for, here." The older scoffed, motioning to the trunk.
"Eden, any ideas?" Sam asked.
"I smite it." She shrugged.
"Would that work?" Dean frowned.
"No idea, but wouldn't it be fun to try?" She smirked.
"What... Was that?!" Melissa exclaimed, finally pulling herself together enough to actually exit the car.
"Oh, yes, I forgot you were here." Eden knitted her eyebrows together.
"Empathy, Eden." Sam mumbled.
"Sorry..."
"Um... We think it was something called a Shapeshifter, but it can't be because I pumped the thing full of silver and it didn't even flinch." Dean explained.
Melissa was barely listening, she was staring in mild horror at what was in the Impala's trunk.
"What kind of FBI Agents are you?" She asked.
"The fake kind." Dean sighed, closing the trunk up as Sam expressed his disapproval of his brother's bluntness.
"We're Hunters." The younger brother told her.
"Hunters?" Melissa's brows raised.
"Look, all you need to know is that we save people like you from things like that." Dean explained.
"Even if it's not a Shapeshifter, it's still shifting shapes." Sam added. "Look, if we figure out what it is, we can find out how to kill it."
"Alright, what do you know about the White Witch?" Dean asked.
"Um... Not much." Melissa shook her head. "Her name is Sonya, she's kind of weird... I don't know, she's only been my hairdresser for a couple of months."
"You know where she lives?" The older brother pressed.
"Not a clue."
"Where did she give you the spell?" Sam frowned.
"In the basement of her salon." Melissa answered.
"Well, that's not sketchy at all..." Eden mumbled, walking back over to the passenger's side back seat of the car.