New Beginnings

Working It Out

From Dean's POV:

I checked the rearview mirror and saw that Maggie was asleep. Man, I wish I knew what was bothering her lately. As Sam said, we've been snapping at each other off and on for the past week or so, but I can't pinpoint any one reason why. I've noticed that she doesn't seem to be eating much lately, and what she does eat, she can't keep down for long. I try to ask her about it, but she insists she's fine and doesn't want to discuss it. She's been sleeping a lot, too, but in our line of work, you sometimes go without sleep a lot when you're on the trail of a monster.

I decided I was going to talk to her about what's been going on, whether she wants to talk or not. I needed to get to get to the bottom of this, and try to repair any damage that may have been done in these last two weeks. We pulled up to the sheriff's station and went in to talk to Donna. She relayed how her niece was on her way back to college, and was supposed to check in when she got there, only she didn't check in. Her roommate hadn't seen her yet, and classes were set to resume tomorrow.

"I hated to call and bother you guys, I just didn't know what else to do," Donna said.

"Hey, Donna, it's okay, that's what friends are for," Maggie assured her. "I'm glad you called, though not for the reason you called," they both chuckled at that.

From Maggie's POV:

As Donna and I walked to her car, she asked me, "Are you feeling okay, Maggie?"

"Donna, I'm fine. I'm just having trouble getting over a stomach bug, that's all," I said.

"Is that really all it is? Because if I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were--" she started.

I turned to face her. "I'm not, Donna. Really, I just confirmed that this morning," I explained. "Let's head out to the last place anyone saw her," I said as we climbed into her cruiser.

We found the spot on the road where her niece's car was last seen which was at a little Mom & Pop gas station next to a bar. I remembered reading about possible vamp's nests near here, so we decided to question some of the locals at the bar. When we went in, I saw a group of three guys quietly drinking, but being very observant of the people in the bar. They're trolling for victims, I thought.

I pulled everyone out of the bar and told them what I'd seen. "Well, if that's the case, we need to draw them out here and get one of them to talk, lead us back to the nest," Dean said. "I'll go," I said, and before anyone could object, I headed back into the bar.

The three vamps were still at the bar, and as soon as I walked by them, I knew I had captured their attention. I found an empty barstool, sat down, and ordered a beer.

"Well, hey, pretty lady. What's a nice girl like you doing in such a dangerous place?" one of them asked.

"What makes you think I'm so nice?" I countered.

"Just a feeling. How'd you like to go back to our house for a real party, sweetheart?" another asked.

"Hmmm. That could be interesting. My car is just out front, shall I drive?" I purred.

"Lead the way, sweet thang," the other one said, practically drooling.

I walked out the door and led them over to where Dean, Sam and Donna were waiting for them. As they walked by, Dean sliced the head off of one, Sam another. For the third one, I injected him with a syringe of dead man's blood, which slowed him down.

When he came to, he saw that we had tied him to a chair. We asked him about Donna's niece, and he eventually admitted that they took her when she went into the bar to ask for directions. We put the vamp in the back seat of Donna's cruiser, and he led us to the house where those in his nest lived. Now that we had the information we needed, I sliced off the vamp's head, killing it.