Reckless and Brave

LXXI. (71) Blue Collar Man (Part I)

[The Monster at the End of This Book]

The siblings entered a comic book store. The boys were in suits and long black coats, while Holly was in a black dress and a long black female coat. The man behind the counter looked up as they pulled out their FBI badges.

"Uh...can I help you?"

Dean gave him a nod. "Sure hope so. Agents DeYoung, Shaw, and Gowen. Just need to ask you a few questions."

"Notice anything strange in the building, last couple of days?" Sam asked.

"Like what?" The man questioned.

"Well, some other tenants reported flickering lights." Holly said.

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"

"Any noises? Skittering in the walls? Kind of like the sound of rats?"

The man stared at them skeptically as Sam asked, "What about cold spots? Feel any sudden drops in temperature?"

The man grinned. "I knew it! You guys are LARPing, aren't you?"

Dean frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You're fans."

"Fans of what?" Sam questioned.

"What is "LARPing"?" Dean added.

"Sir, we're not--" Holly began.

"Like you don't know." The man said, noticing their confused looks. "Live-Action-Role-Play! And pretty hardcore, too."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're asking questions like the building's haunted. Like those guys and girl from the books. What are they called? Uh... "Supernatural". Two guys and one girl, use fake IDs with rock aliases, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. What are their names? Uh...Steve, Dirk, and Haile? Uh, Sal, Dane, and Hope?"

"Sam, Dean, and Holly?" Sam questioned.

"That's it!"

Holly raised an eyebrow. "You're saying this is a book?"

"Books. It was a series. Didn't sell a lot of copies, though. Kind of had more of an underground cult following." He walked over to the bargain bin, the siblings following. "Let's see. Um...Ah. Yeah." He handed Dean a book. "That's the first one, I think."

Dean read the book's cover. ""Supernatural" by Carver Edlund." He flipped the book over. ""Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious woman in white lures men to their deaths.""

Sam grabbed the book. "Give me that."

Holly looked up at the man. "We're gonna need all the copies of "Supernatural" you've got."

They got the books and made their way to a motel. They spread the books out across a bed. Dean was reclining on the bed, flipping through a book and frowned. Holly was looking through the book covers. Sam was seated by the window on his laptop.

"This is freakin' insane." Dean said. "How's this guy know all this stuff?"

Sam shrugged. "You got me."

Dean got up and walked over to Sam. "How come we've never heard of them before?"

"They're pretty obscure. I mean, almost zero circulation. Uh, started in '05. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And, uh, the last one--"No Rest For the Wicked"--" He turned the laptop to Dean and Holly. "Ends with you going to Hell and Holly going to Heaven."