1 - Unofficial Daughter - A SPN Trilogy

Chapter 1

Bobby Singer was a weathered soul. Despite the neat, crisp suit and slicked back salt and pepper hair - his eyes were sunken, tired and kind all at once.

"Detective Cobain - no relation before ya ask. This the vic?" He artfully presented what appeared to be an impeccably authentic, albeit counterfeit, police ID badge to the officer on scene. The year was 1993 and Bobby had been hired by the Men of Letters to intercept a cohort of supernatural entities who happened to be searching for a powerful key.

His mission—and the elusive entity that employed him—had led him across the ocean to the rugged coastlines of England. Nestled in this remote landscape was a small, rustic town, home to an unassuming house that was far more than it seemed. Bobby's journey, guided by the tracking spell woven into the amulet he'd been given, ended here, at a residence that, at a glance, seemed unassuming - almost quaint, with the vast sea in the backdrop, its walls covered with pebbledash, and a single vase of tulips watching the world from a window. A cobblestone path snaked through a well tended garden. However, the idyllic exterior was betrayed by police tape and a scene inside that spoke of nightmares.

"Yes, female aged 33, goes by the name of Daisy Harold according to the bills on the telephone table. Local woman, moved here with her young kid after she was widowed a few years ago." the police detective gestured his head towards a wicker table further down the hallway with a landline phone, a notepad and pen and a bunch of mail strewn across it. "I'm no coroner but it seems the C.O.D has something to do with her snapped neck. Looks like she put up one hell of a fight beforehand though. The perp must have been pretty strong to pull that off while she was struggling too." He continued, staring down at the woman who was laying lifeless on the hallway rug. Bobby stayed silent for a second, clutching the amulet in his jacket pocket that was growing warmer against his palm and staring at the latest human to fall victim to this scenario. "What we thinkin'? Robbery gone wrong?" He eventually said, his voice gravelly and exhausted. "Yeah, that's the working theory sir. Bit of an odd one though. No sign of forced entry on the door and we've found multiple valuable items that they could have taken too." The policeman ran a hand through his thick auburn hair, hoping he'd shake some useful thoughts loose. "Perhaps they found what they were looking for". Bobby gulped.

The detective got called to another case soon after, leaving Bobby alone in the house. He took the enchanted amulet from his pocket, looking over his shoulder to make sure he was out of sight of the cops guarding the perimeter. It glowed with an intense, warm light. It was designed to activate in the presence of what he was looking for, but surely a group of supes would be capable of finding it? "Damn things broken" he muttered, stuffing it back in his pocket as he walked towards the staircase. Just as he was about to ascend, something on the telephone table caught his eye. Such a small thing it might have been nothing. The lid was off the pen.

Driven by a hunch, Bobby skimmed a pencil across the notepad, revealing a sequence of symbols embossed on the paper, symbols that stirred a vague recognition. He stopped to gather his thoughts before one hit him like a truck. "Cloaking spell. Guess that damn useless seminar wasn't as useless after all", he thought out loud in a hushed tone. As if finding an unknown key in a house wasn't tricky enough, finding one enchanted with a cloaking spell would be damn near impossible.

"Remember, a simple cloaking spell can powerfully alter our perception. It's not an erasure spell, that's the beauty of it. The object still exists in plain sight, the enchantment simply repels our attention away from it. Nothing to see here!" ...Flashbacks of the "damn useless seminar" Bobby had been forced to attend two summers ago by the Men of Letters were echoing in his head. They were a huge agency, employing hunters globally to combat the issue of rogue Supernatural beings that were a threat to humankind. Hunters were paid a salary, given training, tools and resources to tackle cases head on. They were recruited for cases by supervisors. Bobby had been recruited 7 months previously, when the demon clan in question began their search around his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He never imagined it would spiral how it had and that he'd end up on a plane to England chasing this case.

He finally walked upstairs, trying to keep himself hyper-aware of the cloaking spell so he could figure out what was being hidden. But no amount of hunter training would prepare him for what he was about to find...