Wanted Souls

Chapter One - Bloody Mary

Dean was sitting at the table of the motel room, looking through one of the books Meredith had set out the afternoon before. There were three books, all handwritten with clippings from published articles and notes. Each one was a bit different. The first one, the bulkiest, was a replica of their dad's. It had descriptions of just about any creature they could think of and how to handle it. The second book was about demons, and it appeared to be notes that Meredith had figured out on her own. The third book was a book of scribble drawings and nonsensical writing paired with news articles and printed photos with no source listed, only locations and times. She hadn't set this one out, but it was sticking out of her duffel and Dean wanted to see what she was hiding.  Beside his hand was a cup of fresh coffee, and across from him was Sam.

Sam, ever since Jess passed, struggled to sleep. And when he did, he was plagued by nightmares. So he decided to study with Dean. It was early in the morning, 2AM. They had set up camp at the motel the afternoon before, somewhere near Lake Erie in Ohio, with the plan of staying for a few days. So they weren't in a rush to rest at that moment.

Meredith, on the other hand, wanted nothing but rest. It concerned the brothers, how exhausted she appeared. How she hid beneath turtle necks and sweaters. How her voice was hoarse. How she tensed up if anyone got near her. How she didn't leave the motel room, not even to get some fresh air or food.

Dean flipped through the third notebook, the nonsensical one. Surely he was missing something, a bit of information that would tie the whole thing together. Part of him suspected that she was working with their Dad, or having some sort of contact with him. And since when did she hunt demons?

On one of the pages, the writing and scribbles made a bit more sense than the others. Glued to the page was a photo taken from a distance, of a woman with black eyes. Written beside was Merihem - October 21st, 2005. South Fork, Colorado. After three days of interrogation, Merihem confessed to stalking for one week. First contact was the 15th in Denver. Did not give a reason. Exorcism was successful. Dean, more confused than before, continued to flip through the pages until he reached the end. In between the cover and the final page was a folded map. He removed it and opened it up on the table.

There were multiple colored dots in different locations across the entire country, marked with little tags with a date written on them, as well as a page number. Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "Sam, did you say the last time Meredith spoke to you, she was in Oregon?"

Sam looked up at his brother, setting down the pen he had been using to copy his sister's notes. "Yeah, at the end of October. Said she was there for Secret Beach. Why?"

Dean sighed and rubbed his forehead with his coarse fingers. "Something's going on...I'm just not sure what. None of this is making sense." He replied, then turned the map for Sam to see. "Each marker has a date and page number. So Nashville, for example. November eighth. Page 37." Dean opened up the third notebook and flipped to page 37. There was a photo of a man, strapped to a chair over a sigil, with black eyes. Dean read the nearly illegible writing out loud. "No name. November eighth, 2005. Nashville, Tennessee. Refused to speak. Exorcism successful."