Roads of Reckoning

Hook Man

Mid March, 2006
I clutch the hot chocolate mug in my hands. I look around me. It's spring but it's a crisp morning. Sam is over at a pay phone and I sit across from Dean. I look over at Sam. I think we've gotten closer? I can't really tell. He's on and off. I still can't get over the way he held my back in Rebecca's town.

He comes back over and sits down next to me. I slide him his coffee.
"You're half caf, double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis." Dean says.
"Bite me." Sam snaps back. I just grin into my drink.
"Anything?" I ask. Sam shakes his head.
"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."
"Sam I'm telling ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." Says Dean. He turns the laptop around. "Check this out. It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."
I read from the article.
"The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road."
"Keep reading."
"Authorities are unable to prove a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible."
I look up at Dean.
"Could be something interesting." He said.
"Or it could be nothing". Sam says. "One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man."
"But what if it is? Dad would check it out."
•———————————————————————•
We pull up outside a frat house. The guys out the front look at the Impala, confused.
"One more time. Why are we here?" I ask as we get out of the car.
"Victim lived here." Dean says as we approach the group of guys. "Nice wheels." Dean says to them. They look at us strangely.
"We're your fraternity brothers, from Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers. Looking for a place to stay."
One of the guys look to me. Oh god.
"Who's the chick?"
Dean looks to me and points to Sam.
"His girlfriend."
I freeze. I feel my checks burn up. Sam looks to me with an apologetic look in his eyes and puts his arm across my shoulders.

Inside the house, we are greeted my who has half painted his body purple.
"Who are you?"
"We're your new roommates." Says Dean. The boy holds the brush out to him.
"Do me a favour, get my back? Big game today."
Dean points the brush at Sam.
"He's the artist. Things he can do with a brush." Mortified, Sam takes up the brush and can.
"So. Murph, is it true?" Dean asks. "We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week."
Murph looks down sadly.
"Yeah."
"What happened?" I ask.
"They're saying some psycho with a knife. Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy."
"Rich, he was with somebody?" Sam asks.
"Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen."
"Who's Lori?"
"Lori's a freshman. She's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's a reverend's daughter."
•———————————————————————•
The door of the church slams behind us as we enter and we all wince as the congregation turns and looks at us. The reverend continues his sermon and we sit on a pew at the back. Everyone bows their head in prayer. Sam elbows Dean, making him do the same.

After the mass we approach Lori.
"Are you Lori?" Sam asks. She nods.
"My name is Sam, this is Demi and my brother Dean. We just transferred here to the university."
"I saw you inside." She says.
"We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..."
"We wanted to say how sorry we are." Dean cuts in.
"I kind of know what you're going through. I saw someone...get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Lori nods and I look up at Sam as the reverend approaches us.
"Dad, this is Sam, Dean and Demi. They're new students." We shake his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon." Dean says.
"Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." Dean chuckles.
Dean walks off with the reverend and Sam and I turn to Lori.
"So tell us, what are the police saying?" We start to walk.
"Well they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"My story. I was so scared, I guess I was seeing things."
"That doesn't mean it wasn't real." Sam says.
•———————————————————————•
"So you believe her?" Dean asks us. We nod.
"Yeah, I think she's hot, too." I roll my eyes.
"No man, there's something in her eyes. And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof. Found the body suspended upside down over the car." Sam says.
"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the~"
"Yeah I know, the Hook Man legend."
"That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man."
"Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began." I say.
"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?"
The librarian places some large boxes in front of us.
"Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851."
We smile in thanks. Dean blows some dust off a box and coughs.
"So this is how you spent four good years of your life?" He asks Sam.
"Welcome to higher education."
I sigh and open up a book.