The Boys are Missing

PROLOGUE

"Ow! Get off me! That isn't a pillow!" Jessica whines and pushes Ruby off her chest.

"Sorry. You're really comfortable though," Ruby says with a sly smile.

"Ugh. Is it morning already?" Bela asks as she begins to move and stretch.

The three young women wearing matching tank tops and shorts are a mess of arms and legs. They untangle themselves and sit up on the single queen sized bed in their dingy motel.

Bela looks the other two women up and down. Morning wasn't a particularly good look for any of them. "What were your names again? Sorry, I was pretty drunk last night."

"I think we all were. That's what happens when you suddenly exist again I guess. Straight for the booze. It's Ruby by-the-way."

Jessica rubs the sides of her head and lets out a soft moan. "Jessica," she says and holds up a hand. "So, it's the same for the two of you then? You both remember dying years ago, and now suddenly, here you are?"

"Here we all are," Bela says in her soft English accent. "Together on a bed in some scumbag motel. This sounds like the beginning of a really bad porno."

"Or cheap slasher flick," laughs Ruby as she stands and pads into the little kitchen. "Coffee all around, girls?"

The other two girls nod their weary heads.

Jessica fiddles with her top and wrinkles her nose. "I wish whoever provided us with these clothes had known my size first. I don't know about you two, but I'm being squished to death in this thing."

Bela slides off the bed and pads toward the bathroom. "You can try mine if you want," she says as she tosses her top out the bathroom door, "but I'm pretty sure they're all the same size."

The sound of shower water mixes with the sound of boiling water as the other two women size each other up from across the room.

"So, how did it happen for you?" Ruby asks.

Jessica lets out a long sigh. "Die, you mean?"

Ruby gives her a nod.

"A guy named Brady. He was actually the one that introduced Sam and I. We didn't know it, but he was actually a stooge working for some big-time demon named Azazel. Anyway, I was stuck to the roof and set on fire. What about you?"

"Sam?" Ruby asks. "As in, Sam Winchester?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

Ruby is silent for a moment. "Oh yes. The Winchesters were the ones that killed me."

"Oh."

The room falls silent as neither woman knows what to say next. The bathroom door opens with a puff of steam. Bela enters with towels wrapped around her body and hair. "All yours, girls. Who's next?"

"Me, me, me," Jessica says, grateful for an exit.

A knock at the door causes the women to freeze. They all exchange looks.

"Are we expecting a visitor?" Jessica asks.

"You know as much as us," Ruby says as she moves to the entrance.

A short, well-dressed man holding several hangers of clothing is revealed. He looks Ruby up and down and gives her a little grin. "Hello, pumpkin."

Ruby scowls at the little man. "Crowley," she hisses. "What do you want?"

He holds up the clothing. "No love, more like... what do YOU need?"

He enters, makes himself a cup of tea and watches as one by one, the women silently shower and change into the clothing he has provided.

Thirty minutes later, the refreshed and fully dressed woman stand before him.

"OK, so who are you anyway?" Jessica asks.

"He's a little twerp that thinks he's hot stuff," Ruby says with a huff.

"That was then, although I think you're being a bit harsh, love," he says with his signature grin. "The name's Crowley. I'm the king of Hell."

"King of Hell?" Bela muses. "You're the one that brought us to life again?"

"In fact, I'm not, actually," he says with raised eyebrows. "I haven't the foggiest who actually did. All I know is the three of you are here for a reason."

"Which is?" Jessica asks.

Crowley smiles and holds up an android tablet. "The boys are missing."