Babysitting - A Dean Winchester Love Story

Chapter 9

After the drama involving the Alpha, Sam and Dean thought it best for Cora to accompany them with their next case; this was simply a precaution to keep Cora safe from any rogue werewolves. Bobby had returned to his house in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as he was the 'go-to man' for a lot of other hunters besides the Winchesters.

The Chevy's engine muffled the tune of Led Zeppelin's Ramble On slightly, as Dean drove Sam and Cora to Burr Oak, Michigan. Sam had found the case whilst they were stopped off at an off-road cafe; 11 people had been found hanged in the same hotel room, wearing the same (gender appropriate) clothes - a brown polo shirt, black formal trousers, and black leather shoes. They had used a noose. It had become apparent that none of the victims knew each other, yet they walked the exact same route on the day they died.
The car came to a stop as Dean pulled into The Red Lodge Motel's car park. Walking into the room, Cora noticed that there weren't enough beds for all 3 of them, "What are we doing about the sleeping arrangements?"

"Oh don't worry, honey," Dean came up behind her and placed his duffel bag on the table in front of her whilst placing his free hand on her hip, "We can share."

"Actually, I think I'll take the sofa."

"Sofa?"

"She means couch, Dean."

"Shut up. I know what it means." Dean said, childishly. "So Sammy, give us the low down on the latest victim."

Sam picked up the file on the latest victim - he, too, had been found in the same room in Hotel Acropolis, hanged with a noose. "Well, the local cops think it's a string of suicides because there were no signs of a struggle which they think means no murderer. So I think we should head out to the coroner's office to see what's up."

A 30 minute drive later, the trio arrived at the coroner's office. When the car had stopped, Cora practically jumped out; she felt like she was going to lose her mind if she heard Sam and Dean have another pointless argument about Cas's whereabouts - ever since the run-in with the Alpha, Cas hadn't been responding to any of Dean's prayers...he just vanished.

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Francis and these are my colleagues, Special Agent Conrad and Johnson." Sam said as he, Dean and Cora revealed their ID badges to the coroner, "We're here about the Donaghue case."

"Yes, but...uh - I apologise Special Agent Johnson, but you look rather young to be a part of the FBI," the coroner stated, cautiously.

"I'm a transfer from Scotland Yard; they hire young over there," Cora chuckled lightly as she glanced at Dean to change the subject from her youthfulness.

Understanding her wish, Dean said, "So the body..."

"Ah, yes. Well the cause of death was strangulation," the coroner pointed at the deep purple mark that striped the victim's neck. "Now you'll notice these red speckles of blood inter grated on the edge of the bruise. I ran some tests and it turns out, it's not the vic's blood."

All three hunters exchanged confused, yet concerned glances, "What do you mean it's not the vic's blood?" Dean asked.

"Exactly that: it's not the vic's blood. And, you'll never guess who's blood it is..." The coroner eyed the three detecitves, hoping for a response. When he received none, he continued with his conclusion, "It was Amber Stevenson's blood, you know, the woman who died before him. It can't be a coincidence that he has the blood of a dead girl on his neck."

Thanking him for his help, Sam, Dean and Cora left the coroner's office and were silent until they were back in the moderately, safe hotel.

"So let me get this straight," Cora said as she stood broadly in the middle of the room. "Donague kills himself with a noose, in a hotel room; he winds up with Stevenson's blood on his neck, and they were found in the same hotel room...both hanged. Guys, this is definitely our kind of weird." Nodding silently, Sam walked over to his laptop.

"So what are we dealing with?" Dean asked, "A demon? A cursed object? What?"

"Maybe a cursed object; maybe the noose is cursed?"

"And how'd you get to that conclusion, Sam?" Cora asked the overgrown man who was currently engrossed with his laptop.

"Just a guess."

"This isn't one of your weird psychic things, is it?"

Remembering that Cora thought that Sam had psychic abilities, Dean decided to set the record straight, "Sammy isn't psychic; it was a strange part of his life but he's over it now."

"Oh, I'm sorry...my mistake. But seriously Sam, how did you come up with that?"

"I remember my dad telling me about this case from the 80s where there was this cursed necklace that would strangle its owner. Each time someone died, someone else bought the necklace and also got strangled. Like here, the previous victim's blood would be found on the new vic's wound - so I was thinking: maybe the noose is cursed."

"That all sounds fine and dandy," Dean interjected. "But who would go out and buy a freaking noose?"

Staring at him with a patronising look covering her face, Cora stated, "Obviously no one would, idiot." She turned to face Sam once more, "You mentioned something about their route, that day?"

"Yeah: they walked the same route the day they died. What if that's where they come across the noose? What if the route they walked had a direct effect on them?"