The Good Life (Book 11, The Life Series, Supernatural)

Family Feud

Amara and I were in the bunker's library at the tables. Amara was playing with Aiden while I was on my computer.

Sam and Dean walked in.

Dean was on the phone. "Okay, well, stay on it. You get any leads, you let us know, and we'll keep working it from our end. Thanks, Cas." He hung up. "So, Kelly Kline is in the wind. No trace."

"Great," Amara told us sarcastically. 

"No idea when Lucifer's kid is gonna pop, if it hasn't already," Sam told us.

"So basically, we got nothing," I told them.

"Basically," Amara answered.

"All right, well, we do have this other thing," I told them.

"What other thing?" Dean asked.

"Check it out," I told them. "Museum in Des Moines, Iowa. A guy's body was found in the parking lot. A teacher. His tongue had been ripped out."

"Well, that didn't kill him," Amara told us.

"No, but having his internal organs crushed did," I told them. "Uh, no obvious damage to the torso, no point of entry."

"You thinking witch?" Dean asked.

"Maybe," I answered. "I mean, he was seen alive just a couple hours earlier, leading a student tour of the museum."

Sam looked thoughtful. "Hmm. Haven't seen Mom in a while. Maybe she'll wanna work with us on this."

"Leaving me and my mom to stay here with Aiden, right?" Amara asked.

"What, you weren't exhausted enough from tangling with a prince of Hell?" Dean asked.

Amara shrugged. "I'm restless."

"More like sublimating," I told her. "Hunting to distract yourself from the thoughts that go through your head all day every day. But it's okay. We've all been there."

Sam nodded expressively in agreement. "Oh, yeah."

Amara sighed, looking sheepish and awkward because we knew one of the biggest reasons she wanted to hunt so bad.

"Listen, it's not a bad thing to throw yourself into hunting unless you get too reckless and get yourself hurt or worse, Mar," Dean told her. "But it's a good thing to take a break once and a while and think about why you're doing the things you're doing."

Amara sighed in understanding, nodding in agreement.

    ***********    

Sam and Dean were packing up, getting ready to leave, while Amara was holding Aiden at the table.

I was reading from my laptop. "Get this. It looks like there was another murder. It's just like the one you're checking up on."

"Iowa?" Amara asked.

"No, Andover, Massachusetts," I answered. "Six months ago. A woman. Body was found in the same condition. Looks like she was a teacher, too."

Dean cocked a gun. "Hmm."

"Too bad Mom couldn't make it," Sam told us. He looked at Dean. "You said she was too tired?"

Dean scoffed. "Yeah."

"What?" Amara asked.

"I don't know," Dean told us. "I just--I feel like something's going on with her, and she ain't talking about it."