Deadly

Chapter 9

Sam was kept over night. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay with him, so I, along with the rest of the guys, had to go home. Luke volunteered to spend the night at the apartment with me, and Mason did after I had said yes to Luke. I drove to Peter's place with them, everyone else in Peter's truck. They packed their things quickly and then we drove to my apartment. Luke was still too quiet, still ashamed of what had happened to Sam. Mason asked if he could use my shower when we got to my place, and while he was showering, I tried to comfort Luke.

"It's not your fault." I told him, meaning it.

"You don't understand," he said sadly. "And I wish I didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's some things in this world everyone is better off not knowing, and I am not one of those people."

"What?"

Luke sighed. "Never mind, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, please. Tell me."

Luke bit his lip, playing with his lip ring. "Do you, uh, do you believe in, um, in-"

I recognized the question, and where this was going, and much too loudly I asked, "You're a hunter?"

"Sh!" Luke looked behind him nervously, as if someone were listening who shouldn't have known he was a hunter. "He'll hear you!"

"Who?"

"Mason."

"Mason's a hunter?" What the hell?

"Yeah. Wait, how do you know about hunters? Are you one?"

"No!" I laughed. "But, uh, I don't know. I heard a few coworkers talking about it, but I thought it was a video game or something," I lied. If Luke wasn't supposed to tell anyone and Mason didn't want anyone to know, I doubted Dean would be any different. "They're kind of nerdy, anyway."

"Nope, we're very much real." Luke smiled.

"So what does... hunting have to do with what happened to Sam?"

"He only thinks he saw a spirit. He doesn't know he actually saw one."

"He chased one out of the bar?"

"No, he followed one. He was drunk, and babbling, and most of it didn't make sense, and then he saw it and just got up and walked out."

"But how would he have known what it was?"

Luke shrugged. "Maybe he's just a big believer in those type of things. Or maybe he's a hunter."

"Sam is not a hunter." I laughed.

"Maybe he used to be. If I recall correctly, his brother died on a hunting trip." Luke raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, a hunting and camping trip. He was mauled by a bear."

"Where's the grave?"

"It's-" Where was the grave? "I don't know," I admitted. "But he's not my brother, and Sam doesn't like to talk about it, so why would I know?"

"See, if he really died, Sam would have had him cremated. Salted and burned the bones," Luke explained. The water in the shower was still running, so he became more confident in his speech. "That's a proper burial for hunters. But, that's a big if."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I don't think his brother's dead."

"What the hell, Luke? Why would Sam lie about that? Why would anyone lie about that?"