Supernatural: Next Generation

( We could be heroes / Just for one day. )

“That’ll be $110.”

Benjamen Braeden tried not to flinch at the price, reaching into the depths of his jacket to find his worn-out wallet.

“Can I pay half cash, half credit?”

“Yes, sir,” the hotel clerk replied. It was just as well, since he’d only had about $65 in the billfold. He was going to need to find another poker game or pool table in the near future in order to make up the difference. Of course, there had been the option of staying at Kim’s apartment on the couch, but the problem with that was that he wouldn’t be able to spread out like he was prone to do.

Besides, Kim had a new boyfriend, and that would be all kinds of awkward.

His mom would understand the charge on the card. After all, she’d been the one to push it into his hand and tell him to use it if he needed to. It didn’t make the guilt go away, though. Ben hated having to rely on his mother’s help.

Once the exchange of money and services was made, Ben picked up his bag from where he’d rested it at his feet and headed out of the lobby in the direction of his room. He was barely through the doors before he’d started getting to work.

The bare wall just to the left of his single queen bed was quickly filled with taped-up newspaper clippings and computer print-offs, names and key phrases standing out in bright yellow highlighter. Once that was finished, out came the city map. Four separate thumbtacks were pressed into its surface, forming a visible trail in the shape of a crooked J midway through the city. Ben took a few steps back and looked at his work, his hands automatically flipping up his laptop and pressing the ‘on’ switch. He reached for the phone in his pocket with the intent of calling up the police station when it suddenly buzzed in his hand, startling him, the ring-tone picking up after a second or two of delay.

Mama, I'm coming home / Times gone by seems to be / You could have been a better fri--

Ben flipped the phone open and tucked it between his ear and his shoulder.

“Hey, mom.”

( “I thought you were gonna call me when you got into Detroit?” )

***

The laptop screen cast a blue haze that cut through the unlit darkness of the basement office in St. Ireanus Episcopal Church. Claire pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed at the impending headache. She’d meant to run to the corner 7-11 for a package of light bulbs when she discovered the office’s one desk lamp burn-out, three hours ago. Somehow it just kept escaping her attention.

Instead, she’d been focusing on the time-line drafted on her screen, which mapped a string of too-similar instances across the Midwest for the last three years; piece by piece connected after what had been, at that point, a full day of researching. But right now, her eyes were spent. She needed a break.

( Read more... )

***

( Unfortunately, Ben hadn’t been able to afford the pie. )

***

There was a visible stutter through the club as the DJ abruptly went from one song to the next, one nearly a beat slower than the other. The dancing masses didn’t seem to mind, though, bumping and gyrating along with the house music. Though the air conditioner was working hard, spewing frozen sour air out into the room, sweat seemed to dampen every forehead, the air thick with body odor and alcohol.

A young man with brown, sun-kissed hair sat sprawled on a bar stool with a beer in hand. He looked out over the crowd without really seeing, looking half asleep. He seemed to be the only person there who wasn’t at least tapping along to the beat.

Squirming through the crowd, a woman with dyed-blond hair squeezed against the bar next to him. She shot him a wide smile before turning to the bartender and mouthing her order for two beers.

Cocking his head slightly, the man shifted to put two fingers on the table, walking them towards her. When his fingers hit her elbow, he spread them slightly, before humping them against her arm. She looked over at him, then down, then burst out laughing. Grinning, he leaned back against the bar.

( “I’m Jesse.” )

TO BE CONTINUED...