Shadows cascade over the chilly fall night. She packed her bag again.

Unlike most hunters she avoided the sun light. It was far more terrifying to see children playing at the parks than facing any demon. She knew what larked under the sand. Demons didn’t scare her. They were her salvation. One day they would end her miserable life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He threw has duffle into the car. He had spent the better part of the last six months licking his wounds at Bobby’s. Sam was gone he didn’t want to hunt, not alone.

Word had come down the grapevine that Lola Simpson had disappeared on a hunt with her twin sister. Bobby suggested he go pay his respects to Lily. He was sort of shell shocked. In the last year he had lost Ellen, Jo, Sam, and now Lola. He was tired of burying his friends. He wasn’t going to lose another one.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She pulled her jacket tighter around her body as she hurried to her jeep. She would drive the few hours to Chuck’s Salon. It would be crowded. Hunters young and old would gather around the bar trading war stories. Others, like her, on the brink of giving up sat in the darkness. Their need to be near life overshadowed their need to hide from it.

She slid the truck into the parking space. Grabbing her wallet she made her way into the crowded bar. After placing her order she found a table in the back. She ignored the sympathetic glances they threw her way. Fuck them all. She didn’t care.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 He watched her come in. It was strange seeing her without her sister sashaying behind her.

Conversations stopped when she walked into the bar. He didn’t even need to look up to know it was her. Every man in the room wanted her, they always had. They had also wanted her sister.

Dean shook his head. Lola could start a party like no one else. While Lily sat in the corner doing research, Lola did shots and danced on the bar. She took her time choosing her night’s lover. She had chosen Dean a few times. If he closed his eyes he could still feel her legs wrapped around his hips. Her dark skin made his pale body glow. He tried to shake off the guilt the next morning when he saw Lily bundled up in their jeep against the cold. Money was tight and they couldn’t afford a second room. Dean had offered to pay for one but she always refused.

One time they were on a hunt together. Dean thought he and Sam would pair up with the twins. It was one of the few nights that Lola didn’t drink. Lily was nervous and fidgety. The group decided to split the cost of a room at a good hotel they had double beds and a bar.

Lola refused to leave Lily’s side. She even helped her shower. Dean wanted to get the party started, but Sam reminded him it was the anniversary of their parents’ death. They were 14 Lola snuck out. Lily hid in the closet while the vamps tore them to shreds. They were coming for her when his dad and Bobby burst in.

That night when Lily came out of the shower she looked so broken. Sam thought Dean didn’t understand it. He did know what it felt like to be completely lost in traumatic memories. Lola explained it was nights like those that Lily simply needed to be held.

Lola needed to drink. She left for the night. The brother’s took the space on either side of Lily. She rested her head on Dean’s shoulder. They slept like that until it was time to hunt again. 

Here she was again, without Lola. He grabbed his burger and beer in a few long strides he was at her table. He didn’t ask permission when he sat down. She briefly looked at him with those dead brown eyes. He recognized that look. It rested in his emerald green ones. She had given up.

“Kinda reckless hunting alone.” She quickly ate her meal. Dean waited for her to finish. “It’d be better if you had a partner.”

 She didn’t look up from her book.

“We can share expenses, maybe offer a little bit of comfort, every now and then. I won’t ask you about Lola if you don’t ask me about Sam.” She stared at him for a while before nodding. “Let’s go. I’ve got a job in Albuquerque.”

They walked out together. The hunters’ eyes followed them curiously. Dean went to get the Impala while she talked to some guy. They shook hands. She counted cash, and unloaded a few choice weapons and a large duffle bag.

Dean loaded her things into the trunk.

“How much?” He never took his eyes off of the road.

“Twenty grand for everything.” He looked at her. “Unlike most hunters’ my things are clean and undamaged.”

“We’ll drive to Richmond and then you can sleep.” She leaned back in the seat and watched the mile signs pass. Zeppelin played on the radio. They didn’t talk during the trip. It wasn’t necessary.

“The Cherry Wood Inn is a few miles a head we’ll stay there. My treat.” She muttered. He nodded.

They climbed the stairs to the single room. It was all the inn had left. They had both forgotten it was Valentine’s Day.

Dean liked the room. It was nice. It was clean.

She dropped her bag on the loveseat and took a few things out. He watched her walk into the bathroom. She didn’t close the door when she ran the bath. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched as she took off her clothes.

She and Lola were so different. Lola drank away her misery. Lily lived in hers until it threatened to drown her. She was like his Sammy. He would do better for her.

He slowly undressed. He did what her sister would have done. Dean gently moved her away from the back of the tub and slid in behind her. He settled her body against his. His flaccid penis snuggled into her back.

He had almost lost her tonight. She was another friend ready to give up on the world. He wouldn’t let her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

His phone was ringing. Dean checked the clock. Noon. Who in the hell was calling at noon. Why the hell had he slept til noon? He hadn’t slept that late in years.

“What?” He shifted her off of his arm.

“Well?” Bobby.

“We’re hunting together.” He grated.

“Is that all your doing together?” His voice took on a fatherly tone.

“Bye.” Dean closed the phone.

Maybe he should have done more for her last night. He simply went on instinct. Sammy would get a laugh out of this. Dean Winchester had a naked woman in his arms and he wasn’t trying to get any. He was going soft or maybe he knew he could have it anytime he wanted it.

“Time to go.” He rewrapped his arms around her.

“I don’t travel during the day.” She shifted against him.

“You do now.” Dean swung his naked body out of the bed. “Get dressed. We’ll stop for breakfast.”

“Yes boss.” She grabbed her clothes from the bag and quickly dressed.

Dean grabbed their bags and followed her out of the hotel.

“So what are we hunting?” She fastened her seat belt. He put a folder on the seat.

“There have been eight deaths at the Sandia Bed and Breakfast in the last five years. Couples, supposedly happy, argue then vanish.” She started typing.

“Any deaths before that?”

“Chase and Silvia Tyler, former owners, they argued over duvets then vanished that night.” He raced down the road.

“The first couple, Neil and Patrick, was honeymooning at the bed and breakfast. They argued over wallpaper. No one saw them after that night.” She scanned the articles. Dean liked watching her work. She was fast in making connections. Faster than even Sam. “Five couples. Five years, but no real pattern. There’s a no discernable pattern; different ages, races, and ethnicities. What ghost reacts so violently to an argument?” She jotted down several notes and stared at the page. The few times Dean had worked with her before and knew she just needed silence and time.

Dean stopped at fast food places for their meals. They made it to the B&B in eight hours. He waited in the car while she rented the cabin. She smiled and laughed with the woman at the front desk. She seemed at ease, but Dean knew she was tied up in knots. He put on his best smile. He stepped from the car and pulled her into a tight embrace. Peeking, he saw the desk clerk watching them.

 “Everyone started in cabin twelve, but complained about cold spots in the room after midnight. Get this…” His kissed her. She started to pull from him.

“Shhh,” He trailed kisses down her neck. “Fell that.”

She shivered. Something was there.

“Ohh, baby you feel so good, but we can’t do this here.”  Lily trailed her nails down his neck. It was the hunter’s turn to shiver. He took her in. Harsh breath’s and dilated pupils told him she as effected by the kiss as he was.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat.

“So, it’s half a mile down the road to the left.” She slipped into the car. “Dean?”

He leaned his head against the steering wheel.

“Give me a minute.” He took a couple of deep breaths. His reaction to Lola had never been like this. Lily had him hard without even trying. “We’re going to need to consummate this relationship tonight.”

Dean grabbed their bags and hurried up the stairs. He threw them on the floor inside the cabin. He quickly checked the cabinets and refrigerator; fully stocked like the web site said.

Lily came in with a back pack and another duffle bag. Dean crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. She took out several draft stoppers. She placed them on the window seals and under the door. She took another one into the bathroom.

“Excuse me.” She waited for him to move so she could put the final one on the window behind him. “Pure salt from the dead sea.”

When he didn’t move she leaned into him. Stretching around, she tucked it into the window. Dean spread his hands across her back. He bent his head and kissed her gently. He ran his hands around her body.

Lily cleared her throat. He stared intently at her. She was blushing. Dean knew she wasn’t a virgin. A young hunter, Alfred Wellington, had stopped by Bobby’s for supplies. In the hour it took him to gather the things he needed he had told Dean all about his night with the quiet twin. Douche. Al was distracted that night and a demon finished him by snapping his neck. She hadn’t taken a lover since then. Not that he knew of.

Dean kissed her throat. He maneuvered her back to the bed. She was soft under his callused hands. His hands shook a bit. He pulled at her jeans until he had worked them off of her. Dean kicked off his boots. His jeans joined hers on the floor. 

He spread her legs then sank into her. He groaned against her lips. It had been six months since he had been in anything warm. He liked the fell of her. She was taut he could feel her muscles tighten around his shaft.

He moved like a piston inside of her as he raced to his completion. He tried to force himself to slow down but instinct took over.

“God,” He pushed her knees to her shoulders. His breath came in short bursts. He stiffened and strained until he came inside her. He kissed her cheek. “Damn!”

He rolled off of her. They lay next to each other not touching. Lily sat up in the bed and pulled her jeans back on.

“Where are you going?” He watched her through hooded eyes.

“I still have research.” She unpacked her back pack.

“What no dinner?” Lily had always been the one to cook their dinner when they hunted.

“There’s not much. I’ll need to go to the store. Can I get the keys?” She held out her hand.

“Umm, what do you need?” She sighed.

“I’ll make a list.” She handed him the list and some cash. Dean hurried from the cabin. No way was she driving his baby. It took him nearly an hour to get back to the cabin.

Lily was sitting at the table going over her notes.

“Alice Weeks was twelve when she died in the apple orchard 59 years ago. I think she’s the one haunting the place.” She took the bags from him.

“So why wait 54 years to start offing people?” He looked at the notes. They were written in short hand.

‘The family closed the property. It was purchased by the new owners nine years ago. It officially opened five years ago.”

“Then there was the first argument. Why off the couples?”

“The grounds keeper Mr. Kole said Mr. Weeks would get violent then make up with his wife. The next time he was violent it would escalate Alice’s mother actually died three years before she did. Weeks remarried that same year.”

“Nice. So where is she buried?” He sat back and watched her chop vegetables.

“Hanson’s cemetery. It closes late so we have time to eat.”

Dean sat at the table and thought about Sam. He missed his brother. Lily couldn’t replace him. He missed them. Ellen, who was like the mother he never had and Jo. He should have moved on Jo when he had the chance, but Ellen, she would have killed him.

He couldn’t get them out of his mind. He ate automatically when Lily slid the plate in front of him. At midnight they drove to the cemetery. They separated looking for the site. She located the grave and started digging without waiting for him. When Dean found her she was nearly finished.

“Get the salt and butane.” Lily cracked open the coffin. Dean watched as she salted and gassed the bones.

He helped her out of the grave before tossing in a match. They burned fast; faster than he could remember seeing bones burn before.

“Let’s get some sleep.” She said after they filled the hole.

They hunted together for a few months. They found a routine. Lily was Lily. She rarely said anything that didn’t need to be said. Dean liked it. No one was pressuring him to share his feelings. They hunted and had sex. That was enough for him, until he got a frantic call from Bobby. Castiel had bought back Jo and Ellen. Then two days later Sam showed up.

Dean raced down the highway. Lily sat quietly by his side. She was always quiet. When they had sex, when they hunted she didn’t say anything that didn’t need to be said. He hadn’t even heard her laugh.

He slammed on the brakes outside Bobby’s place. It was dark. Sam rushed out of the house and flew into his big brother’s arms. Lily sat back and watched the scene unfold. Ellen came out and hugged him. Then Bobby and lastly Jo stood on the porch. Dean scoped her up into his arms. He kissed her passionately. Their group laughed as they all went into the farm house.

She sat in the car and waited for him to remember her. She waited until the lights went out in all but one room. She recognized his silhouette. His arms wrapped around the girl as he kissed her. They slowly fell to the bed. Still she waited.

Lily the lost sister. Always forgotten and never remembered. She could accept that for herself, but she wouldn’t accept it for her baby. Dean had his family and she had hers.