Before You Ketch Me

The music in the club had always been loud, but tonight, it felt like one of the DJs had maxed out his speakers again. I could feel the bass of the music hard and heavy in my bones as I spun around a metal pole. The faces of men paying to watch me passed in a blur as I continued to dance. Other women walked around serving drinks.

"Can you get this over with already?" Dean grumbled through the earpiece in my right ear. He was twenty years old now, and had gotten pushy about hunts going "right".

I still wasn't sure how Sam had found the tiny things, or how he had bought them, but they worked wonders for situations like this. Just a small piece of black plastic that fits into our ears. It was like spy-level shit. They got painful after a while and stuck out close up, but I could brush that off as being able to hear the music clearly, and the pain was worth it for moments like this.

I smiled softly, turning from the crowd. "Patience dear brother. An artist doesn't rush their work." I bent low, using the pole to keep my balance as I replied to my older sibling. "Plus, it's your job to nab the guy. Mine is just to make him stand out."

"Ya well…I don't need to see you sticking your…"

"I think I see him." Sam interrupted. "Twelve o'clock from the stage Alex. Black jacket, baseball cap, watching you with too much interest." You'd think it would've been harder to sneak a sixteen-year-old into a strip club. But honestly, Sam had grown so much over the last six years that he looked plenty old enough.

I circled the pole again, training my attention on the crowd now, looking for the man that matched the description we'd been given. And there he was. The shady pale man with long black hair and dark eyes. He brought a glass of alcohol to his lips again as my eyes locked with his. I smiled at him and stepped gently from the stage, the skimpy red bunny outfit I'd worn for this show bunching slightly at the hips. 

It wasn't a long walk to where the man sat alone at a table meant for four. I kept a cold, strategic grace as I stalked to him, smiling as suggestively as I could all the way. It had never been hard to catch a man's attention since my eighteenth birthday, and this one was nothing different. He smiled back at me once I was close enough to see his face. Something a wolf would give to a sheep. But he would be mistaken. If anything, I was the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"How can I help ya, toots?" He asked, his voice deep.

"I was thinking I could help you, at least for a little bit." I leaned forward until my hand was resting on his shoulder and my breasts were nearly in his face. "I couldn't help but notice how you looked at me, even from the stage."

"Hard not to stare, doll." He made a point of raking his eyes down me slowly. "Especially with all that on display."

I twirled for him just as slowly. "You like what you see?"

"Oh god, at least turn the earpiece off before you say shit like that…" I had to try hard to keep a straight face. Dean always had the worst timing with his comments.

The man chuckled softly. "I certainly do. How much for a private show." There was no question in his tone. As if he was a man not used to the word "no".

"Depends on how much you've got." I sat on his lap, throwing one leg over his and leaning back against his chest. "I'm not cheap." I reached for the glass on the table and took a sip. It was whiskey. I had drunk whiskey before, but that didn't stop the burn of it from sliding down my throat uncomfortably.

"How about you just come back to a room with me and we can start there." Again, there was no question to it as his hands began to roam over my sides.

"That's not how this works, pal." I knew I had his attention already, might as well milk it before making my exit. "We discuss the price now, or I leave you for someone who will pay it."

I willed my body into stone as he grazed his teeth over my neck. "You're already here, baby. What if I just decide to take advantage of you across this table?" There was the predator, just under his skin. The monster we had been stalking for days now. "No one would stop me, not with your replacement already on stage. And don't think I didn't notice how your pimp is too cheap to get security."

He wasn't wrong. Another young woman had started her routine on the pole since I had stepped down. Her name was Candy, she was doing this just so she could pay to go to school. She wanted to be a doctor. She was one of the reasons I had pushed for this hunt. The reason I had told John we could handle this one alone while he went off to hunt something else. This man was the one killing the strippers who ignored him or went to another man after dancing for him. His jealousy was what had made him so easy to find, and too many people had had their throats ripped out because of it.

"If you don't get away from him now, I'm going to blow our cover and just kill him now," Dean growled over the earpiece.

I fought the smile that wanted to crawl over my lips. Instead, I pushed hard against the man's chest and freed myself from his grip. "That's not how it's going to work. Not tonight." I huffed and stood before walking away from him. "Find a plaything somewhere else, creep." And that would drive the first stake home.

I could feel his eyes glare into my back as I sauntered away and looked for any helpless soul who looked in my direction. I needed the perfect target, the opposite of what our monster was. And it didn't take long to find it.

A mousy boy, probably no older than nineteen, sat nervously at a table of other young men. They seemed to all be his friends, and once they had spotted me, they immediately began pointing and gesturing for him to talk to me. I smiled and made my way to them.

Up close I could see just how nervous he was. He stared at me with wide blue eyes. A quick pale hand brushed dark red curls out of his face. His thin lips trembled as he searched for something to say. I figured he was a virgin, and his friends had dragged him here to fix that. Perfect.

"You want something, honey?" I asked sweetly, leaning against the table and pushing my chest out.

His eyes dropped to my breasts and stayed there as he tried to find his words but fumbled them instead.

"We'll pay for the night if you just want to take him." One of his friends said. "We'll even pay you extra."

"You sure you boys can afford me?" I looked from face to face around the table, ending on the mousy boy again.

"We've got over a thousand to burn." Another of the friends announced.

A thousand dollars? That would pay for rooms and food for the next few weeks. "I'll take the full amount, and make sure he has enough stories to tell for a year."

His friends began to whoop and holler as cash started to come out of their pockets. It was all placed in front of me in a wadded pile. I wasn't going to bother counting it now, but I did scoop it all up and stuff it between my breasts.

"Let's go, lover boy," I said as I rounded the table and took the young man's arm.

I pulled him gently to his feet, his eyes still looking anywhere but my face, and pulled him with me. I could still feel the monster's gaze bore into me as we left the main stage and down a hall lined with doors. I chose one I knew would be perfect and pushed the mousy boy inside. It wasn't hard to change characters once the door was closed behind us.

"Alright kid, I'm sorry but this isn't what it seems," I said as the young guy stumbled to the bed in the center of the room.

"I…what?" He asked.

"Honestly, if this goes well and you don't end up dead, I might still take your friends up on fucking your brains out. But until then…" I switched my full attention to the earpiece. "You got eyes on him?"

"Ya. He followed after you pretty quickly." Sam stated.

"What room, Alex?" Dean asked.

"Third one on the left," I answered, removing the small knife I had tucked into one of my high-heeled boots.

It wasn't long after that, that the pounding on the door started. I steadied myself, not taking a look at the guy behind me, though I was sure he was terrified by now. The pounding grew louder the longer I didn't answer, but I didn't dare open the door either. I knew Dean or Sam would be right around the corner. But they weren't there before the door crashed open, hinges broken and wood splintering. The monster stood there now, eyes wild and fangs on full display as if his humanity had long been forgotten. A vampire for all to see.

"You think you can just walk away from me bitch?!" He roared, taking a step into the room.

"Nope. I figured you'd come for me. Just like all the others." I adjusted my stance, all too aware of just how exposed I was in this damn costume.

His crazed eyes dragged down my body again, catching on the knife. "Ahhhh. So you're not just a whore. You're a fucking hunter." He stalked further into the room.

"And a damn good one at that." I didn't back down from him. There was no reason to show this thing the weakness it so desperately wanted.

He laughed. "It was pretty dumb to challenge me alone, doll. But your struggle should make your blood so much sweeter."

"Who said I was alone?" I smiled as the light glinted off another blade just behind the monster.

He didn't have time to turn before the machete was through his neck. The thing barely had time to contemplate the rest of its life before his head was rolling across the ground and his body was falling. The young guy behind me screamed.

"Shit." Dean started. "I thought you'd get rid of the bait by now."

"I didn't have anywhere to hide him." I rolled my eyes.

My older brother whipped the blade off his jeans before sheathing it again at his hip. "Well. What are we gonna tell him?"

"We could tell him the truth," Sam said as he entered the room.

"I'd love to, Sammy." I smiled at our younger brother. "But there's no time. I'm sure someone heard him scream and we gotta get out of here before they find us like this."

"It's 'Sam'..." was all he grumbled.

Dean scooped up the rolling head and tucked it under his arm. "There's a back door a little further down the hall. We should be able to make it."

I nodded, then sighed. "It was nice to work here for a bit. Gonna miss the money."

"Oh right. How much did you make?" Dean asked as I joined him and Sam at the door.

"Little over a thousand." I grinned as his green eyes went wide.

"Shiiiiiiiiit." He breathed.

I laughed a little. "We can count it all after we get out of here."

That night would be one that I remembered for years to come. Through the good and the bad. I would remember that night. Because after coming to in the rain, with Sam leaning over me as he cried and screamed my name, I promised that I would only remember the good. Even as my new clock started, the years clicked away one by one. I would make it good for them, even if that meant keeping my deal a secret from them.

That night was a rare treat in our lives. Something we maybe only experienced one other time in the last six years alone. We went back to the motel room and ordered a pizza, sat around one of the beds, and ordered a pay-per-view movie on the tiny ass TV. We filled the small room with laughter and smiles. We barely even noticed when the Impala parked outside the door. But all of us stopped when that door opened. It was as if a cold rain had put out a brilliant fire.

"Hunt went well then." It wasn't a question as the words came from John's lips.

"In and out in three days," Dean said almost robotically from his place on the floor. A soldier reporting to his commander. "Just like we promised."

"Good." John brushed by us without another word. He reeked of stale blood and alcohol.

"What did you end up killing, Dad?" Sam asked as he lay on the bed, actual curiosity in his voice for the first time in a while.

"Nothing that you need to be concerned with, Sammy." John huffed, falling into the chair at the other end of the room.

"What do you mean…" 

"How 'classified' can monster hunting be?" Sam interrupted me, his voice tense now. "And it's 'Sam'."

"It's classified because I said it is, 'Sammy'." John pointed the last word, a strike against Sam's attempt to stand up for himself.

Their relationship had become strained over the last six years, but the last few months had been the worst. Ever since that teacher had asked Sam what he wanted to do with his life. He had changed since then, no longer content with just hunting monsters for the rest of his life. But he had always had bigger dreams.

Sam got from the bed. "You know what. I'm tired of your shit, Dad." The words hissed from him, a bomb that had been ticking for years finally ready to go. "You sneak around on these hunts that are 'too dangerous' for us, and then expect us just to ignore it when you come back. Whatever the fuck you're doing can't be that dangerous if you stink like booze every time you come back."

The room fell into a thick silence as Dean and I watched them. As we watched the mouse stand up to the snake. Even as John stood again, and coldly walked towards Sam in a way we knew wouldn't end well, Sam stood his ground. Even when John grabbed his collar and pulled Sam in close, we didn't dare move. Two more mice afraid to get caught up in the bravery of the first.

"You don't get to question me, boy," John growled. "If I say it's too dangerous, then it is. That should be the end of your questions."

"Fine, then I won't stick around to ask anymore." Sam snapped back, pushing John away from him.

John stumbled back, uneasy on his drunken feet, and released Sam. Sam took the opportunity and spun on his heels to grab his coat and walk out the motel room door.

"Sam!" I yelled after him, finally moving from where I'd sat on the edge of the bed.

I looked at Dean. "Go. I'll handle this." He said quietly.

That had been our routine. I went after Sam when he inevitably stormed out, and Dean calmed down John. By the time I got back with Sam, John would give a half-assed apology and we'd be fine for another couple of weeks. But this had been days since the last fight. That fight had been the final reason I had pushed for us to do a hunt without John. But it seemed it had never really finished. Though none of them ever did.

"Sam!" I called out as I raced after him.

He had always been the quickest of us. His long legs carried him further and faster. So when I stepped out into the dark outdoors, it was no wonder I didn't immediately see him. I looked around, the darkness crashing through the poorly lit parking lot.

"Sam!" I called again.

But it wasn't my younger brother that greeted me. It was a freezing, night-shattering howl that found me first. Something so unnatural yet so deeply known to me that I have never questioned what it was. I stood there, frozen on the moonlite sidewalk, and listened to it. The creature was still far off, but it was still too close for comfort. As if it was reminding me of the deal I had made. As if I could forget the demon I had given my soul to. As if I would ever forget I was running out of time.

"Hey." Sam's hand brushed against my shoulder, making me jump. "Are…are you ok?"

"Ya. I…" I blinked, the feeling gone now. "I was looking for you and got distracted by the moon." I lied.

"It is pretty nice tonight." Sam agreed, looking up at it now as well. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I breathed. "John's a dick."

Sam laughed. "Ya…he really is isn't he?"

I smiled a little. "Promise me you'll stay just a little longer."

"Alex…I…" 

"I know Sam…" I interrupted him. "I've seen the papers. You've gotta find a better hiding spot."

Sam cursed lowly. "I thought I had a good spot!"

I chuckled. "Maybe for Dean. But I know all your hiding spots."

Sam sighed. "So you know then? You went through them all?"

I nodded. "Ya. I did. And I think you'll make a great lawyer."