“That’s why you came to get me?” Blaine asked exasperatedly, “Coop, that’s not a big deal!  Dad’s been ‘missing’ tons of times before!”

“Yeah, well this is different,” Cooper insisted, “It’s been a week.  I just think that something bad might have happened to him.  I can feel it.”

“Come on, Cooper,” Blaine continued, “Dad pulled these kinds of stunts all the time when we were younger.  Remember that time he was taking care of that demon at the Devil’s Gates or whatever in Jersey?  He was gone for almost a month that time.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” Cooper said, “Things are different this time.  Dad thought he was following a really good lead on the thing that killed Mom-“

“Yeah, right…” Blaine mumbled.

Cooper shot him glare before he continued.

“Anyway, the last thing Dad told me was that he was getting close, then he goes off to work on this case and he vanishes.  It just seems like this might be more than when dad gets in too deep with one of his hunts, you know?  He might need help.”

Blaine was still doubtful that his dad was in any real danger.  John Anderson was known to disappear on a hunt every once in a while.  Blaine had lost count of the amount of times that his father had promised he and his brother that he would be gone for two days (“Three days, tops!  I promise this time.”) only to have him stumble through the door a week and a half later mumbling apologies.  After their mother was murdered, his dad became obsessed with finding whatever had killed her.  He educated himself on all things supernatural and stocked up on all the weapons he could find to fight them; guns, knives, iron, salt, and holy water among others.  He taught his sons to be afraid of the dark.  He gave them the resources to fight the monsters in their closets.  He told them be vigilant and watch out for shadowy figures in the night.

John Anderson raised his sons to be warriors.

“Where are we going anyway?” Blaine asked after a few minutes.

“Your place, obviously,” Cooper replied, “You wouldn’t actually make your favorite brother shack up in that crappy motel in town would you?”

Blaine sighed.

“Fine,” he conceded, “Take the next right”.

*

The boys pulled into the apartment complex, grabbed their bags, and headed inside.  They entered the tall, run down building, turned left, and headed to room 1H.  It was the last room on the first floor of the building, right next to the fire escape.

The damage from the fire was severe in the house that Blaine and Cooper had lived in while their mother was alive.  The entire upstairs portion of the house had been blown a part in the explosion and smoke damage had taken care of the rest.  His dad began renting out the small two-bedroom apartment while renovations were being done on the house, but they ended up staying there far after the repairs were finished.  None of them voiced it out loud, but it was hard for any of them to imagine living in the home where Mary was murdered. 

So they stayed in the tiny apartment partly out of convenience, but mostly because his dad was so busy hunting down ghosts and demons that he hardly ever held a steady job.  Money was tight for the Andersons and this ramshackle apartment was all they could afford.  For the majority of Blaine’s childhood, this is where he lived.  Although all three of them had moved out of the apartment when Blaine started living in the dorms at Dalton and Cooper and their dad started hunting full time, His dad still paid the rent in case they ever needed a sage place to stay.  Blaine had been forced to move back in when he transferred to McKinley.  Being back there was worth it though, if it meant he got to be closer to Kurt.

When Blaine turned the key in the lock and opened the door he and Cooper were greeted by the sight of a typical hunter’s dwelling.  The windowsills and door were lined with salt.  Several flasks of holy water were stored in the cabinets of the kitchenette and all the utensils were made of silver.  An iron fireplace poker leaned against the wall near the coat rack, although there was no fireplace.  The wooden chest pushed up against the wall contained a plethora of weapons, including a shotgun loaded with iron bullets.  Hidden underneath the large area rug near the entrance was a Devil’s Trap painted on the floor.  These were all the things his father had taught him would keep away evil.  This was his home.  Home sweet home.

“Wow, Blainey, I love what you’ve done with the place!” Cooper said sarcastically, pointing out Blaine’s complete lack of interior design in the apartment.

“Okay, first of all, ‘Blainey’ is a five-year-old.  It’s Blaine now.  And second,” Blaine said, “This is exactly what the place looked like when you lived here, so don’t complain.”

“Yeah, but I figured you would have at least painted the walls now that you have the place to yourself,” Cooper figured, “I mean, aren’t gay guys supposed to be into that home decorating crap?”

“That’s seriously stereotypical and offensive,” Blaine glared as he dropped his school bag on the small sofa.

“I’m just joking, Blaine.  We both know nothing could help reverse your lack of taste,” Cooper explained, “But speaking of gay, who was that guy Kurt back there?  Boyfriend?”

“It’s none of your business,” Blaine chided as he busied himself with unpacking his schoolbooks.  However, as much as he tried to stop it, he couldn’t help the blush that crawled up his cheeks.

“Aww, Blainey’s got a boyfriend!” Cooper teased, “Is he wonderful?  How long have you guys been together?  When do I get to meet him officially?”

“You don’t,” Blaine said harshly, “You don’t get to meet him again because I don’t want him to get caught up with your hunting crap, realize how much of a freak I am, and leave me.  We have a great thing going and I don’t need you or anyone else in this family screwing that up for me.  So just butt out, okay?”

“Whoa, alright,” Cooper said, holding his hands up in surrender, “I won’t talk to him or even mention him again.  So you guys are really that serious?”

“Yeah,” Blaine answered, “We are.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, B,” Cooper smiled, “But on to the real matter at hand here, Dad went missing after he started working on a case here, so I-“

“Wait, what?” Blaine interrupted, “Dad was working on a case here?  In Lima?”

“Yeah.  So as I was saying-“

“Well, why didn’t he stop by?  Or call me to let me know he was in town?  Or anything?”

“Would you have spoken to him if he had?” Cooper asked with his eyebrows raised.

Blaine thought about it.  The honest truth was that no, he probably wouldn’t have.  However, even though they were somewhat estranged, it still hurt a little that his father hadn’t even attempted to reach out to him, especially if he might have been in some kind of trouble.

“So, Dad was working on a case here,” Cooper continued, “There have been a string of car crashes along Route 81.  About two weeks ago, there was another crash, but this time the victim survived.  Her name is-“

“Quinn….” Blaine whispered.

“What?  Yeah.  Quinn Fabray.  How did you….?”

“She’s a friend of mine.  We’re in glee club together.”

“You’re in glee club?” Cooper asked incredulously.

“Yes!  What does Quinn or any of the other crashes have to do with Dad’s case?”

“They are Dad’s case!”  Cooper answered, “All the crashes except for Quinn’s were fatal, they all happened within the last eight months, and they all happened within the same quarter-mile of road.  Now that’s suspicious enough, but the best part is that by the time cops and paramedics arrived to the scene the car that caused the accident had vanished.  The authorities are calling them all ‘hit and runs’, but take a look at these pictures, B.”

Cooper opened up his backpack to reveal a densely packed file filled with photos, newspaper clippings, and other papers of that sort.  He pulled out seven photographs and handed them to Blaine.

“Look at the shear damage done to these cars, Blaine!” Cooper exclaimed, “There’s no way whoever hit them could have been able to drive away from the scene at all, let alone fast enough to outrun the cops.”

Blaine’s eyes scanned over the pictures.  Cooper had a point.  Each of the cars was totaled.  The shape of each of them was contorted from the impact of crash and broken glass and scraps of metal were strewn about the scene.  He came to the last photo and easily recognized Quinn’s tiny red car looking like nothing more than a crumpled piece of tin foil.  He tossed the pictures back at Cooper.

“So, you think there’s like…. An evil car going around killing people?” Blaine asked dubiously. 

“Don’t be stupid, Blainey,” Cooper replied, “Cars don’t just go around killing people.  I think there’s a spirit driving the car that’s killing people.”

“Oh, right,” Blaine said rolling his eyes, “That’s much less crazy.”

“Come on, B!  Maybe I don’t have it all figured out yet, but that’s why I need your help.”

“Why are you trying to solve this case anyway?  I thought you came here to look for Dad?”

“Well, Dad disappeared while working on this case,” Cooper said, “So I figure doing this case is a good place to start.  Besides, we have an obligation to try and solve this.  We’re hunters.  It’s what we do.”

“You’re a hunter,” Blaine corrected.

“Yeah, whatever,” Cooper said quickly, “Besides, the fact that you know the Fabray girl works out perfectly!  We probably won’t even have to use fake identities or anything to get in to talk to her….”

“Cooper, she just woke up from her coma a few days ago!  Her parents haven’t even let anyone visit her yet,” Blaine explained, “Besides, like you said, the rest of the crashes were fatal.  She almost died!  Quinn might not even fully recover.  She doesn’t need us barging in there with a bunch of questions like, ‘Oh, Quinn, by the way did you happen to see Casper just before the crash?’”

“Relax, Blaine!” Cooper laughed, “You’re over thinking this!  You know I have more tact than that.  Come on, I’ll go over the rest of the information I was able to dig up on the other victims and their crashes and we can discuss how to approach the Quinn situation later, okay?”

For the next few hours the brothers poured over the articles and background searches that Cooper had compiled in his folder.  From what Blaine could gather, all of the victims were relatively young.  The youngest was sixteen-years-old –just old enough to drive- and the oldest was twenty-two-years old.  Four were females and three were male.  Most of them lived in Lima or other surrounding towns.  Besides age and location however, there were no other factors that connected each case.

Blaine was looking over the article concerning Hannah Galey for the fourth time.  She was seventeen-years-old and had attended another public high school nearby.  She was the victim most similar to Quinn, but Blaine still couldn’t figure out why both of them were targeted by the spirit.  The article had quotes from her friends and classmates claiming how kind and smart she was.  She was a member of the honor society.  Her parents were now grieving the death of their only daughter….

“Hey, Coop,” Blaine said quietly.

“Yeah?” Cooper said distractedly as he read the police report on Connor Brown’s crash.

“Listen, about what I said about Mom before,” Blaine began, “About how trying to find her killer wouldn’t bring her back?  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean it.  Well, I meant it but I shouldn’t have-“

“Hey, Blaine,” Cooper said, looking him in the eye, “I know.”

Blaine was about to say something else when Cooper’s stomach growled incredibly loud. 

“Well, in that case,” Cooper said, “I’m ordering a pizza.  You want any toppings?”

“What- ohmygod dinner!” Blaine shouted as he jumped up, knocking his chair over in the process.

“Dude, calm down!” Cooper said, “I promise I won’t get anchovies this time.”

Blaine grabbed his jacket and searched desperately for his cell phone.

“What time is it?” he shouted frantically.

“It’s like…. 8:15.  What’s up?”

“Oh, shit!” Blaine hissed as he pulled his sneakers on, “Kurt and I had dinner reservations for 6:00 tonight!”

“Hey, come one,” Cooper said, “Just tell him you got caught up and lost track of time.  I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Understand?  You think he’ll understand?” Blaine screamed on the verge of sounding hysterical, “Tonight is our anniversary, you idiot!”

“Damn,” Cooper said, “And you though I was going to screw this relationship up for you.”

“Ughh,” Blaine groaned as he grabbed his keys and raced out the door, praying that somehow he could make this right and that even if he couldn’t, he would somehow survive the wrath of a furious Kurt Hummel.