Shed.

I think it’s safe to say we all slept a bit uneasily that night. How could we know if people who we thought they were if there were shape shifters out there? I mean were these people really Tom’s friends? Was Tom really Tom? I tried to forget about it so I could just sleep, but it seemed to be near impossible.

It was a little past one in the morning when I made my way to the guest room. I needed answers and I knew at least two people who could give them to me. I cracked the door open a little and peaked into the dark room.

Sam was in the bed closest to me, but he was facing the other bed that was closer to the window. That’s were Dean was lying, he was facing the doorway. Neither of them looked awake so I sighed before taking a slow step into the room. I’d have to wake one of them up then.

“Raine?” Dean’s voice asked softly before he sat up in his bed. I nodded not knowing if he could hear me. “Why aren’t you asleep? Don’t you have school or something in the morning?”

I scoffed. “No. I’m 22.” I couldn’t look that young could I?

“Oh.” He mumbled before standing up, stopping by Sam’s bed and looking down at him for a second, and then walking towards me. “Let’s go downstairs then.” His voice was so low it was almost a whisper.

I nodded and followed behind him, closing the door slightly behind me. We stepped quietly all the way down to the Living Room where I hit the light and set it to dim.

“I need to know some stuff. I don’t like being blinded by ignorance.” I mumbled before grabbing my arms and flinging myself into the couch. Dean sat on the other side and faced me. “How do I know I can trust you two?” I asked softly staring straight ahead of me and out the window where the wind was making the trees dance.

“I don’t know how I can make you trust us. It’s just something you’re going to have to do I guess.” He said slowly, trying to pick his words wisely.

“Well… then tell me the truth. Are you and Sam brothers?” I asked. I’d had a hunch that they were I just couldn’t find the right time to ask.

I heard him give a breathy laugh. “Yeah, he’s my little brother.”

“Can you tell me more about shape shifters?”

“Well, we’ve seen one or two. Basically it’s a creature that can change from one being to another by shedding its skin. They can… channel the person’s thoughts or memories so that they’re more believable. But in order to stay in that person’s shape they have to keep the person alive.” Dean explained again trying to use the right words. The ones that would make it easier for me to understand.

“What do you think…” I trailed off. That wasn’t right. “How… with John what do you think happened exactly? Why Adrian?” I asked trying not to cry at the memory of the poor boy.

“Well, you said that everybody loved Adrian? Maybe the shape shifter was jealous? That’s why they do what they do. They aren’t good enough themselves.” He said quietly. “They tend to pick the better of people.” I looked at him and saw that he had a nice sized grin on his face. I could almost imagine the story behind that smile. I rolled my eyes.

“So how are we going to catch it?” I asked. I was warming up to him. There was no way a shape shifter would be telling me these things right now right? He wouldn’t say cryptic things that have good stories behind them right? I relaxed a bit and leaned back into the couch.

“Uhm… I’m not sure yet. I think he probably found a new person to use since John is dead.”

“How do we kill it?” I asked more forcefully.

“We? I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you anywhere near this thing.” Dean said giving me an odd look. “With silver.”

“Do you think it killed John?” I asked quietly leaning towards him.

“I don’t think… is it normal for people to visit you this late at night?” It seemed weird for him to ask that. I was confused he didn’t even answer my question. I’d taken my eyes off of the window, but I noticed that was exactly where he’d been looking. I looked there too to see a pair of head lights throwing light against my Camaro.

“Not really, no.” I got up to answer the door just as whomever it was knocked. I opened the door and was surprised when Tom bent over to hug me. “Uh, hi Tom. I thought you said that you couldn’t come.”

I looked outside to see if Amy was with him before closing the door behind him. He had a different car. It looked to new for his taste. I shrugged it off though.

“Hey Dean.” Tom said a little too loudly. I smacked his arm.

“People are asleep dumbass.” I muttered before bringing him all of the way into the Living Room. Dean gave Tom a weird look before turning back to the window.

“Nice car.” Dean said nodding his head slightly. “What kind is it?” He asked suddenly.

“Can’t you see it?” Tom asked sighing before sitting down on the couch. That was odd, didn’t he usually go for the recliner on the left? If I remember correctly he’d claimed it to be his chair and no one was aloud to sit in it but him. Ever.

I narrowed my eyes a bit and then glanced at Dean. Something was definitely not right.

“Yeah…” Dean trailed off. “I just can’t really see it too well.” I stood up slowly and started to walk towards the stairs. I needed to get Sam awake.

“Where are you going Raine?” Tom asked as he grabbed my arm.

“Since when do you not call me Rainy?” I asked quietly. If this was the shape shifter there was no way I would be the one to kill it. I couldn’t kill someone who looked exactly like my brother.

“I’ve decided you’ve grown out of it.” He said shrugging and then he let go of me. When Tom turned around I gave Dean a scared look and he tried to pretend he hadn’t seen it. As long as he knew that I didn’t think it was Tom either…

I took a few steps to go upstairs before hearing movement from the Living Room. That’s when I ran up the stairs and to the end of the hall where the guest room was. I flung myself at the door and that seemed to be enough to wake Sam up because a minute later the door was open and Sam was helping up off of my knees. He touched my cheek and that’s when I noticed I was crying.

When did that happen?

“What’s going on Raine?” He asked in as low of a whisper as he could.

“Tom’s here… but he’s different I think it’s the… I think it’s the shape shifter.” I whispered back before reaching up and rubbing my eyes.

Sam put his hands on my shoulders. “I need you to go to your room and I need you to stay there, okay?” I shook my head.

“No.” I took a step back from him. “I know I can’t kill him myself or anything, but I just can’t… I can’t just…” Sam sighed and nodded his hand before walking quietly to the end of the hall and then down the stairs. “Wait.” I whispered.

I walked in front of him. I didn’t want Tom too suspicious. What if nothing had happened and I’d been hearing things. What would happen if Sam showed up instead of me?

I turned the small corner that was lead to the Living Room. Inside Tom was still sitting where he’d been sitting before, but Dean was gone.

“Back so soon?” Tom asked curiously.

“Uh, yeah… where’d Dean go?” I asked as I walked all the way into the room.

“He took off, said something about finding a bathroom. You took off quick what happened.” He said a tilted his head to the side a bit.

“I really had to pee.” I mumbled. There were two hands on my shoulder and I jumped. Tom’s eyes shifted a little so instead he was looking at the person behind me. I looked behind me too. “I guess I was kind of loud because I woke Sam up.” I said shrugging.

“Hey, Sam.” Tom said as Dean walked in the other side of the room. His eyes widened a bit as he saw Sam and I but he covered it quickly. I felt Sam move a little behind me when Tom moved to look back at Dean.

“Well, I found it.” Dean said smiling a bit. He wasn’t looking at Tom though he was looking behind me, at Sam.

“That’s too bad then.” Tom muttered before standing up and quickly grabbing me. He flung me onto the couch and pulled out a knife. He put it to my throat before saying, “Don’t move, or she dies.” I flinched as he picked me up slightly so he could sit down and set me on his lap. I closed my eyes and tried to not pay attention to the feeling of cold metal against my throat. “Both of you… move so that I can see you both.”

I opened my eyes to watch as the two brothers --with arms raised-- shuffled so they were standing together in front of us. Sam took a small step forward and opened his mouth to talk, but the knife was pressed harder into my skin and I whimpered out of fear.

“What, I don’t get my speech first?” Tom murmured. His face was too close to mine it made me shudder. He laughed at my sudden movement and loosened the blade a bit. “First a question. Why did you just have to go and ruin the perfect body? Hm?” He asked. Dean and Sam looked at each other at the same time. Dean shrugged and then they both turned to us.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“Well, some hunter went and killed John.” Tom said as if it were obvious. I shuddered again. I felt even more pity aimed at John now. Poor guy gets accused of murdering a boy while he’s on a date and then gets killed because some hunter couldn’t tell the difference between the real John and the shape shifter John. “So it wasn’t you guys? Hm…” Tom paused and touched my cheek dragging the knife along with his fingers. He traced my jaw. “I like you, you’re pretty.” He mumbled so only I could hear.

My eyes flared and I was half tempted to punch him, but I held back not knowing if it would do any good. Both Sam and Dean looked like they wanted to really kill him right now, but I glared at the ground. Stupid shape shifter.