Lying Eyes

Rachel carried Jack, her foster child, into their new recruits room.
'Say goodnight to Alex, Jack.' Jack climbed up the steps and eagerly placed a sloppy kiss on the top of Alex's head.
'Goodnight little angel.' Rachel whispered as she placed a soft kiss on the top of Alex's head as well.
'Jacky.' Jack turned around and saw his caretaker, Tom, standing at the doorway. Tom was like Jack's real father so he didn't hesitate to run into his arms.
'Tom!' Jack exclaimed. Tom picked him up and bounced him in his arms a bit.
'You think Lexi is ready to throw a football around a bit?' Jack giggled and shook his head no.
'No Tom!' Rachel approached her brother and foster child.
'You think you got this Tommy?'
'I got 'em.' Tom responded back.
'Sweet dreams Lexi.' Tom said as he walked out the door, still carrying Jack in his arms.

Alex's crib mobile started to move and the clock on his wall began ticking faster and faster before it came to an abrupt halt. The lights flickered around Alex's room, causing him to glance around even though he couldn't understand a single thing happening. The baby monitor set off in Rachel's room. She sighed and reluctantly got up knowing that her brother wouldn't. Rachel walked the short distance to the nursery, still trying to get rid of the sleep. She walked up to find a figure standing by the crib.
'Tom, is he hungry?' Rachel asked the dark figure.
'Shh...' was the response back.
'Alright.' Rachel turned to leave when suddenly the lights started to flicker again. Walking over to the light down the hall, she tapped it a few times before it finally became still again. The lights in the living room flickered as well which made her curiosity flare up some more. She descended down the stairs and noticed the television on and to her surprise and utter shock, Tom was sitting in front of it. She raced up stairs, calling out a desperate 'Lexi!' into the night.
'Lexi!' she repeated again before dashing into the nursery.
Screams were heard throughout the house which awoke Tom from his deep sleep.
'Rachel? Rachel!' Tom called out into the dark. He dashed up the stairs and into the nursery.
'Rachel?' Tom looked around, completely confused and wondering if he hallucinated the screams. He approached Alex, his nerves calming down a bit, he smiled down at the wide awake child.
'Lexi.' A small droplet of something dark landed next to Alex's head. Tom poked his finger at it before more came down. He turned around and found his sister on the ceiling. Her white nightgown completely drenched in red. Her skin, ghost-white as she tried to say something to her brother.
'No! Rachel!' Tom yelled as he fell to the ground, watching his sister light up in flames.
Tom grabbed the crying Alex and ran out the nursery to be met up with Jack.
'Take Alex outside! And whatever you do, don't look back!' Tom instructed. Jack nodded and followed his caretaker's orders.
Tom returned back to the nursery only to find it with how he pictured Hell would look like. Flames erupted from here and there, swallowing up Rachel whole.
'Rachel!' Tom shouted into the flames. But alas, he was too late. The flames ate up what was left of Rachel.
'It's okay Alex.' Jack cooed to the crying baby.
'Gotcha!' Tom said as he swooped up his boys into his arms and made it just in time as the flames busted out the window.

Minutes passed and before they knew it, the ambulance arrived at the scene, hosing down the remains of the fire. Tom held his kids close. Rocking Lexi in his arms as a sudden look of determination and anger crossed his eyes. Whatever took his beloved sister, he was determined to find it and kill it personally.

Standford University. Today.

'Alex, I swear if you're not ready, I'm leaving without you.' Delilah, Alex's girlfriend, threatened him.
'Is it really necessary I go?' Alex called out.
'Yes, now come on!'
'What are you dressed as; a grumpy old man?' his girlfriend teased.
'Actually, yes.' They left their apartment and walked down the street towards the Halloween party.

'To Alex, well for being Alex and for being super awesome at school.' Their cups clinked together.
'It's no biggie.'
'Says the guy that scored a one hundred seventy-four.
'And that's good?' Alex's friend, Mike said.
'Scary good.' Delilah proudly defended her boyfriend.
'You got a full shot at any choice of college. Where are you planning to apply?' Mike asked.
'Actually, I have an interview here next Monday. I just don't know if I'll make it.'
'Don't be so modest. You will.' Delilah said.
'You should gloat about it to your family.' Mike stated.
'We're not exactly the "Mr. Rogers" type of family.'
'And I'm not a nerd. More shots!' Mike announced.
'No!' the couple shouted to quickly. Alex chuckled and looked at his girlfriend.
'I'm honestly so proud of you, yanno?'
'What would I do without?' Alex said looking into his girlfriend's eyes.
'Possibly die or live in a sewer. Come 'er.' She grabbed her boyfriend by the neck and kissed him tenderly.

They arrived back to their apartment after a long night of partying. Falling asleep almost instantly, Alex was left to think about his future alone. He fell asleep at one in the morning but was awaken by the sound of someone in their haven. He got up, defensive mode on, and made his way towards the noise. He waited until he saw someone cross the kitchen. He made his way briskly to where he saw the intruder. He thought of a surprise attack as he tried to grab the intruder by the neck, completely caught off guard as the intruder counteracted his assault. They scuffled for a bit before Alex knew it, he was down on the ground, his intruder on top of him.
'Woah there lil' lady.'
'Jack?' Jack smirked.
'You scared the living shit out of me.' Alex breathed deeply.
'Well you're out of practice.' Alex unexpectedly flipped Jack over.
'Okay. So maybe not. Get off of me.' Alex smirked as he got off of his best friend.
'What're you doing here Jack?'
'Looking for a beer. The usual.' Jack fixed the crinkles out of Alex's shirt.
'Alex?' Delilah said as she turned on the lights. Both boys turned to look at Delilah as she stood in her boxer briefs and a loose tank top.
'Lilah. Hey.'
'Uh, Jack, this is my girlfriend Delilah.' Alex said to Jack as he practically drooled over his best friends girlfriend.
'Wait, your best friend who you grew up with Jack?' Delilah smiled when Alex nodded.
'I love polka dots.' Jack said, indicating the two dots that were placed where her nipples would be.
'You know, you're out of my best friend's league.' Jack said, approaching Delilah.
'Uh, lemme put something else on.'
'No, no. Honestly. The less, the merrier. Seriously.' Delilah looked back at Alex who simply shrugged.
'Anyways, I gotta borrow Romeo here concerning some business with the family but uh, it was a beautiful pleasure meeting you.' Delilah tilted her head and glanced at Alex.
'No, you can say it in front of her.' Alex said as he crossed the room to wrap his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.
'Okay. Tom hasn't been home in over a week.'
'So he's working overtime? He'll come around sooner or later.' Jack nodded, a smile on his lips.
'Tom is on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days.' Jack repeated himself, to clarify he meant business. Alex soon caught on and without turning to face his girlfriend, he asked her to leave the two of them alone.

'Seriously. You expect me to leave this to go find Tom?' Alex said as they descended down the stairs to go to the Impala.
'I hear you. But this is Tom we're talking about here. I wouldn't ask you for anything else.' Jack said.
'Remember the poltergeist or the devil's trap? He's always missing Jack and he's always fine.'
'Not for this long. Are you coming or not?'
'I'm not.'
'Why?'
'I swore I was done hunting. Ever.'
'It wasn't all that bad man.'
'Yeah okay. Remember when I told Tom I was scared of something in my closet and he gave me a gun?'
'Woah, he was trying to protect you.'
'Protect me? I was nine Jack. He was supposed to say don't be afraid of the dark.'
'Don't be afraid of the dark? You're supposed to be afraid of the dark!'
'After his sister died, he's gotten this obsession in finding the damn thing and killing it. We haven't even found it yet! So instead, we kill everything we can get out grubby hands on.'
'But we save lives doing it.' Alex stared at Jack for a bit before continuing on.
'You think Rachel would have chosen this life for us?' Jack pushed open the door, not bothering to answer Alex's question.

'All those things we used to do. Detecting if sulfur was in the room and crazy things like that. We were raised like warriors.'
'Oh I'm sorry. Are you planning to live some normal, crispy clean life? Is that what you want?'
'No, not normal. Safe and sane.'
'That's why you ran away?'
'I was just planning to go to college. It was Tom who said I was gonna go, I should stay gone. I'm just doing as told.' Alex confessed.
'Well, Tom is in a little trouble right now. He's not dead already, I can feel it.'
'I can't do this alone.' Jack stated.
'You can Jack.'
'Well maybe but I don't want to.' Jack said as he avoided eye contact with Alex. Alex sighed and said, 'What was he hunting?'

Jack flipped opened the trunk of his car, revealing all his beautiful toys his caretaker purchased for him.
'Where the hell did I put that thing?'
'So when Tom left, why didn't you go with him?' Alex questioned as he watched Jack search for God-knows-what.
'I was doing my own job down in New Orleans.'
'Tom let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?' Jack looked up for a bit to look at Alex.
'I'm twenty-four dude.' Alex smirked as Jack pulled out a piece of paper.
'Jackpot. So Tom was taking out this two lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy,' Jack handed the newspaper over to Alex, 'They found his car but he vanished completely MIA.' Alex scanned the news report.
'Maybe he was kidnapped.'
'Uh huh. Here's another one in April, another one in December '04, '03, '98, '92. Ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, same road.'
'It started happening frequently so Tom went to go check it out and that was about three weeks ago. I haven't heard from him since.' Jack said looking up at Alex with a steady gaze.
'I got this voicemail yesterday though.' Jack played it for Alex to hear.
'Jack, something is starting to happen. I need to try to figure out what's going on.'
'Do you know if there is EVP on that?'
'Not bad Lexi. I slowed the message down and got this.'
'I can never go home.' an eerie voice said.
'Never go home?' Alex repeated as Jack shut the trunk of his car.
'Been almost two years and I have never bothered you, never asked you for a thing.'
'Alright, I'll go. I'll help you find Tom.' Jack nodded, 'But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here.'
'What's first thing Monday?' Jack asked from the seat he took up on his trunk.
'I have an interview.'
'What a job interview? You can skip it.' Jack shrugged.
'To law school interview and its a whole plate full.' Alex smirked.
'Law school?' Jack scrunched up his nose.
'So we got a deal or not?' Alex said as he became serious once more. Jack clenched his jaw seeming unamused.

Alex shoved a gun in his duffel bag right as his girlfriend walked into the room.
'Wait, so you're going? Is this about Tom? Is he alright Alex?'
'Yeah, yeah. Just a little family drama you know.'
'Jack mentioned something about a hunting trip.'
'Uh yeah, he's just deer hunting up in the mountains. He probably has Jim, Jack, and Jose with him.' Alex said referring to Tom's favorite drinks, 'We're just gonna go bring him back.'
'What about the interview?' Alex turned to look at his girlfriend.
'Don't worry.' Alex laughed lightly as he finished packing his things, 'It's only for a couple of days.'
'Lex, please just stop. You sure you're alright?'
'Everything is gonna be okay. Promise.' Alex leaned in to kiss his girlfriend goodbye on the cheek.
'At least have the courtesy to tell me where you're going!' Delilah called out.

Jericho

'Want breakfast?' Jack said as held up a bag of chips and soda.
'I'll pass.' Alex said from the passengers side.
'How did you pay for that stuff anyways? Still running scammy credit cards with Tom?'
'Well you don't necessarily get paid to hunt up things people choose to believe don't exist.' Jack stated.
'All we do is apply. We don't force them to send us the cards Sam.'
'Yeah. And what name is it this time?'
'Bern and his son Hector. Scammed two cards out of the deal.'
'Sounds about right.' Alex picked up the cassettes Jack had in his car.
'I swear, you gotta update your cassette tapes.'
'Why?'
'They're cassette tapes for one. Ever considered something modern?' Alex teased.
'House rules say driver picks the music, shot gun shuts his cake hole, Lexi.'
'Lexi sounds childish. How about Alex?'
'Sorry can't hear you. Music is too loud.' Jack sped off to find their next case.

___

Jack pulled by the roadside and took out his fake Federal Marshall I.D., smirking at Alex who had his eyes wide open.
'Come on Lexi. Ghost isn't going to kill itself.' Jack said as he hopped out he car to approach the scene.
'And who are you?' one of the deputies said as the boys approached the car.
'Marshall's.' Jack said, taking out his badge, not letting the deputy take a better look at it.
'This isn't your first time something like this happened?' Jack questioned.
'Yeah. A mile up the road and others before that.'
'So this victim, you know him?'
'Town like this, everyone knows everyone.'
'Any connections between the victims besides them all being male?' Jack questioned from his position on the other side of the car.
'No.' the deputy responded back.
'So what's the theory?' Alex asked.
'Possibly kidnapping.'
'That's the kind of crap I expected from you guys.' Jack stated which in turn he received Alex stomping on his foot.
'Thanks guys.' Alex said. As they walked away, jack slapped the back of Alex's head hard.
'Ow! What was that for?'
'Why'd you step on my foot?'
'Why do you have to talk to the police like that?'

After hours of non-stop research, the boys finally found the cause of why all of these men turn up missing. Frustration kicks in as both boys argue out on the bridge as they turn to leave, Jack spots a girl ready to take the plunge.
'Alex.' Alex turns to look at the apparition.
'Where'd she go?' Alex asks.
'I dunno.' the start of the car engine causes the boys to turn around.
'What the-' Jack says.
'Who's driving your car?' Alex wonders. Jack pulls out the keys to his Impala from his coat. The car shoots forward, heading straight towards the boys causing them to run and throw themselves over the bridge.

____

'How the hell was I supposed to know you were going to jump off?' Alex said to the muddy Jack.
'You smell like shit yanno.' Alex laughed.
'Shut up.'

'One room please.' Jack said to the guy at the counter.
'Is there a reunion in town?' Both boys had a confused look on their face. The man sighed and continued talking, 'Another guy came in here with the same last name. My mistake.'
The boys scanned the room of their caretaker, trying to find any evidence of where he might be.

____

Jack slipped on his leather jacket and walked out the door to grab something to eat. He looked to his right to see the deputies that were on the bridge the other day, talking to the manager. Calling Alex quickly to leave ASAP, he turned to face the officer.
'Anything on you that's real?'
'My boots.' Jack smiled only in turn to be handcuffed and thrown into the back of a cruiser.

After questioning the old man and making a fake phone call to the station, Alex drove down the highway.
'So coordinates huh? Where to?' Alex said to Jack.
'I don't know yet.'
'Typical - oh shit!' Alex swerved the car a bit before coming to a complete halt.
'Alex? Alex!' Jack called into the phone.
Alex looked through the rear view mirror and found the women in white in the backseat.
'Take me home.' She ordered.
'No.' Alex said. Locking the doors, the women in white trapped Alex in the car with no place to go but with her.
'Don't do this.' Alex pleaded.
'I can never go home.' Alex turned around and found her not back there but in the passenger seat. She sat on top of his lap.
'Hold me, I'm so cold.'
'You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful.'
'You will be.' She grabbed Alex's jaw and pressed her lips onto his Alex reached for the keys to the car. All of sudden, she disappeared into thin air. Alex let out a long sigh which was cut short by a searing pain coming from his chest. Her nails were digging inside his body, almost tugging at his heart.

Shots were heard as Jack approached the car and shot at the ghost off of his best friend. Alex sat up quickly and turned on the car.
'Want me to take you home? I'm taking you.' He pushed the gas peddle and drove right into the house with Jack calling out his name. Helping Alex out of the car the two spot the women in white standing over a picture she throws it down to the ground and pushes forward a chest, crushing the boys into the car. Alex and Jack squirm in place when they look up to hear the sound of running water coming from upstairs. Two children, who they presumed were her children, appear down and take up their mother down.
'Swear, if you screwed up my car, I'll kill you.'

___

'So Backwater, Colorado is where Tom is at.'
'Sounds charming. It won't take that long to get there.'
'Jack. I have an interview to get to.'
'You're not going?'
'The interview is soon. I gotta go Jack.'
'Yeah. Okay whatever. I'll take ya back.' Jack said back clearly annoyed at his friend.

___

Jack pulled up in front of the school, still hurt that Alex chooses school over helping him find Tom.
'Maybe we can meet up later?'
'Yeah sure.' Alex started to walk away when Jack leaned over the seat and called out Alex's name, causing him to turn around.
'We kicked some serious ass back there.' Alex smirked and nodded. Jack nodded and drove away.

'Delilah, you here?' Alex called out as soon as he entered the building. He walked over and lied down on his bed. A droplet hit the top of Alex's forehead, causing him to fidget a bit. As more droplets came down, he opened his eyes to find his girlfriend on the top of the ceiling. Her stomach covered in blood and her skin pale as snow. Alex screamed out to her.
'Alex!' Jack busted in through the room to find the bedroom already consumed in flames.
'Alex! Come on!' after taking one long look at Delilah, Jack dashed for his best friend, dragging him out the room.

The ambulance came and hosed down the rest of the fire. Jack approached Alex who was currently loading up some guns in the back.
'We got work to do.' Alex said as he slammed the trunk of the Impala.