“Do you really think it’s the game?” Sam asked.

“Anything is possible, we’ve seen just about everything else” Dean replied, looking up briefly from the journal “you find anything?”

“I’m just looking up all I can find about this game, it seems that it’s not due for release for another six months” Sam said as he searched for more information “and check this out…it looks like it should’ve been released already but they had to put the date back for reasons undisclosed. I wonder what they were!”

“I think we can probably guess, and I bet there’ve been more than just the two deaths we know about. We’d better see what else we can find” Dean replied and they carried on their search for answers.

~*~

“Dude…what the fuck?” Nick stood with his hands on his hips, a completely pissed off look on his face “I’m gonna have to start over again. Damn”

“Sorry man, but you were asleep and I was dying to play it” AJ replied, having paused the game to turn and explain to Nick, not a hint of remorse on his face.

“Awesome isn’t it?” Nick said, not able to stay mad for long. If he’d been in AJ’s position, he would’ve done exactly the same thing. In fact, he wouldn’t have even apologised.

“Fuck yeah! You should’ve seen this giant I just slaughtered, oh my god, I swear he nearly had me but then I pulled out the shot gun and blew him to pieces” AJ grinned “but here you go, I’ve had enough for now”. AJ reset the game and handed the controller over to Nick. He looked at his watch, noticing that they weren’t too far away from Bloomfield if the driver’s timing was anything to go by.

“Alright! Time to kick some supernatural ass” Nick grabbed a bottle of water and a bag of Cheetos and settled down for some game play.

AJ wandered back into the sleeping area to make a phone call to his Monkee, who had been unable to come along for this leg of the tour due to work commitments. He missed her so much, but was thankful for Skype.

“Take that you fucking blood suckers” Nick was shouting at the TV as he fought off a coven of blood thirsty vampires with a crossbow loaded with wooden stakes. The vampires each burst into flames, screeching in agony before being reduced to ashes. “Just call me Van Helsing” Nick laughed as he finished off the last one and moved on.

“You wish” AJ laughed as he came back into the living area and sat down.

“Shut up dude, you’ll distract me” Nick chastised his friend and threw a cushion at him.

“It’s just a game man” AJ dodged the cushion unsuccessfully.

“A freaking awesome game” Nick corrected and then turned back to the TV screen.

“What the hell is that?” AJ asked as some weird looking creature appeared on the screen.

“No clue, but the master will bring him down…just you watch and see” Nick grinned.

The creature turned out to be a gorgon - legend had it that if you looked one in the face, you turned to stone.

“You sure is fugly” Nick said to the hideously ugly looking creature that was snarling and slowly making its way towards Nick.

“It’s got freaking snakes for hair” AJ pointed out the obvious “wasn’t there a film…Clash of The Titans…don’t look at it or you’ll turn to stone, just like in the film”

“Shit” Nick said and made sure his screen character didn’t look it in the eye “thanks”

“No problem” AJ replied and decided he’d had enough of watching Nick play and grabbed something to eat. With any luck they’d be stopping soon.

Nick kept his eyes lowered, but was very aware of every move the gorgon was making. It approached slowly, and Nick didn’t have a lot of time to think.

“Dude…can you remember how they killed it in the film?” Nick called out to AJ, who was just finishing off a glass of orange juice.

“Decapitation. It’s the only way” AJ replied.

“Cool” Nick said to himself and reached behind his back to retrieve the Samurai sword which was sheathed in a leather harness. He swung the sword above his head and then aimed it at the gorgon, hoping to behead it with one swift movement. It wasn’t that easy though. Although Nick did slice through skin, bone and tissue, he didn’t decapitate it completely and the gorgon came at him in a blind rage, its head dangling at an odd angle.

“Don’t look at it” Nick kept repeating to himself as the creature somehow managed to grab hold of him. He tried to free his arms but the creature was too strong and the sword soon clattered to the ground. “Fuck” he murmured.

But without a moment to lose, he had to do something. Nick wasn’t in the habit of losing and would battle to the bitter end. Kicking his legs, he managed to unbalance the gorgon, sending them both flying through the air on their descent to the rough ground. Now was his only chance before the creature caught him again and forced him to look into its cold eyes, which would turn him to stone where he stood. Nick reached for the Samurai sword, his fingers only just clasping the handle. He swung it and hoped for the best. Fortunately, luck was on his side that time as the gorgon’s headless corpse dropped on top of Nick. Its head rolled in the opposite direction, the snakes had stopped moving and those cold eyes were now lifeless.

~*~

The Winchester brothers’ investigation uncovered a lot more than they expected it to. They found out that the man who’d originally devised the game had met his untimely end three months before the death of the first teenager. Jason Barlow had been found dead in the apartment he shared with his fiancée Selena, his wrists slit and his throat cut, with a medieval looking dagger within arm‘s reach.

A verdict of suicide had been recorded but according to Selena, there was no way her fiancé would take his own life. What reason would he have? He was doing a job he loved. He was getting paid a lot of money for doing the job that he loved so much. He was getting married the following year to the woman he loved and who loved him enough to put up with the hours he spent thinking up new game ideas. He lived in a nice neighbourhood and drove a fast sports car. Everyone who met Jason seemed to like him. So why would he kill himself? But the police established that there had been no break in at the time of death. Jason had to have done it to himself. Dean and Sam thought otherwise.

“We’ve got to talk to Selena” Dean said “I know it’s a couple of hours drive, but maybe she knows something”

And so they set off for Springfield and hopefully for some more answers.