A couple of hours later, Nick and AJ’s bus pulled up outside their hotel in Bloomfield, Colorado. Glad of the chance of a proper shower and something better than chocolate and crisps to eat, the two Backstreet Boys quickly left the bus and checked in to the hotel.

“Later bro” Nick said as he took his card key from the hotel receptionist and left AJ behind, hurrying for the elevators before any fans could spot him and approach. There were always a few die hard fans who always found out where they were staying in advance. He could’ve spent time wondering how they managed it, but didn’t. He had more important things to think about; like a nice hot shower, some room service and then a couple of hours of Xbox before the show at 1st Bank Center later on that evening.

Stripping off in the opulent bathroom, Nick couldn’t help noticing the bruises covering his torso “how the hell did they get there?”, he muttered to himself as he turned from side to side, lifting his arms as he took a closer look in the mirror. He didn’t remember falling out of bed or knocking himself on anything. But who knew? Stranger things had happened! He shrugged and reached over to turn the shower on, then finished getting undressed. The nice hot shower was just what he needed after a long journey on the tour bus. By the time he’d finished his shower and had dressed into a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, his food arrived.

“Now then, let’s kick some butt” he said as he connected up his Xbox to the large flat screen TV in his room. In no time at all he was engrossed in the game and fighting off supernatural beings in his quest for victory.

~*~

“I think this is the place” Sam said as they approached the address written on the piece of paper in his hand a couple of hours later.

Dean whistled as he looked up at the impressive apartment building. “Lot of money in this game business then” he expressed.

“Looks that way” Sam agreed “come on; let’s see if anyone’s home”.

They climbed out of the car after discussing who they were going to be today (they decided to keep the FBI identities going for now), and walked up the entrance of the building. Dean rang the bell and they waited anxiously for a reply. It was mid afternoon, the time of day that most people would be working, but after a couple of minutes, a woman’s voice answered the intercom.

“Yes?” she asked and the brothers looked into the camera which they knew was pointed on them.

“Miss Rodriguez?” Sam asked and she confirmed it with a simple yes. “I’m Agent Compton and this is Agent Northman, we’re from the FBI. May we come in for a minute; we’ve got a few questions we’d like to ask about Jason if that’s OK”

“But I told the police everything, they said it was suicide” she replied sadly.

“Please…this is important, we won’t take up much of your time” Dean added.

“OK then” she replied and the door opened to allow them into the building “come on up”.

The apartment was on the top floor, the penthouse. Selena opened the door and eyed them cautiously, twisting the sparkling engagement ring which still adorned her finger. The Winchesters flashed their fake identification badges and Selena opened the door wider to let them in. She led them into the living room which contained all the high tech gadgets money could buy, but the room still had a homely feel to it.

“Take a seat” Selena gestured and sat down on the chenille sofa, waiting for them to ask their questions.

“Thanks” Sam replied and they both sat down.

“So, what did you want to ask?” she began and again twisted the ring on her finger as she waited for the questions she really didn’t want to answer.

“Can you tell us what makes you think Jason’s death wasn’t suicide” Dean asked and Sam shot him a look as if to say ‘go easier on her’.

“I know…knew…Jason. He wouldn’t do that. There was no reason for him to take his own life. He had everything going for him. It just doesn’t make any sense” she shook her head sadly.

“Can you tell us a little about his work?” Sam asked to which Selena looked up a little puzzled.

“His work?” she asked.

“Yes, what did he do for a living? Was he happy in his job?” Dean asked.

“He worked for a major game manufacturer and he loved his job. He was really excited about some new game which was in development and about to be released. He spent months working on it…said it was going to be the most realistic graphics ever and knock everything else out of the water” she replied.

“Oh yeah” Sam said “what kind of game was it he was working on?”

“It was called ‘Premonition’ and it was a horror game, full of monsters and that kind of thing” she replied, wondering where this was going and what it had to do with anything “why do you ask?”

“We just want to get a better idea of the kind of man Jason was” Sam replied and Selena nodded.

They talked some more and then asked if it would be alright to take a look in the study - the place Jason had apparently taken his own life.

“I suppose so” she replied and directed them to Jason’s study.

The study looked untouched (apart from the fact that it had obviously had some specialist cleaning after the incident), there were items scattered over the large desk and Dean and Sam wasted no time in combing over the area. Removing his detector from his jacket pocket, Dean soon found traces of supernatural activity within the room, particularly around the desk and the flat screen which dominated one wall of the study. The Xbox was under the TV and a la-z-boy chair situated in perfect viewing distance, with an Xbox remote tucked neatly in a side pocket.

“I’ll look here, you check out that bookcase” Dean suggested, looking over at the solid oak bookcase which contained all sorts by the looks of it, not just books.

Dean skimmed through Jason’s papers and saw various items regarding the game which were of interest. It appeared that only five games were in existence at the time of Jason’s death. That meant - as long as no other games had been produced - that three more people must have the game. Rob had quite obviously ‘borrowed’ Jacob’s game after finding it in his bedroom. The brothers just needed to find out who had the remaining three games.

Before they could do any of that though, they needed to find out what they were up against. Video games didn’t just come to life of their own accord; something or someone must have tampered with it. But how?

Dean switched on the TV and the Xbox and watched as the game began to load, he had no intention of playing it, but had to see for himself what was so extraordinary about it.

“Dude, check this out” Sam called as he stood at the bookcase with an ancient looking leather bound book “it’s some kind of witchcraft book”

“Let me see” Dean said and immediately put the controller down and walked to where his brother was stood holding the book.

“We can’t stay up here for hours looking through this thing” Sam said “Selena will be wondering what’s taking so long”

“You’re right” Dean agreed and stuffed the book into his coat pocket. Sam gave him a look, but Dean simply shrugged. He was sure Selena wasn’t going to miss it if she never even came into the room.

They finished searching the room for clues and although they were positive the game was the cause of everything, they couldn’t work out how without having a good look at the book and the game. There were no records in the room of where the other games were located, and even if there were, they may not have been correct seeing as Jason had died three months previously. So that would mean a trip to the office and a bit of breaking and entering. They needed to find those other games fast before anyone else became a victim.