MONSTER TRUCK

car moves down the road, radio talking about the unseasonably cold weather. A black man sits behind the wheel. The radio crackles and dies. A large black truck approaches behind his car, moving quickly.

The man looks in his review mirror. "What the...?" The vehicles race along the road until the truck backends the sedan once, and then again.

The radio comes back to life, talking about politics. The truck is suddenly gone. The man continues driving, watching his review mirror.

Suddenly bright headlights shine through his windscreen. The truck is waiting. The man skids to a halt, backs up and turns to go the other way.

The truck is reving. He is backended again and fights to control the car as it swerves on the icy road. He is backended once last time and loses control, leaving the road and crashing through a cemetary.

The car flips, bounces, and skids to a halt. The truck cruises to a stop, revs a few times, then backs up and disappears into thin air.

am is looking at a map laid out on top of the car, Dean has his phone to his ear. Elena had went inside to use the bathroom. "Ok. I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought." Sam says.

Dean lowers his phone and looks thoughtful. "Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania."

Elena comes out of the gas station and wipes her hands on her jeans. "We what?" She asks.

"I just got a call from an, uh, old friend. Her father was killed last night, think it might be our kind of thing." Dean says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. Believe me, she never woulda called, never, if she didn't need us." Dean gets into the Impala. "Come on, are you coming or not?"

The Impala cruises down the road, fields on one side, a lake on the other. "By old friend you mean...?" Sam starts.

"A friend that's not new." Dean says.

"Oh yeah, thanks. So her name's Cassie huh? You never mentioned her..." Sam says.

"Didn't I?" A long pause, Sam looks at Dean expectantly. "Yeah, we went out."

Elena leans on the back of the chair. "You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night?" She asks.

"Am I speaking a language you're not getting here? My Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a coupla weeks." Dean said finally.

"And...?" Sam asks, Dean shrugging slightly. "Look, it's terrible about her dad, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do. Which by the way, how does she know what we do?"

Dean looks shifty and Sam's eyes go wide. "You told her. You told her, the secret! Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a coupla times and you tell her everything?" Dean stays silent, staring straight ahead. "Dean!"

"Yeah. Looks like." Dean continues staring ahead and put's his foot down. Sam does the bitchface, shaking his head.

middle aged black man is talking to a white man about his age. "It's a newspaper we put out, not a bulletin for the Mayor's office." He says.

"Get off your soapbox Jimmy, I'm urging a little discretion is all." The white man says.

A Young black Woman with voluptuous curls yells at him. "No, I think you're telling us what you want us to print and what you want us to sit on."

"I know you're upset Cassie, I liked your dad a lot. But I think your grief is clouding your judgment." The white man is the Mayor.

The black man was Jimmy, a friend if the girl, Cassie. "Two black people were killed on the Same stretch of road in the Same way in two week." Jimmy says.

Sam, Elena and Dean enter the office. "Jimmy, you're too close to this. Those guys were friends of yours. Again, Cassie, I'm very sorry for your loss." The mayor says and walks away.

Cassie sighs and turns around, looking straight at Dean. Looking slightly apprehensive, Dean nods at her and grins. "Dean." She says.

"Hey Cassie."They stare at each other for a long moment, not speaking. Sam watches, smiling to himself.

Dean clears his throat. "This my brother Sam and friend Elena." He put emphasis on the word 'friend'. Cassie smiles at Sam, who returns one of his own. She doesn't even glance Elena's way. Her gaze returns to Dean. "Sorry bout your dad."

"Yeah. Me too." Dean and Cassie keep staring at each other.

t her mother's home, Cassie comes in, carrying in a tray of tea and cups. "My mothers in pretty bad shape. I've been staying with her. I wish she wouldn't go off by herself. She's been so nervous and frightened. She was worried about dad."

"Why?" Dean asks.

Cassie begins pouring the tea. "He was scared. He was seeing things." She says.

"Like what?"

"He swore he saw an awful-looking black truck following him." Cassie says.

"A truck. Who was the driver?"

Cassie hands out the tea. "He didn't talk about a driver. Just the truck. He said it would appear and disappear. And, in the accident, Dad's car was dented, like it had been slammed into by something big."

"Thanks." Sam says and accepts his tea. "Now you're sure this dent wasn't there before?" Dean looks at his cup of tea like it's an alien, and quickly deposits it on a side table.

"He sold cars. Always drove a new one. There wasn't a scratch on that thing. It had rained hard that night. There was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of muddy tracks leading from dad's car...leading right to the edge, where he went over." Cassie bows her head, getting her emotions under control. "One set of tracks. His."

"The first was a friend of your fathers?" Dean asks.

"Best friend. Clayton Soames.They owned the car dealership together. Same thing. Dent. No Tracks. And the cops said exactly what they said about dad. He 'lost control of his car.'"

"Can you think of any reason why your father and his partner might be targets?" Elena asks.

Cassie turns to her. "No. And who are you again?"

"Um, a friend of theirs. If you don't want me here, then-" Elena says.

"And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?" Sam asks and looks at Elena. He had cut her off.

Cassie stopped looking at Elena and moved on. "When you say it aloud like that...listen, I'm a little skeptical about this...ghost stuff...or whatever it is you guys are into."

"Skeptical. If I remember, I think you said I was nuts." Dean huffs.

"That was then." They stare at each other again. "I just know that I can't explain what happened up there. So I called you." Cassie says.

Sound of a door opening, a middle aged woman enters. Sam and Dean rise to their feet, Cassie goes to take her mom's arm. "Mom. Where have you been I was so..."

"I had no idea you'd invited friends over." Her mother stays.

"Mom, this is Dean, a...friend of mine from... college. And his brother Sam." Cassie failed to mention Elena and she grinded her teeth.

"Well I won't interrupt you."

Dean steps forward. "Mrs Robinson. We're sorry for your loss. We'd like to talk to you for a minute if you don't mind?" He asks.

"I'm really not up for that right now." She leaves the room, those remaining look at each other.

The camera pans across an open field to a crashed car, wheels spinning. Jimmy is slumped over the wheel, unmoving. On the road the black truck revs it's engine then backs up, disappearing.

he next day in the same field, Sam, Dean & Elena stand a few feet away from Cassie who was talking to The Mayor. Dean is too distracted and watching Cassie. "Hey, Sam?" Elena asks.

"Yeah?" He turns to her.

"Is it just me, or does it feel like Cassie doesn't like me that much?" She asks.

Sam looks at Cassie. "Why do you say that?" He asks.

"Because she's kind of a bitch."

Sam smirks. "Yeah, she definitely doesn't like you." He says.

The Mayor and Cassie walk among the emergency vehicles. "Jimmy meant somethng to this town. He was one of our best. We won't be the Same without him." The Mayor says.

"Our best seem to be dropping like flies. Clayton, my father, Jimmy." Cassie says.

The Mayor looks at her skeptically. "What is it exactly you want me to do?"

"How bout closing this section of road for starters?" Cassie asks.

The Mayor looks at her skeptically. "Close the main road. The only road in and out of town? Accidents do happen Cassie, and that's what they are. Accidents."

Dean, Elena and Sam approach and stand behind Cassie. "Did the cops check for additional dinting on Jimmy's car, see if it was pushed?" Dean asks.

"Who's this?" The Mayor asks Cassie.

"Dean and Sam Winchester. And..." She looks at Elena. "What's your name again?"

"Elena." Elena sneers.

"Right. Family friends. This is Mayor Harold Todd." Cassie says. Sam coughs awkwardly and Dean is too engrossed in Cassie.

"There's one set of tire tracks. One, doesn't point to foul play." The Mayor suggests.

"Mayor, the police and town officials take their cues from you. If you're indifferent about..." Cassie says.

The Mayor's face is bright red. "Indifferent!" He yells.

"Would you close the road if the victims were white?" She asks.

"You suggesting I'm racist Cassie? I'm the last person you should talk to like that." He replies.

Cassie puts her hands in her hips. "And why is that." She asks.

"Why don't you ask your mother." The Mayor walks away, leaving them standing in the field.

am stands in trousers, shirt and tie, picking up a suit jacket. "I'll say this for her, she's fearless." Sam only says this because Elena's in the bathroom and he didn't want to see her angry.

"Mm-hmm." Dean is in a suit, fixing tie in the mirror.

Sam grins. "Bet she kicked your ass a coupla times." Dean glances at him then returns to the mirror. "What's interesting is you guys never really look at each other at the same time. You look at her when she's not looking, she checks you out when you look away." He says.

Elena comes out of the bathroom in a slim dress and matching shoes. She mumbled incoherent things under her breath.

"It's just a...just an interesting observation in a...you know...observationally interesting way." Sam finishes.

"You think we might have more pressing issues here?" Dean asks.

"Hey, if I'm hitting a nerve."

Dean turns away. "Let's go." Sam snickers. Dean leaves as Elena fumbles with her dress.

"Um, are you okay?" Sam asks her and she scowls.

"I'm fine." She pressed and scrambled past him. Sam shrugs it off and follows.

ean, Elena, and Sam walk down a pier. A few people are fishing. They approach two older men having lunch. "Excuse me. Are you Ron Stubbins?" Elena asks and Ron nods. "You were friends with Jimmy Anderson?"

"Who are you?" Ron asks.

"We're Mr Anderson's insurance company. We're just here to dot 'I's' and cross 'T's'." Dean says.

Sam clears his throat. "We were just wondering, had the deceased mentioned any unusual recent experiences?" He asks.

"What do you mean, unusual?" Ron asks.

"Well visions, halluinations." Dean says and Ron looks at him like he's grown another limb. "It's part of a medical examination kind of thing. All very standard."

"What company did you say you were with?" Ron asks.

Dean thinks for a second. "All National Mutual. Tell me, did he ever mention seeing a truck? A big black truck?"

"What the hell you talking about? You even speaking English?" Ron asks.

Ron's friend speaks. "Son this truck, a big scary monster looking thing?"

"Yeah actually, I think so." Elena says.

"Hmm."

"What?" Dean asks.

"I have heard of a truck like that."

Sam is surprised. "You have. Where?"

"Not where. When. Back in the '60s there was a string of deaths. Black men. Story goes, they disappeared in a big, nasty, black truck." Ron's friend says.

"They ever catch the guy who did it?" Dean asks.

The friend shook his head. "Never found him. Hell, not sure they even really looked. See there was a time, this town wasn't too friendly to all it's citzens."

"Thank you." Sam, Elena and Dean make their way back down the pier to the Impala.