"Remind me why we're here again?" Dean asked as he looked up at the local mall he, Sam, and Taylor were standing in front of.
"Because the mall's always filled with Christmas stuff, and since you two aren't exactly the most festive guys on the planet, I want to look around, and get into the spirit," Taylor told them with a grin, and began walking in the direction of the front entrance to the mall. Dean looked over at Sam who shrugged at him before taking off after Taylor. Dean sighed before doing the same, not seeing what other option he had.
Dean stepped inside the mall, immediately smelling the scent of pine air freshener, and hearing the talking and laughter as people bustled around him shopping for last minute Christmas gifts. Today was Christmas Eve, and Dean realized that this would probably be a different kind of Christmas with Taylor around. He knew she was really into the holidays, even though her memories were probably just as pathetic as Dean's were. Taylor's parents were hunters, and Taylor had been constantly alone during her childhood. Dean found himself thankful that he at least got to go with his dad on some hunts. Taylor's parents didn't want to risk it, and never took Taylor.
He realized now that that was probably a mistake considering that Taylor wasn't a bad hunter. She had killed a shapeshifter on their last hunt, knew how to work just about every weapon, and probably more that Dean just didn't know about. He looked over at her with admiration as she looked around the mall with a huge smile on her face. Dean looked over and saw Sam staring at her, too, and stopped himself from whacking him on the arm to stop staring at Taylor.
"Let's go walk down the mall," Taylor suggested, starting to walk. "I think there's a Christmas store here somewhere." Dean and Sam followed behind her.
Even though Dean didn't have such good memories for Christmas, he still missed a lot of things about it. Mainly his dad. It hadn't even been a year since his dad had died to save him, and not a day went by where he hadn't wished he hadn't done that for him. Dean didn't know why he deserved to live and for his dad to die. John was a much better hunter, and Dean understood that he was just trying to protect his son, but dying for him wasn't the thing that Dean had expected.
Holidays were about being with family, right? Well now Dean's only family was Sam, and Dean just wished that for once his family could be together again. He knew it wasn't possible since his parents were dead, and tried to be thankful for what he still had. Now he had Taylor, which was a lot less lonely. But Dean couldn't help but envy her a little. Yes, she hadn't had any brothers or sisters, but that meant that she didn't need to watch out for anyone, and she still had both of her parents living. Dean wondered if Taylor really wanted to spend the holidays with them, but guessed that they were probably hunting and didn't have time to celebrate Christmas.
Suddenly Dean realized he'd been walking for around 5 minutes, and they were nearing the Christmas store. Taylor immediately fast-walked to the entrance, and Sam gave a small laugh before following her. Dean was about to go into the store when something caught his attention.
Standing at the front of the store was a man dressed in a Santa Claus outfit. Except his face and visible skin was covered in strange tattoos, he wasn't wearing a white beard, and his eyes were piercing blue. Dean would have kept walking, but this guy just seemed strange, and Dean just couldn't put his finger on why. A few pretty girls in Santa's Helpers costumes stood a few feet away from where Santa sat talking and laughing as if he wasn't there. Dean wondered if he was just imagining this whole thing, but then Santa talked.
"Come here boy," the man told Dean in a commanding voice, gesturing for Dean to come closer. Dean was hesitant at first, but then decided, what the hell? He walked over to the man, and kept his eyes on the man's piercing blue ones.
"Now, what do you want for Christmas?" The man asked him with a mischievous smile. Dean gave him a weird look, not sure why this guy was asking Dean who was much older than the other little kids that he should probably be asking this to. But kids walked by, holding their parents hands, not even looking in Santa's direction.
Dean thought better than to answer, and the man gave a small laugh, knowing Dean wasn't going to respond. "Don't worry kid, I already know," the man told him with another mischievous smile. As Dean gave him a weird look, the man stood up quickly and placed his hand on the top of Dean's head and Dean felt an electric shock course through his brain. He groaned aloud in agony and he felt like he was losing consciousness, but within seconds the man removed his hand as Dean collapsed to the ground on his knees.
For a few seconds Dean didn't know where he was at all. He looked around nervously, getting back to his feet. Remembering what had just happened he looked over at where Santa had been sitting, but his eyes widened when he saw no chair or remnants of the man ever being there. Dean wondered if he'd just imagined the whole thing, but knew he hadn't. He felt the sting that the small electric shock had caused, and knew he'd just had a confrontation with the man. Santa's Helpers stood by where the chair had been before, still talking and laughing as if nothing had just happened.
Dean looked around wondering if anyone had witnessed what he had, but no one seemed to be staring at him or giving him weird looks. Everyone just bustled by, trying to finish up their shopping. Dean shook his head, trying not to think about it, and went inside the store to find Taylor and Sam.
He walked through the groups of people inside the small store, trying to look for Sam and Taylor's familiar brunette heads. He was getting hopeless, seeing way too many brunette heads when he heard Taylor's familiar laugh. Dean looked around and then spotted with relief Taylor and Sam laughing, looking through a photo album of the Christmas store staff throughout the years. He walked over to them and tapped Sam on the shoulder making him swing around curiously.
"Hey, there you are," Sam said with a relieved grin.
"Where were you?" Taylor asked with interest, staring at him with her intense green eyes.
"This guy . . ." Dean started, but then stopped himself, not up to explaining what had just happened since he really didn't know himself. Sam and Taylor shot him confused stares, but Dean just shook his head. "Never mind." Sam and Taylor shrugged, and turned back to the photo album as Dean tried to figure out what had just happened to him.
Sam woke up the next morning, stretching his long arms over his head. He sat up and rubbed his tired, closed eyes a few times before opening them. His eyes widened at what he saw, and he shot confused stares around the room.
He was sitting in a king-sized bed, not the twin mattress that he'd been sleeping on the night before at the hotel he, Dean, and Taylor had been staying at. He looked around the room he was in, which was definitely not the hotel room he'd fell asleep in. The room was a lot bigger, the walls were painted a peaceful green color, the carpet was light beige, and there was a large bureau with a mirror right across from him.
Sam stared at his reflection, glad to see that he still looked the same. Except he'd been wearing an army green colored t-shirt the night before, but now his chest was exposed. He realized he was wearing a pair of black and gray plaid pajama pants on underneath the covers he'd been sleeping under. He noticed the other side of the bed he was sitting had the sheets pulled across like someone had been sleeping there, and had gotten out of bed. Sam curiously got out of bed, picked up a gray t-shirt off of the carpet that he didn't recognize, and pulled it over his head. He curiously walked out of the room, and out into an unfamiliar hallway.
There were only a few doors in the short hallway, but Sam knew he was in a normal sized house, not the hotel room he'd been in last night. Sam had no clue what was going on, and he wondered if this was some sort of joke. But he knew Dean would never go this far, and be able to convince someone to let them use their house. Sam started to walk cautiously towards the spiral stairs at the end of the hallway when something on the wall caught his eye.
Sam's eyes widened as he stared at a framed picture on the wall. It was a picture of him, and one of his professors at Stanford. They were both grinning, and Sam had an arm around the man's shoulder since he was taller than the professor and he couldn't have reached Sam's shoulders if he tried. The picture looked recent, and Sam knew he was right when he took the picture off of the wall and looked on the back. He read the date aloud that was written in black ink on the back of the framed photo: "2007." Sam was now getting totally freaked out. He hadn't been at Stanford for at least a year or more, and this photo was from this year? He put the photo quickly back on the wall with shaking hands.
Sam tore off down the hallway, now exasperated, confused, and a little frightened. He'd had enough, and needed to know what was going on. He ran down the spiral staircase, and noticed the house was nicer than he'd thought. There was a gorgeous chandelier hanging above the foyer, and the floor was all glossy hardwood. He walked cautiously through the foyer, and into a room, which he guessed to be the kitchen. Light shone throughout the room, and Sam looked around, confused, wondering where the heck he was, when he froze, hearing a familiar voice.
"Well, look who decided to wake up," the voice said with a familiar laugh, and Sam wondered for a moment if he was dreaming. He turned to where the voice had come from, and felt his entire body tense up as tears came to his eyes after hearing that familiar voice.
"Dad?"
