Kobe yawned, closing his book. With only two more weeks left until finals, he'd been staying up late almost every night to study. Physics. Chem. Engineering. Soon, he would be done with college and free to do whatever he wanted. Dad had always been the one to stress the importance of school, and it seemed as though he had been right.
Squirrels chattered outside his window, where warm Summer breezes blew past. Kobe was going to miss it here. The sprawling oaks. The Quads. The underground library. U of I had been his home for the last four years, and the time to say goodbye was fast approaching.
Kobe rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly, scratching at his tattoo. Or at least, what looked like a tattoo. He had had it as long as he could remember, and he had no idea what it meant. The shapes might have been letters, but they definitely weren't from the Latin alphabet.
Dakota whined at his feet, raising her burgundy head to look at him.
"Hey, sweetie. Yeah, I know you wanna go to bed. Just gimme a sec', alright?" Kobe mussed up the husky's fur and stood, stretching his muscles and popping his joints. Before he could get ready for bed, though, there came a frantic knocking at his door.
"Kobe? It's Mabel! Let me in!" His sister's voice was muffled by the distance.
"Mabel?" Kobe asked, hurrying from his room to the front door and pulling it open. "What are you doing here?" Dakota barked excitedly, running up and sniffing Mabel.
Mabel ignored them both, quickly turning around and locking the door. For several moments, all that could be heard was her labored, panicked breathing.
Hesitantly, Kobe asked, "Mabel? What's wrong?"
She laughed weakly. "What's wrong? Kobe, I don't even know what's wrong! I just--I was walking to my dorm, and I got this splitting headache, and the next thing I knew, I was somewhere else! Or, at least I felt like I was somewhere else. Some middle of nowhere crossroads. There were two people, talking, and one of them had these red freaking eyes! A-and they were standing in, like, a pentagram!"
Kobe grabbed his sister's shoulders. "Mabel. Listen to me. You're fine. Everything's fine. Whatever you saw, there's no way it was real. It was probably just a dream."
Mabel shook her head. "No, it wasn't a dream! Nobody just starts randomly dreaming when they're in the middle of walking!"
Dakota whined, butting her head against Mabel's leg. Mabel worried her lip, looking at her brother with those shining hazel eyes of hers. "I don't know what it was, but I know it was real. I need to know what happened."
Kobe rubbed his eyes. "Fine. Alright. I mean, I'm not going for the red eyes, I'm sure they were probably contacts or something, but I am willing to believe that whatever you saw … might have actually happened. Do you know where it was?"
Mabel grinned. "Yeah! I saw a sign. You have to drive, though. I lost my license, remember?"
Kobe smiled in return. "Yeah, knucklehead, I remember. Speed limits are there for a reason, you know."
Mabel huffed as Kobe grabbed his keys. "Oh, the things I do for you," he sighed. "At least it's not a school night."
"Yeah, okay, I owe you one. But we gotta figure out what happened. Let's go."
They set out the door, Dakota bounding happily in front of them. Kobe unlocked the doors of his black '87 Buick Grand National, allowing the husky to hop onto the blankets in the back seat.
"Can't believe Mom and Dad let you get this thing," Mabel grumbled, but Kobe noticed that her eyes kept darting over it, admiring.
"I'll have you know that Lady's got a turbo, fuel injectors, dual fuel pumps, four-inch exhaust, and seven hundred and fifty horsepower." He started the engine, grinning as it roared to life. "Lady might not look like much on the outside, but appearances can be deceiving. This girl runs the 1320 in nine seconds."
"Jesus Christ! How much money have you spent on this car? College kids are supposed to be poor! And you named it?! You're such an enginerd."
"My buddy Josef gets me everything I need real cheap, I have a decent job, and of course I named her! Let's not forget that you totaled your own before you really had the chance to."
"Shaddup."
"Make me."
Kobe put the Buick in reverse. Mabel pulled out a map and started making marks on it with a pen, speaking up every so often to give directions.
"Alright, turn right here. Wait, nevermind, next turn!"
"Are you sure you know where we're going?"
"Kinda. I mean, all I saw was the road signs. But it felt kinda Kansas-y, you know?"
"It felt … Kansas-y." Kobe rubbed his eyes, exhausted.
"Hey, I have pretty good intuition. Just trust me on this, okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Where's the next turn?"
"Left in … thirteen miles?"
Kobe sighed. This was going to be a long night.
Nine hours and many Red Bulls later, the siblings finally pulled to a stop beside the crossroads. The sun shone brightly in the sky.
"Woah," Mabel breathed. "I mean, it's just like what I saw. The pentagram. Those yellow flowers. And …" She knelt down in the middle of the crossroads, using her hands to dig into the gravel and pull up a small wooden box. Kobe came closer, curious, with Dakota at his heels.
"I saw him bury this. The one with normal eyes. Before red eyes showed up." Mabel carefully opened the box to reveal its contents.
"Is that a … bone?" Kobe asked, disgusted. Mabel looked pale.
"Uh, yeah, I think so. And … some dirt. And this is a picture of the guy who buried it."
"Great. Well, I guess you wanna go find this guy now?"
Mabel nodded, looking back at her map. "The nearest town is Lebanon, maybe twenty minutes away."
"Alright. I guess we could ask around, see if anyone knows this guy."
Suddenly, Dakota began to growl. Kobe looked around, but there was nothing there. "What is it, girl?"
"Bro, your dog's weird," Mabel muttered.
Dakota whined, nosing something on the ground. It was some yellow powder, and upon closer inspection, Kobe realized it was sulfur. He raised his eyebrows.
"How'd this get here?"
"Does it matter? Let's go."
"Alright, whatever. Come on, Dakota."
They returned to the Buick and set off, leaving the crossroads behind. Soon after, they arrived in Lebanon. The town was rather small and quiet, so hopefully, it wouldn't take too long to find this guy.
They stood in front of a waitress from the local diner. "Oh, Sam? Yeah, he comes in here a lot. Real nice, sweet kinda guy. I hear he lives 'round the edge of town with his brother, up by the old power plant? Must have a house up there or somethin'."
So they had a name and a location. Mabel could hardly contain her excitement as they returned to the Buick. "Oh, God, I can't believe this is actually happening. This is crazy! I mean, it was like some vision or something, I don't know, but everything I saw actually happened!"
"Still not going for those red eyes though," Kobe said, sliding into the driver's seat. "Let's just find this 'Sam' and see what's going on."
The power plant was tall and ancient, sitting up on its hill. Kobe noticed tire tracks all over the gravel, so hopefully this was the right spot. It didn't really seem like the kind of place where someone would live.
He knocked on the door, which was oddly set into the ground. When there was no answer, he knocked louder. "Sam? Is there a Sam in here?!" After what seemed like forever, Kobe heard footsteps on the other side and the door swung partially open.
"Who's asking?" Sam said. One of his hands remained behind the door, hidden from view. He was a tall and formidable man, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. Kobe decided that he did not want to make him mad.
"I'm Kobe Redfox, this is my sister Mabel. Mabel?"
Mabel stepped forward. "Hi, yeah, I just wanted to ask you about a certain crossroads you may have been to?"
Sam immediately tensed, his posture changing slightly but in a way that definitely screamed 'aggressive'. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, and this is gonna sound crazy, but I think I had a vision yesterday, and you were in it, so I came here to check it out."
"A vision. What, exactly, did you see?"
"You. The crossroads. Some pentagram thingy. And a guy with these freaky red eyes."
Sam clenched his jaw. "Anything else?"
"No … what else happened?"
"Nothing."
"Please, I need to know."
"No. You really don't. Just pretend you never saw anything. Don't come back here." The swung the door shut, leaving the siblings in silence.
"Well, that went well," Kobe grumbled, turning to head back to the Buick. Dakota barked from the back seat, sticking her head out the window. "Let's just find somewhere to rest for a bit and head back to school in the morning."
Mabel sighed. "Yeah. Alright."
They ended up staying in the Blue Tulip Motel. There were water stains on the ceiling and the sheets were itchy, but Kobe wasn't willing to spend more money than he had to. After all, as Mabel said, he was a college kid and therefore had no money. They would only be staying for a few hours anyway, just to rest and regain energy.
Sometime around three p.m., Kobe woke to a scream and wild barking. He jolted up, immediately alert, to see a man with smoky black eyes fling Dakota into the nightstand and then hit Mabel over the head, knocking her out.
"Mabel!" he screamed, scrambling out of bed to tackle the intruder. They rolled to the floor, and Kobe grunted from the impact. The man, however, merely laughed and kicked Kobe away. The force of the blow threw him into the opposite wall, where he slid to the floor, stunned, and struggled to regain his breath.
"What are you?" Kobe gasped, looking up at the black-eyed man who now stood over him, smirking.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Then, he brought his heel down on Kobe's head, sending his world into darkness.
Kobe blinked, his eyes struggling to adjust. Groggily, he lifted his head and tried to look around. A fire was burning in a nearby trash can, providing a flickering source of light. High overhead, broken windows whistled from the wind. His hands were tied behind his back and his legs were tied to a chair. A gag prevented him from speaking or calling for help. His gaze fell on a figure slumped over nearby. He recognized the wavy chestnut hair as his sister's, and he immediately began to strain against the ropes in an attempt to get to her. Mabel raised her head weakly, meeting his blue-gray eyes. She was terrified, trying and failing to hide it.
It's gonna be okay, he thought. We're gonna be okay. Mabel's eyes widened before she nodded her head vigorously. Kobe was confused. What was she trying to say? Then, a look of intense concentration came over her face.
I … ear you … oughts. The voice echoed in Kobe's mind, and he jumped in surprise.
What was that?!
Me. Ma'el. Mabel … think … talk?
Kobe's heart rate increased. Was his sister in his head? What was going on? Just then, the sound of a metal door slamming shut interrupted his thoughts.
"I hear you were in town looking for Sam Winchester." It was the man with black eyes. "You know, he killed a friend of mine. Lured him in, acted like he was just makin' your everyday demon deal … and then he stabbed him in the gut. I went out looking for Winchester. Saw you two walk up to his front door. I figured, you know what? KIlling a Winchester ain't that easy. But you know what would be great? If he finds you two, you know, ripped apart. Limb. From. Limb. And I'll make my time with it too. He'll know that he's the reason you two are dead. And won't that be just dandy."
You talk too much, Kobe thought, glaring daggers at the man. At the same time, his mind was reeling. What was this guy talking about, demon deals? Then, he felt a strange calm wash over him. He locked eyes with Mabel.
Try … to help. Kobe blinked gratefully for her support. He still had no idea how she was doing any of this, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"I'm assuming this is your first time meeting one of my kind," the man drawled on. "So I'll take extra care to make sure you know what's goin' on. See, I'm a demon. That's right. A demon. From Hell. And let me tell you, being alive is a real drag. You'll like it much better if you end up like me."
He really likes the sound of his own voice. But then, whatever Mabel was doing was no longer enough to contain Kobe's fear as the so-called demon pulled out a wicked looking knife. It glinted dangerously in the firelight.
--WARNING!!! POSSIBLE TRIGGER: MILD TORTURE--
He moved on Mabel first. The knife carved a long, thin, red line down her cheek, and she whimpered in pain. Kobe fought viciously against his restraints, putting every ounce of muscle he had into his efforts.
Mabel! MABEL!!!
The next cut was deep, starting at her shoulder and trailing part of the way down her arm. This time, she screamed. The sound of her agony pierced Kobe's ears as tears formed in his eyes. He had to save his sister. He had to stop this!
--END TRIGGER SCENE--
Anger and desperation filled every ounce of his being. It felt as though a blazing fire were growing inside of him, from deep inside his heart. It spread throughout his body, burning his veins yet rejuvenating him with its intensity. The demon looked up at him, sensing this sudden rise in power, and its eyes turned black.
"That's not possible," it growled, yet it was backing away at the same time. Kobe stood up, snapping his bonds with ease, and tore the gag out of his mouth. Mabel was watching him with wide eyes. This power in his body, wrapping around his soul, was incomprehensible in its strength. It responded to his every thought and movement, curling tendrils swirling through his being. It was beautiful, yet terrifying, hot, yet cool in appearance.
"Don't you dare touch my sister," Kobe growled, stalking towards the demon. He could see its face now. It was deformed and hideous, twisted horns arching back from its head. Smoke poured from its eyes, and its teeth were deadly sharp. However, Kobe felt no fear; only a deadly calm as he reached forward and placed his hand against the demon's forehead. Power blasted through his arm and into the demon's body. It screamed as it was burned from the inside out, hellfire flickering from its eyes and mouth before it collapsed to the ground, dead.
Kobe fell back in shock. The power retreated back inside of him, coiling in his center. He exhaled sharply, looking at his sister. "I … What just happened?"
Mabel shook her head, just as amazed. Kobe glanced back down at the demon, then returned his attention to Mabel. He easily tore away her restraints, not even trying to untie them, and helped her remove the gag.
"Come on," Kobe urged her. He pulled her to her feet, looking at her injuries. Her cuts were still bleeding, and there was a nasty welt on her head. "We gotta get you to a hospital."
Still unable to understand anything that had just happened, Kobe helped his sister out of whatever abandoned building they were in. There was a car parked outside, which Kobe managed to hotwire. Thankfully, he was quickly able to find Lebanon's hospital and get Mabel the help she needed.
As she lay in the hospital bed, arm and head bandaged, she looked up at Kobe. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "This is all my fault."
"Hey, no," Kobe said, shaking his head. "You had no way of knowing this would happen. I mean, demons? Hell? It's insane. And whatever's going on with us … I don't even know. But all that matters is that you're okay. Alright? Nothing else."
Mabel grinned weakly. She looked pale from blood loss, and Kobe's heart clenched at the sight. "You should head back to the motel. See if Dakota's alright."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I don't think we'll be seeing anymore … demons today. Go on."
Kobe nodded reluctantly. "I'll be back soon."
He closed the door quietly behind him and leaned back against it, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply.
"Hey," a voice said, sounding vaguely familiar. Kobe opened his eyes to see Sam standing awkwardly in front of him. How someone over six feet tall could look awkward was a mystery to him.
"What are you doing here?" Kobe asked coldly. This man was the reason the demon had gone after them.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't thinking straight, and then I thought maybe a demon would come after you and your sister. Looks like I was right."
"What were you really doing at that crossroads?"
Sam looked ashamed. "Honestly? Looking for my brother, Dean. He's … not himself. I'm trying to bring him home."
Kobe immediately softened at that, finding himself able to relate. "I … hope you find him. Just try not to get anyone else hurt in the process. But … how did you find us, or even know what happened?"
"You looked pretty tired earlier. I thought you might've checked into the motel, so I went there and found your room torn apart. Your dog's in my car, by the way."
Kobe nodded, grateful. "Thanks … so, uh, what do you know about this … demon stuff?"
"A lot. If you want, I could tell you more."
"Yeah. I've got a lot of questions."
"And I'd be happy to answer them. My place … it's sort of a bunker, underneath the power plant. Filled with books and weapons. Anything and everything you need to know about the supernatural will be in there."
"Sounds good. There are just a few things I need to pick up from the motel. And my car."
Sam grinned. "I noticed that earlier. Dean would probably love that car."
"Oh yeah? Well, when you find him, he and I will have to have a discussion about that. In the meantime, let's move Mabel outta here."
After explaining the situation to his sister, Kobe guided Mabel out of the building and into the Sam's sleek black Impala. Dakota greeted them happily from the back seat, looking healthy as ever, and Kobe happily scruffed her red-brown fur. Sam started up the engine, and soon they were on their way.
