-
Dean Winchester sat across from his younger brother, attacking his food with a single-minded ferocity usually reserved for fighting off ghosts and taking down werewolves. Sam watched in fascinated silence. True, they had been especially busy over the past week, but Dean usually... savored his food a bit more.
"Um, Dean?"
His brother looked up at him. "What?" he asked with a full mouth, taking a large gulp of his coffee.
Sam blinked. "Just making sure you're still breathing."
Dean rolled his eyes, stuffing more food into his oral cavity. "An' next you're gonna tell me not to talk with my mouth full, right?" The dark-haired man watched him for another moment of bemused wonder, chuckled, and turned his attention back to his own plate of sustenance.
Moments later, Sam was fending off his sibling's assault on his unfinished food with a fork when a familiar figure entered the diner. His attention diverted, the bacon taken captive by the enemy.
"Sam?" Dean asked, realizing that he really had been able to snatch the fried strip a little too easily. He followed his brother's gaze, then promptly choked on his stolen bounty. "Sam, tell me that's not who I think it is..."
Sam's expression sank at the prospect of facing the maniac again.
Dean groaned. "Aw, shit." It was the trickster.
This wasn't the first time the brothers had run into the mischief-making demigod. In fact, it wasn't even the second time. No, it was the third and on both previous occasions, he had made their life difficult. Sam still didn't forgive him for the last time, and for good reason.
With a cocky smirk, the trickster made his way over to their table, grabbing a chair and sitting at the end, effectively cutting either of them off from getting out of the booth with any sort of ease.
"Hi, Dean," he said. "Sam – how are ya? Been awhile." The trickster was the type of friendly, congenial guy that everybody liked... with the power to create anything that came to his mind and enough mischievousness to be a royal pain in the ass.
"Not long enough," Sam growled.
The demigod chuckled. "Oh, but last time was so much fun! I am insulted that you fail to remember correctly. You, friend, should just let bygones be bygones."
"Did you look for us?" Dean demanded with sudden realization.
"Oh, you two weren't hard to find," said the trickster with a happy smile that made Dean's stomach suddenly feel like it was made of lead. Sam wasn't looking any more happy than he was.
"What do you want?" the younger man asked, knowing that the trickster wouldn't tell them otherwise.
"Why, I'm shocked at you, Sammy-boy! Of course, it's because I've got a new game. I thought it up especially for you, tiger." Rising from his chair and returning it to its place, the trickster gave Sam a wink that made the skin along the back of his neck attempt to crawl up and hide beneath his hair.
Dean opened his mouth to remark, but in that instant, the trickster had vanished. "Okay, so that's more than a little creepy," he uttered instead. "Any idea what his 'new game' is all about?"
Sam shuddered. "Not a clue. I do know one thing, though."
"What's that?"
"We're cursed."
-
"Alright," Dean said as they walked along. "So, the trickster shows up – I think he has a crush on you, by the way, congratulations – says he has a new game and then disappears."
Shooting his brother a glare, Sam picked up the thread of thought. "If we try to go after him, we'll probably be playing right into his hands. But, if we don't..."
"Innocent people could be hurt."
"The more I think about this, the more I just wanna leave town without doing anything," the younger Winchester confessed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah," his brother agreed, "me, too."
"Hey, Sam-bo!" The trickster waved to them from down the street. "Over here!" He disappeared inside a building and after exchanging a hesitant look, the two hunters ran to catch up.
The building appeared to have been abandoned in the midst of construction. All the exterior had been finished, but the inside consisted only of plywood flooring and vertical beams where the walls were supposed to go. "I don't like the looks of this," Dean grumbled.
"Back here, boys!" the trickster's voice filtered through to them. "It's right here in the back!"
"Why do I get the feeling we might regret this?" Sam asked.
"Because you already do?" his sibling ventured.
"Let's get out of here."
"Sounds good." They turned back to the door they had entered simultaneously... to find that it was no longer where they left it. "It was kinda stupid of us to follow him in here," Dean admitted.
"Yeah," Sam sighed miserably.
The trickster's laughter echoed all around them, and as they stood there, the building's shape and dimensions seemed to shift and change.
And people say games should be fun for everyone.
"Oh, come on," the trickster taunted, appearing about 15 feet away from them. "You didn't think I'd let you leave before we got to play, did you?"
Sam let out a heavy, aggravated sigh. "Fine. What's the game?"
"That's the spirit!" The two brothers turned to find that there was another one of the trickster. "Here's the deal..."
A third one appeared and continued, "There are four ways out of the building. Only catch is..."
"They're all booby-trapped!" exclaimed a fourth. "The good news is, only one of you has to be the victim of whatever trap awaits you at an exit."
"After that," said number two, "the rest of the traps will cease to exist and you're both free to go on your way."
"So, you're gonna kill one of us," Dean said, anger coloring his tone.
"Oh, Dean," three shook his head. "Don't be so vulgar – why would I want to kill you?"
"I did that last time, remember?" added one. "This is a brand new game!"
"And remember," four told them cheerfully.
"Have fun!" This was said by all of them, well him, in unison, giving the seemingly harmless phrase a foreboding surround-sound effect. With that, the trickster vanished with four differently colored puffs of smoke.
"Show off," Dean grumbled. "We gotta find a way to kill that guy."
Sam sighed. "You're telling me. Let's find an exit..."
-
After approaching several false windows and doors, the two Winchesters were more than a little annoyed.
"Four exits, my ass," Dean muttered. "The annoying little creep probably lied to us. He just wants to watch us fumble around trying to get out."
Sam didn't argue. As far as he was concerned, the trickster could disappear from existence. "Dude. Door," he said, as they rounded a corner. He walked towards it, but Dean put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let me go first."
For Sam, that was also getting old. Every potential exit they had come to, Dean had insisted on going first. He could appreciate the fact that his brother didn't want anything to happen to him, but he felt the same way. With a resigned sigh, he waved for Dean to go ahead. It was probably another false door, anyway.
Dean cautiously made his way to the door with no ill-effects. Reaching out for the knob, he opened the door with a jerk and a twist to reveal...
Daylight. Weeds growing through cracks in the pavement of the alleyway. The view of the outdoors caused both brothers to instantly be on guard, but they were too late. When the door opened, a beam of bluish light shot from the doorway... and hit Sam squarely in the chest.
-
To be continued...