1998
When Dean was 16 years old his father had taken a job in London. After one excruciating plane ride him, Sam, and John had started there hunt. His twelve year old brother Sammy was absolutely ecstatic about visiting the foreign country and couldn't wait to check out the books and museums. While Dean was hankering to check out some of the British babes he had heard about. John as always was completely focused on the hunt and expected his boys to be as well.
They were hunting a lead they had found on the demon who supposedly killed their mother. An event almost exactly similar had happened at the home of one Donna Tyler. Donna was checking on her six month year old daughter Emrys, when she was killed in a fire on the ceiling. Her husband Michael ran up the stairs and grabbed the baby just in time. Saving its life at the cost of his wife.
Their first stop was to meet with the husband and see what they could squeeze out of him. Sammy was forced to stay at the seedy motel while Dean and Dad went to shake the answers out of the new widower. When Dean and his father arrived at the residents of the Tyler family they were a little shaken up at the still scorched bedroom. Ignoring what they had seen John straightened his tie and knocked on the door. When the door opened John put on his smiley face, pulled out his newly acquired badge, courtesy of Bobby, and said. "Hi I'm John South. This is Dean Graves. We're with the insurance company. May we have a look at the damage." He took the moment of silence that followed to get a good look at the man. Beard growing in splotchy. The man stank like spoiled milk and baby diapers. Eyes tired and sad. Face sunk like he hadn't eaten in days. 'Is this what I looked like when Mary died?' Shaking off that thought John put on a fake grin and nodded at the man. Michael Tyler just nodded and moved to the side.
When Dean stepped into the house he could feel its sorrow. It smelt like pee, diapers and spoiled milk. Dean could hear a baby wailing for its mother and a pan sizzling on the stove. Dean looked to his father for guidance and his father gave him a hard look. "I'm going to take a look at the damage. Dean here is going to ask you some questions about the damage and the fire." And with John went up the stairs and searched for any signs of demons.
Dean took a seat on the soiled couch and gave Michael a smile. "Michael, can you give me the story on what happened here the night of Donnas death."
Michael just kinda stared at him for a little. Then finally he started to talk. "Donna had heard Emrys cry and went to go check in on her. She's such a quiet baby. Donna thought something must be wrong for her to scream like that. I told her it was nothing and to just go back to bed but she didn't listen. After a while I was drifting back to sleep when I heard a scream. I jumped out of bed and ran for Emrys room without even thinking. When I arrived at her room everything was fine. Emrys was laying in her crib staring at the ceiling. I didn't notice at first but there was blood tinting her mouth and onesie. It was dripping from the ceiling and..." He started to choke up a little. Dean gave him an encouraging smile. "Donna was hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't even physically possible. She was pinned to the ceiling and blood was soaking her night clothes. Her eyes were dead and glazed over. . And then out of no where she burst into flames. All of the police think I was just seeing things. That I was blinded by my own grief. But I know what I saw. When the other objects in the room started to catch on fire I finally realized the danger that was still presented to Emrys. I grabbed her and ran. Saving her life at the price of my loves." He gripped the couch hard. "When Donna brought her home I was ecstatic. I had always wanted kids but Donna turned out to be infertile. So I told her we could adopt." He said remorsefully.
"Wait Emrys is not your real kid?" Dean asked, intrigued. Everyone they had this happen to were the birth parents of the children. "No. We adopted her after she was abounded by her birth parents and left in an orphanage. When we first got her at two months we knew she was special. The babe could already do things kids at six months were having trouble doing. We took her to a doctor and he told us she would probably grow to become a genius." Dean smiled at a mental picture of a baby reading a text book and doing his math homework. "She made life so strange. Not only did we have to deal with a baby with an overgrown brain. But Donna started having these nightmares about a black haired, yellow eyed, Irishman who kept saying things like, 'you'll never keep her' and 'she's going to be so much fun once she gets past this baby state.' And other strange phrases. We thought it was just stress, but the dreams got worse. Donna had dreams of Emrys growing up to killing things, fire, and screams of people in pain. And now she dies in a fire? That's too much of a coincidence. It has something to do with that awful creature. That thing in its crib is no baby. It's a monster." His hands were turning white from clenching his fist so hard. Dean stood from his seat. "I don't think you're crazy, just scared. Let me go talk to my partner and see what he suggests about the damage." Dean left the room and quickly searched the burnt house for his father.
He found John in the baby's nursery. The crib the baby was sitting in was scorched and falling apart. The six month old infant was making eye contact with him, he could almost see the intelligence in the baby's gaze. John seemed to notice this as well, he was standing next to the crib using his eyes and nose to detect any smells of sulfur. Dean walked up next to his father and grabbed his arm. John turned his head to look at his oldest son, and frowned. "No wonder this kid was screaming. The poor kid has been sitting in her own filth. I don't think he has fed her in a while either." John reached down to pick up the infant and cradled her in his arms. The baby stop it's screaming immediately, looking at John with wide eyes. Dean was shocked. His father had never been very good with kids, Dean himself had practically raised Sam. But this baby seemed to take to him almost instantly. It stared at him for a good minute before it started to whimper again. Anyone with a brain could see this poor baby was starving. "I don't think Michael has fed her in a while."
Dean remembered the nasty words he heard Michael say about the infant, he retold the story of his father. "I think he's planning on letting the kid die, or giving it to a home. Either way I don't think he's fit to be watching after a baby. Maybe we should call the authorities or take her to the station." Dean stated, hoping that his dad would do the right thing and take the baby away from this man. John stared at the infant for a few moments then looked at Dean.
"You said she was having dreams about a yellow eyed demon when they brought her home right? From the way he told the story I'd say that the main focus of the demon was on this baby. If we take it to a home the demon would just have easy access to her. No. Were taking her back to the motel with us for protection." John stated in his final tone. Dean was more than a little angry by his statement. His father had upturned both his and Sam's life, in pursuit of this demon. And now he was going to do the same for an infant. Both he and John knew he wasn't doing this out of a protective need for the child. He was going to use the child because he knew it was the only lead he had on the demon in ten years. Dean couldn't argue with his father's logic though. The baby would be safer with them. So in the end he nodded. "How are we going to get this baby out of here unnoticed? I mean he would most likey give her to use willingly but wont that raise suspition."
"I thought about that. We could try to sneak her out into the car in a blanket. The man is in too much grief to even notice if we took her. We'll have to stop by the nearest grocery and grab some essentials. I know this isn't that good of a thought out plan, but this kid is going to die if we leave it, and it's our only lead on the monster that killed both of your mothers." Dad grabbed a semi clean blanket from the crib and wrapped Emrys's small body tightly in it. Hitching his duffel higher on his shoulder, he held Emrys in his arms like a folded blanket and nodded towards the door. The boys made it through the house without a peep from the baby. Closing in on the front door they heard a voice from behind them. "Hey, what do you have in your hands?" They've been made. Dad tightened his grip on Emrys and turned half way.
"We need to take a piece of burnt material to the labs for testing. We've seen all we need. You'll hear from us in two to three days. Goodbye." John opened the door with his free hand and walked slightly quicker to the car. Once in the rental car he turned and looked at Dean. "Ready to shop?" Dean let out a groan and John laughed. John passed his eldest the baby and turned on the car. Looks like he was going to have to scruff up on his daddy skills.