100 Mile Wilderness, Maine
The wind blew softly through the twilight forest. In a broken circle of trees, enochian symbols marked a smaller circle. In the middle of that circle, a small boy about the age of six lay curled in a fetal position. His black hair shifted in the breeze, blowing slightly around his temples. The deep blue eyes snapped open, and the boy gradually moved to a kneeling position. He slowly blinked, and looked around in confusion. The boy stood and began walking through the trees. He was lost. For hours he walked, until his feet were raw and bleeding. The boy continued on. Eventually the boy reached the highway. He stood at the edge, waiting. He stood there for half an hour. A police car stopped, the policeman asking the boy if he was alright. The boy didn't answer. The police man took the boy into his car and began driving him to the station. When asked his name, the boy said one word… Castiel
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Nine years later
He stood in the dark room, facing his brother. Gabriel looked saddened as he placed his hands on his shoulders. I'm sorry brother… forgive me. I will find you if I can... I will find Dean... be safe… Gabriel chanted a spell in enochian; Castiel felt the whole world spinning… a burning pain filled him and a flash of impossibly bright light….. He was falling….
Castiel woke up breathing heavily in a cold sweat. He sat up quickly and rubbed his eyes, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes for a moment. He had had the same dream for three nights in a row. Who the heck had dreams like that anyway? Who was this Gabriel person? He didn't have a brother named Gabriel. It was all very bizarre. Castiel glanced at his clock on his desk. 6:00 a.m. glared in red letters in the dim room. He groaned and got out of bed, yawning. Another day of school! Wahoo! Yeah right. School was a nightmare. He was the freak kid who was found out in the wilderness somewhere, the adopted freak with the freak Dad. He dug through his drawers and found a pair of jeans with holes in the knees and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. After he had showered and changed, he pulled a pair of socks on and an old pair of beat up black converse shoes. He grabbed his backpack stuffed his schoolbooks in, zipped it up, and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. There was a note from his Dad on the fridge.
Hey,
Gone to work at 5:30 be back by 7:00 p.m. Order pizza, Mexican, or Chinese.
Dad
Castiel sighed and got a bowl of fruity pebbles. He sat down on one of the stools at the counter, slowly munching on his cereal. Forty five minutes later he heard the bus pull up and honk the horn. Castiel picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and jogged out to the bus. When he got on, some kid tripped him and he ended up falling flat on his face. All the kids snickered, save the geeks. Same old, same old. He got up with a slight sigh and looked around. All the seats were occupied. The bus driver looked back, wondering why he hadn't sat down, and his face softened slightly. "Come on up here kid. It's just one trip."
"Thank you sir. I really appreciate it." Castiel looked gratefully at the bus driver and sat in the shotgun seat. Sure enough, five minutes after the bus started moving. The kids in the back were a beehive of noise. Castiel rolled his eyes and avoided looking back at them. He would be face to face with them soon enough.
Forty-five minutes later, the bus reached Sioux Falls High School. It was a tall building made of worn bricks and old steel doors with paint flecks coming off of them. The windows were clean, but the paint on the window siding was chipped. It was a very old building, built in 1920 and, since then, there had been no renovations. No wonder it was in such bad shape. Castiel looked up at the sky for the last time and entered the building. The lights flickered. That was no big deal though, the building was old. They had flickered before. He made his way through the hallway to his first period, English Lit. As he sat down, he noticed he was the first person in the classroom. It wasn't exactly surprising. Over the next fifteen minutes, the rest of the students slowly trickled in. 8:00 a.m. There was still no sign of their usual teacher Ms. Beckett. Castiel looked worriedly at the clock, wondering if something happened to her. Ms. Beckett was always at least five minutes early every day. 8:15 a.m. Castiel truly began to worry. At eight thirty he heard what sounded like work boots in the hallway. What in the world…? The door banged open, and a man with sandy brown hair, green eyes, and pale skin strode into the room. He stood at a height of about 6 foot, a cocky smirk on his face, wearing an old beat up leather jacket, from what Castiel could tell an AC/DC shirt, some kind of over shirt, stonewashed jeans and leather work boots. He walked up to the front of the room by the whiteboard, shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked over the class. Castiel hunched behind the student in front of him. He didn't like to be seen very much. "Weelll… I could ask how you all are doing today… but honestly… I don't give a crap. Ms. Beckett was killed in a car accident late last night and I am you're new teacher. If you don't like me or my methods…. You can shut up about it. Because," The new teacher paused for a moment, as if for dramatic effect, "I don't care. My name is Dean Winchester, Mr. Winchester to you. So if I hear any of you trying to call me Dean, I will personally beat your as-es. Let's get started, shall we?" Mr. Winchester smiled sarcastically at the class, and began the lesson. Castiel looked at the new teacher with a bit of trepidation. Mr. Winchester had this presence that made you know not to get him mad. He asked a question on the lesson he was teaching, and looked around un-amused when no one raised their hand. "Well?" Castiel slowly raised his hand. "Yes Mr.-?" Mr. Winchester tried peering around the student in front of Castiel, to no avail. Castiel leaned around the kid in front of him and said quietly
"My name is Masters, Castiel Masters sir." Castiel glanced up at the teacher, hoping it was the correct response. To his surprise, Mr. Winchester looked to be in a state of shock and disbelief. Castiel hunched down in his chair, waiting for punishment. To his surprise, he thought he saw a tear in Mr. Winchester's eye glint for a moment, and then quickly vanish as he blinked quickly a few times.
"Go ahead and answer the question Castiel. "Castiel looked up at Mr. Winchester, wondering what the shock had been all about. He then answered the question in the way he normally did, with clear precision. "That is correct. Thank you." Castiel slightly smiled at the teacher. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
During lunch, Castiel got tripped three times. While in line for the free lunch program, he got elbowed in the solar plexus. When he went over and sat at a table, some kid kicked him in the shin from across the table. Same old, same old. It was, perhaps, slightly worse than usual, but not by much. Castiel finished his food and stacked his tray with the others. He left the lunchroom and left to the library for his free period. Finally he would have some peace and quiet. He entered the library with his backpack and sat at the table closest to the librarian's desk. That way, no other kids would try anything annoying. He pulled out his homework and started completing it, getting reference books when needed. About five minutes towards the end of his free period, he heard work boots coming towards him. He looked up and saw Mr. Winchester, hands in pockets slightly slouched, walk towards him and sit down. "What the hell Cas, I thought you were dead! How did you get Jimmy to look like a teenager again, this is just weird! Why didn't you tell me? Why did you pick Sioux Falls, you know Bobby is here." Mr. Winchester finished in a Hushed whisper. Castiel was very confused. Who in the heck was Jimmy? As far as that went, who was Bobby? Did he mean Bobby Singer, the town drunk? This man was very bizarre.
"I'm sorry Mr. Winchester, I don't know what you're talking about, perhaps you have the wrong person. I would suggest finding this, "Cas", because I'm not him. Goodbye Mr. Winchester." Castiel quickly stood up, gathered his things, and left the library. Mr. Winchester definitely had a serious problem. Just when he had been thinking maybe he would like a teacher, he was proved wrong. Go figure.