-Phoenix, Arizona-
The rain plummeted down onto the already soaking wet Dean Winchester as he ran as fast as he could down a dark alleyway, his boots splashing water everywhere with every step he took. The older Winchester's breathing was ragged and heavy, sounding somewhat close to hyperventilation, and it was getting more difficult to breathe the longer he kept running. The look on his face was filled with a mix of both panic and exhaustion, and those green eyes sparkled with fear. The dark grey shirt he was wearing clung to his body in response to the rain, which seemed to be getting worse by the minute. The thick, heavy raindrops slapped against anything and everything around, leaving Dean drenched from head to toe. He could hear the footsteps behind him, they were getting closer and he knew he had to find a place to hide quickly, so he could rest. He'd been running none stop for minutes, and he was starting to get stitches in his ribs, which would slow him down, and he definitely couldn't be slowing down right now.
Dean ducked down behind a pile of stacked up wooden crates, crouched down as low as he could with a hand over his chest as he tried to calm down his deep, heavy breathing. He felt sick, and so tired, but he couldn't stop now, that would be suicide. He quickly put up one wet hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds. His dark hair stuck to his forehead, and raindrops slowly fell down his face. He hoped Cas was alright... He had to be, the Angel was strong, and had been in many dangerous situations before, though Dean wasn't fully sure what had happened to him. With every breath, the man's chest rose and dropped quickly, keeping perfect timing with his hyperventilation-like breathing. When he heard the sound of boots slapping against the wet ground, his eyes quickly flickered open and widened slightly, but he kept one of his hands over his mouth to quieten himself. He tried to be completely silent, he had to be, though his heart wasn't silent, he was sure it more than one hundred beats per minute at the moment. Then he heard it...
Silence.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and curiosity, causing his forehead to crease. Where was he...? Even though Dean didn't hear anything, he didn't dare move and risk being caught, though he wanted so much just to take this chance and run, to try to save himself, but with his luck, he'd probably be caught before he managed to run ten feet. He listened to the torturous silence for a few more seconds, then felt glad he hadn't ran, because the silence was replaced by boots hitting the wet ground. Immediately, his body tensed up and he cowered his body more into the corner of the wall and crates, praying not to be found. The boots came closer and closer, and Dean's heartbeat rose with each step of the boot, but then it was just silent again. What the hell was he playing at? There were little holes in the crate, and Dean moved his head around silently, trying to peek through the holes and get a look to see if he could see anything, but he didn't see what he was looking for. Just then the sound of the boots became further away. They were walking away. Thank God for that. To be safe, Dean waited a few more seconds until he heard the sound of the boots completely disappear, then he inched his head out to the side of the crates. He saw nothing. They were gone.
Dean slid his clothed back up the wall and stood to his feet, finally letting out the long breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He looked both ways, but didn't see anyone. They could still be close by though, so he knew he had to move now, and be quick. He felt naked and powerless without carrying any weapons, but this thing was an evil son of a bitch, and he didn't know how to get rid of it safely. He was mad at Sam for this. Why?! Why did his brother do this?! For the moment, he put his anger aside and tried to concentrate on keeping safe and alive. He started a slow jog, heading the opposite way of where he'd heard the boots go. It was still raining hard and he was still feeling completely powerless. He had no way to protect himself, and no help because Cas was... He didn't even know, so his only option was to get away and hide, in the meantime trying to find something he could use to protect himself. As he exited the dark, empty alleyway, he noticed ahead of him was what looked like a barn, and it was only... What? Thirty feet away? He thought he could get to it. After a quick look around, he bolted straight forward, trying to ignore the loud sounds his boots made as they splashed into puddles and slammed against the ground, but he made it, he made it to the barn without being caught. The man's cold, wet hand gripped at the metal latch of the door and yanked on it hard, but it seemed the door was locked from the inside. Obviously. Dean quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his green denim jacket, then raised a leg and slammed it against the barn door. The first time didn't work, so he tried again, and the second time the door swung open, hitting against bales of straw from what was stacked up behind the door. Dean took his chance and rushed inside, grabbing the door and pulling it forward, then pushing it closed. Only when he tried to lock it did he see that he'd broken the lock when he'd kicked it open. "Dammit!"
Quickly he looked around for something, anything he could use to keep the door locked, or even closed. All he saw was bales of hay and straw, all built up, on both sides of the barn, and at the far back was a wooden ladder that lead to the top level of the barn, which was also just hay and straw built up. What he did see though, was a shovel, so he grabbed that and then walked over to one of the tied up bales of hay, and lifted it with both hands, which was a struggle, since it was pretty big, but he managed to half lift it, half drag it to the door, which he kicked shut, then he placed the hay against it to keep it shut. He was about to grab another to put on top, but then he heard that same boots hitting the wet ground sound from outside, which made him curse silently. He held the shovel tightly in one hand, then ran to the back of the barn, crouching down behind some bales of hay and straw.
With one swift kick, the door was forced open and the hay against it rolled to the side. He was inside.
Dean kept his mouth shut and his body perfectly still. He knew either way that he was going to get caught, how could he not? But he kept silent and still anyway, to not give away his hiding place. This was going to turn out bad, and all he had was a friggin' shovel. Great.
"I know you're here, Dean." The voice of Sam Winchester said. Dean bit down on his bottom lip and shook his head to himself. Sam was stupid for doing this, it only made the situation ten times worse. He was going to die anyway, now at the hands of his own brother. If Sam had just stopped and thought about it... He didn't know what would have happened then, but he knew what was going to happen now.
"There's no point in hiding, you know that I'll find you." Sam's voice travelled easily through the barn, though didn't echo. The younger Winchester stood a few feet away from the barn door, his dark hair slicked back due to the rain, and his clothes were just as drenched as Dean's. There was a smile on his face which didn't look like Sam's usual smile. This was dark and evil, and it looked like someone else's smile on Sam's face. "I told you this would happen, but you just didn't listen to me."
Dean stayed silent, though heard his brothers voice. He didn't want to hurt him, but if he was found, he'd have no choice but to defend himself.
"Come on out. We'll talk about it, huh?"
Dean didn't make a sound, didn't move an inch. He expected a threat, or something, but no... Nothing. He waited for a few seconds, and still nothing. He didn't hear Sam's voice, or the sound of his brother moving. Was he gone? He doubted it... However, he leaned up a little bit and took a few small steps from where he was crouched behind the hay, trying to see anything. There wasn't anything, maybe Sam was gone. Maybe...
Suddenly Dean found himself being dragged up from behind. It was too fast, too quick. He was grabbed by the back of his jacket and pulled over the hay, and dropped onto his back on the hard floor of the barn. Above him stood his brother, looking down at him with a crooked, yet dark smile that honestly scared the crap out of Dean.
"Hey, Dean."
"Sam, please –"
"It's too late." Sam pulled out a shiny, silver blade from his belt and looked it over in admiration before his eyes landed back to Dean, and he quickly placed a foot down onto the other man's chest to keep him from moving. "I promise I'll make it quick." He winked down at Dean, his eyes twinkling in excitement. Then he raised the blade.
-One Day Earlier-
"You know, it says they do pretty good cheeseburgers here." Sam told his brother from where he sat in the passenger seat of the beloved Impala while they were speeding down the highway to Phoenix. He had his laptop on his lap as he read up about the town and some of its popular places. They were on another case, though this time it seemed placid, hopefully it would be.
At the mention of cheeseburgers, Dean's lips instantly jumped up into a grin. He couldn't wait for a big, juicy cheeseburger, then some pie. He was starving, and the talk of burgers was only increasing his hunger. "Then it's settled. We're goin' for some cheeseburgers and pie." He stated while looking out the front window as they got into the town, and he began searching for a diner so they could get something to eat before they had to find a motel. Both of them were super hungry, and the talk of food was driving them both nuts. "I can't wait for a cheeseburger."
Sam laughed at his brothers mumbling just as he closed down the lid of his laptop and leaned over between the seats to put it onto the back seat, then relaxed back in seat and looked out the window at the town while they drove through it. It looked pretty normal; people walking around, chatting, laughing, buying stuff. It didn't look like any weird town, but then again... Most of them didn't. The Impala stopped then, parked outside a diner that was called; Jo's.
"Normally plain." Sam commented.
Both boys got out of the car, and Dean locked it before they walked into Jo's, and immediately the smell of fat and grease hit their noses, and Dean hummed out a breath of approval, leading his brother to an empty booth at the back of the diner. Both sat opposite, and Dean grabbed a menu, looking at only the burger options. "Double bacon cheese burger with chilli cheese fries on the side." He read out, and Sam could practically hear the want in his voice.
"I'll have the Cesar's salad." Sam said as he looked through the salad options. "Aaaand a berry smoothie." Of course he was starving, but the salad was enough for him, he didn't want to start on burgers and get addicted like his brother, who wasn't accepting his healthy option.
Dean scoffed at his brother and placed the menu down, folding his arms across the table. "Oh, come on!" He exclaimed. "Enough with your healthy rabbit food crap. Have a burger." Sam practically lived on salads from diners, and it was about time he ate food that would satisfy him, and not rabbit food. He ignored Sam's eye roll and yanked the menu out of the larger man's hand, then folded it over to the burger options, pressing his finger down to the choices. "Burger and fries. It's like sex food."
Sam grimaced lightly at his brothers words and shook his head. "Dean, come on! I don't want a burger, alright? I can get whatever I want, and what I want, is a salad and smoothie." He told him, giving him a face that said his choice wasn't optional. He wasn't going to let Dean force him into this.
"Friggin' food virgin." Dean mumbled under his breath, causing Sam to roll his eyes. The younger Winchester was used to Dean's phrases by now, even the dirty ones, and generally wasn't surprised by anything his brother came out with, though 'food virgin' was a new one. A waitress with curly brown hair came over to take their order, and right away Sam noticed Dean's eyes light up. He also wasn't surprised at that. How many times had Dean flirted with waitresses at diners they'd been to? He'd lost count.
"Can I take your order?"
"Yes you can, beautiful." Dean said in that tone that he used when trying to seduce women. Wow... That was three times Sam had rolled his eyes in only five minutes. "I will have the double bacon cheeseburger with chilli cheese fries, and just stick some cabbage on a plate for him and he'll be fine." He added, nodding to his brother. There was a fourth eye roll.
The waitress giggled and Sam cleared his throat as he straightened up and told the woman politely what he wanted. "Cesar's salad please, and a berry smoothie. Thank you." The waitress smiled at them and nodded before she walked away, having Dean stare as she vanished behind the counter and into the back kitchen area.
"I'd like a bit of that." Dean whispered to himself, a cheeky grin forming on his face that caused Sam to stare at him in amusement. Sam didn't know how the two of them were so different when it came to women, but he was glad he wasn't like Dean in that aspect.
"Of course you would."
Sam took the time to look around the diner. It was again, pretty normal. People sat together and talked as they ate, no one was acting weird or suspicious, and if he wouldn't have heard about the case he wouldn't have stayed in town. He figured the case was a demon, so all they had to do was find the demon and send it to hell, and then they could leave. It sounded simple but would probably end up a pain in the ass. "So," He began. "People reported their family members or loved ones to have been acting distant and different. This one woman, Kelly Trueman, states her husband actually started acting weird during the night. She found him staring blankly at himself in the mirror one night, and said that he said something about liking the new body. She then said he didn't eat or drink for days, before he finally tried to attack her, saying he was sorry but it had to be done. She managed to run out of the house and drove to a police station right away. She's staying with her friend, Becca for a while." It certainly sounded like a demon case, though there hadn't been any reports of black eyes, which made him wonder. Dean seemed to realise pretty quickly, the same thing.
"No black eyes?" The older Winchester asked in confusion.
Sam shook his head. "Nope. But I have an address, so we can go talk to her later and ask." Dean gave him a nod, and then the waitress came over with their food. The burger was placed in front of Dean, and the small plate of salad was put in front of Sam, along with a tall glass which his smoothie was in. The woman told them to enjoy before she walked away, and Dean stared down at the burger like it was a hot woman. That called for a fifth eye roll.
"Oh, you beauty." Dean said to the burger, before he took a big bite, and closed his eyes while letting out a slightly erotic moan of satisfaction. He sure liked that burger. Sam could only smile and shake his head before he started picking at the salad to eat it, letting his brother enjoy the burger in peace.
The motel the Winchester's chose to stay at was cheap and smelled weird, but they figured they wouldn't be staying long, so they didn't care much. The room they were given had crappy brown wallpaper that was so plain it looked like it could have been painted, and in the middle of the room were two double beds next to one another, with a small wooden beside table in the middle, which had a small lamp on it. The sheets of the bed were a red satin, which wasn't ideal, but the satin looked like the most expensive thing in the whole room.
"I hate satin sheets."
"It won't be for long, Sammy." Dean dropped the duffel bag full of weapons onto one of the beds and let out a deep breath as he looked around the whole room in a circle. He really hoped it wouldn't be for long, but he really couldn't estimate how long it would be for. He didn't know yet how easy or difficult the job would be. He could only hope it would be a quick, easy job, so they could get out of there and for once find a nice hotel to stay in. For now they had to put on their suits and look all professional if they wanted to talk to this lady, Kelly, about her husband acting weird. Pretending to be FBI was something that came too easy for them now. "Get suited up, Sam. We're leavin' in ten!" He called to his brother as he walked into the bathroom with his suit.
Sam sighed as he pulled out his suit from his bag. He wasn't exactly tired of this but he did wish the stupid supernatural creatures would just give them a break so they could relax for a while and not have to run around saving the world. Instead of complaining, he took his time putting on his suit while Dean was doing the same thing in the bathroom. The whole time, he sort of spaced out in thought, having his mind filled with so much crap, he just let sort of drifted off for a few minutes, until Dean's voice pulled him out of the trance.
"You're not done? Come on! Get a move on!"
Sam quickly walked to one of the small mirrors on the wall and watched himself tie the tie properly to make it look professional. It didn't take too long, and when he was done, he turned to Dean and smiled. "Done."
The Winchester's sat on one of the large, red sofas in the living room of the large, expensive house that they'd been invited into after telling the woman they were FBI and they had to talk. The living area was large and open, with a built in fireplace in the wall in the middle of the room, a large brown rug in the middle of the floor, with a glass table on top, and one large red sofa on one side, on the other being two matching red chairs. Kelly Trueman was sitting on one of the chairs as she looked at the two men who she believed to be FBI, while the owner of the house, Becca, was in the kitchen making tea.
"Mrs. Trueman, I know it's hard but we have to ask these questions to do what we can to find your husband and find out what's wrong with him." Sam told the woman gently, knowing the woman must have been shaken and panicked about this whole situation. Who wouldn't be?
Kelly Trueman was a beautiful woman, in her late twenties. She had mid length chocolate brown hair that fell down to her shoulders, and hazel eyes that were red and glazed over because of how much she'd been crying. She didn't understand why the FBI were there, the police had been there only the day before, and now she had to go over it all again. "He was a kind man," She whispered. "A loving husband, he never acted like that before, he's never even really been mad. Whenever we had a problem, we could sit at the table and talk it out. He would never shout and hardly raised his voice, I just don't understand what happened."
Dean nodded as he listened. This guy sounded too good, and he didn't know if to believe it or not, but he didn't say anything about that. "On the night that your husband started acting weird, did you notice any... black smoke? Cold chills, anything like that?" He asked.
"Black smoke?" Kelly asked in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Sam and Dean exchanged a quick glance before Sam smiled at her and said, "It's just a question."
Kelly shook her head and sighed to herself. "No. No black smoke. No anything, he just... changed."
Just changed... Well that didn't help at all.
"Was there anything at all? Anything weird, anything off? Any lights flickering, strange noises...?" Dean asked, needing any more information than what she'd already given them, which was pretty much nothing right now.
Kelly hesitated before she whispered, "There was one thing. It's probably nothing..." She sighed again, but continued. "The night before, I heard him talking to himself in the bedroom. I went in and asked who he was talking to, and he said something about angels talking to him. That was all he said. I tried to talk to him about it again, but he wouldn't talk about it anymore."
Both Winchester's looked at each other quickly before Sam nodded slowly and cleared his throat before standing up, Dean following his lead. "Thank you very much. We'll be in touch." He smiled at the woman before he walked out of the house with Dean following.
Once in the Impala, Sam looked at Dean and raised his eyebrows. "So now it could be an Angel?" He said and let out a huff. Their lives sure were hard.
"Whatever it is, we're gonna find this son of a bitch." Dean told his brother before he started up his car and took off. At least now they had more information.
