Sam tossed his suitcase into the backseat of the rental car, and his bag of hunter-gear into the trunk. It hadn't been easy to smuggle these things across the boarder. He had brought salt, matches, a machete, a pistol, a .22, and .45, but they had all been smuggled successfully. The Canadian airport, he found out, was quite easy to cope with. The Canadians were nice, well dressed, and to his surprise, they didn't have an accent! Not once did they say "eh," and there wasn't a hillbilly in sight. I wonder what Canadians say about us! Sam laughed when he thought of his college friends. Flip-flops and tans and summer flings! It was amazing how easy stereotypes got around.
Driving slowly enough to enjoy the cool, frosty fall scenery, Sam noticed a crowd of teenagers walking off of a side road. Sam stopped to let them pass. They walked sloppily, looking as if they just came from a Halloween party. They were all dressed up. One girl caught Sam's attention, with plastic fangs and fake blood on her face. She was dressed up as a vampire. Sam had to resist reaching for the gun under his jacket as reflex took over. When the teens left the road, he continued, shaking the vision of the fake-vampire from his mind.
The next morning, Sam checked out of the hotel, and drove the last two-hours to the town that Dean and his father were staying at. It was called Kindertown. The first hotel in the phone book, the Kindertown-Inn, was nice. Walking in under rows of lights, Sam checked the registry for a Dean Haselhoff, and walked up to their room on the second floor. Clearing his throat, Sam knocked on the door.
Dean was the last to hear the knock on the door, and set down his beer when John went to answer it. One lock, then two were undone, and then he opened the door. "Well look who we have here!"
Dean swore inwardly. He had been hoping to get to Sam before his father, or at least tell John that he had invited Sam.
"Hey dad." Sam had that tone to his voice that said that he was expecting a fight. Dean knew how easily John and him were at each other's throats, and Sam was… not.
"Look at that. Mr. College boy managed to find us. I guess all that law-crap is good for something." John was happy to see Sam, Dean knew, but seemed eager to pick a fight. He hadn't exactly let Sam go at the best of terms.
"If you want me to go"-
"I don't think I said that! What, are you a mind reader now?"
Sam scoffed. "I wasn't dragged here to fight, so do you want my help or not?"
"I thought you were 'done' with hunting." John crossed his arms.
"Stop it both of you!" Sam and John both turned to Dean. "Dad, I told him to come. And Sam, don't make things worse!" Neither of them said anything, and Dean continued. "Now get inside before our beer goes flat. Sam, you can have the couch tonight. Dad and I are already moved in."
Soon, John and Dean were filling in Sam about what had happened. Sam and John were behaving, for now at least. It was clear that they both were still uncomfortable about the last big argument they had before Sam left.
"So this kid Percy goes missing, a day before his dad is found dead." Dean walked back and forth. "And when dear old mommy-dearest gets home and finds him, she has no clue what to do."
"Checks herself into a mental institute." John continued.
"And the police don't get a statement until a week later. We searched the house, the kid's school, nothing!"
"Except for the fact that the father was torn to shreds, teeth marks all over and blood leaking everywhere. There was barely enough of him left to do an autopsy." John raved.
"Sounds like a vampire to me." Sam sighed. "So the mom checked herself into the mental institute? Why would she do that?"
Dean shrugged. "She said that it was too much stress, what with Percy disappearing and her husband being torn to shreds. They say it was attempted murder."
"So what happened to the Percy?"
"We don't know yet. The kid was only nine, not much snack for a vampire, but I doubt that they would bother turning him."
"And his body hasn't turned up yet." John added. "So if the kid is still alive, he either got away somehow or he is at their nest."
"Is this the only family that had been affected?" Sam looked from his brother to father. "How do you know that it's a vampire for sure?"
Dean hesitated, and then shrugged at John. "We don't for sure. But by the way it went down, we know something is going on. I would bet that the mother saw something. No one in their right mind would go to a mental hospital with that much ease unless they thought they were going insane." Dean noticed that Sam gulped, but didn't say anything.
"Tomorrow, I will talk to the autopsy doctor again, and you and Dean can talk to the crazy mother."
"Fine." Dean and Sam both said in unison. Dean was surprised how easily Sam gave in to those orders. Maybe his family was trying to get along.
Dean couldn't sleep that night. Something was just wrong. Sam had come all the way to Canada without even a second thought. He was even trying to get along with Dad. The weirdest thing, Dean thought, was how Sam had reacted when Dean was talking about mental institutes and the crazy mother. Sam was hiding something, but what?
The next morning, John declared that he would be checking out the room next door for himself, because there weren't enough beds for them all. Dean figured that was best, so he could keep an eye on Sam.
Sam smiled at Jess's musical laugh at the other end of the phone. "Well if he suggested it I would go ahead Jess." Sam nodded to something Jess said. "Anything a doctor of that much talent says goes. Don't worry about how much it costs." He flipped a fake credit card through his hand. "I know a friend who can lend me some money."
Dean walked through the door with two bags of groceries, and Sam lowered his voice. "Okay I have to go. Love you. Talk to you in a day or two." Sam hung up.
"Um… I love you two?" Dean took a bite of a hot sub he bought down the road. "So who were you really talking too? Cause I wont take that kind of greeting."
Sam wasn't sure what to say. He had to tell Dean and his father about Jess… especially with the baby on the way. He figured he should try and tell his father first. John would kill him if he found out he was the last one to know. "Um…"He figured Dean could know a little at least. "My girlfriend."
"Really?" Dean made a mocking face at Sam. "Surprise, surprise."
"Bite me." Sam returned the look. He forgot how much he had missed Dean and his antics.
"So how long will she take to realize how much of a freak you are?" Dean took another bite. "You freakishly smart young man you."
"Well Jess hasn't yet. Another year or so it's been already."
Dean frowned, giving Sam a weird look. "That long? You think I would have met her by now."
"Yeah." It had just gotten awkward again. "Its just with the fight and all.."
Dean sighed. "Well your back now. That's all that counts." He paused. "So does dad know about Jess?"
"Not yet. I'm trying to find a good time to tell him. Besides," he thought back to the nice looking jewelry store he passed on the way to the hotel. "I have something to do first."
"Yeah." Dean took another bite of his sandwich, gave Sam a push and turned on the TV. "Like giving some vampires a little American spirit. Besides, you could use the work. That girlfriend of yours probably has you whipped by now, buying baby clothes and crap."
Sam nearly choked on his beer, another sign of something weird that Dean noticed. But Sam quickly recovered, giving Dean a bigger push back before sitting on the couch. "So what about these vampires? Does dad have a locale yet?"
"He should have something by noon or so." Dean took the chair, and grabbed the remote from Sam.
"Hey!"
"Like I said," Dean, laughed back, and Sam smiled inwardly at the fact that he had his family back. "You're whipped."
