Chapter 2- Roadhouse
Dean leaned up against his car to admire the work that had been done. It was even better then before, but still recognizably the same old Roadhouse.
The shingles on the roof were new and tarred black, and the wooden siding had a fresh coat of paint. The screen door no longer had any holes in it, the framing was all in one piece, and the porch steps were no longer rotten but were constructed of new pieces of two by six boards. Looking up, Dean could see that Ellen had managed to save the old sign from the wreckage, which now sat in its original place above the entrance. The Roadhouse was as good as new again.
Shutting the car doors, the boys walked around the porch taking in the sight before them and the refreshing smell of the country. Whatever had happened here, it was surely only a bad memory for them now.
Opening up the front door, Sam and Dean strolled inside the tavern. Chimes clanged together as the door opened and shut behind them, the most welcoming sound that they had heard in ages. Immediately they were met with another splendid welcome; the smell of home cooking from the kitchen beyond.
The room they were in looked just as it had before but was completely vacant except for a lonely Golden Retriever resting in the back corner. It looked up from its nap to see who was intruding, then stood up a trotted over to the center of the room, where it began to growl and bark at them.
"Hey boy," Dean said walking over to pet it. The dog snarled and snapped at Dean's outstretched fingers, causing him to jump back and trip over a stool. Sam couldn't help but laugh.
"Ash! Bad Boy!" Ellen shouted as she came in through the hall door into view, "Go, go in there," she pointed her finger at the door she had just walked through.
The dog barked at his master but was no fool. The look on Ellen's face could have made a human offer her their services, and so the dog crawled away into the extension of the house, tail between its legs. Sam could not help but picture Dean after being yelled at by Ellen and tried to suppress more snickering.
"Ash?" Dean asked Ellen, standing up and brushing himself off, "Well that explains it."
"Yeah, Jo named him," Ellen said straightening up the stools Dean had knocked over, "She found it as a stray a few months ago. Hasn't had a dog since before her father died."
Ellen stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips, looking the two brothers up and down with a smile. She sighed and said, "It's good to see you boys again," and stepped forward to give Dean a hug.
"Good to see you too, Ellen."
She loosened her grip and held him out at arms length, sizing him up, "You hungry? You look like you could use a good meal. Take a load off and I'll go get some lunch."
"Yes Ma'am."
Patting him on the arm she let go and walked forward to give Sam a hug as well before heading into the kitchen. The brothers sat at the table and scanned their surroundings.
There was an old jukebox standing close to their table, moose and deer antlers hung up on the wall and a pool table in the corner. Nothing had really changed except for some pictures that now hung over the bar of the old Roadhouse, the wreckage, and of the construction that had been taking place over the past few months. Sadly, some of the older pictures of hunters who had passed through for years gone had been destroyed in the fire.
Just another piece of evidence of what a demon could do.
Ellen came back a few minutes later carrying two large plates of home-made spaghetti and two servings of blueberry pie, which she placed in front of the boys. Sam could have sworn he had seen Dean's eyes glaze over. They thanked her as she rooted behind the bar, emerging with three beers.
"You boys eat up."
"Those are nice," Sam commented as Dean began to stuff his face, pointing at the pictures on the wall.
"Thanks, Sam," Ellen sat down next to him and handed out the drinks, "Bobby helped me track some of the older ones down. There are more in the back to put up and I've asked some others to bring any along tonight if they got 'em. I want to make sure we remember where we've been."
"That's a good idea."
"Yeah well, it's a new start, for a lot of us," Ellen said looking around, "This place has been a safe place for hunters for forty years. My daddy opened it up when I was just a kid and I just couldn't leave."
"Yeah, I guess so. Must be nice to have a home."
Dean cast Sam a questioning look before returning to his plate. Sam had only been six months old when their house had burned down and they had traveled around all his life. He realized that a home was what Sam had been looking for by moving to Stanford, and he had taken him away from it.
"Yeah Sam, it is," Ellen asserted, "and this place can be a home for you boys too, just whenever you want it to be. My door is always open."
"Yeah, thanks Ellen."
"No thanks needed. Now if only Bobby would get back I could get that damned water tap fixed."
"Finkin' ov Bobby, were iz he," asked Dean through a mouthful of spaghetti.
"Oh he had to run home a few days ago to get some work done. He was supposed to be back by now but I guess he got caught up with something on the way. I'm sure he'll be back for tonight," Ellen explained, "So, what have you boys been up to? I expected to see you around before now to maybe help out with this place."
"Yeah sorry about that Ellen," Sam apologized taking a sip of his beer, "We've been working a lot of jobs, you know. That mess from Hell's gate being opened isn't cleaned up yet. You guys have done a terrific job with this place though."
"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without Bobby. He got some of his friends together to help build. We decided it just wouldn't be right to make it anything different then how it used to be."
"I fink it's gate," Dean cut in.
"Yeah well you two haven't seen the best of it yet. We added a whole bunch of extra protection to the place so there's no repeat of last year."
"Oh yeah, like what?"
"Well…"
Ellen was cut off as chimes clanged once again as the screen door flew open. The three heads turned around to see their new comer and were met with the sight of a pretty, young blonde standing in the doorway holding up a couple of grocery bags. She had on her usual jeans, tee-shirt and jacket, but for some reason looked especially different with the sun shining in on her through the open door frame.
Dean's mouth went dry.
"Hey Hun, what took you so long?"
"The struts are gone on the truck again. Hey guys."
Dean swallowed the food in his mouth, "Hi, Jo."
"Hey Dean."
--
Hey guys, thanks for reading I know these chapters are short but they should pick up. Hope you enjoy them anyway. The next chapter will be: Jo. Yeah not very creative but it's only the beginning.