The Rules of Spontaneous Adoption
A/N: Again, I apologize for all grammatical mistakes, yours truly can only get an A in math, the rest are B's and C's.
Chapter 2: The Birds and the Bees
Mary woke with a raging headache. As she blinked her way to consciousness she realized what had woken her. Something was thumping in the back of her trunk. Last night came back and Mary realized she had a problem. An annoying monster problem. She could just gank it.
She needed to at least get somewhere quiet and bare of people. Starting the Impala up, Mary drove out of town and down the highway till she found a farmers road that was empty. She slowed the car to a stop and put it into gear.
Glancing at the snow around them, Mary was thankful it was late in the season or else she'd be unable to drive on any of the roads not upkept by the state or city. With quick sure steps she made her way to the trunk and opened it.
There sat not the fifteen year old boy blooming into adulthood but a painfully thin ten year old. The head whipped up and frightened green eyes looked at her in surprise. The boy scrambled back as best as he could and Mary watched as the boy's skin contorted, stretching and growing until the thing was what he had looked like the night before.
"What the hell," Mary muttered.
Mary moved forward and yanked the monster out, throwing it onto the cold ground. A gun filled with iron was pointed at it. The thing scrambled to its knees and then glared fiercely at Mary.
"What the hell did you just do?" Mary asked.
"Nothing," the succubus said much too quickly.
Mary frowned. Why would a monster take a more sympathetic form when it couldn't get sympathy and then revert to the from which would be less pathetic when it could? That wasn't the most intelligent form of manipulation.
"You're lying," Mary responded.
"Shut up! You don't know anything!" The thing shouted back, irrationally angry.
Mary's frown deepened. The monster wasn't acting like a monster.
"Ju-just kill me already," the thing pleaded.
Mary became even more confused, the monster was terrified, trembling in fear and not attacking. In fact the extent of its attacks had been the one time it had spat at her. Mary knew a few things about succubi, they didn't kill people but they were usually pretty damn ruthless and would do what was necessary to survive. She had assumed this one was an adolescent and it seemed that she might be wrong.
"How old are you?" Mary asked.
"F-fifteen, why do you care?"
Fierce green eyes stared at her and Mary noticed that the thing looked sick, the trembling wasn't just fear.
"Bullshit," Mary responded, "how old are you?"
There was a beat of silence as the succubus continued to resist. However it looked less angry and defiant and more scared.
"Ten," it whispered.
Mary gave a nod of her head.
"And what you look like now?" Mary asked, waving her gun at him.
She sort of already knew the answer. Succubi could alter their appearance, not much and as far and she was aware very few had the ability.
"I can make myself look older," the succubus responded.
"Drop it, alright," Mary instructed.
It frowned, "Why? You're just gonna kill me anyways!"
"Maybe," Mary replied.
It looked confused before it gave a nod of its head. Mary watched as the skin shrunk and the fifteen year old disappeared to be replaced by the ten year old. The succubus' frame was shaking. It was so thin.
"Why were you in that bar?" Mary asked.
"It's none of your business!" It shouted out.
Mary raised an eyebrow. The look of anger on its face was replaced by a desperation and vulnerability which made Mary realize she was on the verge of making a very poor decision.
"I was hungry, okay," it replied softly.
That did it. Mary let out a frustrated sigh. She was going to make the bad decision.
"I am going to uncuff you, alright, and then we're going to get you something to eat, succubi can eat regular food to survive, right?"
The boy mutely nodded his head in shock.
"But you gotta agree to tell me everything, now, you got a name?"
"Dean."
John found a motel to stay in since it was quite late and he didn't feel like pushing the last couple hours to Jackson. He needed some time to mull over what he was going to tell Mary. It wasn't like he was bringing home a dog, not that Mary would let a dog in the Impala.
As he parked in the motel parking lot he looked over at the little yeti. Sam was still curled up on the seat fast asleep. John smiled. He didn't have the heart to wake the boy up. He weighed for a moment if he should get the room and move everything over and then bring Sam in but he decided against it, he didn't want to let the kids out of his sight.
Carefully he scooped up Sam so the boy didn't wake and then made his way over to the foyer of the motel. A middle aged woman stood at the desk and looked up with a friendly smile. She raised a brow at Sam's condition of being a one shirt wonder, albeit a mirthful one.
John grinned sheepishly.
"Accident with some messy chili dogs," he said in answer.
She chuckled before asking him what room he wanted. He booked it and went in, laying Sam down before setting the salt lines. He then left to get the rest of his gear.
When he came back Sam was still asleep so he took a shower and then settled on the opposite bed to go over his journal and ponder what to tell his wife.
He was quickly growing attached to Sam and he hoped Mary would want to keep the yeti as much as he did. They could have a family, the child Mary and him had always wanted could be theirs. So what if they didn't know the first thing about baby yeti? Neither did anyone who had a kid, they wouldn't be the first to stumble their way through child rearing. Although he doubted anyone had done so while their child was a yeti.
Still, they were hunters, this was their field of expertise, if anybody could do it, it would be them. John smiled, wholly convinced his argument was going to be just the thing to convince his wife.
"We'll get food first, then you're gonna talk," Mary said once they were both in the Impala.
The boy nodded, thin arms wrapped around his nearly nonexistent middle.
They made they're way to a fast food place and Mary purchased the first things that came to mind as her own favorite foods, pie, a hamburger, and pop. Maybe not healthy, but it was something. The boy immediately began scarfing it down.
"Hey, hey, slow down, you'll throw up after not having eaten something for so long," Mary chided.
Dean glowered at her but he slowed down nonetheless. When he had finished scarfing down three burgers, two slices of pie and two things of fries Mary decided to start questioning him. It was still a lot of food and Mary was worried the boy might
"So, why are you by yourself?" She started, looking at him from the corner of his eye.
They were just cruising around, keeping the car running so it would stay warm rather than being parked.
"I dunno my dad, my mom abandoned me several months ago when some hunters showed up in town, we moved around a lot before that and usually she took me with her," Dean answered, licking his fingers clean.
Mary's jaw tightened but she continued casually driving.
"How many people have you gotten?" Mary asked.
She needed to know, a succubus' attack didn't kill by any means, at least not in the essence of it. Some succubi were nasty and like to kill their prey. But it did weaken a person, made them sick, and this could lead to complications and death. Other times the aphrodisiac could become immediately addictive, especially if followed by sexual intercourse, and a person could kill themselves over it.
The boy shook his head.
Mary raised a brow, "Never?" She asked.
The boy looked embarrassed and ashamed, he shook his head.
"Then last night?" Mary prompted.
"I looked in the dumpster, but I couldn't find anything, and I was just so hungry, there wasn't enough and my stomach hurt and I didn't want it to hurt anymore, I know mom would eat by doing, well doing that, and I've seen her plenty of times, I was just hungry, I didn't wanna hurt anybody, I was hungry," the boy finished in a whisper, tears in his voice and eyes.
He'd wrapped his arms more tightly around himself and was shaking. Mary felt her throat tighten with emotion and said nothing. After a few moments silence the boy spoke again.
"Are you going to kill me?" He asked tentatively.
Mary startled, after feeding him and everything she thought he would know she wouldn't.
"Mom said that's what hunters do, and, and it's okay, 'cause, you know, you're a hunter. But you've been pretty nice at least," the boy continued on, fearful green eyes watching Mary with an earnest anxiety which made Mary feel like dirt.
"No, no honey, I'm not going to kill you," Mary reassured.
The boy gave a little nod. A moment passed.
"What are you going to do?" He asked.
That was a very good question, one which Mary wasn't quite sure of herself.
"I don't know, but don't worry, no matter what happens I am going to make sure you end up somewhere safe. You won't ever have to be hungry again," Mary wasn't sure what was making her tell the kid these crazy promises, they were certainly nothing a good hunter should promise.
There was something about the child though, innocence wrapped up in the great injustice of being born as something inherently evil, as if a child could choose this, what they were. Did it make them less worthy of living, these beings of thought equal to humans and with just as much humanity? Dean deserved a chance at life, a chance to choose to be good. Mary often wondered how many creatures could be something better if only given a chance. It was a hard line of thought to walk as a hunter, any remorse or compassion could lead to hesitation, second guessing and ultimately death.
Mary placed a gentle hand on Dean's head and brushed her hand through his hair. He looked up at her with timorous eyes and she smiled gently back.
Mary had a feeling that Dean was going to be an integral part of her life from now on. How that was going to work, she had no idea, telling John was a problem in and of itself, let alone convincing him that they should adopt a stray monster child. What was she going to do?
Thanks very much for reading!