Story: Narrate by youthere
Beta: Don't have a beta... anybody looking to adopt?
Disclaimer: I own'em! I own'em! They're mine!... wait, who was that guy with the glowing hand...?
Spoilers: Nothing major but stuff from any aired episode may slip in...
A/N I went and changed the first chapter a little, I saw I had accidental made Dean into a total jerk... it tends to be a fine line with him :)
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NARRATE
II.
It was just... stupid.
At first Dean had laughed at the whole thing. Well, it was pretty funny. Sam had kinda freaked out when he realized where the voice was coming from and you have to admit: when a guy who regularly gets chocked, beaten, hunted and kidnapped by all possible kinds of badasses, supernatural or otherwise, almost panics because a small rock appears to be following him... it makes you chuckle.
It had gotten less funny when they decided to postpone research to the morning and get some sleep since they were both pretty worn out. The damn thing just hadn't stopped talking and the non stopping buzz of it's voice only got more annoying as the night wore on. They had tried putting it outside, throwing it in a dumpster, locking it in the bathroom and burying it under a heap of pillows, but somehow it always ended up back on the desk, uncovered and chattering unconcernedly to itself. In the wee hours Dean had even tried to salt and burn it, but with no success.
What really had them both puzzled was what the bloody thing was talking about. It was telling stories. Legends, folktales, tall tales, anecdotes, allegories, pieces of gossip, hell- even fishing stories. All told in the same monotonous voice, never stopping for breath (obviously) and not even pausing in between stories. It was the most mind numbingly boring cursed object Dean had ever come across.
In the morning, after a short and fitful sleep, Dean had dragged himself out to get coffee. He hadn't gotten further than a block from the motel before the damn thing appeared in the back seat making him jump (and yeah, almost panic...a little) so bad he swerved onto the wrong lane and narrowly escaped a head on collision with a Toyota Corolla ("Who the hell drives that car anyway!?"). The pebble had then appeared on the counter in the diner where he went to get breakfast and in two different spots in the convenience store he popped into. And now, when he had just gassed up the Impala and was preparing to chat up the very busty girl behind the register, the damn thing was suddenly sitting in his pocket, still rambling on. It was just stupid.
X
Dean cringed as the pretty brunette shot him a questioning glance, obviously puzzled by the voice coming from his jacket. He attempted to distract her with his usual dazzling smile ( and he wasn't kidding himself here, girls did get pretty distracted ) but it came out more than a little strained.
"Ehrm... just a... book on tape" he told her, gesturing to his pocket.
The girl was obviously new and was taking her sweet time figuring out how she charged for which pump and had to ask him twice which pump he had been at. All the while the stone rattled on and, to Dean's horror, the current story was a hospital drama. Apparently a young nurse had been seduced by the wicked rich half brother of the young doctor she was really in love with and was now pregnant- but who's baby was it?
The register made a strange squealing noise and the girl went running to the back in search of a more experienced employee to help her, leaving Dean standing there with a long que forming behind him. And yeah, they could all hear his "book on tape". It turned out hey were both very handsome doctors, with blazing dark eyes and devilish smiles.
By the time he could finally get the hell out of there the rock had plunged into a florid description of a traitorous kiss between one of the doctors and the young nurse's sister on a moonlit beach, and Dean was pretty sure he would never see his masculinity restored.
X
Sam looked up from the computer as Dean entered their room, obviously in no sweet temper.
"Dude, this is the dumbest friggin' curse I've ever come across. You find out anything?"
"Yeah actually. I'm pretty sure this is a Story Rock"
"Like a rock that tells stories? Wow! What was your first clue?"
"Hey, I didn't come up with the name. But look..." Sam turned the computer screen towards his brother. "There's quite a lot of lore. Here, see: 'A story rock is a small rock of any kind, that tells stories of all varieties' - well that much we'd already established...It says that to get a Story Rock you have to climb up to a raven's nest on the night before the Winter Solstice. Instead of eggs you find the nest full of rocks. As soon as one is touched by human hand it starts speaking and never stops."
"Okay...so, an extremely annoying supernatural Walkman. That doesn't explain why it follows us around."
"Follows you around, actually. It's a question of ownership. Apparently if you mark the stone with your blood, it's yours forever and will never leave you or be taken from you... And dude: ipod."
"Wait, mark it in your blood as in that bitch splitting my face open with it?"
"Now who's being a drama queen?"
Dean sent Sam a glare that would have rivaled his own on a good day, so the younger brother simply nodded: "Yeah, seems like you own it now. Your very own pet rock."
Dean scowled. "Well, that's just great! How do we get rid of it?"
"So far I've only found two ways. One is to mark it with someone else's blood, which would only mean lugging them with the curse, and the other is to return the stone to the nest it was originally taken from, which is obviously easier said than done. I was thinking I'd go to the library and dig around there for more info and maybe you could call Bobby and see if he knows anything."
Dean nodded eyeing the pebble with a sour expression. "Figures I'd get cursed with having to listen to non stop talk about romance and fishing. If it's 'stories of all varieties' why doesn't it at least tell some cool ones? Hell, some hunting stories or something."
As f it had heard him, the rock started:
Sam sat on the hood of the Impala leafing through the day's paper. The car was parked in front of a biker bar and the noise drifting out washed over him in the warm night air, along with the heavy smell of smoke and cheap beer. He turned another page as a couple of the bar's leather clad patrons walked by, his eyes coming to rest on an article ...
The brother stared at each other, eyes wide.
"No way" Dean whispered, awed.
They listened for a while, and the stone was indeed telling the story of their meeting with Larry the Developer's family and one seriously cursed piece of land.
"But, but... we went on that hunt." Sam spluttered. "It wasn't just a story!"
Dean shrugged, although no less confused. "Nothin's just a story. All of Dad's stories happened, but they were still stories."
Sam nodded, unsure. "I guess... All the lore and legends we chase started with real things." He frowned. "The stone must potentially have access to all stories..."
Dean grinned hugely. "Dude were like legends? This is awesome!" Then his expression suddenly sobered as his own words from earlier caught up with him. "Dad's stories..." He said quietly. "Do you ... think it..." he trailed off and stared at the pebble.
Again, as if knowing exactly what was expected of it, the stone lunged into a new story:
The wind was sharp and cold as it wove it's way through the naked branches of the midnight forest, bringing with it the metallic smell of snow yet to fall. John pulled his collar tighter and eyed the shadows around him warily. The weight of his sawed-off felt reassuring in his hand, but there was something tugging at the back of his consciousness, an uneasy feeling he had long ago learned not to ignore...
Both brothers stared at the stone, faces frozen in shock.
Finally Dean spoke again in a hushed voice, but couldn't come up with anything more coherent than: "Sonova..."
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A/N The story rock is an actual piece of lore. Somebody told me the Icelandic National Library keeps a collection of alleged story rocks, but I haven't gotten to check if that's true. I made up the part about marking them in your blood though, I had to find a way to make it stalk Dean :)