Chapter 2. Mr. Glass Half Empty
A pained scream jolted him into semi-awareness. He brought a hand to his stomach to rub at a sore spot. "God," he grumbled as he fought his way to consciousness. It felt like something had fallen on his head. Something heavy and as he opened his eyes he realized that maybe he wasn't too far off with that assumption.
He was shrouded in darkness but he could see a small light coming from his right. Joshua brought his hand up to his forehead and made a disgusted face at the sticky blood and dirt that was caked to his face. He felt around the front of his head and eventually found the cause of his bleeding. He seemed to have a nasty cut accompanied with a lump right on his hairline. The air was thick with dirt and dust and Joshua fought the urge to cough up a lung.
His memories started coming back to him in a rush. He had been in Los Angeles on business and since he was in the area had been asked to check out a local haunted house that was in disrepair. From what he had been told by his hunting contact it was a simple enough job just an old abandoned haunted house that wasn't really bothering anyone. That was up until recently when the word somehow got out to the local kids that the ghost of old Mr. Fawkner was hanging about. Joshua would never understand how rummaging through an old rundown house in search of ghosts appealed to kids. If they only knew the real story they probably wouldn't leave their houses.
Once he had arrived and entered the old two story house Joshua had found it more difficult than he usually did to find the spirits remains. His contact had been positive the remains were in the house but they had proved more elusive than normal. He had searched the both floors thoroughly before coming up with nothing more than frustration at his waste of time. Just as he had been about to give up his cell phone had started ringing. It had been Reaves. The psychic was in the area and as much as Joshua didn't want to stick around the old house any longer he couldn't chance that eventually some kids might be hurt so he had half asked half suggested that the younger hunter come by the house.
Caleb had stopped by and found the door to the basement that Joshua had somehow missed. In his defense it had been hidden behind a massive heavy bookcase. He had followed Reaves down the stairs that made him extremely uncomfortable with their creaks and groans.They had just salted and burned the corpse when the ground had began to shake. An Earthquake. God, he remembered now. Of all times for an earthquake to happen it was when he was standing in the deep basement of an old decrepit house.
Did Caleb just attract bad luck?
"Shit." He cursed as he realized that he hadn't heard anything from the other hunter. He sat up quickly and then realized that maybe that hadn't been such a good idea as his head began to spin widely, almost causing him to bring up his lunch. He managed to keep from throwing up and when his head decided it'd had enough spinning he turned towards where he could see the light.
The light source was from a small flashlight that was lying discarded next to the still form of Caleb Reaves. "Shit." He swore again and wiped the dirt out his eyes. Caleb looked to be unconscious from what Joshua could see.
Joshua got to his knees and rested his hands on the filthy floor for a moment to get his bearings. It looked like the house had caved in on top of them. The basement before the earthquake had been little more than dirt clay walls and wooden support beams that had been supporting the house. The space they were in now was a lot smaller than what he remembered the basement being.
Joshua looked up above him and saw that something that made him pale considerably. He had been saved from a portion of the house crushing him by a wooden beam that had obviously gotten caught on something. He couldn't believe his luck in the midst of all the bad luck.
He heard a groan and remembered the fallen hunter. Collecting himself, Joshua crawled over to Caleb. What he saw put him in a state of shock for a few moments. The psychic hadn't been as lucky as he had. The younger man had managed to get himself pinned underneath one of the support beams that had collapsed. It was identical to the one that had saved him from being crushed.
Joshua picked up Caleb's discarded flashlight and pointed it towards the offending wood. From what he could see Caleb was pinned across his thighs. The wooden beam looked thick and heavy and it brought him back to the question of did Caleb just attract bad luck?
Joshua ran a dirty hand over his face as he tried to decide what to do about their current dilemma. He had no idea how bad Caleb was hurt for one so he guessed that should be his first bit of business. The blonde hunter shuffled over closer to where Caleb's legs were trapped. He didn't see any blood but then he might not know if he had a bleeding injury until the beam was lifted and if he had no-way to get out of the hole they had landed themselves in then Caleb could quite possibly bleed out. If he let that happen he would be dead so many times over he didn't even want to think about it. Mackland would want to kill him not to mention Dean and Sam but especially Dean. Hell, John would probably come out of the hiding he'd been in for the last six months and kill him all over again, plus he didn't exactly want the psychic to die either. The guy might be annoying and infuriating at times and even with the shaky past the two hunters had Joshua would never want the younger man to die.
Joshua shook himself out of his morbid thoughts. Caleb wasn't going to die. Joshua was quite capable of getting them out of this mess. He shone the light at Caleb's face and was relieved to see that there was no obvious signs of injury on that part of the mans body. He ghosted his hands over the rest of Caleb's body to make sure that he wasn't injured anywhere else. Finding no sign of injury Joshua brought his focus back up to Caleb's face and thought that he should try to wake the psychic.
Joshua leaned forward and over the prone hunter and lightly slapped Caleb's cheek. "Reaves." Caleb frowned in response, a pained puff of breath escaping from his lips. "Come on Reaves, this is no time for a nap."
"Huh." Caleb swiped at Joshua's hands.
"Caleb."
"Josh." Caleb croaked as consciousness came back to him. With consciousness came the pressure on his legs. "What happened?" he squinted up at the light shining in his eyes from the flashlight. "Dude, get that damn light out of my eyes!"
Joshua was quick to move the flashlights beam out of the other hunter's eyes. "It's Joshua and what do you remember?"
"Joshua …" Caleb mumbled and turned his head away from him.
"Hey!" Joshua snapped when Caleb seem to loose concentration. "What do you remember, Damien?" he purposely used Dean's nickname for the psychic to get a rise out of him. He didn't like the sound of Caleb's breathing and he couldn't tell whether it was because of a hidden injury or whether the hunter was just trying to cope with the pain of his more obvious injury.
"It's Caleb." Caleb panted. All kinds of terrifying thoughts were running through his mind. The pain in his legs was receding but Caleb wasn't sure was more reassuring, the pain or just the pressure. At least with the pain he was feeling something. What if he was paralyzed? He was a hunter, he couldn't be paralyzed.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Joshua asked in an irritated tone when the psychic seemed to drift off into his own thoughts.
"I … umm … I think I hit the back of my head." Caleb muttered, reaching up to feel the back of his head where he could feel a goose egg had already formed.
"No wonder I couldn't find any other injuries. Head injuries wouldn't make much difference with a hard head like yours."
"Haha …" he sniped before a flare of pain radiated from where his legs were trapped. Okay so the feeling wasn't totally gone. Hadn't he just surmised that pain was a good thing? "… shit."
A sudden look of concern crossed the blonde hunter's fine features. "Are you okay?"
"Sawyer, I am … p-pinned to the ground by a heavy ass piece of wood with … probably the whole house on t-top of that." Caleb pointed out. The air seemed to be getting thinner. "How do you think I am?"
"You remember the house then?" Joshua asked as he stood up as far as he could, leaving him still bent at the waist. Caleb wasn't the only one who was finding the air a little thin. He needed to find them a way out plus it looked like it was going to be up to him to get Caleb out of his predicament.
"Yeah," Caleb rasped, breathing harder. "Earthquake?"
"I believe so."
Caleb sighed. "This … this is why I never wanted to live in L.A. Oh … and this is so the last time I decide to play nice and help you out."
Joshua looked down at Caleb. "You can not be seriously blaming me for this whole mess. It's a natural disaster, genius."
"You're a natural disaster."
"Shut up Reaves, we need all the air we can get."
"Then stop breathing so much."
Joshua rolled his eyes but continued his search. He walked over to where he had been lying when he had woken up. Holding the end of the flashlight with his mouth Joshua started moving away some of the loose debris. He smiled in relief when he came across what he had been hoping to find. "I can see the bottom of the stairs." He called excitedly as he pulled away more debris accidentally causing more to fall down into their little space, kicking up dust and dirt making Joshua cough.
With a hand covering his mouth Joshua turned back to Caleb who hadn't spoken in a bit. His eyes were closed. "Oh no you don't, wake up Reaves." Joshua coaxed as he made his way back to the injured man. He placed a hand on Caleb's shoulder and gave it a shake. Caleb gasped as his eyes snapped open. "What happened?"
"I found the stairs."
"Good."
"Yeah, well maybe," Joshua agreed.
"Maybe? What's … that's supposed to mean Mr. Glass Half Empty?" Caleb tried to shift again which only caused him to groan.
"You okay?"
"I'm just peachy." Caleb snapped. "Have you … have you tried your cell?"
"My cell …"
"Yeah you know that little fancy ass communication device you carry around."
"I know what you meant." Joshua grumbled as he pulled out the forgotten phone, slightly embarrassed that he hadn't thought to call someone. "No Signal. Where's your phone?"
Joshua watched as Caleb reached into jean pocket, with a trembling hand, just above where the wooden beam was crushing into his leg. The psychic looked pale but was sweating. He didn't look good. He took the phone from Caleb's hand and flipped it open giving a frustrated sigh when it wasn't any more promising than his. "Damn it!"
"That doesn't sound…aghh…good." Caleb found himself almost drifting again as the thick air and the painful pressure on his legs was making it hard to concentrate.
"I always thought you were brilliant Reaves." Joshua replied sarcastically and then looked thoughtful as he studied Caleb's predicament. "How heavy is that thing?"
Caleb looked at him as if he had gone mad. "Heavy." He grunted. "Feels like the whole house is on top of me."
"If I tried to lift it off you do you think you could slide out from under it?"
For a few moments heavy breathing was his only answer. Caleb appeared to be contemplating it. "I think so." He finally replied.
"You think so?"
"What do you want me to say Dude?"
"A little more confidence wouldn't be so terrible."
"This coming from Mr. Negative?"
"Yes or no Reaves."
"Just get it over with." Caleb grunted.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Joshua stood as much as he could in the cramped space. Honestly he wasn't sure whether he could lift the beam pinning Caleb to the ground but he knew he had to try something because Caleb wasn't looking too good. Joshua had also been beginning to think about the possibility of aftershocks. He couldn't be sure how big the earthquake had been but it was enough to entomb them under the old house. The house hadnt looked in the best condition before the quake so it was hard to tell how big the earthquake had to of been to cause this much destruction.
Now that he was about to get the job done Joshua was able to admit to himself at least that he wasn't sure whether he was doing the right thing but he wasn't comfortable with leaving the younger hunter pinned to the ground god knows what damage being done to his legs. He just hoped that what he was about to do wouldn't damage them further.
He turned back to Caleb and shone the light at him earning him an irritated glare through his ragged breathing.
"Dude, will you just get this over and done with. You're thinking too much."
Joshua rolled his eyes. "Unlike you and the two brats I find that rushing into to things without thought leads to trouble."
"Joshua …" It wasn't exactly a plea but the psychics tone didn't hold its usual bite and made Joshua even more determined to get the guy out of this mess.
"Okay, okay." Joshua dropped the flashlight on the ground. The light in their confined space dimmed quite a bit but not enough that Joshua couldn't work with it. He turned around to the wooden beam and placed his hands on it. The damn thing looked strong and heavy. He placed his hands on the underside of the wood and tested it. A choked whimper was drawn from the man at his feet and Joshua realised that they were probably only going to get one shot at this and it wasn't something he or Caleb could afford for him to screw up.
"What…what the fuck are you doing Sawyer?" Caleb growled. The slight change in pressure on his leg had not been pleasant.
Joshua took a calming breath. "This is going to hurt …"
"No shit."
"On the count of three then." Joshua stood with his feet slightly more apart to steady himself for the heavy lifting and then bent his knees slightly because the last thing he needed to do was throw his back out.
"One … two …" Joshua began lifting the beam, not waiting for the third count.
It feels good to be able to post this almost straight away :D I love being able to post fast :D I hope everyone liked this chapter :D as always review and let me know ... pretty please :D Have a great weekend people :D
Tara x0x
