Chapter 3: It's My Life
11:30 in the evening. Hwy 53/I-535 Junction, Minnesota boarder.
John knew that driving the interstate was trouble with a capitol T, but Duluth was so damn small that to get anywhere you had to first hook up with the I-35 and either head west and get on C.S.A.H. route 56, or cross over into Wisconsin by way of the Blatnik Bridge. John had strategically chosen the later, just in case Bill decided to try and check up on them, because the obvious, "hunter-way", was to take the back roads, not the busy highways and interstates.
Jo sat there quiet in the middle of the two guys with her arms folded across her torso, she had forgotten till now that she was even still wearing her little, white apron.
She thought over everything that had just happened, second by second, but the harder she tried to remember every detail the more of a blur it all became. Jo sighed and raked her fingers through her light blond waves deciding right then to just block all of that out until a later date.
"So, explain to me again why we're going to Iowa?" Jo said suddenly, breaking the prolonged silence that had filled the truck cab. Dean was the first to speak up.
"Well we've been tracking these two...uh...renegades, per se, since Virginia and we've got a strong lead that tells us they're gonna be in Iowa and-"
"Wait, wait, wait... that's the part I don't get. You said hunters specialized in hunting demons and ghosts and angels and levio...?" Jo started.
"Leviathans." Dean said matter-of-factly when he noticed her having trouble with the word.
"Right, yeah, but what's so supernatural about a couple of renegades?"
"Nothing really, besides the fact that they've also been killing people, some our friends, for nearly a decade."
"What do you mean?"
"Making shady deals with a few crossroads demons in Wyoming and Colorado, summoned a reaper in North Dakota, then there was major demonic activity right near Duluth so that's what brought us there. Now, from a semi-credible source in Iowa, there's been reports of someone stealing bodies out of cemeteries." Dean listed off the top of his head with absolute ease. "'Course we aren't exactly sure how those things all fit together quite yet, but we're close. I can feel it."
Jo just nodded, without another word. Hearing about the truth of what her dad really did for a living and what John and Dean did wasn't really all that surprising to her. Almost like she'd known it all along in the back of her head, but only now was it being confirmed. It confused her as to why her mom and dad had never wanted to tell her about hunters and that all her nightmares were real. It would have made growing up a hell of a lot easier for her; being the girl with a knife collection instead of a Barbie Dream House. But, then again, thinking back, maybe it was for the best.
Silence fell over the three of them again. Though, this time, at least, Dean had took it upon himself to turn on the radio. Ozzy Osbourne's 'Road To Nowhere' came over the speakers and Jo laid her head back against the seat.
The three of them sat like this for a long time.
12:05 in the morning.
The full moon peaked out from behind the pine trees lining the highway and the dark sky was clear. Foreigner's 'I Want to Know What Love Is' played from the speakers on low volume.
Jo was tired. She could feel her eyelids grow heavy as she stared out at the softly illuminated road ahead of them.
John continued to stare out at the road ahead, seemingly wide awake, with a blank look on his face.
Dean slept away with his head leaned against the frame of the passenger door. He had always had the talent to fall asleep where ever he was, even if he was still standing up.
Suddenly there's a flash of light deep in the trees on the right side of the highway. Jo only caught a glimpse of it as she was beginning to finally nod off, but John saw it and immediately pulled off into the soft shoulder of the road. As soon as he cut the engine, Dean came too and groggily opened his eyes with a sort of urgency.
"What happened?" Dean asked as he rubbed his hands over his face and through his short hair.
"A flash of light in the woods." John said quickly, purposely not giving anymore details than absolutely necessary.
"So..." Jo said with a pensive stare in John's direction. She was confused as to why a flash of light in the middle of the woods was so significant to their hunt. However, the more she thought about it, the more odd it seemed, and she remembered that the M.O. of most hunts was based upon strange and odd happenings.
John didn't say anything in response to Jo's implied question and didn't waste another second before climbing out of the truck and going around to the bed. Without another word, Dean followed obediently and Jo followed out of curiosity.
Once they all gathered at the back of the truck, John folded down the end gate to reveal a large silver tool box. Nothing weird here, Jo figured that he was just going to grab a flashlight out or something, but boy was she wrong when he lifted up the lid and out popped several drawers of various weapons. The silver box had expanded to twice it's original size and inside of it was drawer after drawer of various guns, knives, spears, grenades, vials of blood, as well as a few unknown items that Jo didn't have a name for.
She was taken aback by the sight, but when Dean tossed her a double barreled shotgun she snapped back to reality and immediately took that moment to load it up with the two rounds he gave her next.
"Rock salt. Not deadly to humans, but still hurts like hell and it'll slow a person down enough so we can catch'em." Dean mentioned as he watched her load up the gun and expertly cock the weapon without missing a single beat. He had to admit, it turned him on a little.
Jo nodded. Now that she thought about it, she could remember her dad saying close to that exact line once, a long time ago, when he was showing her how he made his own bullets. She'd even gotten to help him make a couple of rock salt shells, though she never really understood the reason behind it until now.
Dean went to grab an engraved knife for himself, but John instead handed him a long silver blade.
"You think it's angels?" Dean asked with disbelief. They hadn't come across angels for a couple of years now, for reasons unbeknownst to them, but Dean still had his doubts that they would ever cross paths again.
"All I'm saying is I ain't seen a light like that one since them." John stated simply as he grabbed another silver blade for himself, as well as .45.
"You think it has anything to do with Jim and Sammy?" Dean said then, his hazel eyes almost hopeful as he thought about the possibility of seeing his little brother again.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Dean." John replied curtly, followed with a nod of Dean's head. Dean knew what was at stake here. He knew that it wasn't likely he would ever get his brother back, but hell, he'd be damned if he didn't try to; no matter what his dad said.
"Alright, well, what's the plan then?" Jo spoke up finally after having just sat by and listened with confusion as to what the hell these two guys were talking about; angels and lights and some people named Jim and Sammy.
"I go in with you both on my flanks about fifteen seconds behind me. Shoot first-" John started.
"Ask questions later. Yeah, yeah, okay." Jo butted in, remembering hearing her dad say it time and time again.
"You are definitely Bill and Ellen's daughter." John murmured with a subtle grin threatening the intensity of his stern exterior. However, the grin was short lived as John snapped back into hunting mode.
Dean and Jo followed John directions and went in on his flanks, fifteen seconds behind. None of them had any clue what they were looking for, but it seemed as though angels were the prime intention.
The three of them were nearing the approximate place where John had seen the light flash in the woods, but instead of angels, or anything else of the supernatural sort, there lay a whimpering dog in the brush.
Jo and Dean lowered their weapons, however John remained in a ready stance as he stepped closer to the dog.
"Could be a shifter, but I've never heard of one being accompanied by a flash of light." Dean said simply as he walked up closer to the dog, slipping his gun into the back of his pants and tucking the silver blade up into the arm of his coat and then kneeling down beside the little white fur ball.
"Me neither..." John said with confusion in his voice as he finally lowered his gun half way, still ready for anything.
Jo walked over and knelt down opposite of Dean, laying the shotgun on the ground beside her and gently placing her hand on the dog.
"Hey, careful!" Dean said with urgency in his voice as he went to reach for her arm, but he quickly retracted it when the animal didn't react maliciously.
"I'm fine, Dean." Jo murmured as she pulled her hand over the dog's dirty, white hair. Her hand stopped suddenly, though, when she felt something hard and a little wet on its hind leg. Her eyebrows creased in the middle as she leaned down closer to get a better look, but to no avail; it was much to dark out here.
John acted quickly and retrieved a flashlight from his coat pocket; turning it on before handing it to her.
"Here."
Jo glanced up at John and grabbed the flashlight from him, then instantly turned the light back on the dog's hind leg where she had felt the obvious wound. Only when she finally got the light on it did she the severity of it however.
"Tell me that is not a bullet wound because that is a bullet wound." She said rhetorically, enunciating every syllable as she went. Jo felt her heart sink a little in her chest just thinking about who could have shot a dog in the leg like this and then just leave it in the middle of the woods.
Jo had seen her share of cuts and gashes and bullet wounds and all sorts of injuries, some by her own doing, and she was completely comfortable around them, but she could never quite handle seeing a hurt animal no matter how hard she tried.
Dean watched Jo as she looked down at the dog. Seeing her freak out a little about this made him want to protect her. It made him a little sad even and all he wanted to do was fix it. Of course, right now his dad was standing over them and he did have a bit of a reputation to protect here, so he refrained from wrapping his arm around her and pulling her away from the injured dog.
"We've got a suture kit back at the truck. The wound doesn't look too bad and it seems pretty fresh so I'll bet we can fix him, good as new." Dean mentioned with that same sound of hope as before in his voice.
Jo sighed and nodded. Everything about her now relaxed frame said that she was glad that the dog would be alright; as was Dean. John however, was completely distanced from the whole conversation that Dean and Jo had just had. Instead he had his sights on something deep in the trees, seemingly tucked away by the way he kept squinting his eyes in an effort to maybe see more than he could in this light.
"Shine that flashlight over at the those trees again. I thought I saw something." John said.
Dean grabbed the flashlight from Jo and stood up then as he shined the beam of light around at the trees where John had instructed. He saw nothing at first, but after adjusting the light again he could see it. The light from the flashlight bounced off of a smooth, deep red, shiny surface; something that had no business being in the middle of a forest.
"What the hell?" He said with pensive eyes as he walked closer to it.
John quickly extended his arm and put his hand against Dean's chest to stop his advance toward the unknown foreign object back in the trees.
"Wait, son." John said before taking a step to the side and then crouching down to get a better look from a different angle. He had his suspicions of what it could be, but it was so damn hard to see in the lack of light. After a moment, he snapped his fingers at Dean, without looking away from the trees, gesturing for him to give up the flashlight. Dean obeyed and tossed it over to the older Winchester. John immediately pointed the beam of light on the smooth, red surface again, this time moving it lower until it landed on a Virginia license plate with the combination of letters and numbers reading: TS7-45GR.
It was then that Jo perked her head up to see what the two guys were looking at.
"Why is...?" Her face instantly matched Dean's already confused expression.
Mere seconds passed before suddenly there was a loud gunshot, followed by the squealing of tires against asphalt not too far off in the distance. The three of them jumped a started looking around, weapons poised ready for whatever came at them, however nothing came. Instead that shiny red car stowed away in the trees, abruptly revved up its engine.
"Dean, Jo! Back to the truck!" John called out as the car started pulling out of the trees, its tail lights giving away its ever changing location throughout the wooded area.
Swiftly, Dean scooped up the small white dog and nudged Jo to start running in the direction of the road where the truck was still parked. John followed behind the two of them closely, whilst still managing to keep an eye on the retreating tail lights of the mysterious red car.
Once back at the car, the three of them quickly piled in and John started up the engine. Seconds later they were back off down the road, flying down the dark asphalt in the same direction as the red car had been traveling. There was no possible way that whoever was driving that car had a chance of getting out ahead of them, but as a hunter you've always gotta be prepared for the unexpected.
As Dean looked out at the lines of trees on the side of the road, he could still see the faint lights of the car weaving through the trees. It was then that he had realized why that car seemed so familiar, why that fashion of driving seemed so familiar. It was because he drove like that, and he'd been the one to teach that driver the same technique. He knew who the driver of that mysterious red car was.
It was Sammy.
His little brother.