Thanks again, for the terrific reviews, I'm so glad that this story has some readers. Also a big thank you to Illucida for alerting me to my grammatical/spelling mistakes in the last chapter, I've edited those now. And now for the next chapter, enjoy.

Chapter 3- Thriller

Rockport, Maine, USA- 31st October 1987

Halloween.

A favourite holiday for many children, but for two young boys in a motel in Rockport, Maine it was nothing. After all their father fought real monsters all the time, so to see people dressed up as Witches and Mummies and Vampires and Monsters didn't faze them. Usually in the weeks leading up to Halloween Tony and Dean would see the various costumes on offer in stores all over America and joke about the inaccuracies of them.

However Tony was a bit more excited this year, since they were in Maine which was as he put it was 'Stephen King State,' and he was convinced something supernatural would happen, thanks to the King of Horror.

He had spent the past few nights telling Sam, more tame versions of Stephen King's stories. Sam hadn't appreciated the tale of 'It' though, John hadn't been too happy either to wake up with his youngest son screaming in his face about Killer Clowns.

For the past couple of years, Tony and Dean usually donned a couple of no-nonsense costumes and claimed to be characters from movies then they would go calling to houses in safe neighborhoods while John waited in the car at the end of the block with Sam asleep in the back. This year however Sam was 4 years-old (or 4 and a half as he put it) and since he was going to be at school soon, he was determined not to miss out on the fun, demanding to tag along with his older brothers.

After days of begging Tony and Dean relented and told Sam he could, but only if he could sort out his own costume. After that Sam had bounced off the walls with excitement and elicited the help of his father to get an awesome costume together.

So while John took Sam to Wal-Mart to get a few things for the big night, Tony and Dean got their own outfits together. They were all determined to keep the costumes a secret until they were ready to go and so dinner was a trying time for John.

"So what did you get Sammy?" Tony asked, helping himself to his third slice of Pizza. Since they would all be eating candy and chocolate at the end of the night anyway, John declared Halloween as Pig Out night, letting them have a junk food dinner as well, with Pizza and a couple of huge bag of Fries to share.

Sam excitedly opened his mouth to speak before stopping and looking at his eldest brother, "No way T, wait till we go."

"But I'm sure I saw something green in the bag, you're not going as The Slime Monster are you?" Tony asked grinning.

"Ewww!" Sam squealed. "That's gross Tony."

"How about a big bowl of Jello then, that's green." Dean put in, grabbing a handful of fries.

"Or maybe a giant blade of grass." Tony supplied.

"Or maybe you should both just wait and see, like Sam says." John said with a smile of his own.

"Fine, bet it's not as cool as my costume though," Dean said.

"Please, yours is gonna be totally lame, bet you'll just be in black pants and a white t-shirt, say you're John McClane. Again." Tony shot back.

"And what about you Mr Magnum, was that a Hawaiian Shirt I saw you eyeing in the store?" Dean asked.

Sam looked between his brothers smiling, he loved it when they argued like this because it wasn't horrible and they never said anything mean, it just always made him laugh.

"Well hello- that would be because...Magnum PI is awesome." Tony said, shouting the last part.

"As cool as Bruce Willis?" Dean argued.

John kept his head down but Sam could see him smiling from across the table. This was something that John loved as well, when the boys got like this, it made them seem like a normal family, with siblings arguing and familiar banter. It made him forget he was a single father living motel to motel out for revenge and dragging his kids along for the ride.

However before anyone got too highly strung, John called out peace. "OK, while I eat the last slice you three get changed. Sammy you stay here in the Kitchen, Tony go to the beds, Dean into the bathroom. Go, now!" John said as he began cleaning up the table. The boys went to their assigned areas, while the living area was small, there was a short partition that divided the Kitchen and Bedroom area, and Tony and Sam kept their backs to each other.

After a few minutes with John's help, the boys were ready. Meeting in the Kitchen again, they finally got a look at each others costumes.

Sam was jumping up and down in his so he just looked like a blur of green. John gently put his hands on Sam's shoulders to calm him. "What do you think? You didn't guess this?" Sam said.

And his brothers hadn't. Sam was wearing khaki pants, a white t-shirt with a camouflage patterned jacket, and black boots, you could easily tell what he was trying to be. "I'm Daddy as a Marine," Sam cried happily.

"Nice work Sammy," Tony said high-fiving his brother.

"Yeah, you look just like Dad." Dean said as Sam began jumping again.

Meanwhile, Tony had gone for the classic Police look, black pants, a light blue shirt and he had bought a kid's police badge, hat and plastic handcuffs from the local Supermarket.

"A policeman?" Dean asked, he wondered why his brother had chosen that as his outfit since they both knew their father had gotten in trouble with the police over a few hunts and now hated them.

"Because they fight evil," Tony said grinning cheekily at John. Since it was Halloween though, their Dad just smiled and shook his head. "Good choice Dean," Tony said sincerely looking at his younger brother.

Dean had gone for beige pants and shirt and a store bought hat and some rope, altogether it made him a miniature Indiana Jones. "Thanks, wanna go get that treasure now?"

"Yeah, chocolate!" Sam screamed, running to the door. John went after him and managed to strap him into the Impala, Tony grabbed the candy bags while Dean made sure the motel door was locked behind them. Eventually all three of them were buckled up and driving to the other side of the small town, Tony and Dean had found out from their new school friends that was where the safest place to beg for treats was.

SNSNSNSNSN

"Trick-or-treat!" The boys cried out, at the next house. This was one of the kinder houses on their route, as they handed out Snicker bars, which were actually Tony's favourite.

"Thank you," they chorused as the elderly couple waved them goodbye.

"Can you believe how much we got here?" Dean asked with a grin.

"I know, my bag's really, really heavy." Sammy said, as he tried to hang the hefty load over his shoulder.

"I think this is the best we've ever got." Tony said, as they trekked to the next house. When he was younger and still living on Long Island, he would get really expensive chocolates and snacks from his rich neighbors. But as he was the only kid in the area, he was usually taken around by his Nanny, and then she would only let him eat a few things, saying too much candy was no good.

This was definitely a better way to celebrate Halloween. With his brothers, and other kids from the neighborhood. Most of the houses were decorated for the holiday and more importantly he felt safe. After they visited another couple of houses, Tony and Dean saw a couple of kids from school.

"Hey Tony," Joshua, dressed as Dracula, said as he came over to them. "You been to number 24?"

"No, why they got something good?" Tony asked.

"Worse, they're giving out apples."

"There's always one." Dean grumbled, making a note to avoid that house.

"Thanks for the heads up." Tony said. "Nice costume."

"Thanks, Dracula was the King of the Vampires you know." Joshua said proudly, his face looking strange as it was painted a shocking white.

"I don't like vampires." Sam said joining the conversation.

"Why not? They're awesome. They only come out at night, sleep in coffins and turn into bats." Joshua said. "And people have to give me candy or I'll suck their blood."

Tony and Dean both looked at each other, the poor kid has just repeated nearly every myth about vampires. They knew the true stories and how they behaved, hell John had made them research vampires early on as they were one of the core monsters that everyone knew about. Only they knew what vampires were really like.

They bid Joshua a goodbye as they carried on with their sweet trek. They continued for another half hour, seeing a few more friends on the way, each giving advice to the best houses. As their bags became too heavy to carry they realised they were near the meeting point, and saw John waiting at the end of the street for them. He had only agreed to let them go alone as long as they stayed in the two block area and met him before it got dark and most importantly, stayed together.

"Wow, boys. Looks like you've got enough to last you till Christmas." John said, smiling as they all climbed in. Their sacks were all straining from the weight of their candy, John was surprised the bags hadn't broken.

"Yeah, we got loads Daddy," Sam cried as he looked through his candy, trying to decide what to eat first.

"We found out the best places to go, no apples for us Dad, sorry." Dean said, completely unapologetic.

John just smiled as he drove back to the motel, the boys telling him about all the costumes they saw.

When they arrived at their temporary home, the boys began sorting out their candy, all dutifully giving a candy bar to their father.

"I'm putting mine in my bag, don't steal it." Sam warned as he zipped up as backpack. Dean and Tony just rolled their eyes, as if they would take Sammy's when they had their own.

"Sure Sammy, no problem." Tony said, as he put his own candy away in his duffle bag. That was another thing he loved about Halloween with the Winchesters, John let him keep all the candy, but only if he promised to eat a little each day. He wasn't joking earlier, the previous year Tony had still been eating his Halloween chocolate at Christmas.

"Daddy..." Sam said, dragging the title out. John instantly knew that he would be explaining something to his youngest child.

"Yes, Sam?"

"Do vampires really sleep in coffins?" Sam asked.

John frowned, as Tony and Dean both stopped eating. "Why do you ask Sammy?"

"Tony's friend was Dracula, he said Vampires sleep in coffins. I don't think I would like that." Sam said, completely oblivious to the stares his father and brothers were giving each other.

"Sam, you know Halloween...all these monsters and costumes people have, they're not real."

"What about mine?" Sam asked confused.

"Well I mean yes, your costume is real, but the vampires and witches and ghosts, they're not real." John said, even though he was doing this to protect Sam, he still felt terrible lying to him.

"Oh OK, so there are no vampires."

"No," Tony agreed. "But they make for good stories, want me to tell you one?"

"As long as there are no clowns," John mumbled to Tony as he went to the Kitchen area. Tony grinned as Sam climbed into bed, eager to hear his bedtime story.

While Tony weaved a tale, Dean spoke quietly with his father.

"Why didn't you tell him the truth Dad, I know he's still young but-"

"Not just that, he's the youngest. We have to look after him, the three of us. He doesn't need to know about the supernatural beings out there, we can keep it from him and still protect him. Understand me, Dean? Just let him be a kid."

"Yes, Sir," Dean nodded, feeling a little jealous. Dean was 6 when his father had admitted the truth to him, and John had slowly started training both Dean and Tony to be hunters, teaching them basic combat moves, Latin and how to kill demons and ghosts. While Dean loved it, he sometimes wished he didn't know what was out there. It made for some uncomfortable nights when he heard something in the middle of the night.

That was when he realised what his Dad was doing, trying to keep Sam's innocence and childhood alive as long as he could. Then and there Dean made himself a promise that he would do that as well, after all it was just another way to look after Sam, which was his main job.

By reassuring Sam that Halloween was just a holiday, he smiled as he sat on the bed next to Sam, who was listening intently to Tony's story.