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A DOOR IN THE DARK
Chapter 3
"Dude, it's like suburban hell," Dean began, staring out the windows of the Impala. The place looked perfect, too perfect, and it sent chills up and down Dean's spine. Neighborhoods were a breeding ground for trouble.
"Over-reacting much?" Sam sighed, shifting in the seat. He apparently, didn't see the evil of 'house-farms'.
"There's no over-reacting, Sam. Places like this are never good."
"Places like this? You mean homes."
"Not homes, perfectly manicured, matching picket fences, cookie cutter weirdness."
"Do you know just how insane you are?"
"I'm gonna owe you such an I told you so. Just remember that so you don't mope about it later."
"Whatever. There's a motel just up the road, pull in there."
"Hell no."
"Hell no? What are you planning on doing, sleeping in the car?"
"No, I'm planning on getting something that's not in the smack middle of weird USA."
"What are you talking about, this is perfect. We're right where we need to be."
"Yeah, and at night the weird neighbors are gonna come eat our brains."
"Dean, quit being stupid."
"I'm not being stupid, I'm thinking ahead. You'll thank me for it later."
Dean drove past a few motels before he managed to find his way out of 'suburban hell'. It wasn't so much the neighborhood he was worried about, he just didn't feel like staying right in the middle of whatever they were there to hunt. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong in New Eden. He couldn't really explain the feeling because, hell, he wasn't even sure there was something worth hunting in the small town— it was just a nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach years of hunting had taught him to trust.
Dean pulled into the parking lot of a small, rundown motel on what must have been the outer limits of the city. The place looked like it had been forgotten a long time ago, the entire town around it falling into a state of disrepair. It was eerie to say the least because really, how did towns turn into ghost towns in this day and age.
"Man, I'm surprised a city as snooty as New Eden is next to a place like this," Dean began, climbing out of the car.
"Yeah, it is kind of an instant change," Sam added, looking back over a small river, the city of New Eden shining like a beacon not even a quarter of a mile away.
"See, I told you this place was creepy."
Sam just rolled his eyes, leaning against the car as Dean made his way to the office. Dean looked around the small office, taking in the dank and dreary appearance— it matched the town it was in perfectly.
"Excuse me," Dean called, realizing there wasn't a bell.
"What do you want?" An old man turned the corner, staring down Dean like he was trying to will the hunter away.
"Uh, a room. Two queens?"
The man just grumbled something, moving slowly down the counter to the keys. Dean stood in the office, what little patients he possessed wearing thinner and thinner as the man moved slower and slower. Dean peered at a few old tourist brochures, positive the places they advertised no longer existed— everything that surrounded New Eden seemed to be dead and gone. A newspaper caught Dean's eye, the hunter turning over the pages as the clerk came back up to the counter.
"You get New Eden's paper?" Dean asked, curious to see the name of the other town scrolled across the top.
"This is New Eden. At least, it used to be."
"So what, the whole town just packed up and moved?"
"Was a ghost town, no one wanted to be here afterwards. Never thought anyone'd come back. But they did. Rebuilt over the river."
"So, that's New New Eden." Dean smirked, the smile dying on his lips as the other man just stared at him. "Never mind. So, what happened to make them leave?"
"You don't wanna know boy. Things that bad, they taint a place, destroy it. Don't know how it came back, but whatever's going on, it ain't good. Room eight, 'round the corner in back." And with that, the man turned and left.
"I'm telling you Sam, yoda runs this place," Dean began the moment he made it to the Impala, signaling Sam to climb in.
"What?"
"Apparently, this crap hole is New Eden."
"Then what did we drive through?"
"New New Eden."
"The guy in there didn't laugh either, I take it."
"Whatever." Dean mumbled, pulling the car around the back of the motel. "According to Mr. Cryptic, this place has some serious bad mojo, a few years ago everyone up and left. The guy said places like this were tainted, he still can't believe the other city's thriving."
"He could just be a crazy old guy, Dean."
"Yeah, or he could know the dark secrets of suburban hell."
"You just can't be normal, can you?"
"Nope."
"Look, Dean, I researched this place to death, nothing happened here."
"How far back did you go?"
"Uh, like ten years. A big old nothing on the radar."
"Well, this place looks like it's been abandoned for at least that long."
"See," Sam began, shifting in his seat. He was starting to put things into place, Dean could see it in his eyes. "I never found anything about the city being rebuilt."
"That'd be pretty major news, Sam."
"I know, but there's still nothing on it."
"So, go back further than ten years and see what you get."
"I'll need a library for that, I only went back ten years cause that's all I could do on the internet."
"So we gotta go to suburban hell?"
"Unless this crap city has a library, I'd say yes."
"Why do I feel like I'm walking into a horror movie."
" 'cause you're insane and you think something's wrong with the American dream."
"What American dream, Sam. Happy little lives with husbands at work and wives vacuuming with pearls on? That's not real, it never will be."
"I'm not saying you gotta be like a sixties sitcom. I'm just saying normal doesn't mean deadly."
"You know as well as I do that's not true. Places where everyone's happy, where all the lawns and houses and freaking dogs look the same. It's not normal, Sam, it's not right. Life's supposed to be—."
"Supposed to be what? Dangerous, unpredictable?"
"It's supposed to be lived, Sam."
"And people in suburbia aren't living?"
"All I'm saying is that everyone's different, and when people start acting exactly the same, weird crap's going on."
"I can't believe we're even having this conversation."
"Why, we've had weirder ones. Remember last week—."
"Don't even start, I just got that out of my head."
Dean just smirked, settling back against the bed, flipping on the tv as Sam powered up the laptop. Dean didn't pay attention to the screen, though, his mind was too deep into the hunt already. Something was definitely wrong here, something way beyond missing tourists and visions of dead children. No, this hunt was on a whole different level, Dean could feel it.
But, despite his attentiveness to the hunt, his mind still drifted to an even darker place. His dad. Dean had never felt like more of a failure. Yes, his dad had left before, but that was different, then he was hunting, trying to keep them safe— this time, he just left, and Dean had no idea why. He thought things had been going better, and he'd dared to let himself believe his family was back. But, he knew it was all too good to be true, things didn't come back to Dean Winchester, they left.
"That's weird." Sam's voice broke Dean from his thoughts.
"What's weird?"
"Well, according to the US census, the town of New Eden has always been on the west side of the river."
"So?"
"So, we're on the east side right now."
"Should we go fight some greasers then?"
"Do you mind?"
"Whatever, princess. So, according to Uncle Sam, this place doesn't exist?"
"Basically, yeah."
"Gotta hand it to Bobby, he sure can pick 'um."
"Tell me about it."
"So, the guy said something tainted this place, any ideas?"
"Whatever it was, it had to be something bad. I mean, it's a proven fact that terrible tragedies can damage a place just as bad as anything supernatural."
"So, it could be anything from a door to hell to a broke heart?"
"More than a broken heart. To have a place 'tainted' it's gotta either be some serious demon activity, witchcraft, or an epic tragedy."
"Well, since New Eden's never been ear marked by dad, and Bobby didn't seem to have any clue, I'd say no demons or witches."
"Yeah, cause it would have been pretty well noticed when it happened."
"So that leaves tragedy."
"Yeah. But I can't find anything about it."
"That doesn't mean it didn't happen. Not everyone's a boy scout like you, Sammy. Most tragedies are someone's fault, and something bad enough to destroy a whole town's gonna get buried."
"Probably why what used to be New Eden's been wiped off the map."
"See, that's what's got me confused. A tragedy would pretty much contaminate a huge area. So why'd another town get built so soon afterwards. And a place too cookie cutter perfect at that."
"I don't know. 'cause based on all the research New New Eden shouldn't be there."
"And yet, it is."
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The Iblis was sickened with itself. It had finally found Sam and Dean, the youngest Winchester letting his guard down just long enough to be tracked— and then, they were gone again. It just solidified the fact that the boy had no idea what he was doing. When things were going well, the boys were easy to find, but the moment Sam felt like he needed to protect his brother, the second the defenses went up, they were gone, dropped off the face of the earth. And apparently, Sam was worried about Dean, because they'd vanished two days prior and had yet to surface.
And, in a moment of desperation, the Iblis had contacted John. It was telling the truth, though, others were after Sam. Ever since the day at the lake, the supernatural world knew the full extent of Sam's powers, and just what that meant to the war. Some wanted to side with him, follow him, let him lead. Some wanted to destroy him, kill the competition as soon as possible. And others, like the Iblis, wanted to use him.
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Bobby cursed, slamming the cell phone closed. The last time he'd heard from Sam and Dean they'd been an hour out of New Eden— and since then, he hadn't heard a word. It was like they'd fallen into some kind of black hole, and he was getting more than a little frustrated. At first he hadn't been too worried, cell phones weren't always the most reliable things, but after several unconnected calls, his concern grew. Every time he tried to call, he was told by an overly peppy recording that the user was out of range, but how could they be out of range in the middle of a city the size of New Eden.
And then, an icy thought entered Bobby's mind. While he'd called the actual city of New Eden once or twice while researching, he'd called a landline, now, he was trying to call a cell phone, and it was more than obvious they didn't work. Something wasn't right about this hunt, Bobby could feel it in his bones, and he'd sent to boys right into the middle of it all.
Bobby was pulled from his thoughts by the phone, his blood pressure shooting up when he saw the name on the screen.
"You've got some timing, John." Bobby sighed, he really didn't have time to deal with John Winchester, especially after he'd lost the man's kids.
"Bobby, I need to know where the boys are."
'Damn,' Bobby thought, his luck was starting to get as bad as the Winchesters'. "I thought Sam asked you to give them some space?" Bobby asked. Something wasn't right.
"You've been calling me for weeks about seeing them, now you won't tell me where they are?"
"I'm just saying, the change of heart's a little out of the blue."
"I got a call."
"From who?"
"I don't know. But something's after the boys."
"Let me get this straight. You're trusting someone you don't know to tell you about the boys?"
"I know what I'm doing, Bobby."
"I highly doubt that."
"Just let me know where they are."
"I don't know." Bobby lied. He didn't know why he didn't want to give the information to John, he just knew he needed to keep quiet and play his cards well.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not. I spoke to them a few days ago, but I don't know where they were."
"You can't give them a call?" John asked sarcastically.
"No I can't I'm not their father."
"They won't answer for me."
"Well, Johnny, they won't answer for me, either."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't get through, haven't been able to in a little while."
"Damn it, Bobby. All I ask for is one month with no freaking disasters."
"Good luck with that. Look, John, head here, we'll figure out a game plan together."
"Yeah, alright. I should be there in about a day."
Bobby disconnected the call, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He just hoped he hadn't sent Sam and Dean to their graves.
