Dean drove through the thick of Soulers carefully. Eventually they made it through and Dean slowly accelerated until they were back to sixty miles per hour. The wind and rain pummeled into the interior of the car from the driver's seat window and Dean had to speak up in order to be heard.
"Sam, you okay?"
Dean glanced at Sam. Sam was still shaking but nodded, looked behind him, and turned back to Dean.
"You're hurt," he said weakly.
"I'm fine."
Sam stared at Dean, stunned. He didn't want to argue but he had to convince Dean somehow that they needed to stop off somewhere. Dean was bleeding, the car's window was shattered leaving him vulnerable and no matter what, they needed to find a place to sleep in relative safety.
Sam suddenly leaned forward into Dean's space as an idea occurred to him. They were probably...
"Dean we're low on gas," he said, tapping the meter with his finger. Dean shifted and looked down.
"Shit," he whispered.
"We gotta stop off somewhere anyway, Dean. We gotta fix the window."
As if Sam's words were a reminder, Dean wiped his face free of the water that was pelting in through the window.
"Okay," he said slowly, steeling himself and gripping the wheel of the Impala. Sam watched Dean with apprehension. He glanced over and gave Sam a double-take.
"What?" He asked, seeing his brother's expression, "We'll stop off at a rest stop. It's the only option we have."
"What about towns? Getting off at one of these suburbs?" Sam ventured quietly. Dean immediately shook his head.
"We can't do that, no."
"Dean," Sam paused for emphasis, starting to get annoyed, "What the hell is going on? What do you know?"
Dean bit his bottom lip, his brow furrowing.
"Tell me! Please, Dean!" Sam begged loudly over the wind and rain blowing between them in the front seat.
"Okay - Sam?" Dean started, reaching a hand out to his brother. Sam leaned in and moved closer as Dean put his arm around his shoulders and squeezed. "I - Listen, I promise you I'll tell you. But not right now, okay?"
"De-"
"It... I can't explain it all to you right now and I have to focus. I promise I'll tell you, though."
"Does it have something to do with Dad's last case?"
Dean winced and bit his lip.
"Yes," he managed, "but don't ask me any more questions, all right?" Dean squeezed Sam again and saw Sam nod in his peripheral vision.
"Okay, good," he said calmly. A few moments of silence passed. "Sorry."
"S'okay," Sam breathed dully.
...
Twenty minutes later, Dean had started to feel chills streak through his spine and his body gave off shivers. He thanked god Sam had moved away from his side to look out his window. He didn't want to frighten the kid but... yeah, they needed supplies. Dry clothes, disinfectant, bandages...
As Dean made the list in his head, he spotted a rest stop up ahead.
Cringing at the sight, he shifted and slowed, angling into the right lane. He sighed heavily and glanced at his pale, alert little brother staring out the window.
"This it?" Sam asked, still looking out as Dean veered onto the ramp and slowed down as he twisted the car around the curves that would eventually lead to the rest stop parking lot.
Dean didn't bother to answer his brother: it was obvious this was it. Sam shifted in his seat nervously, his eyes wide as he moved his gaze to the windshield as the rest stop came into view in front of them.
It was a small compound with a minimart and bathrooms out back. The parking lot had about five cars parked together out in front. Dean sidled the car next to one of them - closest to the off-ramp - as he parked.
The wind and rain still crashed down with fury, but it wasn't as bad now that the car had stopped moving. Dean kept the engine running as he looked around outside through every possible window and mirror to gauge any threat.
"So far so good," he mumbled, turning back to the wheel and cutting the engine.
"But there are cars-" Sam trailed off as Dean pulled his handgun out and checked it. He reloaded it and set it down on his lap. He gestured to Sam. Sam handed him his gun.
"Employees maybe," Dean replied, checking Sam's gun.
"Not five of them - it's just a minimart," Sam said reasonably.
"We can handle it," Dean said, his words final as he held up one of the guns. "This one's normal."
"Okay."
"You stay behind me, no matter what, understand?"
Sam shivered a second but nodded.
"Okay."
"Wall's the signal, you got it?"
"Dean-" Sam started, worrying his lip in fear. He looked up at his big brother with watery eyes.
"Hey, hey," Dean set the guns down in his lap and braced Sam's face gently. "It's gonna be okay. Okay? Quick in and out - odd's are the place is abandoned, anyway? Don't worry," he said calmly, brushing Sam's hair back. Sam gulped and nodded.
"Okay, you ready?"
Sam's eyes said no, but he nodded and Dean felt like that was as good as he was going to get. Still looking into Sam's eyes, Dean pulled a hand over and opened the door. Wind howled inside and it did something to snap Sam back into reality: back into what their mission would be - how he needed to swallow his fears and do what needed to be done. Like Dad taught him.
Dean gave Sam's shoulder a squeeze before removing contact and getting out of the car. He turned around and bent over to grab the guns he'd left on the seat. He gave Sam a meaningful look as he stashed the 'not-normal' gun into his back waistband. Sam nodded at his expression and Dean kept the normal gun in hand as he reached for Sam with the other.
Sam took his brother's hand and shifted his way out the driver's side door.
"Okay! You remember! Stay behind me!" Dean yelled over the winds and rain to his little brother. Without waiting for a reply, Dean shoved Sam behind him and felt the kid grab onto his jacket as he started walking towards the door of the minimart. Sam stumbled his way there but never let go.
Dean walked with a dual purpose of caution: watch out for any potential threat, keep Sammy safe. Vigilance was starting to sharpen his senses to a razor.
They reached the double doors and Dean angled to the side of them, squinting to see inside as he pulled an arm back to hold Sam closer against him. He felt Sam's arms wrap around his waist under his jacket.
Dean wiped the window clear and looked inside again. The lights were off. Looked like nobody was home.
He pushed one of the doors open slowly and heard the bell above it start to jangle hollowly. He stayed outside, angling his gun into the store.
"Hello?!" he called out. "Anybody here?!"
Sam heard nothing but his brother's calls above him. Dean couldn't have heard more because he felt his brother's hand on his back again, indicating that they were going to move.
Together, they shuffled inside and Dean closed the door, making the damn bell jangle again. Its tinny sound was all Sam could hear besides Dean and his breaths. They waited there, leaning against the double doors, listening for any sound or noise.
It was empty save for the humming of the refrigerators that sold soft drinks and ice cream.
"Okay," Dean whispered slowly, a hint of relief in his tone. He kept his gun at the ready but Sam could feel his brother relaxing by a fraction. "We'll go aisle by aisle and get what we need," he planned.
"I can-"
"No, you stay with me, Sammy," Dean interrupted quietly. Sam relented more as a favor to his brother. Dean stepped forward slowly.
"Grab a basket," he whispered to Sam just as he grabbed one of his own. Sam followed suit and they entered into the first aisle.
"Mm...munchies," Dean murmured hungrily. Sam looked up and saw a glint of humor in his brother's eyes. Sam actually smiled at that and grabbed a bag of Sun Chips. Dean pulled Doritos and when they got to the candy section, M&Ms and Ding-Dongs.
They turned the corner to the next aisle. The supplies they really needed were here. Dean grabbed a few Johnson & Johnson's first aid kits as well as some Ace bandages and wraps. Sam grabbed as many medications as he could, practically sweeping the shelf off with his arm.
As they turned for the next aisle, Dean felt Sam pull the back of his jacket.
"What?"
"Sunglasses," Sam whispered back, pointing at the display rack. Dean pinched his face as he looked back at Sam.
"What?" he asked bluntly. Sam looked at him with barely concealed exasperation.
"For the Soulers, Dean."
Dean thought for a second and then got it. The shades would conceal their eyes. Dean immediately turned back around and grabbed several pairs.
"You're a genius," he whispered, rubbing Sam's back as he angled them into the next aisle. Sam smiled to himself as they kept going.
The next aisle featured toiletries and Dean pulled a pack of ten toilet paper rolls out for Sam to carry.
"Toilet paper?"
Dean shrugged.
"You know as well as I do how gross it is to have to substitute," he murmured, knowing that Sam would understand his subtle reference to John's camping trips. Sam huffed and gave a crooked smile as he got comfortable with the pack under his arm.
As they reached the end of the toiletries, they were closer to the back corner of the room where three or four small clothes racks stood. Dean walked over to them with Sam in tow. He bent down and tugged at a men's black hoodie with the words, 'New Mexico,' in bubbled letters splashed across the front.
Sam snorted, thinking of Dean in the hoodie.
"Shut up," Dean breathed. He was still injured, soaking wet, and freezing from having the broken driver's side window allowing the rain and wind bombard him when he drove sixty miles per hour. He came to a decision and started stripping his jacket and tattered outer shirts off. "Go find some in your size, " he whispered the order, pulling his final shirt off over his head and grabbing a long-sleeved, 'University of New Mexico,' t-shirt. He proceeded to layer as much as he could, hoping the starched cotton would do well to mitigate the cold when they got back into the Impala.
He pulled the sweatshirt on and looked over at Sam who was back at his side with his own New Mexico themed wardrobe stashed in the basket.
"Put the hoodie on now," Dean said lightly and Sam did as he was told, setting the basket on the floor and pulling the hoodie over his head. "Okay good?" Dean asked. Sam nodded and they moved on to the final aisle.
On one side along the wall, the refrigerators hummed and Sam peered through the glass as he fell in step behind his brother. He hefted the pack of toilet paper up absently as Dean perused the contents on the other side of the aisle: more snacks, odds and ends. Picking up and dropping a few things here and there into the basket. He was warming up now and felt twenty times better than he had. They were almost through - it was this aisle and then they'd go.
Just as they were reaching the end of the aisle, a cold suction sound echoed through the mart and Dean swung around to look where it'd come from. He glared at Sam's face, cringing from having made the loud sound as he had opened one of the doors to the refrigerator.
"Sam! What the hell are you doing?!" Dean whispered. The refrigerator's self-monitoring temperature kicked in and the humming sound ramped up as it auto-released a higher temperature. The whole side of the wall thrummed loudly.
"I'm sorry," Sam mouthed. "S-string cheese..." he said quietly, pointing at the shelf.
"Are you serious?!" Dean murmured, pissed, walking towards his brother and looking inside. He grabbed the pack of string cheese and threw it harshly into Sam's basket. He closed the door calmly, letting it fall back into place without a sound. He grabbed Sam and pulled him behind him, angling his gun back up and around the convenience store.
The two of them waited, breaths bated, to see if the noise had alerted anyone - any thing. Dean let out a breath after a slow ten count and grabbed at Sam again without looking.
"C'mon we're going," he whispered, and they darted out from the aisle, moving towards the door. They reached the cashier's desk and Dean halted.
"Dean-?" Sam asked. Dean turned around and leaned over to take a look at the cash machine. He pressed a few buttons and the thing binged and opened.
"Dean," Sam said heavily. Dean grabbed the cash and pulled back.
"What?"
"Dean," Sam repeated, his eyes unmoving from the double-doors. Dean turned and saw a tall, dark figure hunched over outside. He couldn't make out any features but it just stood there, obviously a creature: obviously sentient as it stood still outside with the rain pounding against his body as it looked in. Dean let go of his basket and pulled out his gun, about to angle it at the figure when a woman's voice cut through the room.
"My, my, my," she said smoothly, threateningly. Dean grabbed his brother and pulled him behind him at the same time he turned to find the source of the voice. "...said the spider to the fly..." the woman finished playfully. She was in the corner by the clothes and approaching with a casual stride just as the door's bell jangled and Dean pushed Sam backwards, trying to keep as much distance as possible from both creatures.
The figure outside came in, dripping wet and grinning from ear to ear. The two of them exuded sinister intent and Dean couldn't quite put his finger on it but he knew they were supernatural by nature. They could both obviously pass as humans though, so they had probably existed before the storm.
"What are you," Dean growled, eyeing the woman as the man held his ground, waiting for the woman to sidle up next to him.
The woman shrugged lightly.
"Just a coupla monsters that'll give ya a better death 'n anything out there," she sneered.
Dean couldn't help but gulp with fear. In the back of his mind, he zeroed in on her words: she had confirmed there were only two of them.
At that, he shot the man dead-center in forehead. The man stumbled backwards, then righted himself, shaking himself back to clarity.
"Y'all right?" the woman asked lazily. The man grunted in response and moved back into place. The woman looked at Dean with an expression of disgruntled madness.
"That wasn't a smart move, baby," she drawled, then shot forward to knock the gun out of Dean's hand at the same time she punched the side of his face. Dean yelled out with pain and heard Sam call out his name as he grasped Dean's waist, reminding him of his responsibility to stay upright and shield his brother. Dean faltered a few seconds, hunched over and waiting for more blows, but they didn't come.
"...Dean?" the woman repeated, feigning an impressed tone of voice. "Oh god," she said, starting to laugh. Dean felt Sam's trembling hands reach up around his waist and Dean managed to straighten up and look back into the woman's eyes, staring daggers with his own.
The woman tilted her head and shifted her gaze to Sam, "then this must be little Sammy," she emphasized, relishing the name on her tongue. "Sammy, you proud of your father?" she asked gently, her focus utterly fixed upon Sam as he watched her from behind Dean's body. Sam didn't say anything but Dean felt his little brother's body start to shake. After a few seconds, the woman stood back up and looked at her male companion. "Because damn it all if we aren't," she announced loudly, laughing. "Ah, boys, your daddy opened hunting season with one hell of a bang!"
Dean tightened his grasp on his brother's back, pressing him closer against him and backing up further. The man started moving in further and Dean's brows furrowed, noticing a blue tinge mottling the man's face that he hadn't seen before. The woman walked in step with the man, smiling gleefully. As Dean backed up further, he watched her skin's hue changing as well.
"Djinn," Dean spat, figuring out what creatures they were. His brain flipped through his memories to figure out what killed them. Silver dipped in lamb's blood.
"Ding ding ding!" The woman called out in response, smiling.
Shit, he thought, no way can we get lamb's blood. He had shot the man with the normal gun, but the one in his waistband held the silver and iron rounds. Hopefully the silver in them would do enough to injure...
Dean took one more step back and stopped right before he was going to press Sam against the wall. At that, he felt Sam reach under his sweater and place his hand on the gun under his waistband.
"So you know now, Dean," she whispered seriously, "that I speak the truth," she walked closer, leaning in, "you're never get another chance to die so happily," she tempted, her oily voice deep, breath shallow.
Dean considered, looking into her chilling, icy blue eyes and watched as blue veins started to streak up and show themselves on her neck then spread up to her face. He slowly felt around Sam's back behind him and rubbed it affectionately. He felt Sam's hand - the hand not resting on the gun against his waistband - press a palm against his side in return. Sam was ready.
Dean nudged Sam backwards against the wall and Sam's hand lifted the gun out of Dean's waistband and pulled it up along Dean's side. He shot at the woman without hesitation and nailed her in the chest.
"AGAIN!" Dean yelled, throwing his hands over Sam's and aiming the gun true. Sam pulled the trigger and the bullet went into her skull. She crashed to the floor.
Dean angled the gun with Sam at the charging man.
"Pull!" Dean yelled and Sam pulled the trigger. With Dean's help on aiming, the Djinn went down. The two of them stood, watching the writhing bodies on the floor. The Djinn weren't dead, but silver to the cranium looked like it was still doing the trick.
Dean shivered, adrenaline coursing through him, and he tried to snap out of it. He looked back at Sam, who was staring, unblinking, at the monsters on the floor.
"C'mon," Dean called, jumping over their bodies and reaching for Sam's hand. Sam kept staring at the bodies, shock written on his face.
"Sammy! Sammy c'mon," Dean pushed urgently, waving his hand at Sam and finally just grabbing it. Sam jumped and looked up. "C'mon we gotta go, tiger, c'mon," Dean coaxed and Sam nodded, taking jittery jumps as he held Dean's hand in a death grip.
They were just about to leave with their baskets when Sam stopped and turned around.
"Sam- Sammy!" Dean yelled, wondering what the hell Sam was looking at.
"Sh-She came from the back," Sam stuttered, staring at the door in the corner of the mart where the clothes racks were. The door was marked, 'employees only.'
"Yeah, so?"
Sam turned to look up at Dean then turned back to the door, conflicted.
"Wh...What if there are people? The... The cashier-"
"They'd be dead, Sam, c'mon," Dean steamrolled over Sam's concerns and grabbed his little brother's hand. Sam ripped it away from him.
"NO, Dean!" He yelled. "They're Djinn!" He whispered vehemently, as if communicating everything just by making the same identification that Dean had awhile ago. Dean looked confused at his little brother and shook his head. I don't get what you're saying.
"Dean, they keep their victims alive for awhile," he explained, his voice small.
Dean realized what his little brother wanted; he wanted to go into the employee's room and see if they could save anyone. Dean looked at his brother, his expression melting into a silent plea.
"Sam, no, c'mon we gotta go-" He said, hazarding weak tugs on his brother to just come with him on this. They had to think about themselves and who knew when the Djinn they'd put down would regain their strength.
"No, Dean!" Sam squealed quietly, struggling to get out from his brother's hold. He backed up and pointed at the room, "Dean, we gotta save them! We... We do!" Sam whispered, his eyes innocent and wide.
Dean stopped and bit his lip, looking between Sam and the door a few times. Sam waited for him, begging him to do this.
Dean steeled himself and gave the slightest twitch of a nod. Sam dropped his basket and Dean left his on the floor as well.
"You stay behind me," Dean whispered, his voice wavering with fear at what they were going to find. They moved stealthily around the walls of the mart until they reached the door in the corner. Dean braced Sam up against his back until he felt like Sam was gripping him tightly enough. With one hand on the gun, he used the other to push the door in slowly, silently, and let his gun lead them in.
The room was dark, the lights off and the storm blanking out any chance of sun. As their eyes adjusted, Dean's face paled when he registered the silhouettes of several hanging bodies.
"Oh my god," Dean whispered hoarsely.
Writer's Note: Thank you to shookenuppepsi for mentioning sunglasses (she's a genius, lol). Also thank you to all the anons and Ruby and supersamkan for having left reviews asking me to update this story! Please comment/review if you can spare the time! Thank you!
