As they approach the house Dean can't help, but think that it, as well as the rest of the houses on the street, look exactly like those seen in Desperate Housewives. Not that he watches it or anything. Sam reaches the door first, and knocks three times, not too hard, but enough so the residents can hear it.
A few moments later, the door opens and standing before them is a man, who looks to be in his late 30s or early 40s, with dark brown "curtains", hypnotic brown eyes, and some 5 o'clock shadow on his chin and around his mouth.
"Can I help you?" He asks, sounding and looking ever so tired, but who can blame him? His youngest son's been missing for nearly a week.
"Hi, I'm Detective Bendis and this is my partner, Detective Coulson. We're here about your missing son," Dean replies, he and Sam showing him their fake I.D. badges, but the guy's none the wiser as he shakes his head and answers with a defeated sigh, "Great, are you hear to laugh at our story like the others did? You people are supposed to be helping us in situations like this, no matter what it may entail, but instead you turn us away. How inhumane can you be? Just leave us alone."
He's just about to shut the door when Dean puts his palm upon it, stopping him from doing so, "With all due respect, Mr Murphy-Shepard, they may've turned you down, but I promise you that we're here to help you find your son. May we come in?"
The man stands there for a moment, as though contemplating on whether to let this detectives in and get laughed at again or to send them on their merry way, but something in the back of his mind tells him to trust them.
"Sure, come in," he replies, backing away to allow Dean and Sam to enter, closing the door once they're inside, "and please, call me Ben. It's a lot easier to say than Mr Murphy-Shepard, huh?"
He leads them into the living room, gesturing them to sit down upon the three-piece suite which the duo finds out rather quickly that it's incredibly soft as Dean near enough sinks into it. He struggles for a second before gaining the upper hand, noticing the smile, however small, on both Sam's and Ben's faces.
Having a quick gander of the room, Dean finds it to be rather "spacious" with various pictures of all sizes strategically placed about the place, a large flat-screen TV and Blu-Ray DVD player in one of the corners, must be paid some big bucks to afford that, an expensive looking stereo on the other side of the room, that too by the looks of it, and a nice-looking fireplace underneath a white-painted mantelpiece. Wow, this family has everything!
"I hope it won't hinder your investigation, but my husband won't be joining us, I'm afraid. With everything that's happened, plus the fact that he's blaming himself for what happened to Cal, even though it's equally my fault, it's taken a lot out of him. So he's resting upstairs, I hope you don't mind?" He asks, having taken the seat directing opposite the two.
"No, of course not. We completely understand," replies Sam, settling himself on the sofa with his hand holding his stomach, gently rubbing it to ease the fluttering which he boils down to the twins just feeling a little uneasy about what the case entails.
"We've only been told the gist of it from our superior, but I hope you don't mind enlightening us on what we're dealing with here? And don't hold back on the details. We need to know everything on what happened in order to get a clearer view on it." Dean replies, watching as Ben fidgets in his seat, not really wanting to explain what had happened again, but must in order for the detectives help them find their son.
So, as Ben explains again what'd happened, conjuring up fresh tears in the process whilst trying his best to answer any of their questions they might have for him, and by the time he's done, Sam and Dean both have a distinct answer to exactly what had done this to this poor guy's family.
"Well, judging by what you've told us and from the fact that you said the police found no physical evidence of a break-in or others means of them gaining entry, there's only one reasonable explanation to who could've took your son." Dean adds, looking to Sam to provide the answer as he knows he loves to explain to people what they're dealing with in such significant detail.
"We have a reason to believe that whoever took your son is in actual fact…a witch, so to speak," Sam answers, the part he says softly, just waiting for Ben to start yelling at them that they're both crazy and kick them out his house, but they receive none. He just sits there nodding, his palms placed together in a sort of prayer, and waits for him to continue. So Sam does, "As you may or may not know, witches were believed to have originated sometime in the 14th century in Eastern Europe, some say even before then, but there's been no physical evidence as of yet. Witches are known to be mostly evil; worshipping the devil, hexing and cursing those who've done them wrong, and so forth. However there are, on occasion, good witches that are their polar opposites. You don't have to answer this, you may or may not remember, but did you recognise the woman who'd taken your son?"
Ben shakes his head no, "No, I've never seen her before, and I don't think Christian or Kent has either."
"Did she have any distinguishing features or anything that told you she wasn't particularly human?"
"Apart from suspending my son into mid-air, fending us off with immense strength for an old woman, and then disappearing with him into thin air?" Ben replies, a little matter-of-factly for their taste, but it's completely understandable, what with their son taken by a witch and all. "No, she just looked like an ordinary elderly woman. No warts, green skin or pointy hats far as I could tell." He huffs after saying that, as though he wants to laugh at his little in-joke, but knows in himself that now isn't the time for repartee.
"Would it be okay if we take a look inside Cal's room? See if there are any clues the police might've missed," Sam asks affably, "If it's not a problem, that is? We won't if it makes either you or your husband uncomfortable in any way."
Ben shakes his head, "No, it's no problem at all. Let me show you the way," he insists, standing up from the chair, and leading the way out of the room and toward the stairs.
As the duo follows Ben out of the living room, and up the stairs, they notice the pictures hanging on the walls all featuring the family in one form or another, all with smiles on the faces. They look truly happy. It just makes Sam and Dean more determined to find Cal, and bring him back to his family so happiness can once again roam free in this house.
As soon as they, or at least Sam, steps into Cal's room though, he feels a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach and doesn't know whether it's his hunter instincts kicking in or if it's the babies making themselves known.
"We've pretty much left it as it was since the cops had been here. The way they were talking and assuring us that they'd find our son, we thought Cal would be home within a day or two, but as you can see…" He doesn't need to say anymore. The duo can see it on his face, and if the empty bedroom isn't enough, the silence that's been deafening them since they got here surely did.
"Well, I'm just gonna check on Christian, see if he's alright, so I'll leave you two to do whatever it is you need to do to help find our son. Oh, would you two like a cup of tea or coffee? I was just making it when you knocked on the door."
"I'm fine, thank you Ben," is Sam's polite answer while Dean takes this opportunity to enjoy fresh home-made coffee unlike the poor excuse they call for it back at their motel, "I'll have a black coffee with two sugars, please."
Ben leaves with a nod, and the two are left alone to see if they can find any evidence that the police wouldn't have picked up by any normal means.
"Right, well I'll go back to the car, and get the equipment we need. You just try and find anything that the cops might've missed on their sweep of the room. I won't be long," Dean informs, leaving immediately afterwards as Sam gets to finding any clues to their witch.
Now that there's no-one to witness what's about to happen next, Sam closes his eyes for a second, and when he opens them, instead of being hazel brown, they're glowing pure yellow. A "token" Azazel had left him when he fed him demon-blood when he was just a baby.
In the past, his eyes never used to glow yellow whenever he used his abilities, but as he continued to utilize them in training with Ruby after Dean was sent down to Hell, he found that they did so more and more.
At first he'd thought it happened just for show, but Ruby had revealed that they're meant for so much more than that. With plenty of training and concentration, Ruby had taught him that they actually allow him to see things that normal humans couldn't, like a sixth sense if you will, but none of that "I see dead people" malarkey. His ability to "see" is more like Wolverine's from the X-Men universe; he can see with perfect clarity at greater distances than an ordinary human, even in near-total darkness, but with an added aspect to this ability…he can also see through illusions, and other invisible means.
For instance, as they're most definitely dealing with a witch, his newfound ability can help him determine whether she used magic which dealt with hexes or with sigils or by other means. In a matter of mere seconds, he manages to deduce that she, in fact, works with the mystic arts, a very rare form of witchcraft.
"Whoa," he hears someone utter, and when he looks towards the sound, he finds Ben holding Dean's cup of black coffee in his hands with a surprised look on his face. Cursing himself for allowing a civilian to see what he can do, Sam suddenly blinks his eyes, and they revert back to normal, only causing Ben to become more intrigued.
"Is that a medical condition or did you acquire it by some other means?" Ben asks as he settles Dean's coffee on the table, waiting by the door for Sam to answer.
"You could say that," Sam mutters, wishing to himself that he also had the ability to wipe people's minds in situations like these, "Could you not mention this to anyone about what you saw just now. If word got out that…," but he's suddenly interrupted by Ben who puts a hand up in a gesture for him to stop, "Don't worry about it Detective Coulson. Your secret's safe with me whether it is a medical condition or it helps you get that much closer to finding my son. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be checking on Christian now so you and your partner can work in peace."
Well, that was easier said than done, Sam speaks to himself just as Dean comes back with the supplies they'd need for a job like this. Like always, Sam will just have to play along until he either slips up or Dean catches on, and then they'll talk about his newfound ability. Until then they have some missing boys to find, and the clues to their whereabouts could very well reside in Cal's bedroom.
Author's Note: I'm absolutely sorry for the incredibly long wait for this update but, like I'd told RogueStorm84, I'd been struck by a terrible case of Writer's Block, and I couldn't for the life of me think of how to continue this story.
Luckily I'd already wrote most of this chapter when the WB struck so I'm able to finish now that I've kept it at bay. Hopefully I can continue to update this story on a regular basis now, but you'll have to forgive me if you have to wait a little longer than usual.
With myself being committed to my other works (Smallville, Glee, Friday the 13th, Youtube etc) it's a lot to cram into just one day so just be prepared to wait and be patient.
Like I told RogueStorm84 also, I'm not abandoning my projects. I wanna see them through to the end, and I know it may take a while, but I want to get there so you'll just have to bear with me.
Thank you for your patience, your reviews and views mean a lot to me, and I hope to see you all real soon. Chow for now! b(^-^)d