Supernatural
Chapter Four
The brothers arrived at their aunt's house at 8:00 p.m. sharp. Sam felt an excitement that he had not experienced in a long time, while Dean still felt an unease that he could not quite understand. Why had Sam been having visions of their aunt for so long? Why had he been able to see the demon, but Sam had not? Finally, how were they going to tell their aunt who they really were?
Sam sensing his brother's unease placed a reassuring hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean managed a smile in his brother's direction and the brothers walked to the front door. The house was actually a small cottage with bay windows in the front and a white door to mark the entrance. The porch light was on signaling that they were expected and the sign beneath the light said The Johnson residence. The brothers took one more glance at each other before Sam knocked on the door.
Dr. Sara Johnson had been nervously awaiting the arrival of the two mystery brothers. Their arrival and defense of her against the demon had been an unexpected respite during an extremely dark time in her life. The loss of her twins; the death of her husband and the appearance of a vengeful demon had all occurred at once. She had fallen into a depression so deep that she prayed for death and instead was sent two guardian angels.
For the first time since the funeral for her family, Sara was actually looking forward to having company over to her house. She fussed over the house, dusting, cleaning with great amounts of Clorox until she had to open windows just to breath. Sara then prepared steaks for dinner. She hoped these two young men were hungry. As she was making dinner, a picture sitting on her mantle in her living room fell over. Sara wiped her hands, walked over to the picture, and picked it up. She turned it over and cocked a grin. It was a picture of her as a young woman with her two nephews. She had her arm around one and her hand was on the stroller of the baby. All three were smiling in the direction of the camera. Sara kissed the picture and put it back on the mantle. She missed her brother and her nephews. It had been 24 years since John disappeared with Sam and Dean and despite countless efforts to find them, Sara had not turned up anything. After several years, she decided to move on with her life. Sara married Tim Johnson, a fellow Folklore professor, and about seven years ago, they finally had children after more than a few years of trying. Sara was extremely happy in spite of the loss of her brother and nephews. Part of her always knew that she would see them again; she just had to be patient.
Sara stared at the picture a moment longer and turned back toward the kitchen. She froze as she heard the picture fall off the mantle again. The time, it was no accident. Slowly, she turned and walked back to the picture. Tentatively, she picked up the picture and looked around the room. There was no one there, yet the room had become extremely cold with Sara being able to see her breathe. Sara felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, nearly dropping the picture. She turned lashing her arm around and saw that it was the demon. His blue eyes looked amused at her fear and he gently put his fingers under her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. Then he leaned forward and whispered into her ear: "They're here."
Before Sara could respond, she heard a noise at the door. She looked around, but the demon was gone.
Sara managed to straighten herself up. She didn't want these young men to see her ruffled. Sara went to the mirror in the hall and made sure that she looked calm. She smiled to herself in amusement. She didn't even know these young men, but something about them made her want to protect them. After a final check, Sara turned and opened the door.
Sam and Dean grinned as Sara opened the door and she smiled back at them and gestured for them to come inside. In the hallway, all three stared at each other.
"Well," began Sara. "You all know my name, but I have no idea who you are."
Sam and Dean stared at each other again. Sam stared at Dean urgently as if compelling his brother to be truthful, while Dean looked helplessly at Sam. Finally, Dean looked back at Sara who was staring at the brothers expectedly.
"We're Sam and Dean." replied Dean.
"Do you have a last name?" asked Sara, who was now suspicious.
"Smith." said Dean. "We're Sam and Dean Smith."
Sam glared at Dean while Sara continued to study the brothers. Then, Sara sighed and managed to smile at the brothers.
"Well, it is good to meet you, Sam and Dean." stated Sara. "Are you hungry?"
"You seem disappointed." remarked Dean who ignored Sam's glare.
Sara blushed that Dean had caught that. She had no idea why, but she felt a strong connection to these young men. For a moment, when they hesitantly introduced themselves, she thought and even hoped that they were her nephews. Sara was shocked that such a thought would even enter her mind when her nephews were obviously lost to her, but since the demon had whispered to her, Sam and Dean Winchester were all she could think about.
"Believe me," responded Sara. "I am far from disappointed." She stared at Sam and Dean pleadingly as if to make her case. "For a moment, I thought you might be someone else."
"Who?" asked Sam gently.
"You will think I am completely crazy." said Sara.
"Believe me," said Sam, "We've heard our share of crazy stories."
Sara grinned in response and then walked over to the mantle. She picked up a picture and handed it to Sam. He and Dean looked at it and Sam could feel his brother gasp in recognition. It was an old picture of Sara with her arm around a little boy of four and a stroller with a small baby. Sam looked up at Sara who had tears in her eyes.
"Those are my nephews." she said to Sam's shocked reaction. "I have not seen them for 24 years."
"What happened?" asked Dean softly.
"My brother's wife, Mary, was killed in a fire." said Sara quietly. "It was devastating for all of us; Mary was a wonderful woman."
She looked at the brothers who were quietly waiting for her next words.
"After that, John, my brother, went crazy" continued Sara. "He kept saying that some demon killed Mary."
Sara let the tears fall freely now. Sam went over to a tissue box on the coffee table and handed it to Sara. Dean stood there quietly as if he were waiting for something. Sara exhaled and continued her story.
"I begged John to let me take the boys for a while" said Sara. "but he got angry and banished me from his life."
Sam started at this news. He realized that the dreams he had of her crying and holding onto a little boy was from this fight between Sara and John.
"Can you blame him?" said Dean harshly. "You were trying to take his kids away."
"Dean!" rebuked Sam.
"No," responded Sara. "It's okay Sam." She looked at Dean thoughtfully as if there were something about him that seemed familiar. She took a step closer to Dean and then suddenly smiled.
"Just then, you reminded me of John." said a grinning Sara. "He was always pretty blunt in that way; I guess that was from his Marine training."
"Dean, I can assure you," continued Sara, "That I would have never taken away my brother's children away from him." She walked over to Sam and took the picture from his hands and placed it on the mantle. "My brother was a wonderful father; I just wanted to help him."
"After that, John vanished with the boys." Said Sara. "I spent years looking for him, but he made sure that I never found him." Sara stared at the window. "I would given anything to see them again.
Dean seemed to soften at that response. "I'm sure that he did it for your own good."
Sara smiled at Dean with some amusement. "Now, you really sound like John." "Are you guys hungry?"
Sam smiled at her. "We're starving." "Do you have a bathroom where we could wash up?"
"Of course," replied Sara. "It's just down the hallway, two doors down on the left."
In the safety of the bathroom, Sam and Dean tried to figure out what to do next.
"Dude," said Dean. "She has no idea who we are!"
"Why should she?" answered Sam. "She hasn't seen us in almost 25 years."
"What do we do?" asked Dean.
"I don't know." said Sam. Dean glared at his brother.
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" whispered Dean savagely. "You're the one who dragged us here to find her."
"Well," whispered Sam back. "I had no idea she was our aunt!"
Dean realized that he was unfairly blaming his brother. In one day, their world had changed completely. Sam and Dean continued the demon hunt, hoping to ultimately killed the demon that took their mother and destroyed their family. The brothers were convinced that they had no family left. Their father had isolated them from any family member who might try to take his sons. Today, they not only find out that they have an aunt, but that she was being hunted by a demon as well. Both brothers knew that they had to come up with a strategy that would allow them to tell their aunt who they were, so they could get on with the business of killing the demon who was haunting her.
"Okay, dude" said Dean. "I'll tell her during dinner."
"How?" said Sam looking amused. "Hey, the steaks are great, and oh btw, we're your long-lost nephews?"
Dean frowned at Sam. "Okay hotshot, what do you have?"
Sam looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he realized Dean was right. There was no easy way to confess who they were. He shrugged helplessly at Dean. His brother smirked in response.
"That's what I thought." said Dean determinedly. "So I am going to tell her during dinner."
Sam sighed as Dean opened the door. They were in for one wild night.