The Night the Lights Went Out in Kansas
Chapter 7
Dean sat in the back seat, watching the world pass him through the glass of the window. The trees seemed to rush by, much like the thoughts in his mind. His dad said it would be a long drive, he was right about that. Dean wondered if this is what his life had come down to, sitting and waiting, riding in the car and living in a small room with his family.
Sammy slept most of the ride, the times that he woke Dean would play with him or feed him. The only stops they made were to get fuel or food. If they needed to use the bathroom at other times, John would pull to the side of the road, have himself or Dean do their business, then continue down the road.
The moon started to take the place of the sun. What was once warm and sunny, was now cool and dark. The scenery that was once filled with trees that had lost their leaves for the winter, and grass that was withering and changed between brown and green, was now filled with dark shadows and glimpses of shapes. Dean had fallen asleep a couple times, but was too anxious about the next chapter in his life to be able to sleep very well.
He started getting squirmy, he was tired of sitting in the car, tired of waiting for life to happen. He was still young, still needed to release pinned up energy, but John seemed to have forgotten that. It had been several days since his mom had died, and he had done nothing but sit in the car or at the funeral home, and live in the small room they stayed at, mostly taking care of his brother or sleeping. There were no activities for him to do. He was expected to behave, to be on his best behavior while around all the people who came to the funeral home. He was scared, and unsure about things. But, he still had the energy of a 4-year-old. He hadn't been able to be a kid since the night of the fire.
"Stop that!" John had repeated, for what seemed like the 50th time.
Dean stopped, sitting still for the moment. He had been up and down, sitting on his feet, pulling them back to the floor, bouncing his knees, kicking his feet, periodically he would kick the back of his dad's seat. His hands would run across the roof or trace all the lines of the door and seats. The constant movement was starting to wear thin on John. He was getting tired, that's for sure, which accounted for the short temper. But, he wanted to get to his location, so stopping for the night wasn't an option.
Finally, after what seemed like a life time, they pulled onto a dirt road. The sun had started lighting up the sky again, pushing the moon away. The road led them down a small path between trees. It looked like, in the full bloom of summer, the path would have been hidden by the growth of the trees. John had almost missed it even without the leaves hiding it. It was bumpy, with ruts and holes, but they continued down it, stopping once they finally reached their location.
Dean looked out the windshield, wide eyed. In front of them was an old looking house. It was 2 stories high. The paint on the outside had almost completely chipped away, leaving raw, gray looking, wood as the exterior. The windows were old, with shutters that were hanging loose, some of them missing. There were a couple windows that were missing too, they had wood boards in them to keep out the critters and outside temperature.
"Come on, Champ." John said as he got out and made his way around the car to retrieve Sammy. He was still asleep, so John decided it best to carry him in his car seat, he wasn't sure if there was anywhere to safely sit him inside, anyhow. Dean grabbed the back of his dad's shirt. He felt scared. This was one of those places that looked like it belonged in a scary movie that he was never allowed to watch.
They walked down a broken concrete walkway that led to the house. The old wooden porch, didn't look all that safe, the steps leading to it, looked like they could collapse anytime.
"Be careful, and don't get yourself in any trouble!" John warned before walking up the steps. Dean was still holding onto the back of his shirt, almost walking on his dad's heals.
John knocked on the door and even though the man who answered it was a stranger to Dean, his dad seemed to know who he was. He looked to be around his dad's age. He had dark brown, curly hair. A beard and mustache that completely covered his face. It was scruffy looking. His clothes looked like old farmer's clothes, like something they would wear while working in the fields. He was wearing an old flannel shirt and blue jean overalls. His boots were worn, with a small hole on the top of the toe on his right one. His curly hair was untamed, the same as his beard.
He handed John a beer, that he gladly accepted. Another man walked into the room.
"John! You're finally here, good to see you again!"
John shook his hand, then took a drink of his beer.
"Hey there." The stranger directed his comment to Dean, who just stepped closer to his dad, tightening his grip on his shirt.
"This here is Dean." John introduced. "He hasn't talked since the fire, so you won't get much conversation out of him. And, this little guy…" He said as he half raised the car seat with the sleeping baby in it. "Is Sam".
The man nodded. "He's the one who's nursery burned?"
John just nodded. After another drink and a quick pause. "Is there somewhere the boys could sit, that won't be in ear's shot of us?"
John knew what they would be talking about, and even though he had already told Dean what was going on, he didn't want them to be in the middle of the conversation.
"Of course!" The first man chimed in. "Come on, I'll take you into the other room, there's a tv and you can watch cartoons." He said as he placed his hand around Dean's shoulder, and taking the car seat out of John's hand. Dean didn't want to go with him, but he had his baby brother, so he let go of his dad and followed the stranger.
He seemed nice enough. He handed Dean the remote after putting it on cartoons for him, making sure he didn't want anything else. Of course, Dean just shook his head no, he would wait for his dad to offer him something to eat or drink before he would accept anything.
He dozed off during the cartoon, until Sammy woke up. He instantly went into big brother/mother mode. He took him out of his car seat, found a decently clean place to lay him down, and changed his diaper. He fed him some baby food that was in the diaper bag for breakfast, and gave him a bottle. He wondered if there was a place he would be able to give him a bath later.
He was tired of sitting, tired of being bored. He picked up his brother and decided he would look to see if he could find a bathroom, and maybe even a place that had a bed for them tonight. He wasn't sure if they were staying there or not, but his dad had made the comment that he would get their bags later, so he figured this was going to be their home, at least for the rest of the day and tonight.
He walked around the house, it was pretty much empty, except the necessities. It looked like it had been abandoned and these men took it over. There was still some old furniture and a bed room that even had some old woman's clothes hanging in the closet. The bed didn't look like anyone slept in it. It didn't look like the most comfortable, and it was covered in dust, but he figured it would do if that's where they needed to sleep for the night. He found a bathroom. It wasn't very big, and didn't have a tub, it only had a shower, but Dean figured, if he plugged up the hole in the bottom then he could get enough water in it for Sammy's bath.
"Dean! Where the hell did you go?" Dad shouted out, his voice full of anger.
Dean quickly made his way out of the room he had wondered into, his brother still in his arms.
"Dean Winchester! Didn't I tell you not to get into any trouble?"
Dean nodded.
"Get your ass over here right now!"
Dean did as he was told, without hesitation. He wanted to tell his dad he was making sure he had what he needed for Sammy, that he was checking to see if the house was safe enough for him, but he was already mad, so Dean decided it wasn't worth the effort to even try explaining his actions.
"Sit your ass on the couch and don't you get up! You hear me?"
Dean's eyes were starting to sparkle with unshed tears and he nodded his head and sat on the couch, in front of the tv. He wasn't used to his dad showing so much anger towards him. But, he had that same funny smell to him, the one he had the night he came back stumbling and unable to walk.
"On second thought, why don't you make yourself useful and go get your brother's bed, let him sit in it for awhile so he can play or something. He don't need to be held all the time."
Dean was confused, he didn't think he was big enough to carry the pack-n-play, but didn't want to make his dad any madder, so he did as he was told. He sat Sammy in his car seat, making sure he was buckled so he couldn't go anywhere, giving him a toy to play with out of his diaper bag.
He rushed out to the car, it wasn't easy. He had never gotten anything out of the trunk before. So, he struggled, trying to get it out from under the bag that was thrown on top of it, but he somehow managed. It was cold outside, he didn't even think to put a coat on. He wasn't thinking at all when he had headed outside to do as his dad said. He struggled with carrying the bed, but somehow managed.
Once he was back inside the warmth of the house, he felt pride in himself. He had managed to get his brother's bed out of the trunk and carry it inside, all by himself. He made his way to the room his brother was in. He was still playing in his car seat. Dean was relieved, even though he had only been gone for a few minutes, and their dad was there too, he still worried about him.
He tried to set the bed up by himself, but failed miserably. John, not seeming very happy, huffed when he came in to help his oldest son. He didn't say anything to him, it was just his body language and unspoken words that Dean heard so clearly. Once the bed was opened, John placed Sammy inside it, with his toys and bottle. Dean was on guard. His dad was starting to sway a little when he walked, and even though Dean didn't understand that it was from the stuff he was drinking, something tugged at him, telling him it wasn't safe for Dad to be holding his brother. But, Dean was in no position to protest.
"Now, sit your ass back down, and don't you move! Got it?"
Dean nodded, sitting back on the couch.
He was so tired of sitting, why couldn't his dad see that? The least he could do was let him walk around the house. He hadn't even been able to do that, the motel they were staying at was so small there really wasn't anywhere to even walk in it, and everywhere else they went he was only allowed to sit. Just like here, just like right now. He found himself sitting again.
The time ticked by. He had taken care of Sam, changed his diaper, fed him some more food and gave him a bottle, laying him down for his nap. Once he was asleep, Dean couldn't ignore the grumbling of his tummy any longer. He carefully made his way into the room where his dad and the other men were sitting.
All three men were drinking the same thing. They were sitting at an old kitchen table, with papers spread everywhere in front of them. Dean over heard them talking about some towns, or maybe states, and about house fires and babies and demons. He put the bits and pieces together and realized they were talking about other places where a baby's mom was burned in their house, the same way his mom was killed. There were others out there like him and Sammy. They weren't the only ones. They weren't alone in this.
He stood in the doorway, quietly, listening, afraid to interrupt. One of the men looked up and saw the wide eyed kid standing there, hesitant to walk completely in the room.
"Hey there, little guy, you need something?"
John jerked his head around and saw his oldest son nod his head.
"What'cha need?" John asked, his tone a little less angry than before.
Dean cautiously made his way to his dad, and rubbed his tummy as it made a loud rumbling sound.
John looked at his watch and realized it was nearing 2:00 and he hadn't fed his son, or himself, since their last stop at a gas station the night before. It wasn't really a supper, it was a bag of chips and some snack food off the shelf, so the kid had to be starving.
"Have you fed Sammy?" John asked, and of course, Dean nodded his head. John had no denial that his baby was taken care of. "He taking a nap?" Again, Dean nodded.
"Okay, well let's see what we have." One of the men said as he stood from his chair and made his way to the cabinet. "Got a can of raviolis, you want some?"
Dean nodded his head as the man turned to look at him.
"Okay, gimme a minute to heat it up."
Dean stood by his dad, eying the papers in front of them.
"This is the stuff I was telling you about. It's things about the demon that killed your mom."
Dean nodded his head at his dad, his way of saying he already knew, that he had already figured it out.
"Yeah, you're so smart, sometimes I forget how smart you are." John said with a smile as he ruffled up his son's hair.
"Don't really have much to drink, not for kids." The man said as he opened the fridge. "Got a can of Pepsi, will that do?"
Dean nodded his head, again, and was followed by an approval from John. The man handed Dean the bowl of raviolis and can of Pepsi. Dean sat on the floor near the doorway. He didn't want to be too far from his brother, but had been taught not to eat anywhere but the kitchen. He sat and ate his food while the men went back to discussing their findings. Once Dean was done, he took his bowl and fork to the sink and went back to sit where he was instructed to stay.
He decided, since there was nothing else he was allowed to do, and he had a full tummy and his brother was still sleeping, he would sleep himself. He didn't sleep much on the way there, and he was feeling the effects from it. He really wanted to run and jump off all the walls that felt like they were enclosing around him, but instead he laid on the couch and let sleep take the place of the restlessness he was feeling.
