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PAWNS

Chapter 7

Sam sat on a stool at the diner, a cup of coffee clutched in his hands. He was still trying to figure out what was going on-- Ash's information having turned everything upside down. Not even twenty four hours before, Sam thought this was just an attack, someone taking advantage of a young woman living on her own. But now, everything had changed. Their lives were more confusing now, if that was even possible, and Sam didn't know where to turn. Kerri and her family had been a constant for him as a child, something sane and normal in a world that was anything but. Valley was a place to go home to, a place to feel safe, but ever since their long absence, everything he had remembered about the fading city was gone.

He stared into the dark liquid in the cup, his tired mind racing. This was turning out to be something huge, he could feel it. Kerri's house had more protection around it than any other place he knew, and still, something had gotten in. This was different than the watcher, different than the Korrigan. Those beings had projected images inside the house, while whatever had attacked Kerri this time had made it inside-- physically. But what made the entire thing worse, was that fact that Ash's computer had picked up on it. The rig was supposed to pick up the Yellow Eyed Demon, supposed to make heads or tails of his father's work-- but instead, it was picking up on something that was hunting Kerri.

Until that point Sam had made himself oblivious to the danger his long time friend was in. He'd always let himself believe she was on the outskirts of the hunting community, spending her life safely under the radar. But now he realized that she was in the middle of it all, and she'd be there even if she didn't know himself or Dean. Sam sighed, letting his mind wander as he waited for the food. He couldn't believe how much life had changed in those twelve years, how different everything was. When he was a child, Valley had been like a beacon to him, a place to run to when the world around him became too hard. Now, though, Valley was a place he feared, a place that weighted heavily on his heart; because he never knew what he would find when he walked up those back basement stairs.

When Sam walked into Kerri's house to find it in shambles, he felt as though his entire world had stopped. It was like a memory being physically destroyed. In Sam's mind, Kerri's house was sacred, a place time and terror wasn't supposed to touch. But the world around him didn't seem to care what he believed, what he loved-- it just took and took, and Sam was sure that, one day, everything would be gone. He was only so strong, only so resilient. Sam didn't know how much longer he could fight, didn't know how much more he could take.

He was still reeling from the news that Evelyn had died. She had been so close to him, his partner in crime, his best friend, and she was gone in the blink of an eye. It was something he still couldn't wrap his mind around. She had been so full of life, so loud and energized-- the idea that she was gone just seemed completely impossible. And yet, here he was, sitting alone in a diner, his life now sadly absent of the girl he had once known. It was like looking through a window, watching a life from outside of its existence. Evelyn was beyond his reach now, and Sam was still struggling to come to terms with that.

"Sweetheart?"

Sam looked up quickly, the voice louder than he thought it needed to be. The waitress was standing before him, bags resting on the counter in front of her.

"I didn't mean to startle you," the woman continued, her face softening as she looked at Sam, "it's just, I called you a few times. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little lost in thought." Sam forced a smile, pulling out his wallet.

"Happens to the best of us." She smiled, thanking Sam as he left the diner.

Sam drove back to the motel in silence, the sound of the impala's engine the only thing breaking the heavy air around him. He could feel the tension in the air, the foreboding feeling weighing him down, pressing on him, smothering him. He couldn't lose the last member of the Harrison family, he refused. His mother, his father, Tom, Evelyn, Jessica-- too many had already been taken from him. Kerri was one of the last people he and his brother had, one of the last bits of family left to them, and now something was trying to take her away.

He pulled up at the motel a few minutes later, the smell of food making his stomach growl. He hadn't eaten anything in almost a day, Ash's phone call having taken up every bit of his focus. There was a link between Kerri and his father's research, Sam could feel it. He didn't know if it had something to do with one of the many artifacts she kept hidden around her house, or something she had learned through her research. Whatever it was, it was something huge.

"Speaking of geek-boy." Dean's voice greeted Sam as he pushed through the door.

"Huh?" Sam asked, handing the bags to his brother.

Dean had been sitting on the bed beside Kerri, the two having obviously been in deep conversation before he walked in. The young Winchester's mind immediately wandered back to what he'd seen after Ash's phone call. Sam knew his brother and Kerri were incredibly close, that the pair depended on each other for strength, but he'd never witnessed anything like he had earlier that day. Kerri and Dean were falling apart, Sam could see it as clear as day, and he was afraid this war they were now fighting was going to destroy them.

"Miss 'need to know' needs some help," Dean began curtly, spreading the food out across the table.

"Need to know?"

"You're brother's mad at me," Kerri spoke up, sliding back against the headboard.

"I'm not a waiter, you gotta get your own dinner," Dean chided, sitting at the small table.

"I'm not hungry." Kerri closed her eyes, sliding down into the pillows.

"Bull."

"Bull yourself, you don't know if I'm hungry or not."

"Alright, I'll rephrase it. Eat!"

"Lovely beside manner."

"Ker, starving yourself isn't really helpful."

"I'm not starving myself. Just cause you're the human garbage can doesn't mean I am, too."

"You haven't eaten since lunch yesterday."

"You're spying on me?"

"Someone has to."

"Enough, guys." Sam broke in, a headache growing. Those two could really go at it sometimes-- especially when neither was right about the situation. "What do you need, Kerri?"

"Nothing," Kerri mumbled.

"Kerri knows what the crazy thing that tried to kill her is looking for," Dean answered, earning a stern glare from his friend.

"What?" Sam rounded on Kerri, his heart beating faster with the information. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"My point exactly, Sammy."

"Shut up, Dean." Sam waved off his brother, turning all his attention to Kerri. He needed her to open up to him, and Dean the peanut gallery wasn't helping.

Sam thought he heard his brother mumbled something like 'last time I let you drive the impala' but he was too focused on the girl before him to give his brother much thought. "What do you think it wants?"

"A bracelet I have."

"A demon-spirit-other-bad-thing-killer bracelet she has." Dean chimed in around a mouthful of food.

"That old silver bracelet?" Sam asked, his mind wandering back to that ill-fated summer nearly a lifetime ago. "The one that killed the watcher?"

"Yup. And apparently, it also killed the earth demon that got you." Dean continued, Kerri's eyes boring into him as he spoke.

"Are you serious. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Cause not everything in my life concerns you guys, Sam." Kerri spoke quickly, her voice cutting through him.

Sam was taken aback by her tone. Yes, Dean could push her buttons like no one else, but she had never once held out on them, never hidden information from them. At least, not that Sam had known of. Now though, his beliefs were thrown into disarray. He'd never questioned Kerri's motives before, had never tried to pry information out of her. She'd always been so willing to help, so eager to jump in with whatever they needed, that the idea of her hiding things from him didn't seem possible. But suddenly, Sam realized that he didn't know nearly as much about his long time friend as he had previously believed.

"So," Sam began after a few minutes, Kerri's hard eyes softening a bit at his tone. "Why do you think this thing wants it?"

"Like I told Dean, another hunter was asking about it a few weeks ago."

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I've never been able to figure it out."

"So, you have a silver bracelet that can destroy demons and spirits and there's no lore on it?"

"Pretty much."

"Let me look it over, I'll see if there's anything I can find. What?" Sam asked when he saw Kerri shift.

"She won't tell." Dean broke in, impatience clearly evident in his voice.

And then it dawned on Sam-- Dean thought Kerri would give his little brother the bracelet. Sam had no idea why Dean would think that, Kerri was definitely closer to him, but that didn't seem to change anything.

"Is it safe at least?" Sam asked, understanding Kerri's need for secrecy. She'd had the artifact a long time, and Sam had no doubt in his mind that it was powerful. At that moment in time, the bracelet's safety was more important than whether Kerri trusted them or not.

"So you're ok with the fact that she's lying to us." Dean stated, his dinner forgotten on the table.

"I'm not lying to you."

"Dean, we can worry about where it is later. As long as Steven or whatever can't get it, it's fine. Can he get it?" Sam asked, turning stern eyes to Kerri. He may understand her desire for secrecy, but he needed her to understand the magnitude of what she was doing.

"No, nothing can get it."

"Good."

"So, I'm being stonewalled by the geek brigade."

Sam could hear the hurt in his brother's voice, the jibe covering up whatever was really running through the older man's mind. Sam wanted his brother to understand that this was bigger than the three of them, that Kerri's secrets were being kept for a reason-- but he could barely make himself believe that. Ever since their encounter with the Yellow Eyed Demon, Sam's views of Kerri had changed. She was more involved in the world of hunters than he'd ever imagined, and that involvement seemed to be centered on the thing that had taken their mothers.

And suddenly, Sam needed answers, needed the truth. He was like a drowning man, Kerri a life ring in the storm. She knew more about what was going on than she was letting on, and he wanted to understand, wanted to see reality for what it truly was. But, above all else, he wanted to keep his friend safe, to keep someone else he loved with him, and that was enough to make him hide his curiosity. There would be time for questions later.

"Look," Sam began, rubbing his face. He was suddenly very tired. "Let's just eat and get some rest, we'll figure this out when we get to the roadhouse."

"You're the boss, apparently," Dean grumbled, turning back to his dinner.

Sam handed one of the take away boxes to Kerri before joining his brother at the table. The three ate in silence, all too lost in their own thoughts to speak. This was all spiraling out of control, the distant battlefront coming closer with each passing second. What had once seemed an eternity away was now beating at their front door, and Sam knew they weren't yet prepared for the fight.