Happy Thursday! Here's the next chapter.
Dean looked like shit.
And that was the nice way of saying it. Sam dropped his duffle on the ground as he made his way to where his brother sat, nose still buried in research, as if he hadn't moved in the days Sam had been gone. Maybe he hadn't. Sam almost commented on that, probably should've, but he was distracted, still reeling from his discovery in Illinois.
"Still pluggin' away?" he asked instead, already grabbing for a nearby file to get started on his own research.
"Dog with a bone," Dean replied, not looking up. "You?"
Sam sighed and slammed the papers he had grabbed down on a separate table, probably a little harder than necessary. "You were right," he admitted.
"About what?"
"Finding Abaddon asap. She's mining souls."
Dean froze for a second, regarding his little brother. "Why?"
"To create an army."
Dean huffed out a breath and shook his head, gaze falling back to the papers in front of him a few seconds later with renewed fervor.
"Dean. There's one more thing," Sam said. "These souls? I'm pretty sure that's what we saw in Abaddon's head. Those bright, white orbs, remember? I found a room full of them."
"I remember," Dean nodded, eyes still on his research, though his hand tightened around the edge of the table.
The two sat in silence for hours, getting up to grab another stack of papers every once in a while, scanning file after file until Sam's vision blurred and his head began to ache. Sam looked up for the first time in a long time to see that Dean seemed to be in even worse shape than him. His brother held his head in his hands, furiously rubbing at his temples, and if Sam wasn't mistaken, Dean's hands were shaking slightly, his body hunched almost completely in half as he leaned over the table.
"Dean?"
No response.
"Dean?"
Dean seemed to jerk back to himself, as if his mind had been far away, no longer focused on the words in front of him.
"We should take a break, man. Grab some food. Do we have anything in the kitchen or should I make a run?" Sam asked.
"Uh, no I can...I can make a run," Dean said, rubbing a hand across his forehead. Sam nodded. It was probably a good idea for Dean to get out of the bunker for a little while. Sam hoped a short ride in the Impala might make him look a little less like death warmed over. Doubted it though.
"You sure you can drive?" Sam regretted the question the second it left his mouth. It was meant to be said lightly, but Sam could tell by the way Dean's shoulders tensed that it hadn't come across that way. And why would it, with the way things were between them lately? Dean paused for an extra second, hand frozen halfway to reaching for his jacket. Sam could see the Mark of Cain imprinted on that arm, could see the way it made the surrounding veins stand out against Dean's skin.
The elder hunter seemed to decide that his little brother's remark didn't warrant a response. He grabbed his jacket and was out the door before Sam could even tell him what he wanted to eat.
The first rays of sunlight crept their way across the dashboard of the Impala, enveloping its driver in a soft yellow glow as it zoomed down the road. Dean's hands gripped the steering wheel a little harder than usual, an irrational fury singing through his bones. He bit his lip in frustration, trying to get some control back. With the help of a few long, deep breaths and a couple smacks against the steering wheel with his open palm, he seemed to somewhat find his balance again. It scared him, the way he had been losing his cool so easily lately. He knew Sam hadn't meant anything by the comment, knew Sam had said so much worse to him in the past few months. God, so much worse.
Usually driving his baby had a way of calming Dean, but today, he couldn't seem to lose the edge that tensed his muscles and had him casting wary glances behind him every few seconds, as if searching for a tail. This wasn't like him. Sure, maybe the paranoia was nothing new (and let's be honest, it had probably saved their lives on multiple occasions), but this violent pressure behind his eyes, the insuppressible feelings of anger? That was something he'd always had a handle on. It was as if the walls he had spent his life building up had suddenly decided to crumble, their structures collapsing with the added weight that burned a constant reminder into his forearm.
"You have to know, with the Mark comes a great burden..."
Dean shook his head, trying not to dwell on Cain's words, though they seemed to be echoing against the confines of his skull more often than not these days. Dean wondered, not for the first time, exactly what it was he had signed up for, before remembering that it didn't matter. As long as he could kill Abaddon, it was worth it. He'd deal with the consequences later. After.
The Impala rolled to a gradual stop beneath the neon sign that claimed that Melvin's had the "best burgers in the county" and was "open at all hours." Dean only really cared about the second part, and even though a burger didn't sound like a fantastic option this early in the morning, food was food at this point. He climbed from the car and made his way inside, trying to remember the last time he'd had more than alcohol sitting in his stomach.
Melvin's was small but loudly decorated and had one of those annoying bells going off every time someone entered. The walls were covered in a generic red and white checkerboard pattern with cheap table cloths to match. There were posters and old advertisements littering the walls, and several sparkling red barstools sitting along the length of the front counter in a sad attempt at a 50's theme. Dean strode to the front counter towards a portly-looking woman with short brown hair pulled into a ridiculously tiny excuse for a ponytail. She smiled wide when she saw Dean.
"Hello and welcome to Melvin's, what can I get for you today, sir?"
Dean placed his order somewhat gruffly, not really in the mood for smalltalk, eyes quickly scanning over the only other patrons in the restaurant at this hour. The first two were a young couple sitting at one of the corner booths, legs wrapped around each other as they dug into their food, wrappers scattered around them like confetti. Dean could see the red veins bulging from their eyes all the way from where he was standing, and he shook his head in amusement.
The third customer was a man of considerable size digging into a particularly giant cheeseburger as though he had just found his soulmate, mustard already smeared across his face and dripping its way down his short, pudgy fingers. As Dean watched, a ketchup-covered pickle slid its way out from the bun and landed on the man's shirt, staining it in the thick red paste. Dean sucked in a breath, his world tilting suddenly, and he latched onto the counter, fingers curled forcibly around the wood.
Thick red paste, sliding down his chin, tongue flicking out to catch the droplets that fell, tasting metal. Hands gripped around a limp form, long jet-black hair splayed out across his shoulders as he holds her, her eyes still open in shock, her body a mess of blood that has flowed from the thick red gash at her throat all the way down to her bare feet, a puddle already forming...
"Sir? Sir? Your order is ready, sir."
Dean snapped roughly back to the present to find the smiling woman from before standing in front of him, holding out an already greasy paper bag with the Melvin's logo scrawled in obnoxious font across the front. He snatched it from her with a short nod, his head still halfway caught up in what he'd just...seen? Imagined? Remembered? He wasn't even sure anymore. He released his death grip from the counter and turned to leave, only to come face to face with the newest customer, a young man with a baseball cap covering a mess of brown hair.
"Whoa man, watch where you're going," the man smirked, hands thrown back in a kind of mock surrender.
"Sorry I...sorry," Dean mumbled distractedly, brushing past. It wasn't until he was standing outside the door of Melvin's that his sleep-deprived brain caught up to what he had just seen.
The young man's eyes had been completely black.
Tune in on Monday for the next update!
