Bleg. Halloween's almost here. It's getting harder to find inspiration for this, though I have the ending perfectly planned out. It may not be finished by Halloween, I really hope it will be.
Dean and Henry were the only ones awake now. They couldn't fall asleep, for similar but very different reasons.
Though Dean didn't want to leave his post, Henry has been staring at him for (he checked his phone clock) seven minutes now. Without blinking.
"So . . ."
"Yes." He still had his arms crossed.
Dean groaned. "Will you stop staring at me?!"
"Why are you really here?" He still hadn't blinked.
It bothered Dean deeply. "Why aren't you blinking?"
"Touché." He blinked once. "Why are you really here?"
"I'm looking for the tooth fairy."
"Why are you really here?"
"I'm on this case too."
"Why are you really here?"
"I dunno. Maybe I wanted to have fun with guys instead of *Fantine's ghost." (*-Les Miserables)
"Why are you really here?"
"I'm hunting a witch."
"Why are you really here?"
"Why are you really here?"
Henry uncrossed his arms. "I'm here because of my son. Why are you here?"
"I'm here because of my brother and your son. They're on this case together, apparently. La-la-la, happy unicorns and rainbows. I'm in it too. So are you, and for the same reason. We're both protecting our sloppy idiots."
He finally smiled. "True. Very true. Except I have two idiots."
"True. And mine's not that sloppy, except when it comes to my car."
"Shawn won't even drive a car. He drives a stupid motorcycle. Almost broke his neck numerous times on cases, and-"
A twig snapped just outside of camp. They both stood up, holding their guns. Henry put his finger over his mouth, and pointed to Dean, then past him, and to himself, and behind him.
Dean had no idea what that meant, but turned around. Another snap. From the opposite direction. They went back-to-back, watching from both sides as something started snapping all around them.
Dean knew what was happening, he was sort of calm. Henry simply thought this was a stake-out, that there was more than one murderer. Both men unintentionally looked down at their unannounced loved ones; the sudden urge to protect overwhelmed both brother and father. Brother especially, knowing the truth.
However, Dean knew the circle should protect them.
Shouldn't it?
Shawn awoke with a yawn. He looked up at the grey sky, blinking and trying to remember if he was kidnapped, on a case, or had a few too many drinks last night. He saw Sam, still asleep, and remembered everything. "Aw, crap!"
"Bout' time," Henry was at the fire pit, poking the members with a stick.
"Uh, dad . . . what's with the guns?" He slowly got up. Gus and Sam were asleep, and Dean was nowhere to be seen. Henry had two guns on both sides of him.
He sighed. "Somebody decided to try to scare us off last night. Ambush."
"Ambush? What, did you people do the tango or something?"
"They surrounded us from all ends. Nobody made any serious moves though, they just toyed with us. Bastards," He jabbed at the embers.
"What-what exactly did they do in the way of toying?"
"Kept Dean and I awake the entire night. Around dawn it sounded like they finally left, but after thirty years on the force you take precautions. But otherwise, they were just getting us tired."
"Should we be worried?"
"Not right now. Dead trees don't make for great cover, we're safe until nightfall. But if we run into em' on the way to the mines," He shook his head and chuckled.
Shawn gave Henry a look. "Dad. Once again, you need to finish your sentences. Second, we should be worried, shouldn't we? Big time, right?"
"I dunno Shawn, depends on how brave they are."
You'd be surprised what non-humans can do.
"Great. Joy. At least we have guns and dead trees to protect us."
"Buzz kill. Change the subject if you're unhappy—isn't Juliet coming back tonight?"
"Yeah, she was. But the family business was finished up early, and she came back last night. Just got the text," He held up his phone, "and the urge to finish this thing early."
"It'll take at least another hour today to get to the mines, we find what we need, we go back tomorrow. Just like that."
"Just like that . . . yeah."
"Alright!" Shawn called out, "We split up from here! Yell if anything attacks or you find something!"
"What exactly are we looking for here, psycho-boy?" Dean crossed his arms.
"Psych-IC. Psychic, is what it's called. First off, we're looking for coal to bring back to Woodster. Secondly, anything else that may look suspicious in a coalmine. For example, if you ever see a tall woman with a beard, that's suspicious anywhere. So is a short, stout man that claims he's a teapot."
Gus and Henry rolled their eyes, Sam and Dean frowned. They all went off into separate directions.
"Hey!" Shawn went off into a different direction, "A 'good bye, good luck' would've been nice at least."
The coalmine was a vast area when it was still working, and controlled now by the vegetation. There was a trail leading underground, which the group took, and they were met with seven different tunnels. They had all went off into the different catacombs, Shawn going into the seventh.
He had only a shotgun, a flashlight, and the sight gift. Not the psychic gift, the sight gift.
The flashlight proved to be useless in the tunnel, the light showing only a few yards in front of him. Still better than nothing. A few rats scampered away as Shawn made his way, making him shudder.
*"I'm all alone . . . all by myself . . .except for you rats . . . so all alone . . ." He stopped singing when a fork in the way showed itself. "Aw, c'mon! How many tunnels are in a coal mine?" He sighed. "Hm. Eeny-meeny-miny-moe. Tracking a ghost by the wit, and hoping not to get hit. Which tunnel shall it be, this one is right for me!"
He chose the second tunnel, tearing off a piece of his shirt and tying it to the post. Something caught his eye on the ground:
Footprints. Two tracks, bout' two people. Second track is struggling to keep up. Or is unconscious and is being dragged.
There were two sets of footprints. One print was bare-foot, the other was being dragged along. Shawn rushed down that tunnel, tracing the prints with his flashlight. He started to run when the second track left blood.
Still fresh. Lost a shoe somewhere in—
His flashlight caught the shoe in its beam. It was bloody, on its side.
Shawn covered his mouth. It was one of Juliet's shoes, from her favorite pair. "No. No! Juliet!" He picked up the shoe, running with it.
"Juliet!" Echoed off the walls with each turn.
*- Spamalot - I'm All Alone.
