From the corner of his eyes he saw a movement outside in the backyard. Dean and Lauren were coming back, chasing each other across the open area and through the trees. The garden opened directly to the lake and Lauren always stopped when they came too close and Dean always had a watchful eye on her and the lake. But nothing supernatural happened.
Sam heard them come in through the back door a few moments later, still laughing and panting, and Lucy stepped away from him. She smiled at him and for the first time since he had known her, her eyes weren't sad.
"Lucy!" It was Dean calling. "Sam? Where are you?"
"Here…in the living room!" Sam shouted back, his voice suddenly too loud in the quiet room.
"Oh hey, we had such a great time! Lauren's a cheater!" Dean joked and Lauren elbowed him in the stomach. She had put on a frown but couldn't hide the big grin on her face.
"So…" Dean began. "You two done here? Then we can come to the important part of the day…" He ignored Sam's worried look. "I bet Sam's got a lot to tell you…"
"Ok, we found out something…" Sam said, then cleared his throat. It felt kind of tied, so the coughs sounded like a strangled try to breathe. How he sometimes hated the cheerful way of his brother. "Well, I found out something."
Dean gave him an odd look which Sam ignored. Lucy and Lauren sat down on the couch, holding hands.
"And we're running out of time here. We only have a few days left, I'd say. Those are the 10 plagues…like, in the bible? You've already witnessed the fourth plague but now, the remaining 6 will happen quickly. First it's Dam, red rivers and the stench of dead fish, then it's Tsfardeia, the reptiles or frogs. The third plague is Kinim, lice, followed by bugs and flies, also called Arov. During the fourth plague, Dever, the livestock dies, mostly cattle and goats. You said that there were only these four?" Sam stepped over to them and sat down opposite of them.
Lucy looked at him and nodded. "Only these four…" she whispered, her voice thin but her eyes showing that she believed his words.
"The next things to come are the unhealable boils, the Shkhin, then storms with hail and fire or Barad. The Arbeh, the locusts and the long darkness, Choshech are number 8 and 9. The last one, the Makat Bechorot is death of the first borns."
Dean gave his brother a look. "You see me impressed, officially! Lots of strange words here…" he murmured.
Sam returned the glance. "Shut up, this is important. If we can't stop what's going on here, lots of people are going to die."
"What?" Dean and Lucy looked at Sam like he was a madman.
"The death of the first born? Don't you get it? It's not only the children, everybody who has a younger sister or brother will die, if these really are the 10 plagues. And right now, we have to assume it's right what it seems to be." In that moment, Sam realized that this also included Lucy. An icy shudder ran down his spine and his breathing quickened when he now looked at her and saw that she had understood, as well.
"But what makes this even worse is that this has absolutely nothing to do with the deaths. So…we've not gotten any further here…I'm sorry."
"Not further? Dude, I think we've learned a great deal here. Lauren's not responsible for the plagues…" Dean said with a grin but Sam's look made him regret it immediately. "Sorry...Listen, I guess we all know that Lauren didn't do anything…right? So…"
"So what?" Sam snapped.
"So we need to do more research…" Dean frowned at his little brother. "Didn't you want to see that librarian again? What was her name again? Lindsay?"
Sam coughed and glanced at Lucy but she didn't show any reaction. "Yeah…"
"Then we better get to it?" Dean asked but it didn't really sound like a question. He stood up and motioned for Sam to follow him. "We'll be back, Lucy. Just stay put. And you know, lock…"
"Lock the doors and let nobody in…I know…" Lucy whispered.
"Good girl." Then Dean turned to Lauren. "And you watch over your big sister, alright?"
Lauren nodded with a smile on her face. Dean was amazed at how strong she was, how brave and how mature despite her age. He remembered their childhood, Sam's and his own, and how he had always tried hard to give Sam a childhood he himself never had. But it was nearly impossible with the circumstances they had to grow up with.
When he walked past Lucy, he softly put one hand onto her shoulder and nodded. Lucy nodded back, thanking him for the kind gesture. Sam followed his brother and stopped in front of Lucy when she suddenly took his hand. For a moment which felt like an eternity, she held his hand and looked into his eyes. Sam smiled at her and squeezed her hand a little, then he moved on towards his brother who was already at the door. He looked back once more but Lucy just sat there, hands covering her face.
The fresh air felt good, Sam thought. He breathed in and out and in and out until the cool afternoon chill cleared his head. Dean pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Dude, what was this all about? All the old-school talking?"
"Well, I once read about the plagues…back in school."
"Yeah right…you tried to impress her!" Dean said smiling.
"What?" Sam snapped at him. "Cut it out, will you? I'm trying to help. And I read something about that in the library."
"That's why it took you so long…"
"What? It was you who didn't show up! I had to wait for you!"
"Calm down, dude!" Dean said with both hands held in front of his chest in a defensive gesture.
"What's it to you anyway?" Sam snapped.
"Just try to relax…"
"Just try to shut up, ok?"
"What's wrong with you, Sammy?"
"Nothing's wrong with me. I just want to help…our own family's so screwed, so why not help some others? Makes things a little more bearable. Dad raised us to be soldiers. He taught us about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and the back roads of that country and he taught us how to kill it. This is a job, Dean, and I want to get this over with…" Bloody lakes, dead animals, was this really the curse of God? He didn't believe in God because God would never let anything like what he fought every day happen to his people. And if it really came down to the worst, the death of the first-borns, would they even be able to stop that? He looked at Dean. "You better stay here, just in case. I'll go and visit Lindsay again, maybe she's home and may I'll find out something that is of actual help here. Right now, it feels as if we haven't even scratched the surface of what's going on here yet…"
"Then we need to find out more. Come on, Sammy! We've only been here for one day. You'll go to that library chick and I'll find us a nice and cosy motel."
"Dean, I think you should stay here…"
"Yeah, sure. I'll come back as soon as I find us a room." Dean grinned but Sam couldn't even manage a smile. "Or maybe I can call a motel from Lucy's place, ok? Book a room…and then sit tight until you return?"
Sam nodded. "Good…I'll be back soon. Take care…" he fell quiet. He waited for Dean to go back to the house and knock the door. This time Lauren didn't open the door.
"Dude!" Sam shouted. "The keys!"
He almost heard Dean growl. Tentatively, Dean took his time to fumble the keys out of the pocket of his leather jacket.
It was Lucy now who let Dean in. When she closed the door, she waved one hand at Sam and he waved back.
