I apologize for delayed update-real life has been owning me all week, from all kinds of tests to final projects!
"It's..." Dean paused to think of the right word, "Homey."
Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms and looked at the place he would be calling 'home' until further notice.
From the outside, Sam could only tell it was a two story building. It was an old house in the Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee, set in some type of clearing surrounded by trees. Sam turned around to look at the path he, Dean, and John had come from. They'd spent twenty minutes walking away from a place where they had hidden their vehicles. Dean had complained about covering up the Impala with tree limbs and leaves and leaving his precious car where animals could easily scratch the paint, but had done it anyway.
While Sam was glad his family was finally settling down-though he knew it was just temporary but would be much better than staying in some motel room-he wasn't too excited about the isolation.
As they had been driving to the mountains, Sam had had more time to dwell on some information he had discovered. In some werewolf legends, their shifts were in tune with their emotions. If you experienced a high level of emotion, you would change-whether it be happy, sad, or angry. Sam and John had short fuses and knew it was going to be a whole lot worse over the next little while since they would be forced to stay in the same area together. This time, John had made a strict order that all three of the Winchesters would basically be under house arrest until they got everything sorted out. Sam prayed his dad would at least let him walk back to the vehicles every once in a while to clear his head.
You're not five, Winchester. Sam reminded himself crossly. He was a legal adult for crying out loud, if he wanted to walk to the cars and back he could. Oh, really? Then what's stopping you from going to college?
"I call first room choice!" Dean all but shouted, making a run for the house.
Sam smiled a genuine smile and shook his head in disbelief, re-adjusting his hold on his duffel. His brother was twenty-two years old and he could act all of ten sometimes. He glanced at John to see the older man was rolling his eyes and had a small grin on his face. The two made their way to the house.
The first thing Sam noticed when he stepped into the building was it was very filthy, not in a disgusting way but in an abandoned house way. Dust littered everything and Sam had a feeling they would be cleaning for a long time. The sunlight coming in from the doorway revealed a large sofa, a coffee table, and two end tables on either end of the couch. On every table a lantern sat. A fireplace was positioned in front of the table which was in front of the sofa. Plastic sheets covered all of the furniture.
John pulled something out of his back pocket and handed it to Sam. The youngest Winchester accepted the box of matches, tossed his duffel towards the bottom of the staircase, and set about lighting the lanterns in the room. He was going to light the fireplace but there was no wood.
"We'll have to get wood if we want this thing going, Dad." Sam said, watching as Dean came down the steps.
"My bag's in my room." Dean said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest in triumph.
John nodded, "Good. Go grab the sleeping bags then, until we get the rooms cleaned everyone sleeps in the living room."
"So why isn't this place, you know," Sam glanced at his father as Dean left the house, "Inhabited by animals or overrun with plants or something?"
The father took a quick look around, as if just now noticing his youngest was right. "Bobby said there were protections on it." He shrugged, "I'll give him a call about it if I can get reception up here." John paused, "Keep your guard up though, Sammy."
Sam thought about correcting his childhood nickname but instead gave a curt nod. He took a deep breathe and sat on the floor next to the fireplace. There was no way Sam was going to sit on a couch that may or may not be infested with living creatures. The teen pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his crossed arms on top of them while John left the room, probably to call Bobby.
It was amazing how one night could change his whole life. He had researched more and more on the internet every time they stopped to get food. When he wasn't eating or using a computer, he was pouring through books Sam had checked out from the many libraries they had passed. He felt a little bad about checking them out and knowing the poor librarians would never see them again but Sam felt he had good reason to do so.
There were so many myths and legends it made his head spin. Dean hadn't been up to talking about what had happened to him when he'd...changed. Yet another mind-blowing situation. Dean admitted he was some sort of werewolf but that he was a wolf, not a two legged creature. The Winchesters definitely weren't werewolves or shape-shifters, Sam was sure of that much. But there were so many various types of shape-shifters among things Sam might have never even heard of. This was the first time he'd ever heard of someone changining into a wolf and back, though.
He glanced up from the dusty floor as Dean returned and dumped the sleeping bags behind the couch. Sam stood up, wondering how he'd been able to drift off so easily. Then again, pondering what kind of supernatural creature you were tended to do that to people.
"Where's Dad?" Dean asked as he stretched his arms towards the ceiling. Sam heard a small pop that reminded him too much of his brother's cries of pain in the cave not so long ago.
"He went to call Bobby." Sam replied, flinching as Dean's back popped for a second time. Clearing his throat Sam said, "We think there may be protections on this place that repell the animals. The place isn't trashed or anything, nothing's even torn."
"Good to know we won't be seeing Bambi anytime soon."
Sam smiled a little before turning his attention to his duffel. He really needed to get back to researching. "I'm gonna go r-"
"I swear to God if you say what I think you're going to say I'll cut your hair." Dean cut him off with annoyance. "Sammy, you've been reading nonstop since...well, you've been reading a lot. Take a break, kid. Those books aren't going anywhere, I promise." The older brother grabbed one of the three sleeping bags and threw it at his younger brother. "Get some sleep, you've slept less than Dad has which I always thought was impossible."
Disbelief ran through him. Dean didn't want him to figure this out? This was what Sam did best, research. Research until he put all of the pieces together and discovered what they were dealing with-whether John believed it or not, Dean did nine times out of ten. "Dean I need to-"
"And how," Dean interrupted, adopting a tone that was beginning to become angry, "Do you plan on doing that when you can't keep your eyes open? Just take a nap-"
"I'm not some little kid that needs to 'take a nap'! How am I going to figure out what the hell is going on when I can't research-"
The middle Winchester crossed his arms and put on his best 'I'm your big brother, do as you're told' look. "You're tired. Go. To. Sleep, Sam. You'd be less bitchy-hopefully-if you caught some shut eye, too. God knows we don't need your female hormognes all over the place right now."
Sam threw the sleeping bag at his brother's face, though to his disappointment Dean's reflexes were fast enough to catch it, and made his way out the door, slamming it on his way out. He heard his name called a couple of times before he rolled his eyes and quickened his pace, heading for the Impala and John's truck.
On his way he saw his dad walking around the perimeter, cell phone held up to his ear. Sam snorted, it was amazing they even received signal up here. Making his way through the field full of weeds that came up to his knees, Sam eventually reached the forest edge. As he entered the woods he thought back to his argument with Dean.
The eighteen year old wasn't some kid Dean could just order around, he got enough of that from his father. A part of him knew Dean was worried about him, but the other part wanted to be independent and being independent did not mean having your older brother give you a nap time. Sam fumed angrily until he reached the hidden vehicles. He'd been gone about twenty-five minutes if his watch was right and he felt a little guilty and embarassed about his behavior. Dean was just watching out for him, not trying to be a jerk-it just came out that way to Sam.
Sitting on the hood of the Impala, Sam looked around at the surrounding scenery. In a way it was peaceful, the forest was quiet with only the wind making any noise. But in another way it was extremely creepy. No crickets or birds were chirping, now that he thought about it there were no animals in sight. It was almost like the wild life could sense his supernatural presence.
"Wow." he muttered to himself quietly. It was hard for Sam to think of himself as paranormal now, but that was exactly what he was. For now, anyway. He had to have faith that he and his family would figure everything out and would get everything back to normal. Sam had heard of cases where someone would experience a life changing event and fell into a depression, losing hope. If there was one thing Sam would not let himself, or his brother and father, do it was to lose hope. Which meant he needed to stop fighting with his father and his brother. They needed to keep their heads clear and not be constantly bickering angrily with one another. Sam had to admit, he was really tired.
With a small sigh, Sam leaned back against the Impala's windshield and shut his eyes. Just for a few minutes, he told himself hastily, I won't even fall asleep. Not long after he'd finished the thought, the eighteen year old drifted off to sleep.
*Supernatural*
Dean paced back and forth in front of the building, eyes constantly darting around for his baby brother. Sam had disappeared out the front door almost an hour previously. The older sibling was aware that the trip to the cars took about roughly twenty minutes, but that was if Sam even went to the vehicles. Despite the fact they were supposed to stick close to the house, Sam had a habit of not obeying his father's orders.
"Where's your brother?" John asked, coming outside and looking for any signs of his youngest son. "Dinner's ready." Dinner tonight for the Winchester family were a few sandwiches and chips John had picked up at the last gas station. He planned on going into town the next day for more supplies since he knew Sam would be dying to go to the library and Dean would probably appreciate some new reading material from a convenience store, too.
"I dunno." Dean admitted reluctantly as he quit his pacing to look at his father, "He left a while ago and he hasn't come back, if that bitch is sulking in a log somewhere I'm going to be pissed."
An uneasy feeling settled in John's stomach upon hearing the answer to his question. Now wasn't the time for his sons to wander off, especially in unknown territory. "I thought I said-"
"To not go off, yeah, I know. But you know Sammy. I'll go-"
John cut him off, "I'll go check the cars, you stay here in case he comes back." The father needed to have a few words with his youngest son anyway, John figured he'd knock out two birds with one stone. He began walking quickly towards the edge of the woods, focused on finding his son. John had high hopes of finding Sam at the vehicles, Sam was by no means stupid and knew not to go too far from his family or at least too far away from any weapons.
As Dean picked his pacing back up, he hoped his brother was okay and was going to kick his ass if he was.
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