Sam was reading his newspaper-more specifically the article about the first man killed by the bugs.
I was reading a book. It had been a boring week so I punished myself with an equally boring book. Since we left the college campus, not much had happened. I managed to save us two days. A great thing- except that meant two whole days of boredom while waiting for Bugs to start.
Ugh. Bugs.
After a quick talk I'd kept Dean close enough to the town so Sam would find the article. A lot of bars with college kids? Easy money for pool hustles. Plus, hot chicks. Dean was all for it. Sam was cursing his existence.
The book was boring. I tossed it away into my Bag. Instead I grabbed a notebook. The boring book had given me an idea before it went full boring. Finding a blank page I got to work on an upgrade for my Night Mistress rocket boots. They were great, but they could always be better.
Sam glanced up at me from the article. Swept up in the upgrade designs, I ignored him. "Hey I think I got-"
"Hush." I jotted down the formula, plus some math to back it up.
"What?"
"Said hush!" Finding a decent place to pause, I turned my head to him. "What?"
"I think I found a case." Sam moves the newspaper towards me.
Which I completely ignored, going back to the equations before I lost my train of thought. "Great. Tell Dean."
Sam scoffed, dry as the bitch face. "If he stopped hustling at pool long enough." He glared off in the direction of the bar.
"Hey would you rather he robbed a bank to get money?" I remarked.
"No. I'd like us to get honest jobs- real jobs."
I snorted. "Neither of you would last a day in a real job."
"I would." Sam argued. "I had to, when I left. Once I did it, I was proud."
"Yeah but I bet you were bored." I was swept up in calculations after that.
Before Sam could make an argument against it Dean walked out of the bar. He laughed with confidence as he came back to the Impala. He showed off the wad of cash he'd won.
"You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." Sam reminded him.
"Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap." Dean countered, counting his winnings..
"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams?" Sam listed. "It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean."
"Well, let's see honest. Fun and easy." Dean held up his two hands. The hand with the money dropped lower. He shrugged helplessly at Sam. "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."
"Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked." Sam snarked.
"Yeah, says you." Dean snarked back. "Hey Raven?"
I glanced up. "Huh?"
Dean was giving me a 'come on don't leave me alone with this'. "We got a new gig or what?"
"Ask your brother." I pointing my thumb at Sam.
"So do we?" Dean asked Sam.
"Maybe." Sam hopped off the car. "Oasis Plains, Oklahoma- not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."
"Huh?" Dean asked.
"Human mad-cow disease." I supplied. While I was writing the calculations I ended up tilting the notebook sideways.
"Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" Dean wondered.
That actually made me look up from the notebook. "You watch Oprah?" Sam asked, surprised.
"So this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?" 'Nice save, Dean.'
"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear." Sam explained. "But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."
"Okay, that's weird." Dean conceded.
"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease." Sam admitted before giving Dean a serious look. "Or it could be somethin' much nastier."
"All right. Oklahoma." Dean cheered. "Hey. Raven."
"Huh?" I replied without looking up.
"Mind getting off the hood?"
"No. I like it up here."
"Fine. Stay. I'll just start driving."
"Do it. I like the breeze."
Dean paused. He looked at me, then the car. He shrugged, walking to the driver's seat.
"Uh- Dean-" Sam began.
Before he could say anything, Dean reached in through the window and honked the horn.
"BLOODY SH-" I snarked, clutching my chest. Whirling around I glared at Dean.
He was grinning smugly. "Now get off my car."
Complaining under my breath all the while, I climbed off. Dean continued to grin. Sam joined us in the car.
"Man. Work, work, work." Dean cheered, climbing down into the seat. "No time to spend my money."
Settling in the backseat, I got back to work on the boots. If anything it was keeping me from choking Dean from behind.
Honk a mother fucking car horn at me. You're fucking dead, dickweed.
==DG==
The three of us made it to Oklahoma before long.
We arrived at the building the next day.
"Travis Weaver?" Sam asked, walking up to the man.
"Yeah, that's right." Travis replied.
"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked.
"Dustin never mentioned nephews." He glanced at me. "Mentioned a niece, though."
"He talked about me?" I stepped up beside Dean.
Travis hummed. "Sorta. Said you were blonde."
"Dyed it. College, you know how it is." I brushed off. "He told me all about how amazing and smart you are."
"He said you were the greatest." Dean threw in.
"Yeah." Sam agreed.
Travis beamed. "Oh, he did? Huh."
"Listen, we wanted to ask you... what exactly happened out there?" Dean asked him.
"I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back-" Travis trailed off.
"What'd you see?" I asked
"Nothin'. Just Dustin." Travis replied.
"No wounds or anything?" Sam joined in.
"Well, he was bleeding... from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it."
"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean asked.
"I don't know. That's what the doctors are sayin'." Travis replied.
"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control." Sam pointed out. "You ever notice anything like that?"
"No. No way." Travis answered. "But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"
"Good point. Uncle Dusty was right, you're a thinker." I praised him. Travis smiled again.
"You know, can you tell us where this happened?" Sam asked.
"Yeah." Travis nodded.
==DG==
Once at the scene of the sinkhole, I shuddered.
Bugs.
So many Chuck-damned bugs.
Why did it have to be bugs?!
The three of us walked to the sinkhole itself. I stayed on the other side of the police tape- unwilling to even get close to the damn thing for fear of the monsters.
"Huh. What do you think?" Dean asked, kneeling down by the sinkhole.
"I don't know. But if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast." Sam stated. He shined his flashlight down there- Dean too.
There was a pause.
Dean looked back to me. "Feel like helping anytime soon?"
"Nope." I answered.
"Scared of a little dirt?"
"Petrified."
"Come on, you've been dirtier." Dean reminded me.
"And traumatized by the encounters, so I will ignore it." I replied. "Alright. If it wasn't mad-cow disease, could it have been a creature of some sort? The kind that eat brains?"
"No, there'd be an entry wound." Sam countered. "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."
"Huh. Looks like there's only room for one." Dean glanced over his shoulder at me.
"You will have to throw me down." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. "If you do, just remember I will eventually climb out."
Dean acknowledged the threat on his life with the same nonchalance as always. "You wanna flip a coin?" He asked Sam, already going for the rope.
"Dean, we have no idea what's down there." Sam told him.
"All right, I'll go if you're scared. You scared?" Dean challenged.
"Flip the damn coin." Sam demanded.
Dean chuckled as he pulled out the coin. "All right, call it in the air... chicken." He flipped it.
Sam caught it. "I'm going."
"I said I'd go." Dean argued, not even trying to stop Sam from tying the rope around himself.
"I'm going." Sam insisted.
"All right." Dean conceded.
"See you on the other side, Sam." I saluted him.
"Don't drop me." Sam warned Dean, who had grown a too-brotherly grin on his face.
==DG==
In the car, I was sitting behind Dean. As from from the beetle in Sam's hand as possible. Plus the one in his hair he hadn't spotted yet.
"So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground." Dean remarked dryly. "That's shocking, Sam."
"There were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there." Sam reminded him. "You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but-"
"How many of them were down there?" I asked.
"Ten." Sam answered.
"It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain." Dean pointed out.
"Well, maybe there were more." Sam stated.
Just the mental image that produced...I shuddered. Man am I happy that I remembered a way to stop the dreams. If I had to watch all the bug related deaths I'd go insane.
"I don't know, it sounds like a stretch to me." Dean shrugged.
"Then we do a canvas for more information. Not a hard ask." I pointed out to him. "Check to see if anything else has happened that's similar."
Dean wasn't paying attention though. He was looking over Sam's shoulder.
"What?" Sam asked.
"I know a good place to start." Sam and I looked out at the sidewalk, seeing a sandwich board with red balloons. "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how 'bout you guys?" I grinned, trying to hide the growing fear inside of me. "What, we can't talk to the locals?" Dean asked the unfriendly looking Sam.
"And the free food's got nothin' to do with it?"
"Of course not. I'm a professional."
"Right."
After a few more minutes of driving, Dean pulled up to the house.
The three of us walked up towards the house.
"Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out." Dean shuddered.
"Yeah." 'Well I actually did grow up in a place like this...and I would've gone insane if I didn't have these powers.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Well, manicured lawns, 'How was your day, honey?' I'd blow my brains out." Dean pointed out.
"I couldn't take it. Stuck in one place? Forever? Ugh." I grimaced.
"There's nothing wrong with 'normal'." Sam told us both.
"I'd take our family over normal any day." Dean countered.
"Normal is too...abnormal for me." I stated. 'A normal life? In a normal house? Are you joking? My daughter grew up in a house where she had a mom and a wine aunt raising her, and her moms turned out to be humans who could travel realities and also my daughter was a dragon and we lived in a land of magical talking ponies. If we had done it normal...Author's Name I don't want to think of a world like that.'
'Also a big f-u to Chuck Shurley, wherever he is, for making me think about raising Lilac in a normal fashion. Fuck you, Chuck, damn you to the Cage.'
We'd reached the door by then. Dean knocked.
Larry Pike opened the door. "Welcome." He greeted.
"This the barbeque?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, not the best weather, but..." Larry glanced towards the gloomy sky. "I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are...?"
"Dean. This is Sam and that's Raven." Dean introduced. He and Larry shook hands.
"Sam, Raven, Dean, good to meet you. So, you three are interested in Oasis Plains?" Larry asked.
"Yes, sir." Dean answered.
"Let me just say-we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or...sexual orientations or life styles." Larry explained.
My eyes widened at his suggestion.
"We're brothers, and she's a friend." Dean corrected him, realizing fast what the developer was implying.
Larry made a face of embarrassed surprise.
Sam jumped in on the bandwagon- but I couldn't tell if he was fighting back a genuine smile or an awkward one. "Our father is getting on in years, and we're just lookin' for a place for him."
"They asked me in for moral support." I added.
"Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in." Larry opened the door wider for us. He guided us into the backyard, where the barbeque was going on strong.
"You said you were the developer?" Sam prompted.
"Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team." Larry explained. "There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains." Larry brought us over to his wife. "This is my wife, Joanie."
"Hi there." Joanie greeted.
"Hi." Dean shook her hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you."
"Sam, Raven, and Dean." Larry introduced.
Sam shook her hand. "Sam."
"Pleasure."
"Raven." I shook her hand too.
"Great." Joanie smiled so brightly it could've gone ding.
"Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." Larry pretended to whisper, probably thinking it was funny.
"Right." The couple laughed.
"Folks, will you excuse me?" Larry walked away.
"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live." Joanie assured us.
No.
Lynda popped up behind Joanie. "Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome, head of sales."
I hope you die like Heather Chandler.
"And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very noisy neighbor, though." Joanie cautioned with a teasing grin. She left all the same.
"She's kidding, of course." Lynda laughed, in a way that only made me want to leave now. She doesn't even really do anything overtly awful in this episode- and I still wanted her dead on principle alone. "I take it you three are interested in becoming homeowners."
"Well..."
"Uh..."
"Y-yeah, well..."
"Well, let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or...sexual orientations and lifestyle." Lynda smiled too forcefully.
This is worse.
This is literally worse than any of the millions of times Darcy tried to get me out on dates with girls.
This is worse than that.
Chuck I hope you can read my mind and know that I swear death upon you.
"Right. Um... I'm gonna go talk to Larry." Dean chuckled awkwardly. "Okay, honeys?" He asked Sam and me before walking away. He made sure to smack Sam's ass before going too far. Which was great, cause for a second I thought-
Nope.
Nope he just smacked my ass too.
I was wrong.
This was worse.
"I'm going to eat." I walked away from Sam and Lynda, because fuck this episode and everyone in it and everyone writing it.
Looking at you, Chuck.
==DG==
"Who can say 'no' to a steam shower? I use mine everyday."
'Instead of, what, not showering?' I thought dryly, having another bite of the chips.
"Sounds great." Sam replied to Lynda, sounding like he'd rather, well watch Bugs than live Bugs.
I honestly can't decide which is worse.
Then something on my hand moved.
I froze.
Glancing from the corner of my eye, I saw the thing sitting on my hand.
The bastard had moved it to the snacks? Bastard.
A scream of fright was trapped in my throat. Those things had always been an issue with me.
I whacked Sam on the arm. He turned to me in surprise. I motioned with my eyes, too freaked out to move in case it jumped on me.
Fuck you Chuck.
Fuck you.
I hope you die in a house fire.
Burn in hell you monster.
"Excuse me." Sam asked Lynda. "Could we have a moment alone?"
"Oh, okay." Lynda walked away from us, looking surprised at the interruption.
"It's not gonna hurt you, Raven." Sam informed me. He lifted the thing off my hand.
"It's hurting my heart." I excused through clenched teeth. "Make it go away."
The abomination was lifted off my hand. I did a full body shudder, clutching my hand to my chest. "Oh that was the worst thing to ever happen to me. I'm killing him."
"Killing who?" Sam asked.
"The guy who did it!" I answered.
Sam grinned. "You're scared of spiders?"
"Clowns." I challenged. Sam-wisely- shut up. "Breathe a word to Dean and you will regret it."
Sam nodded, trying to hide a smile. He took the thing back to it's owner. "Is this yours?" He asked Matt.
The thing crawled onto Matt's hand. I started to breathe easier. "You gonna tell my dad?"
"No, if you swear to keep that thing as far from me as you can." I warned him, still clutching my hand to my chest. "Also which one is your dad?"
Matt scoffed. "Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions."
"Ouch. First name basis with the old man-sounds pretty grim." Sam remarked.
"Well, I'm not exactly brochure material." Matt explained, and damn if that didn't sound 'accidentally overheard'.
"Well, hang in there. It gets better, all right? I promise." Sam assured him.
"When?" Matt asked.
Before Sam could (mangle) muster an answer, Larry showed back up. "Matthew." He marched up to his son's side. "I am so sorry about my son and his...pet."
Please, sir, call it what it is.
A creepy crawly death dealer.
"It's no bother." Sam assured. When I was silent, Sam gave me a look.
"It's fine." I spoke with a fake smile.
"Excuse us." Larry gripped Matthew by the arm, dragging him back through the crowd to the back door.
Dean walked up to us.
"Remind you of somebody?" Sam asked his brother. Dean looked at the father and son, not seeing what Sam saw. "Dad?"
Dean twisted up his face in confusion. "Dad never treated us like that."
"Well, Dad never treated you like that." Sam corrected. I would literally rather be set on fire than in the middle of this conversation. Or bleaching my hand. "You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don't remember?"
"Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line."
"Right. Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting."
"Bowhunting's an important skill."
Seriously, there's no bleach on the snack table? Rude bastards.
"Well how about-" Sam started.
"Enough." I gave them both scolding glares. "Dean, did you find anything out during the tour?"
"Oh, the tour was excellent. I'm ready to buy." Dean joked. "So you might be onto somethin'. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."
"Yeah? What was it?" I asked.
"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this severe allergic reaction to bee stings." Dean explained.
"More bugs." Sam realized.
"More bugs." Dean agreed.
"More Bugs."
==DG==
Back in the car I was sitting behind Sam, who after some unclear reason that I'm still unsure of, was driving. Dean was looking through the journal.
"You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean wondered.
"Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations." Sam tried.
"Except there were no signs of any ghost activity." I spoke up. "Unless Dean-"
"I didn't see any evidence." Dean agree with me.
Sam blew out a sigh.
"Maybe they're being controlled somehow." Dean suggested "You know, by something or someone."
"You mean, like Willard?" Sam asked.
'Or Pied Piper
Or Ant-man.
Or literally anyone else except that guy.
Fuck you Chuck.'
"Yeah, bugs instead of rats." Dean explained.
"There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals - elementals, telepaths." Sam listed.
"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing." Dean reasoned. "Larry's kid- he's got bugs for pets."
"Matt?" Sam asked.
"Yeah."
"He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula." He snickered. "Ended up scaring Raven."
"Shut it you crack addled whore!" I whacked his shoulder. "I told you not to tell him!"
"You got scared by a spider?" Dean laughed.
"Airplanes." I challenged.
Dean shut up real quick. "You think he's our Willard?" Dean asked.
"No." I answered.
"Why not?"
"Because he hates all of this but I doubt he'd choose murder as a way to stop it." I reasoned. "Why scare Lynda with the...thing instead of have the thing kill her?"
"Ooh, hey. Pull over here." Dean instructed.
Sam pulled up to the empty house. "What are we doing here?"
Dean climbed out. "It's too late to talk to anybody else." He explained. He pushed open the garage door.
"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam asked.
"I wanna try the steam shower. Come on." I climbed out of the car, walking into the garage. "Come on!"
As the boys settled the Impala in, I ran to the master bedroom before Dean had a chance.
==DG==
I had a shower first thing in the morning- Dean was right, this shower was awesome.
Dean was rocking out in the shower when the police call came in about Lynda Bloome.
"You ever comin' out of there?" Sam yelled at his brother through the door.
I was walking up the hall, holding up the car keys I had snagged.
"What?"
"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner." Sam yelled again.
"Hold on."
"Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on."
Dean pokes his head out from the bathroom, his head wrapped up in a towel. He grinned stupidly. "This shower is awesome."
"I call drivin'!" I told them before rushing to the garage.
==DG==
I just drove Baby
I drove the Impala
With no protest from Dean
What bizarro world have we fallen into?!
At Lynda's house, police were stationed all around. I could see Larry Pike walking away from her house. The police were moving her body to the car.
Sam and Dean stepped out of the Impala, opening up their umbrellas. I opened mine as I climbed out to join them.
We walked up to Larry, who was watching Lynda be placed in the back of the car. "Hello. You're, uh, back early."
"Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood." Dean replied, looking out over the house.
"What's goin' on?" Sam asked.
"You guys met, uh...Lynda Bloome at the barbeque?" Larry asked.
"We did. She's the realtor, right?" I replied.
"She- Well, she, uh...passed away last night." Larry revealed.
The boys were surprised. "What happened?" Dean asked.
"I'm still tryin' to find out." Larry admitted. "Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now."
"It's okay." Sam assured him.
"Excuse me." Larry went back towards the house.
Dean turned to us. "You know what we have to do, right?"
"Yep."
"Yeah. Get in that house." Sam stated.
"See if we got a bug problem." Dean agreed.
Not long after we snuck into the home- jumping over the fence. Dean made it into the house first.
After a few minutes searching we found the scene. Lynda's body outline was still on the floor.
"This looks like the place." Dean mused. He walked inside, reaching for the towel. He picked it up. A handful of dead things fell out.
I screeched, running to hide behind Sam.
"Spiders. From Spider Boy?"
"Matt-maybe."
"Get rid of them get rid of them get rid-"
Dean threw one at me.
No you're dead too.
==DG==
Like the totally not-suspicious people that we were, we sat in the Impala watching Matt step off the bus then go towards the woods.
"Isn't his house that way?" Dean asked.
"Yup." I answered.
"So where's he goin'?" Dean asked.
"Let's find out." I remarked, climbing out of the Impala.
The three of us walked into the woods. In no time at all we found Matt picking up the next insect for his collection.
"Hey, Matt. Remember me?" Sam asked him.
I stepped forward. "Or me?"
"What are you doin' out here?" Matt asked us.
"Well, we wanna talk to you." Dean replied.
"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt realized. Dean shook his head. "W-wait. You're not serial killers?"
'Not yet. Put another spider on my hand, then we'll talk."
"No, no." Sam laughed, Dean too. "No, I think you're safe."
"So, Matt...you sure know a lot about insects." Dean commented.
"And arachnids."
"So?" Matt asked.
"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" Dean carried on.
"I hear she died this morning." Matt actually looked sad at that.
"Mm, that's right. Spider bites." Dean revealed.
I shuddered, clutching my hand to my chest.
"Matt...you tried to scare her with a spider." Sam pointed out to him.
"It touched my hand."
"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?"
"You tell us." Dean suggested.
"That tarantula was a joke. I am sorry it got on her." Matt apologized to me. Which saved him but not Chuck. "Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy."
"You know about those?" Sam asked.
"There is somethin' going on here. I don't know what... but something's happening with the insects." Matt revealed. "Let me show you something."
Matt led us towards the worm pit, as I hated calling it.
"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad?" Sam asked. I raised my eyes to the sky, wondering when I had been abandoned by God. "Maybe he could clear everybody out."
"Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me." Matt explained.
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son." Matt replied.
Sam snorted dryly. "I hear you."
"You do?"
I groaned, begging for the sweet release of death.
"Matt, how old are you?" Sam asked.
"Sixteen."
"Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen." Sam hinted.
"What?"
"College." Sam revealed. "You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad."
"What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family."
"How about you two keep your stupid noses out of his family issues?!" I snapped. "You've been going on about it all day and I've had enough!"
The three boys jumped.
"Sam quit pushing your insecurities on Matt! I mean it. If I hear one more word out of you about your dad I will wrong your pathetic neck!" Then I turned to Dean. "And you! Don't belittle what Sam went through! He had his own experiences just like you, and it's not up to you to tell him how he felt about it! Now shut the hell up!"
After my rant, I was left panting in the middle of the woods. All while being stared at by the Winchesters and a sixteen-year-old boy like I was insane.
"Matt. Are we almost there?"
"Yeah." Matt nodded, swallowing. "We're close."
So we got back to the trail. Matt led us to the clearing. Watching with a bored expression, I ignored the many sounds of insects buzzing around me.
"I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class." Matt admitted.
"You two are like peas in a pod." Dean noted.
Sam and I ignored his comment. "What's been happening?" Sam asked.
"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles...you name it. It's like they're congregating here." Matt explained.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"I don't know." Matt replied.
"What's that?" Sam pointed at the small mound of dirt.
He and the boys walked toward it. I stayed closer to the trees, ignoring every instinct that was begging me to just run away.
Dean stomped on the top of the hill. A gagged noise came from my throat. I turned away.
"There's somethin' down there." Dean commented.
A moment later he pulled out the human skull.
==DG==
We'd driven to a local college, with four skulls in a box...just a normal Tuesday.
"So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave." Sam muttered as we started the walk across campus.
"Yeah. Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits?" Dean guessed. "Some unfinished business?"
"Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?" Sam wondered.
"That's two questions." Dean pointed out.
I snorted.
Dean glanced at me, then to Sam, them back at me. I rolled my eyes, giving a look telling him to keep from making a scene. "Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?"
"Just, uh... I know what the kid's goin' through." Sam replied.
'Wrong.' I thought. 'You know what you went through. You're projecting those feelings onto Matt.'
"How 'bout tellin' him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean told him.
"Dean, come on." The brothers stopped, which meant I had to stop, which meant I had been dragged into it. Why oh why was I the one carrying the box of skulls? "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about."
I glared at Dean, warning him I was about to make a scene.
"Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up." Dean huffed.
"I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough." Sam admitted.
"So what are you sayin'? That Dad was disappointed in you?" Dean asked, an unsure expression on his face.
"Was? Is." Sam corrected. "Always has been."
I was done by now. So I snuck past the boys, walking into the college to look for the professor. Cause if I had to listen to this for one more minute I would kill them.
==DG==
The boys showed up just as I had knocked on the door. If I saw anything different about them I resolved to ignore it.
"So, you three are students?" The professor asked.
"Yeah. Anthro 101." I supplied.
"Oh, yeah." He replied, as though trying to recall, was coming up short, but didn't want to disappoint us so he was just going with it.
"So, what about the bones, Professor?" Dean asked.
"This is quite an interesting find you've made." The professor began. "I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American."
"Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?" Sam asked
"Not according to the historical record. But the, uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." The professor explained.
"Of course." I replied. "Do you know the any of the local legends? Something not on historical record?"
"Well... you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa." The professor recalled. "It's about sixty miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth."
"All right." Dean nodded.
==DG==
After some asking around, we found Joe White Tree in an Oklahoma diner. He was sitting alone, playing a game that looked a lot like solitaire.
"Joe White Tree?" Sam asked. Joe nodded. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right."
Joe invited us to go ahead.
"We're students from the university." Dean lied.
"No, you're not. You're lying." Joe stated.
I had to hide a smile. "Well, truth is-" Dean tried again.
"You know who starts sentence with 'truth is'? Liars." Joe told us.
I snorted then, trying hard not to meet Dean's eyes. "We're working on a case of deaths about an hour downstate."
"Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." Sam offered.
The man gave us both quick looks. Joe turned to Dean. "I like them. They're not liars." Dean huffed in irritation. "I know the area."
"What can you tell us about the history there?" Sam asked.
Joe hummed. He glanced to me. "What kind of deaths?"
"Ugly ones. We think they're connected to the old Native American bones we found in their area." I explained.
"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him." Joe revealed- and yes, I'm also pissed off at the story that I'm about to be told and blame Chuck 200% for it. "Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."
"Insects. Sounds like nature to me. Six days." Dean reasoned.
"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Joe revealed.
The three of us looked at each other.
We moved towards the car.
"When did the gas company man die?" Sam asked.
"Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Dean answered.
"That's the spring equinox." I stated.
"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." Dean explained.
"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger." Sam realized. "Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land."
"And on the sixth night- that's tonight." Dean joined in.
"So we need to get started on a plan, or else the Pike's will be dead by sunrise." I finished.
"So how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.
"You don't break a curse. You get out of its way." Dean told us. 'Well actually there are lots of ways- "We've gotta get those people out now."
Fuck this episode and everyone in it.
These bits of dialogue are literally killing me- especially to take part in them.
==DG==
"Give me the phone." I ordered Dean.
Dean tossed the phone over his shoulder to me.
I dialed Larry Pike's number. He answered on one of the rings.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Mr Pike?"
"Yes, this is he."
"Good, glad that I caught you. This is Officer Raven Quinzel, with the police department. They just handed your case and- umm- well this is really embarrassing."
"Well what is it? I thought everything was handled."
"It- well we thought it was. We were going through standard procedure on you and your family, running just a preliminary background check. Not because of anything suspect, just because you were the first to find Ms Bloome. It's all standard in cases like this."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Well sir, you came back clear. It- huh. It seems something popped up when we looked into your son. There's a glitch in the systems and it turns out...gosh this is awkward. There's a felon with the same name as your son. So for some reason we can't quite work out, our systems think they're the same person."
"What?!"
"I know! It's insane! But sir there's an easy solution. I'm going to need you to bring your family down to the station. It's only to sign a few forms out for Matt Pike and make sure they're done right. Yes your wife too- there's a minor involved, and in this case I think it's wiser to include both parents."
"Of course- of course. Thank you."
He hung up the phone.
I let out a breath, sitting back against the seat.
Dean glanced at me in the mirror. "Did it work?"
"Think so."
"Wow. Nice one."
"Thanks. Happened once to my sister- it was hilarious." 'Except, to be fair, she'd actually done all the awful things. I just had to hack into police records and split up Darcy into two different people. Darcy laughed about it for weeks.' "Sam did you give Matt Dean's number?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Cause he's calling it." I answered. "Matt, buddy, anything scary?"
"Raven, my backyard is crawling with cockroaches!"
"That is literally the second scariest thing I can think of. Okay- Matt- I already talked to your dad. He's supposed to be coming to get you in a minute to get you all out of the house. Just in case it doesn't work, I need you to fake an appendix bursting. Can you do that?"
"Wait, why are we leaving the house?"
"Backyard full of cockroaches and you're asking why you need to leave the house?" I questioned. "You think those are the only bugs that are gonna come by?"
"Right- you're right. How do I fake an appendix bursting?"
"Pain in the side. Like a really sharp pain. Whine and gripe and moan about it. "
"My dad doesn't listen in the best of circumstances, what am I supposed to tell him?"
"Well then you better hope the acting is enough to trick Mom- cause that's what'll make it all work." I told him. "And under no circumstance do you tell them the truth, you hear me? Matt."
"But he's my-"
"No. Not one word Matt. I will know if you do." I hung up the phone. "How much longer?"
"Not long." Dean answered.
"Raven he needs too tell his dad the truth." Sam argued.
"Sam I told you- one more word about your dad passive aggressively through the Pikes and I will wring your neck."
"It's not- ugh!" Sam turned away from me.
I'd apologize- but I like to think I saved some awkward yelling.
==DG==
What the ever loving fuck.
Chuck I always knew you hated me most.
"Damn it, they're still here." Dean grumbled. "Come on." He climbed out of the car. I walked out too.
Larry stormed out of his house. "Get off my property before I call the cops." He yelled at us.
"Mr. Pike, listen." Sam began.
Matt walked out of the house too. "Dad, they're just tryin' to help."
"Get in the house!" Larry yelled at his son.
"I'm sorry. I told him the truth." Matt admitted.
"Why?!"
"We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?"
"Look, it's 12:00 AM." Sam warned us. "They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late."
"Yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm." Larry snarked.
BASTARDS
"Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh?" Dean asked. "And the gas company guy? You don't think somethin' weird's goin' on here?"
"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy." Larry ranted. "You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem."
"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now." Dean pointed out.
"Dad, they're right, okay? We're in danger." Matt warned.
"Matt, get inside! Now!" Larry yelled.
"No! Why won't you listen to me?!" Matt snapped.
"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Larry argued back.
"Look, this land is cursed!" Sam yelled.
The buzzing started.
I tensed up.
Fuuuuuu-
"People have died here."
Shitshitshitshitshit-
"Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?"
"We're too late." I spoke up, hoping that my hands weren't shaking. "Can't you hear it?"
Everyone paused. They turned towards the growing buzzing, seeing the skyline being blocked by the growing wave of bugs.
MotherFUCKers-
"What the hell?" Larry mumbled.
His bug zapper started buzzing- sharper and sharper as more of the smaller bugs came close.
"Inside. Everyone inside!" I ordered them.
"Oh my God." Larry gawked.
Nope that bastard abandoned us.
"INSIDE!" I demanded.
Everyone jumped- rushing to the doors. I joined in after that- running after them.
"Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Sam asked Larry.
"No, it's just us." Larry replied.
Joanie came downstairs. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" Joanie asked.
"Call 911." Larry instructed. Joanie gawked at us. "Joanie!" He prompted.
Joanie jumped into gear. "Okay."
"Dean go with Larry and find towels." I ordered. "Anything cloth. We'll need it." Dean nodded. He and Larry ran. "Sam! You and Matt- lock every exit. Doors, windows, fireplace. If it exists, cover it up. Move!"
Sam and Matt nodded. They ran up the stairs.
"Joanie?" I prompted.
"Phones are dead." Joanie told me.
"They must have chewed through the phone lines." Dean remarked, walking by me with his arms full of towels. He put them by the door, the exact time the lights went off. "And the power lines."
"Maybe my cell." Larry went for it. I stared at the windows as the bugs piled up. "No signal."
"I see why." I pointed towards the windows. The house was becoming darker. "Those things won't let a signal out. They're covering the house."
Sam and Matt came down. We all watched the windows becoming more and more darkened by the bugs splattering against it.
"Alright." I knelt down, reaching into my Bag. "Bug spray. Where is it?" I prompted Joanie.
"Under the sink." She stammered.
I looked at Dean. He nodded, running out to the kitchen. The rest of us gathered around each other, as the buzzing grew louder.
"Bug spray?" Joanie asked me.
"You got any better ideas?" I questioned her.
Joanie had no response.
"So what do we do now?" Larry asked.
"We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise." Sam answered.
"Hopefully?" Larry repeated.
A creaking noise came from the fireplace.
"What is that?" Matt asked.
"The flue." Sam realized.
"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs." Dean suggested.
"Good idea. Everyone upstairs!" I yelled.
The bugs flew out.
Every screamed. They ran to the stairs. Dean pulled out the can and a lighter. He started using it to guard us. Sam led the way to the attic. He pulled it open, the Pikes rushed up, the Winchesters and I following.
Sam slammed the attic shut, while Dean kept up the fire brigade.
Once the door was shut though, we could hear the sounds of termites eating through wood.
"Oh, God, what's that?" Joanie pointed at the sudden ring of holes in her roof.
"Something's eating through the wood." Dean stated.
"Termites." Matt explained.
"Get back!" I ordered them. "Over there. Now!" The Pikes moved to the end of the attic. "Dean!" He came to my side. "You fire at the holes. Sam!" Sam turned to me. "Go find a piece of metal that can cover the hole!" He went out for it.
Dean starts blowing fire onto the bugs that come flying in. In no time, Sam had the hole patched over with metal and a wooden beam. Though it was useless when the second hole appeared.
I ran to the Pikes. "Boys! With me now!"
Sam and Dean obeyed.
For awhile, the six of us were hiding away in the corner. There was buzzing all around us. The Pikes were all screaming as the bugs swarmed us. The Winchesters were grunting, swatting the insects away. Myself personally? Hiding under my jacket.
Then the fucking sun rose out of the sky.
At- what? 12:30 AM in the fucking morning?
What the FUCK CHUCK?!
==DG==
Later that day, we drove up to the Pike house. There was a moving van outside, already looking pretty loaded with boxes.
"What, no goodbye?" Dean asked, walking up to Larry.
Larry smiled at us. "Good timing. Another hour and we'd have been gone."
"For good?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found." Larry explained. "But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again."
"And you sound just so beat up about it." I joked.
"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." Larry looked over to Matt, who smiled back at his father. "...somehow, I really don't care."
Sam walked over to Matt. Dean and I walked back to the car, myself shuddering.
"What?" Dean promoted.
"Nothing- shut up." Dean gave me a confused look. "He had a spider in a glass okay?" Dean snickered. "Shut up. You'll be dead by tomorrow. You'll see. I'll put clowns in places Sam can see- cause he's the bastard that told you, then you'll wake up on an airplane. Sometime you won't expect."
Dean only laughed. "Yeah you do that."
"That a challenge?"
"Nah. That's me calling your bluff." Dean laughed.
"Lies."
By that point, Sam had started walking back. He leaned against the car by Dean's side. "I wanna find Dad."
"Yeah, me too." Dean replied.
'I couldn't care less.'
"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him." Sam admitted.
"For what?"
"All the things I said to him. He was just doin' the best he could." Sam answered.
"Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize." Dean assured. "And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, probably." Oh definitely. "Let's hit the road."
"Finally." I moved to climb into the car.
"Let's." Dean agreed. The three of us climbed into our seats, driving away from this hell.
==DG==
AN: If your eyes are bleeding, apologies. I tried to make it look less...this. We shall blame Chuck as he rightfully deserves.
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