A week after Sammy's stunt in Phoenix Lexi began circling articles in the newspaper and leaving them around for me to find. I guess it was her way of telling me to get back out there. I started hunting again. I stayed close to home and made sure to be back as soon as I could. I made Jackie stay with Lexi while I was gone. It wasn't that I thought Lexi couldn't handle herself; it was just that I didn't want her to be alone with Jake.
I had to admit it felt good to be hunting again. I wasn't taking many jobs. I was taking it slow. My first priority was still Lexi and Jacob. I started hanging out in a local hunters bar hoping to hear some news about Sam. What I heard couldn't have been right. Sam was working with demons and had killed three hunters. I laughed at the man sitting across from me. I knew my brother; my Sam wouldn't do the things he was accusing him of. I had to remind myself that the brother I grew up with was long gone.
Most people say the most memorable days of their lives are their happy ones. If that's the case I should say mine are: the first time my dad took me shooting. I bulls eyed every target, the day I walked into that diner and met Lexi, the first time I had sex with her, Lexi telling me she was pregnant with Jacob, hearing Jake's heartbeat at her second ultrasound, our wedding day and the first time I held my son. The fact is I'm not like everyone else and the things I remember the most are not these happy shiny moments in my life. What stands out for me are the darkest days, the glimpse I caught of my Mom burning, the unexpected death of my Father, finding out my Dad sold his soul so that I could live and so many more but I don't want to give the punch line away just yet.
Monday, March 3, 2008
The worst day of my entire life was just like any normal day. I woke up, showered and went downstairs for breakfast. Lexi had been up for a few hours already and had my coffee and breakfast waiting for me on the table. I smiled at them when I walked into the kitchen while Lexi fed Jake cereal and bananas that he had managed to smooch all over himself and his highchair. I kissed her cheek whispering,'Good morning' in her ear. Then, I turned my attention to Jake, tickling him as he cooed and smiled up at me, babbling something that sounded very much like Dada before sitting down to eat my own breakfast.
The rest of the day was normal by any standard. I went to work, did a few oil changes, did some tune ups and fixed a brake line. Lexi stopped by with Jacob in the afternoon just before my break so we could go have lunch together in the park. It was nothing big, just some chilidogs and soda from the hotdog cart in the park. I watched her pushing Jake in the baby swing as I ate. It was like watching someone else's life but I wasn't. This was my life now. I smiled to myself; I knew I was lucky to have them. I was living on borrowed time and the clock was ticking down. I only had two months until they were coming for me and I could already hear their growls. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. I wanted normal for so long that sometimes I ached. I always thought I was going to be alone. Even when Lexi and me were in New Orleans together I thought it was only a matter of time before she left. Now, that I have normal, I got an expiration date coming up. I pushed it to the back of my mind. I didn't want to think about this anymore. I got up off the green park bench I was sitting on and headed over to the swings. I figured if I couldn't be saved then I was going to enjoy these last two months with my family. I just wanted Lexi and Jake to know that I loved them and if I had a choice I wouldn't leave them.
Later that nightI came home late, around 8:00 p.m. because I worked some overtime. We needed the money and I was trying to hustle pool as little as possible to make ends meet. I needed to stay under everyone's radar. I got home just as Lexi was about to put Jacob down for the night. I smiled at them both taking Jake out of her arms.
"You got him?" Lexi asked fussing with Jake's pajama sleeve.
"Yeah, I got him." I said heading upstairs with Jacob nodding out in my arms, "Right buddy? Daddy's got you."
After putting Jake to bed I went downstairs and ate the dinner Lexi had warmed up for me. I sat there eating, listening to her tell me how Jake said, 'Dada' all day, along with everything else they did today. I smirked at Lexi as she rambled on twisting her hair around her index finger. I always thought her rambling was cute and she did talk enough for the both of us. I told Lexi to go relax and that I would take care of the dishes tonight. She nodded kissing me softly and telling me to come to bed soon before she headed upstairs. I wanted to watch the rest of the game first, so I grabbed a beer turning on the TV in the living room. I didn't even make it a full quarter of the game. I couldn't fight it any longer, I closed my eyes for a moment falling asleep on the couch.
11:45 pm
Lexi groaned when she heard the static and Jacob's crying coming over the baby monitor. She glanced at the annoyingly bright green numbers on the alarm clock. She sighed, it wasn't like Jake to wake up before two, something had to be wrong. Lexi reached over turning on the lamp still half asleep. "Dean?" When he didn't answer she rolled over realizing he wasn't in bed with her. She sighed once again getting out of bed heading to Jacob's room, she was exhausted and for once just wanted a good night's sleep. She stopped abruptly in the doorway of the nursery when she saw Dean standing over Jacob's crib.
"Dean, is he hungry?" She asked leaning against the doorframe and rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand.
He turned to her in the darkness placing his fingers on his lips, "Shh."
"Okay, Dean. I'm going back to bed then."
She turned, heading back to their bedroom, stopping when she heard the television still on. Lexi grumbled to herself walking downstairs, this was sort of a nightly thing for her because Dean had a bad habit of forgetting to turn the TV off. She stopped dead in her tracks once she reached the living room. Her eyes went wide in horror gasping when she saw Dean fast asleep in front of the television. Lexi turned around running back up the stairs screaming, "Jacob! JAKE!"
She skidded to halt just inside the nursery. The man that stood over the crib turned in her direction with Jacob in his arms. She took a sharp intake of breath in her surprise, "SAM!"
I jolted awake when I heard Lexi yell. I looked around realizing the screaming was coming from the nursery upstairs. I ran to Jacob's room throwing the door open my eyes scanning the dark room.
"Lex!? Lexi!?" I walked over to Jacob's crib panic taking over when I saw that the crib was empty, "Jake!? Jacob!?"
I jumped back my heart racing when the room's curtains started to burn. 'No, no, no. This is not happening. Not again.' I thought looking up at the ceiling relief washing over me when I didn't see Lexi pinned there. I looked around again noticing Lexi lying on the floor, the flames coming dangerously closer to her.
"Lexi? Lexi wake up!" I screamed shaking her roughly, "No. No LEXI!"
"Dean?" She groaned her eyes opening slightly.
"Where's Jake?"
"Sam….Sam took him. I couldn't stop him. I tried…."
"Shhh, I gotcha." I whispered picking her up and carrying her out of the house, "We'll find him."
A few hours later
I couldn't believe what was happening. I was handcuffed and chained to a table in one of the Lemon Grove Police Station's interrogation rooms. These idiots actually thought I started the fire and beat my wife. What they couldn't figure out is what happened to Jacob. I kept telling these morons that I never raised a hand to Lexi, that I never would do that. That's when the officer smirked at me reading off the offensives on my rap sheet. I stared dumbfounded at the cop. Domestic Abuse? He had to be shitting me. I never hit a chick in my entire life. Okay, well I did hit Meg but she was possessed.
"Let's try this again Mr, Winchester."
"I told you!" I snapped clenching my hands, "I did not hit my wife! I did not start that fire! I did not do anything to my son! My brother Sam did!"
"Right." The cop laughed, "Your brother Sam, who no one has seen in months. You telling me you didn't kill and torture all those women in St. Louis?"
I jumped out of my chair the heat rising to my face, "I DID NOT KILL THOSE GIRLS IN ST. LOUIS! I DIDN'T FUCKING HIT MY WIFE! I NEVER FUCKING HIT HER! WHY DON'T YOU FUCKING ASK HER YOURSELF YOU FUCKING MORON!"
The cop raised his eyebrow at me smirking, "Sure Mr. Winchester, you didn't do any of those things. Some temper you have there."
I sat back down in my chair realizing I had just made a huge fucking mistake. Pretty soon Henricksen will be here with the biggest hard on ever. He's gonna find someway to make these fucking charges stick and then I'm fucked. That means I'm not gonna be able to catch Sam's trail and it'd be that much harder to find Jake.
"Excuse me. I'm here to see Dean Winchester."
I looked up smiling to see Lexi standing in the doorway. She held the officer's gaze stating very clearly he was to uncuff me and let me go. I couldn't help but smile at him as he cut me loose. I knew I shouldn't be enjoying this but this was definitely a perk of having a wife that had mind control powers. Lexi waited till I was by her side before telling the cop that he never saw us and that we were never here. We walked right out of the station, not one person lifting a finger to stop us. They all acted as if we weren't even there.
"Where to now?" I asked Lexi as I leaned against the Impala.
She sighed staring at her hands, "Home. We have to get what we need out of there before the FBI goes in there. You know, your weapons, your Dad's journal, my Mom's journal clothes, pictures, Jake's things and Ozzy."
"Okay, let's go now. Then we'll find a motel and figure out our next move."
April 17, 2008We went back to the house and starting packing up. I looked around realizing I didn't want to leave. This house that had overwhelmed me somehow had become my home. The first home I had had since I was four years old. And because of Sammy once again, I had to leave it. All I wanted was to give my son a normal life, a better life than I had. Now, he was gone and thanks to Sam he was thrust into a life that was going to be filled with demons and hunters. That was not what I wanted for Jake. I wanted him to have everything that I never had. I wanted him to have a home; I wanted him to have a choice in what he did with his life. All I knew was I was going to get my son back before the hellhounds came for me. Once, I had Jacob back, Sam was dead. He wasn't my brother anymore and God help me if he harmed my child. Sam wanted me back in the game, well I'm back.