A/N: I'm co-authoring another FF with a great writer,Chick Feed, called Freakin' Friday, if you want some good laughs give it a read.
Chapter 10
Dean pulled up beside the Impala and parked. Oree was still curled up asleep in the back seat as he cut the engine.
"Want me to get her?" Sam asked before getting out.
"Naw, you get the bag, I'll get our sister." Dean decided opening his door and getting out. He opened the back door of the Impala and went to the Jeep to get Oree.
"You sure your arm's ok, I can get her?"
"I got it, she's still asleep, I think she'll be ok." he said arranging Oree in the back of the Impala and fastening a seat belt around her. "Let's get this over with. I'm ready for some down time for a day or so."
"I'm for that, I'll follow." Sam said straightening up to head for Oree's truck.
He looked back when a cell started ringing. Dean looked at his and Sam looked at his, both frowning since it wasn't their's. Dean remembered he had Oree's cell in the glove box and pulled it out.
"Crap, Asteria, here answer it." he told Sam pushing the phone into his hand.
"No way, you answer it." Sam scoffed handing it back.
"I talked to her last time." he insisted shoving it back like a hot potato.
"Fine! But you owe me." he grumbled flipping the phone open. "Coward." he mouthed at his brother.
"Hello, Aurora?"
"No ma'am, it's Sam, Oree's resting."
"Has something happened?"
"She's ok now, we're on our way home." Sam replied trying to evade the subject.
"Tell me Sam." Asteria's voice compelled him.
"She was kidnapped."
"By who?" she bristled.
"Trent Jessup, the guy from her birthday party."
"My poor girl, was she hurt? I knew he was no good but never thought he would go this far."
"Not that we can tell, we found her walking off a mountain."
"Thank goodness for that, tell her I'll be over to see everyone later."
"I will."
"Take care of her." she said sternly.
"We will, good-bye." Sam ended closing the phone and letting out the breath he was holding.
"Well?" Dean asked waiting for Sam to tell him what she said.
"She was upset and relieved, and will see us later." he paraphrased.
Without a look back, Dean pulled out and headed for the interstate to take Oree home. Sam pulled out behind him and kept pace with the Impala. Since there was not much traffic that time of night, they made good time and pulled up to Oree's cabin before dawn.
"Hey kid, we're home, want to wake up?" Dean coaxed Oree as he unbuckled the seat belt from around her.
"Home." she mumbled sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
She looked around once before letting Dean pull her to her feet to stand beside him. Sam parked the truck in front of her garage and strolled over to them.
"How you doing?" he asked trying to catch her eyes.
"I'm fine." she replied.
"Right." Dean said knowing what that answer meant. "Come on, I'm ready for bed."
"Need help?" Sam asked her holding out his hand.
"Thanks big brother." she smiled accepting his hand and letting him help her to the cabin.
"I'm hitting the head and then bed." Dean announced heading down the hall.
"You going to be ok?" Sam asked her.
"Yeah, I want a shower and maybe a little more sleep."
"If you need us, you know where we are." Sam told her kissing her forehead. "Think I'll go to bed too."
"Thanks Sammy." Oree said heading for her bedroom and a shower.
Oree came out of the bathroom brushing her dried hair looking at her bed. She didn't feel like crawling into her empty bed, Oree put her brush down, picked up her warm blanket and headed for Sam's bedroom. She needed to feel safe and being with one of her brothers was the safest place she could be.
Sam was on his side turned away from the door and snoring softly as Oree crept into bed with him. She wrapped her blanket around her body and snuggled down against Sam's back. Sam shifted in his sleep being used to Oree sneaking in bed with him and didn't wake completely.
The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and a gentle breeze wafted through her hair as she turned her face into it. Oree looked around at her surroundings in wonder. She had never seen this when dream walking with Sam, but usually he knew she was there, this time she didn't think he did.
She was in a nice neighborhood, the houses were neat and well maintained. Most of them had white picket fences surrounding their yards. Noises of kids could be heard and dogs barking. Oree made her way down the street looking at each home wondering why Sam was dreaming of this. She stopped at the house on the corner catching a familiar shape going around the corner.
Oree smiled and headed for the driveway to get to the back yard. She was about to call out to him when she stopped in her tracks. Sam was grilling and talking to another man, there were a couple of kids running around and two women sitting at picnic table, one was pregnant and the other was telling the kids to be careful. Sam and the man laughed at something that was said.
Oree felt like an intruder, this was not a place she wanted to be. This was one of Sam's most private dreams, one where he had a normal life, a house, a wife, maybe kids. Oree bit her lip as she ducked back behind the corner of the house as Sam looked her way. She quickly made her way back down the driveway and away from here.
With a jerk Oree woke herself up and pulled away from Sam. She looked at her brother with sadness knowing Sam would never voice what she saw in his dream. She slipped out of his bed and headed for Dean's room.
Dean jerked when he felt a present close to him, but relaxed seeing Oree's head poking out of her blanket beside him. He turned and draped an arm over her shoulder before letting sleep overtake him again.
The waves were lapping gently at Oree's toes as she walked slowly down the deserted beach. She looked out over the waves breaking one after the other and felt peace to the bottom of her very soul. Oree bent to pick up a sand dollar that a wave had left on the sand turning it over in her hand examining the beauty of it.
"Hey kid, why don't you take a load off?" Dean asked her from a lounge chair just above the break line. He was sitting under a large stripped umbrella drinking a beer. He waved to the chair beside him, so she trudged up the wet sand and sat in the chair.
"Hey Dee, wondered if you would join me." she said sitting back and closing her eyes.
"Are you ok kid? You've been through a lot the past couple of days."
"I'll be ok, just need a little rest to recharge. How are you feeling?"
"Arm's still little sore, but I'll survive. I've had worse. Do you wanna talk 'bout anythin'?"
"Like what?"
"What happened on the mountain? We know who took you."
"Nothing to say, it's done," she said not looking at him.
Dean looked at her and saw she ended the conservation and was not going to say anything else about it. He sighed to himself and let the subject drop. The breeze from the ocean was cool and refreshing letting him forget about all the bad things for just a while. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift on the waves.
It was mid afternoon when Sam began to stir from sleep. He looked over at the bedside clock and blinked his eyes a few times to be sure he was reading it right, three-twenty pm. He guessed he was more tired than he thought to have slept that long. He listened to the house trying to detect whether anyone else was up and moving about. He finally picked up soft music drifting down the hall, probably from the kitchen. Sam threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat there a moment stretching his upper body. He grabbed his bathroom bag and clean clothes before heading for the bathroom and a shower.
Sam wandered into the kitchen noticing the small mailing envelopes laid out on the table. He eyed them for a minute and headed for the coffee pot. Oree had left two cups by the pot ready for them. He saw she had pastries and cut up fruit on the counter for breakfast.
The door from the garage opened and he turned to see Oree coming in with a box in her hands. She looked up and screamed.
"Holy crap!" she cried. "You almost gave me a heartache." Oree panted putting her hand over her heart and gasping for breath.
"Hey sorry 'bout that." Sam said bending down to help pick up the packets of herbs that had fallen from the box.
"You the only one up?" she asked looking around for Dean.
"Guess so, what ya doin'?"
"Filling some online orders, want to help?" she questioned not really looking at him.
Sam noticed Oree was acting strange and he could sense tension in the air. This puzzled him, but he let it go for now.
"Sure what can I do?"
"The stack of papers at the end each have a name and herb on it, if you will fold it into twice where the herb is showing and put it in the correct envelope leaving the name of the herb showing then I can put the herb inside and seal."
"Sounds easy enough." he said picking up the printed pages.
He saw the envelopes were in alphabetic order as were the pages. Taking one page at a time, he began to fold them and insert it in the correct envelope and moved to the next one. He did this for each one around the table. Oree moved along behind him double checking the herb name and putting it in the envelope then sealing it. Sam counted eighteen envelopes total as she gathered them back up.
"I'm going to run to the post office to mail these and by the store, won't be gone long."
"Want some company?"
Oree paused for a moment before answering, "Sure if you want to come."
It didn't get past Sam the hesitation she had at maybe not wanting him to come. He decided best place to confront her would be in an enclosed car. Something had happened and he wanted to know what. Sam followed her out to her truck and got in the passenger seat. He waited until she had turned onto the main road before questioning her.
"What gives, Little Sis?" he asked turning to face her.
"What?" she asked back.
"Why the aloofness toward me this morning? And don't say it's not anything, I can feel it."
Oree didn't say anything at first, but still wouldn't look at him. She bit her lip trying to decide how to tell him what she saw without it seeming like she invaded his privacy.
"I didn't feel like being alone this morning, so after my shower I decided to sleep with you."
"Ok, you do it all the time, what happened?"
"I never meant to do it."
"Do what, Oree will you spit it out." Sam urged getting irritated with her.
"I saw one of your dreams, one that you never let anyone see." she said quietly casting him a quick glance.
Sam frowned as he thought about what she said and tried to figure out what she was talking about.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean."
"I know you want to stop, get away from all of it, family, home, white picket fence..." she trailed off.
Sam clenched his jaw and looked away not wanting to continue with this conservation. Yes that was a dream he had had for so long, longer than he cared to admit. It was a dream and only a dream for him, one he never let surface because it was beyond his reach and he had come to terms with that.
"It's ok Sammy, if it makes you feel any better, I wish that for you too. I would never betray your trust by ever telling anyone 'bout anything I see when I dream walk. I do want to apologize, it was by accident."
"It's ok." he whispered looking down at his hands that were clenching his legs.
"Are we good?"
"We're good, I trust you with my life." he half smiled at her knowing she would never tell any of the things she might see in his dreams.
Oree let out the breath she was holding and clasped his hand in hers squeezing gently. "I love you big brother, you know that."
"Yeah, I do."
The afternoon rays of the sun were sneaking in through the curtains in Dean's bedroom as he frowned and rolled over. He stretched his arms over his head and looked at the bedside clock which read four-fifteen pm. He knew it was too bright to be early morning, so it was afternoon. It amazed him that he could sleep so deep and peaceful. He actually felt pretty good, even after all they had been through.
Dean noticed the blanket laying beside him and figured Oree slept with him which he couldn't blame her, she had been through two traumatic events in just a few days. That would make anyone seek the comfort of family. He was a little surprised she didn't sleep with Sam, he knew they had a stronger link than he did with Oree, even though he knew his was there too.
Not finding anyone around, Dean grabbed clean clothes and headed for a hot shower. He would find his siblings later, what trouble could they get into around here.
"What do you need from the store?" Sam asked following Oree inside the department/grocery store.
"Just a few things, flour, sugar, yeast, lettuce, tomatoes, shampoo, girl things." she answered pulling a small cart out of the row of carts. "You need anything while we're here or Dean?"
"I could use a couple of fine point pens and I think Dean's out of M & M's."
"What kind, I love the peanut butter ones."
"With peanuts, it's the yellow bag."
"I've never seen him eat them?"
"Let me put it this way, he's stingy and never shares them."
"Our brother?" Oree giggled as she made her way around the store. "So you guys are staying and coming to the Fall Festival tomorrow right?"
"I guess, you did mention pie to Dean, so that pretty much is a yes." Sam shrugged looking at the pens hanging in front of him. He grabbed a pack and tossed it in the cart.
"Auntie made beef stew for dinner tonight, it's so good. I'll throw together some cornbread and salad and of course she left a pie for Dean too."
"Sounds good to me."
"Why don't you get Dean's candy while I go over there." she pointed to some feminine items at the end of the aisle.
"Right." Sam reddened slightly when he looked in the direction she pointed and headed the other way faster than he needed to.
"I'll meet you in produce." she giggled as Sam rushed off.
Sam found the candy and got Dean two bags of M&M's before going in search of Oree. He found her looking over the tomatoes when an older female voice called to her.
"Aurora, Aurora how are you?" Mrs. Jessup called to her as she pushed her cart closer.
Sam saw his sister pale and stiffen at the sight of her and stepped back like a deer caught in the headlights. Oree tried to speak, but couldn't seem to get the words out.
"Hello, Mrs. Jessup, isn't it?" Sam asked stepping up and holding out his hand to her.
"Hello, you're one of her brothers aren't you? You hit my son Trent." she noted not accepting his hand. "Trent was going to come home for the Festival, we always go to it. Maybe we'll see you there. I know he'll enjoy seeing you."
"Right." Oree finally croaked out before pushing the cart away. "We need to run."
Sam hurried after Oree tossing the woman a sorry smile. He caught up with her four aisles over where she was sucking in deep breaths trying to calm down before a panic attack set in.
"You ok, Sis?"
"Yes." she said softly as she concentrated on slowing down her racing heart.
"Want to talk about it some place quiet?" he suggested tilting her head so she could look at him.
"Let's just go, I'll get whatever else I need at the general store." she said heading for the check out.
Oree looked out over the lake in the park as she sipped slowly on her milkshake. Sam stayed quiet waiting for her to begin. He stirred sugar into his coffee being patient as she gathered her thoughts.
"He knocked me out and took me up in the mountains to a cabin." she started trying to distance herself from the events. "I don't know what happened to him, what turned him so dark. I couldn't see any good in him, it was like evil had completely consumed him. I knew what he wanted...what he wanted to do...there was no way I was letting that happen."
"Hey, you were protecting yourself." he insured her laying a hand on hers.
"He shot himself, with a little help and I left him there to die. I didn't want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life wondering when he was going to show up again." she ended as a small sob escaped her and a tear escaped her eye. She turned away and brushed at her face.
"It's ok, he was a dangerous man and he was fixated on you. I can honestly say if you hadn't stopped him, we would have. No one tries to hurt our family and gets away with it." Sam assured her putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her to him. Oree tucked her head under his chin and cried silent tears. Her body shivered as she let the pent-up emotions surface and released them. They sat there in silence for another thirty minutes until a cell phone ringing broke the silence causing Oree to jump and straighten up.
"Hello." Sam said after he got his phone out of his pocket.
"Sammy, where are you?" Dean asked a bit annoyed.
"A park, we'll be on our way in a few minutes."
"She talked to you didn't she?"
"Yeah, I got you your M&M's." he told him.
"Got it, we'll talk later."
"See you in a few." Sam said hanging up. "You 'bout ready to go home?"
"Yeah, thanks Sammy, you were right, it did help to talk about it and not let it consume me."
"Want me to drive?"
"Yeah, really don't want to think right now." she said handing him the keys.
They walked back to the truck and headed home.
So this is longer than most chapters. I started to break it up but decided to leave it whole. Hope you enjoyed the relationship Oree has with her brothers. Thank you for all who are still hanging in there, a big twist in coming in a couple of chapters. I needed to add some light moments before the next big thing. Cant give it away now can I? Thank you for following, favoring and reviews. Please leave a review.
NC