Dean pulled the car back onto the road. Sam kept looking over at him, trying to judge his mood now that the backseat would probably need some major steam cleaning. Sam glanced back at Shilassa. It may even need re-upholstered. "I'm fine!" Sam looked back at his brother. "I'm fine alright! Let's just get her home." Dean groused.
Sam gave a small grin. "I didn't say anything."
"You didn't have to." Dean stared hard at the road ahead. "I'm hungry. Let's stop for a bite to eat."
"I'm not sure stopping is the best idea." Sam looked again into the backseat.
"Yeah. I suppose you're right. Drive thru it is!" Dean got off the road they were on at the next town and pulled through an In N Out Burger joint. Shilassa shook her head no when asked if she was hungry, so Dean ordered for just the two of them. Sam had to chuckle at the look on the drive thru attendant's face when he caught sight of Shilassa in the backseat.
"Should we be letting people see her?" Sam asked around a french fry.
"You know people will see what they want to see. That guy will chalk it up as an amazing costume and never think about it again." Sam nodded in agreement and continued eating his fries.
"Dean, why did you get me a bacon cheeseburger?"
"Because they're awesome."
"They're clogged arteries on a bun, dude."
"You don't want yours? 'Cuz I'll eat it if you don't..." Dean's voice trailed off in hopeful anticipation.
"No. I'm too hungry not to eat it."
It got quiet as they ate and the miles passed by. After a while there was a small screech from the backseat. Sam turned back and Shilassa was holding out her squirt bottle and gave it a small shake. It was empty. "You need more water?" She shook her head no. "You're okay?" Again she shook her head no. Sam looked at her tail draped across the back seat. "You need, like, actual water to get into?" She smiled and nodded her head.
"What's up?" Dean asked, too busy with some traffic to see what was going on in the back seat.
"We need to call it a day. She needs to get into some water."
"Can it be any water? Like bath tub water? Can it be a pool? Or, does it have to be fresh water?" Dean asked as he started paying more attention to the signs at the side of the road.
Sam looked back at her. She smiled, raised her eyebrows and gave a little shake of her head. "It can be any water?" She nodded.
"Okay anything's good."
"Well we're coming up on a small town called Medford." Dean took the next exit and pulled into the first motel he saw. The parking lot seemed inordinately full. Leaving Sam with Shilassa, Dean hopped out quick and checked at the front desk. When he came back he didn't look happy.
"What's up?"
Dean fell into the seat. "They have no rooms."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Apparently the National Quilting Expo is in town this week."
"National Quilting Expo?" Sam repeated it back, rolling the words around his mouth like he'd never heard them before. "That's a thing?"
"Apparently it's a pretty huge thing. Guy said we'd be lucky to get a room anywhere in town or in any town nearby." A screech came from the back. "Cool your fins, we'll find something." Dean started up the car and started cruising the neighborhoods.
"You have an idea?" Sam asked, frowning.
"Find some place where the family is gone for a vacation or something?"
So they cruised for the next hour or so, Shilassa getting more agitated with every passing minute. Finally Dean found something. It wasn't the best solution, but it was a solution none the less. "Okay. This is it."
Sam looked around. "Yeah. This might work."
"It'll have to work."
They were in one of those neighborhoods where there was an alley that ran behind two rows of houses, making an easy place for garbage pick up without the trash cans being out on the main streets. Dean was parked about a third of the way down the alley. The homes on their right were backed with high wooden fences and they couldn't see into the yards. To their immediate left, though, the yard was edged with shrubs that were about four feet tall. Through the branches, Sam could just make out an in ground pool.
"So, what's your plan?" Sam asked. "It's not even dark yet."
"Sit tight. I'm going to get out, walk the neighborhood a bit. I'll be back." Dean got out and strolled back out the end of the alley and took the corner. About twenty minutes later, he was back. "Okay, good news. The house is currently empty."
"No one lives there?"
"No! I mean no one's home. I did hear the bark of a small dog, but no one answered the door."
"A dog. That means someone will be around sooner or later."
"Yeah, but the pool will be safe. They have it covered. So, we slip in and peel back just an edge to let her in." Dean jerked a thumb toward the back. "One of us can keep watch throughout the night. We can switch off part way through and the other one can sleep in the car."
Sam rubbed a hand down his face. "Great."
Dean grinned. "I thought so! You get first watch." Dean squeezed through the hedges and looked around. He made his way over to the pool and peeled back the thin plastic that lay on the surface of the water about four feet. He crouched down and dipped his hand in. Not bad. When he got back to the car, he opened the back door and leaned in. "Your luxury spa awaits." He then took in the tail. He stood back up and called to Sam over the roof of the car in a whisper. "Sammy!"
Sam got out of the car and looked at him over the top. "What?"
"How is she going to get over there?"
"I imagine we'll have to carry her." He answered sarcastically. He thought for a moment and then quickly added, "I'll take the tail end." He immediately leaned down to Shilassa's window. "We'll have to carry you over to the pool, okay?"
Dean ground his teeth together and cataloged this moment, in his mind, as one needing appropriate payback at a later date. He leaned down again and smiled in at Shilassa. He then went around the car to the side she was sitting on and tried to figure out how best to carry her when she was essentially naked. He noticed she had taken off Sam's shirt. If he carried her alone, like a parent carries a child, his hand would be dangerously close to...her...ahh... Damn it, Sammy. You will pay for this! He was just going to do it and not think about it.
"Ready?" She nodded. He leaned in and put his left arm around her back and under her arm and, as he pulled her out, put his right arm under her tail. He walked quickly. Not only so nobody would see them, but also because he didn't want her getting any more ideas. He didn't mingle with monsters, damn it!
Sam went ahead and held the shrubs out of the way. When he got to the pool's edge, he set her down on the lip. She smiled her thanks and slid right in. Dean quickly rubbed his left hand on his thigh, trying to erase the memory of her skin from his mind. "You okay, Dean?"
"Shut up. You have first watch. I'm going to get some early shut-eye." Sam chuckled and hid himself within the shrubs.
As Dean crawled into the car and used his jacket as a pillow against the window, Sam checked out the house before him. It was a split level house with the right half being two stories. He imagined the left side was probably the garage. There was a sizable deck on the back, complete with a large grill and hot tub. There was no sign of Shilassa. Hopefully she could stay under water and under the remaining pool cover out of sight. Sam looked around the shrubs he was crouched in. He couldn't stay in this position all night or he would lose feeling to his legs. He found an odd set of branches that made a nice seat for himself and settled in.
About four hours later, with nightfall having finally come, a light came on in the house. Sam almost stood right up and then remembered he was taller than the shrubs he sat in. A light came on at the back of the house, flooding the backyard in light. He looked for any kind of movement within, but all the doors and windows had drapes pulled firmly across them. For awhile nothing happened and Sam began to wonder if the lights had just been on a timer when the back door opened and a small, fluffy, white dog came sprinting out of the house.
Sam did his best not to move or make a sound. The dog raced around the pool a few times and then slowed along the far side of the yard, sniffing around a clump of trees. Glancing back at the house, Sam still didn't see anyone. So they just let the dog out and went back to whatever business they had been up to before. The dog took care of things over by the trees and then followed his nose around the yard as if he didn't already have the smell of the yard permanently mapped in his little brain.
Thankfully, the dog never came close to the back where Sam hid. He was sure if it had caught wind of him, he would have raised a holy terror. And no sooner had Sam thought that, than the dog started barking and growling, pulling Sam out of his thoughts. The dog stood near the pool and was staring hard at it and raising a din. There wasn't even a ripple to be found on the surface of what water did show. Perhaps he just smelled Dean and knew that something was off.
The door to the back of the house opened and a kid of about thirteen or fourteen popped their head out. "Hey, Carly! Cool your jets! Geez!" Carly didn't listen but kept running back and forth along the pool's edge huffing and growling and generally acting much bigger than she was. "Here. Maybe this will shut you up." The kid dropped a small bowl on the deck and poured some food into it. He then set up a small bowl of water and then went back inside.
The dog hesitated at the edge of the pool for a moment and then went over to have it's dinner. Shilassa's head popped out of the water, looking after the dog. "No!" Sam whispered. She turned her head in his direction. The last thing they needed was for her to snack on somebody's pet. "You can hear me?" Sam whispered again. She nodded her head. "You can't eat that dog. Seriously! If you need something to eat, I'll get you something but you can't -" At that moment the dog came prancing back in their direction. Sam stopped whispering and Shilassa dipped back below the surface of the pool. He held his breath, hoping and praying that she understood that the dog wasn't on the menu.