"Are you sure?" Wesley asked as he zipped a duffel bag shut.
"No," James replied with crossed arms, "but you're gonna go anyway. Besides, your…brother…came a long way and he seems excited to go."
"Hey," Wesley said, throwing his hands up in protest, "I didn't know he was coming! Okay, well…I forgot he was coming…but we'll be okay; it's only for the weekend. Besides, we just sent a message to the last demon that tried to kill us."
"Make sure you've got your cellphone with you," James urged.
"Even though there won't be any reception out there," Wesley's voice trailed off. "But I have it anyway. Why are you being so…protective…all of a sudden? Unless…wait a minute, Jimmy. I get it now."
"What are you talkin' about?" James asked.
"You're jealous!" Wesley said teasingly, stuffing the last of some clothes into another bag. "I can't believe you're jealous of Wyatt."
"I'm not jealous," James said.
"Whatever dude," Wesley said, rolling his eyes. "I might not be as intuitive as Matt, but this much I know; you are jealous of my little brother. Shame, shame, I know your name…"
"He's not your brother," James insisted. "Matt and I are your brothers."
"I rest my case," Wesley said. He took his two bags and slid past James, moving downstairs where Wyatt waited.
Wyatt had a black backpack and a small black duffel bag at his feet as Wesley came down the stairs. Wesley carried two green duffel bags with him. James slowly followed him, his arms still crossed. With a smile, Wesley dropped his own bags near Wyatt, motioning with a finger for him to carry everything out to Wesley's car.
"I'm supposed to be the guest," Wyatt said. "All of a sudden I'm the bellboy?"
"I'm older," Wesley said, almost mocking James' intimidating voice. "Wait in the car; I'll be out in a minute."
"Nice to meet you, Jimmy," Wyatt said, smiling as he dragged the bags outside.
Wesley turned back to James, smirking. He crossed his own arms to match James. He knew that James was for some reason jealous of his relationship with Wyatt. Maybe it was because seeing Wesley and Wyatt reminded James of himself and Wesley, and he did not want anyone else to have that kind of relationship. Maybe James was so territorial that he could not stand to see that his brothers still had some connection to their lives before meeting him. Wesley had his own ideas, but kept them to himself for the time being. The last thing he wanted was to instigate a fight with James, much less bruise his ego even more.
"We'll talk when I get back," he said to James. "Try not to cry too much while I'm gone. We'll be back in a couple days."
"Whatever dude," James retorted as Wesley left the house.
Standing near the front door, James peeked out the side window as Wesley's car backed out the driveway, then sped off toward the end of the street. He locked the door and turned back to the living room; it was a mess. He sighed loudly, knowing that the task of cleaning up fell on him. Having nothing better to do, he started gathering together small pieces of debris into piles. Finding Sam was going to have to wait a little while longer. If he was able to summon her, he at least wanted the house to look presentable.
After a half hour of cleaning, he heard a loud screeching sound outside. It sounded like a speeding car suddenly braking. The noise made him stop. He looked at the front door with his hand up, ready for whatever was about to open it. Soon enough, Matthew burst through the door, sending a wave of relief James' way. The expression on Matthew's face, however, did not provide James with relief for long. Having known him for almost two years now, he could sense that something was wrong.
"Where the hell have you been?" Matthew scolded James, breathing heavily. "What's the point of having a cell phone if you're not gonna answer when somebody calls?"
"Calm down, Matt," James said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "What's going on?"
"I had a premonition while I was…out," Matthew told James as he looked around, suddenly taking in the disheveled surroundings. "What happened here? Demon?"
"Yep," James said. "You missed the party, but you're just in time for the cleanup."
"Not now," Matthew said quickly. "Somebody's in trouble. I had this vision where some kid is in a forest. He's running around and calling out for help. And the trees looked weird, like some kind of symbol had been carved into them."
"That's not really a lot to go off of," James said nonchalantly. "What other details do you remember?"
"Not too much more," Matthew said, sighing. "Not the best premonition. All I can remember is a young kid, kind of tall, running in a forest. It was dark and there wasn't much to see, but the trees had some weird markings on them, almost like faces."
"Trees with faces," James repeated, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "Doesn't ring a bell for me."
"I didn't think it would," Matthew said, smiling. "I'm gonna check the Book."
"Aren't you gonna ask about your brother?" James spat out. His question made Matthew stop mid-step. However, he ignored James' question and continued to the basement. James shook his head in a combination of confusion and disappointment and followed, glad to have a reason to stop cleaning.
In the basement, Matthew made his way to a large stand, upon which lay their centuries old book of magic, passed down over the generations. He saw that it was open to a spell to call a long lost love. He looked at James with a raised eyebrow, who replied with a blank stare. Hoping for a lot of luck, he turned to a random page and began flipping from there, looking for any information about trees with symbols carved into them. The more he looked, the more it seemed like he could not find anything remotely tied to his premonition. He vowed to himself to put an index in this Book.
"You can't ignore him forever," James said quickly, putting the focus on Matthew and Wesley. He sat at the bottom of the basement stairs. "Eventually y'all will have to work it out and things can finally get back to normal around here."
"Easier said than done, Jimmy," Matthew said. He never looked away from the Book.