Here's another story with the boys at ages 16 and 12
Grounded part I
"But you're grounded," twelve year old Sam told his big brother Dean who was walking out the door.
"So, Dad's not here twerp and I know you won't tell him," the teen said glaring at his younger brother.
"So you better not let him catch you. Where are you going anyway?"
"None of your business pipsqueak," Dean stated continuing to torture his brother with nicknames he hated.
Sam put his head down and headed to the couch and an evening of TV while Dean sauntered out the front door and down the street. The sixteen year old dearly loved his brother and would die for him but sometimes he just needed time for himself and with his own peer group as there was such a thing as too much togetherness.
Sam moped on the couch he didn't blame his big brother at all but was frustrated at being left behind. He was really hoping that at the last minute Dean would invite him along. It was a pretty safe bet that their dad would be gone most of the night if not all of it. Sam had no idea what he was hunting but was pretty sure it would take John's time and attention for the evening. He just hated always being left behind while the rest of his family partook in their private adventures without him, though he didn't care much for many of those adventures.
Dean made his way to a friend's house two blocks away where he joined up with the gang one of which had a car which they took to the local cemetery. "And what is so fun about this?" Dean asked as they poured out of the vehicle.
"It's supposed to be haunted," Jill giggled.
"But mostly we just drink some beer," Josh said pulling the stash out of the trunk and passing out the beverage.
The cemetery in question was very old and very large full of ancient trees that blocked the stars and gave you the creeps when they blew in the wind. It also was set on a series of hills that made travel in the day difficult and nearly impossible when darkness fell. Dean looked around and tried to get an idea of where he was but found it quite difficult to locate any kind of telling landmark. He drank from his beer as he looked up at the dark moonless sky.
"Scared?" Josh asked.
"No just checking out the stars," Dean said swallowing.
"Even when there is a full moon it's easy to get lost in here," Jonah said tossing his empty can on the ground.
"Hey man show some respect," Dean said nodding to the discarded trash.
"What are the ghosts going to get me?" Jonah taunted.
"No but I might," Dean said picking up the can.
"Come on walk with me," Jill said grabbing Dean's hand and tugging him deep into the night.
Dean had no problems following the girl. They wandered until she found a spot under a tree. "I love this place, weird right?" she asked.
Dean shrugged, "to each his own I guess."
"It's just that it is so peaceful and I love history and this place is just full of it. Did you know the oldest grave in here is from 1699?"
"No I didn't know that, any spooky stories?"
"Like what?"
"Hauntings, ghosts you know stuff like that? You said earlier that this place was supposedly haunted."
"Sure aren't all graveyards full of lore? I really don't want to talk right now," she said pulling Dean in for a kiss.
Sam was disgusted, his homework was done, he had even completed some extra credit and there was nothing on TV. He sighed got up and grabbed his jacket and went to the garage pulling out the crappy bike that the previous tenant had left and headed off into the night.
John was frustrated himself as his leads weren't panning out. He had suspected there wasn't much to the haunting story but thought he had better verify it himself before they pulled up stakes. Besides he wanted to give the boys more time in their current school, it wasn't easy for them especially Sam to be constantly uprooted. John knew Sam didn't think he cared about their constantly changing situation and trials but he was wrong the father of two did care; he cared deeply for what his boys went through it was just that hunting was something that just had to come first.
The sky was darker than it had been even 15 minutes earlier. The clouds were moving in and the breeze was picking up. Sam slammed on the brakes as he saw the cemetery up ahead along with a car parked off to the side. He could hear a conversation that sounded like Dean's age group but hadn't heard his brother's voice. Sam dumped the bike behind a tree and went to scout out the area.
Dean and Jill were lip-locked when the wind blew Jill's hair into their faces causing them to come up for air. "Getting chilly," she said.
"Let me warm you up," Dean offered.
John was cursing under his breath as he tripped over an exposed root. It was really dark now and there was just so much to trip over and bump into. He hated to use his flashlight exposing himself to anyone or anything out there but he wasn't going to have a choice if it stayed like it was.
Sam was trying to eavesdrop and find out if his brother was a part of this group or not. Finally he heard his brother's name mentioned but failed to see him anywhere. He decided to go off looking for him figuring he couldn't be far. Looking around trying to get his bearings Sam headed into the cemetery.
Jill pulled away from Dean, "I'm getting the creeps let's go back with the others."
"Don't you trust me to take care of you and protect you?" Dean questioned.
"Of course, cause I'm sure you could battle ghosts with the best of 'em," she teased.
"Actually," Dean began when he was interrupted by a twig breaking.
"Let's go," Jill ordered as she jumped up and began to work her way down the hill.
Jonah and Josh had been in a rock throwing contest had ceased their battle after they had heard what sounded like footsteps.
"What was that?" Josh asked.
"How do I know, let's go check it out," Josh said walking further into the graveyard.
Sam had thought he had heard some movement up in front of him and ducked behind a tree.
Dean was holding Jill's hand and wasn't happy about her reaction to what he felt was absolutely nothing, but as they jogged he thought he saw something up ahead of him. Thinking it was probably Josh or Jonah or both he wasn't too concerned.
John was getting aggravated as he felt as if he had been interrupted. This hunt was going nowhere and he figured he might as well go home and be with the boys.
Dean quickly realized he was completely turned around when the car they had run to was not the one he was looking for and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand hit him in the back.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked.
"Getting out of the house just like you Dean," Sam answered.
"I take it this is your little brother," Jill said holding her arms close to her body to ward off the sudden chill.
"Yeah, how did you get here, was it that stupid bike?"
"Duh, of course it was. How come you ran this way?"
"Cause I thought it was the right way, duh!" Dean snapped.
"Where's our car and Josh and Jonah?" Jill asked with trepidation.
"We'll find 'em," Dean began but was cut short by Sam pointing to a light in the distance.
"Oh my God, one of the legends says the old groundskeeper roams around with a lantern looking for vandals. That's probably him," Jill shrieked.
Before Dean could begin to calm her down she was off like a shot and Dean felt he should follow her. Finally after nearly careening with several headstones, tree roots and other debris Dean caught up to the nervous girl. "Relax your imagination is getting the best of you. We well only get more turned around if you start running around aimlessly."
Sam came huffing up behind them and looked up at the stars as Dean had earlier. "I think it's that way," he pointed.
"I think you're right," Dean agreed.
The trio finally met up with a spooked Jonah and Josh who had spent more time running with their heads turned behind them than looking ahead. "There's something out there, we kept hearing branches snap and funny noises," Jonah said.
"I think you drank too much," Dean commented.
"You guys were drinking?" Sam asked.
"None of your business kid, who are you anyway?" Josh asked.
"Never mind we need to find the gate where the car is parked," Dean said finally getting his bearings. "It's this way," he pointed.
The group with Sam included made it to familiar territory and quickly headed back to where they had each started. Dean was trying to keep Jill calm, as well as Josh on the road. Sam was pedaling like mad in the middle of the street staying aware of all that was around him. Once again his transgression of searching for adventure seemed to lead him right to one.
Dean slammed the door and found Sam in the living room looking shaken. "How did you find me?"
"I wasn't looking for you," Sam lied, "I was just looking for something to do so I rode around and heard those two guys say your name."
"And you couldn't just go back home, I swear Sammy sometimes I just need some room," Dean stated as he heard the Impala pull up outside. "Crap, Dad's home already."
"We're fine, we're where we are supposed to be, but you might want to brush your teeth," Sam advised.
Dean nodded and made his way to the bathroom but not before stopping and turning back to Sam, "remember we've both been here all night."
"I know Dean I'm not an idiot, now go."
John came in with a sigh tossing his bag onto the floor. "Hey kiddo what are you still doing up?"
"It's only 10:30 Dad," Sam said looking at the clock.
"Oh I guess it is, not very late for a Saturday night is it? Where's your brother?" John asked noticing his eldest wasn't around.
"He's here, in the bedroom I think."
John knowing Dean's penchant for sneaking out especially while grounded always had him suspicious. He walked towards the back of the house and was relieved to hear the toilet flush and his son emerge.
"Hey Dad what brings you home so early?"
"Because I came up with a big fat zero that's why; I need to try on a weeknight when there will be less traffic. I'm glad to see you home."
"Of course I'm home where else would I be?" Dean said his voice full of charm.
"Don't push it boy," John warned he knew both boys were home now but he seriously doubted they had been there all night. He loved his boys very much but knew they were far from the precious little rule obeying angels that every parent hoped for.
"The hunt a bust?"
"Hmmfff," John responded.
"I guess that's a yes then," Dean nodded.
"Hmmfff," John said again as he hung up his coat and rubbed his weary eyes.
"So what the hell was all that?" Jonah asked that Monday at school.
"Who knows and who cares," Josh replied as he tossed a French fry towards Dean as they sat around the table in the cafeteria.
"We should check out all the legends about the place," Jill suggested.
"Sure that sounds like a good idea," Dean agreed getting up with Jill.
"Right you just see it as a way to get into her pants," Josh whispered to Dean as he passed by.
Dean shook his head but that wouldn't be a bad side effect to the dilemma if they didn't solve the mystery he thought as he ran to catch up to the pretty brunette.
"So the library has lots on the history of the town," she said pulling a thin book off the shelf.
"Sounds like a good place to start," Dean commented knowing damn well it was the only place to start, if John could see him now.
Several days later Dean thought the whole cemetery ordeal was long forgotten when Jill found him after school. "I've got it, I found why the residents of the bone yard are mad as hell."
"I didn't know they were," Dean responded.
"Well they are and I can tell you why," she said excitedly. "Look here it was reported over a hundred years ago they were selling plots twice, that they were burying people on top of each other."
"What, how does that happen?"
"Records could be easily manipulated and they would take a stone off an old plot and then after the viewing and all they would simply dump the body in the current coffin that by the way was already occupied they would then put the new headstone on and walah."
"Didn't the family of the first person realize their stone was gone?"
"No according to this," she said holding out a book, "they used plots where the families were long gone, plots from a century before. The cemetery goes way back, also it was rumored that they emptied the plots in the paupers field when room was getting short and dumped those bodies who knows where and sold those plots."
"Wow, so there are a lot of lost and crowded ghosts out there."
"Yeah," Jill agreed.
"So now what do we do?" Dean asked smiling.
"Stay out of the graveyard," Jill responded.
"But now it sounds like a very interesting place to go."
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Jill said breathlessly as they climbed another hill in the darkened cemetery their flashlights bobbing in time with the cadence of their motions.
Dean had spent the week trying to get a peek into what John had been working on but came up empty. He couldn't find anything the first few days then when finally there was a hint of paper trail he got busted and John was none too happy about finding his eldest sneaking in his private area.
"And what do you think you're doing?" the father of two asked.
Dean knowing he was in huge trouble only swallowed hard as his mind began spinning trying to come up with something somewhat intelligent to say. "Um I was looking for a pen so I could do my homework."
"Right, how about you get away from my papers, out of my bedroom and into yours for the rest of the night before I lose my temper."
"Yes sir," Dean replied sheepishly as he scurried out of the room.
In the end Dean had no more than what he and Jill had come up with in the library leaving him wondering exactly what John was working on and if it had anything to do with the local cemetery and its past.
"Okay the most affected section is over here," Dean indicated swinging the beam of light to the left.
"So why are we here then?" Jill asked looking as serious as a heart attack that she didn't want to drop dead from that very night.
"Because we might find some answers," Dean said as they continued walking towards what appeared to be fog.
"And why would we want to…." Jill drifted off.
"Why would we want to what?" Dean asked then stopped seeing what had stopped Jill midsentence.
The 'fog' was an area that was light enough to see the surroundings without the aid of the artificial light in their hands which immediately went dead. What lay before the two teens caused them to nearly go limp; it stumped even Dean who had already seen his fair share of oddities and unexplainable anomalies in the world. What they had stumbled upon, what stood right in front of them was a scene from long ago, showing that greed and corruption was not a modern invention.
The two men were unearthing a coffin but not for the same reason that had the Winchesters doing it, this was no help to anybody but their own wallets. The lifeless body or what was left of it was tossed into a small wagon like contraption with other bodies that were falling apart as they were shifted. The headstone was then worked loose and the coffin set on another wagon with the others as the small group headed off into the distance beyond where Dean and Jill could see.
"What and I mean what the hell was that?" Jill shrieked hitting octaves that Dean would have thought impossible.
"I don't know, some kind of space time rip," he suggested.
"What!" Jill asked.
"Maybe it was a loop, sometimes the past is caught in a loop and his repeated regularly, the participants go through their motions having no idea they are visible to anyone or can be seen by another era."
"That makes me feel so much better thank you," Jill snapped. "Let's get the hell out of here I am done researching for the night."
Jill dropped him off with the intent of going home but felt too shaken to go on without him so she took him up on his offer of coming in the rental house for a while.
"What happened?" Sam asked concerned by the pale pallor of Jill's face.
"Ran into something interesting," Dean said as he steered the ashen faced girl to the couch. "Sit here while I get you something to drink."
Sam sat down next to the teen looking at her with sympathy and compassion knowing she must have been witness to some supernatural delight. "I know you're probably thinking that you're crazy and didn't see what you saw, but you did see it."
Jill just turned dumbfounded and with a blank face nodded not questioning how Sam knew what happened. Dean reappeared with a glass of water and set it on the coffee table and then sat down on her other side and motioned for Sam to get lost.
But Sam remained and launched into a bunch of questions. "What was out there? What did you see?"
"Nothing you need to know about," Dean said with a tight face and angry eyes.
"Did you go back to the cemetery?"
Before Dean could answer Jill nodded her head bobbing up and down.
Dean's pathetic attempts to settle Jill down weren't working as she still was shell shocked her eyes huge and her hands shaking.
"Maybe we should call Dad," Sam suggested getting worried.
"Nah she'll be okay we just need to give her some more time."
John stopped at the ancient stone house peering through the windows but seeing nothing. The EMF detector squawked and hummed but John couldn't find the source of the commotion. He knew from the historical records the house had gone unused for over 75 years. It had been the Caretakers house but as the area around it grew it became unmanageable for a single person or family to contend with. There were stories aplenty about the house and tales it held but John felt there was very little truth to them. But after a week of nothing he thought perhaps he should leave no stone unturned so with that in mind he shoved his way through the barricaded door and into a musty room full of cobwebs.
He was still angry at the fact some kids had got in the way of his hunt once again. What was it with people in this town was there just nothing to do that they had to explore the darkest regions of the area. His mind snapped back to the present as he looked around the old home that consisted of a large room that was probably used as the main living and eating area, a small kitchen with an ancient stove and a sink that had a hand pump next to it. There were two small rooms off to the side each with a fireplace that was smaller than the one in the main room. John assumed these had been the bedrooms. Beyond that there was only a root cellar, no bathroom or any other modern conveniences; this place hadn't been kept up to code by any means.
The detector continued to do its dance but John wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary and was getting disgusted with the entire ordeal. He backed out of the house and closed it all up again and began to walk back to the Impala. As he got several yards away he saw a light in the distance and at first thought it was those kids again waving their flashlights around but something about the way it held steady indicated it was something different almost like a lantern. John studied the pattern and decided it couldn't be anything typical, he heard something off to his left and when he turned back the light was gone and the EMF had finally quieted. He threw his hands up in quiet frustration and trudged back to the car.
Sam looked unsure but wasn't able to say any more as John came stomping through door obviously unhappy. Both Winchester sons were stricken mute at the sudden arrival of their patriarch. John was in the process of opening his mouth to vent some of his earlier frustration when he noticed they had company.
"Well hello, who's your friend Dean?" he asked as nicely as he could muster with such short notice.
"Um this is Jill she just stopped by to say hello," Dean lied.
"I see," John said looking at the stricken girl. "Can we talk a minute son?" John asked indicating Dean to follow him into privacy.
Dean got up winked at a nervous Jill and Sam and then tucked his head down and followed his father attempting to prepare some kind of story along the way.
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" John asked in a raised whisper.
"Not really," Dean answered.
"Well do it anyway!"
So Dean began his tale that had John frustrated and his eyes rolling and arms folded in irritation by the end of it. "Not a smart move and I think you already know that which brings me to the question of why, why would you do something so damn stupid?"
Dean merely shrugged. "That's what I thought," John said the disappointment wrapped around every word. "Why don't you drive her home, I'll follow you and we can continue this conversation on the way back."
To be continued.