Sam smells sad.
I can smell him een before me and the Boss pull up and park.
There's badness in the air too. Smells like red pepper and burnt matches. I got a nose full of pepper one time. This smells worse.
I pull back, and the Boss looks at me all sharp when I growl a little. He gives me this short nod.
Time to go to work.
I jump into the back seat, then out the rear window. The door to the room's open, so I head right for it. Hey, why not? We came all the way out here for a visit.
Kid's looking like he's thinking to himself, "Why did you bring the damn dog?" but they do that hug thing humans do instead when the Boss gets out of the car. Sam sounds rough, like he's been crying. My nose fills up with all the scents in the air and I know what I'm gonna see even before I walk through the door.
The humans can't see it. That's what they got me around for. I stand there for a moment staring before I walk in all the way. Got my ears flat against my head and my hackles are raised up. I don't like what I see.
Sam had to tie his brother down.
I hate ropes. That's one of the first things the Boss learned when he met me.
Dean's got them around his arms and legs. He can't move, and maybe that's a good thing. He looks bad. Dark circles under his eyes. He smells hot and cold at the same time, and I can tell that thing's been touching him, because I can smell it all over him. He's weak, and I don't like that.
Not one damn bit.
The thing in the air all around him is hard to see. It's moving around like one of those biting flies in summertime. I hate those things almost as much as I hate cats.
And ropes.
You ever see something out of the corner of your eye, and it was moving real fast, and it was making some kind of sound that sounded like talking, only real fast? You didn't know what it was, and it scared you?
You probably saw something like this.
And then you told yourself there was no such thing.
I walk over to the bed, sit down, look over my shoulder at the Boss. That's my signal to him. He gets it.
Another nod from him, and I'm up on the bed. Sam tries to stop me and the Boss grabs him by his arm. The thing buzzes by my head, just like one'a those damn flies. It's pissed, but it ain't half as mad as I am. Nobody hurts my pack.
Nobody.
I snap at it as it buzzes around us. I catch the end of it in my teeth and it tastes nasty, slick and rotten. I let go just as it turns and gives me a good lick across my muzzle. Doesn't hurt much. I lay down next to the kid, put my head on his chest. He looks at me, all dull and sick, and he smiles a little.
"...guh...good…dog…"
Hey, my tail wags a little when he says that. It's always nice to hear.
When I first came to live with the Boss I didn't understand about the special water he'd use to give me a bath. He called it holy water, and I used to wonder how water could have holes in it, but now I know I was wrong about that.
He put these shiny things on my collar, and I didn't understand that either at first. Told me he didn't want me to end up like the dog before me. Told me I had protection now.
Remember I told you before that sometimes things pass through the yard? Well, they don't seem to like the tags on my collar, so they stay away from me.
Don't exactly know what protection is, but if it came from the Boss, then it's got to be a good thing. As as long as I'm near the Dean kid like this, he's got it too, and that's good enough for me.
Next: Bobby