Chapter 26

The night air was comfortable and Dean looked up at the stars that sparkled on a sea of ebony. He huffed out a long breath trying to decide what to make of Mason. He was trying to make up his mind if they could trust him or not, or was he just stringing them alone until he could decide what to do with them. After getting comfortable in a lounge chair, Dean continued to study the stars and let his mind wander as a mist seemed to cloud it. He yawned and felt a heaviness in his body thinking maybe he should turn in. He thought it had to do with his injuries and his body healing. With that thought, he pushed himself up from the chair and made his way inside. Dean looked around when he got back inside and saw stairs leading to the second floor and started up them. The stairs opened up onto a landing and he saw doors along one side. Dean stopped at one of the doors when he heard his brother's voice coming from the room.

"The young wolf pup looked up at the moon wondering if his parents were doing the same..." Sam read, looking up when he saw the shadow in the doorway. He continued to read as Dean leaned against the doorframe listening to him. Sam yawned widely and looked down seeing Grey was asleep curled up with a stuffed animal. He dislodged himself from the child's grip and eased off the bed to join his brother. "Ready for bed?"

"Yeah, I am feeling tired." Dean agreed letting Sam lead them to another bedroom down the hall that had twin beds in it. He took the one closest to the door like always and sat down to remove his boots. "Do you feel funny Sam?" Dean asked when he seemed lightheaded and a little disoriented.

"Tired for sure, why?" Sam asked slipping off his boots too and looking over at his brother's prone body.

"I don't know..." he sighed laying down and covering his face with an arm as his body seemed to have a mind of its own. He couldn't stop his mind from slipping over the edge and plunging into the abyss.

Sam had barely closed his eyes when he was sucked into the darkness as his mind shut down. He lay unmoving on the bed unaware of the eyes gazing in watching them.

spn

Dean rolled over in bed and moaned when he realized the pounding was in his own head and not a dream after all. He wet his dry lips and cleared his throat that felt like sandpaper. It took a lot of effort for him to get his eyes open enough to see Sam splayed out in the bed across from him.

"S'my..." he croaked out barely loud enough for him to hear. He coughed and tried again, "S'm..." he said a little louder trying to get his attention.

Sam moved slightly in the other bed as he groaned and wiped his face with a trembling hand and tried to open his eyes. It took him a few seconds to get his leaden eyes to respond and got them open enough to see Dean lying across from him. It took all the energy he had to push himself to a sitting position on the side of the bed as the room tilted sideways. Sam was able to see enough to spot two bottles of water on the nightstand and took one to toss at Dean while taking the other for himself. He finally got the bottle open and gulped a huge swallow.

Dean felt something land by his arm and worked a hand around to find it. He got the cap off and poured it toward his mouth. Some of it went in his mouth and the rest ran down his face onto the bed. Dean swallowed quickly letting the water dampen his arid throat and mouth before trying again.

"Hell...Where are we?" Dean asked sitting up and rubbing his eyes to clear his vision. Even with blurry vision, Dean could tell he was not where he had gone to sleep at last night. Everything was different about the room from the beds to the color of the walls to a flat screen television sitting on a dresser.

"Wha'?" Sam mumbled as he sipped some more water with his eyes still closed. He rubbed at his temples as a steady ache in his head continued to annoy him. He squinted hard and drew in long breaths while he got his body woke up.

"Sammy, we're not in Kansas anymore." Dean said stumbling from his bed to the door and opening it to be blinded by the bright light. After his eyes finally adjusted, he saw his Baby parked outside the door in a motel parking lot. The sun was fully up and traffic was moving at a steady pace on the road out front.

"Dean...I didn't dream what happened to us did I?" Sam asked cautiously.

"Only if I had the same crazy dream dude."

"This card says we're in Beulah, North Dakota." Sam said holding up a motel postcard. "Our things are here too." he added seeing their duffels.

"Weapons?"

"Yep, they're here in our duffels." he said looking inside the bags.

"He drugged our drinks last night, didn't he?" Dean growled madly. "My mouth tastes like crap. What time is it anyway?"

"After ten; what do you wanna do?" he asked sitting back down on the bed when his legs began to tremble under him.

"Well...There's no way we'd ever find that place again and he did let us go unharmed. I say let's checkout and head home. The job's over with as far as I'm concerned." Dean answered looking around when a cell started ringing. He finally spotted his jacket on a chair and went to retrieve it to dig his cell out. "Hello."

"It's 'bout damn time one of you idjits answered yer freakin' phone." a gruff, male voice growled out at him. "You trying to give me a heart attack boy?"

"Bobby..." Dean said looking over at Sam with a slightly frightened look.

Sam had found his jacket and cell and checked to see the number of missed calls and voicemails from Bobby. He looked back up at Dean with an 'I don't know what to do,' look.

"Well?" Bobby questioned in an irritated voice.

"Long story that I'd rather not get into over the phone." Dean sighed.

"Are you two alright?" he asked in a more subtle tone.

"Yeah we are. Look, you caught us leaving the motel now. We'll come over when we get back and tell you what happened."

"You do that son, just be careful."

"Will do Bobby. See ya soon." Dean said ending the call and looking over at Sam. "So you ready to go?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me. Think we can get something to eat soon?"

"That does sound good." Dean said sitting down to put on his boots that were placed neatly by his bed.

"Guess it wasn't a dream..." Sam said pulling out a small book from his pack and looking at it. It was the one he read to Grey last night before going to bed and smiled as he opened it up to the front page. Hand written in a child's scrawl on the page in marker was 'I'll miss you. Your friend, Grey'. Sam smiled warmly and tucked it back into his bag. He looked around to be sure there wasn't anything else left lying around before zipping up his duffle to leave.

"Let's get out of here." Dean nodded picking up his duffel and headed for the door with Sam close behind him. Neither liked being in a place that they didn't choose because they felt vulnerable and exposed. Dean found the keys for his Baby in his jacket pocket and opened the trunk so they could drop their duffels in it. Dean went around to the driver's door and unlocked to get in. He paused and looked at two paper bags sitting in the seat, frowning in puzzlement.

"What is it?" Sam asked from the other side of the car, waiting for Dean to unlock his door. He bent down and looked through the side window to see the bags too. "What's that?"

"Don't know check and see." Dean grunted moving them over so he could get in and reach over to unlock the other door for Sam.

Sam slid inside and pulled the top of one of the bags open to look in it before lifting a bottle of Jack Daniels from it and looked at it. "At least it's your brand." Sam shrugged, letting it fall back into the bag. He saw a small wooden box beside the whiskey bottle and snaked his hand deeper into the bag to pull it out. It was a simple handmade box that had been polished to a shiny sheen with a symbol carved into the top of it.

"He's got good taste." Dean replied, cranking up the Impala and pulling away from the motel. "What's that?" he asked seeing Sam had something else in his hand.

"A wooden box..." he said carefully prying the lid off to look inside. Cushioned in cotton to prevent breakage were two vials of a creamy, white tinted solution. Sam saw a piece of paper stuck in the lid and pulled it free and opened it up. "Holy crap!" he hissed after reading the note.

"Don't leave me in suspense here, what is it?" Dean insisted giving his brother a quick glance before turning back to the road.

"This..." Sam said holding up one of the vials. "Will cure a werewolf bite. Mason says it has to be administered before the bitten person feeds and they will be cured. He even gave us the recipe to make more." he said looking up at his brother. "He says he hopes we never have to use it."

"You're kidding me right?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"He says to inject half a vial into the person and they'll be cured, but it will be painful."

"Whatever you do don't drop it Sammy." Dean cautioned as Sam carefully put the vial back into the cotton and put the lid back on the box.

"I can't believe that he gave us a cure." Sam mumbled holding the box reverently between his hands. "I'll put it in the glove box for now until we get home."

"Guess he was an okay guy after all." Dean mumbled checking traffic as he started picking up speed. He decided to get away from the area before stopping to eat just to be on the safe side. He might even drive straight through with Sam's help, thinking home was really calling him back. There was so much information to sort through and digest and just unwind. At first, Dean thought he would feel uncomfortable staying in the house, but now it felt like his refuge, his quiet place, his safe place. It still held fond memories of his time with Everlee and he didn't want to forget them.

"Seems Olivia added her good-bye with a pie." Sam smiled after he looked in the other bag.

"I knew there was a reason I liked her."

"Who wouldn't?" Sam asked settling down for the drive ahead.

"We'll stop an' eat once we've put some miles between us an' this place." Dean commented.

"I agree." Sam said casting a glance around the area as they drove away from it. "Think we'll run across Mason's clan again?"

"No telling. To have stayed hidden this long speaks volumes. They're not hurting anyone so I see no reason to bother them even if we knew where they were."

"Did you believe him about there being other clans like his?"

"He really didn't have any reason to lie. He told us about meeting Dad and didn't have to. I think they want to be left alone to live their lives like anyone does."

"You're right. I'm gonna miss the little ones...They were really no different from any other kids."

"I noticed the smallest one latched on to you pretty quickly." Dean chuckled.

"He did didn't he." Sam laughed too. "Grey reminded me of Kees."

"By the time we get back it'll be late, so I figured we'd get some sleep and go see Bobby in the morning."

"Sounds good, maybe I'll call and see if I can see Kees tomorrow afternoon." Sam said looking out the side window deep in thought.

Dean didn't say anything as he looked over at his brother. He heard the change in his voice when he mentioned the baby boy they had found it their car coming back from their last hunt. Maybe Jody would have some good news for them about her petition to adopt the baby if the parents or a relative couldn't be found.

A/N: So this hunt is over and the boys are heading home. Hope you enjoyed it and will stay around for the next one. I'm not getting many reviews, but I hope there is still an interest in the story. If you do have a moment, please leave me a review. NC