A/N: And, once again I'm on time haha. I forgot how fun this was. I won't keep you long. Thanks for reading this story and I hope you like this chapter! (Even if nothing too special happens.)
Guest (Linda): I'm so glad you like it! Thank you for reading it haha. Hope you weren't too tired the next day. I'll try to make "Shadow" interesting haha. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Olivia0707: I'm glad you love it! Here you go, one more chapter haha. I hope you like it!
Day 3.
The events of yesterday have led you to consider Matthew Pike as your number one suspect, even if he doesn't really look like a psychotic child with psychic powers over all sorts of bugs — including your most hated enemy, spiders, of all colours, shapes and sizes. This, of course, leads you to find a way to talk to him alone, and the best option you find is going to meet him as soon as school ends.
Dean is driving this time, and he parks the car, waiting for Matt's schoolbus to arrive. It does in no time, and the young boy gets off, crossing the road and heading in an unfamiliar direction. You don't have the best sense of direction in the world, but you do know that the boy is not going home.
Dean seems to notice the same as you do. "Isn't his house that way?" he asks, pointing his finger in the right direction, which also happens to be at the opposite of Matt's current destination.
Sam looks towards where his brother is pointing at and says, "Yep."
"Someone is definitely not going home," you comment. "Does this count as suspicious behaviour?" you wonder.
"Maybe. If his house is in the other direction, where's he going?" Dean asks, and you shrug. Sam opens the car door, and gets out. The older Winchester imitates him, and so do you. You're the last one to get out of the Impala, and you follow the brothers into the woods. Time to be creepy stalkers and follow the boy into the forest.
Jesus Christ, that sounds wrong.
When you catch up with him, Matt has found a new friend: a grasshopper. The two brothers approach him in a rather creepy manner, and you roll your eyes as you follow them. Sam's the one who speaks up, and catches Matt's attention. "Hey, Matt. Remember me?" he asks.
"What are you doin' out here?" the boy asks.
"Well, we wanna talk to you," Dean answers, and you roll your eyes. Can they not act so creepy? They're scaring Mini-Sam you think. Oh well, it's part of the Winchester nature. They can look really fucking creepy if they feel like it.
"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt asks, and Dean shakes his head. What a smart kid, who figured you out already. Definitely smarter than his father — no offence.
You snort. "Please, as if these two had enough money to buy one of your father's luxury homes," you comment. Especially considering the way they earn their money… Although maybe if they hustled pool at every bar in the United States, they'd get enough money to buy one of Larry's houses. That'd be fun to see.
"W—wait. You're not serial killers?" the boy asks. You can't help it — the moment Sam and Dean laugh, you do the same. Mostly because, technically speaking, they are serial killers — they just don't kill humans. Oh well, it's not like you can tell Matt that, so Sam's answer is probably what you should go for.
"No, no. No, I think you're safe," the younger Winchester comments.
"So, Matt... you sure know a lot about insects," Dean starts, his tone slightly accusing. Poor kid. First, he's cornered by creepy looking blokes who claim not to be serial killers, and now he'll be accused of three murders he's probably got nothing to do with. That's no fun.
Matt shrugs. "So?"
"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" Dean continues.
The boy nods, reluctantly. "I hear she died last night," he informs you.
"Mm, that's right. Spider bites," the older Winchester adds. Once again, you're glad you didn't go to Lynda's house with the creepy, murder-y spiders last night. Else you probably wouldn't be in these woods right now, filled with spider-paranoia.
"Matt... you tried to scare her with a spider," Sam reminds him, not bothering to hide the meaning behind his words.
"You sure scared me with it," you mumble, though in the quiet woods, you've no doubt he heard your words. But he's too busy being shocked by the accusation to worry about your not-so-little fright from yesterday afternoon.
"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" he demands, amusement and disbelief in his voice. This is either the moment where he launches a full-bug assault on you, or where he dies of laughter because the option is too ridiculous, even for hunters. Perhaps you shouldn't watch too much television — it's starting to affect your brain.
"You tell us," Dean says, keeping his same suspicious, accusing expression.
"That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy," Matt points out, and he's right. Even if the older Winchester and you saw his bug jar in his lovely, luxurious house, that doesn't mean he was the one responsible for Dustin's death. Or the kaputed-by-bees-bloke before him. The tarantula joke was just a coincidence, or maybe whatever this is took advantage of that joke and made the kill look similar. You don't know, but at this point? Anything's possible.
Sam's surprised at the kid's knowledge on the case and asks, "You know about those?"
"There is somethin' going on here. I don't know what... but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something," he decides, picking up his backpack. The kid walks past Sam and heads deeper into the woods. If you want your answers, you have no choice but to follow him.
And you do want answers.
Sam picks up the pace and walks side by side with Mini-Him while you stay a couple of steps behind with Dean. "So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad?" the younger Winchester asks Matt. "Maybe he could clear everybody out."
The boy replies, "Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me." Ouch. First name basis with the dad. That's not a good sign, you think. Definitely a Mini-Sam.
"Why not?"
"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son," Matt answers, making Sam scoff.
"I hear you," the younger Winchester says, and you know he does. Of course, in a "freak" family like the Winchester one, a "normal" kid like Sam would be considered the "freak". Can't fight the rule of the majority, apparently. Not even in your own family.
"You do?" Dean asks, as though he can't imagine it, but you have to take Sam's side on this one. Even so, you decide to remain quiet and let this unfold, for now. The younger Winchester turns around and gives his brother a look.
"Matt, how old are you?" Sam asks.
"Sixteen."
"Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen," the giant reassures him. You know Dean's not gonna like this, but Matt should hear this, even if it's not the best option he's got. After all, in his case, it's mostly a communication problem. If he could have a nice, honest chat with his dad where neither of them interrupt the other, and they try to understand the other's point of view, this could be fixed easily. If his problem with his father was worse, though, then maybe the college option might not be so bad.
"What?" Matt asks for clarification.
"College," Sam answers, and it's exactly the same advice you expected him to give the kid. "You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad." And, just like you expected, Dean doesn't like that piece of advice.
"What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family," the older Winchester states. Sam glares at him and sighs. You roll your eyes.
"Right, you two, deal with your own daddy issues when we're not working on a case, yeah? Don't project your problems and solutions onto Matt," you order them. Then, you address Mini-Sam, "If you want to run off to uni or stick with your family, that's your choice, mate. Do whatever makes you feel better, and ignore these two idiots."
Now both Sam and Dean glare at you, but you give them both a pointed look. They're not going to win this one. They were projecting, after all. Poor Mini-Sam. "How much further, Matt?" the giant asks after he's finally stopped glaring at you.
"We're close," the kid answers.
You and Dean both receive another glare from Sam before you continue walking and you sigh. What a pair of idiots.
Matt was right.
Not only did you get to your destination soon enough, it also happens to be where all the insects have gone completely bonkers. Either that, or there are simply too many insects and their sounds combined sound to you as though they've gone bananas, even though they might not sound like it to the expert ear.
But then again, you're an expert on computers, not bugs.
"I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class," Matt explains, and his words make Dean and you exchange looks.
"You two are like peas in a pod," the older Winchester tells both Sam and Matt.
You snort. "They even look similar. See why I call him Mini-Sam now?" you ask him, and he nods.
The younger Winchester ignores the two of you completely, and addresses Matt once again, "What's been happening?" That is, after all, what you need to find out so you can figure out a way to solve this case.
"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here," Mini-Sam informs you. So you weren't wrong, and the simple fact that they're all here is completely bonkers. Bonus points for tech girl.
"Why?" Dean asks, expecting an answer from "SpiderBoy".
The only answer he gets, along with a shrug, is, "I don't know."
"What's that?" Sam asks, pointing at a large, circular, dark shape in the grass. It looks as though the earth was dug up and then filled again. You've seen enough of that in TV series, as well as your past months hanging out with the Winchesters.
Matt doesn't know what it is and shrugs. Dean doesn't seem to know either, but is willing to approach. He walks past Sam and Matt and walks towards the dark patch, and the rest of you follow him. There are hundreds of worms in the patch, but fortunately, no spiders. You relax just a little bit.
Carefully, Dean steps on some of the worms, and they all fall down into a hole in the grass. That is definitely strange. Sam and Dean exchange looks, and the latter kneels, to get a better look at the worms and the newly-formed hole in the ground. He grabs a random wooden stick and starts poking at the hole, which would be fun, if these were other circumstances.
That's when he taps on something solid with the stick. He taps delicately a few more times, just to be sure, before he says, "There's somethin' down there." Dean puts the wooden stick down, and mentally prepares himself to retrieve the object with his bare hand. You are so glad you're not the one doing that right now. "Come on, come on," the older Winchester mumbles to himself as he digs deeper.
Finally, he pulls out a skull. It's dirty, and has a few worms running about. That is most definitely not pretty.
"Cute," you comment, ironically. "Now I feel like I'm in Bones."
