Hey guys! Chapter 2 of In Praeteritum is up if you want to check it out!
September 26th, 2008 - Willow Tree Motel
Amy woke up alone a few hours later to the sound of the motel room door opening. Moonlight shone into the room as Sam entered with a solemn look on his face. He didn't say anything as he lay down in the vacant bed.
"What happened?" Amy dared to ask.
"Nothing," was the only reply she got as Sam turned her back to her.
Amy decided not to push the matter further as she closed her eyes once more.
Amy woke up again a few hours later as Dean angrily threw the door open. Sam, who had been sitting at the table by the door, reading, stood up as his brother stormed into the room. Dean didn't say a word as he grabbed his bag and began to pack his stuff.
"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked.
Dean didn't reply as he continued packing.
Sam watched Dean pack for a moment, confusion on his face. "What, are you, are you leaving?" he asked.
"You don't need me," Dean decided. "You and Ruby go fight demons." He looked at Amy. "Pack your stuff."
"Where are we going?" Amy asked meekly.
"Away," Dean replied. "Now pack."
Amy reluctantly grabbed her bag and began putting her belongings into it. Dean grabbed his bag and made his way to the door, only to be blocked by Sam.
"Hold on. Dean, come on, man," Sam said as Dean walked around him.
Without warning, Dean spun around and punched Sam in the face. The force of the punch spun Sam around so his back was to Dean.
"You satisfied?" Sam asked. In response, Dean threw another punch and tossed his bag to the floor.
Amy backed away, trying to get as far away from Sam and Dean as she could.
Sam chuckled as he touched his bleeding lip. "I guess not."
"Do you even know how far off the reservation you've gone?" Dean shouted angrily. "How far from normal? From human?"
"I'm just exorcising demons," Sam tried to explain.
"With your mind!" Dean yelled. His voice got scarily calm. "What else can you do?"
"I can send them back to hell," Sam replied. "It only works with demons, and that's it."
Dean, not accepting the answer given to him, grabbed Sam's shirt and shoved him backwards. "What else can you do?!" he demanded.
"I told you!" Sam insisted as he pushed Dean's hand away.
"And I have every reason in the world to believe that," Dean snapped. He glared at Amy. "Did you know about this?"
"No!" Amy answered honestly. "I must have forgotten about it but I swear I didn't know!"
Dean gave his brother another glare before turning around. "Amy, if you want to come, now's your chance."
Amy grabbed her bag without a word as Dean walked towards the door.
"Look, I should have said something," Sam said to his brother's back.
Dean stopped walking, but didn't turn around.
"I'm sorry, Dean. I am," Sam continued. "But try to see the other side here."
Dean spun back around. "The other side?"
"I'm pulling demons out of innocent people," Sam defended.
"Use the knife!" Dean argued.
"The knife kills the victim!" Sam shouted in protest. "What I do, most of them survive! Look, I've saved more people in the last five months than we save in a year."
"That what Ruby wants you to think?" Dean asked. "Huh? Kind of like the way she tricked you into using your powers?"
Amy looked up at that.
Dean shook his head sadly. "Slippery slope, brother. Just wait and see. Because it's gonna get darker and darker, and God knows where it ends."
"I'm not gonna let it go too far," Sam insisted.
Dean smiled at Sam. He kept that smile on his face as he walked over to the lamp on the table between the two beds and angrily knocked the lamp to the floor, the smile turning into a scowl. "It's already gone too far, Sam," he shouted. "If I didn't know you... I would wanna hunt you."
Sam didn't say anything as he nodded, looking down at the floor.
"And so would other hunters," Dean continued.
Sam looked up at those words. "You were gone. I was here," he said quietly. "I had to keep on fighting without you. And what I'm doing... It works."
"Well, tell me. If it's so terrific," Dean began, "then why'd you lie about it to me?"
Sam looked down, not replying.
"Why did an angel tell me to stop you?" Dean continued.
Sam looked up in surprise. "What?"
"Cas said that if I don't stop you, he will," Dean replied angrily. "See what that means, Sam? That means that God doesn't want you doing this. So, are you just gonna stand there and tell me everything is all good?"
Sam turned his head to the floor as Dean stared at him, waiting for an answer. Amy looked between the brothers as silence filled the room. An eternity seemed to go by before the silence was broken by the sound of Sam's phone ringing on the table behind Amy, who jumped at the noise.
Sam walked past Amy to answer his phone. "Hello?" There was a pause while Sam pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to the speaker on the other end. "Hey, Travis. Yeah, hey." Another pause. "Uh. It's good to hear your voice, too, yeah. Um, look, it's not a really good time right now. It's-" Sam paused again. "Yeah, okay. Uh, well, just give me the details, and, uh.." Sam walked over to the bedside table as he wrote down some information. "Carthage, Missouri. Looking for Jack Montgomery." Sam put down the pen and ended the call. He waved his phone around as he looked over at Dean. "Got us a case."
"Seriously?" Dean asked. "After all that, you 'got us a case'?"
Sam shrugged. "Travis says we should check this guy out. I think we should take it."
Dean sighed at his brother. "Okay, fine. Pack your stuff. We'll head out as soon as everyone's ready."
"Okay, yeah," Sam said as he grabbed his bag.
Within five minutes, they were back in the Impala, on the road.
"Hey, so, uh, while you were...you know," Dean began once their trip to Carthage had started.
"Yeah?" Sam asked.
"Uh, Cas, he showed up. Sent me back to 1973."
"He sent me back too," Amy spoke up. "To 1988."
"Really?" Sam asked. "Why would he do that?"
"Well, he sent me back to, as he said, stop it," Dean replied.
"Stop what?" Sam asked.
Dean paused for a moment before answering. "To stop mom from making the deal."
Sam stared in shock at his brother. "To what?"
Dean sighed. "Yeah, apparently, mom was a hunter before she married dad. Turns out we come from a whole family of hunters. Uh, long story short, Azazel killed dad and mom made a deal to bring him back."
"So, did you?" Sam asked.
"Did I what?"
"Stop her?" Sam clarified. "From making the deal."
"Of course not, man!" Dean practically shouted. "You think we would still have this life if I had actually been able to stop her? Besides, Cas said it was destiny or crap." He looked through the rearview mirror at Amy. "Why'd he send you back though?"
Amy shifted in her seat. "All he said was, I have to know." She shrugged. "Still don't know what he meant by that, but..."
"But what?" Sam asked.
A tear fell from Amy's eye as she thought about the previous night. "I met my parents."
Silence fell from the from the front seat as Sam and Dean exchanged a look.
"You what?" Sam asked.
"I met my parents," Amy repeated sadly. "And my grandparents."
"Are you okay?" Dean asked.
Amy nodded. "I think so." She paused. "Actually, I don't know. My mom was pregnant with me when I met them. It felt so weird. And they were incredibly nice too. I was planning on staying in a motel or something for the night but my mom insisted on letting me stay in the guest room at my grandparents' place, which is how I ended up meeting them."
"Were both your parents hunters?"
"No," Amy replied. "Only my mom was, I think at least one of my grandparents was, but they never said anything so I'm not entirely sure though. My dad knew my mom was a hunter, though."
"Did you tell them who you were?" Sam asked.
"Not at first," Amy admitted. "My mom ended up figuring it out though, and then she told my dad. She caught me singing this song I had known since I was a little kid. I had no idea where I'd first heard it from but it turns out it was a song my mom used to sing to me when I was a baby. Someone wrote it for my grandmother and then my mom sang it for me as a lullaby. I didn't get to spend much time with them though because not long after that, I woke up back in the motel room. Dean was already gone by then."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Dean said. "You weren't there so I figured you were either with Sam or you had just stepped out for a bit."
Sam chuckled slightly. "I can't believe it. Both our moms were hunters."
"I wouldn't have believed mom was one either if I hadn't seen it myself," Dean said with a smile. "That woman could kick some ass. I mean, she almost took me down."
"How'd she look? I mean... was she happy?" Sam asked.
Dean nodded. Yeah, she was awesome. Funny and smart. So hopeful." Dean glanced at Sam for a moment, before turning back to the road. "Dad, too. Until of course..." Dean trailed off.
Sam sighed.
"What?" Dean asked.
Sam looked out his window. "Nothing," he replied. After a moment, though, he turned back to Dean. "It's just our parents," he began, "and now we find out our grandparents too? Our whole family murdered and for what? So Yellow Eyes could get in my nursery and bleed in my mouth?"
Amy and Dean looked over at Sam in confusion. Amy pretty much knew exactly what Sam was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing.
"Sam," Dean finally said, "I never said anything about demon blood."
Sam looked away guiltily.
"You knew about that?" Dean asked, slightly angry.
"Yeah, for about a year," Sam replied, not looking at Dean.
"A whole year?" Dean asked.
"I should have told you," Sam said in defense. "I'm sorry."
"You've been saying that a lot lately, Sam. But whatever," Dean snapped. "You don't want to tell me, you don't have to. It's fine." He turned back to the road, looking dead ahead.
"Dean."
Dean continued staring at the road, ignoring his brother.
Sam sighed. "Whatever."
"So, who's Travis?" Amy asked, trying to break the deafening silence.
"Old hunting buddy," Dean replied. "Used to work with our dad. We haven't seen him since Sam was in high school though." He nudged Sam. "Did he say what was so important about this guy?"
"Just that we needed to check this Jack Montgomery guy out," Sam replied. "Wanted us to tell him if we found anything weird."
"Anything weird?" Amy repeated. "What does that mean? Our kind of weird?"
Sam shrugged. "Guess we'll find out."
Amy shrugged. "Okay then," she said as she put her feet up on the seat next to her and leaned back against the window.
Carthage, Missouri - Rainbow Trout Motel
A couple hours later, they arrived in Carthage Missouri. They checked into Rainbow Trout motel and immediately got to work trying to find Jack Montgomery.
"Pretty sure I found him," Sam said after a few minutes of searching. "Database says there's only one person named Jack Montgomery. He doesn't live too far from here."
Dean nodded. "Alright. We'll go check him out tonight."
Later that night, they headed out to Jack Montgomery's house. Dean parked the Impala across the street from the address Sam had given him and pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking through them.
"What do you see?" Amy asked.
Dean shook his head. "Nothing I would call weird." He put the binoculars down. "Are you sure that's him?"
"Only Jack Montgomery in town," Sam replied.
"And we're looking for..." Dean trailed off, waiting for Sam to answer.
"Travis said to keep an eye out for anything weird," Sam repeated.
"Weird how?" Amy asked.
Dean put the binoculars down. "Yeah, I've seen big weird, little weird, weird with crazy on top. But this guy? I mean, come on, this guy's boring."
"I don't know, Dean. Travis seemed pretty sure," Sam said as he picked up his own pair of binoculars.
"Hey, you got an extra one of those?" Amy asked.
"No, sorry," Dean said, "but you can borrow mine when I'm done with them."
Sam and Dean watched through their binoculars for a few more minutes while Amy tried squinting to get a view herself, before giving up and deciding to wait for someone to hand theirs over to her.
A few short minutes later, Sam and Dean simultaneously lowered their binoculars. Both of them had the same disgusted look on their face.
Amy leaned forward. "What is it? Can I see?"
"I don't think you want to see this," Sam told her.
"Bitch please," Amy protested. "What could be worse than the dead bodies and gore I've already had my fair share of seeing since meeting you guys?"
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Sam said as he reluctantly handed over his binoculars.
Amy put the binoculars to her eyes and looked through the window to the house across the street. Inside the house was a man aggressively eating raw meat, shoving handfuls of it at a time into his mouth. Seeing enough, Amy also lowered the binoculars in disgust.
"Told you. I'd say that qualifies as weird," Sam said.
"Ya think?" Amy asked as she handed Sam his binoculars back.
"Alright, let's get out of here. We'll call Travis when we get back to the motel room."
When they got back to the motel room, Amy got herself ready for bed as Sam called Travis on his cell phone. She was too tired to do much else, so she climbed into bed and set her head on the pillow, quickly falling asleep.
September 27th, 2008 - Rainbow Trout Motel
The next morning, Amy was awoken by a pillow being thrown on her face.
"Get up," Dean told Amy as she groggily sat up. "We're going to the diner down the street for breakfast."
Amy yawned as she stretched her arms. "Okay. Just let me get dressed."
Five minutes later, Amy followed Sam and Dean out of the motel room and down the street to the nearby diner. She yawned as they sat down at a vacant booth, resting her chin on her hand as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"How much sleep did you get last night?" Dean asked.
"Uh," Amy said as she thought for a moment. "I don't know, really. I had a hard time getting to sleep."
They ordered and ate their breakfast. Before long, they were back on their way to the motel room.
Amy followed behind as Sam and Dean led her back up to their room, nearly colliding with Sam as he stopped in the doorway.
"Travis," Amy heard Sam say.
"See, Sam. Told you we should have hid the beer," Dean said.
Amy peered around Sam to see a balding man with a cast on one arm get up from the table and walk over to them.
"Smartass," the man said with a laugh. "Get over here." He pulled Dean into a hug.
"Ahh, good to see you," the man said when they broke apart.
"You too," Dean replied.
The man looked over at Sam, pulling him into a hug as well. "Good to see you."
Sam smiled. "You too, Travis."
Travis and Sam broke apart, and Travis looked Sam up and down. "Man, you got tall, kid," he observed. "How long has it been?"
"Ah, gotta be 10 years," Sam said.
"You still a," Travis thought for a moment, "oh, what was it... a mathlete?"
Sam scoffed. "No."
"Yep, sure is," Dean said at the same time.
Amy let out a small laugh, alerting Travis to her presence.
"Whoa, who's the kid?" Travis asked.
Sam moved to the side so Amy could enter the room. "Travis, this is Amy," he said. "She's family."
Amy waved. "Hey there," she said.
"You a hunter?" Travis asked.
Amy nodded.
"Alright then." Travis turned and walked back into the room as the others followed him in. "Been too long, boys. I mean, look at you. Grown men. John would have been damn proud of you. Sticking together like this."
Dean slapped Sam on the back. "Yeah. Yeah, we're as thick as thieves." He looked over at Sam, whose smile was fading. "Nothing more important than family."
"Sorry I'm late for the dance," Travis said as he sat back down on the table while Sam, Dean, and Amy sat on the bed across from him.
"Thanks for helping out an old man," Travis continued. He pointed to the cast on his arm. "I'm a little, uh, shorthanded."
That last sentence brought a laugh from the other hunters in the room.
"So, you track down Montgomery?" Travis asked.
Sam shifted a little on the bed. "Yeah, we found him at his home."
"And?"
"Well, he had a hell of a case of the munchies," Dean recalled, "topped off with a burger he forgot to cook."
"That's him alright," Travis confirmed.
"What's him?" Dean asked.
"Boys, we got a rougarou on our hands," Travis announced.
"Oh, I've heard of those," Amy recalled.
"A rougarou?" Dean asked. He looked over at Sam. "Is that made up?" He looked back at Travis before Sam could answer. "That sounds made up."
"They're mean, nasty little suckers," Travis told them. "Rotted teeth, wormy skin, the works."
"Well, that ain't this guy," Dean said. "I mean, he was wearing a cellphone on his belt."
"If I remember correctly, rougarous start out human, right?" Amy asked.
Travis nodded. "For all intents and purposes. You ever hunt one before?"
Amy shook her head. "No, but I've heard enough about them."
"So, what?" Sam asked "They go through some kind of metamorphosis?"
Travis nodded. "Yep, like a maggot turning into a bull-fly. But most of all they're hungry."
"Hungry for what?" Dean asked.
"At first, for everything, but then," Travis paused briefly, "for long pig."
"Long pig?" Dean asked.
"Human flesh," Sam and Amy replied simultaneously.
"And that is my word of the day," Dean said pointedly.
"Hunger grows in," Travis continued, "'til they can't fight it. Til they got to take themselves a big, juicy chomp, and then it happens."
"What happens?" Sam asked.
"They transform completely and fast," Travis replied. "One bite's all it takes. Eyes, teeth, skin; all turns. No going back either. They feed once, they're a monster forever. And our man Jack's headed there on a bullet train."
"Well, how'd you find this guy if he's a walking, talking human?" Dean asked.
"Lets just say it runs in his family."
You mean, uh..." Sam trailed off.
Travis nodded. "Killed his daddy back in '78. Son of a bitch mangled eight bodies before I put him down. Guy used to be a dentist. Cadillac, trophy wife... Little did I know, pregnant trophy wife. She put the boy up for adoption. By the time I found out, he was long gone, lost in the system."
"You mean to tell me you couldn't find someone?" Sam asked, chuckling slightly.
Travis sighed. "I'm not sure I wanted to. The idea of hunting down some poor kid... I don't think I'd have the heart. No. I wanted to wait, make damn sure I had the right man. Apparently, I do." He finished by taking a swig of his beer.
"So how do we kill one of these things?" Dean asked.
"Fire," Amy replied, "like Wendigos."
"I've got supplies back at my place," Travis said, standing up. "I'll go ahead and bring them back so we can get everything set up. I'll be back in twenty minutes or so."
As soon as Travis left, Amy flung herself onto her back. "So, now what?"
"I guess now we just wait for Travis to get back," Sam replied. "I'll be back in a bit." Without another word, the youngest Winchester left the room.
Amy sighed out of boredom as she started slowly spinning a pen around in mid-air. "Cool."
Twenty minutes later, Travis returned with a duffle bag. Amy watched as he laid out everything they would need.
"Flamethrowers?" Amy asked, picking up a propane tank.
"Yep." Dean nodded. "Propane tank plus pipe plus lighter equals one barbaqued Rougarou."
"Neat," Amy said, picking up what she needed to make her own flamethrower.
"So fire, huh?" Dean asked as he picked up a few components.
"The only way I found to kill these bastards," Travis said, "deep-fry 'em."
"Well, that's gonna be..." Dean trailed off slightly, "horrible. Is that what you did to Jack's dad?"
Travis nodded. "Uh-huh."
The door opened and Sam walked back into the room, papers in hand. "Not wasting any time, are you?" He asked as he closed the door and
"None to waste," Travis said with a shrug. "The guy hulks out, we won't be finding bodies, just remains."
Sam sat down at the table. "What if he doesn't hulk out?" At Travis's questioning look, he continued. "I did a little homework. Uh, I've been checking out the lore on rougarous."
"What? My thirty years of experience not good enough for you?" Travis asked, a little offended.
"What? No. No, I-I- I just wanted to be prepared," Sam said quickly. "I mean, not that you didn't."
"Sam loves research," Dean cut in. "He does. He keeps it under his mattress right next to his KY. It's a sickness." He looked over at Sam, who was glaring at him. "It is."
"Look, everything you said checked out, of course, but uh," Sam began to flip through the papers he had brought in, "I found a couple of interesting stories about people who have this rougarou gene or whatever. See, they start to turn, but they never take the final step."
"Really?" Dean asked, now interested.
"See, if they never eat human flesh, they don't fully transform," Sam continued.
"So what? Go vegan, stay human?" Dean asked.
"Basically," Sam said with a nod. "Or in this case, eat a lot of raw meat, just not..."
"Long pig," Dean and Amy said simultaneously.
"Right."
Dean smiled a little at that.
"Good on you for the due diligence, Sam," Travis said as he stood up. "But those are fairy tales." He walked over to the pantry and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Fact is, every rougarou I ever saw or heard of... took that bite."
"Okay, well, that doesn't mean that Jack will," Sam argued, standing up. Seeing this, Dean stood up as well.
"So what do we do?" Travis asked. "Sit and hope and wait for a body count?"
"No, we talk to him," Sam suggested. "Explain what's happening. That way he can fight it."
"Fight it?" Travis gave a slight laugh. "Are you kidding me? You ever been really hungry? I mean, haven't-eaten-in-days hungry?"
"Yeah," Dean answered.
Travis nodded. "Yeah. Right then. So somebody slaps a big, juicy sirloin in front of you, you walking away?"
Dean looked thoughtful for a second before giving a look which Amy took as "no."
"That's what we are to him now, meat on legs." Travis shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he's a stand-up guy, but it's pure, base instinct. Everything in nature's gotta eat. You think he can stop himself 'cause he's nice?"
"I don't know," Sam said firmly. "But we're not gonna kill him unless he does something to get killed for."
Silence filled the room as Sam took a few deep breaths before walking back out.
"What's up with your brother?" Travis asked.
"Don't get me started," Dean replied as he watched the door.
"Something up between you two," Travis asked.
"It's complicated," Dean replied, taking a swig of beer.
A moment later, the door reopened. "Amy, Dean, let's get going."
"Where are we going?" Amy asked.
"We're gonna go talk to Jack," Sam replied.
"Seriously?" Travis asked. "That's not gonna work."
"Maybe it won't, maybe it will," Sam said sternly. "But we won't know if we don't try."
Casting a quick glance at Dean, Amy clambered off the bed and followed the Winchester brothers out of the motel room.
They drove towards Jack's house in silence. Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was broken by Dean.
"All right, so we're gonna go have a little chat with this guy which, you know... I'm down." He looked over at Sam, who was staring straight out the front windshield. "But I just want to make sure, if push comes, you're gonna shove."
Sam finally looked over at his brother. "Meaning?"
"Well, odds are we're gonna have to burn this guy alive."
"This guy has a name and a wife," Sam spat.
"Yeah, who we're probably gonna make a widow, okay?" Dean acknowledged. "I mean, you heard Travis. He's gonna turn. They always turn."
"Well, maybe he won't. Maybe he can fight it off," Sam argued, his voice growing louder.
"And maybe he can't, that's all I'm saying," Dean argued back.
"All right," Sam huffed, "we'll just have to see then, okay?"
Dean cast a glance at his brother and scoffed. "This is what I mean, Sam. You sure your emotions aren't getting in the way here?"
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.
'Don't say it Dean,' Amy thought. 'Don't say it.'
"You know, nice dude, but he's got something evil inside. Something in his blood." Dean looked over at Sam. "Maybe you can relate."
Sam's face started to grow red with anger. "Stop the car," he hissed.
"What?" Dean asked.
"Stop the car or I will!" Sam shouted angrily.
Dean acknowledged, pulling the Impala onto the side of the road. Sam got out before the car had even stopped. Pulling the keys out of the ignition, Dean got out as well, walking around to the passenger side.
"You want to know why I've been lying to you, Dean?" Sam asked as he slammed his door closed and turned to face his brother. "Because of crap like this."
Their voices were muffled slightly and Amy had to strain to make out much of what they were saying.
"Like what?" Dean asked.
"The way you talk to me, the way you look at me like I'm a freak!" Sam yelled.
"I do not," Dean denied as Sam walked past him.
"You know, or even worse, like I'm an idiot!" Sam snapped, spinning back around to face Dean again. He took a few steps forward, getting in Dean's face. "Like I don't know the difference between right and wrong!"
Sam turned his back to Dean and took a few steps away. Finally stopping, he turned back to Dean, who had been watching him, not saying a word. When Sam turned to face him again, Dean averted his gaze downward.
"What?" Sam questioned.
Dean looked back up. "Do you know the difference, Sam?" he asked angrily, almost too quiet for Amy to hear. "I mean, you've been kind of strolling a dark road lately."
"You have no idea what I'm going through," Sam yelled. "None."
"Then enlighten me!" Dean snapped.
"I've got demon blood in me, Dean!" Sam shouted, throwing his hands up. "This disease pumping through my veins, and I can't ever rip it out or scrub it clean! I'm a whole new level of freak! And I'm just trying to take this - this curse... and make something good out of it. Because I have to." He dropped his gaze to the ground.
"Let's just go talk to the guy," Dean replied after a few seconds.
Sam scoffed.
"I mean Jack. Okay?" Dean added.
After a moment, Sam gave a small nod and the two of them got back into the car. Dean started the engine back up and they took off back down the road.
The rest of the drive was almost completely silent but it was obvious that Sam and Dean were still angry. Dean would brake harshly and Sam glared out the window the entire drive. Before too long, they arrived at the Montgomery residence.
Jack could be seen in the backyard, so Dean led Amy and Sam to the gate, opening it up to let them through. Jack was standing in front of a flower patch, holding a hose still as water flooded around his feet.
"Maybe you should take this," Dean told Amy.
"Me?" Amy asked. "Why?"
"Because you seem to know more about these things than we do," Sam replied. "Maybe you'll have better luck explaining all of this to Jack."
"Um, okay, I guess," Amy said with uncertainty.
The three hunters began to approach the man. "Jack Montgomery?"
Jack didn't reply and Sam continued.
"I'm Sam Winchester. This is my brother; Dean. And this is Amy."
Jack finally seemed to acknowledge their existence as he turned to face them.
"We need to talk."
Jack looked at Sam, then at Dean, and finally to Amy. He turned back to Sam. "About?"
"About you. About how you're changing," Sam replied.
"Excuse me?" Jack asked, a little offended.
Dean nudged Amy. "You're up, kiddo."
Amy sighed. "Okay. Jack, have you noticed lately that you're hungry. Like, really really hungry? Hungry for just about anything you can get your hands on. Even things like raw meat?"
"Who the hell are you guys?" Jack asked.
"We're people who know a little something about something," Dean answered.
"We're people who can help. Please, just hear us out," Sam pleaded.
"There are things out there," Amy began, "that aren't exactly human. Monsters, supernatural creatures. One of these things is something called a rougarou."
"A-a what?" Jack asked, flabbergasted.
"A rougarou," Dean repeated. "Sounds made-up, I know, but believe me, it's not."
"They start out looking human," Amy continued. "But then, somewhere along the line, they start to go through a sort of metamorphosis. You might have noticed your bones start to shift under your skin or your appetite reach some really high levels?"
"Alright, I've noticed certain things," Jack acknowledged. "I mean, some strange things. But I just, I-I don't know. I'm.. I'm sick or something."
"Your father was one of these things," Sam informed the man.
At this, Jack turned around to face Sam.
"Your real father," Sam continued. "He passed it on to you."
Jack shook his head. "No. Are-are you guys listening to yourselves? You s-sound like you're-"
"Crazy, yeah, we know," Amy interrupted.
"You're hungry, Jack," Dean replied. "You're only gonna get hungrier."
"Hungrier for?"
"Long pig," Dean said, smiling at his new knowledge of the word. "You know, a little man burger helper, may have crossed your mind already."
Jack shook his head. "No."
"It doesn't have to be like this, Jack," Sam said. "You can fight it off."
"No," Jack repeated.
"Others have."
"We're not gonna lie to you, though," Dean added. "It's not gonna be easy. You're gonna feel like an alcoholic swimming around in whiskey. But I'm telling you. You gotta say no... or-"
"Or what?" Jack asked, cutting Dean off.
"You feed once, and it's all over," Sam said. "And then we'll have to stop you."
"Stop me?" Jack repeated. "My dad, did uh, somebody stop him?"
"Yes," Sam admitted.
Jack began glaring daggers at the hunters. "Get off my property right now," he ordered, pointing at the gate. "I see you guys again, I'm calling the cops."
"Jack, your wife, everybody you know, they're in danger," Sam pleaded.
"Now!" Jack shouted.
Jack's neighbor, who had been cutting a bush, looked over at the sound of Jack's outburst. Sam waved meekly at him before leading Amy and Dean out of the backyard.
"Good talk," Dean muttered as they walked back to the car.
"I just wish I could have done more to help," Amy admitted sadly.
"No, no, you did everything you could have," Sam assured her.
"So, now what?" Amy asked.
"Now we wait," Dean replied. "Keep an eye on Jack, make sure he doesn't help himself to a little man burger."
Later that night, the three hunters were staked out in the Impala. They had been following Jack around all evening, finally catching up to him across the street from an apartment complex. They sat in the car, watching Jack as he sat on a bench across the street from them, listening to something on his phone.
Jack hung up his phone and put it into his pocket. He looked up at the apartment complex across the street, where a woman was standing near a window with open curtains. Jack stared at the woman for a moment, before sprinting across the street towards the building.
"Damn it. Jack. No," Sam hissed as Jack sprinted across the street.
Sam, Dean, and Amy all hopped out of the car, grabbing their flamethrowers.
"Come on," Dean said as he led them across the street.
The three hunters quickly ran into the apartment building after Jack. Sam led them up the stairs as them to the apartment Jack had run towards. Amy stood behind them as the Winchesters kicked the door down and ran inside.
Instead of Jack, they instead met the woman who was entering the living room just as the door was kicked down.
"Wait!" Dean yelled as the woman screamed and backed out of the room.
The woman slammed the door to her bedroom closed as Dean looked around, confused. "Whoa, uh, we're here to save you, I guess."
"I'm calling the police!" the woman yelled through the door.
"We should go," Sam said nervously.
"Yeah," Dean agreed.
They quickly hurried out, closing the door on the way out.
"Well, that went well," Amy said as they made their way back to the car.
"Yeah," Dean agreed. "But that begs the question," he opened the trunk of the Impala, "where's Jack?"
Dean drove them back to the motel, leading Sam and Amy up to the room.
"Hey Travis?" Sam called out as Dean opened the door.
The motel room was empty.
"Where'd he go?" Amy wondered aloud as she looked around the room.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Sam said.
"Alright, everyone back in the car," Dean ordered.
Without another word, Sam and Amy followed Dean back to the Impala.
Dean sped down the street towards the Montgomery residence. He parked the Impala in front of the house, and everyone got out, flamethrowers in hand.
"I guess now we know where Travis is," Dean said, pointing to a car on the other side of the street.
"That stupid son of a bitch," Sam muttered as they began walking to the house.
The three hunters made their way up the porch steps. Dean slowly pushed the door open, leading Sam and Amy into the house. A chair was lying sideways on the floor in the living room.
"Oh god," Amy groaned as she looked down to see a huge pool of blood soaked up in the carpet.
A trail led from the pool of blood to behind the couch. Sharing a look, Sam, Dean, and Amy cautiously made their way to the back of the couch, following the trail. Behind the couch was a small piece of meat.
"Oh, God," Dean said in disgust. "Think that's Travis?"
Sam sighed. "What's left of him." He looked down, devastated. "Guess you were right about Jack."
Without any warning, Amy was suddenly pushed forward by Jack, who jumped him from behind.
"Amy!" Sam and Dean shouted as Jack and Amy slammed into the coffee table.
Amy groaned as she struggled to stay awake. Glass surrounded her around the floor and her head was pounding. She heard movement behind her and the clicking of a lighter, before a loud thud against the wall, then silence. Finally giving in, Amy collapsed, her vision going black.
"He didn't say."
That was the first thing Amy heard from Jack as she started to drift out of unconsciousness.
"I guess psychopaths don't have to explain themselves," Jack continued.
"Listen to me. You gotta believe me," Sam shouted. His voice sounded muffled, like he was in another room. Amy tried to move, but every part of her hurt too much to do so.
"Listen to us, Jack," Dean said, his voice also muffled.
"My brother and I, we never would have hurt her, okay?" Sam continued.
Amy shuddered slightly as Jack dipped a finger in a pool of blood near her head.
"Oh, God. I'm so hungry," Jack moaned.
"Jack, don't do this," Sam pleaded.
"I can't ever see my family again," Jack said. "You three... your friend. You made me into this!"
"No one's making you kill us," Sam said. "Listen to me."
Silence filled the room for a moment before Sam continued speaking.
"You got this dark pit inside you. I know. Believe me, I know. But that doesn't mean you have to fall into it. You don't have to be a monster.
Jack began to laugh. "Have you seen me lately?"
"It doesn't matter what you are," Sam told Jack. "It only matters what you do. It's your choice."
Jack began to grunt in pain. Amy felt a hand on her shoulder. She began to slowly turn around, just in time to see Jack's open mouth moving towards her. Just before his mouth reached her head, the closet door behind Jack slammed open.
"Jack!" Dean shouted.
Amy quickly backed away as Jack spun around to see Sam and Dean standing with flamethrowers in their hands. Jack sat there for a moment, staring at the brothers, before lunging at Sam. Amy quickly shielded her eyes as Sam flicked his lighter and held it up to the flamethrower, torching Jack to a crisp.
Amy groaned as the pain in her head began to catch up to her. She looked up at Sam, who looked defeated.
"Come on, kiddo," Dean said as he helped Amy up. "You okay?"
"My head is pounding," Amy replied, holding the back of her head.
Dean pushed her hair back. "We can get this cleaned up back at the motel room."
Sam followed behind as Dean helped Amy back out to the car. No one said much as they tossed the flamethrowers into the trunk and got into the car.
Amy climbed into the back seat, resting her head on the window.
"Hey, try to stay awake until we get to the motel room, okay?" Dean asked as Amy began to close her eyes.
"But I'm tired," Amy said sleepily.
"I know," Dean said with a nod. "But we need you to keep your eyes open, alright?"
Amy sighed. "I'll try."
Dean looked over at his brother. "You did the right thing, you know," he said. "That guy was a monster, there was no going back."
Sam lowered his head, not responding to his brother.
"Sam, I wanna tell you, I'm sorry," Dean began. "I've been kind of hard on you lately."
Sam lifted his head up, looking almost broken. "Don't worry about it, Dean."
"It's just that your, uh, your psychic thing, it scares the crap out of me," Dean admitted.
"Look, if it's all the same," Sam said, cutting Dean off. "I'd really rather not talk about it."
A small smile played out over Dean's lips. "Wait a minute. What? You don't want to talk? You?" he joked.
Sam didn't smile back. "There's nothing more to say," he said with a shrug. "I can't keep explaining myself to you. I can't make you understand."
"Why don't you try?" Dean urged.
Sam sighed. "I can't. Because this thing, this blood, it's not in you the way it's in me. It's just something I got to deal with."
"Not alone," Dean said.
Sam sighed as he looked out the window. He was silent for a moment before replying. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. These powers... it's playing with fire. I'm done with them."
Dean looked over at that.
"I'm done with everything," Sam continued.
"Really?" Dean asked, almost hopeful.
Sam stared out the window, now replying.
"Well, that's a relief," Dean said as he turned back to the road. "Thank you."
Sam scoffed as he turned to face Dean. "Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. Or for the angels or for anybody. This is my choice," he said firmly.
Dean drove them back to the motel, helping Amy up the stairs to the room. Sam promptly collapsed on the bed the moment they walked through the door.
"Alright, stay there," Dean said as he sat Amy on the bed. "Does your head still hurt?"
"A little," Amy replied, "but not as much."
"Alright, that's good," Dean said. "Hold on, I'll get something to clean up that wound."
Dean disappeared into the bathroom, reemerging a moment later with a first-aid kit. He opened it up, taking out a gauze pad.
"Hold this on the wound," he instructed.
Amy obliged, holding the gauze to the bleeding wound.
"Alright, hold that there for a few minutes and then we'll check on it," Dean told her. He looked over at Sam, who had fallen asleep on the bed, watching him for a few minutes.
Dean cleaned Amy's head wound up. It wasn't bad enough to need stitches, so he only needed to clean the blood up and make sure it actually stopped bleeding.
"That should be good," Dean said after he was finished. "How you feeling?"
"Fine," Amy replied.
"Good," Dean said with a nod. "Get some sleep, then. We'll head out of here in the morning."
Amy yawned. "Sure thing, Dean-o."
After changing out of her jeans and t-shirt and into something more comfortable, Amy climbed into her bed, lying her head down on the pillow and finally drifting off to sleep.