March 23rd – March 26th, 2006
"Whatcha reading?" I asked, leaning over, and resting my head on Sam's shoulder.
We were sitting on the hood of the Impala, waiting for Dean to come back from hustling pool in the bar we were parked in front of.
"This man died of human mad cow disease. Something seems off about it," Sam said.
"Why?" I asked, "I mean, it may not be the most common thing, but it does happen, right?"
"Yeah, but this guy's symptoms appeared and killed him within an hour," Sam said, looking down at me.
I sat up. "Oh, wow. That could definitely be a case."
Dean came out of the bar and shook money at us with a proud smile on his face.
"Ya know, we could get day jobs once in a while," Sam said, annoyed.
"Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap," Dean responded while counting the money.
"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean," Sam said, still frustrated.
Dean held out his hands. "Well, let's see honest." He shook one hand. "Fun and easy." He shook the other hand, acting as though it was much heavier. "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."
"Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked." Sam laughed.
"Yeah, says you. We got a new gig or what?" Dean asked, going back to counting the money.
Sam stood up. "Maybe. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma... not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."
"Huh?" Dean asked, confused.
"Human mad cow disease," I said.
"What? How did you know that?" Dean asked.
"I just know things," I said, then looked at Sam, who winked at me and smirked.
Dean shrugged and thought for a second. "Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?"
I nodded. "Yeah, it was."
Sam looked at us, confused. "You guys watch Oprah?"
Dean and I looked at each other. He shook his head at me slightly, not wanting me to say anything. He was weird about Sam finding out that we watch 'chick flick' type movies and shows together. Dean's favorite to watch was Dr. Sexy M.D., my favorites were Desperate Housewives and The Golden Girls, and we both really enjoyed watching Friends. We really did watch almost any that could be named, but Sam and Dad didn't know. It was a fun little thing we kept to ourselves, but Dean was always worried we would get caught.
Dean cleared his throat and looked back at Sam. "So, this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?"
"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less," Sam explained.
"Okay, that's weird," Dean agreed.
"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be something much nastier," Sam said.
"All right. Oklahoma." Dean sighed, and we all got into the car. "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money."
Dean parked the car in front of a big warehouse with a sign on the front that read, Oklahoma Gas & Power Co. We got out and walked up to a man placing paperwork on the hood of a company truck.
"Travis Weaver?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, that's right," the man said, looking slightly confused.
"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked.
"Dustin never mentioned being an uncle," Travis said, eyeing each of us.
"Really? Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest," Dean said.
"Yeah," Sam said, and I nodded in agreement.
Travis smiled. "Oh, he did? Huh."
"Listen, we wanted to ask you... what exactly happened out there?" Dean asked.
"I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole. I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back—" Travis paused and looked down at me, clearly uncomfortable.
"What did you see?" Dean asked, urging him to continue.
"Nothin'. Just Dustin," Travis said, looking down at me again.
"No wounds or anything?" Dean asked.
It was clear that Travis didn't want to answer that question, he kept looking at me like he thought I couldn't handle what he was about to say. Dean covered my ears and urged Travis to continue.
Travis started talking again, even though I could still hear. "Well, he was bleeding... from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it."
Dean removed his hands. "So, you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?"
"I don't know." Travis shrugged sadly. "That's what the doctors are sayin'."
"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Sam asked.
"No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?" Travis looked confused.
"That's a good question," Dean said.
"Ya know, can you tell us where this happened?" Sam asked.
"Yeah." Travis turned and opened his door.
He handed Dean some papers and explained how to get to the location.
We drove into a housing development. The houses were still being built, and there were construction workers everywhere. Dean turned the corner, and we passed a big sign that said, Luxury Homes, Oasis Plains Estates. Dean kept driving until we drove passed a house with a small sinkhole surrounded by police tape in front of it. We parked and walked over to the sinkhole.
"Huh. What do you think?" Dean asked, ducking under the police tape.
"I don't know. But if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast," Sam said, ducking under the tape as well.
I followed along and looked down into the sinkhole.
Dean pulled me away from the hole. "So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?"
"No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this thing worked from the inside." Sam shook his head and crouched down to look into the hole.
Dean crouched down as well and shined his flashlight into the hole. "Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. You wanna flip a coin?"
Sam stood up, looking confused. "Dean, we have no idea what's down there."
Dean stood up too and walked over to pick up a hose. "All right, I'll go if you're scared. You scared?"
"Flip the damn coin." Sam scoffed.
Dean laughed and pulled a quarter out of his pocket. "All right, call it in the air... chicken." He smirked and flipped the coin.
Sam caught it in mid-air. "I'm going."
Dean smirked. "I said I'd go."
Sam grabbed the hose from Dean and started wrapping it around his waist. "I'm going."
"All right." Dean shrugged.
Dean tied the rope around his waist as well and got ready to lower Sam.
Sam started lowering himself down and looked up at Dean. "Don't drop me."
Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to drop you."
I sat down cross-legged and watched Sam search around for a little bit, but he eventually came back up with only a bug.
"Well, that was productive," I said and got up.
"That was the only thing down there." Sam shrugged.
We all got back into the car and started driving around the neighborhood to see if there was anything else around.
"So, you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking, Sam," Dean said sarcastically.
Sam rolled the dead beetle around in his hand. "There were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there. Ya know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but—"
"How many did you find down there?" Dean asked.
"Ten," Sam said.
Dean shrugged. "It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain."
"Well, maybe there were more," Sam said.
"I don't know. It sounds like a stretch to me," Dean said.
"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before," Sam said.
Dean stayed quiet, staring out of his window.
"What?" Sam asked.
"I know a good place to start," Dean said.
I turned to see what Dean was looking at. There was another sign that said, Models Open. New Buyers BBQ Today!
"I'm kinda hungry for a little barbecue, how 'bout you guys?" Dean said, looking in the rear-view mirror at me.
I nodded back with a smile, but Sam gave him a questioning look.
"What, we can't talk to the locals?" Dean asked.
"And the free food's got nothing to do with it?" Sam asked accusingly.
"Of course not. I'm a professional," Dean said very seriously.
"Right." Sam nodded.
I laughed, and Dean winked at me in the mirror. He found somewhere to park, turned off the car, and we all got out. We started walking toward the house that was hosting the barbecue.
Dean looked around. "Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out."
"Why?" Sam asked.
Dean pointed to the lawn. "Well, manicured lawns, 'How was your day, honey?' I'd blow my brains out."
"There's nothing wrong with normal," Sam said, confused.
Dean put his arm around my shoulders. "I'd take our family over normal any day."
We walked up to the door and knocked. A moment later, a man with gray hair answered the door.
He smiled and offered his hand. "Welcome."
Dean shook his hand. "This the barbecue?"
The man looked outside. "Yeah, not the best weather, but... I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are...?"
"Dean." Dean nodded and then gestured to Sam. "This is Sam. And this is Maddison." He squeezed my shoulder.
"Sam, Dean, Maddison, good to meet you." Larry smiled down at me and then looked back at Sam and Dean. "So, you two are interested in Oasis Plains?"
Dean nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Let me just say... we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or... sexual orientation." Larry smiled.
Dean laughed slightly. "We're brothers."
Larry seemed embarrassed.
"Our father is getting on in years, and we're just looking for a place for him," Sam said.
"Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in." Larry waved for us to follow him.
We followed him through the house and out to the backyard. There were people all over, chatting and eating food.
"You said you were the developer?" Sam asked.
"Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what? We built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains." Larry kept walking until we reached a blonde woman. He put his arm around her. "This is my wife, Joanie."
"Hi there." Joanie smiled.
"Hi." Dean shook her hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Joanie smiled as she shook Sam's hand.
"Sam, Dean, and Maddison," Larry said.
"Sam." Sam nodded to her.
"Pleasure." Joanie smiled.
"Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses," Larry joked.
"Right." Joanie nodded, and we all laughed.
"Will you excuse me?" Larry asked and walked off.
"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live." Joanie smiled.
An overly energetic woman walked up to us, her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun.
"Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome, head of sales," she said in a bouncy tone.
"And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very noisy neighbor, though," Joanie joked and walked away as well.
Lynda laughed. "She's kidding, of course. I take it you two are interested in becoming homeowners."
Dean nodded. "Well—"
Sam nodded. "Ye—Yeah, well—"
"Well, let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or... sexual orientation," Lynda said.
"Why do people keep saying that?" I asked and looked up at Sam.
He looked at me and put his hand on my shoulder but didn't say anything.
Dean laughed. "Right. Um... I'm gonna go talk to Larry." He turned to Sam. "Okay, honey?"
I turned to see where Dean was walking off to when Sam jumped because Dean smacked him in the butt. I turned back around, confused, and Lynda awkwardly smiled at Sam and me.
Lynda started drowning Sam in information about the neighborhood, and I lost interest right away. I looked around at the big yard and nice house and wondered what it would be like to grow up in a place like this. To have a normal life, with my brothers, our dad, and maybe a mom...
Lynda laughed loudly, snapping me out of my daydream. "Who can say 'no' to a steam shower? I use mine every day."
"Sounds great," Sam said, completely uninterested.
Lynda rested her hand on top of the table next to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving, once I focused on what it was, I realized it was a tarantula crawling right toward Lynda's hand. I reached up and squeezed Sam's hand and nonchalantly pointed out the tarantula. Lynda didn't notice because she was still going on about her fancy shower.
"Excuse me," Sam said, lightly pushing passed Lynda.
Sam walked over and put his hand out in front of the tarantula.
I grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?" I asked with wide eyes.
Sam laughed. "It's just a little tarantula." He continued to pick it up.
"Little? That thing is not little, but it doesn't matter what size it is. It's..." I shivered uncomfortably.
Sam laughed at me again and then walked over to a teenage boy who had been watching the whole thing play out.
"Is this yours?" Sam asked him.
The boy took the tarantula from him. "You gonna tell my dad?"
"I don't know. Who's your dad?" Sam asked.
The boy scoffed. "Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions."
"Ouch. First name basis with the old man... sounds pretty grim," Sam said.
"Well, I'm not exactly brochure material." The boy shrugged.
"Well, hang in there. It gets better, all right? I promise," Sam tried to reassure him.
"When?" the boy asked, annoyed.
"Matthew." We turned to see Larry and Dean walking toward us.
"I am so sorry about my son and his... pet." Larry looked down at the tarantula, unhappy.
"It's no bother," Sam said.
I made a slightly disgusted face, not agreeing with Sam.
"Excuse us," Larry snarled and walked away with Matthew.
"Remind you of somebody?" Sam asked.
Dean looked over at Larry, who was lecturing his son and looked back at Sam, confused.
"Dad?" Sam asked.
"Dad never treated us like that." Dean shook his head.
"Well, Dad never treated you two like that." Sam pointed at Dean and me. "You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don't remember?"
"Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line," Dean said, annoyed.
Sam scoffed. "Right. Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bow-hunting."
"Bow-hunting's an important skill," Dean said.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever. How was your tour?"
Dean smiled. "Oh, it was excellent. I'm ready to buy."
Sam laughed.
Dean nodded. "So, you might be onto somethin'. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this... severe allergic reaction to bee stings," Dean said.
"More bugs," Sam said.
Dean nodded. "More Bugs."
"Uh, can I just say that I don't like where this is going." I frowned.
Sam was driving around the neighborhood while Dean was sitting in the passenger seat, reading Dad's journal. This was an extremely rare occasion.
"Ya know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean asked.
Sam looked over at Dean. "Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations."
"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity," Dean said.
"Yeah, me neither." Sam shook his head.
"Maybe they're being controlled somehow. Ya know, by something or someone," Dean suggested.
"You mean, like Willard?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, bugs instead of rats." Dean nodded.
"There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals... elementals, telepaths," Sam said.
"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing," Dean said and then paused. "Larry's kid... he's got bugs for pets."
"Matt?" Sam asked.
Dean nodded. "Yeah."
"He did try to scare that crazy lady with that creepy thing earlier," I said.
"What?" Dean laughed.
"Matt was trying to scare Lynda with a tarantula," Sam explained.
"You think he's our Willard then?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess."
"Oh, hey. Pullover here," Dean said urgently.
Sam pulled into an empty driveway. "What are we doing here?"
Dean got out of the car. "It's too late to talk to anybody else."
"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam asked hesitantly.
"I wanna try the steam shower. Come on," Dean said and opened the garage door.
Sam didn't move the car.
"Come on!" Dean urged.
Sam drove forward and parked the car in the garage, and Dean closed the garage door.
I quickly got out. "We're staying in an actual house. This is so exciting!"
Dean opened the door to the house, and I ran in. There was furniture set up like a typical house, which I thought was weird because no one lived there yet.
"Hey, why does it look like people are living here?" I asked.
Sam came up behind me. "People come in and set up houses to make them look more like a home. This way, people are more likely to buy them. I think they're called fluffers or something like that."
"So, does that mean there are beds too?" I looked up at him, excited.
"Yeah, probably." He laughed.
I squealed with excitement and ran upstairs to find the bedrooms. I decided to take the smallest one since I didn't need much room to be comfortable anyway. I thought my brothers would appreciate a bigger area to stay in.
"I call this one!" I yelled.
Sam and Dean appeared in the door with smiles on their faces. I hopped on the bed and smiled back.
"Take whatever one you want, kiddo." Dean smiled.
"It's like we actually have our own house for the night," I said. They both looked slightly sad. I got up and walked over to them. I hugged them. "Now get out, I'm going to sleep."
They both laughed and gave me the usual goodnight kiss on the top of the head and walked away. "Goodnight, Maddison," they said in unison.
I was sitting on the couch waiting for Dean to come downstairs, Sam had been up for a while, walking in and out of the garage, checking to see if Dean was down yet.
"Ugh, what is he doing?" Sam groaned.
I shrugged. "I don't know, why don't you go find out?"
Sam marched upstairs, and I followed behind. The sound of the shower running could be heard as soon as we reached the top step, and steam was rolling out from under the bathroom door. He looked over at me, annoyed, and I just shrugged back. He walked over and knocked on the door. "You ever comin' out of there?"
"What?!" Dean yelled through the door.
"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner," Sam said, annoyed.
"Hold on," Dean said.
"Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on," Sam urged.
Dean opened the door. He was standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist and a towel on his head. "This shower is awesome." He smiled.
"Come on," Sam growled and walked away.
I followed Sam down to the Impala and waited for Dean. After a few minutes, he arrived, looking refreshed, and we left.
We pulled up in front of a house surrounded by police officers and a coroner pushing someone in a body bag out of the house on a stretcher. It was raining, so Sam and Dean grabbed umbrellas. Dean walked around to my door and opened it so I could stay under his umbrella with him. We walked toward the house and spotted Larry.
"Hello. You're, uh, back early," Larry said as he approached us.
"Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood," Dean said.
Thunder rumbled, causing me to jump and bump into Dean, who looked down and smirked at me.
"What's going on?" Sam asked.
"You guys met, uh... Lynda Bloome at the barbecue?" Larry asked.
"The realtor," Sam said.
"Well, she, uh... passed away last night," Larry said, looking down.
We were all shocked. I felt awful because I had called her "that crazy lady" that night.
"What happened?" Dean asked, shocked.
"I'm still trying to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I— I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now," Larry said.
"It's okay," Sam said.
"Excuse me." Larry nodded and walked away.
"You know what we have to do, right?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded. "Yeah. Get in that house."
"See if we got a bug problem," Dean said.
We walked around the side of the house, trying to avoid anyone seeing us. Dean climbed over the fence to the backyard. Sam hoisted me up, and I climbed over, and then Dean helped me down. Sam followed after. Then we all hopped in through a window, which led to Lynda's bedroom. There was an outline of her body drawn into the carpet and a trail of blood and glass leading from the bathroom.
"This looks like the place," Dean said as he walked into the bathroom.
He picked up a towel that was on the floor, and dead spiders fell out. "Spiders... from Spider-Boy?"
"Matt?" Sam shrugged. "Maybe."
Dean parked by a curb in front of a school bus that Matt got off of. He crossed in front of the bus and started walking toward the woods.
"Isn't his house that way?" Dean said, pointing in the opposite direction of where Matt was walking.
Sam nodded. "Yup."
"So, where's he goin'?" Dean asked.
Sam and Dean opened their doors and started walking after Matt. I got out and followed along. We walked until we spotted Matt with a giant bug on his hand, about to put it in a container.
"Hey, Matt. Remember me?" Sam asked.
Matt jumped. "What are you doing out here?"
"Well, we wanna talk to you," Dean said.
"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt asked. "Wa— Wait. You're not serial killers?"
"No, no. No, I think you're safe," Sam said.
"So, Matt... you sure know a lot about insects," Dean said.
Matt furrowed his brow. "So?"
"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" Dean asked.
"I heard she died this morning," Matt said somberly.
"Mm-hmm, that's right. Spider bites," Dean said.
"Matt... you tried to scare her with a spider," Sam said.
"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" Matt asked, worried.
"You tell us," Dean said.
"That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy," Matt said quickly.
"You know about those?" Sam asked.
"There's something going on here. I don't know what... but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something." Matt picked up his backpack and walked away.
We followed behind him.
"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out," Sam said.
Matt shook his head. "Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me."
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son," Matt said, sounding upset.
Sam scoffed. "I hear you."
"You do?" Dean asked, annoyed.
Sam turned around and gave Dean a look.
"Matt, how old are you?" Sam asked.
"Sixteen," Matt said.
"Well, don't sweat it, because, in two years, something great's gonna happen," Sam said.
"What?" Matt asked.
"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad," Sam said.
"What kind of advice is that?" Dean asked. "Kid should stick with his family."
Sam stopped walking and glared back at Dean.
"How much further, Matt?" Sam asked.
"We're close," Matt said.
Sam glared at Dean one last time before walking away. Dean looked down at me, and I just shrugged back, not knowing what to say. He ruffled my hair and then put his hand on my back for me to keep walking. The further we walked, the more bugs we could hear chirping.
"I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class," Matt said.
"You two are like peas in a pod," Dean joked.
Sam ignored Dean. "What's been happening?"
"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here," Matt said.
"Why?" Dean asked.
Matt shook his head. "I don't know."
"What's that?" Sam asked, pointing to a mound of dirt covered in a dark patch of grass.
We walked over to it, and the mound was covered in hundreds of worms. Dean tapped the top with his foot, and a small hole opened up. He crouched down and used a stick to poke around inside the hole.
"There's somethin' down there," Dean said, turning to look at Sam.
He put the stick down and started digging around in the hole with his hand. He pulled something out of the dirt and held it up. It was a human skull, covered in dirt and worms. Sam took the skull, and Dean started digging around more. He pulled another skull and more human bones out of the hole. After Dean felt like he had found all he could, he stood up and wiped his hands off on his jeans.
After we got back to the Impala we dropped Matt off at his house, he was still in shock, but Sam and Dean told him to keep quiet about what we had found until we figured out what was going on. Sam decided the best way to figure out where the bones were from, was by talking to an anthropologist. So, we drove to the nearest college campus and parked in front of the Department of Anthropologybuilding. We all got out, and Sam opened the back door to grab the box that we had put the bones and skulls in. He took off his jacket and covered the box so no one could see what was inside of it.
Sam picked up the box, closed the door, and started walking toward the building with us. "So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave."
"Yeah. Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?" Sam asked.
"That's two questions," Dean said, but Sam ignored him. "Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?"
"Just, uh..." Sam shrugged. "I know what the kid's going through."
"How 'bout tellin' him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean asked, annoyed.
"Dean, come on," Sam said and stopped walking. "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about."
Dean turned around. "Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up."
"I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough," Sam said, starting to get angry.
"So, what are you sayin'? That Dad was disappointed in you?" Dean asked, frustrated.
"Was? Is. Always has been," Sam said, angrily.
"Why would you think that?" Dean asked, confused.
"Because I didn't wanna bow-hunt or hustle pool... because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak," Sam said.
"Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters," Dean tried to joke.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud... most dads don't toss their kids out of the house."
"I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin' out of your mouth," Dean said, angry again.
"Ya know, truth is when we finally do find Dad..." Sam shrugged. "I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me."
"Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared," Dean said, sincerely.
Sam looked confused. "What are you talkin' about?"
"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talkin'... he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe," Dean said.
Sam shook his head. "What?"
"Yeah," Dean said.
"Why didn't he tell me any of that?" Sam asked.
Dean shrugged. "Well, it's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone."
Sam looked at us sadly and put his head down.
Dean put his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. We're gonna be late for our appointment."
We walked into the building and down the hallway for a bit until we found the room where the professor had told Sam they could meet.
"Okay, Mads. This guy thinks we're students, so you have to wait out here until we get back," Dean said. I nodded, he ruffled my hair, and then he and Sam walked into the classroom.
I saw a small sitting area across the hall, so I decided to sit there while I waited. I sat on the leather couch and propped my feet up on the coffee table in front of me, but then I heard a thud. I sat up and looked on the ground to see what had fallen. On the floor next to me was a paperback book with a drawing of a young boy flying under an arch on a broomstick. He had a lightning bolt on his forehead and big round glasses. I picked it up and read the title, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I shrugged and decided to give it a chance, so I started reading.
"Oh, there it is," a man said.
When I looked up, I noticed a young man about the same age as Sam. He was wearing a backpack and staring at the book in my hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I stood up and gave the book back to him.
He took the book. "You like it so far?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I didn't get very far, but it seems like a good book."
He handed it back to me. "Well, tell you what. You keep it. I have the hardcover version back at home. Plus, I've read the books like fifteen times already. She's actually coming out with a new one soon, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.' I'm really excited 'cause you're supposed to find out about—" He stopped and scratched his head. "Uh, anyway. Enjoy the book."
I laughed. "Thank you."
He smiled awkwardly and then walked away.
I sat down and went back to reading my new book, and then Sam and Dean came out shortly after.
I got up and walked over to them. "What did you guys find out?"
"The professor said that the bones are 170-year-old Native American bones. He told us that someone from the Euchee tribe in Sapulpa could tell us more about them, so that's where we're headed now," Dean said.
"What do you have there?" Sam asked, pointing to the book in my hand.
"Some guy I met gave me this. It's a Harry Potter book." I smiled.
"Those are good books. I really like them myself." Sam smiled.
Dean snatched the book from my hand. "You're taking things from strangers now?" He started examining the book as if it were booby-trapped.
"Technically, I found it, and he just let me keep it," I said as I tried to grab the book back.
"How do you know you can trust this guy?" Dean asked, while still examining the book.
I smacked him in the stomach and grabbed the book out of his hand. "Not everyone's out to get us, Dean. It's just a book." I started walking back toward the entrance. "Don't we have somewhere to be?"
We passed a sign that read, Sapulpa, and we pulled over next to a man in a cowboy hat walking down the road.
"Excuse me, do you know a Joe White Tree?" Dean asked.
The man nodded.
"Could you tell us where he might be?" Dean asked again.
The man pointed down the road. "Oklahoma Diner." Then he walked away.
"Thank you," Dean called out to the man. He parked in the diners parking lot, and we all got out.
When we walked in, we saw an older Native American man sitting alone, playing cards, so we walked up to him.
"Joe White Tree?" Sam asked.
The man looked up and nodded.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions if that's all right," Sam said.
Dean nodded. "We're—"
"No, you're not. You're lying," Joe said.
Dean cleared his throat. "Well, truth is—"
"You know who starts a sentence with 'truth is?'" Joe asked. "Liars."
"Uh, have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley," Sam said.
Joe looked at Dean. "I like him. He's not a liar." Then he turned his attention back to Sam. "I know the area."
"What can you tell us about the history there?" Sam asked.
"Why do you wanna know?" Joe asked.
"Something— Something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there... Native American bones," Sam said.
Joe nodded slowly. "I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant... the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it... on the night, the moon and the sun share the sky as equals... the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered... raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village... was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."
"Insects. Sounds like nature to me... six days?" Dean asked.
"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive," Joe said ominously.
"Thank you for your help," Sam said.
Joe nodded and then went back to playing cards.
We all walked out and headed back to the Impala.
"When did the gas company man die?" Sam asked.
"Uh, let's see, we got here Thursday, so, Monday the 20th," Dean said.
"March 20th?" Sam asked. "That's the spring equinox."
"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals," Dean said.
"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land," Sam said.
"And on the sixth night... that's tonight." Dean realized.
"If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.
"You don't break a curse. You get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now," Dean said, and we all got into the car.
It was dark out now, and when we got closer to Oasis Plains, Dean called Larry to try and convince him to leave the neighborhood before we got there.
"Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood." (...) "Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe." (...) "Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power." (...) "Uh..." Dean said nervously and quickly hung up.
"Give me the phone," Sam said and ripped the phone out of Dean's hand.
He dialed a number and waited for an answer. "Matt, it's Sam." (...) "Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay?" (...) "Because something's coming." (...) "Yeah, a lot more." (...) "You've gotta make him listen, okay?"
Dean put his hand out. "Give me the phone, give me the phone." He grabbed the phone from Sam. "Matt, under no circumstances, are you, to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts." (...) "Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side, and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?" he asked, and then after a moment, he hung up. He looked over at Sam. "Make him listen? What are you thinkin'?"
We pulled up in front of Matt's house and saw that all the cars were still in the driveway.
"Damn it. They're still here. Come on," Dean said as he parked the car and jumped out.
Larry came out of the house angrily as we approached the door. "Get off my property before I call the cops."
"Mr. Pike, listen," Sam said softly.
Matt came out. "Dad, they're just trying to help."
Larry turned toward Matt and pointed to the door. "Get in the house!"
Matt looked at us. "I'm sorry. I told him the truth."
"We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Dean asked.
"Look, it's 12 AM. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go before it's too late," Sam urged.
"Yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm," Larry said, putting his hands in the air.
"Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas company guy? You don't think somethin' weird's goin' on here?" Dean asked.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem." Larry pointed in Dean's face.
"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now," Dean said.
"Dad, they're right, okay?" Matt asked. "We're in danger."
Larry turned and pointed to the house again. "Matt, get inside! Now!"
"No! Why won't you listen to me?!" Matt yelled.
"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Larry yelled back.
"Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you going to really take that risk with your family?" Sam asked.
"Wait," Dean said, and everyone went silent. "You hear that?"
We started to hear buzzing, and it was slowly getting louder.
"What the hell?" Larry asked, confused.
The fluorescent bug light on the porch began to overheat and spark, and several bugs started dropping around it.
"All right, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife," Dean urged.
Larry turned to run into the house when Matt spoke, "Guys." He was looking up in awe.
We all turned to see what he was looking at, and the moon slowly faded by the massive swarm of bugs flying toward us.
"Oh my god," Larry said, shocked.
"We'll never make it," Sam said.
Dean pushed me toward the house. "Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!"
We all ran in and slammed the door.
"Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Sam asked Larry.
Larry shook his head. "No, it's just us."
Joanie came in looking terrified. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?"
"Call 9-1-1," Larry told her, but she didn't move. "Joanie!" he yelled.
"Okay," she said and rushed off.
Dean rushed over to Larry. "I need towels."
"Uh, in the closet." Larry pointed.
Sam rushed over to Matt. "Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on... doors, windows, fireplace, everything, okay?"
"Phones are dead," Joanie said, terrified.
"They must have chewed through the phone lines," Dean said and started putting the towels down to block anything from getting in the front door. The lights began flickering, then went out, and he stood up. "And the power lines."
"Maybe my cell," Larry said, putting it to his ear. "No signal."
"You won't get one. They're blanketing the house," Dean said, staring out of the windows.
There were millions of bugs collecting on the doors and windows. There were so many that the house began to go pitch black. All you could hear was chirping, hissing, and the sound of the bugs slamming themselves against the house. I walked over and held both of my brother's hands, we were all completely in shock. We stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do.
"So, what do we do now?" Larry asked.
"We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise," Sam said.
"Hopefully?" Larry asked angrily.
Dean ran off into the kitchen and searched through the cabinets until he found what he was looking for and returned with a can of bug spray.
"Bug spray?" Joanie asked, looking at him like he was crazy.
"Trust me," Dean said.
Suddenly, there was creaking and buzzing coming from the living room.
"What is that?" Matt asked.
"The flue," Sam said.
We all stared at the fireplace.
"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs," Dean said.
Suddenly, thousands of bugs fell out of the fireplace into the living room, and they swarmed around us. Everyone started screaming and yelling, swinging their arms around, trying to keep the bugs away. All I could see were bugs flying at my face and pelting themselves at my body. It didn't help at all that they were getting caught in the mass of curly hair on my head.
Dean started spraying the bug spray with his lighter in front of it, creating a small flame thrower. "All right, everybody upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!"
Sam grabbed hold of me, threw me over his shoulder and everyone ran upstairs, Dean followed behind and continued fighting off the bugs with his makeshift flamethrower. Larry pulled a string to open the ladder leading to the attic, and Sam set me down. Matt went up first, then Joanie, me, Larry, Sam, and Dean followed behind, still trying to keep the bugs at bay. Sam pulled the door up and locked us in the attic. Dean quickly blocked any cracks around the door that could allow the bugs in. We all sat down and waited for it to end, but the bugs just kept slamming against the house. Everyone was checking out the welts they had from the bug bites and stings, and I was still shaking the bugs out of my hair. Then sawdust started falling from the ceiling, and the buzzing started getting louder.
"Oh, god, what's that?" Joanie groaned.
"Something's eating through the wood," Dean said.
"Termites," Matt said.
"All right, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" Dean yelled.
The three Pikes and I piled in the corner of the attic, they huddled together, and I sat by them, watching my brothers trying to patch up the holes the bugs were making. Then the termites finally chewed through the ceiling, creating a big hole, hundreds of bees and other insects started swarming in. We were being attacked again, swatting away the bugs, and getting stung. Sam and Dean managed to patch up the hole, but then two more opened in the ceiling. They managed to patch one more hole, but then they ran over to us.
"Huddle together and cover your faces!" Sam yelled.
Dean pulled me in between him and Sam, trying to block the bugs from me as best as they could.
"Look," Matt said and pointed up.
We all looked up and saw the sun peeking through one of the holes in the ceiling. Miraculously, all the bugs started to leave through the holes they had created. Sam and Dean stood up and peered out of the hole to see what had happened, but just stood there in shock. We all looked at each other, not knowing what to say or do from the trauma of everything that had happened. We parted ways, then Sam, Dean, and I went back to the house we had squatted in to clean up and clear our heads. We pulled into the garage, and we all got out.
Dean looked at me and smirked. "Your hair's a mess." He lightly pulled on one of my ringlets and let it bounce back.
"Yeah, and you still have some bugs in it," Sam said, pulling one out and showing me.
I squealed out of disgust and shook my hair frantically. Tons of bugs, both dead and alive, fell out of my hair and onto the floor.
"I call the shower first!" I yelled and ran inside.
I could hear them laughing as I slammed the bathroom door.
A few hours later, after we all took showers and treated our bug bites and stings, we drove back to the Pike's house to say our proper goodbyes and see how they were doing. When we pulled up, there was already a moving van parked in front of their home. We got out and saw Larry loading boxes into the back of the truck.
"What? No, goodbye?" Dean joked.
"Good timing. Another hour and we'd have been gone," Larry said. He shook Sam and Dean's hands and smiled at me.
"For good?" Sam asked.
Larry nodded. "Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again."
"You don't seem too upset about it," Sam said.
"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." Larry looked over at Matt, who was carrying a box out of the garage. "Somehow, I really don't care."
We all smiled and then walked over to Matt, who was throwing away all his insect paraphernalia.
"What's this?" Sam asked with his arms out.
Matt shrugged. "I don't know. They kind of weird me out now."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, I should hope so."
We said our goodbyes and walked back over to the Impala. We stood by the car for a minute and watched Larry and Matt revel in their new-found relationship.
"I wanna find Dad," Sam said.
"Yeah, me too," Dean agreed.
I leaned over and rested my head on Dean's arm. He looked down, put his arm around me, and rubbed my shoulder.
"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him," Sam said, choked up.
"For what?" Dean asked.
"All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could," Sam said.
"Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats," Dean joked.
Sam laughed. "Yeah, probably." We all got into the Impala. "Let's hit the road."
Dean nodded. "Let's."