Rat Soup

Sam only remembered that day through the lens of busting his mouth on the bathroom sink, and crying there in a puddle of nosebleed and water he let run over. The one good thing that had been done for them was suddenly undone. Who would do it? None could guess. But Sam knew that Dean would let his stomach grow to his spine now if it meant that Sam would find something to eat to ease the pain of passing.

Geraldine was so excited when she unlocked the lunch room.

"This time I told Mrs. Q that I left my coin purse in here. Guys! they made tubs of soup this time. Large tubs...You guys will eat for a month!" she smiled and it let the light bounce off her dark eyes.

Sam rolled onto his belly, soup suds running over the sink. He held his breath remembering the sunset in Dean's eyes when he saw what had been done.

"This is so great! that you're able to sneak us in here almost every day..."Sam was smiling, but the smile would be smacked out of his teeth by the scream that echoed from Geraldine, as she jumped into his arms.

Dean had opened the lid to one of the soup pots, eager because it still steamed.

Dean reeled, and let out a little cry in his throat, leaning into his arm to keep from being sick. There, bobbing about in the soup was a dead rat with its insides opened up.

"Oh! Oh, what the hell?!" Geraldine cried.

"Sammy?" Dean's voice echoed over the sound of the water splashing. Sam was shaking as he got up on his knees. Dean came through the open-faced concrete gymn doors and found him there in the water sludge and his own bleeding chin.

He stood there staring at him with his eyes like fireflies floating in the warm summer of the love in his gaze. Sam could not look up into that love and darkness of Dean's summer night eyes. He couldn't look up at him because he knew he would see his sacrifice.

The schoolboard heard Geraldine scream. The school was closed for the rest of the day. The CDC was called.

Who the Hell could have done this? Sam had a feeling he already knew. Geraldine kept whispering under her breath as they watched the Hazmat guys come in with their gear that this had to be the boys that they had to be paying her back.

Sam knew who that was...who else would it have been?

But he couldn't look up at Dean...He couldn't let Dean see the disappointment in his eyes, the fear. They were going to die. All of the food that had been given to them before would need be thrown away incase the rat thing happened longer ago than they knew. It wouldn't do them any good to eat bad food, if it was poisoned they would die anyway.

Dean went to the sink and cut the water off. Sam sniffled and tried to get up. Dean put his hand on his shoulder, keeping him there on the floor. Sam closed his eyes as Dean knelt beside him, gently running his thumb over his busted lip and chin and nose. Sam had slipped in the sink he'd let overflow, sobbing into it as he tried to wash the blood of the rats off of him as they had combed through every pot of soup in one last desperate attempt to see if there was anything food safe left.
"Sam..."Dean whispered.

"Who would do something like that?"

"The hungry ghost maybe?" Leave it to Dean to think of demons. Sam closed his eyes tighter. Highschool could be crueler even than Hell.

"No, Dean...I think it was somebody here..."Sam's eyes opened at last to the look of utter hopelessness and Sam-preserving survival instinct in his brother's eyes.

"A kid?! Why would you think that? Huh? Look...does somebody bully you here?" Dean tilted his head.

"It's something Geraldine said..."Sam gasped.

Dean nodded. He then lifted his brother to his feet and started dabbing at his bloody mouth with his sleeve.

"Well, let's say you're right...that kind of sick prank pulling usually takes care of itself..but in case it is the hungry ghost...The only way we're gonna save ourselves is if we kill that damn ghost...So, if you feel up for it, I'mma need you sharp." Dean nodded.

Sam felt the breath go out of his body at the look of resolve in Dean's eyes. He knew in the pit of his stomach that if he had so much as a prayer of saving his brother from his own self-sacrificing he was going to have to kill the Hungry Ghost, if he had to do it with his teeth and bare hands. He nodded his agreement and they blew like the pieces of chaff in the wind they now were out the doors of the school, heading down the road on foot.