Edit. In a much earlier chapter, Dean showed Kate markings from a bobcat. It dawned on me that what was in my head was a mountain lion/cougar. I have edited this chapter to reflect the animal I intended. (Guess who needs more sleep.)
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The wind blew a set of chimes, creating a beautiful melody. The world was dark but a soft light shown up ahead. Kate walked along an unknown path, unafraid. The sound from the chimes got louder as she walked. The sun began to rise in the sky and illuminated the front door of the little yellow house. She walked onto the porch, past fragrant rose bushes. She peaked in the window and saw plants of all types lining walls and tables. She stepped back and walked to the door. She was alone but needed to know what was in the house. She found her confidence and knocked loudly on the door. She could hear boards creaking as someone made their way to the door. Curtains shifted and then the doorknob turned. A arm wrapped around her waist and drew her backwards, away from the door before it could open.
She sat up in her bed and glared at Sam. "What did you do that for?"
"Stop digging." Sam said, laying his head back down on his pillow.
"That isn't digging, it is a dream." She hissed.
"You can wait a day." He said, sleepily.
Kate was officially over Sam being able to share her dreams.
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Kate woke up the next morning in a prickly mood. She was irritated at Sam waking her up when she was so closed to seeing who lived at the yellow house.
"Morning." Bobby said as she walked down the stairs.
She didn't reply. She stayed quiet throughout breakfast and then went on to do her chores.
"What is wrong with her?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged his shoulders. He walked up stairs to find Kate. "Is something wrong?"
She rolled her eyes and walked by him. She didn't want to talk to him.
"Kate. Stop. What is your problem?" Sam said, walking after her.
"I don't have a problem. I'm busy." She shot back.
Sam backed away and went down stairs. "I don't know what is wrong with her." He said to Bobby and Dean.
Bobby rubbed the back of his neck, releasing tension. "She just woke up like that?"
"Seems like it." Dean said. "Maybe she is just having issues with when her dad comes back?" She hadn't cried out or anything to suggest she had a vision and had seemingly slept the entire night. He knew she was both excited and worried about her dad. Knowing something was up but not knowing what it was, was getting to her.
Kate finished her chores and sat down in the floor of her room. She was tired of everyone watching her and treating her like a baby. She couldn't even have a dream without someone 'protecting' her. Her dad had never told her the full truth about anything and she knew he wouldn't then either. Everyone was on her about waiting for her dad to tell her but tell her what? Why did she have to wait for him? Why couldn't they just tell her? Why was it such a sin to open a stupid book? She had been waiting for weeks and everyone looked at her like they felt sorry for her. She hated the glances and whispers that they had been trying to hide the past few days. She opened her bedroom door and listened to the faint voices downstairs. They were talking about her again. She dug through her duffle in search of a different pair of shoes, since hers were downstairs by the door. She went to the bathroom and turned on the water and then went back to her room and gently raised the window. She walked out onto the roof and looked over the ledge to see which way would be the safest way down. She scooted down to the edge and flipped onto her stomach, letting her legs hang. She caught a rail with her toes and lowered herself down carefully. She hit the ground strategically and crouched, listening for sounds. Once she was certain that she was in the clear, she quietly made her way into the woods, away from Bobby's house.
Sam had a pit in his stomach. Knowing himself at Kate's age, he hated being in the dark. He would get pissed off and do stupid things. He was hoping beyond hope that she didn't. He went back upstairs, hoping that she had calmed down. The shower was on and he knocked on the door but there was no answer. She was probably still ignoring him. He sat down on his bed and waited, hoping to catch her when she walked out. A few minutes passed and the shower was still on. The pit in his stomach grew ten fold. He opened the door and she was not in the room. Panic set in. He shut the shower off and ran down the stairs. "She is gone."
"What do you mean gone?" Bobby asked, dumbfounded.
Dean ran up the stairs and checked each room. He stopped in her doorway, seeing the window open. "Son of a bitch."
Bobby brought his hand down on the table. He had been barely managing to keep things under control and she had to go off the deep end. She could be anywhere since they didn't know when she had left.
Dean followed her path down the roof and where she hit the ground. He followed foot steps around the side of the house to where they stopped. She had manage to cover her tracks. He went back in the house. "I don't know which way she went. She either covered her tracks or made it out of the drive way without leaving tracks."
"Ah, hell." Bobby groaned. Brian and John were due in that afternoon and he didn't want to have to call them and tell them that Kate was gone.
"She took my phone." Sam said from the window.
That eased Bobby's mind the tiniest bit. If she was in danger she could call someone. She hadn't taken her bag or anything else they could find, aside from her knife.
Dean took off to drive down the road incase she had taken the street.
Bobby made a few calls to local friends to be on the look out for her.
Sam stood at the edge of the woods. The woods were dense and she could have went in any direction. He let Bobby and Dean know he was going to look in the woods and Bobby gave him a spare phone. Sam walked quietly, listening for any sign of Kate. He looked for tracks and tried to guess which way she would have went.
Kate sat down on a log and put her shoes back on. She had made it far enough from the house that she didn't think they'd be able to pick up her trail. She continued walking until she came upon a shallow crevice in between large boulders. The crevice would give her cover from the back and sides and give her a chance to relax. She had used tips Dean taught her to escape from the house. Her heart twisted. They were probably panicking by now. It wasn't her intention to scare them but she felt trapped and ran. The phone in her pocket buzzed. Her stomach sunk. Bobby's number flashed on the screen. She put the phone back in her pocket and tried to ignore it. It stopped and then buzzed three more times with messages from Dean to get her butt home. She turned the phone off and brought her knees to her chest. Tears flooded her eyes and she felt sick. Everything in her life was out of her control and she felt like she was being swept along by a river. She wanted to know the big secret but was equally terrified as she was curious. She was angry and anger had fueled her choices the entire morning. Had Sam let her explore the house in her vision, she could have done so safely. Had her dad told her what was going on before he left, she wouldn't have had visions and obsessed over things. They kept making choices for her and it was unfair that they got mad when she asked questions. She left her hiding spot and continued walking. She found a creek and stopped for a drink of water. The hairs on her arms stood on end. She was being watched.
Dean turned back from town and drove toward Bobby's. He hadn't seen her on the way there and prayed that she would come out of the woods on the way to Bobby's. His heart raced. What if she had made it to the road and someone picked her up?
Bobby walked around his yard, checking in every car and dark corner he could find. He was fuming but fear pushed down the anger. He felt his blood pressure raising and willed her to come back.
Sam pulled his spare phone out, planning to update Bobby. He looked ahead, desperately needing a sign. He sent the message and then walked further into the woods. He was drawn in a certain direction and prayed that it was their connection that was drawing him. He caught sight of a few tracks that could have been from Kate. With a shred of hope, Sam picked up his pace.
Kate reached for her knife and flicked her eyes around. She felt eyes on her back and very slowly turned toward the presence she had sensed. She didn't see anything. She stayed close to the ground and backed away. A twig snapped and her head whipped around to make eye contact with a mountain lion crouching atop the boulder she had been under. She swallowed hard and forced herself not to panic. Dean's voice in her head told her not to turn her back. She continued backing away from the mountain lion and made her way to the other side of the creek. The big cat jumped from it's perch and stepped closer to her. Each step she made was matched by the cat. Her hand found a rock and she threw it as hard as she could, hoping to scare the bobcat. It served to make the thing mad. She found another rock and steadied her breath. It sailed across the creek and hit the cat in the chest.
Sam's blood ran cold as a bone chilling yowl reached his ears. He sprinted in the direction of the scream. A second yowl helped him zero in on the direction it was coming from. He reached a stand of trees and froze. He couldn't see Kate but the cougar had it's eyes set on something across the stream.
Kate readied herself with her knife. She said a quick prayer and waited for it to lunge. A deafening shot rang through the trees, causing her to hit the ground. She scrambled up the side of the bank. The mountain lion ran in the opposite direction and disappeared into the trees. Kate looked around and her knees got weak. She had no idea where she was. She reached for the phone in her pocket and it wasn't there. She must have dropped it. She made her way back down the bank to look for the device. A twig snapped behind her and she whipped around with her knife.
Sam jumped back. "It's me. It's me."
Kate dropped the knife and nearly tackled Sam. She sobbed and hugged him tightly. She had never been so glad to see his face.
"We need to get out of here before it comes back." Sam said, patting her back.
"Your phone." She said, looking around her feet.
Sam quickly looked around and found it on the other side of the creek. "This way. Come on." He sent a message to Bobby and Dean letting them know she had been found.
Kate followed along right beside Sam, terrified that the bobcat would be right behind the next tree.
They walked until the trees got less dense and the road could be seen up ahead. Sam stopped and looked at her. "What were you thinking?"
She looked at his face and realized he was angry. "What?"
"Running off like that. What went through your head?"
Her anger bubbled back to the surface. She had nearly died from a mountain lion and Sam, her Sam, was mad at her? Sam was her ally. "I needed space."
Sam kicked a nearby stump. "Then you go hang out in the van. You don't run through the woods and get lost. If I hadn't shown up, that thing could have killed you."
"If you had let me check out the house none of this would have happened!" She screeched.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He said through gritted teeth
"Last night, I had a vision of the yellow house and could have went inside SAFELY but you grabbed me and woke me up." She hissed.
He furrowed his brow. "Kate. I didn't touch you last night. I was asleep and I didn't know you had a vision."
"I talked to you after. You told me to stop digging." She said, digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands.
"No, I didn't. We never talked last night." Sam said, honestly.
Kate's face fell. Their conversation was part of the vision. "Well, I left because I was frustrated and I just want to know what is going on." She huffed.
Sam grabbed her arm and walked toward the road. "It's bad Kate. It is a conversation you need to have with your dad. You couldn't wait one day. You had to screw up."
She jerked her arm back. "I'm tired of waiting."
"They will be back in a few hours, by this afternoon. You have no idea how badly you messed up do you?" He said, pleading for her to understand.
"Why is everyone against me? No one cares how I feel."
"We do care how you feel. Bobby has been beyond patient and tried to work with you but you wont stop." Sam replied. "You had better hope he takes care of things before your dad gets here."
Kate chuckled. "My dad can't do anything. His ribs are broken."
Sam closed his eyes and willed himself to have patience. "Do you seriously think that you are going to get away with everything? Your dad may not be able to handle it himself but I promise if my dad heard you say anything like that he wouldn't hesitate to step in. Let me just tell you, you don't want that to happen."
Sam was serious. "He can't." Kate said.
Sam truly did hope that his dad didn't lend a hand but the gut wrenching feeling that Kate's disappearance had left in his stomach crippled him. "We are going back to Bobby's." He said, putting his hand behind her back.
She turned the other way and stalked off, back into the woods. She made it a few yards before a hard hand met her backside. She spun around to push Sam but her hand met Dean's chest instead. She backed away, feeling much as she had with the mountain lion. She swallowed hard.
Dean grabbed her elbow and walked swiftly back to the road. The impala was setting at the edge of the road. The gravity of her choices hit her and she stopped walking and pulled away. Dean spun her around and landed a dozen swats. "You have done enough running. Get in the car."
Kate nearly dove into the backseat and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to breathe through the panic. Sam glanced back at her. He gave her knee a squeeze and turned around. He didn't envy the kid.
Dean pulled the car in front of Bobby's house and threw it into park. He opened her door. "Get out."
Katie didn't want to get out. She was scared and regretting her decision. She did it anyway, in hopes that it would keep Dean from getting more angry.
Bobby met them at the door, wrapping her in a hug. "I'm glad you're okay. Go have a seat on the couch." He said evenly.
Kate did as she was told and sat in the corner of the couch, holding a pillow on her lap and avoiding eye contact.
Sam gave Bobby and Dean a run down of what had happened in the woods. He left nothing out. Kate sunk farther down in the couch, wishing she could teleport.
Bobby walked out of the room and made a phone call.
As minutes ticked by, Kate squirmed. She glanced around the room, thinking everyone had left. She made eye contact with Dean and quickly turned back around, drawing her knees up and covering her face with the pillow.
Dean watched her. He did feel sorry for her. He had done stupid things as a kid and paid dearly for them. He was angry that she had ran and put herself in danger but he was mostly relieved that she was safe again. He thought about how sick he was when Sam ran and the mind-numbing worry that plagued him every second until Sam as found. He saw her shoulders shake as she cried. He sat down beside her. "I'm glad you're back."
Kate sobbed harder. "I'm sorry."
"I know." Dean said, patting her leg.
Kate knew he was still mad but the simple gesture let her know that she would be okay. "My dad is going to kill me."
Dean shook his head. "He isn't going to kill you."
Kate sniffled. "I messed up really bad and trust me, he's going to kill me. Even if he doesn't because his ribs are broken, someone else will and I just want to start the day over and what Sammy said..." She renewed the crying and buried her face.
"What did Sammy say?" Dean asked.
"She said her dad couldn't do anything because his ribs were broken and I told her if dad heard her say that he would step in." Sam answered, walking into the living room.
Dean grimaced. That was certainly something that could happen had he been there when she said it. John Winchester was not a patient man and Dean was grateful that Kate wasn't actually their sister. She truly had messed up but he didn't wish that on her. He ruffled her hair and gave her a half smile. "It is probably a good idea to just not say anything."
Sam knew John well enough to know that he wouldn't interject himself for no reason. They had told Kate enough horror stories from when they were younger that the threat, although not likely, would hopefully be enough to convince her not to make things worse for herself.
Kate curled into the edge of the couch and let herself melt into her misery.
Dean got up and went to find Bobby. "Bobby, what are we going to do."
Bobby rubbed his face. He had just gotten off the phone with an irate Brian. Brian needed a chance to calm down and so did Bobby. She had scared the life out of all of them and they all needed time to think straight. "We need time to figure that out."
Dean thought for a minute. "She is tired. Maybe if she takes a nap, that will give everyone a chance to calm down without her jumping out the window again."
Bobby thought the idea was a good one. Even though she had put herself in the situation, she had a right to be exhausted. He walked into the living room. "Kate, sit up."
She did slowly.
"You are going to go upstairs and wash off and then you are going to lay down and take a nap." He said with finality.
Kate stared at him blankly.
"Everyone needs a chance to cool off." He added.
She hung her head and walked toward the stairs.
Bobby gave her a gentle pat on the back and watched until she got to the top of the stairs.
"I can go sit and read to make sure she actually goes to sleep." Sam offered. He felt as though he was partly to blame for her earlier escape. He knew something was off and didn't look into it.
Bobby nodded. "Thanks, Sam."
Sam went upstairs and sat down on his bed, pulling a book out.
Kate stopped and looked at him.
"I'm staying in here until you go to sleep." He said, noting the question in her expression.
"I'm not going to run." She said, feeling guilty.
"You have said that before." He said, looking a bit too much like Dean. His expression softened. "That was stressful and I want to be nearby incase you have a dark vision."
Kate's heart broke a little more. She had been awful to Sam the whole day and he still cared. "I'm sorry, Sammy."
He patted her pillow. "I forgive you You're going to need at least one person on your side and it might as well be me."
Kate flopped down on her bed. "So that means you will help me convince my dad not to kill me?"
Sam blew air out his nose. "Can't help you there, kiddo."
Kate groaned and folded her pillow in half. "You can stick around and keep me from opening dream doors though, right?"
Sam smiled. "Yup, that's what I'm here for."
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Sorry (maybe) for the cliff hanger. Pt 2 will come tomorrow.