Raising Winchesters

Chapter 24

Upon entering the bedroom the boys shared, Jim got them settled on the bed and pulled out a board game. He knew that none of them were really in the head space for a game, but he desperately needed to distract both Sam and Dean from what was happening outside. And what was happening downstairs.

The sounds of John pacing and fuming easily carried up the stairs and Jim could tell that both Sam and Dean were listening apprehensively. Jim couldn't really fault John for his anger at the situation, though. He knew that anger was John Winchester's default emotional state when he was scared and the man was really, truly scared.

As were the boys. Jim watched them as they tried to get the board game set up. Sam's face was still tear-stained and his breath still hitched occasionally. His eyes rarely left his brother. Dean's eyes, on the other hand, bounced from the window, to the door, to Sam, and then back to the window again. His breath didn't hitch like Sam's did, either. No, Dean's breathing was sporadic and uneven, as if he was forgetting to breathe every now and again.

Jim knew that they were just on the cusp of completely falling apart. And he felt completely and utterly helpless.

John and Bobby were both pacing through the house, looking through all the windows to make sure that the creatures in the yard weren't doing anything. The fact that they were all still just sitting out in the yard didn't really make either of them feel any better, though. There was an occasional scratch at the door and on more than one occasion they heard something fly against one of the windows, but that was as far as the attack? or whatever it was had gotten so far.

"Do you really think your protections will keep them out?" John finally asked after his thirteenth circuit through the downstairs.

"I think so," Bobby answered. "But we're still not a hundred percent sure what we're dealing with here, John. Until we know for sure, we have to be extra vigilant."

"And how are we supposed to do that? We need backup, Bobby."

"I've already called a few people. They're on their way, as we speak."

"Good. This is more than we can handle ourselves."

"Never thought I'd live to see the day the great John Winchester admitted to something like that," Bobby laughed. "I'd better mark this on my calendar. I'm sure your boys would want to remember this momentous occasion, as it's likely to never happen again."

John glared at Bobby, but didn't say a word. He paced from window to window, not stopping for longer than a few seconds at each one before moving onto the next. Bobby had finally stopped pacing and was looking at one of the papers he had picked up from Professor Tochtli, hoping to find something he'd missed.

"Let's go over it again," John said as he continued to pace. "These Naguals….. they're like shapeshifters? And they can turn into any animal they want? How come we've never come across them before now?"

Bobby flipped through several of the pages the professor had sent him, trying to make sense of all the nonsense. "Professor Tochtli spent several semesters studying the Nagual. According to his studies, there are several different theories, all of which have some connection and none of which make any sense. Some people believe the Nagual are harmless, while others believe that they have the power for good or evil. Some translations state that Nagual means transforming witch. And others say it means transforming trickster or shapeshifter. There just isn't any conclusive data, John. And with no other hunter ever coming across one, we just don't have anything to go on."

"Then, I guess we have to figure this out on our own."

Bobby watched as John stepped over to the window, knocked the salt off of the ledge, and pulled the window open. "What the hell are you doing, Winchester?" Bobby yelled as he made his way over to the window. John stepped in his way before he could close it.

John kept his eyes on the window, preparing himself to take care of anything that came through. "The way I see it, we're at an impasse. We can't go outside and we can't stay in here forever. We have to make a move, Bobby. We don't have a choice."

"Of course we have a choice, you idjit! We can stay inside, within the protections, where we'll be perfectly safe. We don't know what we're up against, John. Or how to kill any of them. Until we know more, we need to play it safe."

"If they're shifters, then silver ought to do it." John held his gun up, obviously showing that he was ready with some silver bullets. He then held up a machete. "And if silver doesn't do it, then I'm prepared to lop off their heads."

"Maybe we should try to communicate with one of them first, John."

John knew that was the strategic thing to do, but he really just wanted to kill something. Especially a something that was trying to hurt his boys. Looking over at Bobby, he made up his mind. "Okay. We try to capture one of them first. Ask our questions and then get down to business."

Bobby gave him a single nod before turning himself to face the window head on. It didn't take long before something started to make its way through the window and into the house. Bobby and John were ready for it.

Jim wasn't having any luck in getting the boys to play a game. Sam was more into it than his brother, but even he was easily distracted. Unfortunately, Jim had to resort to threatening Dean with punishment to keep the boy away from the window.

Now, Dean was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his head with both hands. Jim suddenly realized that the boy was hearing things again.

"Dean? Are you hearing the voice again?"

Dean nodded, his eyes filling with tears as he continued to clutch his head.

"What are they saying?" Jim prompted. He really wished they didn't have to have the conversation in front of Sam, but there wasn't any way around it. Sam needed to stay right where he was. "Dean?"

"It's….it's more than one voice. There are so many that I really don't know what they're saying. I think they're all mad, though," Dean finally answered.

"Can you make out any words at all?"

Dean listened for a few minutes before looking up at Jim. "It's weird. I think they're fighting about something. I keep hearing one of them talking about leaving and another one is arguing that they have to stay until it's over."

Jim stepped over to the window and looked down at the yard. He wasn't surprised to see that the animals were all still in the yard, but he was surprised to see that they all seemed to be looking right up at him. It was like they knew exactly where Dean was hiding.

"Anything else, Dean?"

Dean was silent for almost a full minute, pausing to listen to the voices. His eyes were closed and his nose was scrunched up in concentration. Jim could see the line of tension that went completely through the boy.

"I keep hearing a name," he finally answered. "One of them keeps saying that they have to stay until she calls them off."

"Can you make out the name? It could be really important, Dean."

Dean took the time to listen again, and another full minute later, he finally was able to understand what the voices were saying. "Eliore."

"Is that it? Eliore?"

"I-I think so….. yeah…. That's what it sounded like. And I heard a voice say something about her being a witch. Are witches really real?"

Dean looked up at Jim with a look that nearly broke the man's heart. He wished- not for the first time- that John had sheltered his boys from the evil of the world, like any good father would have done. He wished that they could have had a childhood devoid of monsters, crappy motel rooms, loneliness, and now witches. And Jim wished that he could tell Dean that witches weren't real. He wished he could tell him that none of it was real.

But he couldn't. The kid needed to know what was out there now. He needed to know the dangers that seemed to follow John Winchester wherever he went. He needed to know so he could keep himself safe. And so he could help to keep Sam safe. Not having any other choice, he answered Dean as simply as he could. "They are, Dean. They're very real."

Dean looked over at Sam, who had gotten bored with the conversation and was thumbing through a comic book. "What are we gonna do, Pastor Jim?"

Jim pulled Dean into his side, ruffling his head as he spoke. "You're going to get yourself and Sam ready for bed. And then we're going to watch a movie. How does that sound?"

Dean hesitated, but then he just nodded his head and moved over to the dresser to pull out some clean pajamas for them. Once he had them in hand, he called for Sam to follow him. Jim opened the door and led them over to the bathroom. He watched as Dean started filling the bathtub with warm water and then watched as he helped Sam climb into the tub. Dean was just starting to wash Sam's hair, so Jim moved over to the door. "Dean, I'm just going to step right outside, okay? I need to talk to your dad." Dean nodded his head and watched as Jim stepped out into the hallway, closing the door, but not all the way.

John struggled with the unusually large ferret that had crawled through the window. Not only was the thing larger than normal, but it was also stronger and faster than your average ferret. John didn't even want to think about how long and nasty the thing's teeth were, either.

As he struggled to keep the creature under control, Bobby was trying to maneuver it into a large canvas bag. It was taking everything they had not to lose control of the thing and both men were working up a sweat. Once they finally had it in the bag and had the bag tied up, they both leaned against the desk, trying to catch their breath.

"Now what?" John asked as he wiped the sweat from his face. He had started pacing the room again, adrenaline still pumping through him.

"I don't know," Bobby admitted. "I'm winging this whole thing just the same as you are, Winchester."

John was mid-stride when he heard Jim calling for him. Without a second of hesitation, he turned and ran up the stairs, surprised to find Jim standing calmly in the hallway. "What the hell, Jim?! Where are my boys?" John's eyes frantically flew across the hallway.

"They're fine, John. Sammy's in the bathtub and Dean is watching over him."

Jim stepped aside so John could peek into the bathroom. John didn't announce his presence to the boys, wanting too much to know why Jim had called for him. But he watched his boys for a few long seconds, listening to Dean telling Sam a corny joke and then listening as Sam laughed like the child he was. He watched as Dean washed Sam's hair, taking every caution to keep from getting soap in his brother's eyes. His heart ached at the sight before him, but he couldn't linger on it for too long. They had a problem to solve.

Turning back to Jim, John immediately got to the point. "Why did you call me up here? What happened?"

Jim got straight to the point, too. "Dean heard the voices again. And this time he heard something that may be helpful."

"Get to the point, Murphy," John growled, obviously feeling like the man was stalling.

"There's a witch. And apparently she's controlling them."

John stared at Jim like he'd grown another head. "A witch? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Dean thinks her name is Eliore. He said that some of the voices are saying they want to leave, but others are saying that they have to stay until it's done."

"Until what's done? Until they…. Until they kill Dean?"

"I guess that's what they mean. That is what they're here for, right?"

John ran a hand over his face and through his hair. He looked towards the bathroom, taking a few seconds to listen to the sounds of Sam and Dean talking, before turning back to Jim. "We got one of them downstairs, Jim."

"What? You caught one?"

"Yeah. We opened a window and one came through. A ferret, can you believe that? A damn ferret."

"What are you going to do with it, John?"

"Don't know yet. We've got it secured for now. Maybe we'll find a way to make it transform so we can actually talk to it."

"You think that'll work?"

"It has to. We don't have any other play here, Jim."

Before Jim could answer, Dean called out. "Dad? Is that you? Are you out there?"

John looked towards the bathroom, but without a word, he turned and walked back down the stairs, leaving Jim to once again look after Sam and Dean.

Two hours later, Sam and Dean were sleeping. Jim pulled a chair up next to the bed and had been reading his bible, but after a few minutes, he had fallen asleep, too. It had been a long day for all of them and he had really wished that they all could just go to bed and get some actual good sleep for a change.

Before he dozed off, he'd watched as Sam and Dean slept. Sam seemed to be sleeping a little easier than usual, but Dean was tossing and turning almost continually. Jim wondered how either boy could actually sleep through it all.

Eventually, Dean woke up, though. When he first opened his eyes, he noticed how dark it was in the room. Pastor Jim had pulled the curtains completely shut, but Dean could still tell that is was a pretty moonless night. He couldn't make out any light from the moon at all under the curtains.

Realizing that he really needed to go to the bathroom, Dean found himself in a bit of a bind. He really didn't want to venture out alone, but he also didn't want to wake up Pastor Jim. And if Jim took him to the bathroom, they'd have to wake Sammy up, too, because there was no way Dean would be leaving his brother behind.

Making up his mind rather quickly, Dean silently made his way over to the door. He knew which floor boards to avoid, due to his frequent late night adventures to find snacks for him and his brother while Bobby was asleep. And he knew just how to open the door without making a lot of noise. Once he was in the hallway, he looked around, making sure that there wasn't anything lingering there, ready to snatch him up now that he was alone. He was scared and he hated being scared.

He practically ran to the small bathroom across the hall and turned the light on. After ensuring that the bathroom was indeed empty, he quickly took care of business. It was on his way back to the bedroom that he heard it again, but this time the voice seemed so much closer than before. He listened as it called out to him, telling him to come downstairs, telling him to do so or risk something happening to his brother.

Dean knew that he should tell his dad immediately, but he didn't know where the man was. And if he started screaming for help, Sam would wake up and he would be scared again. Dean didn't want to scare his brother. The poor kid had already been scared enough.

Making a command decision, Dean started to make his way to the stairs and then down them, once again avoiding any of the creaky floor boards along the way. Once he was closer to the bottom, he could hear the low rumble of voices mixed in with whatever voice he was still hearing in his head. He couldn't make out what they were saying until he got to the bottom of the stairs, though.

"Well, that didn't work," Bobby said, sounding completely exhausted and annoyed.

"Did you really think it was going to?" he heard his dad ask.

"No, but I was hoping that maybe….. just maybe…. it might. So, what now?"

"I'm out of ideas, Bobby. We've tried everything. Salt, holy water, iron, that weird spell you knew. Hell, we even tried an exorcism. Nothing's working, we're right back at square one, and I need a drink."

"John, wait! Look! What is it doing?"

Dean couldn't see what was going on, but after a few seconds, he figured it out. Where the voice in his head had been aggressive and threatening, it was now calm and reassuring, coaxing him forward and telling him that he was doing the right thing for his brother. Dean wasn't even sure if he had control of his own feet, because before he even knew what he was doing, he was moving forward. Moving towards one of the things that wanted to kill him. He felt like his head was swimming and he felt like he was floating. He knew his dad was going to be mad at him, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. Step by step, he made his way closer to the monster in the library.

Bobby and John had tried everything they could think of, but nothing they did had any effect at all on the creature in front of them. Both men were exhausted, physically and mentally, and they were at a complete loss as to what to do next.

John had just made the decision to give himself a break and calm himself with the little bit of whisky he had left in his flask when it happened. The creature that had continually been thrashing around and trying to escape the makeshift cage they'd thrown it in had suddenly stopped its movements. Suddenly, it was as still as a statue and it was looking over towards the door as if it was waiting on something.

John and Bobby both brought their guns up, ready to take out whatever entity came through the library door without a moment's hesitation. They weren't prepared for the sight of Dean walking through the door as if he was in a trance. And they really weren't prepared for what happened next.

Author's note: Oh my goodness….. I'm pretty sure you all hate me now, lol. Not only did I take forever to update, but now I've gone and left you all with a cliffhanger again. Have I ever mentioned how much I love cliffhangers? Maybe I should add that to my disclaimer in the future, lol.

I'm thinking this chapter might have moved the story on a little bit. What do you all think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on everything. Thanks so much for reading.