Tears and Colors - Part 1
Autor: Meilean (updated version 2021)
Summary: Supernatural - The Brotherhood AU: Life is perfect for 6-year-old Caleb Reaves. He lives in a beautiful beach house with his loving parents. But one horrible night changes everything. After a devastating event, he finds himself alone and traumatized. If it weren't for his grandma, he couldn't go on. But fate has more in store for him.
Follow him in Tears And Colors on his way through loss, first love, fights, nightmares, and unexpected events.
Disclaimer: Nothing of Supernatural belongs to me. The Brotherhood AU belongs to Ridley C. James, if the Timeline, Towns, or Places are wrong, please feel free to send me a PM. I did my best to do some research.
A/N: This story can be separated into 3 time periods:
part 1 (ch 1-5) 1978/1979
part 2 (ch 6-10) 1982/1983
part 3 (ch 11-15) 1983
I bound the end directly to the beginning of Stranded by Williamson M. Scott. Read it afterward and as well as Suitcase of Memories by Sensue and all the stories of the Brotherhood by Ridley C. James and Tidia anyway.
***SPN***BH AU ***
A House on the Beach - Chapter 1
North Carolina, November the 2nd, 1978
It was a mess. Red blobs covered the white shirt of the six-year-old as well as the wooden floorboards.
"Mom!"
Amelia Reaves looked up from her dark seascape and a smile spread across her face. "Let's see, honey!" The black-haired woman put the brush aside and went over to her son to take a look at his artwork. "It's very nice, is it a house?"
"Yes Mommy, it's our house, look, I even painted your poppies!" The boy proudly announced.
"I really like it." She stroked Caleb through the beautiful dark hair he had inherited from her. "Let's have a break. Take off Daddy's shirt and wash your hands, I'll make us something to eat."
Caleb was still struggling with the buttons of his shirt while he heard his mother clattering the dishes in the kitchen. Finally, he was able to free himself from the fabric and he carelessly dropped the shirt to the floor to wash his hands.
Amelia set the table on the porch overlooking the vast ocean. "Caleb, supper is ready!" she called out for her boy.
"Yes Mommy, I'm coming."
Caleb came running like a whirlwind and was caught by his mother. "Careful my darling, Mommy has a baby in her belly."
Caleb tenderly put a hand on her belly. "I think I'll get a brother."
"Well if you think so ..." Smiling, she shoveled a big portion of scrambled eggs and a slice of toast on her sweet little boy's plate. A gentle salty breeze blew the screams of the seagulls towards them.
"Where's Daddy? Doesn't he eat with us today?" Caleb eagerly wanted to know.
"He is meeting Kieth today. He'll be late. Now eat your eggs." Amelia wished Isaac had come home too. But it was about the new job on the island. That would bring them good money in winter. Sometimes she was surprised that her son was so sensitive. Inevitably, she had to think of her mother, who always seemed to know what you were thinking.
***SPN***BH AU***
The brush slid slowly through her black hair. Caleb watched his mother perform this ritual every night. He was lying on his stomach on his parent's bed, watching his mother. "May I also take care of my brother?" The boy blurted out of the blue.
The young mother paused and looked at her son. "Of course you can, it's even a big brother's job to take care that the little brother doesn't get into trouble. But I think you will do very well. But there is still some time until then. Do you want to play with my jewelry while I'm getting ready?" She watched her boy immediately moving, jumping off the bed to quickly disappear inside the closet. Amelia knew he loved to find treasures in the coveted box.
Caleb closed the closet door behind him. Now he could direct all his attention to the treasure. There were black stones with small white dots, a purple pendant, a pearl necklace, feathers, and silver rings. In an extra box, they had collected particularly beautiful shells and broken glass, which the sea had grounded smooth.
Amelia finished combing and put the brush back into the drawer of the vanity table. She picked up the letter her mother had written to her and read it again when suddenly someone entered the room. Startled, she spun around. The shock was only short. "Oh my gosh! Isaac, you scared me. I wasn't expecting you so early ..."
Caleb was still playing with the jewelry. Immersed in his game he didn't hear his father come in, first. But when he heard his name had fallen, he picked up a few words that his parents changed heatedly. "… What? Why does that have to be right now? You promised it ..." His parents rarely quarreled. Caleb was confident that they would get along quickly again. It had been only a few times he had heard them arguing and they'd soon laughed about their stupid argument and cuddled together on the sofa. So he wasn't worried right now.
The boy picked up a shard of dark green colored glass and held it in front of his eye. The world was green now. His mother's white chiffon dress was also bathed in green light. He placed the green glass carefully next to the box and went on with his treasure hunt. The next object of his desire was an Indian necklace made of wood and mint-green stones. Amelia rarely put them on, except when she sometimes dressed up and played with Caleb that she was an Indian princess who was kidnapped and Caleb had to save her.
The noises of his parents' arguing got louder and he heard his mother was still scolding Isaac. He couldn't follow what it was about.
Caleb collected the jewelry back into the box and put it back in its place. The boy knew his mother didn't like it if he just left things lying around which were dear to her.
When he was done, he approached the closet door to peek through the spaces between the slats of the door. It was hard to see the full scene outside. Caleb saw the shape of his father, who was hastily working on a package with the letter opener.
The boy turned away from the door and climbed up the little footstool. Pulling at the cord he switched off the light in the closet. It was dark for a moment until his eyes got used to the darkness and were able to make out shapes and faint colors, now only lit by the light that shone through the slits of the closet door. A scream ripped the air apart. Caleb froze. Slowly he found the power to move again. Pushing the closet door a crack wide open he peeked outside in the master bedroom.
He couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him. His mother lay lifeless in the arms of his father, who was holding a gun. There was a bloody letter opener on the floor.
The six-year-old froze and heard a noise that seemed to be getting louder and louder. Caleb saw his father trying desperately to stop the bleeding in Amelia's chest. The closet door squeaked and his father turned to him with wide eyes. Tears ran down his father's cheeks. Isaac never cried. His lips moved. But Caleb could no longer understand the words. The noise in his head became so loud that he thought his head would explode. The next thing he saw was his father pointing the gun at his head, pulling the trigger.
The shot stopped the noise in his head abruptly and a deadly silence followed. Caleb finally found the courage to move. He stepped out of the door completely.
It was like before in the studio on his shirt, red blobs on the bed he had been lying on top just a few minutes before. It tarnished the carpet, the closet door. It was everywhere. He turned his view away from his father's body and went to his mother, who was lying on the floor unmoving. Blood was also dripping from his mother's lips and her shock wide eyes stared at the ceiling.
The boy didn't seem to notice or he just didn't want to see his father's dead body on the ground. He crouched next to his mother and pulled on her arm. "Mommy. .." he brought out in a brittle voice. "Mommy, wake up! Mommy ... "
The shrill ringing of the phone startled Caleb. He let it ring through and pressed himself closer to his lifeless mother and started crying. The taste of the salty sea air mixed with the metallic smell of blood. He felt sick.
The phone rang again. An inner voice ordered Caleb to answer. Finally, he picked up the receiver.
***SPN***BH AU***
New Orleans
Ruth Chaille jerked up from a nightmare. Soaked in sweat, she ran her shaking hand through her gray curls. She switched on the bedside lamp and went over to the bathroom to get some water. That would sincerely wash away the rest of the horrible dream.
But the fresh, clear water did the opposite. Suddenly she realized that it hadn't been a dream but a vision. A terrible one. She descended the steep wooden stairs, her hand clasping the handrail. Regardless of the late hour, Ruth picked up the phone and dialed her daughter's number.
The bell rang until there was only a quick toot-toot. The older woman hung up the phone with concern. Her shaky hand ran over her wrinkled face. "Please, please don't let that be true. Amelia, Caleb …" She concentrated on her loved ones and dialed the same number in North Carolina again.
Time dragged on like chewing gum. Ruth was in despair when the phone was finally picked up. There was silence, only hitched soft sobs sounded through the line.
"Caleb! Is that you? Are you okay?" she asked.
"Grand-ma? ..." a faint child's voice answered.
A heavy sobbing began. Fear started to creep up Ruth's throat. "Honey what's wrong, give me Amelia to the phone."
"Mommy doesn't wake up. She is bleeding. Grandma! She doesn't wake up. And Daddy ..." Caleb's voice broke. He just couldn't say more.
Ruth was horrified. Had her dream really happened? Was her little grandson standing with his dead parents in the master bedroom, alone at the beach house? Tears ran down her cheeks. She has to keep it together for Caleb. Brushing her hand over her face she thought about what to do. "Caleb, listen to me now. I will come to you as soon as I can. You go to your room now and wait there. I will send an ambulance and the police to your house. Don't be afraid of them, they'll take good care of you until I'm with you. It will be alright. Do you understand me?"
"... y.. yes Grandma."
Ruth ended the call and dialed again this time 9-1-1. It took a while before she'd explained the situation to the emergency services that she had just been on the phone with her grandson in North Carolina, whose parents were supposed to be dead or seriously injured on the bedroom floor. They promised they would send an ambulance over to check on them.
Ruth didn't have a car, only her friend across the street. With trembling hands, the elderly woman grabbed her house keys, as she always did when she left the house. She crossed the quiet street that lay before her in the dimly setting sun. Pushing the button labeled "Bird Isbell" she waited not long at the heavy dark brown wooden door. The light switched on inside and she saw the silhouette of Bird approaching through the glass panes of the door.
***SPN***BH AU***
Wilmington, North Carolina
The ambulance's flashing lights came to life and hurriedly pulled out of the hospital exit. The man behind the steering wheel drove over his beard stubble that had formed overnight. He glanced briefly at his passenger. "What's coming up today?"
"A double murder-suicide maybe, the little son is said to be still in the house. The police will be on their way, too. I hope they bring a child psychologist with them. Otherwise, it will stick to me again."
The red-haired woman started to collect a clipboard with all the necessary forms while her colleague safely steered the car to the beach.
"Oh Amy, you always do it very well with the families. Let's hope we can save somebody," Mike answered her.
The 25-year-old paramedic let out a sigh. "Yes, so do I."
10 minutes later they turned inside the small road to the beach.
"Mike, it has to be up there." She pointed to the yellow beach house with the blue shutters. Mike parked in front of the house and they hurried, taking their bags. Then ran up the stairs to the porch where the front door lay. Knocking and turning the door handle at the same time, Mike entered the gladly unlocked door. "Hello? Here's the ambulance, is anybody here?" Mike's voice echoed through the hallway.
The house remained dead still. Amy looked at Mike questioningly. Finally, they continued through the long hallway in the direction from which the only light came. Amy pushed open the white door. She wasn't prepared for the sight and held her breath. Swallowing hard she entered bravely. First, Amy reached the woman and the boy. Her colleague went to the man with the bullet wound in the head. She didn't think there was anything Mike could do for him. She searched for a pulse on the woman's throat, but the body felt already cool to the touch. Amy noticed a wound near her heart. A little boy, maybe 5 or 6 years old, lay completely still on the floor next to her, holding her hand. She carefully touched him to feel his pulse too.
Immediately reacting to the touch he jerked up and threw himself protectively over his dead mother. "No, don't do anything to her!"
"Shh, it's ok. I don't want to harm you. I'm a paramedic. My name is Amy. I want to help you. Are you injured?"
"Can you make my mom healthy again?" The boy looked at her intensely pleading with his brown-golden eyes.
"I am so sorry. I can't do anything for her, but I can help you. Come with me to your room first and I'll check you over, ok?"
Caleb looked uncertain into the freckled face of the medic. He gazed along with her uniform to her outstretched hand. 'They'll take good care of you until I'm with you', Caleb recalled the words of his grandma.
Finally, the boy took her hand, letting Amy guide him out of the room where his previous life ended.
"Would you tell me your name?"
"I'm Caleb." The boy replied very quietly. His reddened eyes looked sadly at Amy. "Can you maybe save my brother?"
The young woman was startled. Had she missed something? She shot Mike a glance who had followed them along the hall and had heard Caleb's question. She quickly turned back to Caleb. "Where's your brother, Caleb?"
"In Mommy's belly."
Amy's eyes filled with tears that she couldn't hold back, Mike looked over at her, slightly shaking his head.
At that moment the shrill police sirens could be heard arriving. The scene was disrupted by the entering police officers and Amy was glad not to have to answer Caleb's question. She just held his hand tight.
Mike covered Amy and the small boy from the new trouble, speaking calmly to them. "I'll talk to the police and the evidence. I'll get you in a minute and we can leave for the hospital."
Evidence had also arrived in the meantime. Caleb heard so many strange voices in his home. He felt sick when he went to Amy's hand in his room. Amy opened the door where the boy had stopped. When she went inside and turned on the light switch, her vision was caught by the artwork on Caleb's children's room walls. Beach houses with flowers, seascapes, and families laughing happily. A bed decorated with shells, a wardrobe with a wooden model of a bridge on it, and a desk with a huge box full of crayons. The red-haired medic pulled Caleb gently into the room and headed for the bed. The boy let himself be drawn and sat silently on the edge of his bed.
Amy checked on Caleb closely for injuries but found none. So she decided to speak with him to get him out of his shocked state. "Is there anyone we can call? An aunt or uncle or grandmother?"
Caleb stared silently at his nightstand, on which the playing card lay. The Deuce of Spades that his father had given him a few days ago when his parents told him that he was going to get a sibling. It hadn't been clear yet if it would be a boy or a girl, which was why his father had given him the Wild Card. That's what his father had called it. Since then it has always been on his nightstand. He reached out and took the card.
Amy watched him carefully. Suddenly he became very pale. She stroked his back calmingly. "Come on, let's go to the ambulance, I can help you better there." But the boy stopped reacting, only clutched the playing card before he fainted in her arms. "Mike! Help me over here!"
The medic caught Caleb, who had collapsed. She felt for his pulse and checked his breath when Mike rushed into the room to help her.
***SPN***BH AU***
New Orleans
Luckily, Bird hadn't asked many questions but had switched her brain on. Ruth was out of her mind at the moment. Still shaking and breathing heavily she stood in Bird's hallway.
"I'll call the airport when a flight leaves. Calm down first and take a seat."
Ruth did as she was told and took a seat on Bird's red sofa. Overhearing Bird's talking to the airport service across the hall she stared down at her hands still trembling hands, soon burying her face in them and shed bitter tears.
"... I understand, thank you for your help." Bird made a few notes and hung up the phone. The next flight is leaving at 6:10 a.m. Her long-time friend had slumped on the sofa shaking heavily from crying. Ruth couldn't be left alone in that situation. She had booked for both of them straight away. "Come on Ruth, we go over to your house and you pack some things for the flight. Then you're gonna try to rest a bit. I take care of the rest.
Ruth had finally fallen asleep. It was nearly midnight. Bird didn't know what to do with her friend's testimony. But she knew her predictions were mostly accurate. Therefore, she immediately believed that she had dreamed of her daughter's death and Caleb had at least confirmed that something bad had happened. Bird was startled as the phone rang. She didn't want Ruth to be woken up, so she hurried to pick up the receiver. "Hello, with Chaille, Bird Isbell on the line."
"Hello, this is Wilmington Police Station. Officer Johnson speaking. We were called from this connection and sent to an emergency, is Mrs. Ruth Chaille to speak to?"
"Ruth is asleep, I'm her friend and neighbor, can you tell me any news?"
"I'm very sorry, but I have to inform you that Mrs. Chaille's daughter Amelia Reaves and her husband Isaac are both dead. There was nothing more we could do for them. The son of the two is here in the hospital. He is not injured, but has collapsed and is being treated there at the moment. Will Mrs. Chaille be able to come here to get him? I think she's the boy's closest living relative."
"Oh Holy Father, that's terrible. Yes, I understand. We have already booked a flight, but we won't be landing in Wilmington before noon. In which hospital is Caleb?"
"Your friend's grandson is in Medac Urgent Care, I'll call them to let them know you'll be there tomorrow."
"Thank you, officer."
Bird hung up and breathed heavily. Now it was on her to bring the bad news to Ruth. At least Caleb wasn't hurt.
***SPN***BH AU***
Medac Urgent Care, Wilmington, North Carolina
Caleb opened his eyes. He was definitely not at home at the beach house. The walls were white, as well as the ceiling. There was a steady beep and an annoying clip on his finger which he tore off immediately. He was jerked up, the latest events hit the little boy like a blow to the stomach. "Mom, Dad?" He called out.
Then the door to his room was pushed open. A worried-faced nurse entered. "Oh, thank God, you only woke up, I got an alarm because you lost the meter. How are you feeling?" The sister checked him over mechanically not waiting for an answer. "Here, take a sip of water." She took a cup from the nightstand and gave him a sip, then pulled a pen from her clipboard to make some entries. "Your name is Caleb Reaves, is that correct?"
Caleb could only nod slightly.
"Ok, I'm Emily. I'll let the doctor know you woke up." The nurse left the room again.
Caleb sank back into the pillows and tears started to run down his cheeks. He felt completely lost and alone. The only thing he wanted was to get hugged by his mom and get told by her that everything was gonna be ok. But he realized that she would never be with him to calm him. It broke his little heart in hurtful little pieces.
After the doctor was there and repeated the procedure of the nurse who had checked on him earlier he was left alone again. Caleb didn't feel like doing anything at the moment so he just lay in bed and stared out the window. Around noon just after the nurses had collected the menu boxes still untouched, the medic Amy peeked inside to visit him.
Encouragingly, she came closer. "Hi Caleb, I'm glad you are awake again, I was worried about you. I can understand if you don't wanna talk. I brought you something, I had the feeling that it is important to you." She held out the Deuce of Spades to him. A spark of life flickered in Caleb's eyes as he carefully took the card out of Amy's hand. "I've heard your grandma is on the way to you. She will be here in the early afternoon. Take care of yourself, little buddy." She stroked her hand calmingly through the boy's dark hair. With nothing left to say, Amy got up and left quietly through the door.
Caleb stared at the playing card for a long time and cried for his lost sibling.
TBC