It quickly became a nightmare...
...
Sirens howl like a pack of wolves and the swirling lights cast long shadows over the homes lining the block. The sleepy street bustled with activity despite the lateness. Neighbors huddled in groups, talking, and pointing towards the house almost entirely consumed by flames.
Occasionally, they glance at the man seated on the hood of a '67 Impala. A few have sad expressions, but some look at him with more than passingly curious ones. A few border upon accusatory. As if they suspect he set the fire to hide he killed Mary. John pays no attention to any of it. He cradles Sammy against his chest. Dean's tucked up beside him, silent. His boy hasn't spoken a word since asking him what was going on.
Not that John has any idea of what he'd say to any of the questions his son might ask. He doesn't know what happened. Nothing makes sense. All he can is stare at the house that is no longer their family home and wonder why this is happening to them.
A paramedic opens the back of an ambulance. For what, John doesn't know. It's not like there's anything left of Mary to transport to the hospital. Nausea rolls greasily through his belly as he recalls an aroma, much like the smell of rotting eggs filling his nostrils right before the ceiling around Mary burst into flame.
Mary pinned to the ceiling above Sammy's crib, bleeding from her belly, and unable to call out to him for help. Blood, fire, death. Foam rushes into his mouth as he recalls the feel of Mary's blood on the back of his hand. He bears down, swallows the bile back. He saw some gnarly shit in 'Nam. Nothing like this, though. He can explain what happened in 'Nam. I don't have a goddamn clue about what the hell happened to Mary.
Dean trembles against him. He shifts Sammy so he can wrap an arm around him, trying to impart some warmth into him. It wasn't easy considering he felt as if he's trapped in a block of ice.
"I gotcha." John rubs his side, trying to comfort him the best he can, but knowing nothing he does will ever undo this trauma or take away his son's pain. "I gotcha, Dean."
"Stay back, everyone." An officer orders as he waves the crowd of gawkers back. "Y'all gotta stay back so the firefighters can work on putting out the fire."
John can feel eyes on him again but doesn't bother to acknowledge them. He's too busy watching the firefighters work to put out the fire swallowing up his house. What the hell happened? One moment he's asleep in his armchair as an old war movie plays on the TV, and the next he's scooping Sam and Dean up in his arms, and racing across the lawn he mowed last weekend.
How did Mary get pinned to the ceiling of the nursery? What caused the fire? And most importantly, who slashed open his wife's belly, and why? He doesn't have any answers. He doesn't have anything save for his boys and the '67 Impala they sat on.
How did everything fall to shit? he asks himself as Sammy whimpers. They were a normal family less than twenty-hours ago. They did what all the other families on this block did. Went shopping for groceries, took Sammy for a checkup, and got Dean some new sneakers. Even today wasn't all that unusual. He went to the shop, Mary took the boys to the park, and she made PB&J sandwiches for dinner since the meatloaf 'sploded in the oven.
Things changed in the blink of an eye. A part of him is too numb from shock to process more than the basics. Another part of him burns with a rage he has never felt before. The emotions swirling inside him threaten to consume him. Any second he expects to explode from everything churning around inside him. He swallows it all, buries it down deep, and focuses on his boys. They need him. He's all they have.
And they were all he has, too.
John vows in that moment to not lose them. Not like he lost Mary. He looks again at the burning house. I'm gonna figure out what happened to you, he promises as more firefighters arrived to combat the flames. I'm gonna find whoever or whatever is responsible for tearing our family apart.
And when he does?
He's gonna kill 'em.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
This is tagged to 1x01, the Pilot.