Thanks for all the positive reviews thus far, my peeps. I hope you continue to enjoy my little story. Let me say again, my beta Sarah rocks!
The Blood Harvest Chapter. 4
"Dean! No, don't hang up!" Sam yelled into the receiver, but moments later, after realizing the connection was lost, he unknowingly mirrored his brother's actions and threw the phone, yelling in frustration.
"Whoa! Calm down, Sam," Ian said calmly, after coming out of the bathroom. "Tell me what the hell happened to make you kill the phone."
"That was Dean." Sam replied, pacing.
"What was Dean? Was he on the phone?" Ian asked, confused.
"Yes! Didn't you hear the stupid thing ring?" Sam answered angrily.
"No, I was in the bathroom with the exhaust fan on, so how could I?" Ian answered, remaining calm. "But since you're obviously upset, I'm going to just take a guess that whatever he had to say was bad?"
"Yeah, what I heard of it. His phone was breaking up." Sam answered.
"Okay then, so are you gonna tell me the part you did hear, or are we going to play charades so I can guess?" Ian asked, accidentally letting sarcasm slip into the question.
"From what I heard, he's been stabbed, and is locked in somebody's cellar." Sam replied, angrily wiping tears of frustration from his eyes.
"That's all you heard him say?" Ian asked surprised by what he'd just learnt.
"Yes! How many times do I have to say it? Oh wait, he did say he was hurting and I'm pretty sure the last part was something about NEEDING MY HELP!" Sam replied, yelling the last words.
"Just calm down! Your little temper tantrum isn't going to help Dean any, so act your age!" Ian said angrily to the younger man.
"You didn't hear him! He sounded... I don't know how to describe it, but it was bad, okay?"
"Okay." Ian replied, sighing. "So let's see, he's in someone's cellar, right?"
"Yes!"
"And it's safe to assume that it's probably one of the parents of the children's cellar, since they're the only ones who would stand to lose anything by you and Dean interfering in their plans, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, I guess that is the most logical deduction." Sam agreed.
"And according to the legend, the Reverend kills seven children each cycle, and there have already been six deaths, so-" Ian started, but Sam jumped in before he could finish.
"So the first place to check for him would be at the home of the only child left, and that's Jeff Martin." he said with a smile.
"Correct, who just happens to be the only child that Dean had given his number at the Inn here, and I know for a fact that the sheriff has a really big cellar." Ian added.
"Let's go." Sam said, quickly walking towards the door, Ian following closely behind.
Reaching the cars outside, they were met with a surprising sight.
"Shit!" Sam yelled, seeing that someone had flattened the tires on both Ian's police cruiser and Dean's car, which he had driven back to the Inn. "Now what?"
"You're the pro at this stuff, not me." Ian replied, shaking his head sadly. "That son of a bitch," he added under his breath, knowing the sheriff was responsible for the damage.
"We'll just hot-wire a car or something" Sam said, looking around the parking lot at the vehicles there.
"You know how to do that?" Ian asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sam.
"Of course, Dean showed me how before." Sam replied with a shrug, then added quickly when he remembered he was in the presence of a police officer (or an ex-police officer now), "Not that we've ever stolen anyone's car. We've borrowed them before, but only when we had too, and always returned them in one piece."
"Look, in this case it's totally understandable to do it. So you don't have to worry about me going all law crazy on you." Ian said, with a smile.
Sam finally decided on a new Toyota Celica and when Ian remarked on the fact he'd chosen a brand new sports car he replied with, "It's fast, and one of the many things I've learnt from my last several months with Dean, is the faster the car the better."
"Fair enough." Ian said, watching with interest as Sam set about hot-wiring the car.
"Will you stop staring over my shoulder?" Sam asked after his first attempt failed, "I only watched him do it, so I'm trying to remember exactly what he did, and you making me nervous isn't helping any."
"Sorry." Ian muttered, stepping back, "Never know when knowing how to do something like that might come in handy."
"You mean like now?" Sam asked with a grin as the car purred to life.
"Precisely." Ian replied. He and Sam went to retrieve the weapons they were going to take with them from Dean's car, and a few minutes later, they were on their way to the sheriff's house, Ian driving because he knew the way.
"We've got company." Ian announced suddenly after they were halfway there, and Sam turned around and saw they were being followed closely behind by a police cruiser.
"You mean he's actually coming after us himself?" Sam asked in disbelief.
"I don't think that's him. I'm pretty sure it's Buchanan, another one of our prestigious force." Ian replied grimly.
"Can you lose him?" Sam asked.
"Oh yeah, but it's gonna put us a bit off course." he replied.
"It's better to get to Dean late than never." Sam said, and thought to himself, I only hope he'll be okay till then. He didn't think he could continue on the search for his father without Dean. He was the rock, and Sam now realized how much he had grown to rely on him to be the strong one. He had started taking it for granted that Dean was the protector, well this time he was the one who needed help, and Sam would be damned if he wasn't going to receive it.
Just hang on Dean, I'm coming.
It had now reached nightfall and Jeff hurried back to the cellar after his dad left to make his rounds. He knew he had at least an hour before he returned, and planned to take full advantage of it by brainstorming with Dean to try and figure a way to get them both out of this mess.
His mother had actually looked as though she was about to pass out in the recliner when he'd told her he was going back out.
She had only looked at him with glassy eyes and nodded slightly when he'd said it, holding a half-empty bottle of vodka in one hand.
Maybe they could escape while she slept, he thought with a flicker of hope.
After descending the stairs of the cellar, and seeing Dean, he realized with a sinking heart that they wouldn't be going anywhere.
He was still propped against the wall, staring wide-eyed as he mumbled incoherently, and Jeff could tell he was in a great deal of pain by the groans and whimpers he let out occasionally.
"Dean, I'm back, like I promised." he said, getting on his knees beside him, and when he didn't reply, Jeff hesitantly asked, "Can you hear me?"
Dean's hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and he was breathing in quick gasps.
"Dean!" Jeff repeated, louder this time, and was rewarded by Dean's confused gaze drifting to him.
"I'm s-sorry I got you in this whole mess Sammy, you lost your girlfriend and your happy life b-because of me." Dean said sadly.
Realizing that Dean must be thinking he was his brother, said, "It's Jeff, not Sam."
"D-dad told me to protect you." he continued on, ignoring what Jeff was saying, "And all I've done is exactly the opposite."
"Dean, I'm not your brother!" Jeff said, almost yelling. He was at a loss as to what to do to help the man, and no matter how much it seemed he wasn't, he was only ten years old, and was scared by the way Dean was acting.
He felt like running quickly back up the steps, hiding in the comfort of his bed to try and forget the day's events.
No way. I can't leave him down here alone like this, he thought to himself, automatically feeling ashamed of himself for even thinking it.
Noticing Dean was staring at him with an odd expression, he once again told him he wasn't his brother.
It seemed to get through to him this time, because he blinked several times, and then squinted his eyes, looking at Jeff's features more closely in the dim light supplied by the flashlight.
"Jeff?" he asked after a minute, looking slightly disappointed.
"Yeah, that's right." he answered with a smile.
Sighing deeply, Dean closed his eyes again.
Thinking he'd fallen asleep, Jeff started to get up from where he sat to go back inside and try the phones one last time, but was stopped by Dean laying a hand on his arm.
"Don't leave me again, please." he requested in a scared sounding voice.
"I'm just gonna go try the phones again." Jeff said in soft reply. "I'll be right back."
"No, please, stay here." Dean said.
Jeff started to protest, but looking at Dean again and seeing how scared he seemed, decided to do as he asked.
What were the chances of the phones being back on anyway?
"Okay." Jeff replied, and on impulse grabbed Dean's hand.
Dean closed his eyes, but Jeff knew better than to think he'd fallen asleep this time and didn't attempt to get up and leave again.
"Tell me what cartoons you like." he requested, and after a second's hesitation, Jeff did just that.
If that was all he could do to help the man keep his mind off the situation at hand, he was more than happy to comply.
"Well, my favorite is Scooby-Doo..."
TBC
I know this chapter was a bit angsty, but don't worry, things couldn't possibly get any worse at this point, so the only way is up… (or is it?) I'll try and update again soon! Please review.