10

Disclaimer: Stephen King and Warner brothers are the only geniuses here. I only hope that my misadventures using their characters and themes do not offend them. I am merely a poor student, who will remain poor.

Ludlow

Dean drove down the turnpike. Not much further now, 30mins and they'd be in Ludlow, the town of the Creed home. It was still the Creed home. Because 13 years after the tragedy of Gage Creeds death and the house fire across the street; Eileen Creed had bought the place. Between her father's ownership, and Eileen's return, there had been only two other owners and they had each left under a year… 'Like the house was waiting for her'

"Still no answer?" Dean asked Sam. They had been trying to call Eileen Creed for two days now. Steve hadn't known where to find her. But Sam was a pro at tracking down anything or anyone online. Eileen would have been 6 years old when the tragedy happened, and now 28 year old Eileen was living alone in her old home, at least as far as Sam had found. 'No marriage license or kids. Looks like it's just her. She could have tenants through. House-mates or something.' Sam had said. 'Or something' Dean had replied.'

"Nope." Sam was beyond frustrated now. Dean seemed determined to investigate. And Sam knew that Dean was as wigged out by this as he was, but it was their father's orders and Dean refused to be led astray from them. After leaving Steve they had left a message on their Dad's phone. They needed to know more. There must have been something that caught their Dad's interest. 'Where did the man get all this from? Sometimes it seems like he just pulls names and places out of his ass and low and beyond! there'd be something supernatural going on. He should be here with us. If he saw us in action, he'd realize that Dean and I are- ACK why even bother? But he had better include me when the demon that killed Mom and Jess goes down. I won't be left out!'

"Let's review our facts again." Dean said, interrupting Sam's brooding.

"If Steve is right about Gage being found in a house fire after being buried; then Louis could have dabbled in dark arts, maybe a zombie spell? That kind of shit could make a man crazy pretty fast." Sam hypothesized

"Great, I love zombies. We'd have to stop and pick up a cricket bat!" Dean exclaimed.

"A what?"

"Yeah, it worked pretty well in Shawn of the Dead. Looked fun too."

"The zombies in that movie were slow and brainless. I remember 4 of them chasing you across that cemetery like a pack of wolves. You were screaming like a girl."

"HEY! I was 12! And you were the one screaming, hiding in car!" Dean said defensively.

"Sure you weren't."

"Maybe if you're lucky it won't pan out. But the trip won't be for nothing." Dean said.

"And why won't it be?" 'Why even ask a guy who tries to copy horror film moves for fun?' thought Sam, he could almost see where Dean was going.

"It's a prime spot for Wendigos! It will be all nostalgic for us." Dean grinned.

Sam glared at him. 'Leave it to Dean to be excited about running into something that had almost eaten him!' Sam whacked Dean across the head. He certain wouldn't push for that hunt. Wendigo's where once men, miners or loggers. Men, who in times of hardship took to cannibalism to survive. Over the years of eating other men's flesh, a man would become a Wendigo. A creature that was specialized in surviving. A master hunter. Who hunted people. Stories about them went back even into the history of Native Americans. They had faced one several months ago. It had capture Dean, had him hung up like a slab of meat. If it wasn't for Dean's damn trail of M&M's he may not have found him. It was way too close.

'You're such an ass." Sam grunted.

"Awww that hurts Sammy." Dean said in a squeaky child like voice. Earning him self a jab in the arm from Sam. Dean was pleased to see Sam acting more like him self. He hadn't been sleeping well…okay; he hadn't been sleeping well in a long time. But the last few nights he'd been talking in his sleep, like he was talking to someone. He didn't seem to remember it when he woke up. At least he said he didn't. Dean hated the fact that he couldn't be sure if Sam was telling the truth. From the mumbles Dean had made out only a few words and stings of a sentenced here or there. Something about 'an obedient cat named Smucky'Sam said the word 'spiral' a few times It didn't make any sense to him. 'But with our track record it's bound to bite me in the ass. Heaven forbid Sam have normal dreams.'

"It's Sam. How about paying attention to the road, man. You're swerving. Let me drive." Sam asked.

"Bah, you? Mr. Alert? No thanks." Dean huffed. "You got what, 2 hours last night?"

"There were BUGS in the bed Dean. That place is definitly going on the top 10 list for shady motels. And it's not like you got much more." Sam didn't want to talk about his sleeping habits again. 'It's bad enough that I'm talking in my sleep, but not remembering anything! What's the point in me having 'dreams' if I can't remember them? It's too normal…and I'm not used to normal, not since Jess.' "Anyway, I left a message yesterday for Eileen saying that we're from the Forestry Department remapping the region, due to land claim issues. And we would like her cooperation reassessing where her property and government lands meet. I left another message this morning telling her we'd be in the neighborhood tomorrow and may drop by if she wouldn't mind."

"You're getting good at this. sigh Makes me proud." Dean grinned, holding a hand up too his heart. "Let's shoot for a bug free place tonight. Spoil ourselves."

The nearest main town from Ludlow was Bangor about 30 minutes from the house. But

they needed a closer home-base, which brought them to a nice little bed and breakfast,

a beautiful New England home, complete with a wrap around deck, and more flowers then a bee could dream of in a lifetime. Not the best bang for their buck. But after a night of literally sharing pillows with cockroaches, they'd bear the expenses if it meant regularly washed sheets.

"That's your Christmas and Birthday gifts for the next 3 years Sam."

"Geee thanks." Sam rolled his eyes.

Dean watched Sam toss and turn in his sleep that night. Tonight he was prepared. He placed their tape recorder on the nightstand, ready to catch any mumbles, should Sam start conversing again. He was not disappointed.

Sam squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to keep them closed. Damn Dean was noisy."Stop stomping around Dean. Go to bed." He muttered from under the covers. He heard footsteps approach the end of his bed and stop. "Damn it Dean. I'm fine. I was sleeping fine till you starting dancing like an elephant." Dean didn't respond. But he could feel him there, standing at the end of his bed. "What the fuck is your problem De"- Sam pushed himself up onto his elbows ready to give Dean shit, maybe even throw a pillow- till he open his eyes and saw that the person standing at the end of his bed wasn't Dean, not by a long shot. 'For one, Dean wouldn't be caught dead in red jogging shorts. Speaking of dead-'Sam thought, suddenly seeing the guys head was cracked open. He jumped out of the bed, and looked over at Dean. Dean was sitting up in his bed, Pillow pushed up in a vertical position against the head broad so he could lean into it comfortably. He looked like he was sleeping. Sam turned back to the man with the cracked open head; who was still standing at the end of his bed. He had caked on blood all over him. With mud and pine needles plastered from the knees down. "I come as a friend." The guy said. "There's only destruction waiting here, you should take your brother and leave." Sam blinked. "Who are you?" "Victor Pascow, not that that matters any." "What do mean by destruction Victor?" "You'll see; if you stay you'll see. But the show won't be worth the emission price." 'Crap.' Sam thought, and turned to wake up Dean, as he reached out for Dean he realized that he shouldn't turn his back on Pascow. But looking back for him now, he saw no one. And a thorough look around the room relieved only him and Dean. A wave of exhaustion he had been fighting for what seemed like forever hit him. And he closed his eyes so he could rub them.'

When Sam opened his eyes next the sun was coming through the floral drapes. He squinted and looked over at Dean. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, twirling the tape recorder in his hands, his eyes were trained on the floor passed their beds, and his knife was resting on top of his pillow. He looked like he hadn't slept at all.

"Dean?" Sam asked, pulling himself up and swinging his legs over the side. "Get anything on tape?" Dean looked up at him then. He really hadn't slept, Sam was sure of that now. 'Now he's the one up all night, while I get rest?'

"You don't remember do you?"

"No. I mean I slept well. Why? What's on the tape, what'd I say?" Sam was starting to worry now. Dean wasn't supposed to have serious expressions.

"What you said! How about what you did! And then some!" Dean pointed to the floor. And Sam looked. 'SHIT! Shitshitshitshitshitshit' From the slightly ajar door to the foot of Sam's bed were muddy foot prints. 'Something had been in the room with us, and we slept through it? Dad would never let us hear the end of it.'

Then Dean pressed the play button, and Sam listened to his one sided conversation. When it was done they both sat there in silence for a full on 5 minutes. Dean finally broke it, his voice sounded tired with a hint of miffed.

"I fell asleep, watching you toss and turn. I woke up as you were climbing back into bed. You where rubbing your eyes pretty hard and wouldn't respond to me. I couldn't have been out for more then 15minutes." In his mind Dean was blaming himself. 'How could something get into the room without me knowing it? It could have killed Sammy, and I would have woken up to a thud as Sam hit the ground! FUCK. Something was physically here, and Sam was talking to it in his sleep!'

"From what I said on tape and our current state of being alive, 'Victor' may have been giving us information or-"

"Warning us? Yeah. Great lot of good it does us when you can't remember it -pause- Sorry." Dean said, 'Sam looks upset enough without me bitching.' "At least from the footprints where dealing with something corporal, and human size…Do those look like Nike shoe prints to you?"

"A monster in high end footwear? It'd be the first."

Dean and Sam pulled into the driveway of the Creed home. 'Looks so pretty, a sure sign of evil.' Dean thought. Sam had their I.D. prepared from the last town they went through. Even bought a clip board for the printouts of the property land he had gotten online. Dean's more professional appearing homemade equipment would serve well enough to make them look the part of surveyors.

The placed felt kinda off. But it was so subtle that it could just be their shaky knowledge of the case, making a warm welcome impossible. 'Heck, it could just be us. We must ooze creepy by now' Deanthought

They went up the porch, and Dean knocked on the door. Sam stood behind him, he turned around to get a look at the 'lay of the land' -when he saw it- Sam felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him. Off in the distance, barley visible was a path along the woods edge.

The door opened before Sam could alert Dean. A lovely young woman stood to greet them; she had deep brown eyes and darkish blonde hair. She smiled warmly at them.

"You must be from the Forestry Department. Sorry I wasn't able to call you back. Been a bit busy is all."

Dean stared at her before catching himself; he had to keep himself from saying 'You must be my next fling.' And settled for: "You must be Eileen Creed?" But it didn't stop him from giving his best 'I like what I'm looking at' smile.

Sam rolled his eyes. 'God, he's a walking hormone.' He stepped in front of Dean, and offered his hand for a hand shake.

"Hi. Don't mind my co-worker here. We keep him locked in the office most the time, he doesn't see people much. I'm Peter Cuthbert, and this is Jack Assit." Sam smiled. He could feel Dean sending hate vibes at him.

Eileen laughed softly, "Jack Assit?"

"Yeah, my family were a bunch of mean bastards." Dean said, jabbing Sam in the back.

Eileen invited them in; and led them to the kitchen where she had taken out some the property maps for them the other day when she first got their call.

"I guess the Micmac's are still pursuing their land claim?" She said, giving a said smile. "It's a shame they and the government can't seem to work it out. But I can understand why they would fight for it."

"Oh?" Dean asked. 'Our luck can't be this good.'

"Well, yeah. It's a beautiful area. The forest and hills are finer than you'd fine anywhere."

'Thought so.' Dean thought, deflated"You've got a lovely home."

"Thank you. My grandparents left me a lot of money when they passed away. I couldn't think of a better investment."

"We'd like to walk your property if you don't mind. You'd be welcome to walk with us, share some local history." 'Your history, houses history, local monsters, etc.' Dean smiled…'please don't be evil'

"Sure thing." Eileen got up to get her jacket. As soon as she was out of the room, Dean leaned over to Sam.

"I hope she's not evil. Way too cute to be evil right?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Priorities Ass-it. Before she answered the door I saw the path, the same one from my 'vision'. Looking at these maps it seems like it's just off her property."

They strolled along her property's hills. Sam had Dean's EMF reader out, running it along the forested edge. They told Eileen it was a GPS, connecting to satellites to give them their exact location. So far it wasn't picking up anything.

Sam could barely restrain himself from running straight to the path. It seemed to be taking forever to get to that section of land. And Dean seemed in no rush as he walked beside Eileen, it never failed to amaze Sam how much smooth sounding bullshit Dean could pull out when there was an attractive girl around. And to her credit, Eileen seemed tolerating him. Sam finally reached his goal. As he stood waiting for them to catch up. He couldn't help be feel a wave of sickening deja vu. 'Yup, the right spot.' The path seemed well taken care off.

"What's down this path?" Sam asked, trying to sound detached. Eileen smiled smoothly.

"My property doesn't extend in. But if you wanted to go in I'd have no problem showing you. It's a bit of a walk. But the destination makes it well worth it."

Sam stood there numbly, 'But the show won't be worth the emission price' he heard echo in his mind. It was on the tip of his tongue. 'Where have I heard that?'

"It's been raining the past few days, so it will be a little muddy." Eileen said already moving down the path.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks, "Muddy?" Dean whispered.

About 10 minutes in Dean was getting bored. Eileen's mood had changed, she seemed more eager in bringing them to where ever the path lead then flirting.

"How about telling us where we're heading, Eilly?" Dean asked.

"And ruin the surprise? Nah. You guys will love it. The children in the town come here all the time. They take care of it. It's special." Eileen said in a manner that was a cross breed of sad and giddy.

Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam. Who in returned mouthed the word 'creepy' in reference to Eileen. The EMF still hadn't made a peep. And the woods themselves had a light breezy flow to them.

By the time Eileen came to a stop ahead of them, both Dean and Sam had broken a sweat. When they caught up to her she was looking fondly ahead. They followed her line of sight to an archway of weathered boards, with barely visible writing.

"Pet Sematary." Dean read out loud. Sam bit his bottom lip and looked at Dean.

"Yuppers." Eileen said then walked under it. The boys followed. Dean went through first, not letting Sam pass ahead till he had done a quick check for potential danger.

"Wow." Sam gasped. Taking in the sight of the clearing. It was full of markers, grave markers. Made of all varieties of materials from wood planks to pieces of tin. Some you could read, others where weathered away.

"The children in town bury their animals up here. Have been for a hundred years or more. The oldest ones are in the center, and they work out from there till the most recent."

"Children did this, all by themselves?" Dean asked. 'Something's wrong with those kids.'

"That's right. They make the markers themselves too, but that's easy to tell. They put a lot of heart into it." Eileen, looked ridiculously happy, like a kid in a Macdonald's play world.

"Hannah the best dog that ever lived 1929-1939." Sam read out. '1939! Holy crap that's old.'

Sam looked over a Dean standing beside one of the markers staring intently at it. "Jack?"

Dean looked up at him. His face was paler by a few shades. He looked back down before saying, "Smucky the cat. He was obedient. 1971-1974." He looked back up at Sam.

Sam straightened. 'We're in the right place….or wrong place.'

Eileen came to stand behind Dean. "Funny isn't it? Who ever heard of an obedient cat? Right?"

"Right." Dean smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

Sam wanted a higher view of the cemetery, to see if there was a pattern to the markers. 'What was the other thing I had been saying in my sleep…spirals?' Sam walked over to one end that moss covered wood, 'Kids even built a fence?' Placing a foot to test its ability too hold his weight. He climbed up about 4 feet keeping his back against it. And indeed the markers made a spiral; it wasn't a very neat one. But it was a spiral. He looked over and saw Eileen staring at him. Just staring. Sam felt like he was pinned to a spinning wheel, waiting for Eileen to start throwing knifes. Then she smiled. It made him feel sick.

"Peter get down from there, just because we're in the land the kid's built doesn't mean you should act like –" Dean stopped and titled his head a little to the right. Was that a deadfall? And there's something behind it, past this deadfall of twisted branches. Something behind it. Steve Masterton's words stuck in Dean's head And just for a second Dean thought the moss covered branches looked like bleached bones. Just for a second. But that was all Dean needed to get his 'supernatural sense tingling'.

"Peter get down." He said firmly. Sam frowned; Dean knew he didn't like be ordered around. But before Sam could tell Dean where to shove it, he caught the hunter glare in his brother's eyes. Now would be a bad time to mess with Dean. So Sam jumped down.

"Anything else around here of interest?" Dean asked. He tried to soften his voice, but he knew it came out harsher.

"Nope." Eileen said smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "There's a swamp past the deadfall there, some thick forests that way."

Sam looked sharply back where he had just been climbing. 'A Deadfall? I had been on the deadfall and not some cruddy fence, and I didn't even notice!'

"Guess you want me to take you back right? I've got to be signed into my computer by 3pm, online tech support and all." Eileen said as she headed back along the path.

Dean had Sam go first so he could cover his back. Dean didn't like this. 'Not. One. Fucking Bit.'