Chapter 6: The Library
A/N: Here is that longer chapter I promised. I admit this one is a little boring since it's one of those transition chapters that are written to support the next one so hopefully I don't put too many people to sleep. Again, thanks for all the review and positive support.
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John set his dirty dishes in the sink. "Thanks for making breakfast, Dean."
"No problem," Dean replied then swallowed his last gulp of coffee.
Sam stood up and picked up his and Dean's dirty dishes with his one good arm.
"You got that, Sammy?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"Well boys, what are you planning on doing today?" John asked.
"I was going to walk to the library," Sam announced. "I want to go ahead and start doing some research."
"Can't you do that from the house?" John asked. "You have your laptop and we have a phone line."
"The library's connection will be faster, and besides, not everything can be found on the internet."
"Do you mind if I come with you?" Dean asked.
"Dean, I really don't need a baby sitter,' Sam huffed.
"Dude, chill, I'm not coming to hold your hand. I'm coming because I have a cast on my freaking leg so I can't go to work at the garage with Dad and because I have nothing else to do. It's not like there are any witnesses to question or an abandoned building to go check out. Hell, there isn't even a grave in need of digging up."
"Okay, okay, I get your point," Sam chuckled.
"All right, well you boys be careful. I've got to get going. I won't be back home until 5:30. I want you to check in with me later. Give me a call by noon."
Dean and Sam both looked at their father with a smirk.
"What?" John asked.
"You want us to check in with you?" Dean grinned. "Dad, we're not kids. You do realize that don't you?"
"Like I said before, you're my kids, and I don't appreciate you questioning my orders. Things are different than they were a few months ago. Do I have to remind you that we are constantly in danger?""
"Dad, he wasn't questioning your orders. He was just making a joke," Sam replied.
"Well this isn't a joking matter," John insisted.
"Maybe not but you don't have to yell at Dean. His whole life all he's ever done was obey you. He never lets his guard down and he doesn't need you to keep reminding him like he's some little kid." Sam was through with letting his father push Dean around. Enough was enough already.
John gave both his boys a hard stare and then caught the look that passed between the two. He realized he was having his first test and he had just failed. Shit! In a much calmer voice he tried to explain. "You're right; however, I would appreciate the courtesy of a phone call so that I know you are safe. Dean I'm proud of the way you protect yourself and Sam, but this time it's just not the same. That demon took all three of us on…and we lost. We damn near lost our lives as well. So please, just…call me."
"We will, Dad," Dean replied, ready to put an end to the tensions in the house. Sam also nodded his agreement.
John pulled on his coat and picked up his lunch box. He looked at his sons once more. "Sammy."
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm trying, son. Just, be patient with me. This…this isn't easy for me."
"I know, Dad."
"All right, well I'll talk to you later. Oh, wait." John dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fished out two twenties and handed them to Dean. "Take a cab to the library, or if you want to walk take the money so if your leg starts to hurt too much you can at least take a taxi home."
"Thanks," Dean said and shoved the bills in his shirt pocket.
Finally John left and Dean turned to look at Sam. Sam had turned on the laptop and was connecting to the internet. "Dude, you have to lighten up a little bit."
"Dean, Dad had no right ragging on you like that."
"Maybe not, but you have to realize that he's not going to change over night. Face it, Dad is who he is and most of the time that means he's an asshole, but he's our asshole. He is trying. I mean, when was the last time the three of us spent a weekend like this one? He didn't even mention hunting for three whole days."
"I know," Sam grinned. "I'm sure he broke a world's record in there somewhere." He clicked the mouse several times and pulled up a map of their town.
"Exactly, so don't bust his chops every time he screws up."
"Fine, I'll save my chop busting for the really big screw-ups," Sam replied, which caused Dean to just roll his eyes, but Sam noticed the small smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth.
"The library is about a mile from here. Do you want to walk or ride?"
"Let's walk," Dean said. "It's probably better if we can save the money or maybe we can use it for lunch."
"Sounds good to me," Sam replied. He quickly jotted down the directions and shut off the computer.
He opened the closet door and pulled out his and Dean's coats. It was good his winter coat was a little large. With Dean's help he tugged the material over his cast.
The air outside was crisp but not overly cold. It was springtime but still at least another month before the temperature would be truly warm.
Sam made a point of slowing his pace. With his long legs he usually moved pretty quickly even when he wasn't trying too, but Dean's cast meant he really had to slow it down. Dean for his part was trying to keep up but the cast was a hindrance. It came up to his knee but that wasn't the problem. The problem was he couldn't bend his ankle at all so he hobbled rather like a penguin waddling.
Sam pulled out his directions and checked the street signs. They made it to Crooks, the main street and now only had to go down about five city blocks to get to the library. Sam was actually quite pleased to see that they really weren't in a town as much as they were in a very small city. He hadn't realized that until this very moment.
The accident had taken place about thirty minutes away from there and he'd spent weeks at the hospital unconscious and after he left the hospital all he had done was go to the garage and then to the house. This was the first time he was getting a look at his home for the next six months.
There were lots of business offices, restaurants large and small, and a decent selection of retail stores. The passed the city hall building which was small but ornate and then a small park with a fountain, several benches, and a statue of two civil war soldiers on horseback.
The library was just passed the park and Sam could imagine himself relaxing on one of the benches reading a book and feeding the pigeons. He was suddenly happy that Dad had signed a six month lease. He liked this place.
Dean for his part took all the scenery in stride. He knew better than to get attached to any one place. Sure, this town was better than most they had lived in but still, they would eventually be leaving, probably never to return. He did notice several bars and night clubs. At least he would be able to find some entertainment while here.
They walked up the stairs to the library's main door. The building itself was a knock off of Greek and Roman architecture. Inside the décor resembled something of a man's study with lots of brown wood tones and chairs in hunter green and burgundy vinyl positioned next to long mahogany colored tables.
"Nice," Sam commented which earned him a look from Dean. "What?"
"It's a library."
"Yeah, and it's a nice one.
"Whatever, so what are we looking for?"
"I don't know," Sam said. "Stuff on demons, stuff to kill a demon, something on how to repel them, etc, etc."
"Oh yeah, that's going to be a piece of cake. I'm sure this place has an entire bookcase devoted to the study of demonology."
"Dean, even if the books aren't here all we have to do is request them and they will order them from another library and send them here for us to check out."
"Oh, well, we still need an actual list of books."
"That's what the computers are for. Just type in your subject or topic and start looking for book titles that sound like something that might help us."
Sam plopped down in front of the computer and typed in demonology for his first search. Dean sat by and watched as Sam scanned the list of potential books and references. He didn't bother to type on the other computer. Sam was research boy. No one did it better so Dean figured he'd let Sammy do his thing. Next Sam typed in 'repelling demons' and a more specific list of book titles appeared.
"We don't want to repel it," Dean reminded. "We want to kill it."
"I know, but there might be something in these that will help us." Sam noticed that some of the titles were actually located in the library here so he printed out the page with the call number for them. Next he typed in killing demons. This search proved to be rather useless since the only thing that came up were books on computer gaming and fictional novels. "Looks like we are starting with what I've found so far," Sam announced.
"Any of this stuff here or do we have to order all of it?"
"Actually, two of these books are here according to this, unless they've been checked out. I want to ask for the other two to be brought in."
Dean followed Sam over to the counter. The librarian was an older woman, probably in her mid fifties. Looking at her you could tell that she had been rather beautiful when she was younger. Even now she was rather fetching with her salt and pepper hair and her neutral toned makeup. She stood at about five foot six and wore a pair of glasses that enlarged her brown eyes.
"Excuse me," Sam said politely.
"Yes, may I help you?" she asked and set down the papers she had been looking over.
"Yes actually. I need to apply for a library card and I would like to request two books that aren't currently at this location."
Dean smiled to himself as he watched his little brother. Sam was always such the perfect gentleman. There was something about him that made people literally trip over themselves wanting to help him, especially older women.
"Well, I can help you with both of those things."
"Thank you so much, uh…" Sam read the name on her tag, "Ms. Alice."
She smiled at him. "You're welcome. Now, I'm going to need a photo id and a second piece of identification like a phone bill or gas bill to prove residency."
"Oh," Sam replied and furrowed his eyebrows. "I have a photo id but I'm afraid I don't have a utility bill. My family just moved here about two weeks ago, not to mention the bills would come in my father's name and not mine."
Dean watched as Alice studied Sam for a moment and then she gave a small smile.
"I guess I can bend the rules just this once. You seem like an honest young fellow," she replied.
"Thank you," Sam responded with a grateful sigh. "I really appreciate this."
Alice pulled out several forms and Sam began to fill them out.
"Might I ask what happened to you two boys?" Alice asked.
"We were involved in a car accident about four weeks ago," Sam replied.
"How dreadful."
"Was anyone else hurt besides you two?"
"Our Dad was also with us but luckily he was okay. As for the driver of the vehicle that hit us, well he ran away. The police don't even know who it was since it was a stolen vehicle."
"Such a shame," Alice said.
Dean couldn't believe how Sam could get people to eat out of the palm of his hand. He wondered why Sam didn't have that same finesse with younger ladies. When it came to girls his own age Sam became nervous and shy. Then Alice said the one thing that would render her helpless to Sam's apparent innocence and helplessness.
"Your poor mother must have been frantic to have her entire family involved in a car crash."
Sam looked down for just a second and then back up at her with those puppy dog eyes that he didn't even know he possessed but used with experienced technique.
"I'm afraid that our mom died when I was six months old. I never knew her."
"I'm so sorry," Alice replied with genuine sorrow in her voice. "It must have been hard for you boys, growing up with just a father. Did he remarry?"
"No," Dean said. "But he did the best he could." Sam nodded.
Sam handed her his real driver's license and his Stanford student id. Alice then checked all his information and signed off on his library card form.
"I'll be back in just one moment," she said and went into a back room.
"Dude, why did you use your real id?" Dean asked.
"I didn't see a reason not to," Sam replied. "We aren't up to anything illegal."
"Still, you just made a paper trail."
"I got a library card. Besides, I'm not wanted by the cops or anything. I have a clean record."
Dean knew Sam was right but it still bothered him. Somehow giving out their real information made him feel vulnerable and he didn't like it.
"You know, Dean, I could try and clear your record for you."
"What? How?"
"I did it once before…for Dad."
"When?" Somehow the fact that Sammy had done something so illegal was shocking to him.
"I did it when I was applying to Stanford. I needed that scholarship desperately but being the son of a man who was wanted in the state of Nevada for suspicion of murder was going to make it impossible."
"Oh yeah, I remember that job. He killed that werewolf, which of course turned back into a naked human being, and had to run for it just as the cops came. That was a close one."
"Anyway, I hacked into the system and cleaned Dad's record."
"Just like that?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, just like that. Fixing yours will be trickier since you're technically dead, but I might be able to do it."
"Dude, you could have told me this months ago."
"Well, I needed to wait for enough time to pass before I tried it. I didn't want to draw attention to us accidentally, but now it's been almost a year, the charges were dropped against Rebecca's brother, and the case is closed. No one would notice any tampering now."
Dean couldn't reply since Alice returned with a card to hand to Sam.
"Now, fill out this paper here to request your book titles. They usually take about five days to arrive."
"Okay." Sam wrote down the information on the two books he needed on the form and handed it to Alice. He watched the expression on her face change slightly as she read the titles.
"A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mackand the Manual on Demonology: Diary of an Exorcist by Roy, Sr. Bryant. That is definitely some interesting reading you have chosen," she pointed out.
"It's actually for a law class I am taking at the moment. I'm doing a paper on how the occult and Satanism is affecting the legal system," Sam explained.
"Oh. Well, like I said, they should be here in about five days."
"That's fine," Sam said. "Thank you."
He turned back to Dean. "We need to grab the other two books that are here and then we can leave."
"What are the other two books?"
"The History of Witchcraft and Demonology by Montague Summers, and The Black Arts: An Absorbing Account of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages by Richard Cavendish."
"That's a mouthful," Dean replied. "Lead the way."
Sam searched the stacks and was glad to see that both books were right where they belonged. Back at the desk they checked them out and then headed out into the fresh air once more.
"When we get home I want to call Bobby again. I want to ask him to send me The Key of Solomon once more, not to mention anything else he might have that could be useful."
"I'm sure he'll send it. He said he would be glad to help."
They were just passing the park when Sam suddenly grabbed his forehead with his good hand.
"Sam? Sammy?" Dean called. He knew Sam was about to have a vision from the look of pain on his face. Dean grabbed his brother by his arm and his side and guided him over to the park bench and sat him down. Sam walked of his own accord but it was obvious he didn't know what was going on. At the moment his brother was somewhere else.
Dean waited as patiently as he knew how to do, which meant he was growing more and more anxious with every passing second. Finally Sam slumped against him and drew a couple of ragged breaths.
"Sammy, talk to me. What did you see?"
"Dean…call Dad," was all Sam mumbled before closing his eyes.