Disclaimer: Nope I just checked the mail and there aren't any royalties in there, so I guess Supernatural is not mine.
"Sylvia's going to be pissed I didn't come home last night." Riley said as they drove to her house early the next morning. Turns out the girl was much more pleasant when she wasn't just attacked by a cannibalistic ghost, who'd have thought.
"What about your dad?" Jack asked her. They were sitting in the backseat, watching the scenery pass by in silence till then.
"He's in Wisconsin visiting Grandma at the hospital. He probably won't know till he gets back." Riley said.
"How do you get along with your step-mom?" Sam asked seemingly out of simple curiosity. He had his best I'm-innocent-and-no-we're-not-trying-to-find-out-if-mommy-dearest-wants-you-dead look.
"Okay I guess." Riley said grimacing. They slowed across the street from her house and she hesitated at the door handle.
"Remember, if she's there, you tell her you're staying at a friend's house to study." Jack reminded Riley. She gave her an encouraging smile and shooed her out the door.
Riley nodded, took a deep breath and opened the door. Her hesitance showed clear as day that things were not great at home.
They watched up and down the streets as she walked to her front door, even though it was daylight they were still armed and ready for a fight. Riley took out her house key and started to unlock the door. It opened before she could insert the key and she was nearly rammed by her step-mom on her way out the door. Sylvia stopped and said something they couldn't make out from that far away. Riley said something else looking up a t the taller woman. Suddenly Sylvia lashed out, slapping her so hard her head snapped roughly to the side.
All Jack's protective instincts flew into high gear and s he reached for the door handle.
"Jack, wait." Dean said reaching back to catch her hand before she could jump out of the car.
"Bitch." Jack spat out glaring at the woman as she walled to her car, leaving Riley standing forlorn on the front step of the house. Out of habit the three inhabitants of the Chevy ducked down when Sylvia's car passed them.
When her car was out of sight they exited the car, crossing the street to meet Riley.
"She always pull that shit? Or was this a one time thing?" Sam asked her. Riley looked away ashamed. Her cheek was turning red and she looked like she was fighting back tears.
"It doesn't matter." Riley insisted opening the door. The three followed her inside; Jack silently fuming, Sam thinking grimly back to Max and Dean wondering if Alex was home.
"Alex! Alex!" Riley called out. When she got no reply she relaxed visibly.
"Make yourselves at home. I'm just going to go get my things." Riley said brushing past them to make her way upstairs.
'Should I follow her?' Jack mouthed to Dean. He nodded and gestured towards the front door. They were going to check out the back of the house while she watched Riley.
Jack nodded and followed Riley up the stairs, silently. Jack glanced in the open doors she passed on the way to Riley's bedroom. She saw a messy one with weights in the corner and smutty pictures on the walls; Alex's room. She glanced at Riley who'd entered her room up ahead, then ducked into his room.
"If I were a jerk playing with the supernatural, where would I hide my supplies?" Jack said to herself looking over the bookcase, which consisted mostly of car magazines, more porn and school books. Jack shook out the notebooks and flipped through them all looking for anything resembling t he symbol Sam showed them for summoning the Schneewittchen. She found nothing. She looked under the bed in the closet and between the mattresses and still found nothing to indicate that Alex was anything more than a horny kid.
Jack made sure everything was where it was when she entered the room, not that it really mattered and left. She continued down the hall to Riley's room.
'Pretty.' She thought leaning against the doorway. The walls were painted light blue with a dark wood bed with a matching dresser and desk. Bookcases that actually held books covered the wall just inside the doorway, with two windows overlooking the street in front of the house. Riley was in the bathroom that she had to herself, splashing running water over her face. Jack moved further into the doorway and heard a sniffle. She almost cursed out loud. The girl was crying, Jack didn't know how to comfort a crying girl.
"Hey," She started awkwardly. Riley jumped and spun around.
"You scared the hell out of me." Riley exclaimed.
"Sorry." Jack said.
"Um, are you alright?" Jack asked hoping she would just lie and say she was fine. It was pretty obvious she wasn't, her eyes were puffy from more than just a long night and her nose was bright red. Riley looked at her for a long moment, t hen turned away from Jack to towel off her face.
"It didn't used to be like this." Riley said just when jack was about to be relieved about being spared a tearjerker moment.
"Like what?" Jack asked feigning ignorance.
"You saw what happened." Riley said bitterly. "When dad's here she doesn't do that. But he works in the city so……" Riley trailed off looking down at the white tile. Jack studied it too, counting the seconds till she could go back downstairs.
"And Alex isn't any help, its like he can do no wrong to her." Riley continued. Her little fists clenched at her sides.
"Can you go live with your mom?" Jack asked her.
"She died. Car accident when I was five." Riley said. Jack winced.
"Can't you tell your dad what she does?" Jack asked.
"He was alone for a long time before he met Sylvia. He says he's happy with her." Riley said shaking her head. "I don't want to ruin things for him. Maybe its just me. Maybe I'm in the wrong." Riley looked like she was about to start crying again. Her shoulders were hunched around her, the image of resignation and defeat.
"Your what? Fifteen now?" Jack asked grasping at straws.
"I'll be sixteen next month." Riley answered. "Why?"
"Well, in a couple of years you'll be able to move to a dorm at a college or whatever." Jack told her.
"Yeah." Riley swallowed and nodded like she'd told herself that same thing a million times already.
"And till then," Jack continued. Riley looked up at her hopefully. "I can teach you a mean left hook while I'm here." Not the greatest advice, she could admit, but advice wasn't her thing. Fighting was a dance she knew all the steps to though.
"I can't hit my step-mom." Riley said in shock.
"For general use." Jack said lightly. Riley looked like she might actually smile then, but the moment was over fast.
"Hey, where are your friends?" Riley asked. Jack had never been so relieved for a change of subject.
"Their about." Jack answered pushing away from the doorway she'd been leaning against. Riley walked past her to the dresser, pulling out a pair of clothes and shoving them into a backpack.
"Lets hurry, you got the EMF?" Sam asked. Dean pulled it out of the glove compartment of the Impala and waved it at his brother. They made their way back to the house and around the back.
"You sure you saw them both coming from here?" Sam asked Dean as he switched on the machine.
"Yup." Dean answered concentrating on the EMF.
"You know they could just be fooling around. No spells, just your everyday cradle robbing." Sam said.
"Oh I think its pretty obvious the lady's banging her stepson. But why the hell would they do it down in the cellar when the house is empty and why put a Fort Knox sized locked on the door?" Dean asked. He waved the detector over the cellar door. Just as they were about to get a reading though he noticed the lock wasn't on the door.
"Hey look-" Dean started when the cellar doors swung outward. They jumped back just in time, Dena hiding the EMF behind his back. Alex stopped dead in his tracks, staring belligerently at the two men. He had a bear in his hand and wasn't wearing a shirt.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded.
"Taking in the sights." Dean said with a smirk.
"Our sister is friends with yours we're just dropping them off." Sam said every bit as hostile as Dean towards the kid.
"Your sister?" Alex asked narrowing his eyes at them suspiciously.
"You remember, redhead. Nearly broke your arm for trying to grab her." Dean said calmly.
"Monique." Alex said the fake name Jack gave him like a curse.
"That's our girl." Sam said.
Alex mumbled something under his breath and turned away from them to close the cellar doors.
"Got something valuable down there?" Dean asked looking over Alex's shoulder.
"Nothing that's any of your fucking business." Alex said securing the lock and turning back to them.
"Yeah? How old are you kid?" Dean asked nonchalantly.
"Why?" Alex asked.
"Never mind we gotta get going. Come one Dean." Sam said hastily, knowing where that line of questioning was heading. He grabbed Dean by the shoulder and pulled him along before he hauled off and hit the boy.
Dean let himself be herded back around the front of the house, hiding the EMF under his jacket. He hadn't missed the spike before they were interrupted, though.
"Yo, Jack, Riley!" Dean called as they entered the front door. He ran up the stairs without waiting for an answer, Sam right behind him.
"We're leaving." Dean said running into them at the landing. He walked back down the stairs ahead of them to start the car.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"Alex is home." Sam answered, giving Jack a significant look.
"Alright then." Jack said. She took Riley's backpack from her hand and slung it over her shoulder. Riley hesitated a second before following them down the stairs to where her brother was standing.
She didn't know why but suddenly he seemed a bit more menacing to Jack, standing there the way he was. She glared at him and planted herself firmly in front of his sister.
"Where ya' goin' Riley?" He asked.
"Studying with my friend." Riley answered.
"She doesn't go to our school." Alex pointed out.
"What can I say, I love to learn." Jack said sweetly.
"Move out of the way or I'll make you move." Dean said quietly coming up on Alex's side. Dean was feeling more and more uneasy being t here. They didn't have the necessary weapons to get rid of the spirits with them. Their handguns didn't take rock salt and they had stupidly left the holy water back at the motel, an almost unprecedented lapse on his part.
Alex stood his ground defiantly a second before stepping out of the way. He stayed in the doorway watching t hem as they crossed the street to the Impala, taking out his cell phone and calling someone while he watched them go.
"We gotta come back tonight." Dean said not caring that Riley could hear.
"Its him?" Jack asked.
"Yes." Dean said.
"Might be unrelated activity." Sam said.
"And that's happened how many times to us?" Dean asked sarcastically. Sam glanced back sympathetically at Riley who was following their conversation with a confused look on her face.
"You should call your dad. Se if you can go on a bus or something to meet him." Jack told her. She took out her cell phone and handed it to Riley who took it tentatively.
"Why?" Riley asked, looking scared.
"Cause your brother is trying to kill you." Jack said bluntly. Riley choked and Sam shook his head disapprovingly at Jack.
"What?" Jack asked. She turned to face Riley. "Okay, this sucks, I know. And it shouldn't be like this but it is."
"Why would he want to kill me?" Riley asked, her eyes filling with tears.
"I don't know and trust me, with these things there's never a good reason. Nothing is going to make you understand why he'd want to do this. Just think about you now, okay?" Jack said seriously. Riley looked from Jack to the phone in her hand. She nodded, dialing her father's number.
