Okay guys. I am so sorry. I honestly had forgotten I had put this story over here. A good friend of my, Windyfontaine, reminded me. Hey, don't leave these guys hanging. The good news is this story is finished, and done. So, from here on out I am going to update a chapter a day, maybe two, to get it out there. THANK YOU, everyone that has reviewed. My reviews have dropped dramatically since I started, and I am thinking it is because of my neglect to posting. Anyways. Enjoy! Lots of love. Lo
Chapter Nine
"I need you to steal something for me," Katz said nonchalantly, as he pulled his pack of cigarettes out from his jacket pocket.
"Steal something? Now you want me to become a criminal?" Dean bellowed, obviously flabbergasted by the Asian man's outlandish request.
Katz, clearly paying no mind to Dean's sudden outburst, puffed on his newly lit cigarette. "Like you haven't stolen anything before, Dean."
Dean contemplated the accusation briefly, and then spoke, "What do I need to steal?"
A cold breeze blew through the air, carrying with it a fresh patch of snowy flurries. They moved around Katz as he inhaled a mouthful of smoke from his cigarette. He didn't even bother discharging the smoke from his lungs as he spoke, "I'll get to that, later. But what is more important right now, is where the item is."
"So, where is it? And what do I get out of this?" Dean said, knowing that inevitably there was always something the bad guy offers the good guy, as sort of a bargain for their nonsensical requests.
"I'll let you see your brother," Katz answered.
And there it was. The bargain. Should someone really make a deal with the devil? Dean Winchester had thought about that question before. If something really evil wanted him to do its bidding, would he do it? When he had thought about it before, the answer was always no. Hell, no. Why would anyone make a deal with something evil? He chuckled slightly under his breath. As many times as he had convinced himself he would say no, yet; here he was, and he knew what his answer would be. The situation was just too ironic.
Without vacillation, Dean spoke confidently, "When do I leave?" And with four words, he signed his name on that evil indenture, the dotted line dripping with his blood, sealing his decision. But when it came to Sam, Dean would do almost anything, no; not almost, he would do anything for Sam.
Katz threw his cigarette to the ground, and the fire-red ash on the top of the nicotine stick sizzled out as soon as it touched the snow. "Now."
Dean walked towards his car, but stopped when something grabbed his arm. He looked over his shoulder, directly into the eyes of Katz, who was holding his right bicep. The Asian man smiled, "There is one catch, though. I'm going with you."
The side of Dean's mouth twitched as he smiled unbelievingly, "You've got to be kidding me."
"Hardly," Katz said, and released his hold on Dean's arm. "Let's go."
Dean rolled his eyes, and huffed out of frustration. He grumbled under his breath, "Do this for, Sammy. Then kill this son-of-a-bitch."
Dean unlocked the doors to the Impala, and plopped into the driver's seat. He turned the key in the ignition, and the car roared to life. He immediately turned on the heater, and waited. Katz got in shortly after, and sat down in the passenger's seat – Sammy's seat. Dean shivered, but not from the cold, from the sheer fact that his brother's kidnapper was sitting in his seat. It made Dean ill, but he was going to get through this for his little brother. Steal the stupid thing that Katz wanted him to, and then he would get to see Sam. Then he could figure out a way to get his brother out of there.
Dean backed out of Catherine's driveway, and head down the street, still not knowing exactly where he was going. He thought this would be the most opportune time to ask the bastard sitting in his brother's spot. "Where are we going?"
"I'll just show you the way. Up the next light turn left, towards the interstate," Katz said, pointing to the upcoming light with his left index finger.
Dean drove in complete silence, the occasional clanking of the heating vent breaking the silence that settled itself thickly between the two men. One hour later they arrived at their final destination. Dean parked the car on the side of the street, and looked at the building he was about to break into. It was a small house, actually in the middle of nowhere. There were no other buildings around, except this one. It was a brown painted house, with dark cherry trim. There was a rustic looking sign dangling from the top of the house by two chains. It read: Wicks N' Stick's. Dean shook his head. Where the hell were they?
"Okay, now that we are here. I can tell you what I need from that store," Katz said, breaking Dean's current concentration on the old house.
"And that is?" Dean asked impatiently.
Katz looked out the window towards the direction of the house. It was still snowing, and it seemed as if the sprinkling of the ice crystals wasn't going to stop anytime soon. "An amulet. I need an amulet out of there. The best way to describe it is that is looks kind of like my earring," Katz said and moved his head to the side so Dean could get a better look at the silver pendant hanging from his left ear.
"Where is it?" Dean questioned, as he turned off the Impala, pocketing his keys.
"I don't know, exactly. I do know that it is in the store," Katz said with a smile, as if he was trying to lighten the mood.
"No shit Sherlock. I didn't think you would bring me here if you assumed it was in the house," Dean replied sarcastically, as he opened the driver's side door and got out.
Katz followed Dean around to the back of the car. Dean pulled out his keys, and unlocked the trunk. Various weapons lay strewn in the back, but neatly ordered. Dean flipped through some of the items, and then grabbed a small black box – His lock pick kit. Then he grabbed a silver nine millimeter handgun, and placed it in his waistband, the gun resting firmly against his back. He grabbed one more item from the trunk, a small black flashlight.
Katz looked at Dean curiously, and arched a brow. "So what is it that you and your brother do?"
Dean slammed the trunk lid down, and smiled curtly at Katz, "None of your damn business."
Katz didn't reply. The Winchester brothers' were very unusual people. It made him a little nervous now, given the amount of firearms this young man had stashed in the back of his car. What else didn't he know about them? He would have to keep a watchful eye on Dean, now.
Dean approached the house and walked up the wooden steps towards the front door. He kneeled down on one leg, and pulled the small silver-like stick from the black box. He placed the stick in the keyhole and fiddled around with it, trying to pop the lock on the door. Satisfied when he heard a little click, he turned the door knob. It opened with an eerie creak and Dean stood up. He didn't even bother to look back at Katz as he walked into the store.
The place smelled like a mixture of lilacs and stale incense, and other mixtures of aromas, it was stomach curdling. It felt like Dean had walked into one of those perfume shops, and got hit with the brunt of forty different fragrances. He pulled out the small flashlight, and turned it on. Through the small beam of the flashlight Dean could see the tiny orbs of dust fluttering around the room. He scanned the left side of the room until the light passed over a door hidden in the corner of the small store. On his right he could see a foggy glass counter, with a cash register sitting on top. Over the counter were three built-in shelves. Dean headed towards the counter and hopped over it.
On the other side now Dean started to glance at the various items on the shelves. So far no amulet. After being totally grossed out when he touched a pair of eyes, which; he thought were fake, but obviously weren't by the slick squishiness of their texture, he stumbled upon a small red cedar box. Gripping the small flashlight in his teeth, he grabbed the dusty box off of the shelf. Dean opened the box, and let out a sigh of relief. He was sure this was the amulet Katz was talking about. It was about the size of Dean's inner palm. There was a thick round silver circle, and a quarter-sized red stone in the center. Inside the iridescent stone Dean could see dark lines swirling throughout, following the lines that were embedded in the stone with his fingertips. Dean traced each line from the center of the amulet to the edge of the circle. The lines formed six different individual spaced out loops. The spacing of the six loops that went around the circle reminded him of a flower. The top loop had a silver chain attached to it. He was certain now that this was the amulet. It resembled the symbol on Katz's earring almost too perfectly. He shut the box, and put it under his arm and leapt up on top of the glass counter. Dean was about to step off of it as a burst of light flooded the room. The sudden illumination clouded his vision.
Shit, he thought. He had been caught. His heart pounded wildly as a thick heavy set black woman came tumbling through the door. Dean cursed again when he noticed the woman was holding a shotgun in her hand.
She held the gun up and fired off a round, her enormous breasts jiggling from the recoil of the gun. The bullet shattered the glass that Dean was standing on and he fell into the broken counter, the merchandise crunching under his back as he fell on top of it. She stalked over towards Dean, and his already pounding heart beat faster. She had a set of curlers in her hair and a long white nightgown. Over her nightgown was a see-through pink robe, the ends of the sleeves were a feathery ring of pink puff.
Dean tried to sit up fast enough and grab his gun, but the woman was faster. She was already standing over him. He sat up and grinned sheepishly. "Uh… hi," he said, as he lifted up his hand and waved at her.
"Boy, I don't know what you are doing in my house, but if you are trying to steal something from me, well; give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot your ass right now," the woman hollered, raising the gun, and pointing it directly at Dean.
He couldn't think of a logical response. So, he did the only thing Dean Winchester knew how to do in a threatening situation, reply with a smartass comment. "One reason, I am too handsome to be disfigured by a gunshot wound," he said, his brow rising innocently, while his goofy grin silently pleaded for her agreeing amusement.
The woman put her finger on the trigger and slowly started to pull it back. Dean cursed for his stupidity of his body's initial shock of the situation, slowing his actions down and not allowing him the time to grab his gun, and prepared for the most likely fatal impact of the bullet.
Just as the woman was about to shoot, the front door flew open and Katz waltzed in. He had the biggest smile on his face right now. The woman set the gun down and walked over towards Katz. Dean stared in surprise as the woman grabbed Katz and pulled him into a tight embrace. She was hugging him! Dean took this moment to get out of the busted case he was currently lying in. He stood up and brushed the broken glass off of the back of his jeans. He took a step away from the counter, the broken glass crunching under his feet, and made his way towards Katz.
The two stopped hugging and turned to face Dean. Dean was amazed at how much the woman resembled Missouri, well; if Missouri was a shotgun wielding, fluffy pink robed wearing black woman, but other then that she resembled the psychic lady perfectly.
"Why didn't you just say you were a friend of, Katz's? I would have let you in. You didn't have to go sneaking around my shop," she said, as she moved closer to Dean, her plunging neckline moving closer to the young hunter.
Dean backed up a step, her oversized bosom trying to close the space in-between them as she walked closer. "I'm not,"
She paused and turned to Katz. "He's not," Katz said, as he shook his head.
"Oh," she said, utterly confused.
"I just thought it would be funny to have him break in, and you give him a scare," Katz said with a humorous smile.
Dean was furious. He yelled at Katz, "This was a setup!"
"No, no, Dean," Katz said, while shaking his hands in a disapproving manner. "I do need the amulet, don't get me wrong. But did you have to break in? No."
Dean's jaw dropped slightly as he stared at the man. "So this was all just a big laugh for you? You could have waltzed in here and gotten the freaking' thing on your own?"
"Yes, I could have. I ordered it weeks ago. But where is the fun in that?" Katz said, completely amused with the current situation. "Dorcus and I go way back. She was holding the amulet for me."
Given the severity and seriousness of the situation, Dean shouldn't have laughed, but he did. As soon as Katz had said the woman's name, Dean snickered. The lady leaned over and smacked Dean in the back of the head. He looked at her appalled that she had actually hit him.
"Dorcus is a biblical name. Boy, I don't want to hear you make fun of my name, or I won't think twice about shooting that pretty little face of yours," Dorcus warned. Giving her stance she wasn't messing around. She had one hand on her hip, as she waved her finger around in the air frowningly. Dean hushed, and the woman turned her attention back towards Katz. "So, you want the amulet?"
He nodded. She reached over at Dean and yanked the box out from underneath his arm. He had forgotten it was there, and couldn't believe that after the fall it had managed to remain tightly secure in his underarm. Dorcus handed the box over to Katz, who then thoroughly inspected its contents. Satisfied with the merchandise, he looked up at Dean.
"Let's go," Katz said, as he turned around heading for the front door. "Thanks Dor. I'll pay for the counter, just send me a bill, okay?"
"Okay, sweetie. Next time warn me before you pull a stunt like that. I damn near killed the boy," she said, as she walked behind the counter.
Katz turned around and grinned pleasingly, "Wouldn't have mattered to me."
Dean shook his head and closed his eyes, as he pushed past Katz and walked out the door. He muttered inaudibly, "This is for, Sammy. Then he is dead. Oh, he is so dead."
Dean opened the front door to the Impala and maneuvered his way into the driver's seat. He let his head fall back against the headrest and let out a heavy sigh. God, he hoped this charade would end soon. The adrenaline from the failed break-in was finally fading. The hastened rhythm of his heartbeat was slowing back down. He heard the passenger's side door open, and felt the car move as another body sat down in it. Dean didn't move his head; he just opened his eyes and looked at Katz.
Katz put the small red cedar box on the floorboard of the Impala and then looked at Dean. "Ready to see, Sam?"
Dean didn't have to answer. He started the car and headed back towards North Salem. He looked out the windshield at the never-ending cascade of crystallized precipitation that was landing on the glass. As he stared at the snow he thought, "Don't worry, Sammy. I'm coming."