Author's note: I do not own anything having to do with Supernatural, only Leah belongs to me. Just a reminder SUPERNATURAL signifies a break in time. As always please remember to ~Read and Review~
Big thank you to SPNxBookworm who takes the time to go through and fix my mistakes, make sure you head on over to her page and check out her amazing stories!
I'm a day late but let's all wish wandertogondor a very happy birthday! This one is for you my dear! :)
Chapter 46- Once Upon a Nightmare
Once upon a time there were three hunters…
When we arrived at the salvage yard Bobby had a surprise waiting for us, a fully functional once again demon killing Colt. Dean seemed at ease that we had something so powerful back in our possession while I was more concerned on how he got it working again in the first place. When I questioned the old hunter about it he said he had a test subject that he tried it out on and then she agreed to fix it. That was all he would say on the subject and Sam, uncharacteristically, had nothing to say at all.
We had stayed at Bobby's for only two nights before we got wind of another case and were now currently on our way to Maple Springs, New York in the middle of the night. Usually I slept because of the comforting rumble of the Impala mixed with the dark sky and the warm feeling of being protected by both brothers, but tonight was different.
"I don't understand, Dean. Why not?" Sam shouted with so much frustration I thought he might explode.
Dean didn't seem to notice as he just as easily yelled back, "Because I said so!"
"We got the Colt now!" Sam exclaimed as I rested my head against the window staring out into the darkness of the night that was surrounding us.
"Guys," I sighed not having the energy to fight about this right now but I should have known I was going to be ignored. The person trying to stop the fight was always ignored though typically it was Sam, not me.
"Sam…" Dean growled in warning.
But Sam didn't let up even a little and I had a small smile tugging at the corners of mouth. He would have made a great lawyer; he could bombard you with facts and statistics so quickly you wanted to agree with him just to shut him up. "We can summon the Crossroads Demon…"
"We're not summoning anything," Dean interrupted but it fell on deaf ears as Sam continued.
"…pull the gun on him and force him to let Leah out of the deal!"
"Guys, don't you think I should get a say in this?" I spoke up, the question coming out whinier than I had meant it to but it was two in the freaking morning and all I wanted to do was sleep. What had started out as a simple conversation had soon escalated to this.
"We don't even know if that'll work!" Dean hollered as if I had said nothing at all.
I had contemplated for a minute about opening the backdoor and throwing myself out onto the highway. Maybe then they would listen to me, or maybe then I would be knocked out so I could sleep. Either way it looked like more of a pro than a con.
"Well then we'll just shoot him! If he dies then the deal goes away!" Sam shouted his breathing rigid from the amount of anger pouring out of him.
"Guys…I think I'm pregnant," I stated as seriously as I could.
Yup, definitely being tuned out by both brothers because neither one of them even glanced in my direction as they continued their debate.
"We don't know if that'll work either, Sam! All you're pitching me right now is a bunch of 'ifs' and 'maybes' and that's not good enough, because if we screw with this deal, you die!"
"So would you!" Sam retorted with so much volume I thought my eardrums were going to rupture. "But if we don't screw with it, Leah dies! Are you really ok with just sitting back and doing nothing while your sister goes to hell?! Because I'll tell you right now that I'm not!"
"Still here…still pregnant," I tried again to break the ever growing tension in the car but I might as well have been talking to a seat cushion. I'm sure it would have a lot of interesting things to say after all the conversations and extra curricular activities that had been held in this car over the years.
*Flashback*
"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Dean yelled at me as I got into the Impala and for the first time he sounded like my father.
I sighed dramatically as I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. "It's called kissing, Dean. You know, K-I-S-S-…"
"I know how to spell it and I sure as hell know what it is," Dean's face got increasingly redder. "What I want to know is why you were doing it!"
"'Cause it's fun," I shrugged with another eye roll. Wrong move.
"Knock off the attitude, Leah!" Dean hit me in the back of the head hard enough to get his point across but not hard enough to actually cause me any sort of harm. "You are thirteen years old you don't need to be going around kissing boys."
I shifted in the front seat of the Impala so I was facing him with a smirk, "So, you'd rather I kiss girls instead? I think I can do that."
"No!" Dean growled running a frustrated hand through his hair. "I don't want you kissing anyone. Ever."
"You do it," I pointed out with a knowing look.
"I'm older."
"But wasn't it you that said you were awesome and I would be so lucky to turn out like you one day," I quoted back to him what he had told me one night when I was feeling a little down about myself. True, he didn't say it so it could be thrown back in his face later but that's what little sisters were for.
Dean was silent for a minute before starting the car up and turning the music on. "You just had to be a girl, didn't you?" He muttered like I ever had a choice in the matter.
*Present*
"Sam, enough! I am not going to have this conversation."
Well, I'm happy to see that they are completely ignoring me. Hello, I could be bleeding to death, maybe suffocating and you two idiots would know nothing until you turned around and saw me dead on the seats.
"Why, because you said so?" Sam scoffed and I had to say for a second I was proud of my Sammy; that was something I would have said.
"Yes! Because I said so!" Dean roared.
"Well you're not dad!" Sam shouted causing silence to fall over the car.
"Sam," I gasped never in a million years thinking he would take it there and nervously glanced over to Dean to see how he was going to react.
His eyes were set on the road and his lips were pursed together. You could tell how much what Sam had just said out of anger had hurt him even if he would never admit it himself. "No, but I am the oldest. And I'm doing what's best. And you're going to let this go, you understand me?" Sam didn't answer but shifted his gaze out the window and I knew better than to make a sarcastic comment at a time like this. "Tell me about the psychotic killer." When Sam didn't respond Dean hit him in the leg with the back of his hand. "Come on, Sam, tell me about the psychotic killer."
Sam picked the paper up from where it was placed between them and read in a very monotone voice, "Psychotic killer…rips victims apart with brute-like ferocity."
"Ok, any mention of his razor sharp teeth or his four-inch claws? Animal eyes?" Dean questioned like the past couple hours of arguing never happened his voice once again calm and collected.
"No. But the lunar cycle's right. Look, if it is a werewolf we don't have long, moon's full this Friday and that's the last time it changes for a month," Sam replied and folded the paper back up.
"Awesome," I sighed and slouched down so I could rest my head against the seat, "because, you know, the last one turned out so great for us."
"Why don't you get some sleep," Dean suggested and the look he gave me through the rearview mirror said it all.
Sam picked up on it and shifted slightly in his seat so he could look at me. "You could sit this one out."
"No," I shook my head, "We've only got two days to find this thing and put a silver bullet through its heart. You're going to need an extra pair of eyes."
I got as comfortable as I could in the backseat and as my eyes started fluttering close I felt Sam reach back and give a reassuring squeeze to my knee.
"Angel, I've got this one," Dean said with gun in hand, "I'll do it."
"He asked me to," I shook my head pulling out my own gun from the small of my back.
"You don't have to," Sam with tears in his own eyes.
"Yes I do, just wait here," I said giving one last grief stricken look at both brothers before walking back into the other room where Michael was waiting for me. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," he smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek. "This is how you save me, Leah. You get to be my hero." He walked forward and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead before moving down to my lips.
I didn't want to let him go. My heart was screaming at me that I would find some way to save him, that I didn't actually have to do this but my gut told me otherwise.
"Maybe…" my voice cracked as I tried to get the strength to pull the trigger as he took a step back and I raised my gun.
"Just do it, Leah," another tear rolled down his cheek. "I trust you."
My right hand shook and I had to place both hands on the gun to keep it steady, blinking hard to clear my vision I whispered one more apology before squeezing the trigger.
I gasped as I shot up in the backseat trying to draw much needed air into my lungs. Dean kept a watchful eye on me through the rearview mirror while Sam had my hand in his own in mere seconds trying to calm me down.
"It was just a dream, you're alright," Sam repeated multiple times and though my breathing returned to normal I couldn't get the image of Michael lying in a pool of his own blood out of my head. "You want to talk about it?"
I shook my head and laid back down as I curled myself into a ball. I hated how pathetic I felt, I couldn't even deal with a stupid nightmare how was I going to deal with burning in hell; the flames, the torture, and neither brother there to save me. Sam wordlessly laid his jacket over top of me as I stared at the back of Dean's seat.
My mind wandered back to the black dog case we had worked last year. Well, we thought it was a black dog but it turned out to be hellhounds. I was so angry with the people who made the deals. I felt like I shouldn't have to clean up their messes, that they just had to accept their fate, and get over it. Now here I was going down the same road.
SUPERNATURAL
"I don't understand why I couldn't do research or something else," I complained as we parked the Impala and made our way towards the hospital on foot, my heels making our presence known with each step. I undid the top button of my collared shirt and fixed it so the shirt lay on the outside of my suit jacket. "I hate wearing this thing."
"Detectives don't wear jeans," Sam replied looking as comfortable as ever in his suit while Dean readjusted his tie for the third time in ten minutes. I knew he felt the same way but decided to stay quiet about it for once.
"Oh, don't start whining," Dean scolded as we reached the doors and he held it open for Sam and me to walk in first. "I'm so over your P.M.S."
"Excuse me?" I questioned as we made our way into the elevators and up to the admissions office to find out where the only survivor's room was.
Dean readjusted his time one more time as the elevator started moving. "It's like one week you are happy-go-lucky and the next you are an evil spawn bitch from hell."
I knew he didn't mean it like the way it came out but it still stung and as the doors for the elevator opened I was frozen in my spot for a minute.
"Dean," Sam cast him a sideways glance out of shock and it was like the words finally filtered through his miniscule brain.
Dean hung his head and closed his eyes for a second before turning to me, "Le, I…"
"It's fine," I half smiled as I walked past both brothers and down the long hallway. After talking to the admission's secretary I met them back by the elevator. "Room 518."
Dean pushed the button for the elevator and we stood in silence as we waited.
"Uh," Sam spoke up after a minute or two. "We could take the stairs."
I looked at him in disbelief, "Go right ahead Richard Simmons but if you think I'm climbing up four flights of stairs in heels you are out your damn mind."
A smirk broke out across Dean's face at the same time the elevator's doors opened and for the first time since we opened the devil's gate it seemed like things were like they used to be. The doors closed and with just the three of us in the elevator the old sibling antics picked up as if we had never stopped. Dean went to adjust his tie again but this time I smacked his hand away. He went to smack me in the back of the head but I ducked and he hit Sam in the arm instead who pinched my side. It was a silent war between the three of us but as soon as the doors opened our shoulders were squared and we once again looked like the professionals we were trying to be.
We found room 518 and Dean walked in first flashing his badge while Sam and I followed suit. "I'm Detective Plant, this is Detective Page, and Ms. Smith we're with the County Sheriff's Department."
"Yeah, uh, I've been expecting you," the man shifted in the bed a little so he was sitting up straighter.
I shared a confused look with Sam wondering what was going on as Dean asked, "You have?"
"All morning. She's the sketch artist, right?"
She? Me? Oh, hell no. Damn it, Dean you just had to say Ms. instead of detective.
"Absolutely," Dean smirked and tried to hold back his laugh. "You should see the things she can do with a pen." Oh, I'll show you what I can do with a pen dear brother you just better sleep with one eye open tonight. "But listen before we get started on that I wanted to ask you, uh, how'd you get away?"
The guy looked like he was about to cry, "I…I have no idea. I was hiding, and he found me. He was coming right for me and then he just stopped. Staring at me with this blank look. And after that he just took off running."
"Ok," I drew the word out as Sam handed me a small notepad and a pen. Yeah, keep laughing chuckles see if I don't come after you too. I flipped the pages until I came across one that was completely blank. "Um, I'm going to need as much physical detail as you can remember."
"Uh…he's about six feet," he started and I drew a really long line down the center of the page before adding two lines at the bottom for legs and two towards the top for arms. Then I drew a circle on top of the center line for the head. "Dark hair…" I scribbled the pen on either side of the circle to add the hair and kept going until it was nice and dark.
"What about his eyes, what color eyes did he have?" Sam prompted him as I finished my last curl of hair.
He thought about it for a minute, "Maybe….blue? It was dark."
I drew eyes on the little stick figure and wrote the letter 'b' inside both little circles with a question mark next to it.
Dean cleared his throat and I knew he was getting ready to ask the supernatural questions. We were never sure how someone was going to react. "Did they seem…uh, animal-ish?"
"Excuse me?" he questioned. Oh, great he was going to be one of the difficult ones.
"What about his teeth? You notice anything strange about them?" Sam asked quickly trying to get him back at the topic on hand and not worrying about what Dean had just asked.
He shook his head and started looking at us like we were trying to purposefully hurt him or that we were trying to make fun of him. "No, they were just teeth."
"Ok, teeth," I mumbled as I drew an open mouth with a bunch of little squares to represent teeth.
"How about his fingernails?" Dean questioned and apparently that was the last straw as the guy totally flipped.
"Ok, look he…he's just a…a normal guy, with normal eyes and… a…and teeth and fingernails!"
Dean side stepped so I was staring at the back of his shoulder just in case this guy decided to get out of the bed and actually try something.
"Look sir, it's ok if…" Sam tried to calm him down but he was quickly cut off.
"No!" He shouted and Sam moved over so now I was standing behind the great wall of the over protective Winchester brothers. "No. Those were my brothers. This guy, he…he killed my brothers. How would you feel?"
Sam glanced back at me with a sad smile on his face. "I can't imagine anything worse."
Dean cleared his throat a clear sign he was uncomfortable and tried again with the man as gently as he could. "I know this isn't easy but if you could remember any more details."
The guy was quiet for a minute and I didn't think we were going to get anything else out of him but he finally spoke up, "There was one more thing he had a tattoo on his arm of a cartoon character. It's, uh, it's the guy who's chasing the Roadrunner…"
"Wile E. Coyote!" I realized what he was talking about as I popped my head between their shoulders.
"Yeah," he nodded, "That's it."
I didn't know how to add a tattoo to an arm that was just drawn as a simple line so I drew a stick wolf. Basically a stick person on its side with a squiggle for the tail and then circled it and drew an arrow to the arm.
"Kyle?" a doctor walked in the room. He was no George Clooney but the salt and pepper hair was working for him.
"Dr. Garrison," Kyle greeted.
"You're Kyle's Doctor?" Dean questioned and if the doctor wouldn't have seen me I would have stepped on his foot. Of course he was this guy's doctor.
"Yes," Dr. Garrison answered slowly.
Dean pulled his badge back out and quickly flashed it before nodding to the hallway, "Can I just ask you a few questions?"
"Sure," Dr. Garrison smiled and left the room with Dean.
"Uh, don't I get to see it?" Kyle asked pointing to the notepad in my hand. No, you do not get to see my scribbles and doodles and no you will not make fun of me being completely inartistic.
"Sorry," I snapped the pad shut, "It's still a work in progress."
We excused ourselves from the room and waited for Dean to finish talking to the doctor before we walked back to the Impala that was down the street. Heels never really bothered me before but these new black ones were rubbing just right and I knew I would have blisters on my feet. I didn't want to walk even another second in them but there would be no way I was walking bare foot down the sidewalk so I did the only other logical thing; jumped on Sam's back.
"Jeez," Sam grunted and grabbed onto Dean's arm so we wouldn't fall over, "a little warning might have been nice, Le."
"C'mon, let me see that drawing," Dean smirked taking the notepad and flipping through it until he found the right page. "Wow," he chuckled and showed Sam, "this is…this is a real piece of art."
"Like you could do any better," I replied as I flicked the back of Sam's ear for laughing at my drawing. Apparently, he didn't like that too much because in one swift motion he had taken off one of my heels and slid me off his back while he and Dean jogged the rest of the way to the car. "Are you serious right now?!" My only answer was side splitting laughter as I limped down the street with one heel on.
"Le, you look like a pogo stick. Up…down…up…down…up…" I cut off Dean's joke as I took the other heel off and chucked it at his head but his reflexes were quick and he caught it at the last second. "See, some people know what to do when something is flying at their face."
*Flashback*
We were staying at Pastor Jim's while dad was out working a case. Pastor Jim had sent us outside with a crate full of toys and made us promise to stay in the yard while he worked on his sermon.
Sam had started kicking around the soccer ball a little while Dean's eyes immediately went for the baseball. I, on the other hand, was happy just sitting in the grass picking at the blades. At least I was until I saw Dean and Sam playing catch.
"I wanna play!" I whined throwing my handful of grass up in the air as I ran over to where they were.
"You don't know how to play," Dean huffed as he wound up and threw the ball to Sam who had to take a few steps back before he caught it.
"Yeah, Le, you're a girl," Sam stated tossing it back to Dean.
I crossed my arms and even at six years old I had a temper the size of a volcano. "Yeah…well…you're stupid heads."
"Nice one," Dean laughed as he tossed the ball back to Sam again.
"I said I wanna PLAY!" I yelled as loud as I could while both hands were clenched into tight fists.
"Boys," Pastor Jim's voice floated through the air with warning.
"Sorry, sir," they both mumbled.
"Fine, here," Dean gently tossed me the ball and by some miracle I caught it and threw it to Sam who chucked it back to Dean.
We had a nice little pattern going for awhile; Dean to me, me to Sam, Sam to Dean. But I was six and a Winchester and that going boring real quick. My attention was soon grabbed by a butterfly gliding through the backyard. The next thing I knew I heard Dean screaming my name followed by a sharp pain in my nose. I wasn't exactly sure what happened but when I put my hand up to my face and pulled it away it was covered in blood and then the tears came.
*Present*
"That's not funny, jackass, you almost broke my nose!" I exclaimed as I slid into the backseat of the Impala.
"Hey, I told you not to play."
Sam gave me back both shoes and bit his bottom lip trying to contain his smile. "So what did the Doc have to say about Kyle's brothers?"
"Not much, they were D.O.A. at the scene but he did give me the lowdown on the Coroner's report," Dean replied as he started the Impala and found a decent radio station before we pulled out onto the street.
"Let me guess, hearts were missing," Sam said as he loosened his tie.
"Nope," Dean sighed, "But chunks of their kidneys, lungs and intestines were."
"Seriously? That's just gross," I shivered a little. It didn't matter how many times we had to deal with dead bodies or any sort of body parts, it was disgusting. "But its definitely not werewolf behavior."
I couldn't tell you how relieved I was to hear that we weren't working another werewolf case. I was definitely going to sleep better tonight.
"So, what? Demon? Attacker could've been possessed," Sam suggested trying to figure out what we were dealing with.
"Demon wouldn't stop halfway through an attack…or I suppose since there were three of them it would be two thirds of the way through an attack," I disagreed.
"True," Sam nodded, "Well it could be…uh…might have been…I've got nothing."
"Me either," Dean muttered.
SUPERNATURAL
We had gone to the police department to see if there were any attacks that didn't make the paper but there were none. There was however another attack that happened in the time it took us to get from the hospital to the police station. Apparently, according to the report she was drugged by some grandma who killed her husband. So guess where we were…back at the hospital to interview the last victim which meant I was back in my high heels.
Julie Watson, Julie Watson, ow my feet, Julie Watson, Julie Watson, ow…My silent chant was cut off as we ran into the doctor in the hallway again.
"Detectives," he greeted.
"Dr. Garrison," Sam nodded while I glared at the man for interrupting my train of thought. If I didn't keep repeating the girl's name I was sure to forget it and I may or may not have made a bet with Dean that I would be able to remember it.
"What the hell is going on here? My whole town is going insane," he loudly whispered to us to make sure a few nurses passing by didn't hear. Sorry Doc, you're going to have to work on your inside voice because if that was a whisper I'd hate to hear you yelling.
"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Sam assured him as we walked into the woman's room and he went to check on other patients.
Dean gave me a subtle nudge with his elbow. Yeah, yeah, I know it's time to prove to you I remember her name. Crap. It was something like a detective name or something.
"Ms. Watson?" I called out and watched as she locked eyes with me. I let out a slight sigh that I had gotten it right. "Hi. We just need to ask you a few questions."
"Do we have to go over this again…now?" She questioned looking at me with teary eyes. Damn, did she learn that from Sam? Because I was about ready to walk right out the door and buy her the biggest candy bar ever. Chocolate fixes everything.
"We'll try to be brief. Ms Watson, can you tell us how you got away?" Sam asked taking over as he saw me starting to cave into her request. Way to be a man Sammy, stay strong.
"I didn't eat as much as Ken did, so I wasn't as out of it. And, when the old woman was…carving up Ken, I shoved her and she fell…cracked her head on the stove. She's dead, right? I…I killed her?" More tears. Oh God, woman who cares if you killed the old hag I'm pretty sure if it meant life or death I'd be throwing punches at some grandmas too. Dentures and walkers beware this woman is on a mission.
"Do you have any idea why she did this to you?" Dean continued with the questioning not wanting to upset her anymore than she already was.
I almost wished that Dean had said I was the sketch artist again, at least then I would be able to doodle and distract myself rather than stand here awkwardly and ignore the pain in my feet.
"No! One minute she was a sweet old lady and the next she was, like, a monster."
Dean and I shared a look. Great, so what, now we're thinking witch? This case is starting to make my head spin.
"Can you remember anything else?" Sam pressed as I wracked my brain for what could be causing all this chaos.
"Um, yeah. Did you find a little girl there, by any chance?"
"A little girl at the house?" I questioned in disbelief. Alright, lady, killing Granny for poisoning you and hubby is one thing but little girls, you're about to cross a line and then there will be no chocolate for you.
"I thought I saw her outside the window. She just disappeared. Just vanished, into thin air," Julie shook her head in disbelief. "It must have been the drugs."
Dean and I shared another look. Witches don't normally go poof unless you drop a house on them and last I checked we were in New York and not Kansas. So, maybe, we're back to demonic possession?
"This disappearing girl what did she look like?" I internally groaned when Dean asked that question because no matter what the answer was it was sure to be followed by research.
"Every detail matters," Sam assured her as soon as he picked up on her hesitance.
Julie sighed, "She had this dark, dark hair and really pale skin. She was around eight. She was a beautiful child, it was…odd to see her in the middle of something so horrible."
SUPERNATURAL
After a stop to the hotel so we could change into normal, comfortable, clothes again we drove out to the house where this was all supposed to have happened. It was absolutely breath taking and looked to be pulled right out of a picture book.
"Look who's back to normal size," Dean teased as he tugged on my ponytail before walking into the house.
"Ha ha," I mocked before remembering out little bet. "Hey, wait up!"
"What?" he asked barely paying attention to me as he started looking for anything out of the ordinary and Sam swept the small house with the EMF reader.
Instead of answering I just held my hand out to him, palm side up and smiled. He smacked my hand and continued to look around. Ugh, brothers. "Pay up," I tried again this time putting my hand up and tapping it with my fingers.
He patted his pockets, "Left my wallet at the motel."
"Bullshit," I called him out knowing full well he never went anywhere without it but he just shrugged. Fine, you want to play that way then I'll just take it from you while you are sleeping plus interest for making me wait.
"Well," Dean sighed, "there's no sulphur anywhere, how about the EMF?"
"Yeah, it's going nuts right over here by the window. There's definitely a spirit here," he waved the reader past the window sill again.
"Who stood outside the crime scene and watched?" Dean questioned.
"No, I don't like this," I shook my head as I pulled myself up so I could sit on the counter, "something doesn't add up. The brutality of these attacks is no coincidence. They are definitely related but how? One was three brothers, the other a husband and wife, and it's not like a demon is going to stop halfway through."
"Actually I do have a theory," Sam walked over to the table and put the EMF reader back in our bag, "Uh, sort of."
"Hit me," Dean leaned next to me on the counter and I wasted no time smacking him in the back of the head. It earned me a murderous glare but I just innocently shrugged, he asked for it.
Sam waited until he had our attention again but then he shifted on his feet, "Well, I've been thinking about fairy tales."
I just sat there and blinked my eyes a few times trying to understand what he was saying. Was this some sick fantasy? 'Cause if it was, you go right ahead and tell Dean all about it but I'm out of here.
"Oh that's…that's nice," Dean tried to hide his laugh but there was no hiding the smirk, "You think about fairy tales often?"
"What about Disney Princesses?" I chimed in having too much fun ganging up on Sam. "That Jasmine, phew, she's a looker alright."
And cue Sam bitch-face in three, two, one.
"No," he grounded out with a sigh, "I'm talking about the murders. A guy and a girl? Hiking through the woods, an old lady tries to eat 'em? That's Hansel and Gretel. Then we got three brothers arguing over how to build houses, attacked by the Big Bad Wolf."
"The Three Little Pigs," I caught on to where he was going with this and I saw him nod.
"Actually those guys were a little chubby," Dean chuckled. "Well wait I thought those things ended with uh, everyone living happily ever after?"
"No, no, no, not the originals," Sam shook his head.
"See the Grimm brothers stuff was kind of the folklore of it's day, full of sex, violence, cannibalism. But, it got sanitized over the years, turned into Disney flicks and bedtime stories," I explained to our older brother who was just a little slow at times. "I mean it's not exactly the stuff you want to be teaching little kids. So when they changed into happily-ever-after stories kids got the idea that dreams come true and that Prince Charming was going to come whisk them off their feet."
"So you think the murders are a what? A re-enactment? That's a little crazy," Dean stated as he crossed his arms.
Sam raised an eyebrow, "Crazy as what? Every day of our lives?"
"Touché. How's the creepy ghost girl involved?" Dean asked.
"Well, she must've been here for a reason and I'm willing to bet you top dollar she was at the construction site too," Sam replied.
"Don't bet him anything he doesn't pay," I muttered loud enough to earn myself a smack on the side of the leg.
"We have to do research now, don't we?" Dean asked and as Sam nodded Dean hung his head. My feelings exactly, bro.
Sam grabbed our bag off the table and as Dean turned to walk out the door I launched myself from the counter onto his back like some kind of monkey or a little kid who was playing the lava game.
"You're a little old for this, don't ya think?" Dean grunted as he refused to hang on to my legs.
"Nope," I smiled wrapping my arms tighter around his neck.
SUPERNATURAL
Dean dropped Sam and me off at the library before heading to the county office to check their records.
"I don't even know what we should be looking for," I admitted as we walked in and found a small table off to the side.
Sam pulled his laptop out and pushed it towards me, "try something to do with killer fairy tales. I'm going to go see if they have the original books that the Grimm brothers wrote."
"Aye, aye, captain," I saluted him as I turned on his laptop and entered his password so I could get into it. Never understood his reason for having a password in the first place since Dean and I both knew it but I suppose in the unlikely event that he ever lost it people wouldn't be able to see the nine shades of crazy files we had.
Google was the first place I started typing in mysterious fairy tale deaths. Results varied from how Ludwig II of Bavaria died to a site that talked about the Grimm Brothers. I was about to click onto the site when I heard a cell phone ringing. I knew it wasn't mine because I had a specific ring tone so I paid no attention to it until the librarian came over to yell at me. I was just about to tell her where she could shove that pencil she was pointing at me when I realized it was Sam's.
I apologized and as I snatched it out of his jacket pocket and turned the ringer off quickly so she could go about her business. When she walked away I looked to see who called hoping it was Dean saying that he found something and we could get out of here but I was shocked to see her name come up on the screen.
I looked around and made sure the librarian was no longer watching me and I hit the redial button before holding the phone up to my ear.
"Sam? Come on, you can't keep ignoring me. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have the Colt. I told you I can get your sister out of the deal." My blood started to boil as I heard Ruby's voice. "Sam?"
I should have said something, maybe even started reciting an exorcism over the phone but instead I ended the call. I deleted it from his call history and shoved it back in Sam's jacket pocket. He came back to the table a few minutes later with a stack of books and a smile on his face.
"This place is pretty well stocked for such a small town," he sat down and started flipping through one of the books blissfully unaware of the call he had just received. We were silent for a few minutes until he nudged me with his knee under the table to get my attention. "You alright?"
"Huh?" I glanced up from the computer screen to see how intently he was watching me.
"You look upset, what's going on?" He pressed in true Sammy fashion as he put the book down and gave me his full attention.
I was going to let it go until later but I just couldn't help myself as I blurted out, "Have you been talking to Ruby?"
The look he gave me was as if I had literally taken my hand out and smacked him across the face. "What? No."
"So, you don't have her number in your phone anymore?"
Without skipping a beat he shook his head, "Of course not!"
"Good," I half smiled as I tried to focus on the words on the screen. Sam had just flat out lied to me and the feeling it left in the pit of my stomach made me nauseous.
SUPERNATURAL
"Well?" Sam questioned as we walked up to the county records office as the same time Dean walked out.
"Checked every record they had, found the usual amount of violent childhood deaths for a town this size. Wanna know how many how many were little girls with black hair and pale skin?" He asked sarcastically which meant he didn't have any luck.
"Zero," Sam sighed.
"Zero!" Dean repeated with more volume as we started walking towards the park. "You wanna know how many how many little girls with black hair and pale skin that have gone missing? Right again! Zip, zilch, nada. Tell me you've got something good 'cause I've totally wasted the last six hours."
"Oh we got something alright," I muttered still furious about the phone call but I was trying my best to push it down, for now.
"What did you do?" Dean reached behind me and pushed Sam's shoulder hard enough for him to stumble a little, "She was fine, leave her with you for a couple hours and ice queen has returned."
"I didn't do anything!" Sam defended as he straightened his jacket out.
"Bitch," Dean mumbled as we followed the dirt pathway.
"Jerk," Sam easily replied with an eye roll. "Hey, you ever hear of Lillian Bailey? She was a British medium from the 1930s."
"She got a thing for fairy tales?" Dean questioned as he moved to walk between Sam and I as if he knew there was tension there.
"Trances," I replied suppressing a sigh and the need to beat Sam with a stick until I knocked some sense into him.
"Trances," Dean repeated wondering how that fit with our fairy tale case.
"Yeah, trances. See she'd go into these unconscious states where, get this, her thoughts and actions were completely controlled by spirits," Sam elaborated on what he had found at the library because let's be honest I was too pissed to really pay attention and spent three hours shopping for shoes online.
"So like a ghost puppet master. Think that's what this kid is doing? Sending wolf-boy and grandma into trances, making them go kill-crazy?" Dean questioned as I kicked a rock with my sneaker and watched it go jutting off to the side.
"Could be, you know, kind of like a spirit hypnosis or something," Sam shrugged.
"Trances I get, but fairy tale trances? That's bizarre even for us," Dean stated until a large bullfrog was sitting in the middle of the path just staring at us before it croaked.
"Yeah, you're right that's completely normal."
"Why not? Frogs can't live in New York?" I questioned. Damn, poor frog hops along we walk up and all it does is croak at us and bam it's an evil frog.
"All right maybe it is fairy tales, totally messed-up fairy tales, but I'll you one thing, there's no way I'm kissing a damn frog," Dean stared at the thing like it was diseased until that cheeky grin spread across his face. "Leah, kiss the frog."
"What?!" I exclaimed as I automatically took a step back from the thing. Just because it wasn't an evil frog didn't mean I wanted my lips anywhere near it. "Fuck no, you kiss it!"
"Then we settle this the old fashion way," Dean held a fist over his palm, "Sam?"
Sam shook his head and put his hands up in surrender, "Oh, no. That's all you two. Count me out."
"Ready?" Dean questioned and I smirked placing my hands out in front of me. This was going to be a piece of cake everyone knows Dean always picks scissors. "Rock…paper…scissors…shoot!"
I immediately threw rock and started smiling thinking I had one when I looked over to Dean who was holding his hand out flat. "What the hell is that?!"
"Paper covers rock, dear sister," Dean laid his hand over my fist. "You get to kiss the frog."
"But…but…but…" I stuttered in shock.
How could this be happening? Dean always picked scissors. Well he's got another thing coming if he thinks I'm actually going to kiss that thing. Before I even have a chance to move or process what is happening Sam has me by the arms so I can't run away and Dean had the frog in his hands making his way over to me.
"Pucker up, Le," he teased taking a step closer until he froze in his spot, the smile from his face completely falling as he dropped the frog. "It peed on me!"
Sam let go of my arms as we both doubled over in laughter. I don't know what was better the look of horror on Dean's face or the fact that the frog actually urinated in his hands.
When we had calmed down a bit and Dean no longer looked like he was going to murder someone Sam pointed to a house nearby that had a pumpkin sitting on the porch. "Hey, check that out."
"Yeah? It's close to Halloween," Dean replied looking at Sam like he had a few screws loose.
"Maybe he's looking to buy, kind of a big house for just you Sammy," I teased and was surprised when my comment got ignored. There was no witty comeback, playful shove or even an eye roll.
"Come on guys, don't you remember Cinderella? The pumpkin that turns into a coach and the mice that becomes horses?"
"All I know is that the prince took an awfully long time before he returned her shoe," I put my hands on my hips.
Sam turned to me, "She was completely made up to look like a princess the night of the ball and when he came by the house the evil step-mother only wanted to show him her own daughters."
Well, alrighty then Sam I was joking around and you just took it to a whole new level there buddy.
Dean looked between the two of us before turning to Sam, "Dude, could you be more gay?" He paused for a moment. "On second thought don't answer that."
We walked over to the house and Dean picked the lock as Sam and I kept watch. It wasn't long until he had the door open and we snuck inside before we drew attention to ourselves.
"Who knows, maybe you'll find your fairy godmother," Dean teased as he closed the door but the second we heard a sound from somewhere in the house we all had our guns raised, ready for almost anything.
We heard the noise again and we realized it was coming from our right. Dean motioned for Sam to go first, of course as always, I was in the middle and Dean brought up the rear. Whoever was making the noise must have heard us come in the house because the next thing we heard was the sound of a girl's voice.
"Help, I'm in here!"
We ran into the kitchen and saw a girl who was beaten and handcuffed to the stove.
"Hey, hey," Sam tried to calm her down as I worked on the handcuffs. "It's ok, we're here, we got you."
"You have to help me, she's a lunatic," she cried. Well, honey, I'm trying to and if you kept your wrist still I would have these picked by now.
"What happened?" Dean asked as she started crying again and moving her wrists all over the damn place.
"My step mom, she just freaked out, screamed at me, beat me, and chained me up." More tears and more moving, I glared at Sam silently telling him to calm her down or I was about two seconds away from knocking her out. Yes, I felt bad that the poor girl was basically tortured but I couldn't help her unless she sat still for five seconds.
"Guys," Dean motioned to the other room where we were being watched by a little girl with long dark hair and pale skin.
To be honest she wasn't as creepy as I expected her to be. Her clothes weren't torn or dirty, she didn't look angry or threatening, she just looked curious.
SUPERNATURAL
Dean and I leaned against the hood of the Impala while Sam was making sure the girl got medical treatment. The girl Dean followed had turned into a shiny red apple that he kept throwing up in the air and catching as he hummed Enter Sandman.
"Dude," I warned, "If you throw that thing at me we are going to have some real issues."
Dean sighed, "It was one time…over fifteen years ago, let it go."
Sam walked over saving Dean from getting an earful from me, "Paramedics picked up Cinderella."
"Good," Dean nodded as he tossed the apple to Sam who caught it. I, however, instantly ducked down thinking the worse. "So…little girl, shiny red apple. I'm guessing that means something to you, fairy tale boy?"
"I already told you it was Snow White," I grumbled as I moved towards the backdoor.
Sam laughed a little, "She's right. Snow white sounds about right."
"Snow White? Ah, I saw that movie. Oh, well, the porn version anyway. There was this wicked stepmother," Dean whistled and got this lustful look in his eye that was making me uncomfortable. "Woo, she was wicked."
"Dean, there is a wicked stepmother and she tries to kill Snow White with a poison apple," Sam said in all seriousness as he tossed the apple back to Dean making me flinch once again.
"But the girl doesn't actually die, does she?" Dean questioned in all seriousness.
I snatched the apple out of his hand so I didn't have to worry about it flying toward my face in the near future. "No, but it puts her into a deep sleep, so deep it's almost like she's dead."
SUPERNATURAL
Back to the hospital we went in search of any little girl's that could be in a deep sleep, though I somehow managed to convince both brothers that even detectives have a dress down day so we were still in our street clothes. Hello, sneakers! Goodbye, heels!
"Well hello there," Dean grinned as the nurse behind the desk flashed him a smile. Seriously, Dean? We are hunting down fairy tales for all we know she could be some evil enchantress or something.
"Hi," I gave her a quick smile so she wouldn't think I was being rude as I flashed my badge, "We were wondering if there were any little girls that were in a coma."
"No, sorry. We don't have any comatose little girls."
"You sure?" Sam questioned as Dean looked like he was ready to drool.
"Totally. It's mostly old guys. And well…Callie. She's been around since before I started here."
Sam and I shared a look, "Callie?"
"Yeah, it's so sad, and poor Dr. Garrison he just won't give up on her."
"Callie is one of his patients?" I asked. I mean sure he looked a little older with his salt and pepper hair but he didn't look old enough to have been the doctor overseeing a case for years.
She shook her head, "No, his daughter."
"Could you point us in the direction of where he might be," Sam asked, "We just have a few follow up questions for him."
The nurse gave us the directions and I had to link arms with Dean to pull him away. It wasn't until we were fully out of the nurse's sight that I let him go and he tugged on my pony tail again. We checked the name plates outside of the rooms until we came across a Garrison, C.
We stood outside for a few minutes as we listened to Dr. Garrison reading to his daughter who had the most beautiful long black hair and pale skin though she looked to be about my age. "Just press the latch called out the Grandmother. I'm too weak to get up. The Wolf pressed the latch, and the door opened. He stepped inside, went straight to the Grandmother, and ate her up."
It kind of made me sad to stand here and watch him read to his daughter. I knew my own father would never take the time to read to me if I was lying in a hospital bed comatose for years. He'd without a doubt be out looking for revenge, it was his way of saying I love you, that he would fight for you, but it didn't make it hurt any less.
The doctor noticed us at the door, set the book down on the bed and kissed Callie's forehead before walking over to us. "Detectives. Can I help you?"
"We just...heard that Callie is your daughter," Dean started awkwardly. Way to make us sound like creepers.
"And we wanted to say how very sorry we are," Sam finished trying to save the conversation.
Dr. Garrison nodded looking between the three of us, "Well, uh. Thank you. If you'll excuse me," He started down the hallway from the same direction we came from.
"Oh, heading this way?" Real smooth Dean we'll just follow him until we get our answers I'm sure he'd love to sit and chat about his daughter. "We'll walk with you. How long has Callie been like that?"
He turned to give Dean an odd look and this it was my turn to try and smooth things over. "We don't mean to intrude. We can't possibly understand how hard it must be for you seeing her like this."
Dean gave me a wink to say thanks and I had to suppress an eye roll as the doctor looked to me. "It's not easy. She's uh, been here since she was eight years old."
"And that's when she was poisoned?" Sam questioned and I almost stopped walking. How the hell would we know something like that? Please God, don't let this poor man pick up on it, I'd really like to not be center of attention as we probably would be thrown out of the hospital.
"Yes," he answered without skipping a beat and I let out a quiet breath that I had been holding. "Swallowed bleach. Never figured out how she got her hands on the bottle. My wife found her, uh, brought her to the ER here and I was on call."
"You're wife was that Callie's stepmother?" Dean questioned casually hoping to keep the ball rolling but Dr. Garrison stopped dead in his tracks and locked eyes with Dean. Oh crap, here it comes.
"Actually, yes. How'd you know that?"
Dean shrugged unfazed by the questioning look he was getting, "Lucky guess."
Dr. Garrison looked at him for another second before he started walking again. Good thing we were in a hospital because I'm pretty sure by the end of the day I'm going to have heart problems thanks to these two baboons. "Well, Julie was the only mother that Callie ever knew. My wife passed away last year and it's just my daughter and me now. She's all I got left." He paused for a second as his voice broke. "Uhm, excuse me I got to get back to work."
He walked down another hallway and we made our way back to the main doors.
"Well you're right. It's Snow White in spades," Dean sighed.
"Yep," Sam agreed as we continued our way to the main doors. "Step-mom poisons the girl, puts her into a deep sleep. What's the motive you think?"
"Could be like Mischa Barton," Dean suggested, "Sixth Sense not the O.C."
"What?" Sam questioned.
"Dude, you have to watch more movies and get your nose out of a book. She played the pasty ghost. Remember the mom had that thing you know, where you keep the kid sick so you get all the attention?...oh, what's it called?" I scrunched my face up trying to remember. It was right at the tip of my tongue.
"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah…uh, Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy," Sam replied. Yup, that's it! "Huh, could be."
"So, say all these years Callie's been suffering silently because nobody knows the truth about what mommy dearest did?" Dean started snow-balling a theory.
And Sam picked up speed with it, "And after all this time her spirit just gets angrier and angrier, until it finally just starts lashing out."
"Right," Dean continued, "Meanwhile she has to listen to dad tell her these deranged stories about a rabid wolf or a cannibalistic old lady. It's enough to drive anybody nuts."
"I think it's sweet," I blurted out before I really thought about what I was saying stopping both brothers dead in their tracks. "Well, not that she's killing people but that her dad is taking the time to read to her." Crap, I should have just kept my mouth shut because now Dean is looking all sorts of confused and Sam is giving me those damn sad misty eyes like I just told him our dog died. "Just forget it," I groaned as I started walking again.
A few moments later both brothers were following again and I was thankful when Sam got back to the case instead of wanting to have some big heart to heart. "OK, but how are we going to stop her, I mean Callie's stuck here, her father's keeping her body alive."
"It does make it a bit hard to burn the bones," Dean commented as he grabbed my shoulders to pull me back as EMT's came running through the door with an elderly woman on a stretcher.
I was about to start walking again when we heard the doctor on call ask the EMT, "Is that a bite?"
"Looks like she was mauled by a mad dog or, maybe a wolf?" the EMT replied as he handed over his paperwork and let the hospital staff try and save the woman.
"What was the last story Dr. Garrison was reading Callie?" Dean questioned his hands still on my shoulders as we watched a nurse pull a white sheet over the woman.
Sam whispered, "Little Red Riding Hood."
"Alright, come on," Dean steered me towards the EMT who was signing a few papers at the nurse's station. I don't know when I got so squeamish, I was usually better than this but to be attacked the way she was, it felt unsettling.
"Excuse me?" Sam grabbed the man's attention and flashed him his badge. "Was she the only victim?"
"She was found by the side of the road, barely alive. Alone."
The story of Little Red Riding Hood suddenly came crashing down on me and I realized that we had to go find a young girl before she was attacked. An elderly woman who lived her life was bad enough I wasn't going to let a defenseless little girl be taken before her time. "We need to find her next of kin."
The EMT lifted up a page on his clipboard and scanned the information he had. "Yeah, she has a granddaughter."
My stomach dropped as Dean asked for the address and the man handed over a piece of paper. We were walking back towards the door and I was in full 'hunter mode' now.
"Hey, you find a way to stop Callie, alright?" Dean instructed Sam as he headed for the door.
"Wait, what about you?" Sam questioned.
"I'm going to go stop the Big Bad Wolf," he paused and thought about it for a second. "Which is the weirdest thing I've ever said."
He started out the door again and I followed closely behind. Sam would no doubt find someway to stop Callie; I needed to take my anger out on something evil.
SUPERNATURAL
"When we get there I want you to get the girl and get out, you hear me?" Dean ordered in the same tone my father had used over the years to make sure we knew he meant business.
I nodded not trusting myself to not make some sarcastic comment as Dean slammed the Impala into park and ran towards the front door of the house where the little girl supposedly lived with her grandmother. He wasted no time kicking the door in and we both entered the house with guns raised, standing shoulder to shoulder and ready to back each other up.
The little girl's cries reached my ears and without thinking I stuffed my gun in the small of my back as I ran over to where she was crouched down behind a bookcase.
"Are you ok?" I knelt in front of her and scanned her for injuries. She had a small cut by her eyebrow and was shaken up but overall she looked ok.
"Yeah," she nodded and then let out an ear piercing scream.
On instinct I rolled forward blocking her from any danger that was behind me as I shielded her with my body. I heard Dean landing a few punches but receiving a few as well.
"Leah, get her out of here!" Dean hollered as he swung at the man who apparently thought he was the Big Bad Wolf.
I didn't want to leave Dean alone in the house, he was holding his own but the fight was too fair matched and I feared the evil would get the upper hand in one wrong move. Quickly I scooped the girl up in my arms, ran out the door and down the front steps.
"I want you to sit here," I placed her in the front seat of the Impala. "Lock the doors and don't open them for anyone but me. Can you do that?"
She meekly nodded and as I closed the door I waited a half a second to make sure she locked it before I ran back in the house. I skidded to a stop as I saw little Callie standing by the couch watching the fight. Sam, what were you doing? Hurry up!
"Callie?" I called out carefully unsure if she would be able to hear me or respond to me in anyway. "Callie, you have to stop this, this isn't right." My words were wasted as she just watched the fight with an interested looked on her face. "Dean!" I screamed as I saw the man grab a pair of scissors out of a sewing basket.
"Whoa," he dodged out of the way and tried to land another punch.
Callie turned her head away from me like someone was talking to her before she flickered a few times and disappeared. Dean knocked the man into the bookshelf giving himself a second to breathe before the man was back on his feet again. He somehow got on top of Dean and as he raised the scissors over his head to stab Dean in the chest I had my gun out and pointed at his head.
Then out of no where the guy dropped the scissors and looked at me with terror in his eyes, "Whoa! Stop, stop! Whoa stop! Whoa! Where am I? What's going on?!"
SUPERNATURAL
"And the girl is ok?" Dr. Garrison asked as the three of us gathered around the nurse's station.
"Yeah, she'll be just fine," I answered as I looked at him with a sad smile.
Apparently, Callie was trying to tell her father what really happened all those years ago. Once he knew the truth she stopped holding on and passed on to the other side.
"Callie was the most important thing in my life but I should've let her go a long time ago."
"See ya around Doc," Dean nodded as he picked up what charts he needed.
He patted Dean on the shoulder before walking away, "I sure hope not."
SUPERNATURAL
We got back to the motel room and I just couldn't get Dr. Garrison's words out of my head, Callie was the most important thing in my life but I should've let her go a long time ago. My brother's were the most important things in my life, was it time I let them go?
I sent a text to Jo and told her that if either brother called to please tell them I was with her and that I would give her details later. She agreed and when Sam got out of the shower I made my announcement.
"So, I just got a text from Jo, she's a couple states over and just finished a big job. Since we're not working one right now either I told her I would go meet up with her for some drinks."
"Sounds good," Dean nodded, "When we leaving?"
"Uh…no," I put my jacket on and pulled my hair out so it laid against the back. "It's girl time Dean, you can flirt some other time."
Sam covered his laugh with a cough, "Just be careful."
"How are you getting there?" Dean questioned as he flopped down on the bed looking like a little kid who was just told he couldn't go out and play.
"There's a Nissan at the end of the parking lot," I stuck my cell phone in my back pocket and threw my duffle over my shoulder. "Stay out of trouble, don't have too much fun without me."
SUPERNATURAL
The drive to Illinois took me twelve hours and that included stops for gas and food. I got a motel room and slept for a couple hours before getting back in the car and driving over to their house.
I sat on the side of the road for hours and watched through the window as Lisa and Ben played a few boards games, their laughter filling the air and the smiles on their faces as big as ever. They ate dinner at the table and had even said grace before they dug in. I stayed out there until all the lights turned off and they went to bed.
Dr. Garrison's words played through my head again, Callie was the most important thing in my life but I should've let her go a long time ago.
Dean deserved to be happy, I couldn't think of anyone who deserved it more, and I had robbed him of that for purely selfish reasons. My time was running out but every second I kept him to myself was a second Ben was living without a father.
I didn't know what I was going to do about Sam and his new friendship with Ruby but I would figure it out on my own. Dean needed to be with his son, my nephew, and live the life he has always wanted.
I started the car back up and navigated my way through town to head back towards New York since I hadn't heard from either of them saying they were going anywhere else. I don't know when the tears started but they flowed from my eyes as my heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. Dean was my rock, my protector and always had been. I didn't know how to live without him but I was done being selfish.
The tears turned to angry sobs that blurred my vision, the car veered off to the left, and the sound of a horn snapped me out of misery as I tried to get the car back into the right lane but it was too late and we collided. The air bag going off was the last thing I saw before the darkness consumed me.
…and they didn't live happily ever after.