Chapter 22
This Year
(Season 1, Episode 9 - Home)
Driving around cleared Dean's head, but this town only clouded it more. He remembered every building and street sign as if he had lived there his whole life. Every inch of the town was burned into his brain even though he tried to extinguish the flames.
While driving, he noticed something that made the lightbulb go off in his head. Dean had a lead, something he had forgotten about. "Sam, did Dad ever tell you he used to own a mechanic shop?"
"I don't think he mentioned it. You might have told me though."
Sarah shifted. "Is that why you know so much about cars?"
Dean grinned, happy that she noticed. "Yes, it is."
"Why?" Sam asked.
Dean slowed the car as they started to pass a small building with garage doors wide open. The loud screeches of tools could be heard down the street. A red and white sign read 'Guenther's Auto Repair Please Keep Driveway Clear Thank You.'
"You think they would have some information about Dad?"
Dean parked the car in the lot. "Only one way to find out."
Sam, Dean, and Sarah all filed out together, went to the front desk and asked for the owner. They told the desk clerk they were police looking into the cold case of John Winchester's disappearance.
Dean shook the owner's hand and immediately started asking questions. "So you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?"
The man grabbed a tool from his box as he walked. Oil ran up his arms and bled onto his sleeves. "Yeah, we used to. A long time ago. Matter of fact, must be 20 years since John disappeared. So, why are the cops interested all of a sudden?"
"Oh, we're reopening some of our unsolved case, and the Winchester disappearance is one of them."
"Uh huh. Well, what do you want to know about John?"
"Whatever you remember. Whatever sticks out in your mind."
"Well, he was a stubborn bastard. I remember that. And uh, oh whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It was that whole Marine thing." Sarah's eyes shifted to Dean as the mechanic talked. Sounds like Dean picked up some of his father's habits. "But, uh, well, he sure loved Mary, and he doted on those kids."
Sam tried to find out more about his father's past, not hear how much they were supposedly loved. "But that was before the fire."
The mechanic's face fell, remembering the downfall of his friend. "That's right."
"He ever talk about that night?"
"No, not at first. I think he was in shock."
"Right, but eventually - What did he say about it?"
The mechanic shook his head. "Oh, he wasn't thinking straight. He said, uh, he said something caused that fire and killed Mary."
Dean inhaled slowly. "He ever say what did it?"
"Nothing did it. It was an accident. An electrical short in the ceiling or the walls or something. I begged him to get some help, but..."
"But what?"
His voice lowered and he shook his head. "Oh it just got worse and worse."
"How?"
"Oh, he started reading these strange old books. He started going to see this palm reader in town."
"Palm reader? You have a name?"
"No."
They thanked him for his time and walked back to the car. Dean was quiet as Sam and Sarah started rattling off ideas."
Sarah leaned against the front seat. "We should get a phonebook. If the palm reader is still here, they'll be in there."
"What makes you think they would still be in town? A lot of psychics like to stay mobile."
"Well, if your dad visited frequently, that means she was there up until he took off with you guys. I know it's just a hunch, but I have a feeling they were there well before your dad and well after. And this person has to be legit if your dad kept going back. I've never met him, but from what I hear, your dad isn't stupid and would be able to sniff out a fraud."
Sam giggled. "Yeah, you're right."
Dean started the car and put it in gear while Sarah continued. "So we find a phonebook and just call whoever. Or see if there's anyone mentioned in your dad's stuff. This is a really good lead. We just need the next step."
"You are oddly in a good mood today."
Dean cleared his throat and pulled over to the side of the road. "There's a phonebooth over there. Probably has a book."
"I'm always in a good mood, Sam." Sarah smiled widely and exited the car.
Sam ran up to the phone booth while Dean leaned against the driver's side door.
Sarah pulled her phone out of her pockets. "I'll be back in a second. I just need to make a phone call. Let me know what you find."
"You actually talk to other people?" Dean teased.
"No, I'm just doing this to make myself look busy unlike your lazy ass." Sarah crossed the street so the Winchesters wouldn't hear her conversation.
She flipped open her flip phone and scrolled through the contacts. There weren't many, just other hunters, a friend or two from high school, and her parents. She stopped when she reached her father's number. Sarah went to hit the green call button, but hesitated. He's not going to like this. Her heart beat just a little faster at the thought of speaking to her father. It's not worth it.
Sarah turned towards the brothers as she was about to shut her phone. Sam's nose was deep in the phonebook, searching for answers. And Dean. Well, Dean wasn't right. Being here was doing something to him, something Sarah had never seen before.
He must know something. She pressed the button.
A raspy, older voice answered the call. "Sarah? Oh my god, is that you?"
"Hi, Dad." Sarah leaned against a stop sign, trying to act casual. She didn't want Sam and Dean to know that she was extremely nervous.
"Is everything alright? You only call when you're in trouble. Did you get shot at again? Stabbed?"
"No, Dad. I didn't get shot at or ... stabbed? Really? Those are the options here. Not bit by a vampire or cursed by a witch?"
"Honey, we can fix monster stuff. It's the human stuff we have problems with."
Sarah brushed her hair out of her face and chuckled. "Yeah, you have no idea."
"Well, if you're not dead or dying, then why did you call?"
"Can't I just say 'hi' to you and Mom every once in awhile?"
Her father chuckled in a similar way to Sarah. "As much as I wish that were something you did, you don't. So what's up?"
She closed her eyes and debated on ending the conversation right there, but she pressed on. "I was wondering if there was anything you could tell me about Lawrence, Kansas."
He was silent. All Sarah could hear was his even and short breaths.
She coughed. "You still there?"
"Why do you need to know?"
"I'm, uh. I'm working a case here with a couple of guys. I've worked with them before so I trust them, but I was just trying to get more information about it-"
He cut her off. "About the fire and why John Winchester hightailed it out of there."
"How did you-"
"Every hunter in America knows how John started hunting and how he took those kids of his everywhere. You tell me honestly, Sarah Colleen Greenely. Those two guys you're working with, do they happen to be named Sam and Dean Winchester?"
She gulped. "Dad-"
"Answer me, Sarah!"
"Yeah, Dad. I'm working with Sam and Dean, but they're great. They've saved my ass-"
Her father went off. His voice was so loud, she turned the volume down and still had to hold the phone away from her ear. "Damn it! Sarah, what did I tell you. Those Winchesters are good for nothing, trash excuse for hunters. John's the reason that your uncle is dead. Did you forget that? I can't believe my daughter is working with those idiots. Is that all you're doing? Working cases? I swear Sarah, I thought you were smarter than this."
"Would you stop? Please. They're great guys. They're my friends and they are damn good hunters. I don't care if you have a problem with me working with them because I'm not going to stop. Now, do you have any information on what happened 22 years ago or are you just going to keep screaming at me?"
"You know how their mother died, right? Burned up in a fire? Then the same thing happened to Sam's girlfriend? Yeah, the word got around. You have got to get out of there or you will end up just like that, Sarah. Do you hear me? I'll come and get you if you want. Just get-"
Sarah snapped the phone closed and her heart pounded with anger. "Asshole." Her father was never going to trust Sam and Dean, but what he assumed about her relationship with them caused her more grief than she had felt in a long time.
She stood there for a second before she heard a throat clearing behind her. She slowly turned around to see Dean standing a few feet away.
"We, uh, may have found our psychic. Are you ready to go?"
Sarah ignored his question. "How much did you hear?"
Dean's face showed a hint of panic. "Hear what? I didn't hear anything."
"Dean."
"Fine, I heard a lot. Whoever you were talking to was really loud and doesn't seem to like Sam and me much."
Sarah shoved her phone back in her pocket. "It was my dad. He's been doing this for awhile so I figured he might have some information about what happened to your mom."
"I'm guessing he doesn't."
The pair started walking to the car. "I'm sure he does, actually, but was too pissed off at me for hanging out with you to even tell me. Whatever. We can figure it out on our own. You said you got a lead?"
"Yeah, a Missouri Moseley. We're headed there now."
"Great. Can't wait for a psychic to read my mental energy and tell me that I have to patch things up with my dad."
Dean opened the back door for her and grinned. "Well, if she does then I'll just have to take care of her because I'm a damned good hunter."
Sarah sat down. "Don't let that go to your head. I had to convince my dad that I wasn't going to die with you and the jury's still out."
Sam didn't question what they were talking about. In fact, he was too interested in what his father's journal had to say about Missouri Moseley. His eyes were fixated on the pages the entire time Dean drove to the psychic's office.
Dean and Sam sat on a bench in the hallway as they waited, but Sarah had too much energy. She, instead paced the floor, trying to decide if she should call her dad again to see what he knew. Her mind acting like a ping pong match as it bounced back and forth between yes and no.
"Alright there. Don't you worry about a thing. Your wife is crazy about you." A shorter woman with a faint southern accent escorted a man out of the building and shut the door behind him. "Whew. Poor bastard, his woman is cold banging the gardener."
Dean breathed a small laugh. "Why didn't you tell him?"
"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news." They sat there, confused. "Well. Sam and Dean, come on already. I ain't got all day. And Sarah, would you stop pacing? You're going to make indents in my floors."
Sam and Dean were followed quickly, but Sarah was surprised. How did she know me? She walked slowly behind the brothers, partially hiding behind Dean.
"Well, let me look at you. Oh, you boys grew up handsome." Missouri pointed to Dean. "And you were one goofy-looking kid, too."
That broke Sarah's tough exterior. "I can believe it."
"Oh, Sarah, don't be making fun of him. I saw those braces. Your mom loved to bring pictures of you and your sister."
Dean looked back at her and raised his eyebrows.
Sarah didn't see because she was back to being in shock. "My... mom?"
"Oh, yeah. You're mom stopped by whenever they were passing through. And Don't worry about your dad. He's just concerned about you, but you shouldn't call him. He won't give you the answers that you want. He's grown stubborn in his old age."
Dean nudged Sarah, giving her silent reassurance.
Missouri's smile faded when she looked at Sam. "Oh, honey. I'm sorry about your girlfriend. And your father... he's missing?"
Sam was the first one to ask. "How'd you know all that?"
"Well, you were just thinking it, just now."
Dean's attention was solely on the psychic in front of them. "Where is he? Is he okay?"
"I don't know."
"Don't know? You're supposed to be a psychic, right?"
She took offense to that. "Boy, you see me sawing some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't pull facts out of thin air. Sit! Please."
Sam and Sarah had to hold in their joy. Dean was just put in his place and he was too intimidated to say anything back.
As he was sitting down, Missouri came after him again. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm gonna whack you with a spoon."
"I didn't do anything."
"Well, you were thinking about it."
Sarah sat between Sam and Dean. He looked over to her and it was like she could read his mind. Sarah's teeth shined as she flashed a smile. She placed her hand on his thigh and tapped it twice before bringing her hand back to her side. Missouri noticed this gesture, but didn't say anything.
"Okay, so..." Sam started. "Our dad. When did you first meet him?"
"He came for a reading a few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say I drew back the curtains for him."
Dean tensed up. "What about the fire? Do you know about what killed our mom?"
"A little," she answered honestly. "Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."
Sam's voice was soft. "And could you?"
"I don't..."
"What was it?"
"I don't know. But it was evil." She inhaled deeply as she got a glance into their heads. "So, you think something's back in that house?"
"Definitely." This was the first time all day Sam sounded so sure. This house was eating at him in a different way than it was for Dean. All he truly wanted was to protect that young family in a house that destroyed his.
"I don't understand. I haven't been back inside, but I've been keeping an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it acting up now?"
"I don't know. But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house, all happening at once, it just feels like something's starting."
Dean's sarcasm always manages to find its way in. "That's a comforting thought."
Sarah chimed in. "So what do we do?"
"I should go inside. Maybe I could sense something."
Dean leaned back and almost put his arm around Sarah, but stopped himself. "How are we going to do that? She won't believe us."
Sarah didn't look at him. "What else do you suggest we do? If something's really coming for this woman and her kids, we have to stop it."
"I know, but it won't be easy."
"Let's just try. She already knows you guys lived in that house. If we stuck with the feds angle, this would be a piece of cake. But she knows part of the truth already. The only thing left to do is to tell her the rest."
A/N: I apologize for the long delay. It feels so good to be back into it. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Thank you all for sticking with me. This chapter was named after This Year by the Mountain Goats.
