Rule Twenty-Eight: Keep the volume of music in the Impala down to a dull roar while hunting.
"Dean."
"Dean!"
"DEAN!"
Sam shouted as loud as he could, and finally, finally his brother turned to look at him.
A headache throbbed behind Sam's eyes and he reached out to turn down the radio.
"Spoilsport," Dean muttered and turned the radio off after Sam had turned down the volume.
"What are you doing? We're on a hunt?" Sam growled, glaring at his brother.
"No," Dean argued, "We're not on a hunt, Sam, we're on a wild goose chase."
"Dad told us to look for-" the seventeen-year old began but his older brother interrupted him.
"A sasquatch, I know," Dean muttered mutinously.
"You don't believe they exist, do you?" Sam asked.
Dean turned to look at his brother, "You're right. I don't. There may have been hundreds of sightings over the years but no one- and I mean no one- has ever found any honest-to-God evidence that these things exist."
"So? There's been plenty of monsters with no physical evidence that are real," Sam argued, knowing he was fighting a losing battle.
"I just don't know why Dad is making me do this shit," Dean told him, "I'm not the one who told him I want to go to college."
Sam didn't respond, hurt by his brother's anger. Two days ago, before they'd arrived in the small community of Blue Lake, Washington- a former logging camp- he had told his brother and father he had applied to a number of prestigious colleges around the country, including Stanford, Harvard and Yale.
The town of Blue Lake was being terrorized by a strange entity that was attacking cars driving down the narrow, tree-lined roads, breaking into sheds and garages, and smashing shop windows on the short main street.
No one had been killed as of yet, thank God, but everyone was terrified. The local law enforcement insisted it was nothing more than a grizzly bear, but those who had actually managed to catch a glimpse of the beast begged to differ. It was a Sasquatch, they were sure of it. The Native tribes that had lived on the land years ago had stories of the ape-like creature that would rampage through their villages when enraged if disrespected.
John Winchester had instructed his sons to visit the sites of the most recent attacks while he stayed in Blue Lake's library and did research- something Sam normally did. He hadn't said much to his youngest son since Sam had told him he didn't want to hunt anymore and the seventeen-year old had the idea that his father was either a) punishing him for not doing what he wanted or b) making a last-ditch attempt at showing him how important it was that he hunted with them.
"Nothing to say?" Dean sneered, "I thought so."
Leaning over, he turned up the volume on the radio and Bad Company's 'Run With The Pack' blared from the speakers.
Sam sighed and stared at the passenger side window, trying to make out shapes other than those of the trees in the early morning glow of dawn.
It was a combination of the poor lighting and the loud music playing that prevented the brothers from hearing the Sasquatch's approach. It's heavy, thudding footsteps, and loud breathing drowned out by the bass of the rock classic blasting from the Impala's radio and it's loping silhouette camouflaged among the trees.
"Dean, I just-" Sam began when there was a pause in the music, only to be stopped when something heavy crashed into the side of the car, causing it to rock on its wheels.
"What the hell?!" Dean shouted and hit the brakes, the tires screaming on the asphalt.
Sam peered out his window, wondering if they'd hit another car, when he caught sight of the Sasquatch racing towards them on all fours in the side mirror.
"Holy shit," the seventeen-year old whispered and fumbled for the gun he'd been given.
"What-" Dean began but shouted in shock when the creature appeared at his window and ripped the mirror from the car with a shriek of tearing metal.
The twenty-one year old raised his gun, staring right into the snarling, jagged-toothed mouth of the beast as it breathed onto the window, but didn't act. He couldn't shoot the glass out- not at this close range- or open the window.
"Stay there!" Sam told his brother, reaching for the handle of his own door, "Keep it distracted."
Dean half-turned, seeing what his brother was about to do, and made to grab him.
"Don't!" Dean cried but missed, the tail of his brother's jacket slipping through his fingers as Sam flung open his door and stood, facing the opposite side of the car, gun raised.
"Hey! King Kong!" Sam shouted and the Sasquatch's beady yellow eyes lifted to peer at the hunter. The creature roared- scaring Dean who only sat with a thin pane of glass between himself and the monster- and stood up, towering over the six foot, four inch younger Winchester.
Sam didn't have time to consider he'd made a mistake when he pulled the trigger, shooting the Sasquatch between the eyes.
The monster did not drop dead, instead it roared again and shoved the Impala into the young man, causing him to collapse.
"SAM!" Dean shouted and started to climb over the middle console, terrified his brother had been crushed.
A second gunshot sounded and the Sasquatch roared again, this time more shrilly than before.
Where was Sam? Dean glanced out his brother's side of the car but couldn't see him.
A third gunshot sent the Sasquatch reeling across the road, blood matting the thick, dark fur on its chest.
Dean watched, awestruck, as the monster dropped to all fours and disappeared into the trees at the opposite side road, growling in its high-pitched tone.
"Sam?" Sam! Where are you?" Dean shouted out through the open passenger's side door.
A tapping on the driver's side door caught Dean's attention and he turned to see Sam standing at his window.
Reaching over, he opened the door for his brother. The seventeen-year old dropped into the driver's seat.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Dean asked, terrified.
Sam shook his head, "Scraped my hands and knees but I'm fine."
Dean stared at his brother's raw, bloody palms and let out a sigh of relief.
"But, what happened? I thought the car hit you, I saw you go down."
Sam smiled, "I did go down. But the car didn't even touch me. I rolled underneath and crawled to the other side."
"It's not dead though," Dean muttered.
Sam shook his head, "No, but I think it'll think twice about attacking anymore people."
Dean nodded.
"You want to drive?" Sam asked.
"Nah," his brother replied, "You go ahead."
Reaching out, Dean pulled the passenger's side door closed as Sam started the turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life, the radio stuttering to a start.
Scowling, Sam turned the radio off. Dean didn't touch it.
"Dad's gonna be pissed about the mirror," Dean told his brother, nodding his head in the direction of the defunct side mirror.
Sam shrugged, "We'll tell him the truth. The Sasquatch did it."
Dean smiled.
"Dean?"
"Yeah?" Dean asked, as Sam started driving down the road, pulling a U-Turn and heading back in the direction of town.
"Next time I turn the music off, keep it off!"
Author's Note:
Rule comes courtesy of CarverEdlundtheLast.
Thanks to hectatess, jensensgirl3, StyxxsOmega, Mama's Stories, elliereynolds777, SamDeanLover28, and Jenjoremy for reviewing.
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