The Changing Lights of the Rainbow

Chapter 11

"Dad, I really don't like this place, it doesn't feel safe for Sam" Dean tried to argue, but John Winchester was not in the mood to listen to either of his sons run their mouths.

The thing is, he was used to Sam complain about everything. That kid never seemed to be happy with anything, but it wasn't like Dean to complain. He even seemed frustrated when Dad refused to listen to him.

The place was a run-down apartment. Dean wasn't even sure it was legal to live there. It did electricity, well half of the lights and plugs seemed to work anyhow, and there was water in the kitchen and one of the bathrooms. The plumbing was on the fits, so they had to be careful with the toilet, but at least it did have running water to it. The windows were mostly intact. There was one that was completely busted out, covered by a board that was nailed over the hole that once held the glass panes. There was another window that was cracked down the middle. Dean figured it would only take one strong wind to take it out.

The neighborhood was rough. It was the type that you didn't dare go outside of the door without a gun, and knife, within reach. The door to one room was torn off the hinges, it was there, but it wouldn't open or close. The bathroom door was almost as bad, but at least they were able to force it closed for a little privacy. The cabinets didn't look like they had been cleaned, or used, for several years. The furniture that remained in the place looked like something from the 50s, it smelled like it too. Dean was sure an animal was stuck between the walls and had died, or else their neighbor was laying in their apartment, dead. Either way, the smell wasn't going away any time soon.

"Damn it, Dad! Why won't you listen to me? Do you honestly think this is a safe place to leave Sam?"

Sam wasn't going to argue with Dean, he actually agreed with him, and Dean was doing a good job pleading his case.

"Look! I am so sick of listening to you unthankful brats bitching about every damn thing!" The anger that shot out of John's mouth shocked both of them. "If you don't want to go on this hunt with me, then fine, don't go. Stay here and babysit your brother. But, it's not exactly like we make a killing at this job, you know. So, you get what you can afford. Or, we can just forget about school for Sam and he can come along with us from now on."

"NO!" Sam shouted, "That's not fair! I'm not quitting school. Just because Dean wants to be dumb doesn't mean I'm going to be."

It was a low blow, and he knew it. But, he didn't care. If Dad was going to make him quit school because he wasn't capable of finding a safe place for them to stay, then he would just run away again. He was older this time. He could make it on his own, or go to Bobby's he would let him live there, and go back to school.

Sam knew Dean wasn't dumb, in fact he was smarter than Sam could ever be. Any time he had a question about his homework, Dean always knew the answer. He was able to figure out anything that was put in front of him. If they lived in a normal family, it wouldn't surprise Sam if Dean had a 4.0 GPA. But, instead, his brother was forced into the hunting life, he was made to concentrate on training and hunting, so, he didn't get the chance to put in the effort on his school work.

Of course, Dean always made sure Sam put all his concentration on school. He didn't want Sam to hunt. He used the excuse that they needed someone with book smarts, someone who could do all the boring research, but really, he just wanted to make sure Sam stayed safe, and followed his heart, and for some unknown reason Sam's heart was in the walls of the local school.

"I'm staying here" Dean stated, his voice full of authority and determination. "There's too many drafts, the windows aren't safe. I've already checked, all of them don't even lock. It would impossible to lay a salt line and expect it stay put with as much draft this place has. The neighborhood is rougher than any monster we've ever hunted. I'm not leaving him here alone, and that's final"

"If that's what you want, then stay here and babysit, I have a job to do"

"Me too, my number one job is to watch out for Sam, and that's what I intend to do"

John couldn't argue with that. It was the rule he put in place. And, Dean wasn't completely wrong, the neighborhood was a bad one, but that's one reason they were there. There was a lot of evil floating around the area. Some heavy demon activity had been reported.

He went over what he knew with Dean and Sam. Warning them of the dangers that were out there. Dean was to walk Sam to school every day and pick him up when it was over. He was not allowed to ride the bus or be out of Dean's sight when outside of their house.

Dean rolled his eyes at Dad's orders, "And, you were going to leave him alone? With all these strict rules and danger?"

"Shut up" was John's only reply. "Whatever you do, do NOT let anyone know you are hunters. If there is a heavy demon presence here, they'll know, or at least think they know, so if someone asks, assume they are evil and deny it. Also, remember don't ever give away the identity of anyone else you know of."

"That's an awful lot of rules and reminders for a place that, 5 minutes ago, was safe for Sam to stay alone."

"Look, I never said it was safe, but, I needed you to help me with this. I can't do it alone. But, I'll just make a call to someone else, see who's close that can help out. You're right, you need to stay here and keep an eye on your brother."

Sam just rolled his eyes, "If its so dangerous then why the hell did you move us here? Why couldn't I stay where I was at?"

"Because I need you close, I can't protect you if you're a few hours away."

Sam didn't even try to argue. He kept reminding himself he was on the down hill slope of his sophomore year, only two more years after this and he'd be free from the hunting world. He could do it, he's already managed to muffle through 16 years, what's 2 more? Dean had just had his 20th birthday. He wasn't sure Dad had noticed, but it didn't slip by Sam. He envied Dean for being older. If he was 20 he would already be a couple years through college and free from crap like this.

"Come on, Sam. We need to go to the store, unless you wanna starve while Dad's gone."

Sam huffed, "Is it safe to go to the store? Or are we gonna be ganked by some thud demon kid?"

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. We just gotta be observant and cautious of our surroundings. I'll go alone if you're too scared."

"I'm not scared!" Sam protested as he made his way off the bed he was sitting on and headed out the door with Dean, but not before checking to make sure they both had weapons on them.

Dean did the shopping, he checked the fridge and microwave before heading to the store, they both seemed to work. The oven didn't, and only half the burners on the stovetop would come on, so he had to be careful about what he bought. Once they were finished they headed back to their apartment. It was only a half mile walk to the store, about a quarter more of a mile to the school.

"Hey, Sam" Dean said in a hushed tone

"Yeah?"

"Don't look now, but, I think there's someone following us."

"What!"

"shhh! Don't draw attention to yourself. Look, I want you to take the house key" he slipped the key into one of the grocery bags, "and the food, and walk in front of me. Keep the bags in front of you, and your hand on your pistol, but keep it hidden by the bags, got it?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"I'm gonna hang back a little, make sure you make it safely in the house before shaking him off."

Sam nodded, and doubled his speed, his heartbeat doubled too. He could see Dean falling far behind him. Right before Sam reached the apartments Dean shot off down a walkway that led away from the building. The man followed Dean. Sam quickly unlocked the door and rushed inside, locking it behind him. He sat the bags down and reapplied the salt line in front of the door, then proceeded to check the other lines, they were all intact. He waited impatiently by the door, waiting for Dean to come back.

It seemed too long. Dean should have made his way back to their home by now. Where had he gone? Why wasn't he there? Sam actually felt scared. He was worried that something had happened to Dean. He grabbed the cell phone Dad left for them, and called him.

"Hello, this is John Winchester"

"Dad! you need to come home, NOW! Something's happened to Dean!" Sam's words were coming out so fast that they were stumbling into each other.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there, Buddy, what's going on? What happened?"

"We went to the store, to get food, and on the walk back, Dean said someone was following us. He told me to take the bags, he put the key in the bag, and told me to keep my hand on my pistol, covered by the bags in my other hand. He told me to hurry up and get to the house, so I did. I got here as quick as I could."

Sam had to pause to catch his breath

"But, before I got to our door, Dean led the man down a different path. He didn't speed up, if anything he slowed down, letting him get closer to Dean and further from me. I guess he didn't want the man to know what house we were in, but, Dad, he should have been back by now. Something's wrong, I just know it, something bad has happened. Dad, please, hurry, please!"

"Okay, Sam, we're on our way, I need you to just calm down."

"Okay, all the salt lines are in place, and I've been waiting by the door so I could unlock it and let Dean in, but he hasn't come back yet! I even have the salt sitting right here, beside the door, so we could reapply it after the door was opened. But, he hasn't come back, Dad, he's not back!"

"Sam, son, calm down! You getting all upset isn't gonna help your brother any. I want you to stay put, you hear me? And, if he comes back, call me! We are about 30 minutes out, so just hang in there. We'll drive by the area and see if we can find him before coming home."

"Okay, just hurry, please. Hey, Dad, who's 'we'?"

"Bobby and Pastor Jim were nearby, following leads on this as well, they just didn't have as much information as I had, so they are with me, we'll find Dean, okay?"

"Yeah, can I talk to Bobby?"

John handed Bobby the phone, both men were confused by the boy's request.

"Hey there, squirt, you alright?"

"No! Bobby, I'm scared, I'm really scared."

"It's gonna be alright, we'll find your brother, okay?"

"Yeah, but…"

"What is it? Spit it out, boy"

"Well, I have a bad feeling, like a really bad feeling. Something's wrong, and I don't like it. It's scaring me!"

"Alright, just hang in there, got it? I want you to find a place to hide, where no one will be able to find you. Dean will know how to knock if he comes back, just keep your ears opened, and eyes peeled for any danger. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Okay. And Bobby, thanks"

"Yeah, no problem kid"

John drove as fast as he could. The fact he hadn't listened to his boys' warnings was rubbing him the wrong way. He didn't even know who was following him. It could have been your normal neighborhood perv who only had one thing on his mind. As hard as that would be, it would probably be the best of the worst. The other options were his son was laying somewhere in a ditch, dead, or had been captured by a demon.

One thing was for sure, there was no way Dean would leave Sam worried about him if he could help it. So, for Dean to be gone long enough that Sam called their dad, wasn't a good sign. Sam would never call Dad, even if he was dying, so the fact he received a phone call at all was cause for immediate concern. The boy wouldn't even talk to his dad, as soon as he found out Bobby was there, he poured his heart out to him, but didn't dare do so with his dad.

John made his rounds around the town with no sign of his oldest boy. He hadn't received a call telling him he was home. This wasn't good. Not at all. He pulled up to the apartment, Bobby headed to their house to check on Sam while John and Pastor Jim set out on foot, looking for the boy.

Bobby had the house key, so no need to knock. "Sammy? Sam!" Bobby shouted, knowing he told the kid to hide somewhere good. "It's me, Bobby, your dad and Jim are out on foot, couldn't find anyone driving around, where you at boy?"

Sam came running and trampled the man with a tight hug. "Bobby! Bobby!" His eyes were red and swollen from the tears he had been shedding. "They need to find Dean! Please, Bobby, please, you have to find him!"

"Calm down, boy, we're doing all we can right now. Let's just hope your daddy finds him on foot."

Sam didn't release his hold from Bobby. He had shifted the boy to the couch and sat with him in his arms. Not that he had much of a choice since the boy wouldn't release him. His trembling arms held tight around the man's chest, his too fast heart could be felt against Bobby's side where Sam had pressed his body. It was like the kid was trying to disappear, escape from reality.

"It's gonna be alright, boy, Dean's strong, it's gonna be alright"

Bobby tried to sooth the boy, to give him hope, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. He knew the bond the boys had, he knew Sam wouldn't be comforted until he laid eyes back on his living, breathing brother.

"DAD!" Sam shouted as his dad and Jim came into the home, without Dean. "Dad! Where's Dean? Did you find him? Where is he, dad?"

"I don't know, son, but we'll find him. It's getting dark out and there was no sign of him anywhere, it's not gonna do much good to keep looking, so we need to regroup. I need you to tell me everything you can remember, what the man looked like, everything. We need to treat this like any other case, we need facts and need to figure out what we're up against."

Sam hated the thought of leaving his brother alone over night, but knew his dad was right.

"First thing in the morning, at dawn, we'll take whatever we have, and start the search again. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with something between now and then."

All the men agreed, and Bobby sent Sam to bed after the told them everything he could think of about their evening. There wasn't anything suspicious, nothing really other than Dean noticing they were being followed. Sam thinks he saw the man at the store, but can't be sure. He gave them a good description of the man. Jim said he would go to the store and watch security cameras first thing in the morning. Hopefully they would give them some more information. The men took shifts sleeping, someone stayed awake just in case Dean returned. There was no such luck.

At dawn, the men headed back out. Jim put on his best FBI suit and headed to the store to follow up on a missing person's case. And the other 2 went on foot, checking, and rechecking the surrounding area. Sam remained asleep. They thought it best not to wake him. The kid had a rough day and a long night. John had laid the cell phone beside his bed, just in case he needed to get a hold of him or if Dean called.

Once Jim was finished at the store the men regrouped,

"It was a demon, that's for sure. He followed the boys around the store. Not directly, but he kept a close eye on them. There were a couple times you could see his eyes turn black. Dean noticed him, but didn't react. I don't think he knew he was noticed, but Dean kept an eye on him. I figure it was after the suspicious man followed them out of the store that Dean realized they were in trouble. He only waited a minute before following the boys from the store, Dean was sure to have noticed that, especially after he had noticed him watching them."

Jim handed them pictures that he had printed off,

"This is the man that followed them out of the store. I can't be sure, but I think these 2 men were with him, probably also demons, I would assume. They acted like they were helping by blocking aisles and keeping an eye on the boys too, but like I said, I can't be completely sure, so just keep your eyes opened for them as well."

It was getting late, nearly 11:00 and Sam hadn't called John. He figured the boy would call as soon as he woke to find out any update and complain that they didn't wake him. John tried to call him, but didn't get an answer. Heading back to the apartment to check on his youngest son, everything seemed normal, until he walked in Sam's room. The window was broken out, a small trace of blood on the edges of the broken glass, sulfur traces at the window, and no Sam. He was now missing too.