Author's Note: First and foremost, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I absolutely cannot express just how grateful I am for the support. Opening up my email and seeing that I have a new review brightens my whole day. This chapter picks up right where Chapter 2 left off and Jess is finally on her first hunt with the boys. Will it be a simple ghost hunt, a more complicated poltergeist, or will Bobby's fears of something more going on be true? Looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks of the newest installation. I also wanted to say that I am more than open to suggestions on things you'd like to see in further chapters. I have a very basic outline of where I'm going with this story, but nothing's set in stone so if there's something you'd like to see, I'd love to hear it! Hope you all enjoy and thank you again for the amazing reviews!
Triggers: This chapter finally has some action in it. With that action I wanted to add in a warning though. There is some violence depicted and Sam kind of bears the brunt of it (making up for beating on poor Dean in my last story, I guess). I don't think it's overly graphic, but I wanted everyone to be aware that there is violence in case it is a trigger for anyone.
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Bobby stressed as he watched them drive away. He didn't know why, but he had a really bad feeling about the hunt. Something just didn't feel right about the ghost or poltergeist theories, even though all signs pointed to it being one or the other. His hunter instincts wouldn't quit insisting that there was something else going on, though. "Those boys just better take care of that little girl."
"It's not gonna be full dark for about another hour yet," Dean said as they pulled into Valley Springs, South Dakota. "Let's get something to eat first."
Neither Sam nor Jess had an issue with that, considering they'd all managed to forget about lunch. So Dean pulled the Impala into the first diner parking lot that they came to. The two younger hunters shared a disgusted look at the dingy-looking diner while Dean, either completely oblivious to or possibly just ignoring the looks, headed in.
"Are we ever going to eat somewhere that doesn't feel the need to deep fry everything?" Jess wondered.
"Not likely," Sam told her. "It might literally make Dean's head explode to consider eating at a café or someplace with healthy food. Believe me, I've tried to get him to see the benefits of eating something other than burgers, pizza, and fried chicken."
"Two against one now," Jess pointed out as they linked hands and followed Dean into the diner.
"My brother is stubborn enough for ten," Sam laughed, sliding into the diner booth across from him.
"I liked you better as a chubby kid who didn't talk back," Dean glared.
"I never didn't talk back," Sam reminded him, still grinning. "I was talking back from the minute you taught me how to talk."
"Aren't I regretting that now," Dean mused. "Should've convinced you that you were a mute. Would've made my life a hell of a lot easier."
"Yours and Dad's both," Sam agreed. "Well shoulda, coulda, woulda. Too late to change it now."
"You know, you're even more obnoxious now than before you left for college," Dean informed him crankily. "Just how many debate classes did you take?"
"Oh, you have no idea," Jess laughed. "No one ever wanted to be the unlucky one assigned to debate him. He always had ten miles' worth of research done."
"Hey!" Sam protested. "I thought you were supposed to be on my side!"
"You kids ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?" the matronly waitress came over, not even bothering to hide her amused smile at the banter between the three youngsters sitting at her table.
"I'm ready," Dean looked at Sam and Jess, who both nodded their agreement.
Dean ordered his usual double cheeseburger with extra onions while Sam and Jess both ordered salads. The waitress gave them one more smile and headed for the kitchen. Although they'd done nothing but bicker from the moment they'd walked in, it was clear that the three of them had a special bond. Something that caused them to be closer than most and she'd liked them on sight.
"When we get to that house, I want you to stay in the car until we figure out what we're dealing with," Dean said to Jess while they waited for their food.
"I don't think so," Jess argued. "The deal was I would get to come on this hunt and if it turns out to be a poltergeist then I'll wait in the car. You can't baby me just because I'm new to this. I have to learn somehow and experience is the best teacher."
Even though they were speaking quietly, the diner was pretty full and the two women in the next booth over shot them a strange look. Dean glanced up at them nervously and leaned over the table so they could speak even more quietly.
"If it's a poltergeist then the minute we start poking at it, it's most likely going to come after us," he told her. "As far as spirits go, these things are about the furthest thing from friendly as you can get."
"There has to be a first time for everything," Jess wasn't giving in on this. "The sooner I can get some experience under my belt, the sooner we can go after that demon."
"Jess, I don't know…" Sam started.
"Don't," Jess warned. "I know you want to keep me safe and I love you for that, but I'm in this just as much as you two are. You've given me the skills to get started. Let me use them."
"Here we go, honey," the waitress came back with their food before either of them had a chance to argue any more. Misinterpreting Dean's scowl as an objection to what she'd said, she quickly added, "Please don't be offended. I just naturally call anyone under the age of forty honey."
"It's not you," Sam assured her, giving the kind woman his trademark dimpled smile. "My brother and I are just having a bit of a…disagreement with my girlfriend about something."
"Well, take it from an old woman who's been married for over thirty years," she smiled. "The key to a healthy, lasting relationship is finding a compromise during a disagreement. Give and take."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll remember that," Sam put his arm around Jess and pulled her closer.
"Fine," Dean gave in as the waitress walked away. He knew that with both Sam and Jess's formidable wills against him, he wasn't winning this argument. "We'll compromise, then. We all go in together, but we stay together. No one wanders off on their own."
"Dean, the search will go a lot faster if Jess and I take one section of the house and you take another," Sam reminded him.
"That's the offer on the table," Dean picked up his burger and started eating, signaling that he was done talking.
"I guess we're all sticking together, then," Jess was willing to agree to that.
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"What the hell, dude?" three hours later Dean felt like they'd gone over every inch of the damn house with a fine tooth comb.
All three of them had breathed a sigh of relief when they'd entered the house and things didn't immediately start being thrown violently at their heads. They'd stayed cautiously optimistic as they patrolled the house with the EMF meter and everything not nailed down stayed in place. Now they were just frustrated, as there hadn't been so much as a single whine from the meter.
"I don't know," Sam shrugged. "What kind of ghost or poltergeist doesn't leave EMF?"
"Maybe we missed something?" Jess suggested.
"There's no way," Dean grunted in irritation and tucked the EMF meter away. "We've checked every room in the house. Something's just not adding up."
"Then maybe it wasn't anything supernatural," Jess tried again. "Could've been someone who had keys and access to the alarm code for the house."
"Possible, but we don't usually get that lucky," Sam looked distracted as he wracked his brain for some other explanation. A bad feeling was creeping its way into his brain, telling him that they were missing something important. "I'm gonna go out and get the other EMF meter. With power lines this close we should've gotten something. Maybe this one is just dead."
"No way," Dean was immediately defensive. "I checked it the other day and it was working fine."
"That doesn't mean something couldn't have happened between now and then," Sam said diplomatically. "It'll take me two minutes to get the other one from the trunk. I'll be right back."
"So much for worrying that my first hunt was going to turn out to be complicated," Jess tried to lighten the mood as Sam left.
"Maybe," Dean was non-committal. "Sam's right, though. We don't usually get that lucky."
"Maybe I'm just good luck, then," Jess grinned, finally getting a small chuckle out of him.
"Considering the fact that you got Bobby wrapped around your finger so quickly, I'm almost willing to believe that maybe you are some sort of good luck charm," Dean laughed.
The two of them chatted amiably about nothing in particular for a minute. Finally, Dean glanced at his watch.
"Where the hell is Sam?" he asked, storming towards the door. "It doesn't take this long to get a damn EMF meter and come back. I swear to god, if he moved any slower…son of a bitch!"
Jess stood frozen in place for a moment while Dean raced over to Sam. She hadn't known exactly what she'd expected to see but it certainly wasn't her boyfriend curled up, half in the front seat, choking, with blood pouring from his mouth.
"Sammy!" Dean cradled Sam's head, as if he could determine what was wrong just by touching him.
"Dean," Sam choked out through mouthfuls of blood. "My stomach…god, feels like…my insides are…being torn apart."
"What do we do?" Jess appeared next to them, having shaken off the shock that had left her frozen. She rubbed Sam's back in soothing circles, knowing that it wasn't enough, but needing to do something. She didn't remember Sam or Dean telling her about anything that could do something like this. Of course, with as freaked out as she was it was possible that they had and she simply couldn't get her panicked brain to focus.
Dean knew he couldn't afford to hesitate, but dammit Sammy was his responsibility! It was his job to make sure his baby brother didn't get hurt and he was failing spectacularly at that right now. Another choke brought him back to the present.
"Witch!" he shouted. "Jess, look around for a hex bag. Look in the seats, under the floor mats, anywhere even remotely big enough to hide one."
Jess and Dean both sprang into action, Jess digging through the backseat while Dean ripped through the front. Both fervently hoped that Dean was right. Sam was clearly weakening and they couldn't afford to be wrong on this.
"I don't see anything," Jess frantically threw one of the floor mats aside.
"Keep looking!" Dean ordered. "It has to be here somewhere!"
He didn't bother to glance back to see if Jess was listening. Sam was still curled up with blood coming from his mouth, but he wasn't writhing around or choking anymore. Dean knew that was a bad sign. It meant that whatever the witch was doing to him was about to be over in a very permanent way.
"Come on, come on," Dean reached a hand up under the dashboard. It was the only place he hadn't looked yet.
For a heart-wrenching second he thought that was going to be a dead end too and had just enough time to feel like the biggest failure in the world. Then, the tips of his fingers brushed across something. He ripped it out from under the dash and quickly pulled his lighter out of his pocket. He lit the damned thing on fire and threw it down, praying he'd been in time.
Jess looked on, cradling Sam's head the way Dean had a minute ago. She trembled and the few seconds it took the bag to burn felt like hours.
"Come on, Sammy," Dean whispered.
A few more seconds passed. Dean and Jess looked at each other nervously. Burning the hex bag should've been the end of it. Finally, the sound that both of them had been desperate to hear.
"It's Sam."
"Oh thank god!" Jess wanted to throw herself into Sam's arms, but even though the curse was over he was still clearly in pain.
"So, witches, huh?" Dean rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "We've only been in this town for a couple of hours. How the hell did a witch even know we were here, let alone have time to get a hex bag into the car?"
"Got me," Sam took one more deep breath and sat up straighter. Jess was holding herself together pretty well, but he could still see how badly she'd been shaken by this. He pulled her over into his lap, tucking her head under his chin. "That explains why there was no EMF in the house, though."
"Gee, ya think?" Dean was covering his own emotions by being sarcastic, as usual. "Where do you want to start with this?"
"I want to start with getting Jess back to Bobby's," Sam glared at his brother while squeezing Jess protectively tighter. "We weren't going to let her help on this hunt if it was a poltergeist, and a witch is ten times worse. At least with a poltergeist you know where it's going to be. A witch could be anywhere and I don't want Jess to be the next one of us to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yeah, but we kinda need all the help we can get," Dean argued. "I don't want to put her in danger any more than you do, but we have no leads on this. An extra pair of eyes could make a huge difference."
"No!" Sam insisted. "Either we take her back to Bobby's together or I steal the Impala and take her back myself, and you know that if it turns out to be a coven you can't take it on yourself."
"You steal my car and what that witch did to you will seem like a happy memory," Dean warned. "Like it or not, we need Jess on this hunt."
"Well like it or not, she's not staying!" for someone who had been curled up in excruciating pain not five minutes ago, Sam was awfully determined. "So we either take her back to Bobby's now or…"
"Enough!" Jess pushed herself away from him and looked truly angry for the first time since all this had started. "I am not some pawn that can just be moved around and used whenever and however you want to! Dean, accept the fact that you're not a freaking drill sergeant. Sam, accept the fact that I'm committed to this and that I am not some porcelain doll who's going to shatter the first time something happens. Now can we all act like adults here and figure out how to find this witch?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other sheepishly. Jess had a pretty amazing way of cutting right through to the heart of whatever the issue was. The more time that passed, the more Dean could see why his brother had fallen in love with her.
"We should probably start by looking for strange deaths that have happened in this town over the past year or so," Sam finally broke the silence. "Normally that's something that could be done at the library, but the library's closed by now. Our best bet is for me to get on the computer and search the local newspaper websites. If I can find some sort of pattern or radius to the attacks I might be able to pinpoint where the witch is hiding out."
"You two get going on that," Dean said. "I'm gonna give Bobby a call and see if he knows about anything weird that might've happened lately."
He walked a few steps away as Sam was reaching into the backseat for his laptop. Jess had climbed around to sit behind him and rub his shoulders soothingly. Dean suspected that was just as much for Jess's sake as Sam's, though and sighed. He really had meant for her first hunt to be easy, not proof of how easy it could be for things to go wrong at the drop of a hat.
"What took you so long," Bobby was never one to answer the phone with a simple hello. "I expected to hear from you an hour ago."
"Things didn't exactly go according to plan, Bobby," Dean told him. "It's not a ghost or a poltergeist…it's a witch. Somehow it already managed to figure out that we're in town"
"Where's your brother and Jess?"
"Both safe," Dean said quickly. "Damn witch managed to slip a hex bag into the Impala and Sammy got caught up in it, but we found and burned it, so he's okay."
"Dammit, boy," Bobby snapped. "You'd better come on back here and drop Jess off. Won't take you more than an hour to get here and back. I'll see what I can dig up while you're on the road."
"Yeah, about that Bobby," Dean shifted uncomfortably. "Jess has made it pretty clear that she's done being babied. Tore me and Sam a new one over it, to tell the truth."
"Good," Bobby couldn't help but grin. That little girl was going to straighten his boys out yet. "I don't necessarily think a witch is something she should be handling for her first hunt, but there's three of you and a lot of hunters don't get the option of easing into this life. What do you know about this witch so far?"
"Honestly, nothing," Dean admitted. "Sam's searching to see if there's been any other strange deaths in the area lately, but that's all we have to go on at this point."
"Retrace your steps," Bobby reminded him. "That witch knew you were here and it knew you were hunters. You musta stopped somewhere along the way."
"We stopped at a diner just inside town," Dean shrugged. "It was pretty crowded, so I guess someone could've overheard us."
"Well, did you talk to anyone in particular?" Bobby asked.
"No. Just the…the waitress!" Dean remembered in a flash. "She probably heard every word we said! I gotta go Bobby. Thanks. Sam! Jess!"
The couple looked up, startled. As comforting as it was to talk to Bobby and ask for his input, no one had really expected him to have answers for them.
"The waitress. At the diner," Dean didn't even wait for Jess to climb into the backseat before he jumped behind the wheel.
"What about her?" Sam asked, clutching at his computer as Dean peeled away from the house.
"The only place we stopped today was the diner and the only person we talked to at the diner was the waitress," Dean said. "She's the only one who would've known we were here."
"I don't know," Jess frowned. "She didn't exactly seem like the witch type."
"The diner was pretty packed, Dean," Sam added. "Anybody walking past could've heard something. I don't get the feeling that waitress had anything to do with this."
"You've also been out of the game for four years," Dean tried not to scowl. "For as crowded and busy as that diner was, she was hovering awfully close to us the entire time. Just because she looked like a sweet old lady doesn't mean she is one."
"Just promise me we're not going to shoot her until we know for sure if she's a witch or not," Sam pushed his hair out of his eyes.
"You take all the fun out of things, Sammy," Dean conceded. "Fine. I won't shoot her as soon as we get there, but if she makes even one wrong move…"
He let the threat hang. Sam and Jess shared a sideways glance, but neither argued. The diner was as good a place to start searching as any and Dean did have a point that it had been the only place they'd stopped. Neither of them believed that the sweet, elderly woman had anything to do with witchcraft, though.
Dean whipped the Impala into the diner parking lot a minute or two later and walked purposefully towards the door. Sam and Jess raced after him, still not completely trusting that he wouldn't shoot first and ask questions later.
"Well hi, honey!" the waitress recognized them the second they walked in. "Didn't expect to see you again quite so soon."
Dean had to grit his teeth to keep from exploding. This was the bitch who had come within seconds of killing Sammy and it wasn't something he planned to let slide. All he needed was half a chance and he'd tear her apart.
"Yeah," he managed to choke out. "We, uh, we were supposed to be just passing through, but…"
"But we have a friend who lives around here and he asked us to stick around for a day or two," Sam cut in. "He's been having some problems and we said we'd help him out."
"I'm sorry to hear that," the waitress looked concerned. Ginny, Sam finally noticed, reading her name tag.
"We were actually wondering if maybe we could ask you some questions," Jess put in. "It seems like Spring Valley is a really great, everyone knows everyone else sort of town."
"Oh, that we are," Ginny smiled. "Anything I can do to help. We've slowed down quite a bit so why don't we all sit and I can try to help as much as I can."
The four of them sat in the same booth as they had taken earlier that evening. Jess pushed Sam down on the bench next to Dean so that Ginny could slide in next to her. No matter what Dean thought, she liked the woman. Although Dean's over-protectiveness of Sam (and her at a continually increasing rate) was admirable, it made him too likely to pass judgement instead of really thinking about the situation.
"What's your friend's problem?" Ginny asked once they were all seated.
"It's kind of a weird one," Sam admitted, taking over before Dean could. He was always better at getting information out of people tactfully anyway. "His brother passed away last week, and the cops think it was just a break-in gone wrong, but he's convinced it was something else."
"You're talking about Paul," Ginny said sadly. "What a shame. Such a good man."
"Our friend said that Paul isn't the only one to have died in an odd way lately," Jess said. "He said that there have been others around here dying in accidents that seem normal at first, but don't really make sense once you look into them."
For a second they didn't think Ginny was going to answer them. The way she wrung her hands told them that she probably knew something, though.
"Your friend is right," she finally sighed. "Things have been a little weird around here recently. There haven't been a lot of 'accidents', but in a town this small even a few stand out. Three so far."
"Is there anything that the victims have in common?" Dean asked grudgingly. Even he was starting to doubt that the waitress was responsible for what was going on.
"Only that they were all regulars here," Ginny looked ready to cry. "Paul, Julia, and Nick were all loners, but I could count on seeing all three of them at some point every day."
"Is there anyone in particular who might've had a grudge against them?" Dean asked. "For any reason at all. Even if it was small."
"No. Nothing I can think of, anyway," Ginny said. "All three of them tended to come across as a bit…standoff-ish sometimes, but they were all very introverted. Once you got to know them they were amazing people."
As Ginny dabbed her eyes with a napkin Jess patted her hand comfortingly and Sam and Dean shared a look. They both knew that a lot of supernatural creatures and beings could hold a grudge for reasons much less than what the waitress had just told them.
"Was there anyone in particular who might've misinterpreted something they said or did lately?" Jess asked gently.
"Like you said, we're a small town where everyone knows everyone else," Ginny said. "I suppose the only ones who no one really knows yet are the two young women who moved here, oh about two months ago now. Sisters."
"About two months ago?" Dean repeated. "So, just a couple of weeks before the attacks started?"
"Yes, I suppose so," Ginny looked at him, concerned. "I don't think those girls could've had anything to do with this, though. They're really absolute sweethearts."
"Do they come in here a lot, too?" Sam asked.
"All the time!" Ginny chirped. "Several times a week for dinner, actually. They were here tonight at the same time as you three were, come to think of it. Sitting in the next booth over from you."
Sam and Jess looked confused, not remembering the women, but both wore similar expressions. They'd been talking about hunting, and someone sitting in the next booth over wouldn't have had a hard time hearing them. Dean, on the other hand, had a thunderous look on his face. He remembered the two women and the look they'd given him, and cursed himself for not realizing it earlier.
"Do you by any chance know where these women live?" he tried to control his rage. "Just so we can ask them if maybe they know anything?"
"You said you were friends of Paul's brother?" Ginny asked nervously.
"Yeah. I'm a cop with the Sioux Falls PD, though," Dean lied. "Paul's brother told us that the cops around here had the deaths chalked up to burglaries, but he thought there was something more going on. I told him I'd look into it for him. My brother and his girlfriend just came with me to visit."
"They moved into the old Taylor place, over on Hartford Street," Ginny motioned. "It's the next street over that way. Big white Victorian house."
"Thank you very much for your time, ma'am," Dean said respectfully, pushing Sam to get up.
"Promise me you three will be careful!" Ginny raised an eyebrow at them as she clutched Jess's hand. "I may be old and look like a pushover, but I know when I'm being lied to. I'm not asking you to explain, just promise me you'll look out for one another."
"We will," Dean promised. "And…I'm sorry."
"For what, honey?" now Ginny was confused.
"No reason," Dean ducked his head, ashamed to admit that he'd been so convinced she was behind all of this. "Thank you."
Since they were only going a few blocks, the three hunters chose to leave the Impala in the diner's parking lot rather than risking having it tampered with again by the witches. They all checked to make sure their weapons were loaded, Jess having been given her own pistol when she proved how well she could handle it, and set off. Only minutes later they found themselves standing in front of the old Victorian.
"At least it fits my idea of a house that witches would live in," Jess muttered.
"Alright," Dean squared his shoulders. "Before we go, Jess, you have to be prepared for this."
"Dean…" Jess rolled her eyes.
"I get it, you can handle yourself," Dean cut her off, putting a hand up. "You need to be prepared for the fact that these women are just that. They're women. Not some evil, scary looking monster. They're just as dangerous as anything else out there, but ultimately they're pretty much human."
Jess touched the gun in her waistband nervously. She hadn't thought about that until right now. She collected herself and looked Dean in the eye.
"Those bitches," she spat the word. "Tried to kill the man I love and almost succeeded. They may not look like monsters, but looks are deceiving. They're just as bad as any other monster."
"Right on," Dean was impressed. "One last weapons check and then we go in. I'm first, Jess is behind me, and Sam you cover our asses."
Both younger hunters nodded tersely, pulling the pistols out of their waistbands and checking them again. Sam hadn't said anything since leaving the diner, and although both Jess and Dean had picked up on it, it wasn't the time or place to sit and have a discussion.
Picking a lock for the second time tonight, Dean led them cautiously into the house. They had only been able to see a light on in one of the side windows of the house, so Dean made for where he suspected the light had been coming from. As they crept closer, they saw that the light was coming from candles scattered all over the room. The two witches were sitting in the middle of the room, mixing something in a large bowl.
Dean took another step towards the room and immediately regretted it as one of the old floorboards shrieked under his weight. Both witches' heads flew up and they whirled to face the door, one of them flinging it the rest of the way open with a sweep of her hand.
"Now," she purred. "It's not very nice to lurk in the shadows."
"It's not very nice to kill people either," Dean quipped. "I don't see that stopping you. Who the hell kills someone just because their feelings are hurt, anyway?"
The second witch muttered something and Dean found himself thrown to the floor along with Sam and Jess. Seeing a witch hurt his brother (again) and the girl he thought of as a little sister made his blood boil and he climbed back to his feet. Sam was quick to follow, helping Jess up but positioning her slightly behind him.
"See now," Dean snarled. "That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. You just gonna kill everyone you don't agree with?"
"It'd be a start," the first witch, obviously the stronger of the two, said as she waved her hand again and Sam and Dean both found themselves slammed into a wall, losing their weapons in the process. Jess, having been protected by their considerable bulk, had been protected from the worst of it, but still found her gun ripped away by some invisible force.
"You see, all we ever wanted was to be accepted," the witch continued. She stalked back and forth, Sam and Dean still pinned to the wall. "Growing up, my sister and I were always rejected. Never wanted by anyone. We thought by moving to a small town, we'd manage to become part of the community. But there are critical people everywhere."
"Go cry me a river," Sam struggled against the witch's power, speaking for the first time since the diner. He'd seen Jess edging towards one of the guns and wanted to keep the attention on himself and Dean. "Life sucks. Get a helmet."
"You're not the first ones to sit at the unpopular kids' table in the cafeteria," darting a glance to the side, Dean also noticed Jess moving towards the guns. "The difference is, most of them don't become witches and kill anyone who looks at them the wrong way!"
"You think that's all there is?" the second witch exploded. She muttered another curse and the brothers were thrown to opposite sides of the room.
Dean hit a bookshelf, collapsing it, and Sam slammed into the mantle, opening a gash along his hairline and causing several of the numerous candles to tumble down. Jess took advantage of the witch's distraction and dove for the guns. She spun, intending to shoot whichever one she got in her sights first, but froze when she saw the stronger witch holding Sam's hair in one hand and a knife to his throat with the other. He was still dazed from crashing into the mantle, unable to struggle much.
"Put it down," the witch warned, pressing the knife even tighter against Sam's throat. He winced as it broke the skin and a thin line of blood trickled down.
Dean was slowly climbing to his feet as Jess cautiously lowered her gun. She wanted to take the shot and knew she was good enough not to hit Sam, but she didn't want to risk the witch being able to possibly deflect the bullet into him. She didn't know if that was possible, but she wasn't intending to find out.
"That's better," the witch kept the knife against Sam's throat. "Now, what are we going to do about the three of you? I see that the hex bag in your car didn't have quite the effect I'd been hoping for, so what else can we come up with?"
The last part of the sentence was clearly directed at her sister. The younger witch gave a smirk, appearing to consider the possibilities. Dean bridled at the mention of the hex bag, though. The memory of his brother coughing up blood still way too recent.
"Why don't you start by letting go of my brother, you evil skank," Dean suggested.
"But why?" the witch laughed, twisting her hand tighter in Sam's hair. "When clearly he's perfect leverage against you two?"
"Leverage?" Sam was now fully aware and glaring. "Lady, this is the second time you've tried to kill me and I guarantee it's not going to go any better than your first try."
"If I had a knife to my throat, I don't think I'd be so cocky," she growled. "You hunters, always thinking you're better than the rest of the world."
"Just bullies claiming to have a higher calling," the other witch agreed. "Intolerant of anyone who doesn't fit into their perfect little world."
"Maybe we're just intolerant of monsters who kill for pleasure," Dean seethed.
He wracked his brain, trying to think of anything he could do. His and Sam's guns were halfway across the room, way too far for him to consider even if the witch didn't have a knife to his brother's throat. Jess's gun was still right next to her foot, but there was no way she'd be able to pick it up and fire before the witch killed Sam. Dean growled in frustration and looked helplessly at Sammy.
Sam knew that he was going to have to find his own way out of this one. He had the beginnings of an idea, but nothing was going to work unless he could get that damn knife away from his throat. The witch was pressing it so tightly into his throat that he couldn't move, though. He looked at Jess, making sure that she was looking him dead in the eye. Then he looked at the gun next to her foot and flicked his eyes quickly over to Dean. She gave just the barest hint of a nod and Dean did the same. Good, they were all on the same page.
"Because humans never kill for pleasure?" the younger witch scoffed. "I never see you hunters going after them. And can you really tell me that you don't get pleasure from killing us 'monsters'? You're all just hypocrites! Applying one standard to us and another…"
Taking as deep of a breath as he could, and hoping it wasn't his last, Sam jerked his head backwards. He couldn't move his head forward to put any force behind it, but the movement still had the desired effect. His head slammed into the witch's stomach, temporarily knocking the wind out of her and loosening her grip on the knife.
As soon as Sam had started to move, Jess kicked out and sent the gun next to her foot spinning right into Dean's waiting hands. He fired from where he was on the floor, killing the younger witch instantly. He wanted to ignore her and go for the more experienced witch, but she was still too close to Sam. If he'd been at a better angle and everyone was standing still he would've taken the shot without pause, but there were too many variables at play and he wouldn't risk his brother like that.
Sam had grabbed the witch's knife hand and pulled it away. He spun, fully ready to stab her in the throat and end this. He hadn't counted on her recovering so quickly from having the wind knocked out of her, but even as he was turning she sent him flying back towards the wall. He slammed into it again and dropped to the ground.
Where'd the damn knife go?! Sam thought frantically.
There was another gunshot and he relaxed for a moment against the wall. When he opened his eyes again after a few seconds Dean and Jess were both looking at him with terror-filled expressions.
"What?" he asked. He started to stand, but slipped on something and crashed back down.
"No, no, no," Dean was suddenly by his side. "Stay down. Stay where you are, Sammy."
"It's Sam," he frowned and looked down to see what he'd slipped on. Probably some wax from all those damn candles everywhere. Although he didn't remember there being any red candles in here. And why was there so much of it on the floor?
"Stop moving!" Dean ordered.
Sam looked curiously at his brother. He felt oddly weak, and a little out of it, but still didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Dean poked at his side and he hissed in pain.
"OW, Dean," he complained and pushed Dean's hand away. "What the hell, dude?"
"Sammy, would you quit moving around?" Dean snapped.
Looking at his side, Sam felt oddly detached. He could see the knife handle sticking out of his abdomen, but he didn't feel it. Well, hadn't felt it until Dean had felt the need to poke at it. Now that he'd called attention to it, it was hurting like a bastard.
"Damn," he muttered tiredly. "Some hunter I am. Stabbed my own self instead of the witch. Should take that outta there."
He reached for the knife, only to have his hands slapped roughly away. He was getting ready to bitch at Dean again when he realized it hadn't been him. Jess had been the one to push his hand away from the knife.
"Let it alone," she ordered. "If you take it out now it'll bleed worse. Dean, I need scissors or a knife or something to cut the shirt away from the knife so I can see how bad it is."
"Y'know, if you wanted me to take my shirt off, you coulda just asked," Sam slurred. He didn't understand why he felt so out of it. He'd been hurt worse than this before and hadn't acted nearly this bad. "Musta been cursed. How bout that?"
"Wait, what?" Dean put a hand on Jess's arm to stop her. "What do you mean cursed?"
"The knife," Sam sighed. "Must be cursed. Don't feel right."
"The witch is dead, though," Dean pointed out. "Usually when you kill a witch, the curse goes with it."
"Guess it doesn't always happen that way," Sam was struggling to keep his eyes open. "I'm not really feeling too great."
"You did just fall on a knife," Dean reminded him.
"No, I mean I really don't feel good," Sam repeated.
"Don't feel good as in…" Dean started.
He didn't get any further than that because right at that moment Sam leaned over and vomited. Dean jumped back to avoid being puked on and moved to Sam's other side, next to Jess. He wiped sweat from Sam's forehead with his sleeve. There was sweat just pouring off of the kid.
"What are we looking at?" Dean asked Jess nervously. "Do you think this could be some sort of curse?"
"Possible, but I think it might be more mundane than that," she never looked up. "I'm not Superwoman, so I don't exactly have x-ray vision to tell exactly what's wrong, but my best guess is that the knife pierced his appendix or intestines. Possibly both. We need to get him to a hospital."
"The nearest one is Sioux Falls General," Dean was cursing himself for leaving the Impala back at the diner. "I'll get the car and be back here in less than five minutes. It's only half an hour to the hospital from here. Will he be okay that long?"
"He needs to get to a hospital as soon as we can get him there, but it doesn't look like any major arteries were hit," Jess said. "That's part of the reason I don't want to take the knife out here. The way he is, half an hour won't kill him. Just go. This could be a lot worse, but it could be a lot better, too."
"Gotta get out of here," Sam tried to stand again, but was pushed back by both Dean and Jess.
"Stay put," Dean ordered. "I'm just going to get the car."
"The gunshots," Sam said weakly. "Someone's gonna call the cops. Small town, remember? Everybody looks out for everybody else."
"Son of a bitch," Dean punched the wall. "I didn't think of that. Dammit!"
"I can walk," Sam tried to struggle to his feet. "It didn't even take us five minutes to get here. I'll make it."
"Sam…" Jess warned. "I don't think…"
"It's either this or we get arrested," Dean said unhappily. "Cops don't generally look too kindly on three armed people in a room with two people who have just been shot. Even if one of the three armed people was stabbed."
"Do we at least have bandages or something?" Jess asked. "To secure the knife so it doesn't move around."
"We can use my shirt," Dean offered. "That's the best we have until we get back to the car, though. It'll have to do."
Jess and Dean quickly tore Dean's shirt into strips and wrapped them around Sam's middle. They tried to brace the knife as well as they could, but a minute or two into their makeshift bandaging operation they started to hear sirens.
"Time to go," Dean informed them. "Come on, Sammy. You're gonna lean on me and we're gonna walk nice and slow."
Dean put Sam's arm over his shoulder and lifted him up with Jess keeping a hand on his abdomen as extra support to keep the knife from moving. They hadn't gotten half a block away when three police cars shot by them. They tried to hold Sam up as straight as they could, but none of the cops seemed to so much as glance in their direction.
They stumbled towards the diner. Sam was getting weaker with each step, but Dean cursed and stopped when he saw the knot of people standing in the parking lot. Ginny was flitting around, trying to get people to either go home or get into the diner.
"Now, we'll know what's happening in time," she was saying. "No use in standing around here to gossip and wonder."
She was still trying in vain to get people to leave when she spotted the three hunters. She gasped when she saw Sam literally hanging off of Dean and rushed over.
"What happened? You three were supposed to look after each other," she scolded.
"We were," Dean said. "That's why he's not hurt worse."
Ginny looked at him skeptically, but dashed into the diner and came back with a few towels before they reached the car. She laid two of the towels in the back seat and tucked one into Jess's hands. Dean laid Sam down as gently as he could on the towels and after one more nervous glance at his brother, he motioned for Jess to get in.
"Thank you for all of your help," Jess squeezed the older woman's hands. "You're an angel."
"Get that man of yours to the hospital," Ginny squeezed Jess's hands back before letting go. "And make sure you come back and visit me. Next time I see you three I want all of you to be on your feet and have healthy appetites."
"Yes, ma'am," Dean couldn't resist smiling.
Jess got into the back seat and knelt on the floor so she could be closer to Sam and Dean tore out of the parking lot. He kept looking at them in the rearview mirror nervously. Sam kept getting paler and he was shaking like he was cold, but buckets of sweat were still coming off of him.
"How's he doing?" not even halfway to the hospital Dean couldn't contain his nerves anymore. "He doesn't look too good."
"He'll be okay," Jess sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than him.
"He looks worse, though," Dean clenched the steering wheel tightly.
"The walk didn't do him any favors," Jess dabbed at Sam's forehead with the towel. She reached out to take his pulse. "His body is going into shock. Do you keep a blanket in here?"
"In the trunk," Dean said.
"Don't worry about it, then," Jess draped the towel in her hands around Sam as best as she could. "Drive."
"Sammy, you stay with us, you hear me?" Dean was trying to hold it together, but his eyes were wide and panicked.
Sam's eyes fluttered closed and Jess shook his arm. He managed to open them again, but they only made it to half-mast before starting to close again.
"I need you to stay awake, okay baby?" Jess brushed loose strands of Sam's hair out of his face. "Talk to me. Tell me a story."
Sam smiled weakly. This was something they'd started after they'd moved in together and Jess realized just how much he loved to read. She'd ask him to tell a story and they'd make one up together, always joking that one day they'd write them down and turn them into a book of short stories. She'd always been amazed at Sam's ability to come up with crazy villains for their stories. Now that she understood why, it was less appealing but it was still something comfortable and familiar between them.
"How about a story about a ghost," Sam suggested.
"A friendly one, like Casper," Jess smiled. She'd had quite enough evil for one day, thank you very much.
"Okay, a friendly one," Sam managed a small smile back up to her. "And it lives in…"
"A junkyard," Jess supplied. "Like Bobby's."
"A junkyard, then," Sam agreed. "It only likes old cars, though. From around the time that it was alive. It…it…"
He trailed off as his eyes closed again. Dean's eyes flew back to the rearview mirror and Jess shook Sam's shoulder.
"Honey, you have to try to stay awake for me," she shook harder. "Sam…Sam!"
"Sammy!" Dean's eyes were going rapidly from the mirror to the road. "Sam!"
"M'not feeling so good," Sam muttered. "I…I can't…I…"
"Sam!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Additional Note: Okay, so this chapter wound up being even longer than the last one. *Sigh*. It's really hard to stop once you get going on a roll. I'm sure it's blatantly obvious that I know nothing about the medical profession, so any mistakes I made with the stab wound are completely due to my own ignorance. I also want to apologize for taking a little longer to get this chapter out. I suffer from migraines and I had two or three days where I absolutely could not handle looking at a computer screen (or a TV screen, or my phone, or pretty much anything that wasn't a dark, quiet room). All's well and back on track, though. I'm hoping to have Chapter 4 out within the next few days. I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter or if there are any suggestions or requests for upcoming chapters/additional stories. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!