sorry about the wait!! thank you all so much for the great reviews, they mean the world to me. i hope everyone enjoys this new chapter, lots more mystery...
NOT ALL AS IT SEEMS
Chapter 7
Dean sat at the worn motel room table, the laptop open in front of him. He could hear Kerri's deep breaths, though he knew she wasn't sleeping. He believed her, well, he wanted to believe her, but all the evidence was stating otherwise. He just didn't understand how all the destruction could vanish, unless of course, it never happened in the first place. But Kerri wasn't the kind of person to make things up, and she was normally very sane. No, there had to be another explanations, something he had missed.
'There is.' He told himself, sighing as his gaze shifted to his friend. He hadn't known about the painting's lasting effect, hell, he hadn't even asked. He just assumed that everything was fine, that everything was back to normal, that his mistake hadn't been permanent. But now, well now he wasn't so sure. She looked tired and weak, two things he would never have associated with Kerri. She was always so full of energy, so full of life, of adventure.
It was like someone had flipped a switch; the girl he had know since he was six, the girl who had saved him, was no longer the girl that laid before him. She wasn't his Kerri any more, wasn't the girl he longed to see, longed to call, if only to hear her breathing. The girl he knew now was nothing but a shadow of what she had been, and that was more heartbreaking then Dean had ever imagined possible.
He knew that things changed, knew life grew more and more difficult and complicated with each passing year. But somehow, through it all, he believed that Kerri should have remained the same. She had been a constant for him, the memory of her bringing him through some of the darkest times of his life. When Sam had left, it was her memory that helped Dean through, helped him to cope, the push forward. And after everything with the Yellow Eyed Demon, she had become irreplaceable. But now, after finally seeing her again for the first time in twelve years, Dean understood that nothing lasts forever.
"You alright?" Dean asked, turning towards her when he heard her sigh. He didn't know what to do or say to make this better, didn't know how to fix it. Not only was Kerri seeing things that weren't there, but she was still recovering from both a serious gunshot and the after effects of a life sucking painting. 'Bang up job, Winchester.' Dean thought to himself, his green eyes never leaving Kerri. For someone he had sworn to keep safe, he was really screwing up.
"I'm fine." Kerri mumbled, her voice barely audible even in the heavy silence of the room.
"You sure?"
"Wait, let me double check." She replied sarcastically, never once turning to look at him.
Her eyes were still glued on the sleeping form of Jake, the little boy laying peacefully in the bed beside her, blissfully unaware of the problems around him. Dean sighed, taking one more long look at Kerri before turning back to the computer. He needed to find answers, needed to know what was going on, and how to fix it. But, at that moment, Dean wasn't even sure he knew what they were hunting.
From every angle, it looked like they were after a changeling, a Korrigan. But, well, it just seemed like there was something different about it, something off. Like what the hell had actually gone down in Kerri's house. Dean knew that building, knew that it was impossible for anything to get inside. Hell, the watcher couldn't even get in and that was saying something. So how, on a sunny day, had a shape-shifting Korrigan managed to get inside, wreak havoc, and then not leave any trace of its existence?
They all needed to sit down and go through the information they had, piece by piece. The problem was that, if it was indeed a Korrigan, they had a little over two days to stop it, and Dean could feel the minutes slipping away. They had to figure out what was going on, had to stop it, because there was no way in hell he was going to let an innocent child suffer. They had a chance to set a young life right, and Dean wasn't about to let that chance go.
The friends sat there, lost in the heavy silence that had fallen around them like a blanket, pulling them further and further apart, even though the room was a grand total of twenty square feet. There was a distance there that was even greater then years, and it was a distance Dean wasn't sure they could overcome. Too much had happened, too much had come between them, and it was childish to think that a few short months would be enough to erase the last twelve years of their lives.
But there was something else bouncing around in Dean's mind, another troubling thought that he just couldn't shake. How had Jake gotten away from a full grown Korrigan? It was something the elder Winchester just couldn't wrap his head around. How did a twenty-two month old kid get away from a creature that had had such an effect on Kerri? Dean had known Kerri for most of his life, had seen her go up against spirits and demons alike. She wasn't the kind of person that was easily scared. No, she was the kind of person that would probably try to pick a fight with whatever was after her. So, the fact that the Korrigan, or whatever she had seen, had her so unnerved brought up a lot more questions then answers.
A knock brought Dean back to the present, the older hunter taking one more look at Kerri before moving to the door. "Please tell me you found something?" Dean asked, letting Sam into the darkened room.
"Still nothing." Sam began, dropping a few bags onto the end of Kerri's bed. "I went all through the house, nothing."
"I know what I saw." Kerri pipped up, her back still to the brothers.
"Hey." Sam began, sitting on the bed and resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Kerri, you ok?"
Dean could see the deep concern in his brother's eyes, could see the worry etched on his face. Sam and Kerri had been very close when they were little, and Dean knew that forgetting her had devastated his brother. Sam was still trying to get over the fact that a single incident had caused him to erase nearly all of his childhood; Valley and the Harrisons lost in a darkness he didn't even know was there. But Dean had always known; his mind never letting him forget.
It still stood as the single most terrifying event of his life, the image of his little brother being pulled beneath the ground burned into his brain, replaying over and over again as though it had just happened. It had been the beginning of the end, the life he'd known vanishing in the blink of an eye, leaving behind nothing but a broken existence.
"Yeah, Sam." Kerri mumbled, finally looking away from Jake. "Just a headache."
"You sure, you don't look so good."
"Yeah well, maybe it's the crazy in me that's making me look bad."
"Ker, I didn't say we didn't believe you." Dean began, slamming the laptop closed, earning a stern glance from Sam.
"Well, it's not like it's all that hard not to. I mean, there was something breaking down doors in my house. What'd it do, clean up before it left?"
"You know, Ker." Dean began, stalking across the room. "Maybe that's it. Did you happen to notice a carpenter's belt on it while you were running for your life."
"Oh ha ha ha, you're so funny. I know what I saw."
"Well, obviously not, since there wasn't anything there."
"Guys." Sam tried to break in, but Dean and Kerri were on a roll.
"You know what, Dean, thirty seconds ago, you said I wasn't crazy."
"Yeah well, I lied."
"Nice comeback."
"I was trying to keep it simple for loony toons."
"Oh really, how nice of you."
"Yo." Sam yelled, Dean and Kerri both stilling. "What the hell's wrong with you two?"
"Why don't you ask your brother."
"Because I'm asking both of you."
Dean opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. In all honesty, he had no idea why he was currently in a shouting match with Kerri. Yeah they had fought before, many times actually, but this was something different. He didn't know exactly why he was upset with Kerri, he just knew that he was. He wanted to tell himself that it was because she had hidden the effects of the painting from him, or that something had happened in the house that she wasn't telling him. Yes, he was on edge, and Kerri's attitude was definitely not helping matters, but he just couldn't explain why he was in a verbal sparring match with her. And, by the look in Kerri's eyes, she had no idea either.
"Well?" Sam asked, obviously wanting an explanation for their outburst.
"I don't really know." Kerri spoke first, her blue eyes shifting between the brothers. "I guess I'm just a little stressed."
"Come on, Kerri, that's weak."
"It's the truth."
"Dean?"
"Same here."
"So you two just decided to start shouting at each other for no reason?" Sam asked, exasperated.
Dean just shrugged, moving to the far bed when Jake began to stir. That was basically it; he and Kerri had just started fighting, and he really had no good reason why. "What'd you get from the attic?"
Sam just huffed, obviously not liking the change in conversations, but accepting it none the less. "I ransacked that attic. You know your dad never threw anything out."
"Yeah. Most hunters are pack rats." Kerri answered, pushing herself up against the headboard. "What'd you get."
"A playpen and a few blankets. I hit up a store on the way here, too. Got some clothes and diapers."
"So baby's fine. What'd you get for the rest of us?" Dean asked, rubbing Jake's back as the little boy drifted back to sleep.
"Beer and burgers are in the car."
"You're my hero, Sammy."
"Yeah, well, I bought everything, you unload it."
"You bought it?"
"Yes."
"Really."
"I did the physical act of buying, Bruce Wane paid for it."
"Bruce Wane?"
"Ask Dean."
"Someone actually issued you guys a card with that name on it?"
"You'd be surprised, Kerri." Dean smirked, heading out the door.
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"So." Sam began a few minutes later, opening his laptop and inspecting it for damage. "You sure you're alright?"
"Yes, Sam. I'm fine." Kerri sighed.
"And the shouting match?" Sam asked, clicking on his laptop. There was something they'd missed, he was sure of it, he just had to figure out what.
"I was telling the truth before, I really have no idea what that was about. I guess we're just both a little on edge."
"Yeah, alright."
"So, you really didn't see anything at the house?"
"Nothing." Sam spoke softly, the disappointment painfully evident in Kerri's eyes. "I'm sorry, Kerri."
"Maybe I am going nuts."
"No." Sam spoke adamantly, turning towards Kerri. "There has to be something we missed."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, maybe the Korrigan can project itself. Like the Watcher did. It didn't actually get into the house, but it could still effect us."
"So you think it put some weirdo idea in my head?"
"Maybe."
"So I still imagined it."
"No, you didn't imagine it. You were tricked into seeing it."
"I've really gotta figure out how ideas are getting into my house."
"You're telling me. Kerri?"
"Yeah, Sam?"
"I know my brother. Something else is eating away at him. Something other then the Korrigan."
"You're right."
"What's going on?"
"The painting. I guess it was a little more permanent then we though." Kerri stated, offering a half-hearted smile.
"Oh my god, Kerri." Sam began, his world beginning to spin. He couldn't believe that he had missed it, that he had let something so glaringly obvious escape him. "What are we gonna do?"
"I don't think there's anything we can do."
"Bull." Dean stated, standing in the doorway. "We'll fix it."
Sam had to believe that Dean was right, had to believe that there was a way out of this mess. He was finally getting Kerri back, finally finding his lost childhood, and he wasn't about it let it go. He'd been forced to lose to much, been forced to watch too much of his life vanish into darkness. No, it had to stop, and now.
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Candice Robinson stood in the doorway of her son's room, watching as the little boy slept, her heart light. He was such a cute little thing, such a good little boy. Yes, he'd been a little more trouble since they'd returned from camping, but he was also nearing two, and little boys and terrible twos were something she was dreading. But well, how could her perfect little man ever become that much trouble?
She smiled, pulling the door closed. The camping trip had been good for another reason, too. She and her husband hadn't fought a single day since their return. It was wonderful, their relationship better then it had been in years. It was weird, right around the time Jake turned six months old, she and her husband just started fighting with each other. She couldn't figure out why, they just pushed each other's buttons more and more often. But now, ever since they'd come back from their trip, they hadn't fought at all, and she just prayed that it would stay that way. Because, for the first time since her child was a little baby, her life seemed to be working out.