Sorry this took so long. I'm working on a very large real world writing project (but it's boring and I needed a break).
Thanks again to all of you who left reviews. They are always appreciated.
Disclaimer: don't own, just playing , yada yada
Part 6
Here but now they're gone
"We have to go back."
Vic slammed on the brakes and guided the Gremlin to a screeching, shaky halt as Sam flung out his arm to brace himself against the dashboard.
"What?!" Vic stared at Sam, her eyes widening in disbelief. "You get chased by the freaking Lost Smoke Monster on crack, and you want to go back there? Are you nuts?!"
"Look, I have to find out what happened, and I need to find my brother. I need…" I need to know why he went there in the first place. "We need to get to the library."
"Wait, what?" Sam took in Vic's confused and frightened expression and realized the only way to get her cooperation was to push aside his own fears and stay calm.
"While I was in town doing interviews, he went to the library to see if he could find anything in the archives. I need to know what he found so I can get an idea on what we're dealing with. If I can figure that out, I might…I should be able to find out what happened to him." I hope…
"But why—?"
"Just trust me. Please." Vic stared at him for a moment before briefly shaking her head.
"I must be out of my freaking mind. Alright, I'll take you to the library, but I'm NOT going by that place again. I'm taking the back way into town."
"That's fine, but please: just get us there as fast as you can." Time's running out for Dean if it hasn't already. Oh God, I can't… "Just hurry." After shooting one more wide-eyed glare at Sam, Vic pulled the car back onto the road. They rode in silence for several minutes before she slowed the car in preparation for a turn and finally asked what she had been wondering since they left the field.
"What was that thing?" She quickly glanced at Sam, who was staring out the windshield, a pinched and worried expression on his face.
"I'm not sure. It wasn't a demon," Sam said softly, almost to himself
"Oh, that makes me feel SO much better!" Vic growled as she guided the car onto a narrow dirt road. Sam shot her a dirty look. "Uh, how do you know?"
"Holy water didn't stop it. The exorcism didn't faze it."
"Uh, seriously? Holy water? Exorcisms?" Sam merely nodded, his mind on his missing brother.
"You were serious, before, about the 'most people don't believe' stuff? The whole 'the truth is out there', is really out there?" Sam huffed in annoyance.
"You saw for yourself."
"Yeah, but…damn." She slowed the car again and turned onto a gravel road. After making the turn, she focused her attention back on Sam.
"So, if it wasn't a demon, then…?"
"A spirit, maybe. I don't know. It wasn't like anything I've seen before." Why did you go after it alone, Dean? Damn it…
"Oh."
She finished the drive in silence.
When they arrived at the library, Sam flung open the door of the Gremlin before Vic had even put it in park and dashed up the front steps. As he reached the entrance, the door swung open and a middle aged woman stepped through. She gasped in surprise when she almost ran into him.
"I'm sorry, sir but the library is closed for the day." Sam snatched his wallet out of his coat pocket and flipped it open. "FBI." The woman took a step back and stared up at him with a nervous expression.
"I…I see. How c-can I help you?"
"I'm looking for a man who might have come in earlier today. About 6'1", short brown hair, green eyes. He would have wanted to look at historical records." The woman's eyes lit up.
"Oh, him. The reporter." Her voiced faltered a little when she caught Sam's tense look. "Yes he was here, a few hours ago, but he didn't look at any of our materials. Did he--?"
"Did he talk to anyone while he was here?"
"Uh, just Mr. Bransen, our local historian." Sam heard a gasp behind him and glanced back to see that Vic had ascended the steps as well.
"Victoria?" Sam turned back to the woman and saw that she was now staring at Vic with a startled expression on her face. "What's going on? Why are you--?"
"Do you know what they talked about?" broke in Sam, his voice tinged with impatience and anger. The woman looked up at him, confusion in her eyes.
"I…I don't really know. That man, the reporter, he said he wanted information on local legends, and I told him that Jed…Mr. Bransen was our best resource. I introduced them and left them alone. They didn't talk for very long, though, come to think of it…"
"Where can I find this Jed Bransen?" The woman's gaze shift between Vic and Sam as she hesitated.
"I…don't think I should tell you…" Vic placed a hand on Sam's arm before he could give a response.
"It's OK, Edith. The man he's looking for is his brother. He's missing and…Agent Walsh is worried." She glanced up at Sam. "I'll help him find, uh, Mr. Bransen. Sorry to disturb you, Edith."
"That's quite all right, Victoria. I hope you find him, Agent Walsh." Vic turned and headed back down the steps.
"Let's go, Agent Walsh." Sam glared at her retreating back before turning back to Edith with as calm of an expression as he could muster.
"Thank you for your time, ma'am," he ground out before turning to follow Vic, leaving the dazed Edith behind.
When they had both climbed into the car, Vic turned to Sam.
"I'll take you to his house, but here's the thing: you go in there all 'great vengeance and furious anger' and you won't get a damn thing out of him. Trust me, OK? I want to help, but you…you need to calm down. Look, I know how you must feel."
"Do you?" Vic narrowed her eyes and glared at Sam.
"Yeah, I do. Sibling gone missing? Been there, done that." Sam slumped in his seat.
God, I'm making this worse. It'll be my fault if…
"OK. I'm sorry, I just…I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted. Fasten your seatbelt," she said as she backed out of the parking space and turned the car towards the western edge of town.
Jed Bransen's house was decidedly eccentric. The split log structure was nestled in a stand of pine trees, with various twisted metal pieces of what Sam assumed were modern sculpture scattered throughout the property. A large Amish hex sign adorned the front door and several more "sculptures" hung between the posts of the front porch.
Vic parked her car in the gravel driveway next to a large wrought iron post adorned with what appeared to be a dinner bell. As she exited the car, she grabbed the rope attached to the bell's clapper and gave it a swing so that it clanged loudly against the inside of the bell.
"What was that for?"
"Fair warning. He likes to know when someone pulls in so he can meet them at the door. One of his quirks."
When they reached the front door it swung open to reveal a tall, thin, elderly man with snow-white hair and faded blue eyes. He regarded Sam for a minute with an unreadable expression of his face before turning his gaze to Vic. He raised one eyebrow in surprise as he stared at her, as if waiting for an explanation. She stepped forward and cleared her throat.
"Grandpa, we need your help."
Without comment, Bransen turned and motioned for them to follow. Sam shot Vic a confused look before stepping into the house where they were led to a small study. After lowering himself onto the proffered sofa, Sam cleared his throat as he tried to remain calm.
"Mr. Bransen, I--."
"If I'm not mistaken, your name is Sam Winchester. You're a hunter, like your brother Dean. I met him earlier." Sam stared at the old man in shock.
"How--?"
"You can get the story from Dean. Now, what brings you here? I already told Dean what I know." Sam felt his control slipping.
"My brother is missing, Mr. Bransen. I need to know what you told him. I need to know why you sent him out to the Dillon Farm."
"I didn't send him, boy. He chose to go on his own. I told him he wouldn't find anything out there. I never did."
"You checked?" interrupted Vic, the shock evident in her voice. "Why did you go out there? Why didn't you tell me--?"
"Because there was nothing to tell, Vic. Besides, you know your mother's rule--."
"I don't give a damn about her rules anymore!"
"Well I do," he said, silencing her outburst. He turned to Sam. "Tell me what happened."
"We went out to the field. The lady at the motel said she had seen him head over there, but I couldn't find him. I did find some of his things, and…" Sam quickly swallowed the lump rising in his throat. "Signs of a struggle. Then something came after me."
"Something. You saw it? You saw what took--?"
"I don't know what it was. Some sort of spirit, I think. I scared it off with salt. Holy water didn't work."
"So it's true. This is something evil out there…"
"Why didn't you warn my brother?" growled Sam, springing to his feet. "You just--."
"I did warn him. He went anyway. He thought it was the best lead, well, the only lead he had. I had no idea what was out there."
"But you thought it was something, not someone that was doing this?" Vic jumped in when she saw Sam hesitate. "Why didn't you say something?" Bransen sighed and responded in a low voice.
"Who would have believed me? Yes, I suspected. I had no proof. No hunter that came through could find anything, so I convinced myself I was wrong."
"Hunter? Is that what--?"
"Enough!" barked Sam. "This isn't helping anything."
"You yelling at everyone isn't helping either," she shot back.
"Stop it, all right, both of you. Sam, do you have any idea why this thing would be taking these kids?"
"Not yet."
"And you're not positive what it is? So you have no idea how to get rid of it."
"Not yet," he growled. "But I have an idea of how to track it down."
"Because it will strike tonight?"
"How did you…never mind. Yes, and now I have a good idea of the type of victim it wants."
"Yes, eight year old girls."
"Not all the time though, right?" Vic glanced back and forth between the two men. "I mean, my sister was twelve, and…Oh, God." She abruptly dropped into the chair, her face white. "It didn't want Elizabeth, did it? She was in my room, and…"
"And it went to your room." Bransen sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, trying to calm his shaking granddaughter. Sam stared at her sympathetically, understanding what she must be experiencing. Suddenly an idea occurred to him.
"Wait a minute. The symbol…" Sam dug his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open to reveal the picture. "Maybe it's not left behind. Maybe it calls it." Bransen's eyes widened in surprise.
"Let me see that." Sam handed him the phone.
"I was looking it up online, trying to figure out what sort of creature would leave it behind…"
"But now you think whatever it is, it's being controlled." He looked at the picture. "I think you might be right. I've done quite a bit of research on so called 'non-western' religions. Call it a hobby. This is hoodoo."
"Hoodoo? Yes! I have seen it before. Damn it. It's a summoning sigil, isn't it?"
"The big question is," said Vic, raising her head from her hands, "whose window is it on for tonight?"
"You know, this is weird." The puzzled tone, as well as Kris' statement, roused Dean from his daze.
Understatement.
"What's weird?" Lees asked.
"Him being here. I mean, we've never had a grown-up here before. Why did he show up now?"
"I saw a grown-up here before," said Lees. This caught Dean's attention.
"You did? Do you remember who it was?" he asked.
"No. I only saw him once, though. Some creepy old guy in a suit."
Creepy old…oh crap. "Was he pale, with a really wrinkled face?"
"Yes! That's him. How did you know? Have you seen him, too?"
"Hey! I've seen him. Now I remember," said Krista.
"Me, too!" chirped Bethany. "Right when I got here. I mentioned it to Emmy, but she said not to worry about it. It was probably just a dream I had before I woke up. Did you see him here, too Dean?"
"No. Not here…what did he do when you saw him?" He waited in the ensuing silence, wondering if they would or could answer.
"Well, I remember he was walking towards me, and then it was like he hit a divisible wall," murmured Kris.
"Invisible wall, dork. And yeah, I saw the same thing," said Lees. "Weird. How about you, Bethany?"
"Same thing. Do you think he's the one who brought us all here, Dean?"
If it did… Maybe someone is controlling it. Like Sue Ann. But why these kids?
"No, not here. It was a long time ago. Long story."
"So tell us. It's not like we're going anywhere for awhile. We have to wait for Emmy."
I hope that's not like waiting for Godot…Huh, Sam would never let me hear the end of it if… Suddenly the memory of how he wound up in the dark in the first place hit him and he felt a twist of guilt for not listening, for being careless, and for leaving his brother too soon.
I'm sorry, Sammy…
"Oh Lees, leave him alone. He probably doesn't feel like it right now," said Bethany. "But… you know Dean, it might give you something to think about besides you hurting."
Thank you, Dr. Phil.
"No, really, it's a long story, and…not one you all should really hear."
"Why, does it have sex in it?" asked Lees, sounding alert with curiosity.
"LEES!" screeched Kris. Bethany startled giggling. Dean himself was tempted to snort in amusement, but bit his lip and tried to remain as still as possible.
"What? My cousin always said that if a grown up said a story wasn't for kids, it had sex in it."
"Your cousin was a pervert," declared Kris.
"What's a pervert?"
This time Dean did laugh. He couldn't help it. It didn't hurt quite so bad this time, and he was surprised to discover that he actually grown a bit fond of these kids. I wish I could help them. Maybe…
"OK. I'll tell you the story." An edited version. "Give me a minute." He slowly tried to push himself into a sitting position but he still couldn't make it. Suddenly he felt three sets of hands on his arms, pushing and pulling in an effort to help. Finally he was able to sit up, his back slumped against a wall of some sort, shaking from the exertion.
What the hell did that thing do to me?
"You OK?" Bethany's voice was now directly to his right.
"I'll…never mind. I'm good." He felt her settle against his arm. It was strangely comforting.
Now let me see if I can figure out how to get these kids to move on. It's the least I can do before…
He winced. He really didn't want the girls to see him taken. He had to get them out of here, for good.
Dean Winchester: Ghost Whisperer. Go figure…
She was waiting for a monster.
She had never seen it, this was true, but she had seen what it left behind, and she knew where it would be. Where it would come when it was ready: The Bad Place.
It was a place of pain, and fear, and death. It had been used for these many times, the evidence lay around her, and now she was going to stop it.
Somehow.
If she could just catch a glimpse of the monster, if she could just see what it was, know what it was, then she could stop it.
Come Hell or high water, she would stop it.
She had just missed it, before. She had been so close, but she was too late. She was too late, and another joined them because of it.
No more, she thought. No more.
She had protected the others so they would not know the pain or fear, but that was not enough. It had to stop.
She was waiting for the monster. She was sure it's time was almost near. She had kept track as best she could. It would be here, and she was ready to fight it.
Until she heard someone call her name.
"Emmy!"
She knew the voice, and she knew she had to leave. She wanted to wait for the monster, but she couldn't now. She was needed.
She left The Bad Place, easily climbing down and away until she reached a safer place. Here she waited for the one who needed her. She saw the one who needed her appear out of the semi-darkness of her world. With one last look of regret, she focused her attention on the one who had arrived.
"What's wrong, Mia?" she asked the girl who stood before her. The girl looked up at her with wide, frightened eyes.
"I think we have a problem."
A/N: Title is from (of course) Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
I've never actually seen an episode of Lost, but the description seems to fit.