CHAPTER 2.
"I'm telling you, this kid is nuts!" Dean said as they came out of Scott Wellington's house.
"Why?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrow at Dean reproachfully.
"Sammy, please, don't tell me you're gonna buy that shit? I mean, come on! So that brat went hiking with his old man, they found a baby crying in the middle of nowhere, the father picked it up, the baby turned into an old man and then into a stone, and it crashed the dad under its weight? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Yeah, because all the things we have faced so far did?" Sam scoffed.
"That's different. I've never heard of anything like that. And Dad never mentioned this."
"And just because you've never heard or seen anything like that means it can't exist?"
Dean's eyes widened in a way that meant 'Hell yeah!'
"You're so narrow-minded, man," Sam sighed as he took off his jacket and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was nearly two in the afternoon and the sun was still pretty high in the sky, warming his whole body. "He can't have made up such a story! And you know what? It actually reminds me of something… Remember Sinbad the sailor?"
"You bet! That movie's hilarious! I mean, the special effects are so crap!"
"Which is not very surprising for a 1947 movie. Anyway, before being a movie, Sinbad the Sailor is a several centuries old Persian legend," Sam smirked.
"Yeah, I knew it," Dean said, smiling, "I was just testing you."
"Sure… " Sam whispered, unconvinced. "Well, that thing about an old man crashing people under his weight, that reminds me of the Old Man of the Sea Sinbad encountered on his fifth voyage. Tricks travelers into letting him ride on their shoulders to cross a stream, but then, doesn't release his grip, forcing his victim to take him wherever he wants until they die of exhaustion and bad treatment."
"And how did Sinbad get rid of him?"
"Made him drunk with wine."
"Good. So, all we have to do is buy some wine, find that creepy baby and get it drunk. Sounds easy to me."
"Dean!"
"What?"
Sam rolled his eyes.
"I know that feeding a baby a bottle of beer wouldn't be an issue for you, but we just can't go rush headlong, we need to figure out what it is exactly, and most of all, how to kill the damned thing."
"Wait a minute… I see you coming! Don't tell me you wanna lock yourself in a library?"
"Yes, I do!" Sam protested.
"Man, it's freaking hot today! I don't wanna die of suffocation!"
"Fine, I'll go on my own then. I guess I'm quite used doing all the research work alone anyway," Sam said bitterly. "I'm gonna ask someone the way to the library."
"Excuse me," he shouted at a woman passing by.
She turned around and smiled.
"Yes?" asked the pretty brunette in a pale green tailor.
"Could you tell me where the library is, by any chance?"
"Sure, it's only a five minute walk from here. We can go together if you want, it's on my way. I actually work there."
"Hey, looks like it's our lucky day!" Dean exclaimed. "It's so kind of you to help us, err…"
"Milla."
"Milla… What a beautiful name! Mul-ti-pass!"
"I'm sorry?" Milla frowned inquisitively.
"Err, you know, that's what Milla Jovovich keeps on saying in The Fifth Element!" Dean explained.
"Oh…" She looked confused and started walking ahead of the brothers.
Sam glared at Dean.
"What?" Dean asked in an innocent tone.
"Changed your mind?" Sam muttered sarcastically.
"You're kidding me? You know I've always been a bookworm!" Dean grinned before he caught up with Milla.
Sam shook his head in exasperation and followed them. As Dean was flirting with Milla, Sam felt something creeping around in the pit of his stomach. Something he knew too well. Something he would feel whenever Dean was trying to get a woman in bed, or worse, when he succeeded. Something he wasn't sure how to deal with. Something he had never told Dean about.
When they walked into Pinedale library, Dean still was nowhere near getting Milla's number, and Sam thanked Willis Carrier for having invented modern air-conditioning. His wet shirt was clinging to his skin and he hated that sweaty feeling.
"Alright, that's where I leave you boys," Milla announced. "I work as a library accountant upstairs, but my workmate Maggie, here, will be delighted to help. Have fun!"
The boys followed Milla's eyes and noticed Maggie, a fifty-something overweight woman with big glasses, smiling and waving at them behind her desk.
"She's all yours!" Dean whispered to Sam as they were waving back at Maggie and Sam chuckled, pretty pleased not to have to play gooseberry again.
Sam had been leafing through mythology books for so long his eyes stung when he exclaimed: "Got it!"
Dean woke with a start and looked up, sleepy eyes and dried drool in the corner of his mouth.
"Konaki Jiji!" said Sam enthusiastically.
"Con a what? Dude, what are you on about?" Dean asked, yawning.
"Konaki-Jiji. It's a Japanese myth," Sam explains."Listen… The Konaki-jiji is often found crying in remote mountain recesses where no babies ought to be found. When a kind-hearted traveller picks this illusory child up to comfort it, the konaki-jiji reverts to its true form, turns to stone, and starts to grow. In some tales, they grow until the poor soul is crushed to death. In others, they ultimately vanish to watch their stunned victim from afar," Sam read aloud and turned the book so that his brother could see the picture of a baby with the face of a moustached old man for himself. (1)
"That's gross!" Dean grimaced. "Anyway, how do you kill this stuff?"
"Good question... It's hard to tell because some legends say it's a demon and I'm not sure what would kill it, others say it's the spirit of a baby who has been left to die, which means we'll just have to find its remains and burn them..."
"We'll just have to?" Dean repeated, "You happen to know how vast the Wind River Range is, don't you? Might as well look for a needle in a haystack! We don't even know for sure it's a ghost and not a demon!" Dean yelled.
Sam sighed.
"You know, some people worked hard while you were drooling on the table! I, for example, or Maggie, who's actually been real useful when she told me about that nineteen-year-old soldier from Pinedale who had an affair with a Japanese girl during World War II. It is said that the woman got killed and the guy came back to the States in 1944 with their three-month old baby. Not knowing what to do with him, too afraid of what his family would think, he abandoned the child deep in the forest and then killed himself. Half-Japanese baby... Japanese myth... And, strangely enough, the disappearances started in 1944, and, like I told you this morning, they've increased since they restored an old hiking trail two years ago. So," Sam paused, smiling triumphantly as Dean looked pretty impressed, "we're rather looking for a knitting needle, aren't we?"
Dean nodded thoughtfully.
"Wow, did I sleep that long?"
Sam couldn't help laughing fondly. Dean can be unbearably cute even despite himself.
As it was already twenty past five, they agreed to go and find a hostel, and try that hiking trail the following day.
"Hey, dude?" Dean asked once they had gone to bed.
"Mmm..." Sam mumbled in the darkness. He had hardly slept those last days and was exhausted.
"Did you get Maggie's number?"
A pillow at his face and a chuckle were the only reply he got, and both brothers fell asleep with a smile on their face...
Thanks for reading!
(1) That description of Konaki-Jiji is a mix of descriptions I found on different websites. All credits to them!