Meeting the Winchesters Ch. 6
Previously: John asked Bobby about when the training to become a hunter would begin?
Sitting in Bobby's living room a couple of hours later as he watched the boys playing contentedly on the floor, John couldn't help but wonder what the training to become a hunter would encompass. He already knew how to shoot from his time in the Marines, and he was a pretty good tracker if he did say so himself. Surely he didn't have too much to learn, maybe a spell or two to exorcise those sons of bitches back to Hell where they belonged?
"Daddy, is something wrong?" Dean asked as he noticed the contemplative look on his father's face, while keeping Sammy occupied with the building blocks at the same time.
"No Champ, I was just thinking about grown-up things," John answered with a hesitant smile. He didn't want to divulge anymore than he had to about the hunting life and what really lay out there in the dark. Dean was still just a child, and he wanted him to hold onto his innocence as long as possible. Sure, he knew that Dean had already seen more than any child his age should, but still, he would keep him innocent about demons as long as possible. He knew the day would come that he would have to reveal everything to his eldest about how his mother had died, but hopefully that would be a few years away yet.
"'Kay Daddy," Dean whispered, warily eyeing Bobby as he approached from the kitchen area, which prompted him to scoot closer to his sibling. He was still unsure of the gruff hunter and wanted to shield Sammy should the man try to do something.
Suppressing a sigh, Bobby smiled at Dean as he gave him and Sammy a wide berth as he walked into the sitting room. He couldn't blame Dean for being wary of people after everything that the little guy had been through. He had every right to think that everyone and anyone could be out to hurt his family. He just hoped with time that the kid might come to like him since the boys were kind of growing on him, though he was hesitant to even admit it to himself. He never wanted to get close to anyone again. It hurt too much to lose people once you let them into your heart. No, he would do his best to keep them at arm's length. It would be better that way.
"So, you ready to start your training?" Bobby inquired as he glanced at the greenhorn sitting on his couch.
"Yes Sir, I am," John answered with conviction as he pushed himself to a standing position. "Dean, watch out for Sammy. Make sure he doesn't get into Mr. Bobby's things or make a mess while Bobby and I go over some things."
"Okay Daddy," Dean replied as he focused his attention on the tower of blocks that he was trying to build, but wasn't getting very far with, since Sammy kept snatching the blocks away.
'No chance of that happening," Bobby thought to himself as he looked at John incredulously. Dean was way too young to maintain control of his younger sibling. He was sure he would find a mess, or even pages torn from the tomes he had lying around once they completed this first round of training.
"So, where do we start?" John inquired, glancing once more at his boys before following Bobby out of the room and out of the house.
"Where day ya think ya idgit? If your so damned determined to become a hunter, first thing ya gotta learn is how to protect yourself and those boys in there when the monsters and demons come a callin'" Bobby answered, with a nod of his head towards the house where Dean and Sam were playing.
"For your information, I think I am pretty well versed in protecting my boys. I was in the Marines and had extensive training with firearms and hand-to-hand combat," John informed the gruff hunter.
"Okay, if you are so damned smart, ya Jarhead; tell me...how do you keep a demon from smoking into your motel room and night to steal your kids? And while we are on the subject of demons, how do you know when they are even near since they take on human meat suits at will? What are the signs you need to look for? Even more important...how do you trap the damn things until you can exorcise their demonic asses back to Hell?
"Okay, Okay, I get it," John stated in defeat, knowing that he had no solid answers to give. "Guess there is a lot more to learn about hunting that I thought there would be."
"You're damn straight there is," Bobby harrumphed with an air of authority on the subject. " Now if you are ready to get the lessons started, we'll begin with teaching you recognize when a demon is near and what you can do to keep him from getting near the boys. First thing you need to know is a demon can take any shape or form. They can arrive on your doorstep looking like an innocent child, or the neighbor next door. Therefore, you need to have some common practices put into place.
"Like what?" John asked curiously as he gave the boisterous hunter his full attention.
"Like laying a line of salt about a quarter inch thick at every window and door entrance ad making sure it stays unbroken," Bobby began to explain as John followed him off of the porch and out into front yard. "You will also need to learn how to draw a demon's trap which you will need to put on the ceiling or on the floor underneath a rug where it will be hidden from the damn things."
"How long will this demon trap hold a demon?" John asked, needing to know everything he could.
"It will hold a demon for as long as the seal remains unbroken. Once you scuff the paint of the line is broken, then the demon is able to exit its meatsuit and smoke out through any opening available such as the ceiling fan or a hole in the floorboards.
"So when do I learn how to draw one of these demon traps?"
"You'll learn how to do it today, along with learning how to draw some other protective sigils such as a quincunx, a pentagram, and other sigils I think you'll need over the course of time," Bobby answered as he led John to look at some of the sigils carved or painted onto his own house.
"This one here is known as a quincunx," Bobby informed John as he pointed to a sigil that was arranged in a geometric pattern with five points arranged like a cross. "The quincunx basically sets up a sacred place where energies can be drawn to or held in one place."
" This one is known as the Triqueta or Trinity," Bobby explained as he pointed out a sigil that looked almost like three ovals interwoven. "I'm sure you can understand the meaning of this one.
"Yeah," John answered as he reached out to touch the symbol. "It represents the Holy Trinity if I am not mistaken."
"Correct," Bobby answered with a smile. It is one of your most powerful protection symbols and it is said that it cannot be broken!"
"Now, I'm going to give you a quick lesson on how to recognize a demon is near," Bobby informed John as he led the hunter back around to the porch where he could peak in and see just how badly the boys were destroying his house.
Meanwhile, inside the house...
"No Sammy, we're not allowed to touch those books," Dean patiently explained to his toddling sibling as he picked him up and carried Sammy away from the stack of old dusty tomes that Bobby had stacked on the floor.
"De pway?" Sammy asked as he glanced around the room looking for something else to get into. There was lots of interesting stuff he had never played with before
"Yeah Sammy, I'll play with you. You wanna play with my soldier?" Dean asked as he pulled the small green toy from his pocket and offered it to his baby brother.
"So'der" Sammy repeated in glee as he reached out and took the treasured toy. "Where De's?"
"I'm too big to play with soldiers now. You can have mine," Dean explained, not wanting to upset Sammy with the fact that it was the only toy soldier he had. He had found it the last motel room they stayed it.
"I know, let's build a fort for your soldier to protect," Dean encouraged as he guided Sammy over to the toy blocks they were playing with earlier.
"Otay De," Sammy agreed as he reached out to place the wooden blocks haphazardly around the ones that Dean was using to build. Of course, Sammy was making more of a mess than he was helping, but that didn't matter to Dean. He was just glad to share this play time with his brother.
Back outside with John and Bobby
'Well I'll be damned,' Bobby thought to himself as he glanced through the door to see Dean and Sammy sitting on the floor and still playing with the toy blocks. He was sure the toddler would have given up on them by now and created a huge mess for him to have to clean up.
Listening in to what the boys were saying, it stunned Bobby to hear Dean tell Sammy that he was too big to play with toy soldiers. The scamp was only six years old. He was the perfect age for playing with the little toy soldiers. Why would...and then it dawned on the old hunter. The boys didn't have much to play with and was making use of what little they had. Well, he would just have to rectify that situation. He was sure he could find some good toys somewhere.
"Bobby?" John queried a little louder to get the gruff hunter's attention.
"Huh?" Bobby asked, caught off guard by whatever it was that the newbie had said.
"You said we were going to have a quick lesson on how to recognize a demon and signs that they could be near?
"Oh, yeah. Well, the main thing you have got to watch our for when confronted with a demon is the black eyes. And I'm not talking about just the iris. The whole damn eye goes black. Another thing you need to know is that the damn things are damn near impossible to kill. You can torture them with holy water and stick them with knives or shoot them, but the sons of bitches will keep coming back. They also have superhuman strength and are known to use telekinesis to throw people clear across the room. That's why when you catch one, you better make damn sure they are caught within a demon trap or you can basically kiss your ass goodbye. Of course there are rumors out there about a mystical gun, but it's only legend as far as I know. I'll have to check more into this Colt that I been hearing about through the grapevine." Bobby stated as he gave John the basics.
"And that is enough for now. We'll do another lesson later on this afternoon. Right now, I still have a business to run and need to go into town to pick up a few things. You and the rugrats are welcome to stay here, or you can go along. Whatever suits you."
If it is okay with you, me and the boys will stay here," John voiced as he and Bobby made their way back inside the house. "It's just about time for Sammy's nap and he can be a crank little thing when he doesn't get enough sleep.
"Sammy no 'leep," Sammy cried out as he pushed himself to his feet and tried to scurry away, nearly falling in the process.
"Sorry Champ, but it is naptime," John stated as he hefted his little one into his arms.
"I no ti-'yawn'-red," Sammy complained as he lay his head down on his daddy's shoulder and plopped a thumb in his mouth.
"Well I'm tired and so is Dean. So you're just going to have to lay down and take a nap with us," John informed his baby boy as he felt Sammy grasp a hold of his hair and begin to twirl it with his fingers. "We'll see you in a bit Bobby. And thanks again for letting us stay."
"Yeah, well, just make sure you keep them rascals from underfoot and we'll all get along just fine, Bobby stated a little grumpily as he grabbed his jacket and started for the door once again.
"Bye-Bye Bo'y" Sammy mumbled, his eyes closing in sleep as he fully relaxed into his father's embrace.
TBC. The next chapter will deal with John learning about demonic signs. I hope to be able to post more regularly now that I am on break. Drop me a review to let me know if you are still interested in the story.