A Hard Road Ch. 20
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story. Nor am I making a profit from it.
Author's Note: Dean is 7 and Sammy is 3 in this chapter
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As John cleaned the weapons he was going to need for tonight's salt and burn, he looked over at his two sons who were lying on the bed engrossed in watching a Thundercats cartoon. The boys were totally enthralled by the heroic cats and were trying to decide which one of them was Lion-O and which was Panthro. He couldn't understand how they could allow themselves to be so immersed into a make believe world, but he was fine with it as long as his boys were happy. At least these creatures couldn't hurt them. He knew sooner or later that they would be introduced to the evils in their own world and he prayed that it wouldn't be tonight since the boys were going with him on this hunt.
This hunt would be the first where he hadn't dropped them off at the library for story time or found a baby sitter for them while he took care of business. Usually he was close enough to get Bobby or Pastor Jim to baby sit, but this time they were on the other side of the country staying in the seedier side of town in Penobscot Maine. The few teenaged girls around the area they were staying in looked to be on drugs or involved in other less than savory activities and he wasn't about to ask one of them to baby sit his precious boys. No, Sammy and Dean would be going with him tonight and staying in the car. He had already drawn a devil's trap and a quincunx on the car to protect his sons while he did the quick salt and burn. With any luck, his children would sleep through the whole thing and would never know what their daddy did.
Moving on to his next weapon, he picked up the Smith and Wesson rifle and supported it in one hand with the barrel aimed towards the floor. He then picked up the steel cleaning rod with the other hand and eased it down into the barrel to remove any lose powder that could cause it to clog. The most important thing a hunter owned was his weapons and they had to be kept in prime working condition to keep them from misfiring at a crucial point. As he continued cleaning the rifle, he made sure to follow each and every step that Bobby had taught him knowing how invaluable the steps were to maintaining a reliable weapon.
"Daddy whatcha doing?" Dean asked as he walked over to sit beside his daddy. A commercial had come on the TV and he was bored.
"I'm just cleaning my guns sport" John said as he noticed the interest in Dean's eyes.
"What for Daddy, why they gots to be cleaned" Dean inquired as he placed his chin on the palms of his hands as his elbows rested on the edge of the table.
'Well if I don't clean them, they could become rusty or jammed and then I wouldn't be able to use them and somebody could get hurt" John explained without going into too much detail.
"Oh" Dean stated as though the answer couldn't have been any more obvious than what his daddy had said.
Since Dean continued to watch him, John explained all of the steps he was going through with disassembling and cleaning the weapons as he did them. Dean would need to know these things if he eventually decided to become a hunter himself. John prayed that he would be able to kill the yellow eyed demon before that ever happened, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Dean's attention was soon drawn away from watching his dad however as he heard his little brother calling out to him.
"De, I want milk" Sammy hollered as he pushed himself slowly off the bed to keep from falling off. He walked over to where Dean was pouring his milk into a red plastic cup.
"Be careful not to spill it Sammy" Dean admonished as he handed the half filled cup over to his baby brother. They had accidentally left Sammy's sippy cups at Bobby's house and Sammy was using big boy cups now.
"Otay" Sammy replied as he tipped the cup up to his mouth. Dean groaned as he saw the milk leaking out from the sides of Sammy's mouth and down onto his shirt. He wondered if Sammy would ever learn to drink from a cup without spilling some of the contents on him in the process.
"T'anks De" Sammy said as he gave the cup back and then ran over to climb up on the bed once again as the Thundercats came back on.
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A few hours later found the Winchesters driving down the road in the dark of night as John made his way to the Penobscot City Cemetery for what he hoped would be a simple salt and burn. The local pub was being haunted by a barmaid who had been accidentally killed there when she fell and hit her head on the edge of the bar after slipping on the wet floor. As of late, she had been terrorizing the patrons there as she flung whiskey bottles and glasses at their heads. After some researching in the local library, John had been able to pinpoint where she had been buried.
As he pulled up outside of the gates, John glanced into the backseat to see both his boys sleeping. Sammy with his head resting against the side of his car seat and Dean with his head near Sammy's. "S'good" John thought as he climbed out of the car and shut the door as quietly as possible so that he wouldn't wake them up. He walked to the back of the Impala and opened the trunk to uncover his hidden arsenal. Grabbing a rifle, some rock salt, some salt rounds, a container of lighter fluid and a shovel, John quickly encircled the car with a line of salt before entering the cemetery grounds and heading towards the south end. As he walked, he searched for the grave of one Penelope Ann Smithers, the spirit whom he believed to be causing all of the trouble at the bar.
Upon finding the grave, John laid his rifle and salt rounds against the headstone so it would be within easy reach if the spirit decided to show herself. He sunk his shovel into the hard ground and then began to dig. This was his least favorite part about hunting. It usually took him about two to three hours to unearth a grave and he was trying his best to better that time. The longer he was at a grave sight, the bigger chance he had of being caught or accosted by an angry spirit. After two hours and thirty minutes of solid digging, John heard a thunking sound as his shovel connected with the casket. He quickly scooped the dirt off and then opened the grave to reveal the bones hidden inside.
As he climbed out of the grave, he felt the temperature rapidly drop and looked up to see the angry spirit of Penelope standing before him. "Shit" he mumbled as he threw himself towards the gun but suddenly found himself flying through the air as the spirit emitted an unearthly shriek.
The winds suddenly whipped up and thunder began to crash as lightning lit the sky. "This is so not good" John mumbled as he pushed himself to his feet after landing harshly on the ground. He had no doubts that the crashing thunder had probably awoken the boys leaving them scared right about now. Knowing he had to end this hunt quick, John pulled some loose rock salt from his pocket and threw it towards the angry spirit watching as it faded from sight. Also knowing that he had just a moment before the spirit returned, he grabbed up the canister of rock salt and quickly covered the bones before dousing them with the lighter fluid. As he struck a match, he felt the spirit return as icy hands gripped him around the throat. He swiftly dropped the match into the grave as he felt his oxygen being cut off. All at once though, the strangle hold on his throat loosened as the flames quickly engulfed the bones of the angry spirit. John watched the fire burning for jut a few seconds before rushing over towards the car to make sure that his boys were alright.
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Dean was awakened from slumber as he heard a loud shrieking sound coming from outside the car. He opened his eyes to find that his dad was no longer in the car with them and he glanced around to see where they were. He shuddered upon seeing the gravestones letting him know that they were at a cemetery. As he scanned the graveyard, he finally located his dad and saw that he was climbing out of one of the graves. He wondered what on earth he was doing in it in the first place. He didn't have long to contemplate the thought as he felt the car begin to shake as the winds picked up and lightning crashed all around them.
All of the sudden he heard the sounds of Sammy's terrified scream as his baby brother was rudely awakened from sleep by the sounds of thunder booming around them. As Sammy desperately tried to wiggle free from his car seat, Dean reached over an pushed the button to release the straps. He pulled a sobbing Sammy into his arms as he began to rock him back and forth as he held him tight. "Shh, Sammy, I've got you" he replied with as calm a voice as he could muster. He was scared to death himself but he couldn't allow Sammy to see it. He had to take care of his baby brother. He glanced over to his father praying that he would be walking towards them, instead he saw some kind of apparition appear before his father and then his dad went sailing through the air. He gasped out in terror as he watched his dad hit the ground since he couldn't understand what was happening. Knowing that he couldn't let Sammy see what was happening, he quickly pulled Sammy's face to his chest and rocked him some more.
"Shh, don't cry Sammy, De is right here and I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you" he said as he started rubbing circles of comfort on Sammy's back. He was worried about how hard Sammy was shivering in his arms and was afraid he was going to hurt himself if the shaking didn't stop. He hated that his little brother was terrified and that he didn't know how to calm him. He suddenly felt a wet feeling of warmth on his legs and immediately knew that Sammy had wet himself. He didn't care though since he knew just how scared his baby brother was
He was about to open the window and call out to his daddy when suddenly he saw some bright orange and red flames leap out of the grave and highlight the appearance of his father. He saw his dad watch the burning flames for a second before he started running towards them in the car. "It's alright Sammy, Daddy's coming now and he'll take care of us" Dean crooned into his brother's ear as he continued his rocking motion of comfort.
As John got closer to the car, he could see that Dean was holding Sammy and rocking him back and forth. "Damn it" he cursed knowing that his baby boy was most probably scared to death right now. He quickly made it to the Impala and snatched open the back door. He saw the tears running down's Dean's face as he cradled his trembling baby brother to him.
"Dean?" he questioned as he noticed the growing wet spot on his son's jeans.
"Sammy was so scared he wet himself" Dean told him as he released Sammy into John's hands.
"I'm so sorry I left you boys alone and that you were scared" John stated with sadness as he sat down on the bench seat in the back of the car holding Sammy to his chest and Dean to his side. He felt like the worst dad on Earth for letting his boys down. He had no doubts this event was going to cause some major nightmares over the next few days.
TBC