ooOoo
The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.
Hunter's Moon
Chapter 23
Running and Hiding
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ooOoo
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Oh, The Wayward Wind is a restless wind
A restless wind that yearns to wander
And he was born the next of kin
The next of kin to the wayward wind
ooOoo
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The Winchesters got back in the car and carefully pulled out from under the sloping pine branches. They scanned route 231 in both directions, hoping not to see any cars.
"You know, bitch, this really sucks," Dean complained. "It's bad enough to be hiding from the FBI and now we have to steer clear of every pick-up truck on the road for fear of it being a hunter's ride."
"Let's just make the run over to Karl and Earl's place, Dean." Sam said soothingly. "We can put the Impala back in their garage and figure out where to go from there. I'm going to call them first."
"Good idea," Dean responded. "They might not want to be seen hanging out with us either."
They carefully dodged their way back down Route 231 to West Lafayette; pulling off the road and hiding when they saw other vehicles coming their way.
"You know," Dean complained. "We should just bust out and floor it. All this pussy-footing, excuse me, all this messing around is getting on my nerves."
"Just stay quiet, Dean." Sam laid a hand on the back of Dean's neck and petted the little hairs he found there with his thumb. "Karl said it was alright for us to come to them as long as we did it quietly. He'll leave the back gate open on their garage and we can get into the house through the side door. He really made it very clear that we are in big trouble."
"Really?" Dean asked. "How big's the trouble."
"The FBI and local Law are pretty upset at our little syncopated escape from the steps of the court house. There were reporters out in the crowd and someone, as a matter of fact, several someones, got video of the whole thing. We're going to be T.V. Stars tonight, Earl too."
"Why Earl?"
"He ran with you around the side of the building. I understand the video is real clear on that point. The two of you jumped off the side of the stairs with those two FBI agents chasing after you. Remember, Spenser, the tall skinny one and Penny, the lady in the flashy dress? They were chasing after you like the Keystone Cops."
"Why the hell did you take those two with you? Sam asked. "That made it a hundred times worse and embarrassed the FBI, antagonizing them unnecessarily."
"They wanted to stay with me," Dean answered defensively. "I didn't ask them to come."
"It was the glow, wasn't it?" Sam glanced at his brother. "They just had to follow you, right?"
"Maybe," Dean answered. "Not much we can do about it now." He looked up and down the road then pulled out.
"And besides the lovely pictures of you and your little entourage, there is video of your big pet cat. You know, the cross between a cheetah and a lion that you are somehow keeping in your car? All the reporters are having fun trying to explain that one. They got a good shot of my ass disappearing into the tall grass with my tail held high."
"Sounds like Karl and Earl have really studied these videos."
Sand pushed his hair out of his face. "They're the only ones that anyone can find. The cops don't know what to charge them with because they could be construed as hostages. So they're just sitting at home fending off the investigators in between the waves of reporters."
"And we're going to throw ourselves into the mix?" Dean asked. "Doesn't sound real bright; I guess it could a case of the last place they'd look."
Sam stretched and a hand accidently on purpose fell on Dean's thigh. Sam started rubbing. The up strokes got pretty close to Dean's junk.
"Hey, we just had an early morning fuck, get your hands off the merchandise." Dean shook his leg, trying to remove the invading hand.
"Karl told me they started driving them all off with a shotgun an hour or so ago. He felt we could make it in." Sam continued to molest his brother.
"If you are really nervous about it we could pull off the road and spend a couple of hours in the tall grass. I'll give you a nice ride on my…"
"Sam! Jesus." Dean huffed. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"I think it's an example of Vinculum Pro Toto Infinito." Sam gripped Dean's thigh and stared out the window. "Bonded for all eternity."
"That whistling sound was something going over my head," Dean responded. "Let's just concentrate on getting to the Montains' place right now.
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Sam stood in Earl's kitchen with his duffle over his shoulder. The ride into the house had gone smoothly and the Impala was tucked all nice and safe in the garage, hidden from sight. Sam waited to be invited to sit down at the table with the brothers. He knew that he was making them a little nervous.
Dean slammed the door coming into the room, dusting off his hands and absorbed the positions of the bodies in the room and the hint of tension in the air.
"Ok, Karl, Earl, we really have to thank you for letting us hide out with you for a day or so." He grasped the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "Be alright if we sat down?"
Karl waved a hand at the seat and Earl got up and headed for the coffee pot, making something of a detour around Sam.
Sam dropped his duffle on the floor as he took a seat at the table. "I know you guys are a little troubled about me and you have every right to be. You know that I'm not completely human but I swear, I have no intention of harming either one of you. Right now you two are about the only friends we have in the state of Indiana and I would never want to jeopardize that." He stopped talking as Earl distributed cups of coffee.
Dean spoke up. "We would like to offer you something in recognition of your friendship and, hopefully, trust. " He glanced at Sam. "Sam is going to take out some knives from his duffle. They are presents for you so please take it easy."
Sam went into the duffle and pulled out his copper summoning bowl first and placed it on the table. Then he lifted up two silver knives; knives beautiful in the own way, like beautiful vipers frozen in metal, and laid them on the table.
They were very much like the knife they had given Silas; similar in the same way that children from the same family were similar. They had been made by the same hand and had similar markings on the hilt and tang and were curved in a deadly arch. They lay on the table, inert, but somehow ready.
Dean spoke, "Guys, would you each pick a knife and hold it over the bowl with the blade flat."
Dean stood and took out his bottle of holy water. Placing one hand below a knife he slowly poured the water on to the blade. They all watched as the water was somehow absorbed in to the metal and Dean chanted an invocation softly. The excess water rolled off into Dean's cupped hand and he used it to anoint the second knife.
"Sam made these knives. I have blessed these knives." Dean paused. "They are tuned to you, to your hands and will always respond to your presence. If you listen for them they will always call to you."
He paused again and looked each hunter in the face. "These are Innocence blades. They will not harm innocent beings but they burn like fire when buried in the flesh of evil. Listen to them, follow their lead. They will keep you safe and your souls pure."
The two older hunters admired their knives and Karl went so far as to shake Sam's hand.
"Thanks for your gifts," Karl said to the Winchesters. "Now what are we going to do about you two?"
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Sam and Dean spent the night in the Montains' spare room. The night was peaceful and, after Dean kept slapping Sam's hands off his ass, comfortable.
They had asked the older brothers to see if they could find Silas and bring him to the house. The Winchesters stayed out of sight and were amazed at the number of reporters gather in the front yard so early in the morning.
The previous night's news program had led with the shaky videos of the Winchester's escape from the courthouse. The one that received the most comment was the video of a giant cat leaping out of the crowd and running off into the high grass. It was a show of beauty, grace and power and a complete mystery as far as the animal so-called experts the station had hired.
Karl went out early, pushing his way through. Dean noticed that a cop car was waiting to follow the man. Directly afterwards Sheriff Dawes appeared on the porch demanding Earl's attention. Nobody was waving any search warrants so it looked like there was no suspicion that the Winchesters were in the house.
Earl wouldn't let the Sherriff in so they squabbled in front of the assembled reporters who were fascinated and the men's voices rose. Earl's demand that the Sheriff "get the hell off" Earl's porch came through loud and clear as a juicy sound bite. Earl's further demand that the sheriff "take these vultures with you", didn't appear to get recorded.
It was getting on near to noon when Karl returned with Silas as a passenger. The crowds had thinned and entering the house was not a problem. Once inside Silas was startled by the presence of Sam in the kitchen.
"Hi, Silas." Sam smiled. "Good to see you."
It was scary to see Sam Winchester, especially standing in someone's kitchen like a regular person. As far as Silas was concerned, it was a surreal experience.
Behind him heard "Hi, Silas. It is Silas, isn't it?" and Dean Winchester stepped out in front. "Perfect," thought Silas. "Two murderers with one stone."
Dean indicated that they both should follow him into the darkened living room. Karl had closed, locked and shaded the windows. It took more than dark to discourage the Winchesters and it was the people, the ones still human, that would be inconvenienced by the dark. Karl and Earl were already seated against the walls and Silas and the Winchesters took center stage.
"Silas," Dean started. "We asked Karl to bring you here because we want to make you an offer, a deal, if you will."
"I know better than to deal with demons," Silas spoke up.
"But, we aren't demons, Silas. We are something else but we gave you that knife so that you could determine what was good and what was evil. What is that knife telling you now? You do have it, don't you?"
Silas stood and pulled the knife from its sheath in the small of his back. The blade laid still, no vibration.
"Ok, what's the deal?" Silas asked.
Dean relaxed, falling back against the couch cushions. "We are leaving here, possibly never to return again. We are going to set up a temporary bolt hole, possibly in Sioux Falls and for while we are traveling we need a front man."
"And you think it might be me?" Silas smiled back, the smile lighting up his thin, boyish face.
"Possibly," Dean answered. "Just a couple of minor matters to settle. Is there anything here you couldn't live without? A girlfriend? A relative? Some opportunity that will never come again? And, oh, what's your name?"
The dark hair young man laughed, "No nothing I can't do without and my name is Marner, Silas Marner."
Sam snorted from the corner. "You're kidding! Your name is Marner? Silas Mariner? Who did that?"
"My Mom was an English literature major in college." Silas said. "She told me she always loved the name and was proud to give it to me. It wasn't really a problem for most of my life, just the tale-end of high school in English class."
"She was a real George Eliot fan, right?" Sam was still smiling.
Silas finally relaxed. The stupid name was finally proving to be useful, if for nothing else, for soothing a potential beast. He figured as long as he kept Sam happy, nothing bad would come of this adventure.
ooOoo
This chapter ends the Hunter's Moon segment of the Sons of the Morning 'verse. The Big Cat and his Lover will be continuing in a new story called "Blood Trail" which should be up some time in December. I am taking a short break from this dream world and working on The Dragon's Slave and other stories I currently have running.