The last twelve hours had been spent on the road, crossing several states, stopping occasionally to stretch their legs or to refuel themselves and the Impala. They had a few laughs along the way, mostly about the fact that the town they were headed to was the home of the world's largest ball of twine. Mostly though they were lost in their own thoughts, and what it meant to be returning to Kansas. Dean tried to pass it off by saying "Another small town, another seedy motel." Truth was they both hated going back, they each had their reasons, most were the same. That's where it had all began for them, so many years ago. Losing their mom in the fire, dad's attitude towards life changing. The hunting began then.
Sam thought it must be worse for Dean, he had been old enough to remember mom, to have normal things like picnics, trips to the park, he even played t-ball. He knew that one of Deans favorite and most loved memories was of mom baking pie. Sam was only 6 months old when everything changed, so he didnt have anything to compare his life too, but that in itself hurt, never knowing his mom, or what his dad had really been like before the hunting life had taken over. Never having experienced a nice, normal family outing.
As they pulled into town Dean glancing at Sam and seeing his pensive look thought how hard this had to be on him. At least he had memories of mom and the apple pie life they had once lived, but Sam, he had nothing. Yeah there was that time he had in Stanford, but that doesnt make up for having a childhood. Dean had done his best to give that to Sam, it wasn't perfect, hell it down right sucked but he had almost always put Sam first and he would continue to do so because without Sam he had nothing. He remembered fighting with his dad John over Sam once when he had tried to pull the father routine. "I am his father and I will not let him go!" John had said. Dean had in no uncertain terms told John that Sammy was his. He was the one who had taken care of him when he was sick, walked him to school on his first day, protected him from bullies, fed him, taught him, trained him and everything else a father was supposed to do and that made him Deans. Dean wanted Sam to go to college and have a normal life, it hurt like hell watching him leave, but he had wanted what was best for Sam.
They pulled into the first motel they saw with a vacancy sign, it was small and dingy looking, but in this line of work you don't want anything to fancy anyway. Sam got out and went in to rent a room while Dean gathered the fast food wrappers up and stuffed them in a bag to be put in the dumpster. After about 5 minutes of waiting Sam came out of the office waving two room keys and hopped back in. They pulled away and drove around to the back of the motel and parked in front of their door. Staying on the backside of a motel was top priority since it allowed you to come and go with out being spotted as easily and it almost always offered more privacy which could come in handy if you ended up having to gank a screaming demon in your room.
First thing they did, first thing they always do, is check a room out before unloading. Get a good EMF reading, check for hex bags or other unwanted surprises, they had learned that little trick about 6 months ago, after renting a hexed room from an old crone named Zora. Dean all but forgot about readings as they walked through the door, "Magic Fingers!" he exclaimed "Sammy gimme a quarter." Sam rolled his eyes and chuckled as he replied "No time right now, we need to get unloaded and set up." Dean groaned but he knew sam was right and headed out the door to bring some supplies in. Sam started setting up the laptop and getting it connected to the motel wifi.
"Dean, there was something familiar about the man in the office" said Sam. "Familiar how?" Dean replied in a gruff voice. Sam thought a moment and said "I don't know, I can't put my finger on it." Deans opinion was that all these places were basically the same and it took a certain type of personality to run them and he figured that was what Sam was picking up on, but he decided to humor him a bit. " We can check into it later, but for now why don't you go get us some grub." He looked over at the bed and added "and bring back some quarters."
Shaking his head in amusement and a bit of disgust, Sam grabbed the keys and headed out the door. As the door closed he heard Dean call out "Don't forget the pie!" His brother was so predictable.
It didn't take Sam long to find a diner, he sat down and had a cup of coffee while waiting for their order. Bacon cheeseburger, chili cheese fries and apple pie for Dean, and a grilled chicken sandwich, with a ceaser salad for himself. He was half listening to the conversations around him, mostly filled with typical small town gossip. Suddenly he honed in on the conversation between two women sitting behind him. "... thrown against the wall with so much force that the studs buckled. The housekeeper said there was blood everywhere and that poor Jim looked like he had gone five rounds with a grizzly bear." The waitress stepped up at that time with his order and he paid and rushed out the door. He had to get back to the motel and tell Dean what he had heard, it sounded to him like this Jim guy had been attacked by a demon.
Back at the motel, he parked the Impala and carried the food to the room. Discovering the door locked, he pulled his key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Stepping in to the dark room, thinking Dean must have opted for a nap since the lights were off, Sam switched on the lamp and turned around to discover Dean tied unconscious to a chair with blood trickling down his face from a cut on his temple. Dropping the bag of food Sam stepped towards Dean calling out his name.