"This is stupid," Dean said as they stood in front of Cas's door. Sam pressed the door bell and shifted back next to Dean, letting out a sigh.
"Oh come on," he said, giving Dean a once over and smiling, "I just want to ask him some stuff about the house."
"You know," Dean said, shrugging to himself, "I think it's a little weird how much interest you have in this. I mean, for all we know, that woman could be dead, or worse." As he finished the sentence, the door swung open, a woman behind it.
Her hair was disheveled and she looked tired, puffy bags resting under her eyes. When she saw them she let out a soft sigh and a chuckle.
"Dean, right?" she said, wiping a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Dean looked at her in confusion, a huge smile on Sam's face.
"Oh so you've heard about him?" Sam said cheekily, Dean kicking him not so discreetly.
"Actually yes," she said, laughing softly at the two. "I was also informed he had a little brother... that's you I'm guessing?" she said, her eyes directed towards Sam. He nodded, giving Dean a sideways glance as if to ask why he'd come up in a conversation. Dean Shrugged sheepishly.
"I'm Sam," he said, putting his hand out for her to shake. She shook it gratefully.
"I'm Castiel's aunt. It's awesome to see that he is making friends besides Gina."
"Well, Gina's a wonderful girl," Dean said, smiling politely. She nodded, smiling.
"I know. She most certainly is. I always hoped they'd end up together but, Gina isn't really into him. Or guys in general," she said, sighing. "But I'm glad that he is capable of making friends outside of Gina. Well anyway, come in!" she said, gesturing into the house.
The house was small; it didn't look like many people lived there. There was an upstairs that seemed to split into two different bedrooms. On the main floor, there was a kitchen, dining room, living room, and a bathroom. Dean could infer that Cas was an only child.
"So you're his aunt?" Dean asked, not wanting to bring up any uncomfortable subjects but also being interested in where Cas's parents were.
"Uh... yeah. Cas's parents... well, they're gone now. So I take care of him." She looked off, computing something in her head. "It's just me and him here."
Dean nodded, not wanting to pry anymore into the subject. Sam, however, seemed ready to burst with questions. Luckily, he decided not to ask. Suddenly, the stairs creaked and they all turned towards the stairs, Cas looking towards Dean with an unexplainably warm smile.
"I apologize for the inconvenience," Cas said, smiling apologetically, "I didn't mean to keep you waiting this long." Dean looked away, hiding a smile.
"It's fine, Cas," Dean said, nodding.
"Well I have to head off to work... I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" his aunt said, hugging Cas to her and giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.
"I would suggest copious amounts of coffee," Cas said to her, smiling slightly. She laughed at his comment, sighing.
"Yeah, that'd probably be the best idea, wouldn't it?" she patted his shoulder, then gave a glance at the two boys next to her, taking a special interest in Dean.
"Nothing weird while I'm gone, okay?" she said teasingly, giving a smirk Dean's way. He tried to hide his embarrassment by laughing along.
"Of course..." he paused, "what can I call you?"
"Miss Novak would be just great," she said, walking out the door.
"Bye Dean, Sam, Cas," she said, waving to them without looking back. She got into the car and left a couple seconds later, leaving behind a silent Sam, Dean, and Cas.
Finally, Cas turned towards Sam. "You must be Dean's younger sibling," he said, looking over Sam as if to confirm that yes, they were indeed related.
"Yeah, actually. You must be Cas," he said, grinning. He looked back at Dean, mouthing "you were right".
"Yeah, this is my brother," he said, then he mouthed at Sam "about what?". Sam responded with one word, "voice". Dean thought about it, then nodded.
"I remember you specifying this visit to be for Sam's purposes," Cas began, looking over Sam with curiosity.
"Yeah, well, Sam's being a dork and just wanted to ask you a few questions," he said, rolling his eyes. Sam scoffed, shaking his head at Dean.
"I mean, if it isn't any bother, I'd just like to know a little more about the woman down the road." Cas nodded, squinting at Sam as if he would be able to understand his motives.
"I wouldn't be bothered. You can ask me if you'd like," Cas said, walking away as he spoke. Dean and Sam shot each other confused glances, Dean shrugging as if to say "I've only know him a day".
"Dean... I thought you had informed me you were only staying one more day," Cas said, his voice a clear indication to follow him into the living room. Dean and Sam followed.
"Well we were but... the family bet got a little more complicated. Uncle Ernie refuses to pay the money back and... it's very complicated." The look Sam gave him was clearly a face of accusation. Dean motioned for him to just go with it.
"Yeah, Uncle Ernie. Honestly, I feel like we didn't even try that hard," he said, making a reference towards Dean's crappy lying skills.
"Well that's a shame. I hope he comes around to repaying you," Cas said sincerely, not understanding the obvious undertone in the conversation.
"So get this," Sam began as they sat down, attempting to shift the conversation away from Dean's lie, "I was researching on this last night-"
"Seriously? I thought you went to sleep," Dean moaned, resting his head on the back of the sofa and shutting his eyes. Sam rolled his eyes, ignoring Dean, and continued.
"Anyway," Sam continued, "this isn't the first disappearance around here."
Both Dean and Cas came to attention. Dean shot a worried glance towards Cas, then back towards Sam.
"What?" he asked dubiously, unsure of what exactly to take from this.
"I mean... last year, there was a disappearance. Two years ago. Three years ago," Sam paused abruptly when he realized Cas had went completely silent.
"I'm sorry should I..." Sam lingered, looking over towards Dean. Dean looked at Cas as well, as if to read his thoughts.
"No, it's fine. I apologize I was just... distracted. Continue," Cas said, not bothering to bring his attention back to them. Dean shrugged again, and Sam continued.
"Well, you see, these disappearances are annual. Once every year... on the same day. And it seemed like one hell of a coincidence... I was wondering if you knew anything."
"Why would he know anything, Sam?" Dean asked in slight agitation, not knowing whether he should be protective of Cas or asking him questions like Sam was.
"No, no way," he said, smiling politely, "I'm just curious if he knows anything." Cas didn't seem to react for a few seconds, but then he turned quickly towards Sam.
"I do have knowledge on this subject," Cas said quietly, computing something in his head and then rising from his seat, heading upstairs. Sam and Dean exchanged glances again, then headed up after him.
They walked up the stairs into a room filled with pictures on the walls. It was the first thing Dean noticed. And it wasn't pictures of Cas. It was just people. They were smiling and laughing, and they were hugging each other. A couple pictures showed a girl and a boy, another picture showed a blonde haired kid. In some of the pictures Cas was present, but before he could really observe the pictures around him, Sam was calling Dean towards him.
"Dean... you have to see this," Sam said. Dean suddenly felt a feeling of dread wash over him. The tone of Sam's voice almost scared him. It was fascination but... it was more than that.
"I... am not supposed to have access to this video. I'd gotten curious and I... had found a way to compromise the servers," Cas said. Observing Cas's face only encouraged Dean's fear. He was void of emotion almost always but... this time, he had a hint of despair.
"Did you ever watch it?" Sam asked, looking over the video.
"No," Cas answered, sighing. "I was never given opportunity and when I was I had already dismissed the idea of watching it."
"Is there a real reason you didn't watch it?" Dean asked, crossing his arms as he looked towards the video. Cas sighed, shaking his head, then nodding.
"I was told not to," he said. Dean wanted to ask, but Sam shot him a warning glance. Sam was good at knowing what not to say, and Dean often trusted his instincts.
"So are we going to watch it?" Sam asked after a few seconds of silence. Cas didn't respond, he only placed the laptop on his desk and pressed play.
The video was obviously surveillance footage. Dean was extremely curious as to how Cas had hacked into the servers but he knew it was best not to ask for both of their sakes.
The video was blurry. It was night time. The camera filmed a large, white house. The video was glitch, and every so often, it would have a short spasm and then return to normal.
"What is this footage of anyway?" Sam asked quietly, watching the video closely.
"This... is before the occurrence of a disappearance. Two people disappeared," Cas responded, intrigued by the video.
Suddenly, a person appeared on the video. He was tall, unruly, and grey. Grey in an unexplainable... impossible way. And he opened the door.
The next thing that happened... they still didn't understand. They still bickered about it three years afterwards. But the record mainly showed this: the man came out, with a woman and a man, dragging them out of their home.
And then they disappeared.