Chapter Eight-Bugs
Third Person POV
"Man, these are some phat houses, huh? I'd like to live here." Travis said, shoveling dirt. "Yeah, too bad you can't afford it." Dustin said, spraying bugs on the ground with bug repellent. "Yeah, you're right. This neighborhood'll be damn expensive when it's done." Travis said, going back to his digging. "No, this place is perfect." Travis said, stopping his digging again and smacking the side of his neck. "Except for the mosquitoes." He added and then heard Dustin screaming for help.
Travis turned around and saw that Dustin had fallen into a hole in the ground. "Dustin?" he called, rushing over to the hole. "Help me, I'm trapped! I broke my ankle!" Dustin called up. "All right, I'll get a rope!" Travis yelled before rushing to the nearest truck and opened it. "Travis, help!" Dustin called. "Hang on!" Travis yelled back, grabbing rope from the truck. "Travis, help!" Dustin called again more frantically and started to scream.
"It's okay, Dustin! It's okay!" Travis yelled, running back to the hole with the supplies. "Dustin? Dustin, I'm here." He called, looking into the hole with a flashlight. "Oh, God." He said horrified as his flashlight landed on Dustin's dead body, his ears, nose, and eyes bleeding heavily.
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It had been about a week before Lyssa had her next dream. She jolted awake and ended up hitting Sam in the face in the process. "Ow! What the hell?" Sam said, waking up almost as abruptly as Lyssa had. "Sorry!" Lyssa said, getting out of the bed she was sharing with Sam and grabbed her journal before writing down her dream before she forgot it.
"What's all the racket?" Dean called from his bed, his voice muffled from the pillow because he didn't bothering to move. "I think she had another dream. And she hit me in the face." Sam said, rubbing his nose. "I said sorry!" Lyssa called from the table where she was writing away. "Go back to sleep. Both of you. We'll talk about it in the morning." Dean said, still a little grumpy from them only getting to bed about an hour before Lyssa's outburst.
Lyssa finished what she'd seen in her dream and then climbed back into bed, ready for some much needed sleep.
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"Is this the guy?" Sam asked, handing Lyssa the paper he was scanning outside the bar they'd stopped at that night. Lyssa skimmed the page and handed it back with a nod. "Exactly what happened in my dream." She said as Dean came out of the bar, laughing and waving a wad of cash in the air. "You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." Sam said. "Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap." Dean said, counting how much he'd earned from his swindle.
"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean." Sam said.
"Well, let's see. Honest," Dean said, holding up one hand. "Fun and easy." then the other hand, the 'fun and easy' side outweighing 'honest'. "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."
"How you were raised was jacked then." Lyssa interjected, not looking up from the news paper she'd snatched from Sam while the boys were arguing. "Yeah, says you. So did we find our hole guy?" Dean asked, putting the money into his pants pocket. "Yeah. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma-not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-jakob. Or at least that's what the paper says." Lyssa explained, sliding off the hood of the car.
Dean looked between the two confused. "Huh?"
"Human mad cow disease." Sam clarified, sliding off the hood as well. "Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" Dean asked, causing Sam and Lyssa to look at him in bewilderment. "You watch Oprah?" Lyssa asked. "So they think this guy ate a bad burger or something?" Dean asked, changing the topic as quickly as possible. Lyssa tried to hide the smile that formed and was failing miserably while Sam let out a cough. "Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But Dustin, sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less." Lyssa explained.
"Okay. So, not mad cow disease. What happened in your vision thing?" Dean asked, leaning against the hood. "I don't know. All I know is that Dustin fell down the hole and died from an unknown cause at this time." Lyssa said, not sounding happy about how under detailed her dream had been. "It could've been a disease. Or something much nastier." Sam offered.
"Alright. Oklahoma." Dean announced, giving a clap that caused Lyssa to jump a little. Dean chuckled and went over to get in the driver's seat. Lyssa glared at him and followed Sam over to the other side of the car so they could get in as well. "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money." Dean complained, starting the engine.
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All three passengers got out of the Impala and Dean pointed to Travis, looking to Lyssa for confirmation. Lyssa nodded and followed after Dean who began to approach Travis. "Travis Weaver?" Sam asked, not too far behind his brother. "Yeah, that's right." Travis said, moving a little away from the van he was going through. "Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked.
"Dustin never mentioned nephews or a niece." Travis said a little skeptically. "Really? Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest." Dean lied. "Yeah." Sam and Lyssa said at the same time, going along with Dean. "Oh, he did? Huh." Travis said, buying Dean's fib with a flattered smile.
"Listen, we wanted to ask you...what exactly happened out there?" Lyssa asked. "I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh...by the time I got back..." Travis tried to explain, having a hard time looking for the right words. "What did you see?" Dean asked. "Nothing. Just Dustin."
"No wounds or anything?" Sam asked, sounding like he wasn't really buying it. "Well, he was bleeding...from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it." Travis offered. "So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean asked. "I don't know. That's what the doctors are saying."
"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Sam asked, trying to pry any information he could. "No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?" Travis asked, more to himself than the other three. "That's a good question." Lyssa said. "You know, can you tell us where this happened?" Sam asked. "Yeah."
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Dean pulled the Impala up to the scene of Dustin's death, the apparent sinkhole surrounded by police tape. "Huh. What do you think?" Dean asked as the three waked up to the sinkhole. "I don't know. But that Travis guy was right. It happened pretty damn fast." Lyssa answered as they ducked under the police tape. "So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Dean asked, pulling out a flashlight so he could get a better look inside the hole.
"No. There'd be an entry wound." Lyssa answered, kneeling down to look inside the hole. "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside." Sam added.
"Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. You boys wanna flip a coin?" Lyssa asked, straightening out and ducking under the police tape again. "But we have no idea what's down there." Sam protested as he and Dean followed her. "Which is exactly why I'm not going. Plus, there could be spiders down there." she said, giving the hole a grim look after the last part of her statement.
Dean chuckled and picked up and coil of rope that was near by. "Alright. I'll go if you're scared. You scared?" Dean asked Sam, walking back to the sinkhole with the coil of rope. "Flip the damn coin." Sam mumbled. Dean chuckled again and took a coin out of his pocket. "All right, call it in the air...chicken." Dean said, flipping the coin. Sam caught it in mid air. "I'm going."
"I said I'd go." Dean chuckled. "I'm going." Sam repeated. "All right." Dean commented as Sam began to tie the rope around his waist. "Don't drop me." he added, sounding sullen.
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"So, you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground." Dean commented, glancing at his brother from the driver's seat. "That's shocking, Sam." Lyssa quipped, grinning at the younger Winchester. "Says the girl who wouldn't go down because there might've been spiders." Sam retaliated with a grin. Lyssa only stuck her tongue out at him. "And there were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but-" Sam tried to defend his suspicion, only to be cut off by Dean.
"How many did you find down there?"
"Ten." Sam answered, still examining the dead beetle in the palm of his hand. "It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain." Dean concluded, not buying Sam's suspicion. "Well, maybe there were more." Sam argued. "I don't know. Sounds like a stretch to me." Lyssa said, leaning on the front seat to look at the beetle in Sam's hand.
"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before." Sam said, as the Impala passed a sign for an open house that was decorated with red balloons. "What?" Sam asked, noticing his brother eyeing the sign. "I know a good place to start." he said. "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbecue, how about you?" Dean added, reading a second sign.
Sam only gave Dean a knowing look. "What, we can't talk to the locals?" Dean defended. "And the free food's got nothing to do with it?" Sam questioned. "Of course not. I'm a professional."
"Right." Sam said, not buying it as Dean parked the Impala at the curb. "Growing up in a place like this would freak me out." Dean said as they began to walk down the street to the open house. "Why?" Lyssa asked, looking up at the older Winchester. "Well, manicured lawns, 'How was your day, honey?' I'd blow my brains out." he said.
"There's nothing wrong with 'normal'." Sam offered. "I'd take our family over normal any day." Dean said, sounding proud. "I have an idea, but I don't think you're gonna like it." Dean told Lyssa as they walked up the driveway. "What?" Lyssa asked skeptically, stopping.
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Dean and Lyssa approached the house and knocked on the door, Sam not too far behind them. The presumed homeowner answered the door with a wide smile on his face. "Welcome." he announced. "This the barbecue?" Dean asked, throwing his arm over Lyssa's shoulder. "Yeah, not the best weather, but...I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are...?" Larry asked. "Dean. This is my wife, Lyssa. And my brother Sam." Dean said, shaking Larry's hand. "Good to meet you all. So, are you two interested in Oasis Plains?" Larry asked Dean and Lyssa, after shaking everyone's hand. "Yes, sir. Seems like a wonderful place to start a family." Dean answered with a cheesy smile.
"Well, that's wonderful. Come on in." Larry said with another smile, ushering them all inside.
Larry led them outside to the back yard where there were lots of people walking around, chatting and eating. "You said you were the developer?" Sam asked.
"Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we build such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains." Larry explained, leading them over to a woman. "This is my wife, Joanie."
"Hi there." she greeted. "Hi." Dean said, shaking her hand. "Dean, Lyssa, and Sam." Larry introduced. "Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." Larry told his wife with a laugh. "Right." Joanie said, laughing with her husband. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Larry said before leaving the three with Joanie.
"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live." Joanie said. "Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome, head of sales." a very energetic woman introduced herself, her black hair pulled back in a tight bun. "And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very noisy neighbor, though." Joanie added before leaving as well.
"She's kidding, of course. I take it you three are interested in becoming homeowners." she said with a laugh. "Well..." Dean said, looking to Lyssa for her to fill in. "Yes, um...well, my husband and I are looking for a place to...start our family." Lyssa said, thinking quickly. "Oh, so you're expecting?" Lynda asked, her smile growing. "Right. Um...I'm gonna go talk to Larry." Dean said awkwardly before turning to Lyssa. "Okay, honey?" he asked before giving her a light smack on the ass and a wink, grabbing Sam's arm and dragging him away with him.
Lyssa and Lynda shared an awkward silence while the boys headed back inside to find the homeowner.
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Inside the house, Larry, Dean, and Sam came down the stairs after finishing a tour. "You've got three choices-carpet, hardwood, and tile." Larry explained. "Whoa. Someone likes bugs." Dean said, stopping at the bottom of the stairs when he noticed a jar full of bugs on a nearby table. "My son-he's into insects. He's very...inquisitive." Larry explained, his voice scornful.
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"Who can say 'no' to a steam shower? I use mine everyday." Lynda explained, still talking with Lyssa. "Sounds great." Lyssa said, not really paying attention. While Lynda continued talking, Lyssa noticed a tarantula crawling towards Lynda's hand, which was resting on the table. Looking up, she could see a young boy watching excitedly. "Excuse me." Lyssa said, pushing past Lynda and, with a sigh and much distaste, picked up the spider, and took it over to the boy. "Is this yours?"
"Are you gonna tell my dad?" he asked, taking the spider from Lyssa's hand. "I don't know. Who's your dad?" she asked, grateful to not be touching the disgusting creature anymore. "Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions." he scoffed. "Ouch. First name basis with the old man-sounds pretty grim." Lyssa said, watching as the kid practically cradled the spider. "Well, I'm not exactly brochure material."
"Well, hand in there. It gets better, all right? I promise. Soon you'll be off to college and not under your parents watchful and sometimes disapproving eye." she said, giving him a small smile. "Matthew." Larry called, causing Lyssa to turn and see Larry, Dean, and Sam walking towards them. "I am so sorry about my son and his...pet."
"No problem. I...love...spiders." Lyssa said with a smile, forcing the last part out.
"Excuse us." Larry said, leading Matt away from the three. "Remind you of somebody?" Sam asked Dean who looked over at Larry who was yelling at Matt. Dean looked back at Sam confused. "Dad?" Sam offered. "Dad never treated us like that." Dean defended. "Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case." Sam said. Dead kind of shook his head, not remembering. "You don't remember?"
"Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line." Dean continued to defend. "Right. Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting." Sam scoffed. "Bowhunting's an important skill." Dean argued.
"That's enough boys." Lyssa interjected, not wanting to listen to them argue. "How was your tour?" she asked, changing the subject. "It was excellent. I'm ready to buy." Dean said, causing Sam to laugh. "And Sam was onto something. Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."
"What happened?" Lyssa asked, curious. "About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this severe allergic reaction to be stings." Sam explained. "More bugs." Lyssa said with a frown. "More bugs." Dean confirmed with a smile.
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"You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean asked, looking through John's journal while Sam drove. "Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations." Sam offered, glancing at his brother. "Yeah, but there weren't any signs of ghost activity." Lyssa countered from the back seat. "Us neither." Sam said.
"Maybe they're being controlled somehow. You know, by something or someone." Dean offered. "You mean, like Willard?" Sam asked, looking over at his brother. "Yeah, bugs instead of rats." Dean said, flipping through pages of the journal. "There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals-elementals, telepaths." Lyssa said, looking over Dean's shoulder.
"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing." Dean said, then realized something. "Larry's kid-he's got bugs for pets."
"Matt?" Lyssa asked.
"Yeah."
"He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula." Lyssa said, sitting back in her seat. "You think he's our Willard?" Dean asked Sam. "I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess." Sam answered. "Ooh, hey. Pull over here." Dean said, motioning to one of the houses. Sam pulled the Impala into the driveway and Dean got out. "What are we doing here?" Lyssa asked. "It's too late to talk to anybody else." he answered, heading towards the garage. "We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam asked, sticking his head out.
"I wanna try the steam shower. Come on." Dean said, lifting the garage door. "Come on!" he said again when Sam didn't move. Sam reluctantly pulled the Impala into the garage and Dean closed it.
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Sam knocked on the bathroom door where he could hear the shower running. "You ever coming out of there?" he asked, his voice raised enough to be heard over the running water. "What?" Dean called from the other side of the door. "Dean, a police call came in on the scanner." Sam said. "Hold on." Dean called. "Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on." Sam said, getting agitated.
Dean opened the bathroom door and stream began to rush out of the bathroom. "This shower is awesome." he said with a towel wrapped around his head. Sam rolled his eyes and walked away. "Hurry up!" he called from down the hall.
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Sam pulled the Impala up to the curb and they all got out. They approached Larry who was finishing talking to someone on the phone. "Hello. You're, uh, back early." he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood." Dean said. "What's going on?" Lyssa asked, referring to the scene they walked up to.
"You met, uh...Lynda Bloome at the barbecue?" Larry asked. "The realtor." Sam said. "Well, she, uh...passed away last night." Larry explained, shocking the three. "What happened?" Dean asked. "I'm still trying to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now." Larry explained, noticing a few police officers on the front porch waiting for him.
"It's okay." Sam assured. "Excuse me." Larry said before heading over to the officers. "You know what we have to do, right?" Dean asked, once Larry was out of ear shot. "Yeah. Get in that house." Sam said, not sounding too happy. "See if there's a bug problem." Lyssa confirmed. A few minutes later, they climbed over the fence, up the side of the house, and through Lynda's bedroom window.
"This looks like the place." Dean said, walking into the bathroom. He picked up a towel, but dropped it when he saw it was covered in dead spiders. "Spiders. From Spider Boy?" Dean asked, looking up at Lyssa. "Matt." Sam corrected. "Maybe." Lyssa answered.
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Dean pulled up to the curb and parked the Impala where Matt was getting off the school bus across the street. "Isn't his house that way?" Dean asked when Matt began walking in the opposite direction. "Yup." Sam said, watching the kid. "So where's he going?" Dean asked, opening his door to get out. Sam and Lyssa followed and they began following Matt. They followed him into the woods where he was examining a grasshopper.
"Hey, Matt. Remember me?" Lyssa asked, walking up to the boy who had the grasshopper crawling up his arm. "What're you doing here?" he asked, looking behind her at Sam and Dean. "Well, we wanna talk to you." Dean said, moving to stand right behind Lyssa. "You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt asked, causing Dean to shake his head. "W-wait. You're not serial killers, are you?" he asked, backing away a little while Sam and Dean chuckled.
"No, no. No, I think you're safe." Sam said.
"So, Matt...you sure know a lot about insects." Dean started. "So." Matt countered, causing Lyssa to chuckle. "Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" Dean asked after throwing a glare towards Lyssa. "I hear she died this morning." Matt offered, still skeptical about trusting them. "Mm, that's right. Spider bites." Dean explained.
"Matt..you tried to scare her with a spider." Lyssa said. "Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" Matt asked. "You tell us." Dean countered. "That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy." Matt explained. "You know about those?" Sam asked. "There's something going on here. I don't know what...but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you." Matt said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and motioning for them to follow him.
"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out." Lyssa said, following Matt deeper into the woods. "Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me." Matt explained. "Why not?" Lyssa asked.
"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son." Matt answered. "I'm sorry." Lyssa said. "Matt, how old are you?" Sam asked from behind them. "Sixteen." he answered. "Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen." Sam told him, giving him a smile. "What?" Matt asked, looking up at the younger Winchester.
"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad." Sam said. "That's what I told him." Lyssa said.
"What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family." Dean spoke up. Sam sighed and shot a glare at his brother. "How much further, Matt?" Lyssa asked, sensing the tension rising between the brothers. "We're close." he answered, seeming to understand why Lyssa was asking. Sam glared at Dean one more time before following after Lyssa and Matt. A few moments later, they reach a large clearing where the sounds of hundreds of different insects can be heard among the trees.
"I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class." Matt explained. "You three are like peas in a pod." Dean commented, earning another glare from Sam. "What's been happening?" Lyssa asked, opting to ignore Dean's comment. "A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles...you name it. It's like they're congregating here." Matt said.
"Why?" Dean asked, looking at Matt. "I don't know." Matt answered, looking around the clearing in awe.
"What's that?" Lyssa asked, pointing to a dark patch of grass a few feet away. Sam and Dean walked over to it, Lyssa and Matt behind them, and discover hundreds of worms. Dean stepped on some of them and they fell into the ground, creating a hole. Crouching down, he used a stick to poke around in the hole. "There's something down there." he said, feeling something with the stick.
Putting the stick down, he put his hand in the hole. A disgusted expression came across his face as he felt something inside the hole. Bringing his hand up, the four of them look in horror as Dean pulled up a human skull, covered in dirt and worms.
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"So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave." Lyssa commented as Sam draped his coat over the box of skulls when they pulled up to the Department of Anthropology. "Yeah. Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?" Dean commented, leading the way inside. "Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?" Sam said, bringing up a valid point. "That's two questions." Dean commented.
"Yeah, so with that kid back there...why'd you two tell him to just ditch his family?" Dean asked when Sam ignored his comment. "It's not ditching your family, Dean. It's just getting away for a while. After eighteen years of them breathing down your neck, it's nice to get away." Lyssa explained. "How about telling him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean asked, looking down at Lyssa.
"Dean, if there's one rule I always live by, it's-it doesn't matter how old you are. If you don't respect me, I'm not going to respect you. It's never failed me before. And from what I saw, there was no respect on either side." Lyssa countered, stopping to look up at Dean. "Never mind. Sorry I brought it up." he said, refusing to look her in the eye. "Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment." he added before walking ahead.
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"So, you three are students?" the professor asked, carrying the box to his desk. "Yeah. Yeah, uh, we're in your class-Anthro 101?" Sam lied. "Oh, yeah." the professor said, looking between the three. "So, what about these bones, Professor?" Lyssa asked, changing the subject. "This is quite an interesting find you've made. I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The time frame and the geography heavily suggest Native American." the professor observed.
"Were there any reservations on that land?" Sam asked.
"Not according to the historical record. But, uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." the professor offered. "Well, are there any local legends? Oral histories about the area?" Lyssa asked. "Well...you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here. Someone there might know the truth." the professor told them. "All right." Dean said with a nod.
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Dean, Sam, and Lyssa walked into the diner and found a Native American man playing cards at one of the tables. "Joe White Tree?" Sam asked. The man looked up briefly and nodded. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right." Lyssa added. "We're students from the university." Dean explained. "No you're not. You're lying." Joe said, not looking up from his cards. Dean got a shocked expression on his face and looked to Lyssa who shrugged. "Well, truth is-" he tried again, only to be cut off.
"You know who starts sentences with 'truth is'? Liars." Joe said, still not looking up from his cards. Lyssa muffled a laugh and coughed a little. "Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near Atoka Valley." Lyssa asked while Sam and Dean exchanged a look. "I like her. She's not a liar." Joe said to Dean before turning to Lyssa. Dean was about to retort, but stopped when Sam gave his arm a punch.
"I know the area." Joe said to Lyssa. "What can you tell us about the history there?" Lyssa asked after shooting Dean a triumphant grin. "Why do you wanna know?" Joe asked.
"Something...something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there-Native American bones." Lyssa explained, hoping he wouldn't think she was insane.
"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time.
"And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no one would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people." Joe told the three.
"Insects. Sounds like nature to me. Six days." Dean said. "And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Joe added.
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"When did the gas company man die?" Sam asked as the three left the diner, heading towards the Impala. "Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Dean answered, stopping once they made it to the Impala. "March twentieth?" Sam asked and Dean nodded. "That's the spring equinox." Sam added. "The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." Dean concluded.
"So every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land." Lyssa said. "And on the sixth night-that's tonight." Dean added, looking to Sam and Lyssa. "If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.
"You don't break the curse. You get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." Dean announced, sliding into the drivers seat.
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"Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood." Dean said over the phone with Larry.
"Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe."
"Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power."
"Uh..." Dean said before snapping the phone shut in panic. "Give me the phone." Lyssa said, leaning over the front seat to grab the phone.
"Matt, it's Lyssa."
"Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay?"
"Because something's coming."
"Yeah, a lot more."
"You've gotta make him listen."
"Give me the phone, give me the phone." Dean demanded, reaching behind him to grab the phone from Lyssa while still trying to drive. "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts." Dean said into the phone. "Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?"
Dean hung up the phone and tossed it onto the seat. "Make his listen? What are you thinking?" Dean asked Lyssa, giving her an odd look through the rearview mirror.
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A while later, Dean pulled up to outside Larry's house. They could see Larry look out the window at them when he heard the Impala roll up. "Damn it, they're still here. Come on." Dean said, opening his door and got out. Sam and Lyssa got out and followed after Dean while Larry and Matt came outside. "Get off my property before I call the cops." Larry threatened, pointing at them.
"Mr. Pike, listen." Lyssa tried to reason with the older man, but was unsuccessful. "Dad, they're just trying to help." Matt tried to tell his dad. "Get in the house!" Larry yelled at his son. "I'm sorry. I told him the truth." Matt told the three. "We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Dean said, slight annoyance in his voice. "Look, it's 12:00 AM. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late." Sam urged impatiently.
"Yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm." Larry accused angrily.
"Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas company guy? You don't think something weird's going on here?" Dean asked, trying to get through to the other man. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem." Larry warned, starting to back up towards the house.
"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now." Lyssa interjected. "Dad, they're right, okay? We're in danger." Matt spoke up. "Matt, get inside! Now!" Larry yelled, turning to his son. "No! Why won't you listen to me?!" Matt asked, standing his ground. "Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Larry answered a little desperately. "Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now are you gonna really take that risk with your family?" Sam asked.
"Wait." Dean said, causing everyone to go silent and look at him. "You hear it?" he asked. From somewhere nearby, a very loud buzzing noise could be heard and it continued getting louder. "What the hell?" Larry asked, looking in the direction of the buzzing. The fluorescent bug light on the porch began to overheat, killing several bugs at a time. "All right, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife." Dean ordered.
"Guys." Matt said, catching everyone's attention.
They all looked up at the sky to see millions of bugs beginning to fly towards the house, blanketing the sky. "Oh my God." Larry mumbled under his breath, looking up at the sky in terror. "We'll never make it." Sam said, eyeing the sky. "Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!" Dean ordered, ushering the other four onto the porch and inside and locking the door once inside. "Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Lyssa asked Larry.
"No, it's just us." Larry answered, his voice a little panicked as his wife entered the room. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" Joanie asked, going over to stand next to her husband. "Call 911." Larry told her. "Joanie!" he said, louder this time when she didn't move. "Okay." she said, picking up the phone and dialing. "I need towels." Dean announced. "Uh, in the closet." Larry told him.
"Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on-doors, windows, fireplace, everything, okay?" Sam instructed Matt and they headed upstairs. "The phones are dead." Joanie said, hanging the phone up. "They must've chewed through the phone lines." Lyssa concluded, handing Dean some towels that he began putting at the base of the front door when the power went out. "And the power lines." he added.
"I need my cell." Larry said, picking his cell phone up off the table. "No signal." he added, opening the phone. "You won't get one. They're blanketing the house." Dean said, rummaging around for something. Millions of bugs began collecting on the doors and windows, covering the entire building as Sam and Matt came back down the stairs and the six of them watched, waiting.
"So, what do we do now?" Larry asked after a stretch of silence.
"We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise." Lyssa explained, not sounding too sure. "Hopefully?" Larry asked, shooting Lyssa a surprised look. Dean left the living room and headed towards the kitchen, searching the cabinets. Finding what he was looking for, he came back into the living room. "Bug spray?" Joanie asked, eyeing the can in Deans hand. "Trust me." he said.
They heard a creaking noise coming from somewhere around the fireplace. "What is that?" Matt asked, eyeing the fireplace. "The flue." Sam answered, his voice a little exasperated. "All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs." Dean said, getting ready to usher the others up the stairs when hundreds of thousands of bugs came into the living room, swarming around them. They all screamed and tried to protect themselves. Dean used his lighter with the can of bug spray to make a sort of flame thrower, warding some of the bugs away.
"All right, everybody upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!" Dean yelled, following after them with his flame thrower as the others made their way upstairs. Sam lead them to the attic and ushered the Pike family and Lyssa up before going up himself, Dean following closely behind him. The boys quickly got the door closed and both took a deep breath. After a few moments, sawdust began to fall from the ceiling and the buzzing of bees got louder.
"Oh, God, what's that?" Joanie cried as her and her family huddled in a corner. "Something's eating through the wood." Lyssa said, looking up at the ceiling. "Termites." Matt announced. "All right, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" Dean ordered, pushing Sam and Lyssa slightly behind him and holding his flame thrower at the ready. Seconds later, the bugs chewed a hole through the ceiling and swarming around the room. Sam and Dean frantically tried to patch up the hole in the ceiling, but it only worked for a minute. Soon, two more holes were chewed, and while Dean tried to ward them off with the bug spray, nothing seemed to work.
Dean pulled Sam and Lyssa over to the corner and tried desperately to swat the bugs away for a few minutes. The, suddenly, the sun began to rise. Miraculously, the bugs started to leave through the holes in the ceiling. Confused, Sam, Dean, and Lyssa got up to see what happened. Through the hole, they could see bugs in the sky, near the sun, in one enormous colony. The six of them continued watching, relieved.
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Dean pulled the Impala across the street from the Pike residence which was in the process of being emptied by movers and the Pike family. "What, no goodbye?" Dean asked as they approached Larry. "Good timing. Another hour and we'd have been gone." Larry said, giving them a smile and shaking their hands. "For good?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again." Larry explained, looking at the house thoughtfully. "You don't seem too upset about it." Lyssa observed. "Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." Larry began to say, looking over to Matt who was carrying a box to the garbage. "...somehow, I really don't care."
Matt and Larry share a smile and Sam walked over to Matt while Dean and Lyssa walked back to the Impala after saying a last goodbye to Larry. "Hey, I wanna apologize about what happened at the university." Dean said, leaning against the hood of the Impala. Lyssa leaned next to him and gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about it." she told him, bumping him in the shoulder. Dean grinned down at her as Sam came back towards them. "I wanna find dad." he announced, watching Larry and Matt who seemed to be getting along better now.
"Yeah, me too," Dean answered, watching the father and son as well. "Yeah, but I just...I want to apologize to him." Sam clarified.
"For what?" Dean asked, looking to his little brother. "All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could." Sam answered, looking down at the ground. "Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be back at each other's throats." Dean said. "Yeah, probably." Sam said with a laugh. "Let's hit the road." Sam said after a few seconds of silence.
"Let's." Dean agreed, pushing off the hood. "Shot gun!" Lyssa yelled, grinning when Sam gave her a dirty look. "Don't look at me like that, moose. If you wanted it, you should've called it." she said, sliding into the front seat. Dean laughed and slid into the driver's seat while Sam grumbled and clambered into the back seat.
A/N: Yay! An update! Sorry for the long wait, but I've been really busy all summer and haven't had the time to write this one out and it takes up so much time because it's so long. But, it's finished now and you can't complain! R&R and tell me what you think!