People are spread across the back yard, the men have gathered on the patio around the grill as they are want to do, laughing and sipping beers, the women mingle around the gazebo, the older kids had started a soccer match and the younger kids either trailed their mothers or were in the play room off of the patio. I make my way around, making a point to stop and chat with everyone. Most of the time Annaleigh sleeps peacefull against my chest in her sling and the women coo and make comments on how adorable she is and, of course, give me advice, which isn't totally unwanted.
I pass Annaleigh off to Castiel or Gabe a few times, when I need to be in the kitchen or once when I had been invited to join the kids' soccer match. After a couple of hours I find myself sitting alone, sipping a lemonade.
"Hey." Castiel sits next to me on the low patio wall, he holds Annaleigh with one arm as she happily suckles on a bottle, making content little noises.
"Hey." I smile at him, "We did good today."
"Yeah." He frowns at the setting sun, "But we're two guests short."
"What?"
He shakes his head, "Nevermind, it doesn't really matter I guess. I'm going to go put Annaleigh to bed. We should turn on the lights before it gets too dark." He stands again, smiling down at me, "I'll be right back."
"Okay." I watch him head inside just as Gabe comes out the back door.
"Hey Gabe?" He looks at me, "Could you hit the lightswitch there? Just inside the door." He nods and reaches back to flip the switch.
Hundreds of tiny bulbs light up, strung over the patio area and all around the gazebo.
There are a few oohs and aahs from the women as the warm light floods the yard.
Castiel P.O.V
"Great job with the party Cassie." Gabe says as I pass him in the doorway on my way to put Annaleigh to bed.
"Thanks Gabe." I smile at him and head for the stairs.
As I reach the front room the doorbell rings and I grin, hoping that it's our last two guests. When I open the door I'm met with one slightly nervous looking younger man and, standing behind him one very digruntled older gentleman.
"Hi! Hello! Please, come in it's great that you came!" I step aside to let the pair in.
The younger man smiles and his dimples make an appearance as he brushes some unruly hair behind one ear.
"Sorry we're late but this one took alot of convincing." He gestures to the other man who takes off his ball cap as he enters the house, wringing the fabric in his hands.
"An I still don't want ta be here, no offense."
"None taken." I smile, "Oh! I'm sorry," I hold out my hand with Annaleigh's empty bottle, "oh, umm," I quicky transfer the bottle to my other hand and hold out my free one once more, "I'm Castiel Novak and this is Annaleigh." I shake each man's hand in turn.
"Sam Winchester." The younger man has a nice firm grip just like his brother. When the older man doesn't give a name, Sam introduces him, "And, uh, Bobby Singer."
"It's so nice to meet you and I'm so glad that you could make it tonight. If you want to go ahead, the party's out back, I have to go and try to get this one to sleep."
"Thanks for having us." Sam smiles again and the two head towards the back of the house.
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When I get back to the party, Annaleigh still in tow, I see that Sam is mingling with the rest of the neighbors and Bobby is, surprisingly, sat amongst the men on the patio, laughing heartily at something that Dwayne had said. I look around for Dean but he's nowhere in sight and we seem to be about ten short of our previous count.
"Where did everyone run off to?" I turn to Cindy as her two oldest boys are among the missing.
"Oh, they're playing hide and seek in the woods." She seems perfectly okay with her children being out in the woods in the dark.
I laugh, "I see."
I carry a plastic bag with me and it swings at my side as I walk to the edge of the forest.
"Olly olly oxen free!" I shout into the dark. Immediatly half a dozen figures emerge from the night to gather around me, "Can you guys go round up all the rest of the kids at the gazebo, and make sure they all get one of these." I hand Jack, Cindy's oldest son, the bag I had been carrying.
The kids split up, half disappearing back into the forest to find their team mates, the other half to gather up the kids still milling around the yard and play room. I count heads as they slowly emerge from the trees, making sure that everyone made it safely back. When the last of the children join the group Jack runs over to me.
"That's everyone."
"Alright, and everyone got a box?" He nods, "Here," I pull a lighter from my pocket and hand it to him, "go have fun."
I watch as the children open the little multi colored cardboard boxes, Jack lights several of the sparklers and shows them how to light the others with the ones that are already burning, the kids run and jump and laugh and I smile.
But then my stomach drops with the sudden realization that Dean is still no where to be seen. I calmly walk back over to the group of adults now gathered on the patio and ask around if anyone had seen Dean. The knot in my stomach grows with each no and I begin to panic. I ask Cindy to watch Annaleigh and turn to Gabriel.
"Gabe I can't find Dean." I grip his arm.
"What? What do you mean?" Where he had been previously leaned comfortably relaxed against Lawrence he now stands straight, knowing all too well what it could mean.
"He's missing, no one's seen him since he went to play hide and seek."
"Okay, maybe he just didn't hear you call, we'll go look for him."
"What's wrong?" Sam had been sitting on the bench next to Gabe and had obviously heard our conversation.
"My uh, my partner, he didn't come in from the woods."
"I'll help you look for him." His eyes suddenly go hard and I know it's because he knows there really is something in the dark, something that goes bump in the night, something that wouldn't give a second thought to killing Dean in a heartbeat.
"Me too." Lawrence stands behind Gabe, hands on his shoulders, "You go ahead, We'll gather up the guys and we'll all look for him."
Sam nods tensly and we head out past the parents watching the kids and past the children burning sparkler after sparkler.
When we reach the edge of the woods and he moves to part ways I reach out and grab his wrist.
"Sam, I know you know that this could end badly. That there could be a monster in the dark." His eyes widen, "I don't know about you but my hunting skills are a little rusty and I would rather we didn't split up, if you don't mind."
"I, uh, yeah. Okay, we'll go together." He leads the way through the thick underbrush.
My heart is pounding in my chest, I don't know what we'll find, if anything at all. I can't lose Dean. I've known him for just under two months and I feel as if we've been married for thirty years, as if we've known eachother our entire lives. I pray that he just didn't hear me call.
Ten minutes go by, then fifteen with no sign of Dean and I'm panicking. Sam watches me and that only makes it worse. If there was something out here than it could come and get me for all I cared if it already had Dean, so I scream, I call his name and it scares me, the desperate, panicked sound of my own voice. I see Sam tense out of the corner of my eye, he's watching, waiting for something to come at us.
Dean P.O.V
I sit cross-legged on the bank of the stream, I don't want to make it too hard on the kids to find me. The water rushes in front of me, occasionally a leaf or twig will float down and I'll watch until it disappears into the trees along with the stream.
A twig snaps not too far behind me and I think it must be one of the kids. I listen to the rustle of the bushes and wonder why they haven't called me out yet, they were certainly close enough to see me. They break free from the bushes and make their way across the stony bank. The come up right beind me and stop. I turn to see who it was that had found me and my heart skips a beat.
The damp muzzle twitches and glistens in the moonlight, eyes stare me down. I hold my breath. It leans closer, stinking breath wafting over my face, lips pull back to expose yellowed teeth, it leans in all the way and nibbles curiously at my hair, whuffing, annoyed when the taste doesn't meet expectations.
I laugh and the doe jumps backwards, eyes going wide. She stares at me for a long moment before bounding back into the trees.
I settle back into my original position and wait, thinking that it had been a long time since I had sat down. I reach into my pocket for my phone to check the time and realize that I must have left it back at the house. I shrug and wait a few more minutes.
Then I hear something that makes my heart stop dead.
Castiel screaming my name and he sounds terrified. I'm on my feet in record time and I run in the direction his voice had come from, I don't think I just run, I have to find him. The underbrush catches my jeans and tears holes through denim and skin but I don't slow down. I keep running until I can see him, standing in a clearing next to Dwayne, I don't stop, I slam my body into his and pull him into my arms.
"What? What is it? Are you okay?" I take his head between my hands and inspect him for injuries.
His lips are on mine in an instant, kissing me hard. When he pulls away he punches me in the chest.
"You scared me to death!" He yells, "Why didn't you come in when I called all free?"
"I'm sorry babe, I didn't hear you! You scared me to death, screaming my name like that!" I pull him back into a hug, "I'm glad you're okay."
"I'm glad you're okay." He holds me tight.
We're interrupted by Dwayne clearing his throat and we pull apart.
"Dean..." That's when I notice that it isn't, in fact, Dwayne, but Sam stood there in the clearing with us.
"Sammy..." His name comes out as barely a whisper.
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Alright, so what did we think of that? You guys have no idea the extent of my happiness at finally being able to give you an update! I hope you loved it and I hope I gave you a little suspense with the part about the doe, I honestly had no clue how to draw that out any further than I did. And yes! The confrontation with Sam! I'm so flipping excited to write that! Anywho, I love you all!