Author's Note:
I'm astounded at some of the encouraging words. Thank you so much guys. I'm not sure how many of you were aware but I was in a pretty bad writer's block/depression stage and to get the support from just one chapter like this has been amazing. I love you guys, and yes, that includes you mystery reader that I haven't heard from yet :)
"This place is falling apart, Dean." Sam was as demanding as ever, sixteen years old and still a brat. Maybe that was more normal than Dean remembered it being. Regardless, it was still a pain in his ass.
"It's the best we can do, Sam." He didn't want to be an asshole; he knew Sam was just trying to express his distaste for their situation. Running out of money wasn't easy, Dean was just grateful that Jet was there to help pick up a portion of the rent.
"I know," Sam walked up the steps, hesitating when one dipped under his weight, "But maybe… we can get an apartment?" He was hopeful, like he wanted to be thankful for something but he just couldn't do it.
"There're no apartments for three people that are cheaper than the monthly rent here." Dean explained like he had several times to himself. He'd told himself the same over and over to try and make it look better than it was. "We'll just fix it up a little, it'll be fine. Bobby can't give us any cash for a while so we'll have to make due, okay?"
Sam nodded and headed inside to check it out, Dean wasn't entirely sure he wanted to hear the full opinion.
They'd lived with Bobby since the accident that took John and Mary from them; it'd been a good ten years since then. Dean and Sam had been staying with Bobby in Sioux Falls during their parents' anniversary trip and they wound up living there full time. The plane went down, everyone on board died. It was devastating but Dean always did his best to hold it together for Sam. Sometimes he wondered if it ever really worked, though.
The first year of school in Sioux Falls Dean met Jet. They weren't friends right away but Sam won the asshole over, Dean wasn't too surprised, those puppy dog eyes worked on everybody. As it had turned out Jet was from a city but his mom moved him to a small town up North because she figured it was a 'better influence.' She did it too late, in Dean's opinion. Jet was more of a bad influence on him than anything else. But they both managed to graduate (held back a year because of shenanigans that got them kicked out of a chemistry course).
Dean loved Bobby as much as he had his own dad, which only made him angrier when Bobby demanded they go to a better college than what Sioux Falls had to offer them. "You're too good for this town, boy." Bobby had said with that crotchety old man tone of his, "I'll send you some money for housing, pick a good one."
He did what Bobby asked and moved at 18 years old, being as inseparable as they were, he took Sam and Jet with. Bobby was a little pushy to make sure Dean took Sam too, and it was pretty clear why. The move wasn't just because Dean deserved better, it was also because Sam was such a bright kid that he'd be wasted in a tiny high school. Bobby didn't want to move from his junkyard, said he'd made his roots and that was it for him but he'd go and visit sometimes.
Two years later, when Dean turned 20 they had to move from the nice housing they'd originally picked because they couldn't afford it anymore. Bobby had hit a rough patch in his health and all his spare money was going to medical bills; it wasn't anything serious but it was still enough to dent his help to the Winchester boys. Now they were looking at a fancy 'fixer-upper' and it was the best thing Dean could find. Jet's negotiating powers were pretty hit or miss, either he'd score them an amazing deal or piss someone off and they'd lose the whole thing entirely.
Dean was the one who finalized the decision on their living space and he was slowly starting to regret his pick. The roof was a disaster, the driveway was full of holes, and they didn't have a garage for his car. He didn't even want to think about the interior.
"It's better than nothing," Jet pat him on the shoulder, a reassuring gesture that Dean didn't know he'd needed. "We can make this work, I've had worse."
"Thanks man," Dean smiled.
Sam stepped out the front door again, an apologetic look on his face, "Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I pick out my room first?"
Dean's smile widened and he nodded, "Sure."
"I'm still not sure I believe it," Sam uttered from the back seat, watching the outskirts of town slip away. "I've seen the estate before but still, your boss owned it?"
"Emphasis on the past tense, Sammy," Jet grinned back at him, having stolen the front next to Dean. "It's ours now!"
Dean had let the elation reach him after telling Sam; his disbelief was put on hold as he let himself live the dream. The odds of it being true were too slim, there was no way it actually happened but he'd enjoy it until he woke up in his bed. How could something like ten million dollars happen to them? All just because of a job choice one of them made? Dean didn't want to think about it, all he wanted was to see this brand new world he'd be living in.
Just outside of town was a large estate, acres of land belonging to one home. It was an old school mansion with a garden and fountain in the courtyard. Trimmed hedges lined the half-mile driveway, the grass was perfectly cut and everything they could see was immaculate. Dean's mouth felt dry as he pulled around the front, it was bigger up close than he'd expected. He always saw it from the highway and it never looked as amazing as it did at that moment.
Sam stepped out of the car and stared in awe, "You guys are really serious, this is ours?" He asked quietly, almost as if speaking too loud would break the illusion he was in. "We're not trespassing?"
"Not unless I say so," Jet waltzed right up the steps, past the marble pillars and to the polished door. He took out the set of keys that looked strange in his hands- too nice for someone like Jet to be holding- and unlocked the doors. With a slight creak the mansion opened to them, natural sunlight poured in from all the windows and lit the place like a wonderland. It was clean, no dust or garbage or anything out of place.
The entrance was incredible, everything was a polished white, the floor reflected the ceiling, which had a chandelier made of crystals. Two red stone staircases led to the second level, a decorative railing lined the way. Dean looked up to see that the entrance was open to all four of the floors, the same railing circled around each level to stop people from falling. It was so open and felt so big; works of art hung on the walls, busts and statues were strategically placed among different kinds of flora.
Dean couldn't focus and just tried to see everything at once; he just couldn't believe that he was even standing there. Part of him expected someone to walk in and demand to know what he was doing there.
"He must have cleaning staff," Sam noted as he slid his hand over the nearest surface, "This place is spotless."
Jet stood with the Winchester brothers, unmoving as all three took in their surroundings. Not one made a move for nearly 30 seconds. Jet slowly stepped forward, his breath caught in his throat as he established that he was walking on real ground. His steps quickened as his mouth pulled back in a smile, "C'mon, let's explore this thing!"
It was like someone had shot the starting gun at a race; Sam ran for the stairs, Jet went down the center hall and Dean headed for the East Wing. Their footsteps echoed and so did their voices when they yelled.
Dean opened the first door he came across and looked inside, it looked like a small sitting room with the most amazing couches he'd ever seen. One wall was just a massive window to see the front courtyard, which was the direction the furniture pointed in general. The room was the size of his and Sam's bedrooms combined back at their rundown piece of shit. It was probably one of the smaller rooms but it still looked incredible to him.
"We've got a fucking pool!" Jet's voice carried down the halls suddenly and Dean almost laughed.
"The bedrooms are amazing!" Sam had run back to the entrance balcony to yell down at them.
Dean hadn't made any discoveries more amazing than those so he just shouted back; "I found a sitting room!" He smiled when he heard their combined laughter; it was true though, he had found a sitting room.
He continued down the hall and pulled on the next door but it wouldn't budge. He frowned and looked at it closer as he tugged again, it was locked. His inner delinquent told him it was just a door, Jet would understand if he kicked it down. Dean didn't bother to think it over and took several steps back. He rushed forward and discovered first hand that the door was not only made of something more solid than wood, but that it was also reinforced.
Dean hit the floor and groaned, his hands instinctively going to cradle his ankle. "What the hell?" He scrunched his nose up at the door, "Fuckin' weird old douche with his weird old doors made of fuckin' steel."
"Hey!" Jet appeared down the hall, skidding around the corner and trotting over to him, "You okay man? I heard a loud 'thud.'"
"You move fast," Dean laughed and carefully climbed back to his feet, "I literally just fell."
"Well I realized it wasn't as fun exploring alone," Jet looked at the door as he spoke, his brow dipping a little. "What'd you do?"
"Tried to get inside,"
Jet pulled on the handle once before he fished out the set of keys again, "I was like a ten second walk that way, you had to try and break it down?" He smirked over at Dean who shrugged innocently.
"I didn't want to bug you?"
"You wanted to break something expensive."
"True." Dean's eyes were glued to Jet's hand as he turned the doorknob, it opened with a much more prominent creak than would be expected in such a nice place. It was heavy too, Dean could tell by how Jet pushed on it to get it open. A gust of air burst out as soon as it cracked a little, it had a metallic smell that Dean couldn't place. It was too dark to see anything but there were sounds distantly echoing out.
"Basement?" Jet asked as he slid his hand on the wall for a switch. When the lights flickered on they revealed a steep, metal staircase. It was just as clean as everything else, almost more so. The stairs were enclosed by steel walls on either side and turned a corner at the first landing. Everything about it felt sterile like a hospital, it reminded Dean of a plethora of horror movies and he wasn't so sure he wanted to go down.
"Whoa," he breathed out as he leaned closer, not quite daring to stick any appendages inside.
"Hey," Sam clasped his shoulder and made him jump, a quickly cut off squeak escaping his throat. Sam's mouth twisted up as he tried not to laugh.
"What?" Dean pulled away defensively, his lips pursed and nostrils flaring.
"Nothing," Sam shared a look with Jet who was also attempting not to snicker, "just wanted to say I picked out a room already."
"Yeah, cool, that's good." Dean adjusted his shoulders and pointed toward the basement, "C'mon, let's check this thing out." All bravado to cover for his squealing but it got him onto the stairs heading down. Dean wasn't really sure what he was in for but it seemed better than the two laughing behind him.
The staircase ended at another heavy-duty door, this one with a window. Dean could see what looked like a massive warehouse, and when he opened it up nothing but science fiction movies came to mind. The door opened to a high landing over looking the extensive space, the sound of machines echoed and fluorescent lighting buzzed overhead.
"What the hell…?" he asked in a whisper as he slowly stepped down the next set of stairs. He could see in the center of the room what looked like a circular control panel of some kind. There were swirling vats of dark liquid on the west side of the room, monitors all along the east wall, and at the far back there was another set of doors. There were many other things that Dean could see but he had no idea what they were; all he could think was that this huge underground space continued on past those doors.
"Who even was this guy!?" Jet exclaimed animatedly, gesturing around without any idea of what else to do. "I was working for a fucking psycho."
"A scientist, maybe, but not necessarily a psycho." Sam pointed out though his tone was just as awestruck as the other two.
Dean walked to the centerpiece, there were so many buttons and display screens that he had no idea which one to press first; or whether or not he should even try to press any. "This place is so crazy," he muttered as he hovered his hand over the console. There were larger labels for different sections of the board, some were for cameras in what Dean assumed were the many areas of the facility. One section was labeled 'Feeding' and brought so many more questions.
Sam walked up beside him, saw the labels and immediately went to turn on the displays; Dean didn't say anything at first, at least not until the monitors on the wall switched on. "What the fuck?!" He blurted out as the screens lit up with the weirdest images. The lighting wasn't that great but something was moving on each one. As Sam continued to switch them on some appeared to have lights; Dean watched an animal in a cage scamper about and scratch at the walls. He couldn't tell what it was, though. It had ears like a rabbit but its body looked more like a dog's.
"Alright, I'm a bit weirded out now," Jet admitted as the wall filled up entirely with different caged areas, one of which was just an eye blinking at the camera and taking up its entirety.
"Where are they?" Sam whispered, horrified at the realization of how much animal cruelty was going on.
"Fuck," Jet's voice was shaky as he raised his hand to point something out, "Look at that! That's a fucking person!"
Dean tried to follow his line of sight and realized that most of the animals were looking toward the cameras now, as if they sensed that someone had turned it back on. He finally found the one Jet was talking about and it stunned him. A human face was extremely close to the screen, too close to make much out other than the fact that they were trying to chew on the lens. It must have been just outside the person's reach, it almost looked like there was a glass wall between the person and the camera.
"I bet they're through there," Sam's words barely registered in Dean's head before his little brother was darting across the facility.
"Sam!" Dean shouted but it wasn't enough to stop him. "Goddamn it, c'mon Jet."
"Wait," Jet caught his arm, "Look, the other lights are turning on-"
"I'll be right back," Dean shook Jet off and ran after Sam, the door to the second area already open.