(S1EP9 - Home)
Alina finished drying her hair with the now wet towel that she quickly threw on her shoulder, and for a short moment, she felt like she was losing her balance and had to grab the sink to stay on her feet. That wasn't the first time this happened to her. Three days had passed since the strange events of Kansas City and the dinner, and she felt like her head was about to explode every time she walked out of the motel rooms. It was the first time she had that kind of vertigo inside the room, but she was starting to get used to it. So she quickly shook her head to chase the headache away and grabbed her toothbrush, brushing her teeth when she walked out of the bathroom to find the brothers in the middle of a new argument. When she'd left them to go take a shower, Dean was trying to find a new job on the computer, and Sam was drawing something on his notebook. Nothing out of the ordinary. At least, nothing that could've justified another disagreement during the short amount of time she'd spent in the bathroom.
"Why would you think that?" Dean asked his brother.
"Uh…it's just, um….look, just trust me on this, okay?" He turned around to walk away, spotting Alina getting out of the bathroom. "Hey, we're leaving pack your stuff."
Alina wanted to question him on their next destination, but Dean was faster to get up and follow his brother around the room. "Wait, whoa, whoa, trust you?"
"Yeah."
"Come on, man, that's weak. You gotta give me a little bit more than that."
"I can't really explain it is all."
"Well, tough. I'm not goin' anywhere until you do."
"Hold on guys." Alina stopped them when she realized that this wasn't just another disagreement. Something was wrong. Sam looked more worried than angry. "What's going on?"
The brothers both simply stared at her in silence, until Dean decided to give her an answer. "Sam wants to go back to our old home."
Alina frowned. She knew exactly what that meant, and couldn't understand why Sam would ever want to go back there. The house where their mom had died. Where everything changed for the three Winchesters still alive. Dean turned back to his brother, waiting expectantly for him to give him a valuable reason, while Alina simply gave him a confused look. "Why would you want that?" She asked him.
"Because…" He sighed, frustrated by the situation. "I think the people who live there might be in danger."
That was actually a good reason to go back, but Dean was right, it wasn't enough. It wasn't an explanation. And even if Alina wanted to interrogate him like his brother did, she kept a calm voice and a reassuring expression. "Okay…how would you know that?"
Sam sighed. He had to justify himself, but he didn't know how. So he started with the beginning. "I have these nightmares."
Dean nodded. "We've noticed."
"And sometimes…they come true."
Alina had to take a step back when she heard the last three words. She couldn't have heard him correctly. That wasn't happening…
"Come again?" Dean asked his brother, stunned by this new revelation.
"Look, Dean…I dreamt about Jessica's death, for days before it happened."
"Sam, people have weird dreams, man. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." He noticed the way Alina was looking at him when he sat on the bed. She clearly wanted to think like him, but she also couldn't believe in coincidences anymore.
"No, I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything, and I didn't do anything about it 'cause I didn't believe it. And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started, man, this has to mean something, right?"
Dean seemed as overwhelmed as Alina who went back in the bathroom, pretending to go wash her toothbrush when she actually wanted to hide her current state. She felt uneasy about this. Sam was having weird nightmares too? Was he…like her? No he couldn't be. That was impossible…
And yet, her whole world turned completely upside down when she finished washing her toothbrush and looked up at the mirror. She expected to see her pale reflection, but the first thing she saw instead was the dark lines covering it. She took a few steps away from the sink, and Sam's words echoed in her mind as she saw the whole drawing in front of her.
"Sam?" She called him in a shaking voice. "Did you say…you dreamt about a tree?"
"Yes why…" The moment he walked in the bathroom, he recognized the tree that had been drawn on the mirror with Alina's dark lipstick. He went to stand next to the girl, staring at the picture with his mouth opened in confusion.
Dean noticed his strange reaction, and even though he was lost in this situation, he got up and went to check on his brother and his friend to make sure they were alright. "What are you two…" And he noticed it too.
The three of them stood right in front of the mirror, looking at the drawing that took the whole surface, identical to the one Sam had drawn multiple times since he'd woken up.
"You did this?" The youngest Winchester eventually asked Alina.
"I…" Alina's eyes landed on her lipstick that was now on the floor, opened and obviously unusable anymore. It was totally crushed. The young woman suddenly had flashes of herself coming back to her mind, standing in front of the mirror with the lipstick in one hand. She had her current clothes on, and the wet towel was already on her shoulder. So her headache, wasn't just a headache. She had completely zoned out and drawn that tree without even noticing it.
"You did this?" Sam asked again. He didn't know if he was relieved that he wasn't actually crazy, or worried that she might be crazy too.
"I don't…" She couldn't lie to him anymore. He was connected to her secret now. "Sam there's something I didn't tell you…"
"Wait…I already know."
Both Dean and Alina turned to him, surprised by his statement. He seemed confident.
"No Sam, you don't…"
"I know spirits have been acting strangely around you ever since the Lake Manitoc case. I know you saw Bloody Mary twice before we destroyed her mirror. And there's the fact that you weren't affected by her powers like Dean and I were when she walked out of it. There's also the dog in St. Louis, the man at the dinner the other day, and the sleeping for two days thing is also kinda weird. So…I know most of it."
Alina was stunned. Sam knew about her secret, and he hadn't questioned her? "Wait…how did you find out?"
"You talk a lot in your sleep, and I don't really sleep. So…there's that. And I guess I just know you Alina. You're my best friend, you've always been."
"But…aren't you mad that I didn't tell you?"
"I didn't know how to tell you about my nightmares either, so I get it. I was just waiting for you to talk about it yourself, but this…" He pointed at the drawing on the mirror. "It has to mean something."
"Sam…" Alina could see how uncomfortable Dean looked. He didn't want to go back to their old house, and that was more than understandable. "I wasn't myself when I drew that tree. I don't know what it means."
"It's the exact same tree from my dream! The same tree I drew repeatedly ever since I woke up this morning, the same tree from our old house in Kansas. You can't tell me that all of this is just a big coincidence." He then turned to his brother, hoping to get some support from him. "Right?"
Dean shook his head, completely lost. First Alina, now Sam? What was happening? "I don't know." And he left the bathroom, soon followed by a persistent Sam.
"What do you mean you don't know, Dean? This woman might be in danger. I mean, this might even be the thing that killed mom and Jessica!"
"All right, just slow down, would you?"
Alina gave her drawing one last look before following the brothers to the bedroom. She felt bad when she saw how shaken Dean looked.
"I mean, first you tell me that you've got the Shining too? And then you tell me that I've gotta go back home? Especially when…" He couldn't finish his sentence. And something in Alina broke when she saw the fear in her friend's eyes.
"When what?" Sam still insisted.
Of course, he didn't know how bad Dean felt about that place. How could he?
Dean hesitated, but eventually looked back at his brother, with sadness."When I swore to myself that I would never go back there?"
That was enough. Alina couldn't just stand there any longer and watch that argument destroy her friend.
"Look, Dean…" Alina put a hand on Sam's shoulder to stop him. She had to step in. Her best friend seemed surprised by her action, as he gave her an interrogative look. He was always so impatient, and Dean always looked so strong and brave, that sometimes his little brother just couldn't see how broken he was.
Alina smiled at him gently. "Hey could you give us a moment Sam?"
He didn't want to. He wanted to jump in the car and leave right away to go check on the family that was in trouble. But Alina quickly shook her head to make him understand how important it was to give her some time to convince Dean. And he trusted her, so he agreed and left the motel room to give the two hunters some privacy.
Dean was standing in front of the window when Alina joined him. She didn't touch him, she just stood there next to him, seeing Sam outside walking towards the car to wait for them with his hands in his pockets.
"I can't do this Alina. I can't go back."
"I know. But can't you understand Sam's reaction, Dean? He just doesn't know."
Alina knew. When she was 10, right after her parents had told her about that horrible night, the young girl had found Dean one night outside of Bobby's house, holding a picture of his mom. That night, exactly ten years had passed since Mary Winchester's death, and Dean had waited until everyone was asleep to discreetly leave the house. He didn't know that Alina was waking up from a nightmare at the exact same moment he was leaving the room, so he hadn't noticed her following him in the dark until he reached the scrap yard and sat on top of an old car's hood. He'd been there for a few minutes when she'd finally walked out of her hidden spot and asked him why he was so sad. She already knew why, but she still wanted him to talk to her. And that's what he'd done. That night, was the night he'd sworn to himself, and to her, to never go back to that place.
"He's my little brother, he doesn't need to know."
"Dean…"
"I won't talk about my freaking emotions with him!" He angrily turned around and sat on the bed.
Alina got déjà-vu from that scene, except this time Dean was the one to runaway from her. And she was the one who had to comfort him. So she softly turned to him, keeping her distance for now. "You did it with me."
"But it's different Alina...You're different."
Alina smiled at that. She was glad to be someone Dean could trust with his feelings, but also sad to probably be the only person in that case. She took a step closer to him, taking her time not to push him too much. "Dean I get it. That night I also promised you that I'd do everything I could do so you wouldn't have to go back there. So…if you really feel like you can't come with us, I'll go with Sam and we'll do this one on our own."
Dean lifted his head and was about to protest, when Alina finally reached him and crouched in front of him, taking his hands in hers. "But, you're right about one thing. Sam is your little brother and no matter how stubborn he can be, he needs you more than he'll ever need me. So if you decide to come with us, I swear that you won't have to do this alone. I'll be right there next to you. That's my favorite place to be anyway." She gave him an amused grin that made him laugh a little. And she loved hearing that sound. "Okay…just take a moment to think about it. I'll be outside with our little Danny Torrance."
He smiled even more when she also made a reference to The Shining to lighten up the mood. And after she stood up and was ready to leave, he found himself holding onto her hands and pulling her towards him to wrap his arms around her and let his head rest against her belly. She first reacted with surprise, not expecting such a gesture from him, but then she smiled again and embrace him back. She put one hand behind his neck, and let the other one slip into his hair to caress them with tenderness. She didn't say anything, knowing he just needed to stay in that position for a moment. He needed to gather enough courage to do what he didn't want to do.
Sam, starting to lose patience was about to go back inside the room, when he spotted the two through the window, and realized that he had to give them more time. He knew that Dean couldn't let himself be that vulnerable around anyone else, and even though he felt like the situation was a little too urgent for a hug, he was glad that his friend could be there for his brother. That was also why he didn't feel betrayed when Alina told Dean about her secret, before telling him. The two hunters couldn't see how obvious they were, and that was the most bothering detail for Sam. Why were they so blind?
THE NEXT DAY
It was early in the morning when the Impala parked outside of a pretty normal family house, in a pretty normal neighborhood. Everything was so quiet that it was almost hard to believe for Alina that so many bad things had happened, and were still happening here. Was that new family really in danger?
"You gonna be all right, man?" Sam asked his brother sitting next to him, looking at the house apprehensively.
"Let me get back to you on that."
As Sam was getting out of the car, Dean gave Alina a quick glance in the rearview mirror, and felt a little more relaxed when she smiled back at him. Her smile had to be the most effective medicine for its troubled mind.
It didn't take too long after knocking on the front door, for it to open on a blond, young woman. She obviously was curious to know who these strangers were, but she still offered them a welcoming smile that they all tried to offer back.
"Yes?" The woman asked, still waiting for an introduction.
Dean was the first to reply with his usual lying formal voice. "Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal…"
"I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean, and our friend Alina. We used to live here."
Dean gave his brother a confused look while Alina was trying to hide her surprise. She didn't expect Sam to be so honest so soon either.
"You know, we were just driving by, and we were wondering if we could come see the old place."
Dean and Alina simply stood next to him silently, waiting for the woman's answer.
"Winchester… Yeah, that's so funny. You know, I think I found some of your photos the other night."
"You did?" Dean questioned her in surprise.
She nodded in reply and stepped aside after a short moment of hesitation. "Come on in."
Alina couldn't believe that woman was allowing some strangers to enter her house, but she was also relieved that they wouldn't have to lie this time. She did enjoy a bit of honesty sometimes. They followed the woman named Jenny to the kitchen, where they found a little girl doing her homework at the table, and her jumpy toddler brother in his playpen, screaming the same word over and over again. "Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!"
"He's got some good conversation skills." Alina joked, making the kid's mother laugh.
"That's Ritchie. He's kind of a juice junkie." Jenny explained to them while taking a sippy cup out of the refrigerator and handing it to the little boy. "But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy." She then walked over the little girl. "Sari, this is Sam, Dean and Alina. They used to live here."
Once the introductions done, the hunters didn't wait any longer to ask Jenny about her experience with the house. She told them she'd just moved here from Wichita because she needed a fresh start, which was something the three of them could understand, each in their own different way. Everything sounded normal, until Jenny started to mention the issues she currently had with the old house. Flickering lights almost hourly, scratching sounds coming from the basement…
At this point, Alina was holding Dean's arm tightly enough to make him feel her presence next to him.
And they all thought they had already heard the worst part of it, but Alina felt Dean's whole body tensing up next to her, when Sari, the little girl, mentioned what her mom suspected to be a simple nightmare she had. She'd seen something coming into her bedroom at night, in her closet, and whatever that thing was, it was on fire.
Of course they had to reassure her by confirming her mother's version, but it was actually all the evidences they needed. Something was still going on in that house, years after that horrible night, and Alina felt completely useless at that moment because she didn't know what to say to make the brothers feel better. All of this clearly wasn't a coincidence anymore, and that was her biggest fear coming here.
And as expected, the moment they walked out of the house, Sam jumped on the occasion to make Dean admit he was right about his dream. "You hear that? A figure on fire."
"And that woman, Jenny, that was the woman in your dreams?" Dean asked him, still shaken by the situation.
"Yeah. And you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights, both signs of a malevolent spirit."
"Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are coming true." He quickly turned to Alina who was still holding his arm, walking right next to him towards the car. "No offense."
Alina sighed and shook her head. "Freaked out is probably too weak to describe what I'm feeling right now."
But Sam didn't care about their little comments, he was too focused to care about anything else than what that little girl had told them. "Well, forget about that for a minute. The thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed mom and Jessica?"
"I don't know!" Dean was getting annoyed by Sam's reaction. He was jumping to conclusions because he wanted this thing to be the one responsible for Jessica's death. He wanted his revenge, and he couldn't see how this new job was affecting his brother.
And as much as Alina could understand their two points of view, she also didn't like Sam's roughness. "Sam, would you calm down for a minute?"
"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?"
"Or maybe it's something else entirely, Sam, we don't know yet."
"Dean please…" She quickly realized that neither of them were listening to her anymore. They were too busy arguing, like always.
"Well, those people are in danger, Dean. We have to get them out of that house."
"And we will."
Dean was so focused on his brother, he didn't even notice his friend's arm letting go of him once they reached the car. Another headache. Alina felt a mix of fear and anger taking control of her mind. The two emotions were fighting in her head, and she didn't know what to do to stop it. She wanted to fight something right now, she wanted to kill something, anything. But at the same time, she was so scared of even thinking about it that she couldn't even move from her spot. "Guys…"
"No, I mean now." Sam kept arguing with his brother.
"And how you gonna do that, huh? You got a story that she's gonna believe?"
Alina closed her eyes, blinded by the light surrounding her, her body dangerously stumbling next to the Impala. "Guys…"
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
Dean didn't answer that question, because a loud noise forced the brothers to turn around and see their friend sitting against the front wheel of the car. She had a hand on her forehead, and was moaning in pain. "Alina?!" They both forgot about their disagreement and worryingly ran to crouch in front of the girl.
"Alina?" Dean tried calling her again. "What's wrong?"
When she finally opened her eyes, and saw the two faces of her friends, she felt mostly relieved not to hear them fighting anymore, but she also felt the headache slowly going away. "I'm fine…I think…"
"What happened?" Sam asked her, still concerned about her well-being.
"I don't know. I just…I was furious and…afraid…and I just felt like my head was about to explode…"
She blinked a few times, until the pain was finally bearable. She got back up, the brothers following her movements, ready to catch her at any moment if she started to fall again. But she didn't, she shook her head in frustration and opened the car door. "Come on, we'll come back with a plan."
The brothers hesitated to follow her when she got on the passenger's seat. Sam wanted to go back inside the house and get the family away from it, to finally hunt that thing and kill it. Dean, was worried about the girl's physical state, and didn't want to simply ignore what had just happened to her. But while they could spend an entire day arguing with each other without getting anywhere, they both knew they couldn't go against Alina that easily. If she told them they had to come back with a plan, they were going to come back with a plan.
So they obeyed, got in the car, and drove to the nearest gas station to take a break. By the time they got there, the boys had completely calmed down and were now able to communicate without yelling.
They realized all they had to do was think about this job as if it was just any other kind of case. If it was, they'd try to figure out what they were dealing with by searching the history of the house. The exception this time, was that they already knew what had happened there more than two decades ago.
"Yeah, but how much do we know?" Sam pointed out as he turned to his brother. "I mean, how much do you actually remember?"
"About that night, you mean?"
"Yeah."
Dean looked at his friend next to him, as if to ask her if he would be able to talk about it. And since she couldn't decide for him, she simply smiled at him in the most supportive way, to let him know how much she believed in him.
"Not much." He replied, staring at the ground. "I remember the fire…the heat." He paused for a moment, and Alina wanted to help him but she knew it wasn't her story to tell. "And then I carried you out the front door."
"You did?" He sounded surprised. Of course he was.
"Yeah, what, you never knew that?"
Alina sadly smiled at the serious voice Dean was using to hide his weaknesses from his little brother. Pretending that all of this wasn't a big deal for him.
Sam shook his head in astonishment, starting to realize the part that Dean was forced to take that night. "No."
Dean couldn't even look him in the eyes more than two seconds, overwhelmed by all the memories coming back to him. He didn't want Sam to see him like that, so he kept talking to avoid losing his focus. "And, well, you know dad's story as well as I do. Mom was….was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time dad found her."
"And he never had a theory about what did it?"
"If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times."
The more Alina was thinking about it, the more she realized that she knew more than that. She remembered her parents telling her that story, and it was exactly the same, but before that…something was missing.
And Sam quickly noticed the way she was frowning, lost in her thoughts. "What about your parents Alina?"
She came back to reality the moment she heard her name. "Well…I remember your dad used to call mine every time he had a new theory. I tried to spy on him when he was on the phone with John multiple times but…my dad was good at his job. When I was 10, he told me about that night and he also said that John relied on him a lot to find answers."
"Why?" Dean was curious about that story. He'd never heard Alina talk about the two men like that ever since her dad's death.
"I…" Alina tried to think about it. She could remember asking that question to her dad, but his answer… "I can't remember."
"What do you mean?" Sam was once again getting impatient. "Did you ask him?"
"I did. But I don't know why my memories are like…blurry." She was scared to have another headache if she forced herself to remember, and right now she had to be able to help the boys against that thing in their old house.
"Okay. So, if we're gonna figure out what's going on now…we have to figure out what happened back then. And see if it's the same thing." Sam announced when he realized she didn't have the answers they needed.
"Yeah. We'll talk to dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time."
After a short pause, Sam looked back at his brother. "Does this feel like just another job to you?"
And with that question, Sam had crossed the line. Dean couldn't handle this any longer, he had to get away from his little brother. "I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom."
Alina watched him leave, with a knot in her throat. She hated to see him like that. She hated that she was the only one to see him like that. And yet…
"I know I'm acting like I don't care, Alina. But I just…if that's the same thing that killed Jess, I have to stop it."
"And you think Dean doesn't want to? He spent his whole life following your dad's path, and just like you he was raised by that obsession John had, to find the thing that killed your mom. And right now, I'm pretty sure he has to fight his own impulse to go back inside that house and kill that thing himself."
"But why?"
Alina couldn't believe how ignorant Sam was when it came to his brother. But again, Dean had never showed him his vulnerable side. The young woman smiled at her friend, cupping his cheek with her hand for a few seconds, before slowly walking backwards. She just hoped that someday, Sam would be able to see how much Dean had sacrificed for him. How much time Dean had spent worrying about him. "You're such a Winchester."
She smiled when Sam frowned at her comment. He couldn't see how much he was actually like his father. Alina kept walking away to go check on the one person that had always been stuck between John and Sam, trying to be the best eldest son and big brother he could be.
When she reached the bathroom, she found Dean outside with his back turned to her, holding his phone against his ear with a shaking hand. She didn't hear the whole conversation, but she got there just in time to hear his last words. "Please. I need your help, dad."
The way his voice broke, brought tears to Alina's eyes. She stayed silent for a moment after she saw him hanging up sadly. She didn't want him to know she was there just yet. And then, once she felt like she would be able to look at him without letting the tears fall down her cheeks, she took a deep breath and walked towards him loudly enough for him to hear her coming. "Here you are Winchester!" She said with a big grin, as Dean turned around with his usual mischievous expression.
"Missing me already, Frenchy?"
"Oh totally. I was desperate to be alone with you next to the dirty bathroom of a gas station, that sounds about right."
The two friends shared the same smirk when Alina stopped in front of him. "I just wanted to check myself in the mirror. You know…I just can't wait to buy myself a new lipstick, I feel naked without it."
"I wish…"
Alina instantly hit him on his chest, laughing with him like two kids. Whenever they were together, they were able to forget about their problems even for a short period. He just loved to see her laughing at his jokes. And she loved to see him laughing at her when she pretended to be angry at him.
Dean wasn't stupid. He knew Alina had heard at least a part of his message to his dad, and that she'd came here to see if he was alright. And clearly he wasn't, but she was still able to make him smile. She was amazing.
"No but seriously…" Alina lifted her hands to free her long dark hair, and let them fall back on her shoulders. She quickly tried to give them an acceptable shape, and put both her hands under her chin, making a cute face in the process. "See? I'm not hot right now, I'm just adorable! And that's…not it."
Dean finally realized why she always did that hair thing when she flirted with someone. That was something she did without even noticing it herself, but damn, she was beautiful. Her waves were kinda messy, but also charming. The way they just fell and reached the middle of her back, made it hard for Dean not to get closer and put one of the messy strands behind her ear, before slowly caressing her cheek. That was so cheesy, he didn't even know how he could think of it so naturally without cringing at himself. "You're perfect."
And…he didn't actually intend to say those words in such a serious way. He was serious, she was perfect. But when he saw her reaction, which was to let her arms fall back along side her body and look away with a faint smile on her lips. He seriously regretted saying it like that. So he cleared his throat and nervously scratched the back of his head. "Anyway…Sam's waiting for us. Let's go."
He was the first to leave. And Alina was about to put her hair back up, but when she turned to see Dean walking away from her, and thought for a moment about his compliment, she just let a shy grin appear on her face and decided to leave her hair down a little longer.
So there'll be 3 parts for this episode because we're also gonna get a lot of informations about Alina's past, and I didn't wanna post a +9000 words chapter. So I hope you're enjoying Dean and Alina's dynamic because she represents all the love and support Dean deserved to have in his life! Why is everyone ignoring his feelings! Why?! He did nothing wrong! He's just a freaking cutie patootie! Give my man some love! Please!
Okay, I'm being way too emotional about this…have a nice day/night guys!