Bugs
"Is that Jessica?" I read the caller ID on his phone.
He lowered it to my level and nodded. He accepted the call and lifted it up to his ear. "Hey Jess," His face immediately lit up. "How are you?…" He walked away as he continued his conversation with her.
"Lover boy looks like he's in love," Dean walked up next to me and rested his hand on Baby's hood. "He was looking into engagement rings recently. Online, but, uh, I think he wants to make it official."
I blinked in surprise. "I thought he was gonna wait."
"Guess he can't keep it in." Dean and I kept staring at his animated movements and the wide grin that never left his face. "I say, put a ring on it, seal the deal."
I ran my fingers over my own silver ring. "We haven't found John yet."
"He wants his blessing. Or as close as he can get to it. Maybe rub it in his face." He shrugged. "Let's get our things in that motel room."
"The father-son argument never ends, does it?" I grabbed my suitcase from Baby and followed Dean who was getting out two giant duffel bags.
"Nope," he easily hefted them both in one arm and slammed Baby's door shut. I stared as the muscles in his arm moved deliciously. The veins were popping from what little he liked to expose and man, was that a sight to see. "Can you open the door?" He grunted as he moved one bag to the other arm.
"Too heavy?" I teased.
He rolled his eyes. "Just open the door."
I easily unlocked the door and stepped inside the damp place. Dean brought in everything else before yelling at Sam to bring in the coolers.
"Why're we suddenly at a motel?" I decided to look at the DVDs. Sometimes they had movies that all three of us knew and could watch together. Such as Home Alone. Did this place at least have that?
"Baby needs maintenance. The carpet's lifting where it shouldn't too."
Ugh. They didn't have Home Alone. I flicked through the collection of DVDs. 'Casa Erotica', a classic.
"Sam likes the blonde ones." Dean plucked out one of the others. "I prefer this one." He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Busty Asian beauties. Short, tanned, black haired babes."
I could feel myself blushing.
"It's daylight, Dean." I took off my flannel and waved at the younger Winchester who happily waved back from the window.
"So?" Dean sat down on the bed and tugged me closer till I was standing between his knees. "Sammy is still talking to Jessica… He's not coming back for a while…" His eyes trailed over my shoulders.
"And?" He whined. "Come on, sweetheart." His hands squeezed my hips and he nuzzled into my chest.
"But Sam's right there–"
He pressed a finger to my lips. "Then you'll just have to keep it quiet, right?" He gave a mischievous smile.
His green eyes looked so eager, I couldn't help but give into his desires. But I had my own dirty thoughts. I opened my mouth and let his index finger slip inside.
"Awesome…" he muttered with wide eyes.
His fingers were rough and calloused from years of rough physical work. As I ran my tongue over them, I could feel every single scar on them. His jaw clenched when I cradled the hand that was in my mouth with my smaller ones. I loved them, the large hands that kept me and everyone safe. I pulled away to breathe.
"Fuck." he grunted and tugged my rubber hand out of my hair.
I gasped when one hand dug into my scalp and the other pulled me off balance onto his sitting form on the bed. "Dean…" I whispered and he caught my lips with his. I let my eyes flutter close and let him take control. His hold was strong, but gentle. As always. He tilted my head to the side to take me deeper. I could feel his mouth move expertly against mine and the prickliness of two day stubble only made me shudder more. "Dean, oh Dean," I couldn't help but breathe his name when he pulled away ever so slightly to breathe. I rolled my hips against his.
"Son of a bitch…" his eyes rolled back slightly in pleasure. "Take it off." he reached for the hem of my shirt. "Off with it."
With some help, I'd wiggled my way out of it and Dean had shed his flannel, leaving him in his tight undershirt. When he reached to pull his own off, I grabbed his hand in a hurry. "Keep it on." He looked ravishing when his shirt looked like it would rip open from the mass of his muscles.
"Kinky," he grinned.
He took my mouth in his again and reached to my back to unhook my bra. With one tug it came off. Sex in broad daylight wasn't something we did often. Wait, light– Oh God.
"Shit, curtains." he suddenly remembered too.
Just then the door barged open. I ducked into Dean's chest to hide myself, and Dean shifted so he was covering me. Oh my God, this was embarrassing.
"If you two are going to have sex then please close the blinds." Sam glared. I grabbed my discarded flannel and started to put my arms through it to cover up the important bits. "And Jessica could hear you two moaning from the phone."
"Maybe knock next time, Sammy." Dean didn't even look at his brother as he swiftly finished the remaining buttons on my flannel.
"Get a different motel room!" Sam threw his hands in defeat. He turned around and pressed his phone into his ear again. "Wait, you're only an hour away?"
He turned back around and reached for a pen and paper on the table. "What's the address?… Oasis Plains, Oklahoma…?… Why are you there?…"
Why would Jessica not be?
"That place is a dead zone." Dean explained.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't mind going there." Sam scratched the back of his neck with a silly smile on his face. "I'll see you in an hour then… I love you too… Bye Jess,"
"So?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "You interrupt our" He made sure to point at me and him, "adult time just to giggle with your long distance girlfriend?"
"Shut up Dean." Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Jessica's." With renewed vigour he was dragging his duffel bag out the door.
"Hey, hey, hey," Dean reached out to grab his brother. "You're just going to ditch us here? Why's Jessica in Oasis Plains anyway?"
"Well, apparently her aunt is buying a house over there. And she invited Jessica to view the property. And Jessica invited me."
"And now you're inviting us." Dean pressed his lips into a smile and started grabbing everything we'd just managed to bring inside.
"We can't just crash a family thing." I hurried to grab my clothes. I'd thought I was just going to be chilling in bed with my new balls of yarn, watching the boys watch football.
"Yeah, Dean." Sam blocked his brother's way. The two brothers started bickering.
I slipped into the bathroom to put my bra and shirt back on. I pulled my phone out in the bathroom and sent Jessica an email. 'Sorry, but I think Dean is gonna crash your date with Sam.'
I immediately got a reply back. 'No problemo. :)' God, she was an angel.
"Jess!" Sam practically jumped out the car while Dean was still parking it.
"Easy there, kiddo!" Dean yelled as he slammed the brakes so he wouldn't run the younger Winchester over.
I pulled up next to the Impala and rolled my helmet into the backseat. It had been a pleasant hour-long ride. Dean came to stand next to me as we watched Sam and Jessica lock into a passionate kiss.
"He c-blocks me to get laid himself." Dean grumbled. "Traitor."
I couldn't help but smile. "He hasn't seen her in over two months, leave him alone."
"You two got room for two more?!" Dean yelled.
Sam fixed Dean with a glare while Jessica pulled away with a happy smile. "Nice to see you guys again." She walked up to me with her arms outstretched. Hug? Hug. I was pulled into a soft pair of breasts and I had to look up to keep myself from being smothered.
I awkwardly patted her back. "Nice to see you again too."
"Where's mine– oof– Sam!"
Jessica threw her head back to laugh at the brothers' arguing. "That typical?"
"Everyday." I pulled back to look at her. "How've you been?"
"Good. I'm actually doing great." she answered. "I've got one hell of a scar, but it doesn't even come close to some of the ones Sam has." She turned to me. "You?"
"Same." I was suddenly conscious of the waistband of my jeans digging into the scar from Azazel.
"I always did wonder where he got all of those from. And he would tell me he got them while playing with his brother, maybe a camp outside, or from a fall down the stairs. I never really believed him. I thought he was being abused at home." Jessica looked sadly at Sam. "But now that I know why he actually has them… I'm starting to wonder if the truth is somehow worse." I had no answer for that. The truth was worse in its own way. But Jessica was still alive. "Thank you for saving me that day."
"No problem."
"No, seriously," Her bright blue eyes filled with tears. "Seriously, thank you."
She was an Angel, in every metaphorical sense. I nodded. "You're welcome." What else was I supposed to say?
"Are these your… friends?" an older couple stepped out of the house we were parked in front of.
"Oh, yeah," Jessica tapped Sam's shoulder. "This is Sam, my boyfriend." Sam stiffened in response and held out a hand nervously. "That's his brother Dean," Dean offered his lopsided smirk. "and his wife, Sharon." I gave them my politest smile. "Guys, meet my aunt and uncle, Janice and William."
"Sorry for tagging along. But we were in the area. And Sam always tells us about Jessica."
"Well, Jessica always talks about you and Sam." Janice pulled me into a hug. Wow. Uh. Too many hugs for a day. But I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "You saved her life. We can't thank you enough."
"Yeah, it was no problem."
"Jessica's mentioned you two young lads as well." William chuckled as he shook hands with the two brothers. "Wanna check out the inside? This was the one we were gonna finalise."
"The water pressure is to die for." Janice ushered us inside.
The freshly carpeted floors were still covered in plastic. And the walls smelled of fresh paint. They were a dull granny shade of yellow, but they didn't have the annoying cheap popcorn paint job at least. And the house was huge. Almost as big as Bobby's, but without the same amount of clutter this place seemed infinitely larger than that. My only pet peeve was that it looked identical to the houses on either side, and across the street, and behind. It was like someone had just copy pasted the houses to every lot. But I couldn't very well tell them that.
"Why did you guys choose this specific one? It looks the same as the others." Of course Dean was the kind of person to tell them.
"Dean!" I hissed.
He gave me an innocent look.
"Ah, well, they do look similar, don't they?" William ran his fingers over one of the built-in cabinets. "This one has more cabinets than the others."
… They made that a selling point? I caught Dean's eye who seemed to share my sentiment. We were never going to buy a place like this. That is if we even ever bought one. I doubted we ever could or would.
"They've got a jacuzzi too." Janice chimed from the bathroom.
"Oh, that seals the deal." Dean was immediately on his way to the bathroom. Sam gave me an exasperated look. I shrugged. Well, someone in the family liked the jacuzzi.
I wandered into the backyard. Large, green, no permanent fence yet, and it looked lovely. There were a couple of infant trees that had been freshly planted into the soil. I reached out to reveal a flowering bud from in between a cluster of leaves.
"Lovely place, right?" Jessica crouched down next to me.
"Yeah, the backyard is nice."
"Just the backyard?"
Oh she had noticed. "Dean likes the jacuzzi. But I'm not a huge fan of those."
"I'm pretty sure they're gonna turn down this house." Jessica said. "The price they're asking for this is astronomical for all the faulty wiring."
"Faulty wiring?" Ghosts? Spirits? Demons? I was immediately on my guard.
"Oh, not that kind." She looked around carefully before continuing. "Everything's normal here. Nothing supernatural. But I mean the wiring is literally faulty."
Alright. They better be literally faulty. Cause if there was a ghost or demon here, I was grabbing my shotgun. "Is the wiring the only reason they don't wanna pay that much for this house?"
"Well, that and also there isn't exactly anything close by. Police will take an hour or so to get here, and so will any kind of emergency services. It's also very HOA dependent."
"Oh God, I hate those."
"So do we." she shuddered. "HOAs are nightmares. The fees for this one is around a thousand a month–"
"Daylight robbery,"
"Exactly, and it's mandatory."
"Oh damn. Yeah, I'm glad they're not taking this one."
"Yeah, me too. The people here are weird as well."
"Weird?"
"Yeah," she leaned in closer. "There was a guy that recently died here."
"Died?"
"Yeah, they brushed it off as mad cow disease from a bad burger, but we all know that's not how mad cow disease spreads." she whispered the next part. "That's another reason I called Sam here. I knew you and Dean would tag along."
"You think that this death isn't natural?"
She shook her head. "Something's wrong. I know it." she ran her hands over the clothed scar on her stomach. "My scar tingles when I feel like I'm in danger."
"Nice telepathy."
She snapped to look in my direction before bursting into laughter. "I thought you were serious for a second."
"Well, traumatic experiences can make you more sensitive to the supernatural. Yours probably manifests with Spidey senses on your scar."
"That's… kind of cool." she let out a breath. "I just can't wear crop tops now can I? Or bikinis."
"There's always one pieces that show off your figure. And bodysuits are a thing." I stood up when the people in the house called for us. "I can give you a few tips and tricks. Gotta show off what you have, right?"
I heard her laugh softly as she followed me inside.
"So, we'll be heading out now." Janice hung off her husband's arm as they announced their next steps.
"It's gonna be a pain to get them to let us leave the deal."
"So we wanna get a headstart and get out of this place before nightfall."
"I mean there's nothing for miles around here."
"We only came here for the low prices they were advertising."
"Yes, but they were only for the one bed one bath houses."
The couple continued to gush over the false advertisement. Welcome to modern capitalism.
"Uh, aunt Janice, uncle William." Jessica said quietly. "It's almost time for your usual lunch. You two should probably go ahead."
"Oh dear, you're right." Janice gasped and hurried out the door. "We'll get those paperwork undone as soon as we're done eating. Come on dear, your pressure will be all over the place if you don't eat now. Take your time with this nice neighborhood, kids. It's an open house after all!"
Once they finally closed the door, I let out a breath. "They're one huge fireball of energy."
"They can get exhausting." Jessica laughed. She leaned on Sam's arm who returned the hug.
Dean eyed the skin to skin connection and then shifted his glance to me. No. I glared. He pouted, but resigned to pushing his hands further into his pockets.
"So Jessica, you said you had a job for us here?"
"Yeah," Jessica reached into her jacket and pulled out a small article from a newspaper. "A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash. The news says he died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."
"From what?" Dean and I asked at the same time.
"Mad cow disease." Sam translated.
"I thought you went to college." Dean scoffed.
"Not to study the German names of mad cow diseases." I mumbled.
"So what's so important about some Oprah thing?"
"You watched Oprah?" Sam had a smirk growing on his face.
Dean averted his eyes. "Anyways, so this guy eats a bad burger. And, uh, no offense Jess, but why is it our kind of thing?"
"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration." Jessica explained.
"It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear." I continued.
"But Dustin's brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less." Sam read the article.
"Okay, that's weird." Dean turned around in thought.
"Thanks, Jess. This does sound like a case." Sam looked at Jessica. "If you want to leave, then…"
"No, I'm staying with you guys on this one."
"But Jess–"
"Sam, I want to do this. I want to know how things go for you guys."
"Jessica this is not the life I wanted for you,"
"I'm gonna go with Dean… And I'll just… leave my bike keys here… Don't crash her!" Sam gave a thumbs up before pushing Jessica against a wall with a kiss. Okay, that was it. I checked out from their little lovers' quarrel.
I walked outside to join Dean who was sitting on Baby's hood. "Sam and Jessica are having a tiny fight. Of tongues. In more ways than one."
"Yeah, I could hear." He leaned back with a sigh. "Is that how we sound to him?"
"Probably." I pulled my knees up to my chest. "Should we get on with our plan while they sort this out?"
"Find a house to squat in or investigate first?"
"Investigate. We already got the house thing taken care of." I glanced at the house we were looking at. "I doubt they're getting this house back for viewing in the next few days. Paperwork needs to be processed and all that."
"You wanna squat in this one?"
"Looked nice."
"Did the jacuzzi for two convince you?"
"No, it was the extra cabinets."
"Travis Weaver?" I called out to the man in front of the Oklahoma Gas and Power Company Building.
"Yeah, that's right." the man yelled back.
"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean sauntered up with a wave.
"Dustin never mentioned nephews. Or nieces."
"Really? Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest."
I nodded along with the lie.
"Oh, he did? Huh." Well Travis bought it, cause now he was smiling like an idiot.
"Listen, we wanted to ask you… what exactly happened out there?"
"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…"
"What did you see?"
"Nothin'. Just Dustin."
"No wounds? No cuts, no bruises?" I questioned.
"Well, he was bleeding… from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it."
"So it really was mad cow disease?"
"I don't know. That's what the Doctors are sayin'."
"But I remember talking to Uncle Dusty the other day, and he didn't seem to have any dementia or loss of motor control. But maybe I missed something that you saw?"
"No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"
"That's a good question." Dean gave what sounded like a sad sigh. "Could you point us in the direction of where it happened? We kind of just want to… you know, see for ourselves."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure."
"They're meeting us here?" I looked to where everything was covered up with 'CONSTRUCTION: DO NOT ENTER' signs. "I guess Jessica won."
"That's what Sam said."
I turned around when the familiar roar of my bike purred to a stop. "She's in one piece!" I cheered and helped Sam park her next to Baby.
"I've never been on a bike like that before." Jessica easily slipped off the raised backseat. Damn long legs.
"She's a Kawasaki ZX-6R." I grinned. "2003 black model. Got her as a wedding gift."
"Oh," Jessica marvelled. "She must be precious to you then."
"Yeah," I ran my hands over her sleek black paint. "She's like a kid to me." Suddenly something caught my eye. "Sam."
"Yeah?"
"Is that mud on my bike?"
"Uhh… we're in a construction area, of course there's mud on the–"
"IT'S ON MY BRAKE PEDAL!"
"IT'S CALLED SHOES!"
"IT'S MUD!"
"Oh, shut up you two." Dean pulled us apart. "Just wipe the damn mud off her pedals, Sam."
"But–"
"Sam," Dean said sternly and Sam's shoulders slumped in defeat. Hah! "And Sharon, seriously. It's just mud. Baby's covered in mud all the time." Ugh.
"Hey, I think I found the sinkhole they were talking about." Jessica yelled from a spot a little further down.
The three of us walked up next to her to see where she was looking into. I let the boys and Jessica crowd their heads over the sinkhole. I didn't exactly want to see any critters in the ground. "If what Travis said was accurate, then the dude died, in like, less than an hour. That is not mad cow disease."
"So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Dean waved his flashlight around the sinkhole to see every nook and cranny.
"No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this thing worked from the inside." Sam refuted.
"Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. A tiny one." Dean glanced up from where he was kneeling.
"Oh hell nah." I shook my head. "I am not getting in that thing. What if there's bugs?"
"Exactly, they're just bugs."
"No." I wrapped my arms around myself. "I am not dealing with bugs. I'll take on a wendigo solo if I have to, but I am not dealing with bugs– AHH!" I scrambled backwards when a nasty little ugly thing flew right by my nose. "No, no, no, no, no, no. I'll, uh, I'll be with my bike. Maybe in the car. BYE!"
I ran my way out of there. I remembered this episode. 'Bugs'. The title itself terrified me. Wendigos kept me awake all night, but bugs in general kept me awake all fortnight. Like hell I was staying to finish this case. There weren't any deaths I could prevent anyway. And the family survived the night of the bug apocalypse too. Nothing for me to do here.
I jumped when something brushed my shoulder. "Are you scared of bugs?" I looked up to see a worried Jessica.
"Oh, yeah." I shuddered in fear. I thought a bug had landed on me. "I'm not very good with them."
"Phobia?"
"Maybe? I don't know. I just hate them."
Jessica's mouth formed an 'O'. "You guys fight demons and things, but you're scared of bugs?"
"You don't know what those little things can do." I held back a shiver. "Wanna ride with me on the way back?"
"Shouldn't we wait for them?" Jessica looked back at the boys. Sam was squeezing into the sinkhole. "I'm a little worried. What if something's down there?"
"They'll be fine." I promised her. But she looked hesitant. "Let's just wait for them here, then?"
"Yeah,"
"So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking, Sam." Dean scoffed.
"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–"
"How many did you find down there?"
"Ten."
Dean snorted. "It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain."
Jessica seemed shocked by the casual bloody conversation. I offered her a sympathetic smile as she worked through the conversation in her head.
Sam frowned. "Well, maybe there were more."
"I don't know, it sounds like a stretch to me."
Sam turned to me and Jessica. "Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before. Jess, wanna help out with that?"
"Uh, sure." She looked down in my direction. "Are we going together?"
"Yep, I have an idea where we can start looking." I fished the spare helmet out of the backseat of the Impala and handed it to her. "Follow me, boys."
'Models Open. New Buyers' BBQ Today!', read the sign in the front yard.
"They better have chicken."
Jessica and I waited for Sam and Dean to pull up.
"Good choice." Dean grinned as he parked.
"We're here to talk to the locals." I reminded him as he got out of the car. "Don't just stuff your face with food."
"But it looks like Jess and Sam are already on it." he nodded to where Jessica had already struck up conversation with someone. Sam stood next to her, offering polite smiles and looking around at the balloons decorating the place. "She's a charmer." Dean commented before wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me inside.
I gripped his arm in warning when his hand ducked under my shirt to rest on bare skin instead. "Dean,"
"What?" he smirked. "It's fine. We're just a newly wed couple looking for a house to buy."
I let him lead me around to the food tables. Good enough cover I supposed.
"Welcome!" said a sharply dressed man. "I'm Larry Pike, the developer here."
"This is the barbecue for new homeowners, right?" Dean firmly grasped the man's hand.
"Yeah, not the best weather," Larry shook his head. "And you guys are…?"
"Dean, and this is Sharon." Dean's fingers curled tighter into my side.
I gave my best polite smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Sharon, Dean, good to meet you. So, you two are interested in Oasis Plains?" Larry looked between the both of us.
"Oh, yeah." Dean nodded. "We recently got married and, uh, we saw the advertisements for the properties here. So we thought why not pop by? Right honey?"
"Right." I leaned against him to play more into the newly wed role. "We were told the prices were good too."
"Hey," Sam grabbed Dean's shoulder. Jessica walked up to stand next to me. "You must be Larry, the lead developer." Sam flashed a quick smile. "I'm Sam, and that's Jessica."
"We're all family." Jessica said sweetly. "We were looking for a home together."
"Oh, yes, yes." Larry grinned. "We have a few good houses for real cheap. And let me just say, we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, and... family dynamics."
Oh. Oh.
"Oh, Sam and I are together." Jessica hurriedly explained. She scampered over to where Sam was. "Sam and Dean are brothers." Sam immediately pulled Jessica close and Dean took a step away from his brother.
The rest of us nodded in support as Larry stammered to recollect himself. "Uh, of course, of course. Right this way, for the barbecue."
"You said you were the lead developer?" Dean asked as we were led into the backyard.
"Ah, yes. Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built 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." Marketing tactic. This didn't look like a permanent home. Nothing had been personalised from the little peek we'd gotten into the house through the windows. Not even curtains had been hung yet. "This is Joanie, my wife."
Joanie and I shook hands. "Hi," her eyes flitted to focus on Dean and Sam.
"Dean and Sharon." Larry introduced as we all took our turns greeting and introducing ourselves. "And Sam and Jessica."
"Pleasure." Joanie ripped her eyes away from the brothers to look at her husband.
"Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." Larry laughed.
"Right." Joanie and Larry continued to laugh.
I held onto Dean's jacket awkwardly. What was I supposed to do? Laugh with them? But there were so many people here. Was I supposed to talk to someone else? Who looked like they were open to conversation?
"You okay?" I jumped when Dean's breath brushed against my ear. Bugs? The curse? "Whoah," he gripped my arm to keep me steady. "You've been jumpy all day. Should we go back?"
"What? No, no." It just felt like I would be eaten by a bug, nothing he would take seriously. "I'm fine."
"The bugs are creeping her out." Jessica chimed.
I frowned when Dean held back a snicker in realisation. Great. Thanks Jessica. "Those bugs aren't going to hurt you."
I eyed the bee that was starting to get a little too close to the barbecue for comfort. There went my chicken. "They could if they wanted to." I turned around to get back inside the house. Bees didn't get inside houses normally, did they?
"The bee is gonna eat you," Dean teased.
I stomped on his shoe. "Not if I feed you to it first."
"Hey!" he laughed. "That's no way to treat your husband."
I wrenched the door open, only to be startled by how light it was. "The door material is cheap." It would fly off the hinges if I used even a little force.
"Oh yeah. This thing would not last." Dean wandered inside after me. "How do you know so much about houses anyway?"
"To avoid getting scammed." I stood on the marble floor. Rich people things. I closed my eyes to calm myself down when Dean slammed the door shut. "You'll break the door if you slam it any harder."
"At least I won't be eaten by a spider."
"Shut up."
"Hey, I'm just saying. One little roach or critter with eight legs isn't gonna turn you into bug food."
I shuddered at the thought. "Shut up, Dean, seriously." It felt like something was crawling on my skin. I slapped a hand to my shoulder, only to realise I'd just smacked my hair, nothing else. This was stupid.
"There's nothing on you, sweetheart." Dean said gently. "If there were, I'd tell you."
"You will?" I looked up at him.
"Yeah," he looked around before leaning down to kiss my forehead. "You wanna sit this one out? You seem on edge."
"I might when things get bad." I let him hold me close for a moment.
"You two come in to check the house?" Larry walked over to us.
Dean and I pulled away from each other. "Yes, actually." Dean put on his own business smile. "Mind showin' us around?"
"Always a pleasure to do business. We live in this house, but it boasts a lot of the amenities and features we provide in our houses." Larry led us throughout the house. It was larger than the one that Janice and William had been looking at. "We can install automatic or manual blinds." I preferred curtains. "And we have one window per room at the minimum." too little and too small. "The living room is spacious, works excellently as a family space, especially if you decide to have children. And for the job to get there, we have the master bedroom." Alright, this was weird. I didn't like sales pitches like this. "Walk in closet for him in the bedroom. Walk in closet for her in the bathroom. Or the other way if you two want. Or you can share. And here, in the bathroom we have jacuzzis and steam showers."
"Steam showers, huh." Dean was impressed. "Do all the houses have them?"
"Yes, well. All of them do. Our water pressure is great."
Seriously, why did people here like the water pressure so much?
We finished touring the upper floors and used the second spiral staircase to get back downstairs. The sight of a bug in a jar made me shriek and jump backwards. Big mistake. I managed to catch myself on the railing just in time to not tumble to my death. "Oh my God." I sped down the rest of the stairs. "Is that a tarantula?"
Dean looked me over for injuries before staring at the bug in the jar.
"I-I am so sorry." Larry panicked. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." I kept my eyes on the giant spider. "Why the fu– heck is there a tarantula in the house?"
"My son - he's into insects. He's very… inquisitive." Larry ran up to get the jar. I shrank against Dean when the jar crossed by. I could have sworn the spider was staring into my soul with its many beady eyes.
Dean leaned down to my height. "You good?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but I am not staying here longer than I have to."
"Yeah, leave whenever you want to." he gave my shoulder a squeeze. "That's fine with us."
"MATTHEW!" Larry yelled as he walked out of the house.
"Let's follow him for now. See what he's up to."
I followed Dean out the door and to where Sam and Jessica were talking to a younger boy.
"I am so sorry about my son and his… pet." Larry glared at the boy.
"No harm done…" I stepped back when I spotted the other species of giant spider crawling up the boy's arm. I felt lightheaded.
Sam grabbed my arm to steady me. "Sharon?"
"Fine. I'm fine."
Dean wrapped an arm around my waist and Sam let go. "I'll take her home." Dean tugged me along with him. I felt him fish for the keys in my pocket and toss them to Sam.
I wasn't going to argue with that. The bugs were making me sick. My heart hadn't stopped trying to break down my ribs since the second I'd realised what episode this was. Bugs, bees, mosquitoes, spiders, hornets, wasps, cockroaches, silverfish, worms. All of them made me sick.
"Hey, stay with me, alright?" Dean squeezed me knee once he made sure I was safely sitting in the Impala. "Do you want me to drive you to the motel in the other city?"
"Later." I leaned back and closed my eyes. "Dean,"
"Yeah?" I felt the car jerk as he got back on the road.
"Sorry,"
"For what?"
"This."
"You did nothing wrong."
"I'm messing up the case."
"Not a big deal. Sam can handle some questioning on his own."
"But I– you could be there with him right now. Getting this done with faster. Not– not taking care of me."
"Shh…" I felt his hand start working through a knot in my shoulder. "It's my job to take care of you."
"No it's not."
"It is. It became my job when we said 'I do'."
"I haven't done anything."
"You've done plenty, sweetheart. You just don't know it."
"Sure, whatever you say."
Come nightfall and I was feeling a little better. Even with the constant threat of being killed by bugs. And D-day was getting closer and closer.
"Steam shower did the trick!" Dean cheered when I emerged from the hot bath.
"You're being too damn loud for–" I checked the watch lying on the counter. "For 8:30 PM. I'm going to bed."
The four of us had decided to share a room. I refused to sleep without Dean and Sam refused to leave me alone either. Jessica seemed to share the sentiment. So now because of me, all four of us were sharing two air mattresses stuck together and two thin blankets between all of us.
"I didn't know it was that severe," Jessica said as I flopped down next to her.
"Yeah, well, it sucks."
"We got the bug zapper!" Sam announced.
"Thanks!" I yelled back.
"I didn't mean to be a pain." I rolled away from the pretty blonde.
"You're not being one." Jessica whispered. "We're all afraid of things. Yours just happens to be bugs."
"Well, I wish it wasn't something this stupid."
"It's not stupid." Jessica said, and silence reigned for a while, broken by the occasional yell from either of the brothers. "Can I hug you? It's kinda cold."
"Uh, sure."
I blinked in surprise when she actually pressed herself against my back. It felt like I was the little spoon. Again.
"I'm the oldest here, and everyone's treating me like a child."
Jessica giggled. "You're fun sized."
"Hush." I pinched her arm.
"You should let us coddle you sometimes." Jessica's voice started to get drowsy with sleep. "I've only been here less than a day but I can see how much all three of you care for each other."
Yeah. We were all we had. And Bobby and John. But they tended to go off on their own. I squeezed her hands around me. "You care for us too. So thank you."
"Of course… Good night."
"Good night."
"There's been another death…" I could hear the three of them discussing.
"Who is it?"
"Lynda Bloome. The lady you and I were talking to before we went with Dean and Sharon."
"Oh, isn't she the realtor?"
"The super jittery one? How?"
"Apparently they found dead spiders by her body."
"Sounds the same as the construction worker."
"And spiders. From spider-boy?"
"Matt– maybe."
I pushed myself up as I felt a trip to a school coming up.
"Oh, you're up." Sam commented.
"Yeah," I squinted against the light coming in from the window. "What time is it?"
"1:00 in the afternoon."
1:00?! Seriously?! "And no one woke me up?" I kicked my blanket off and tried to make myself presentable.
"You looked too peaceful to wake up." Dean chuckled.
"Jess got us breakfast." Sam pecked Jessica on the lips. The two of them got up and put on their boots.
"Where're they going?" I asked Dean.
"To investigate the house."
"Oh, and what am I supposed to do then?
"Eat up and let's get goin' to that bus stop."
"To question bug boy?"
"You wanna take on the B and E instead? There might be bugs in the house."
… "Bug boy…"
"That's what I thought."
Dean and I ended up taking the bike. Jessica looked a little sad at not having her, but I was done letting Sam get mud all over her. Dean seemed pretty excited to finally drive her after ages and settled in eagerly.
"You never let me drive her." Dean grinned as he parked. He hung both our helmets off the handlebars before securing them with the lock and chain I had in my bag.
"Cause you boys always get mud and leaves and all kinds of stuff on her. I found cheese on her windshield once." I hopped off of her and waited for Dean to get off as well.
"Isn't his house that way?" Dean suddenly said.
"Yeah." I felt fear rise when I spotted Matt walk into the woods after a jumping grasshopper. We were gonna follow him, weren't we?
"You wanna stay here?" Dean asked.
"No." I swallowed the fear back down and followed after him. Nothing was going to happen yet. My fear was irrational. I could do this. "Hey, Matt."
"Oh," Matt turned around with a stick insect on his arm. Oh. My. God. "Uh, you might not want to be here. There's a bunch of bugs."
I chose to ignore the statement. There were no bugs. Out of sight, out of mind. "We just wanna talk to you."
"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt looked at me and Dean. Dean shook his head. "W-wait. You're not serial killers?
"Oh, no." I raised my hands in surrender. "We're not here to hurt you."
"So, Matt… you sure know a lot about insects." Dean and I watched as the stick insect climbed up further and further up his arm.
"So?" Matt moved the bug back down on his hand.
"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?"
"I hear she died this morning."
"Mm, that's right. Spider bites."
"And you happen to have a spider." I jumped when the stick insect suddenly vanished. Where the hell did it go? Was it on me? I batted at my hair. I glanced at Dean who gave me a reassuring look. Okay, it wasn't on me.
"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" Matt looked at the two of us. "That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy."
"You know about those?" Dean stepped forward.
"There is somethin' going on here. I don't know what… but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something." He picked up his bag and led us to another clearing in the woods. I watched every single little movement. Bug here, bug there. Disgusting. Creepy. Crawly. Under my skin.
"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out." I glared at a fly that flew by. "And avoid any further deaths."
"Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me."
"Why not?" Dean chimed.
"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son."
"Oh. I'm sure that's not true."
"It is." he spat bitterly. "He's always telling me how abnormal I am. And how people are gonna avoid me when I grow up." he stared at me. "You're scared of me too."
"Well, I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of the grasshopper jumping the hell around– ack!" I jumped when the grasshopper got a little too close for comfort. "And I have a cousin who loves bugs as much as you do. He keeps hornets in little boxes at home."
"Cool," he whispered. "And his dad lets him?"
"Yeah. They had to establish communication though. A good talk. Sit down and agree to not argue. To be fair, they also don't work in the kind of customer service that leads to home tours. Maybe you and Larry can come to a consensus?"
Matt scoffed. "Of course. Like I haven't tried that already."
"How much further Matt?" Dean called from behind me.
"We're close." Matt said and stepped around a tree crawling with beetles.
I held onto Dean's jacket and shivered at the sudden increase in bug noises.
"I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class."
"That's so real." I muttered. "AP classes suck. So what's going on here?"
"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beatles… you name it. It's like they're congregating here."
"Any idea why–?" I held back a scream when a beetle brushed against my cheek.
Dean easily flicked off the critter and rubbed comforting circles on the spot it had landed on.
"I don't know." Matt answered truthfully.
"What's that?" Dean suddenly let me go to kneel near a raised lump on the ground.
"Oh my God. I'll be by my bike." I turned tail and hurried back to civilization. No bugs on the concrete. Nothing that could eat me in my sleep.
This was when they found skulls in the ground, right? I'd almost forgotten. But I couldn't forget the sight of Dean and Sam pulling out worms with sticks and then sticking their hands into bug infested soil to get the heads out. Hell nah.
And now that box with bugs and skulls in it was in the backseat of the Impala.
"Lowkey might dip." I told Jessica.
"What?"
"There's this thing I need to confirm." I stared at the diner where Jessica had said she'd gotten breakfast at. "You said this place was filled with locals?"
"Yeah. Native Americans. Apparently they've been on this land for ages. Is there something there?" Jessica looked in through the window.
"Someone." I walked inside and found the man I was looking for. His hair was greying but pulled into beautiful careful long braids. "Hello. Are you the Chief of the local Tribe?"
"Who's asking?"
I remembered this dude. He didn't like liars. It had always stuck with me throughout the show. "Sharon. And this is Jessica."
Jessica looked at me in alarm. "Should we be giving him our real names? I thought we were investigating."
"I can hear you girl. And I don't like liars." the man squinted. "Sit." Jessica and I slid into the booth. "What do you want to know?"
"Something is happening in Oasis Plains, something bad. We're trying to figure out what's going on there."
"And I would know, because…?"
"We found Native American bones in the ground. We were wondering if it had anything to do with the history of this place."
The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath before starting. "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 white man 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."
White man. The words had appeared twice. If my theory was right, then the bugs wouldn't try to kill me, because I wasn't white. "White man?"
"White man." the man confirmed.
"Thank you for your time." I stood up and tugged Jessica along with me. "We have to tell the brothers."
"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Jessica mulled in her head. "The bee attack, the first attack, happened on the 20th of March– so that means–"
"D day is tonight." I got on my bike and revved her to life.
Jessica settled behind me and rapidly dialed Sam. "Sam, it's gonna happen tonight."
"What's gonna happen tonight?"
"'Nature [will] rise up and protect the valley.' I quote."
"Oh."
"We need a plan."
"Let's regroup, and we'll figure something out."
"You don't break a curse. You get out of its way." Dean paced the room. "We've gotta get those people out now."
I raised my hand as if we were in class. "I have an idea."
Everyone huddled close to me to listen. I pressed my lips together in a sort of prayer. This stupid plan better work. Otherwise I was killing myself before the bugs got to me.
Stealing a Firetruck was surprisingly easy in a rural town. Disguises were my best friend. Platform shoes to make myself four inches taller, oversized hoodie to hide any defining feature, and makeup to create other defining features. A sleeping pill induced donut round had gotten the firefighters to blissfully doze off. And with a few tamperings with the security camera, I had the firetruck to myself. Hopefully no one set fire to their house tonight.
I nervously snacked on a packet of chips I'd gotten from a local Gas-n-Sip outside of town. This was going to be fine right? No one would catch me with a stolen fire truck, right? I'd even donned the firetruck uniform for good measure. Though it was also to keep myself safe from the bugs. Could bugs chew through fire trucks? They better not.
Besides, just because the old man had said 'white man' didn't necessarily mean that I would be spared. Sure I wasn't White or man, but I was an immigrant to say the least. This was just a backup plan anyway. The main plan was to try and see if we could get Matt and his family to evacuate by pretending to be firefighters.
"This is stupid." I killed the engine of the truck but left the lights blaring. I put on the fireman suit and walked up to the door. We could still make it out on time. I rang the doorbell and waited for Larry to get to the door. "Hello, I'm from the fire department one town over. We were just responding to a call about smoke in the area. We have orders to evacuate all citizens in this city."
"Sorry, but we haven't seen any smoke." Larry frowned at the sight of the firetruck. "Must we evacuate?"
"Unfortunately sir, yes. You and your family are the only ones left." The realtor's family was out of town for the week due to the funeral. And we'd managed to convince the other families still in the area that there was a gas leak. Larry and co were the only ones left. "Please, it shouldn't take more than a few hours. We're just trying to do a sweep of the area, make sure no fires have started underground in the new tunnels being laid, and all that good stuff."
"This sounds a little serious doesn't it Larry?" Joanie whispered.
"But there's absolutely no smoke. Why should we leave?" Larry glared at me.
"Dad, I think we should do what she's asking." Matt said from inside the house.
"You keep your mouth shut, boy!" Larry turned back to look at me. "How long?"
"About… three to four hours. You can wait at our fire station."
Joanie looked pleadingly at her husband. "Please darling, if there really is something going on, then I want Matt and us to be safe. Especially with all the deaths that have been happening–"
"Fine," Larry finally spat. "Let's go. But we'll be back as soon as this place is cleared up."
Wait, it was that easy? I thought there would be more of a fight.
I led them into the back of the truck and settled in.
"Where's the rest of you guys?" Larry asked suspiciously.
"They're transporting the rest of the families."
"No sirens?"
"It is an empty road, sir. We will turn it on in case we need it."
"How far is the station?"
"About thirty minutes." I stepped harder on the gas pedal. I had to make the trip seem shorter than it actually was.
I finally pulled up in front of the station. I parked the truck in the driveway and jumped out. I rolled down the windows slightly and slammed the doors shut behind me, making sure to lock them.
"HEY! HEY!" Larry yelled as soon as he realised. Joanie was shrieking, but Matt stared back at me and whispered 'thank you'.
Sorry Larry. But you and your family need to stay in that thing for as long as possible. I checked my phone. The sleeping pills should be wearing off in a few more hours. The firefighters could come rescue the family later.
"You seriously just left them in there?" Jessica stared at me in shock. "I didn't think you were serious about that."
I shrugged. "It got them out of Oasis Plains long enough."
"You're not more worried about how easily she drugged an entire fire station?" Dean scoffed.
"Don't try this at home kids." I mumbled to no one in particular.
"Good thing we got everyone out though." Sam said as he read the newspaper. "Turns out all the houses were destroyed by insects."
"I bet they're thanking God right now that some woman kidnapped them in a stolen fire truck." Dean teased.
"And, um, that is within you guys' ballpark?" Jessica glanced at the three of us with wide eyes.
"For her," Sam gave a smile that said 'do not associate me with your crazy'.
"Sam's stolen his fair share of cars." Dean smirked.
"Oh,"
I held back a laugh when Sam looked torn between stabbing Dean and trying to explain to Jessica that he was harmless. In the end, his love for Jessica won over his hatred for his brother. "I swear Jess–"
"That's kinda cool."
All three of us snapped to stare at the blonde in front of us. "Cool?" Dean questioned.
"Yeah." she grinned. "I always thought Sam was this good little boy, but I always knew there was a… darker bad boy side to him. It's nice to see."
Yeah, if the sex scenes in the TV show weren't proof of that.
"Alright. You kids keep it down." Dean got up from his spot on the bed and motioned for me to join him. "Don't make us an uncle and aunt. We're too young." Dean lowered his voice to stage whisper. "Do you need condoms?"
Sam just threw a pillow in his direction. "Jerk!"
"Bitch!" Dean yelled back with a cackle.
Once he and I were outside the room, he couldn't help his smile. "I like that girl."
"Me too." I wrapped my arm around Dean's and leaned against his solid frame. "Thanks for the whole thing with the bugs."
"Yeah?"
I closed my eyes when Dean leaned down to kiss my head.
"Mmph!" I felt his lips crash onto mine right after. He pushed me up against the dingy motel walls and his hands pressed up against the back of my thighs, trying to lift me to a more comfortable height. "We're– we're outside–"
He groaned against my lips before moving a hand to shuffle around. I yelped when he hoisted me up and practically threw me onto the bed. "Dean," I whispered his name when he started taking off our clothes with shocking speed. "Dean,"
"Shh, sweetheart. Wouldn't want Sammy and his girlfriend to hear–"
"Aah!" came a very feminine moan.
Dean and I paused in our 'activities' to look at each other.
"Was- was that you–"
"No." I craned my head to look at the wall right by my head. There were the sounds of a bed squeaking as it rocked back and forth. "Oh God."
"Well, this is awkward." Dean muttered before going to town on my breasts.
"Dean!"
His fingers ran up my thighs. "Let's see who can get their girl to moan louder."
"Dean!"
A/N: Sorry for the late update. Got sick after writing two sentences of this chapter and then had to go to school with a fever because professors don't care about your physical well being, and then they themselves proceeded to cancel class. Btw, hot guy is in all my classes confirmed. I will now jump off a cliff. Anyways. Things got smutty af this chapter. Idk why, but I would definitely like to write a smut scene at some point in my life. An actual smut scene. I haven't attempted at a full one since middle school LMAO. I wasn't expecting Jessica to actually fully show up this chapter either. It just kind of felt sad with Sam being the only lonely one, so I threw him a bone of sorts. Anyways, watch me fail the three exams I have next week :D