forum Supernatural: Dark Easter

Started June 10, 2020 by @SupernaturalSyGuyIsTIred group

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Prologue

Midford, Michigan
Wintergreen Park
Sunday April 13, 2014

Kids scurried around laughing, searching for easter eggs. Lola Grey was bent over, searching a bush. The warm spring sun hung in the sky, smiling happily as it warmed the people below. It was a week from Easter, yet the parents in Midford had decided that the entirety of Midford’s populace would have their Annual Easter Egg Hunt early due to the lovely weather.

Lola knelt in her white floral dress to pick up a plastic green egg. Her blonde hair was put back in a ponytail, held together by a pink ribbon. Her parents sat back with the other parents, chattering, and would occasionally help with the search.

Lola had a total of ten eggs in her bucket so far. She moved off to pick up a little blue egg. As she reached for it a scream ripped the air apart. It was the high wailing sound of another kid. She didn’t pay attention to it, for she knew that fights were common. It wasn’t until she looked over after the yelling of parents was heard that she felt that something was wrong.

She looked up to see that Mrs. Haynes was busy attempting to yank her son, Billy, from vines that seemed to come up from nowhere. Billy wasn’t the only one trapped in plants. Chaos erupted and screams for help rang out. Kids and now adults alike were being grabbed by the plant-life. Poor Billy and Mrs. Haynes now looked as if they were being pulled down into the earth.

Lola felt something wrap around her ankle. She was suddenly yanked off of her feet, her eggs went rolling across the grass, and started to scream for help from anyone that could. Walter Green rushed over. He lived across the road, and was luckily outside tending to his garden. He took his garden shears, and freed Lola from the grip of the vine.

Soon all the screams ended, and in the wake of the murderous plants there were left people in the earth, children crying and screaming for their mommies and daddies that had been swallowed up by the earth, and parents weeping for the loss of their children, husbands, wives, brothers, or sisters. Mrs. Haynes was kneeling on her knees, her face in her hands, crying inconsolably for the loss of Billy. Those that managed to get free gawked in awe and horror at the scene before them. None of them were aware of the danger that had just worked it’s way into the city. It was just the beginning.

One

Once again, Sam and Dean Winchester were on the road. Three days had passed since their last hunt; too long, and Sam was looking for a new one to occupy their time. Sam’s long, brown hair was gently being blown by the wind that was coming through the cracked open window. He was wearing a plaid button down shirt. Currently his green eyes were checking on blogs from a website.

“Dean, I think I might have found something.”

“You’re not still on that blogging site, are you?” Dean mumbled. He didn’t believe following an internet blog, most likely run by teenagers gossiping about claimed paranormal events, would be helpful. He wasn’t as tall as his younger brother, but his own brown hair was short. His brown leather jacket hugged him as he drove. Underneath the jacket he too wore a plaid button down shirt. It was open to reveal a military green tee-shirt. Both brothers wore blue jeans, and brown work boots.

“Actually, I’ve been looking through this guy’s blog. He knows what he’s talking about. This last update of his is from yesterday. ‘Possible Demonic activity ‘springing up’ here in quiet ol’ Midford. Message me if you have info, leads will be rewarded.’” Sam read off of his laptop. “I think this might be something. There’s another one from today.”

“‘Local sources have informed me that the attack was at the Annual Egg Hunt. Children and adults were seen being sucked into the ground by vines by W. Green. There have been disappearances reported from this event, and one more incident has occurred in an elderly woman’s garden as her grandchildren were celebrating the holidays. Please, only those with serious paranormal experience.’”

Dean sat and drove in silence. He seemed to be thinking, for a furrow between his eyebrows had creased together yet again.

“So a few plants go venus flytrap on people. You’re right, might be a case, but strange things that weren’t in our range of work have happened before.”

“I know that Dean. Still, there just has to be something going on there. Except for venus flytraps, that I know of, plants don’t just kill on their own. You do realize that a venus flytrap is a plant, right?” Sam asked. Immediately after he had asked this, he regretted it. Dean turned to face him slowly, a smirk on his face.

“Mr. College Boy thinks that he knows everything. Of course I knew what a venus flytrap was! Just because you went to college doesn’t mean that you can rub your smarts all up in peoples faces, Sammy!”

Sam sat silently in his seat, looking for anything else on the blog. Despite everything that they had gone through, Dean still enjoyed making fun of Sam for going to Stanford. He knew that somewhere, deep down, that Dean was proud of him. It didn’t need to be said.

“I think we should follow this guy’s lead. Midford’s not far from here anyways. If it turns out to be a bust we can just keep moving. We could always go directly to him for info too. His name’s Blake Rivera. Someone’s bound to know where he lives,” Sam concluded.

Dean turned the black 1967 Chevy Impala towards Midford. AC/DC’s ‘Long Way to the Top If You Want To Rock N Roll’ played through the car’s stereo system.

“Then whatever’s in Midford better look out, because the Winchesters are coming to town.”
___________________

Wayne Goodright stood outside on the porch. He was busy examining his own garden, and he was the only one outside.

“Damn it.” He said as he noticed that some of the leaves from his carrots were bit off. “Fucking rabbits!” He moved off of the porch to get a closer look. Looking at the dirt, he noticed that there were tracks from bunnies in his garden, along with rabbit turds. He saw a patch of gray fur from the corner of his eye, stood up, and kicked at the rabbit.

“Go on, get! Get out of my garden!” The bunny tumbled when he kicked it, got back up, looked at Wayne, and tilt it’s head, nose twitching. One of the bunny’s feet started pounding the earth. Soon Wayne found himself surrounded by rabbits on all sides.

The ones in front of him started to hop toward him, forcing him to back away. As Wayne was backing away, he tripped. The rabbits quickly covered the distance to get to him. Wayne started to scream as their teeth dug into his flesh. His screams could barely be heard, for the rabbits had tore out his vocal cords. Wayne started to choke on his blood. His blood was leaking out of him from several spots. He tried to fight them off, but there were just too many for him to fend off. Soon the pain from being bit so many times lessened, and things were starting to get fuzzy. His head felt heavy, and then things went dark. The rabbits scurried off. Wayne Goodright's corpse would not be found until his daughter, Beki, would come by on her motorcycle to visit.
___________________

A man with short, spiked white hair sat watching the news. His left eye was blue-green, and his right eye was brown. His skin was a slight bronze color. He wore a plain black shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. A tall glass of Dr. Pepper on the rocks sat next to him on a small folding table. He sat back in his gray leather chair. Two of the windows were open, allowing the soft, warm April air to walk through his house. The story of the mysterious incident at the Egg Hunt had been on the air repeatedly. It seemed that everyone was shocked at the events happening; they had every right to be. This man, however, kind of knew what was really happening.

I’d help, but I’ve put that sort of thing behind me a long time ago, he thought.

Two

The entire city was on edge after the easter egg hunt gone wrong. Few people would set foot on their lawns, and the park laid vacant with the remnants of banners from the disastrous day still hanging, along with discarded baskets and plastic eggs scattered among the grass. Sam made note of the few people who were out as they parked in front of a gas station.

“I’m going to go ask the cashier if they know who Blake Rivera is.” Sam told Dean as he unbuckled.

“And I’ll meet you in there after I fill Baby up.” Dean nodded in agreement. Deciding to leave his brother with his beloved car, Sam entered the vacant gas station, quickly spotting the lone cashier stocking a shelf of chips.

“Excuse me?” The man turned as he heard Sam. He was the typical young teenager with greasy hair and brown eyes.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah. I was wondering, do you know a guy by the name of Blake Rivera?” Sam questioned him. A tiny chuckle escaped the teen’s lips.

“Who doesn’t know him? If something happens in this town, he’s the one to know where, why, and how. Did you need him for something?”

“We’re investigating an incident that happened here at an annual easter egg hunt.” Sam replied. The teen’s smile dropped from his face and a flicker of fear crossed his eyes as he nodded curtly.

“Blake’s your guy. Knows everything that goes on around here. If you’re looking to talk, he lives in apartment 301 at Meadowbrooke. It’s three blocks down the road; big sign and everything, can’t be missed.”

Dean walked in, and immediately started for the beer. He pulled out a six-pack, walked over to where the pies were, grabbed one, and went to the counter to pay. He had to beg Sam for some extra money, for he had lost some during a game of poker. Sam walked out back to the car, and got in his seat. Dean followed a few seconds later.

“Get any info outta the guy?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, I got Rivera’s address.”

“Good, let’s roll.” Dean said, getting into his usual spot in Baby.

The apartment complex the cashier informed Sam of is one like any other with brown brick walls, and green roofing. There are three stories to the building, with apartment 301 being the first on the third floor. At the door a beautiful young woman with curves, long dark hair pulled into a ponytail, and mint green eyes opens the door. She’s wearing a bright coral tank top revealing the tribal designs tattooed on her biceps, and camo patterned capris revealing the ones on her ankles with her lack of foot wear. The young woman looked between the two brothers with an eyebrow raised in question before answering.

“Hello?”

Dean pulls out his very realistic, but fake FBI badge. Sam had made sure that they were the badges being used for that month and week. Sam had done likewise, and they were both wearing suits.

“Agents Young and Perry. Could we please speak to Blake Rivera? He’s not in trouble or anything. We just need to ask him a few questions.”

The young woman glanced between the two again, attempting to control the grin growing on her face before she was forced to lean against the door as a series of giggles tumbled past her lips. For a minute it continued until she held out her hands in apology.

“Hold on a second.” Her voice broke with laughter. “Oh, you think you’re clever, don’t you?” With a wide grin, she threw the door open. “Make yourselves at home, boys. Can I get you anything to drink?”

Dean looks confused while Sam stands there, stone faced. They both walk in, taking off their footwear.

“Water would be fine, thanks,” Sam says, still standing. Dean also remains standing.

“We’re still on the clock; will be until we know what happened.” Dean says, his face back to normal. “Where’s Mr. Rivera, and who are you?” He continued.

“Keep your pant’s on, doll, and chill for a second.” The young woman responded as she thrusted a glass of water into Sam’s hand before falling to sit on the couch with a tiny oof. Her sitting posture resembles a guys, seeing as she prefers sitting with her legs in different time zones. “So, you want to talk to a ‘Mr. Rivera.’”

“That’s correct,” Dean says while sitting down.

“When will he be back?” Sam asks. Once again the woman began to snicker at the two till the point where she bent forward.

“Oh, boy, you should hear yourselves.”

Sam finally gets it. He sets his glass down on a coaster, and looks at her. “There is no ‘Mr.’ Rivera, is there? Because he doesn’t exist, which would make you Blake.” Dean looks at Sam, surprised.

“Half right, half wrong.” The woman smiled. “I am Blake Rivera, but there is a ‘Mr. Rivera,’ because that’s what I go by too.”

“Well then, let’s get to why we came to see you. What do you know about what happened at the easter egg hunt?” Dean asks, cutting straight to the chase.

“Ooh, sorry, doll. Can’t tell you that so easily.” Blake leaned back on her couch.

“By not answering that question, you’re impeding on an ongoing federal investigation. By doing that, Ms. Rivera, we are legally obligated to take you into custody.” Sam says, standing up and pulling out a zip-tie. Dean just sits there, face as still as ever.

“I don’t let my boyfriend do bondage, so I’m not letting you either, toots.” Blake's face hardened to a glare. “I’m not stupid. I know you’re not feds.” Both brothers look at her, clearly surprised, but their faces remained still.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dean says. Sam looks at her, directly in the eyes.

“Now you’re accusing not one, but two federal agents of impersonating federal agents; that’s something else that can go on your record, and in the report,” Sam says.

“Hell, we’ll even say in the report that you’re responsible for what happened.” Years of hunting has made them very skilled liars, so they could convince just about anyone with ease. Blake fidgeted, attempting to make herself comfortable with her hands behind her head, reaching behind the couch.

“Tell you what, if you really are feds, then call your buddies and tell them about this.” In a split second Blake had a gun pointed directly at Dean, and a second at Sam. “And before you ask, I’m a damn good shot.”

“Oh good, now we can add threatening to kill to the charges as well! That’s an awfully long time in federal prison.” Dean says. He slowly reaches for his phone. Blake gives him a warning look. “Easy now, just my phone.” He calls Bobby.

“FBI, Agent Willis.” Bobby says in his gruff voice.

“Agent Willis, it’s Agent Young. Agent Perry and I need you to speak with someone.” He sets the phone down on the table, and sets it on speaker mode. “We’re good to go.”

“FBI, Agent Willis. To whom am I speaking with, and why do you got my agents calling?”

“How about you quit treating me like a chump and admit you’re fucking hunters, pretty boy?” Blake is glaring, her eyes turning a menacing yellow. “I’ve already got one ass to beat on my list for today. I don’t want another or his daddy getting in the way.”

“Well, you two idgits have fun. I’m not taking part in this.” Bobby says before hanging up. Sam looks at her, and lets out a sigh.

“Alright, fine, you’ve got us. We’re hunters.” Dean glares at him now.

“Way to just give up, Sam!” Dean snaps.

Blake’s eyes calm down to their mint green and she drops the guns, once more relaxing against the couch.

“That’s better. Now get the hell out until you learn some damned manners.”

Dean quickly whips out his gun and aims it her.

“We’re not going anywhere, not until you tell us what we want to know!” Sam stands off to the side, knowing how drastic Dean can be. He keeps his mouth shut though, and allows the scene to play out. Sam knew that this could end one of two ways: Dean gets tackled, making him fire his automatic, or Blake would realize the danger that she’s in, and tell them what they want to know. He then realized that there were actually multiple ways that this could go.

“Go ahead and shoot. If you do you’ll be drawing attention to yourselves, police will do background checks thanks to my little friend in there, they’ll discover you’re not feds in no time, and you’ll be on the run.” Blake responded, not moving from her spot. “Now I’ll say this once more; get out. I have a friend coming over, and he will freak and call cops if he sees you, fed badges or not.”

“Hmmm…. Nope, don’t think so; built in silencer,” Dean says.

“Suppressor,” Sam corrects him.

“Huh?”

“Suppressor, remember, dad taught us that they’re actually called suppressors, not silencers.” Sam explains.

“Right, whatever.” Dean had been eyeing Blake down now. “Let’s try this again. What do you know about what happened at the egg hunt thing?”

“I know that you’re a whiny little bitch.” Blake retorted.

Dean adjusts his aim down to the cup that Sam had, which was now empty, and pulls the trigger. A small ‘pop’ noise is heard at the same time that the glass breaks. He aims the gun back at her.

“You sure that you want to mess with us now?”

“You really will be much better off by telling us. You tell us, we leave, take care of what’s going on, and then we leave Midford. That’s it, I swear.” Sam tries reasoning.

A high pitch scream sounds from the doorway. Sam turns around, slightly startled to see a teen with dark blue hair trembling against the door frame. He’s small with a lithe frame and thick glasses shielding his bright blue eyes which are starting to leak tears at the slightest as he mumbles about guns and feds, voice increasing in pitch as he breaks down.

“Now look at what you’ve gone and done!” Blake snapped at them as she strode over to the tiny teen, pulling him into a hug as she strokes his hair. “There, there. It’s ok, Cesar.” The boy cries harder into her shoulder, shaking. “Happy now? You went and gave him a nervous breakdown! Shame on you, doing that to the sweet little guy.”

“You carry part of the blame too. All you had to do was tell us what you know!” Dean snaps at her. Sam just nods in agreement.

“And you didn’t have to be a damned ass about it!” Blake snaps back, still holding Cesar who is trembling, eyes wide in fear. “If I just go around telling people shit, then amateurs are going to go and get themselves killed! It’s not easy being an informant. If you were wise, you would know better than to start cracking threats and tell the truth!”

Sam looks at her. “Wait, an informant? As in you tell other hunters about cases? If that’s true, then you must have heard of the Winchesters.” Dean is still aiming at her. “Dean, put the gun away, will ya?” Dean now glared at him. Due to how long it has been since Dean had actually last worked with their dad, he had gotten used to doing what he wanted. Sure, he’d go hunt something down if his dad called and asked him to or left coordinates for him to use, but before he got Sam from Stanford, Dean had grown used to doing what he wanted, when he wanted.

“Last time I checked, Sam, I was the big brother, not you! Shut your trap!” He hesitantly puts his gun away after putting the safety on anyway.

“Thank you. Now sit your ass down, and be good.” Blake guides Cesar to the couch where she sets him down. “I’ll go get you something for that anxiety of yours, toots.” His voice squeaks as he cries out when she goes to the kitchen, revealing his distinct Irish accent.

“Don’t leave me here with these maniacs! They’ll kill me!” He glances at the Winchesters, trembling, and curls his legs in towards his chest.

“Damnit, I hate it when we have to work with other hunters.” Dean snarls out at Sam.

“I know Dean. I was just as surprised as you were when she said that she knew we were hunters.”

“At that, how did she know?”

“I have no clue how.”

“We just know.” Cesar mumbles quietly, still trembling. “After so much you have to know; have to know to survive.”

“Calm down, doll.” Blake walks back in with an orange, fizzing drink. She hands it to Cesar, who accepts. “Drink that; it’ll calm you.” She sits by him, and rubs his back gently as he drinks. “Did you come over for something?” Cesar glances at the Winchesters, then back to Blake, who nods understanding. “Right. I’ll come over as soon as I shake these two off my tail.”

“The only way you’ll do that, dollface, is by telling us what we want to know.” Dean says. He receives a look from Sam that says that it probably wasn’t a smart idea to call her ‘dollface’.

“Winchesters or not, you need to learn some fucking manners!” Blake snaps back.

“Blake, please. He’s acting out again. I don’t know why, but I don’t like it.” Cesar is still shaking. Blake rolls her eyes.

“Well, you’re the one who was a genius and said ‘lets keep it.’”

“I didn’t know he’d do that!” Cesar blushes. “How on earth did you even pull me into all this?”

“I think it had to do with a ghoul in your closet and deciding you needed to learn to protect yourself.”

“How ‘bout this; fair trade. We get rid of the ghoul, you tell us what you know.” Dean suggests, not wanting to pass on a small, easy hunt.

“It is a fair trade.” Sam admits. Blake let out a ‘ha’ of amusement.

“Cesar probably wishes it were a ghoul in his closet. We took care of that two years ago, obviously.”

“Alright, then what’s the problem?” Sam asked, wanting to help.

“Not something we trust you with, obviously, or anything we need you shooting. Just a little project that’s a bit stressful on Cesar.” Blake stated as she rubbed Cesar’s tear stained face.

Dean was starting to get irritated by the situation. Though he really didn’t want to hit a girl, he was thinking about punching Blake.

“Look, you want us out, right? All you have to do is tell us what you know, and we’ll leave.” He looked at Cesar. “Though, if it’s something that we could deal with, we’d be happy to help,” he said.

Cesar looked fearfully at the Winchesters, then at Blake, whispering quietly to her.

“Do you think they would know anything about-?” Blake cut him off, hissing harshly.

“I doubt they would know, and if they did they would want him dead. Where would that put your slithering little project?” Cesar gulped nervously.

“But if they could help?”

“They came in with lies. That does not earn them our trust.” Blake concluded. “I follow my father’s policies.”

Dean groaned. “Look, if you really are a hunter, then you’d know just as well as we do that lying is a part of the job. Besides that, how were we to know that you were in the business?”

“Dean’s got a point. Lying is a necessary habit to have when you’re a hunter. It’s how we get information on what’s possibly going on,” Sam said.

“Because I have a fucking blog that said ‘do not contact on this hunt without previous experience’ jackass.” Blake glared. “And you know what? My dad was a hunter and he never told a single lie. He got around just fine. Cesar’s mom and dad too. Not a single one of them lied. But you know what? You’re damned lucky because I’m willing to give you another shot. Want to prove you’re not trigger happy bitches? Follow us.” Blake pulled Cesar, who stumbled in confusion, towards the door.

“B-but what if he?” Cesar stuttered.

“Good. It’ll teach them a thing or two.” Blake hissed as she yanked the door open, glaring back at the Winchesters. “Come on.” The brothers put their shoes back on, and started to follow the pair down the hall. A couple apartments down, Cesar took out the keys to his apartment, shaking as he opened the door.

“Watch your step. He’s been getting stronger lately.”

“Tell anyone about what we’re about to show you, and you’ll regret it.” Blake warned them before leading them in.

“Don’t turn on the lights.” Blake warned Dean as he noticed him reach for the switch. “He doesn’t like it when you turn them on without warning.”

“Who’s ‘he’ exactly?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, it’d be nice to know what we’re about to deal with here,” Dean stated.

“Do you like snakes?” Blake asked as they led the Winchesters further into the dark apartment after the door was closed. A rustling could be heard behind a door they assumed to be Cesar’s bedroom.

“I don’t think he liked my sudden departure.” Cesar whispered cautiously. “Maybe we should wait.”

“Don’t worry. I have a dose of paralyzer in my pocket; should be the right strength this time.” Blake assured him.

“I’ve heard that one before.” Cesar retorted. Dean and Sam stopped walking.

“A snake? You brought us here for a sake? C’mon Sam, we’ll try getting info from someone else.” Dean said, turning around to walk out, irritated that they were about to help with something as trivial as an escaped snake. Blake chuckled at the remark.

“You’ll be missing out on a real wonder then. You see, this snake is a bit bigger than your average snake.”

Dean continued to walk out, but Sam stayed where he was.

“I am kind of curious. Let’s stay and see this.” Dean turned to look at Sam.

“Really, are you freaking kidding me, Sam? It’s just a waste of time. Who knows, more things could be happening around here, things that are more up our alley.”

“I am serious Dean; I want to try to help. Besides, it is a chance to prove to Blake that we can be trusted.”

“Fine! We’ll stay and ‘help’ them with their snake problem.” Dean said, coming back in. Blake chuckled as Cesar opened the door cautiously, peeking in before opening it further.

“Jermain? It’s me and Blake. We brought others too, so d-don’t be alarmed.”

Cesar shook as the slithering noise could be heard again as two pinpricks of yellow flashed dangerously at them, followed by a hissing sound.

“I’m going to turn the lights on now.” Cesar reached for the switch and flipped it on. Inside was what appeared to be a coiled mass of scales, closer inspection revealed it to be the gigantic torso of what looked like a gold and green snake. At the head of the body though was the torso of a tanned man with golden eyes, and shoulder length, dark brown hair. The man wore an expression of anger as he hissed loudly, showing his sharp fangs to Cesar as his tail shot out to wrap around his ankle. Cesar yelped in shock, but was pulled back by Blake who managed to pull him out of the tail’s grip.

“I’ve got ya, doll. Don’t worry.” Blake assured him before looking at the man. “And you, take a chill pill.” The man recoiled, slowly calming. “That’s better. You weren’t kidding. He really is moody.”

Sam and Dean backed up due to surprise. Dean started to reach for his gun, but Sam stopped him.

“What the hell is that thing?” Dean asked.

“A naga.” Blake replied smugly. “Four-hundred fifty pounds, and over forty feet long. We found him when we took a trip to Greece with the professor. He was snatching up kids for food, so we brought him home with us to study his kind. He was doing pretty good at first, but lately he’s been acting up.”

“I’ve tried calming him, but the moment I let my guard down he grabs me!” Cesar claimed. “I can’t get a wink of sleep with him around anymore.” Blake looked around the room.

“Pretty cold in here, don’t you think?”

“The AC won’t shut off, and I can’t call anyone to fix it with that.” Cesar pointed at the naga whose expression had turned to one of confusion. Blake chuckled.

“I know why he’s been grabbing you. He’s cold.”

“Cold?” Cesar smacked his forehead realizing his mistake. “Of course! Ugh, I feel like a bumbling idiot now!” He mumbled in embarrassment. Blake chuckled.

“Jermain must have just recognized your higher body heat and decided to use it to his benefit.”

Sam started to walk out.

“Where ya goin’ Sam?” Dean asked.

“I’m getting the tool box from the car.” Both of them had learned how to repair air conditioning units, for they have stayed in many a motel room where the AC either wouldn’t turn off, wouldn’t turn on, or didn’t cool the air enough. A few moments later he was next to the unit, repairing it.

Cesar glanced over to him as he noted various vital signs and other data of the naga who had coiled his long tail around him. Cesar seemed uncomfortable with it, but was more trusting of the creature now that he knew it’s reasoning. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“Yeah, but it’s the least we could do.” Sam said.

“Don’t want the naga to kill you or something while just trying to get warm.” It seems like it’s been tamed, but still, things could happen, Dean thought, still wary of the creature before them. “Out of curiosity, any security measures?”

Cesar fidgeted. “I can always use tranquilizer, and we have the needs necessary if things were to go beyond our control. He doesn’t normally live with me, to tell you the truth. The professor went on a trip, and I’m the only student with the medical experience who can care for Jermain.”

“The professor?” Sam asked. He was kind of worried that Dean would try doing something. Dean was kind of unpredictable at times, and that meant that Sam had to pay close attention to what was going on around them at all times. Though, there have been times where Sam himself had done things that he usually wouldn’t do.

“Guy knows everything about everything.” Blake responded. “He takes us and the others on trips around the world so that we can learn about the different breeds of monsters.”

“There’s a lot to learn about.” Sam says, putting tools away. “There, this should work a lot better now.” The air conditioning unit is now off, allowing the room to gradually warm.

“That should improve his mood.” Cesar noted, finishing his notes as he stepped out of the Naga’s hold. “I really hope the professor returns soon though; I’m not accustomed to this arrangement.”

“Well, he shouldn’t be too bad to deal with. He seems pretty docile to me.” Sam said. Dean, who was standing by the door, opened it and started back down the hall.

“C’mon Sam, I doubt that Blake will tell us what we want to know, so we might as well try getting the information somewhere else.”

Sam held the tool box in one hand, and started to follow his brother.

“You always this impatient, toots?” Blake huffed, annoyed. “If you were to wait a second, you wouldn’t go jumping in head first like a buffoon and listen to me.”

Dean turned back to face her, a smirk on his face. My plan on getting her to tell us worked, he thought, and went back into the apartment. “I take it that you’ve decided to clue us into things.”

Sam had walked back in before his brother could. “Please, continue,” Sam said.

“No one should be going after this creature.” Cesar cut in grimly. “Not until the professor returns. I told you not to go blogging about it.”

“Good income comes from this kind of stuff.” Blake argued. “Who knew we’d have killer plants? What’s next? Rabbits? Whole town is going haywire.”

Dean looked at them. “We already knew about the plants. As for waiting for this professor of yours, not happening. Waiting means allowing time to pass. Time passing means more dead people,” he replied.

“Mass hysteria could break out as well. People are already nervous.” Sam told them. “That would only worsen the problem,” he concluded.

“And going about questioning people and splashing holy water on them won’t?” Cesar raised an eyebrow at them. “This is serious. People are missing, and I say we sit tight, keep people from doing anything stupid, and wait for him to return.”

“What part of people dying did you not understand?” Dean asked, annoyed that people that claimed to be hunters would sit back and allow all hell to break loose. “That, and we’re damn good at our jobs!” He stormed out.

“Sorry, we’re just not ones to procrastinate on the jobs that we do. Every single moment that we waste doing nothing, is another moment that something could happen.” Sam said before going after Dean.

“Suit yourselves. We’re not responsible for your lives.” Blake shrugged. The Winchesters continued down the hall, to the Impala, and off to speak with one of the witnesses.

Three

At that moment, a white Ford was moving down one of the roads into Midford. Inside the vehicle sat a family of seven. Two girls and two boys sat in the back. Their parents sat in the front. There was little to no traffic on the road. The driver, Edward Write slammed on the breaks as a branch from a tree broke off, landing in the road. He looked on, wide eyed.

“That was close!” He turned to his wife. “It’s a good thing that you told me to slow down a few minutes ago, or we would’ve been crushed.”

“I can see that, Ed!” Nancy said harshly. She turned to look back at the kids. “Is everyone alright?” Her four children looked at her, shocked.

“Y-yeah, mom. I think so,” Eddie responded. His sister amy (the most wonderful woman in the world) suddenly started crying. He looked at her to see that blood was coming from her nose. She had hit her face on the back of her mother’s seat. Nancy quickly handed her a kleenex, handed it to amy (the most wonderful woman in the world), and had her hold it to her nose, slightly tipping her head back. Jacob freaked at the sight of his sister’s blood.

“Stop it, calm down Jake!” Edward ordered. He started to back up, but the van wouldn’t move. Tires screeched and screamed out in pain, throwing up some smoke as Edward floored it in an attempt to make the van budge to no avail. Panic started to sink in. The youngest child, Olivia started to point out the window in excitement.

“Look, bunny rabbits!” She said excitedly. She had loved bunnies. In fact, their pet bunny, Mr. Foo Foo sat in his cage on the floor between her feet. Nobody noticed this, but the latch on his cage unhitched, allowing the cage door to open. Mr. Foo Foo hopped his way out of his prison while they weren’t paying attention. A collar hugged his scruffy grey and white neck.

“Shut up, Olivia! They’re just some stupid rabbits!” The eldest, Shannon said. Olivia defended herself and her beloved bunnies. On the other side of the van vines and tree limbs stretched out to grab the van.

The Writes were too busy looking at the large group of rabbits amassed on the right to notice what was occurring to the left. Nancy scrunched her face up when once the sound of the scratching was heard. A branch broke through the driver side door window, and pressed itself into Edward’s throat, choking him. Nancy shrieked, and tried helping her husband to remove the branch. Some rose bush thorns made their way into her mouth and down her esophagus, making her bleed internally.

The other plants were now attempting to squash the vehicle by hugging it. One of the kids managed to open the door. Mr. Foo Foo did something odd. Instead of escaping from the doomed van and family, he stayed with them. He hopped up into Olivia’s lap, looked at her, and wiggled his little pink nose.

“Good Foo Foo, staying with us.” Olivia said. She found the bunny comforting. Her brothers and sisters were begging her to get out to safety so that they could follow in their panic. Plants were now making Nancy’s stomach bulge outward, making her look pregnant. They burst outward, making her blood and guts spill out. Edward had managed to get the branch off of his neck. The kids screamed out in horror.

Mr. Foo Foo was now clawing at Olivia, tearing her flesh. She screamed and cried. Jacob threw Mr. Foo Foo out through the open door. Olivia managed to unbuckle herself, and climbed out of the van. This allowed Shannon and Jacob to escape. The ceiling of the van was now touching the headrests of the seats, making it so that they had to duck to get out. It slowly crumpled in on them, making it hard for them to get out. Eddie was just about to make it out when the van was completely crushed, and dragged into the woods. The remainder of the Write family stood in silence, shocked at what just happened. The concert of rabbits started thumping slowly, but steadily sped up the tempo. They left the children to wallow in shock, horror, confusion, and grief.
___________________

Sam had looked in a phone book to find out where ‘W. Green’ lived. The moment the door was opened he began ushering them in. “Quickly, off the lawn,” he warned them. “It’s not safe to set foot on the grass.”

The Winchesters were kind of surprised when Walter let them in. Usually people would hesitate before letting them in despite being dressed as feds or whatever their cover was. Walter was a man in his mid to late fifties with a full head of slightly gray hair. He was wearing a light blue turtleneck sweater, jeans, and neutral colored slippers. He was of a slender build, but was somewhat muscular do to working in his garden. He looked at the pair.

“Now, what could I do for you two gentlemen?” Walter asked. He directed them through the mud room and into the living room, which was sparsely arranged. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.” The brothers remained standing for the time being, and pulled out their badges.

“FBI, Agents Young and Perry,” Dean said. Walter examined them with a close, scrutinizing eye.

“I knew that it’d be only a matter of time before the feds came to speak with me,” Walter said, making himself comfortable in a chair. Sam and Dean sat across from him on a couch.

“I know that it was a traumatic experience, Mr. Green, but we need you to tell us what happened.” Sam said.

“Please, call me Walter,” he said, getting up to go to the kitchen. “Lemonade?”

“Yes, please,” both Winchesters said in unison. Walter came back holding three ice cold glasses of lemonade, and handed two of them to Dean and Sam.

“Thank you,” Sam said. Walter sat back down, taking a slow shallow drink.

“It was horrifying…. All those people being swallowed up, parents scrambling to get their children.” He paused to shake his head, a look of gloom on his face.

“I’m sure it was,” Sam agreed.

“What were you doing when it started?” Dean asked.

“I was tending to my garden, then the screams started. At first I thought that a fight had broke out between some of the little ones, because they’re commonplace at the egg hunts. I glanced over to see Jackson Hugh being pulled into the ground. Poor Lola lost her mother, Daphne. Fredrick is beside himself. Weeds and vines were sprouting up all over the place, taking people. At first I was frozen in shock at what was going on. It was Lola’s scream that snapped me back. I saw that poor girl being dragged through the grass and dirt, possibly towards a hole. Luckily I had my shears handy; saved the poor girl, things went back to normal, kinda. Started searching for her ma only to find her hand sticking out of the ground.”

“That is horrible. It’s a good thing that you were able to save the girl.” Dean said. Walter sat there, completely still.

“That it is, Agent Young, that it is.” He stopped to look down, like he was guilty of something. “If only I had done something sooner, maybe Daphne’d still be alive n’ kickin’.”

“Don’t blame yourself, it wasn’t your fault,” Sam consoled the man.

“There’s only one other thing bothering me though,” Walter confessed.

“What’s that?” Dean asked. Walter took some time to answer.

“How could something like that happen?”

Now the brothers were at a loss for words, not quite sure how to answer that particular question without telling Mr. Green the actual truth.

“We don’t have an exact answer yet, but we’re working on it,” Sam finally responded. “I promise, we’ll find the cause and get rid of it.”

“Thank you,” Walter spoke quietly, attempting to clear his throat before continuing. “By any chance, are you related to those boys?”

Both Dean and Sam looked at him.

“Boys?” Dean asked.

Walter nodded. “Yes. Two boys were here asking questions too.” His brow furrowed in confusion as he recalled the event. “The oddest boys they were. Showed up around midnight; twins from what I could tell. Funny thing is one of them refused to show his eyes, and the other had-.” Walter stopped. “Oh, but you wouldn’t believe that.”

Sam looked up from watching the ice cubes in his glass melt. The lemonade was good and refreshing, yet it was a tad bit too sour for his liking.

“Please Mr. Green, finish what you were saying. We’ve seen a lot of things in our careers, so whatever pieces of information that you could give us would be helpful, ” Sam said and Dean nodded.

“If we could tell you the things that we’ve seen and experienced, you’d be surprised.”

Walter took in a deep breath as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was trying to describe. “I don’t know what else to say, but this. When he smiled, he had fangs, big long ones.” Walter mimicked the classic vampire fangs with his index fingers. “I thought he was just some kid who liked to pretend at first, but they were so realistic. His brother too. He had fangs showing when he spoke. It was so weird, and-.” Walter stopped as he glanced out the window. Outside part of his garden and the border of woodland could be seen. “There he is!” Walter pointed.

Wandering about in the underbrush was a young man with dark tanned skin and sandy brown hair spiked in all directions. From the distance the only other things that could be seen were his studded leather jacket and red jeans before he waved cheerfully at Walter and ran off.

“Two boys like that camping in the woods all alone, and with what’s happened recently?”

“Thank you for your time, Walter,” Dean said. He finished his lemonade out of courtesy, and walked out with Sam. Dean stopped at the Impala. “I’d have to take a wild shot in the dark here, and say that the two guys Walter mentioned are behind things.”

“Let’s not jump the gun for once Dean; let’s go talk to the other witnesses first. If they bring them up, then we’ll look into it,” Sam said.

Dean stood still, leaning against the hood of the car. He stood like this for several minutes.

“Alright. It wouldn’t hurt, I guess,” Dean agrees, getting in the driver’s seat. Sam got in beside him. Together, for most of the day, they had talked to witnesses, and all of them said pretty much the same thing.

“They’ve all been questioned by those two boys,” Sam concluded as they once again entered the impala. “They all described them the same way too.”

Dean continued to drive down the road. The first thing they had done when they got into Midford was, as usual, book a motel room. Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ was on the radio. Dean pulled into the parking space farthest from the management office.

They would always try to get a room far away from the office that was on the first floor if they could. Of course a lot of the rooms that they’ve stayed in over the past several years weren’t the best or necessarily the cleanest, but the rooms did what they need them for. Hillview Inn was the name of the motel.

Evidently the owners thought that the word ‘inn’ would look nicer than ‘motel’, Sam thought to himself.

“We’ll stay here and rest up for the night. Go over everything that we’ve discovered, and then we’ll track down those murderous kids tomorrow. Ya alright with that, big guy?” Dean asked, walking into their room. Sam made a beeline for the bed that he had picked. It was the one on the inside, away from the door. Dean had always used the bed closest to the door, for it allowed him to spring into action right away if anyone were to sneak into their room whilst they were asleep.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Sam yawned, and collapsed onto his bed. He stayed up long enough to go over the things that they’ve learned with Dean.

Four

It was late at night when Sam woke up. There was a harsh tapping noise. Several moments passed before he realized what it was. Someone was knocking on their door in the middle of the night. He rolled over to see that Dean wasn’t there at the moment. He let out a sigh, knowing exactly what his brother was up to.

Bar hopping, cruising for a hookup, he thought. He wondered how long Dean had been gone for. He got up out of bed, stretched, grabbed his gun in the event that he’d have to use it to defend himself, and went to the door. He was still wearing the clothing he had worn from the previous day.

At the door was the same young man they had seen outside Walter’s window, with another man who appeared to be an exact copy of him down to even their facial piercing; the only difference was their apparel. The one they had seen outside Walter’s window had stunning golden eyes that sparkled in the moonlight, and was wearing the same silver studded jacket and jeans. The other was dressed in business casual attire mixed in with leather bracelets, and studded attire. There were even some studs on his faded jeans, and oddly enough he was wearing red and orange tinted sunglasses.

“Hello,” the one with golden eyes greeted cheerfully. “My brother and I caught word of your arrival and were wondering if you’ve noticed anything strange.” At the word ‘strange’ his lips curled up in a pleasant smile. Revealing sharp canines and even sharper fangs.

“We won’t take much of your time,” the one bearing sunglasses muttered quietly. His teeth were the same. Sam held the barrel of his gun to the inside of the door. He clicked off the safety.

Two fangs? These aren’t vampires, that much I figured out just from speaking to witnesses. That only brings the question of what they are. Sam looked at them carefully. He noticed that Dean was walking back over, being very quiet. Dean had his gun in his hand, and aimed it at the back of one of their heads.

“As a matter of fact, yeah; you!” Dean said. Sam moved aside, making sure to aim at the other one. “Move!” Dean ordered.

“Now that’s just rude!” The one with golden eyes pouted as he shrugged off his jacket, tossing it to Sam’s feet. Various weapons fell out and clattered to the ground. Now clad in only his t-shirt, the young man lifted his hands behind his head. “Please don’t make me strip my pants. I only have a couple knives there.”

“And a gun,” the one with sunglasses reminded him.

“And that,” the golden-eyed one sighed.

“And stiletto blades in your boots.”

“And those.”

“And the-”

“We are not mentioning that one,” the one with golden eyes cut in. The one with sunglasses remained in his cross armed posture. Expression unchanging in the sight of weapons. Dean shoved the one with the sunglasses inside, careful to not get too close with his gun. Sam motions for the other to enter the room, motioning with his gun.

“Try anything stupid like attacking us with plants, and you’ll be dead before you even hit the floor!” Dean snapped, closing the door behind him and locking it without taking his eyes off of the two strange people now in their motel room.

The one with golden eyes growled, pulling the one with sunglasses closer protectively. “Don’t shove my brother. It’s rude.”

“Shut it! What’s with the teeth? You two so are not vampires!” Dean asked.

The two backed away, the one with golden eyes acting as a shield for the one with sunglasses. “We asked first!”

Dean glared at them.

“Dean, I think that they’re trying to give us the go around,” Sam said.

“No, really? I didn’t notice,” Dean said sarcastically.

“Evidently you didn’t notice us asking about killer plants,” Sam said.

“We’re the one’s asking about that, actually,” the one with sunglasses responded.

“And I don’t like talking to guns! I already gave you our weapons!” The one with golden eyes pointed to his jacket on the ground huffing. “If that doesn’t prove anything then give it back! I’m cold,” he whined.

Dean knelt down, picked up the jacket, went through the pockets, and roughly handed it back.

“Actually, you asked us if we’ve noticed anything strange, not about plants. Therefore, we’ve answered your question already,” Sam pointed out. Dean moved around to face them, still aiming his gun.

“Your turn,” he snarled, glaring at them.

As the one put on his jacket his golden eyes widened as he noticed Dean was still holding one of the objects that had been in his pockets. A silver rod. “Don’t touch that!” He cried nervously.

Dean looked at him confused. “This? It’s just a metal ro-.” He was cut off as he noticed a thin layer of ice was now coating his fist. “What the hell is this thing?” He attempted to remove it, but the ice grew thicker.

“It’s one of the ancient weapons my mother’s people have used since the dawn of their existence. If you touch it without permission it freezes your body; built in anti-theft protection ,” the one with golden eyes grinned. “Pretty nifty, huh?”

Sam stepped forward menacingly. “Help him out, and we might put our guns away!” He was surprised when Dean didn’t argue with that proposal.

The one wearing sunglasses sighed and held up his hands, a tiny flame flickering over them. “Hold still.”

Dean released the rod when once he could. He looked down at his hand and flexed it. He bent and unbent his arm to get it working normally again.

Sam looked at them. “Thanks. Now answer my brother’s question regarding your teeth first, then we’ll put our guns away,” Sam said. Dean looked at them.

“After you convince us that you aren’t the ones controlling plants, that is,” Dean retorted.

“Well obviously, we don’t control plants; not our division,” the one with golden eyes grinned as his brother sighed.

“Did you have to make a Sherlock reference?”

“Yes. It was right there! How could I not?” He turned his attention back to Sam and Dean. “I’m Caspian, and this is my brother Kuro. What we are is a bit difficult and hard to believe.”

“We’re hunters, and it’s obvious that the two of you know that already,” Sam said, still holding his gun.

“So try us,” Dean said. He too still held onto his gun.

“Our mom is a mermaid and our dad is a werewolf and vampire hybrid with fire mage heritage.” Caspian responded.

The Winchester brothers relaxed now, and put their guns away. They were now sure that Caspian and Kuro were not, in fact, behind the attacks. “So, think you could maybe let us go now?”

Sam sat down on his bed. Dean remained standing.

“Not so fast. Not until you tell us what you know.”

“Just that there’s freaky vines killing people, and bunnies running around,” Kuro shrugged.

Dean ran his hand over his face. “Great, they just know what we already know,” he said.

“Then we’re stuck right now,” Sam said. “I have a feeling that this hunt will be unlike anything that we’ve ever dealt with.”

“It already is, Sam. I mean homicidal plants, really? When we get this thing settled I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at a blade of grass the same way.”

“I know,” Sam agrees. He realizes something. “Wait, what bunnies? We haven’t seen any around here yet.”

“Unless you count the roadkill that we saw on our way here,” Dean jokes. Sam nods in agreement.

“There’s a ton running around in the woods.” Caspian jabbed his thumb in the direction of the woods. “We’ve been camping out there for a week now, and they’re multiplying pretty quickly.”

Dean sighed. “How many bunny rabbits are usually around?” He asked.

“From what we’ve seen, hundreds,” Caspian answered as his eyes drifted to his brother. Kuro’s eyebrows had given a simple twitch before he calmly made his way towards a window overlooking the woods. “What’s got you riled up?”

“Rabbits.”

“Well, we don’t know if a bunch of bunnies mating is a sign of anything,” Dean said as Sam sat down and took to the internet. He brought up the website for the city’s news, Midford City Journal.

“Oh boy. Dean, you should see this.”

“What is it Sam? How ‘bout you share with the class,” Dean suggested.

Sam looked back at the screen. “Well, there’s two articles now. Both of them are about something happening.”

“Well, what happened?”

“The first article is about a car accident. It’s a short article, so I’m guessing that the person that wrote it had to leave out some details.”

“And the second?”

“That one has a bit more information. It says that a male was attacked, and killed. His body was found by one of his family members when they came by for their daily visit. The police think that he was murdered.”

“Rabbits,” Kuro repeated.

“Why does he keep saying just ‘rabbits?’” Sam asked. “It’s kind of breaking away from the topic I’m trying to bring up.”

“He’s not so good with words. He’s only two years old,” Caspian explained as he peered out the window with his brother. “Holy.… That’s a lot of rabbits.”

“Told you.” Kuro responded, his fingers lightly fidgeting on the windowsill.

“How are we going to get back to camp?” Caspian muttered to himself.

“We could always get you a room,” Sam offered, which awarded him with a quick glare from Dean.

“It wouldn’t be right.” Caspian mumbled. “We earn what we get. It’s one of our morals.”

“As for saying that your brother is only two, haha, very funny. You’re clearly in your mid to late teens,” Dean responded. He looked out the window. That really is a crap load of rabbits!

Hundreds of rabbits were sitting at the edge of the woods. There was no telling how many were behind them. “I guess we could also give you ride back to where you’re camping.”

Caspian looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

“But he is two. Well, in a month or so,” he admitted. “As for going back to camp, it’s in the woods, and that’s where the rabbits are. If Kuro’s uneasy about it, I’m not risking it. He’s got killer instincts.” Caspian patted his brother’s shoulder, only receiving a grunt in reply.

Dean looked at them.

“I guess that you could stay here for the rest of the night,” Sam offered.

Dean looked over. “Dude, they’re just rabbits. They can scare them out of the way as they go back to where they’re camping.”

“Fine then. We’ll go,” Caspian shrugged. “Come on Ku-”

Caspian was cut off as Kuro harshly grabbed his collar, lips turning in a snarl. No words were needed for Caspian to get the message and raise his hands in surrender. “Ok, I won’t go out there. You can calm down.”

Kuro calmed, his face going back to it’s stoic state. Dean started eyeing Kuro.

“What was that about?”

“Like I said, he’s only two. He doesn’t know how to express himself the best, so when he gets scared, or thinks there’s a threat, he reacts like that; getting mad,” Caspian explained, scratching his brother’s neatly styled hair as he went back to watching out the window, smiling at the calming effect it had. “He wouldn’t actually hurt anyone. Though he did give me a nip once when I did something he thought was dangerous.” Caspian chuckled, pulling down the collar of his jacket and shirt to reveal the dark scar of his brother’s fangs on his shoulder.

Sam put his laptop away. “So, he’s just cautious. No harm in that.” Though being overly cautious can cause problems as well. He stood and looked at them.

Dean looked at Sam. “Who wrote the articles?”

“They were both wrote by the same person; Kaytelyn Wayne,” Sam responded. “Why?”

“We’ll go speak with her later, see what she left out. That’s why.”

Sam gave him a look that told him that he understood. Caspian moved for the door, but was once again yanked back by Kuro.

“Bro! What was that for?”

“Rabbits.”

“Yeah, but we’re wolves,” Caspian tried to move, but was held back by Kuro who kept his eyes glued out the window.

“What would mother say?” Caspian froze at that, no longer trying to pull away, and after a moment of thought slumped against the wall until he was sitting.

“Damn. Got me there, huh.”

Kuro grunted, and Caspian chuckled. “Better hope she’s not pissed at us for camping here instead of New Jersey like we said we would.”

“New Jersey?” Sam asked.

“We go on camping trips a lot. Mom and Dad agreed we were old enough to go on one by ourselves this year, and agreed with our plan to have a trip to hunt for the Jersey Devil…. If it’s real,” Caspian explained. “But it looked really nice here, so we took a pit stop that ended up about a week long.”

“Then freaky things started happening, making you interested in things around here, so you stuck around,” Dean guessed.

“Nah, we were going to stay either way. That pond was amazing,” Caspian grinned.

“You’d stay for a puddle,” Kuro snorted.

“Only if it was a big puddle,” Caspian cut in. “And clean. And far from people. Can’t risk growing gills and fins in public.”

“Have fun bar hopping, Dean?” Sam asked.
Dean grinned. “Yeah. Spent some great quality time with the bartender, if ya know what I mean.”

Sam just remained still. “You’re horrible, you know that?”

Dean looked at him and huffed. “At least I know how to have a good time, unlike you!”

Caspian inched away from the two, his face scrunching in disgust.

“Ew. Man whore.”

Kuro’s head lowered as he groaned. “Brother, remember what happened the last time you called a hunter that?”

“And he was one. Caught him in the bathroom two minutes later with some busty blond.”

Caspian crossed his arms over his chest. “I say what I think; not my fault.”

“I could argue against that.” Kuro mumbled before resuming his silent post. Some hours ticked by and the sun now hung in the sky. It’s warmth kissing those that came out to go to work or school. While they waited they had random friendly conversation with Kuro and Caspian. Dean went and changed into his suit.

“Well, I think that it’s time that we go have a chat with Kaitlyn,” Dean said.

Sam changed into his own suit and came back out, his hair combed so that it didn’t hang over his face. “I’m ready when you are.” He looks at Caspian and Kuro. “What about these two?”

“I want to go!” Caspian jumped up from his spot grinning. “Come on, Kuro!”

Sam exchanged looks with Dean. He knew how Dean felt about possibly placing others in danger. “We’re just going to the news station. I don’t think that allowing them to join us would hurt, Dean.”

Dean looked at him and the two teens. “What do we say if we get asked why two teenage kids are hanging out with the FBI?”

Sam sat and considered this. “We could say that they’re early recruits or something like that.” He thought of something else. “We could even say that they’re high school students that won a contest of some sort to job shadow us.”

Dean looked hesitant. “Fine,” he states after some time. “But they’d better stay out of the way,” he said as he walked out to the Impala.

Caspian leaned to whisper to his brother. “Or we could have just snuck in; killjoys.”

“Let’s just stay out of trouble,” Kuro suggested as they followed the Winchesters.

Dean starts the car, and has Sam look up the location of the location of the news station. AC/DC’s ‘Back In Black’ came through the speakers.

“There’s never any Panic or Fall Out Boy playing,” Caspian complained, pulling an iPod out of his pocket. He handed one to his brother to listen through before turning on the music. “Better.”

Five

Sam told Dean the address, and they drove on to the location. They drove up to a large open courtyard. The building was a large multi-story brick tower with five rows of windows. The exterior from the second floor and up was steel and glass. A large neon sign reading MCJ sleeps on the roof. A smaller sign reading Midford City Journal sits just next to the doors.

“What’s a tiny town like this doing with a fancy newspaper building?” Caspian’s eyebrow rose. “You’d think they’d budget these things better.”

“Humans don’t know what they’re doing.” Kuro mumbled in agreement.

“Just because the name of this place has the word ‘town’ in it, doesn’t mean that it’s a town.” Sam responds.

“Compared to Underworld, this is a town.” Caspian muttered, his brother nodding in agreement.

They all stepped out of the car. Dean and Sam walked up to the building, the morning was still somewhat young. They walked into the lobby. A woman in her mid forties with orange hair sat behind the reception desk. A pair of glasses rested on her face. She held up a finger as she spoke on the phone.

“Yeah, I’ll get Katie right on that.” She said with a roll of her eyes. She listened to the person on the other line for a while longer before wishing them a nice day, and hanging up. She looked up at the Winchesters with a smile. “Welcome to MCJ, I’m Patrisha, how may I help you?”

They pulled out their badges. “FBI, Agents Young and Perry,” Dean said.

Patrisha looked at them, clearly not surprised. “Federal government come to investigate the tragic Easter Egg Hunt. Chuck owes me $5,” she says nonchalantly. “What could I do for you?” She now takes notice of Caspian and Kuro. “And what’s with the teenages behind you?”

“We’d like to speak with Kaytelyn Wayne,” Sam responded.

Caspian whispered to his brother, irritated. “Typical Americans; treating adolescents as second class citizens.”

“That’s all countries, brother,” Kuro reminded him.

“They were the winners of a contest to shadow us for the day,” Dean told her.

Patrisha scrutinized the pair. “One would think that they would’ve dressed more… appropriately.” She said, and turned back to Sam and Dean. “What do you need to speak with Kaytelyn about?” She asked.

“It’s in regards to the articles that she wrote.” Dean told her.

She typed on her keyboard. “I see. Second floor, last office on the left. Knock before you go in. Though I will go ahead and call her, telling her of your presence.”

They both smiled at her. “Thanks Patrisha.” Sam said. He followed after Dean, but also looked around. To their right were elevators, and to the left were stairs. The banister was beautifully crafted.

“So, stairs, or the elevator?” Dean asked.

The twins answered this question by heading for the stairs. Sam started after them.

“Stairs it is.” Dean said to himself, and made his way up the stairs with them. The second floor had people buzzing about, cubicles and writing stations. Phones would occasionally ring, but the murmur of voices could still be heard. As Caspian enters the second floor, a security guard stops him.

“Sorry, kid. This isn’t a place to mess around.” Caspian glared at the man and made a move to step forward, but was thankfully stopped by Kuro who gestured to Sam and Dean behind them.

“We’re with them, sir.”

Dean simply looks at the security guard, and gave the smallest of nods. The guard backed off once Dean flashed his FBI badge.

“Oh. Please, carry on.” The guard said. The third floor consisted of hallways that had rows of doors.

“Humans, they see a picture with words and automatically throw themselves to the ground.” Caspian muttered, shaking his head.

“No wonder they get eaten.” Kuro agreed.

“Drop the whole monster talk while we’re here.” Dean says after they receive some strange looks from people.

“Why?” Caspian asked. “It’s what we are.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that. Believe it or not, but most humans aren’t aware of the actual world that they live in.” Dean states when he can.

“So?” Caspian continued to look at them questioningly.

Both Sam and Dean stopped walking and turned to glare at them.

“Meaning that a lot of people don’t know that demons, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, etcetera actually exist. Their mostly used as stories by those that have no idea to frighten their children into behaving.” Sam attempted explaining.

“Not our problem they don’t have their priorities straight.” Caspian shrugged. “Besides, everything would be easier if they just accepted the fact we’re here.”

“Yeah, easier for you. That would just be a bloody mess.” Dean said. He had to ask which office belonged to Kaytelyn, for there were several halls branching off from the main one.

“How? People would know what they’re up against, and we could walk around in public. Mom says it’s a good idea.” Caspian stated.

Dean sighed. “Look, just drop it. We’ll talk about it later.”

“In private.” Sam added.

Dean knocked on the door to Kaytelyn’s office. A beautiful, young voluptuous brunette opened the door. She wore gray slacks, a gray womens suit coat, which was a few shades lighter than her pants. Her high heels were the same color as the coat. She looked back and forth between Dean and Sam.

“You two must be Agents Young and Perry. Please, come in.” She said, stepping out of the way to allow them into her office. The office had three windows. One of them was slightly open. She went behind her lavish wooden desk, which surprisingly had things neatly arranged on top of it. Four padded chairs sat in front of the desk. She smiled, revealing pristine teeth.

“And they’re obviously your shadows for the day. Please, take a seat. I have a few things that I have to do first, then my attention will be yours.”

They all sat down in the chairs before her, finding them to be comfortable.

“Thank you, Ms. Wayne.” Dean said politely. The third thing that he noticed about her was that she didn’t wear a wedding ring. Kaytelyn took to her work.

“Aaaaaand, this interview just took a turn.” Caspian snickered, whispering to his brother who sighed. “How much you want to bet he hits on her?”

“Twenty.”

“Deal.” They had made this deal before entering her office.

“Please sit tight, and I’ll be with you shortly.” Kaytelyn said.

Sam looked over at his brother, and knew that he wanted to try to seduce her. Who wouldn’t? Her beauty was equal if not better compared to that of the Mona Lisa. Dean was staring at her, but would occasionally look away at certain times to make his starring acceptable without it becoming either flirtatious or creepy. Caspian gave Kuro, who seemed indifferent about their bet, a smirk, and leaned to whisper to him.

“The usual?” Kuro simply grunted and Caspian chuckled. “Why do you always pick the side of the bet that loses?”

Finally Kaytelyn looked up from what she was working on. “Well gentlemen, I’m all yours.” She said, her smile back in place. “What was it that you wish to speak to me about?”

“We wish to speak to you about the man that was supposedly murdered.” Sam said truthfully.

“And the family that suffered that car accident.” Dean told her. Kaytelyn looked at them with a look that read shocked.

“Oh? I was sure that you came to speak about what happened in Wintergreen Park! Don’t tell me!” She fell silent to allow herself to think. “Serial murderer on the loose that the two of you are tracking down?” Dean was staring at her again, but only this time it was a stare of surprise.

“We aren’t at liberty to say.” Sam said.

“Right, of course, classified information. Well, what do you want to know?” She asked them.

“We’re wondering if there might have been anything that you could have possibly left out of the articles.” Sam admits. Kaytelyn sat silently, tapping her long, shiny red fingernails on her desk, her head tilted. Her bluish green eyes caught some of the lighting.

“I left out their names per request of the families, if that’s what you’re after.” She finally said, her fingers no longer clicking on the top of the desk. Dean now noticed that a plaque reading EDITOR IN CHIEF sat on the side of her desk. He now looked over to the wall behind them to see several pictures of men and women who looked older than Kaytelyn. Oh boy, we’re talking to the boss, he thought, turning back to face her.

“What were the names, Ms. Wayne?” Dean asked. Right now he was actually more focused on the hunt than anything else. Kaytelyn reclined in her chair.

“Please, call me Kayte.” She said while looking at them. “The name of the murdered man was Wayne Goodright. He surpassed his wife, Carrie in life, and only had one child. A girl named Beki. She’d check on him weekly.” Her face suddenly darkened from it’s usual cheerful appearance. She wasn’t always happy, but when conducting business she knew that it was important to put on her best face.

“And the family?” Dean asked. Kaytelyn let out a sigh.

“The Writes. They always came here for the holidays. Edward, Nancy, Eddie, amy (the most wonderful woman in the world), Jacob, Shannon, Olivia and Mr. Foo Foo.”

“Mr. Foo Foo?” Sam asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Yes. Olivia’s pet rabbit. It was just poor Mr. and Mrs. Write and Edward Jr., Eddie, that died in the car. amy (the most wonderful woman in the world), Jacob, Mr. Foo Foo, Shannon and Olivia were the only ones that had made it out before the van was crushed.”

“Crushed?” Dean asked.

“Yeah.” She became silent again, and let out a deep, heavy sigh. “Olivia kept going on and on about plants. I-it was…. Oh god!” She held up one of her fingers, and proceeded to grab a kleenex with her other hand. She wiped away her tears, and blew her nose with another one. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. We understand that everyone was shaken by the events at the egg hunt.” Dean said. She quickly and unexpectedly took one of his hands in one of hers. She had a slight grin on her face now, sorrow and pain showing in her eyes.

“Those poor kids. Luckily someone in the more… economically inclined section of the city bought an orphanage that refuses to separate family members. It’s just so sad.” She gently squeezed Dean’s hand.

“Is there anything else?” Sam asked cautiously. Again she strengthened her grip on Dean’s hand, and nodded.

“Mr. Goodright looks like he was mauled by… by…. I’m sorry, it’s just too awful!”

“Rabbits?” Sam questioned. Kaytelyn simply gave several sharp nods while sobbing. “Um, I know it’s probably not my place to ask, but could you give us the name of the person that runs the orphanage?”

Kaytelyn looked up at him, her eyes wide. She let out a short, quick chuckle. “You have better chance of winning the lottery than meeting him. Yeah he’s a generous and caring man, but he’s also a reclose. Nobody’s ever seen his face.”

“Please, surely he’d be willing to open up for the FBI.” Sam retorted.

“Well, if you insist. His name is Zain Black. He’s curated enough buildings around here, and donated enough money to charities so much so that the mayor insisted on giving Zain his estate. You’d have better luck speaking to his son.”

“So this Zain fellow, he’s a pretty powerful guy?” Dean asked, his hand still encased in her grasp. She couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“How would I know? All he does is apparently sit up there in his mansion, donating money to those in need, and remaining unseen and unknown to everyone here in Midford. Nobody’s even sure of his past.” She lowers the volume of her voice and looks around, as if there are others listening in about to hear the secret of a century. “There are rumors that he might be of royal blood. You know, a king or prince? I’ve even heard rumors that he was a criminal, but that seems very unlikely. I think that he might be a count, a viscount, or something of that sort! I wonder if he bought the island of Monte Cristo? To think, a real life Count of Monte Cristo living amongst us!” She lets out one of those dreamy, longing sighs.

“Well, I think that’s all of what we wanted to know, Ms. Wayne. Thank you for your time.” Sam said, standing up to walk out. Kaytelyn released Dean’s hand, and quickly wrote something down on a sticky note. She planted a kiss on it, turning a portion of the light yellow paper a shade of red, and handed it back to him.

“Call me when you’re off duty, Agent Young.” She said winking at him and giving a flirtatious smile. Dean walked out of her office, joyfully surprised that he didn’t even have to flirt with her to get her digits.

“Thank you Kayte, have a wonderful day.” He said as he shut the door behind them.

“That woman is a disgrace to the newspaper business, and the reason why they have such poor quality.” Caspian muttered under his breath as he passed a twenty to his brother who pocketed the money.

“You owe me too.” Kuro reminded him. Caspian sighed.

“Yeah, yeah. Just tell me when, and I’ll pay ya back.”

Together they walked out of the building. Patrisha bid them a friendly farewell.

“So, this Zain character, what do we make of him at this moment?” Dean asked.

“You want the dark side of my mind speaking? Or the sunshine and rainbows bit?” Caspian asked.

“Don’t say dark.” Kuro advised.

“Either one works.” Dean said. Sam looked at him.

“Both would be nice. It might give us an understanding of who he is when and if we meet him.” Sam said, still looking at Dean.

“What Sam?”

“Kayte.”

“I can’t help it that she has the hots for me!”

“She just wants to get a story off of you, or she’s hoping you find more evidence that she can write about.” Caspian snorted. “As for the guy, he took in a bunch of kids. I’ll let you decipher the rest.”

“Some humans can be good, brother.” Kuro added.

“No human is good!” Caspian snapped, his eyes turning a stunning shade of cerulean blue. “They’re all pigs, and we’re better off without them in our lives.” With that Caspian quickened his pace, walking past the Winchesters’ car.

“Sorry about my brother.” Kuro apologized. “There have been dark points in his past.”

“Not all humans are bad. He does realize that, doesn’t he?” Sam asked. Dean was getting back into the driver’s seat. Sam, as usual, got in the seat beside his brother.

“The ones at his high school were bad.” As Kuro spoke, his shades glowed blue, returning to their red and orange hues as he finished. “The story isn’t meant to be told by me, but he does have reasons for hating humans. As most do.”

“So he was bullied?” Sam asked as Dean started driving once Kuro got in.

Kuro debated over answering for a few moments, his eyes locked on his brother who had stubbornly walked down the road ahead of them. “He was raped in the locker room of his human school.” Kuro paused. “They used to all love my brother’s presence. They treated him with respect and kindness. That was back when he was pale. One month his skin started changing dramatically. It went from snow white to the dark tan it is now in a week. There were already supernatural occurrences concerning witches and voodoo. They all assumed the worst and turned on him without reason.”

“Sorry that he asked.” Dean said. He slowly drove the impala up next to Caspian so that Kuro could talk to him.

“Brother, please get in the vehicle.” Kuro coaxed the moody teen.

“You know I don’t trust humans with dangerous objects such as mechanicalized transportation units.” Caspian huffed.

“You’re just a bit uneasy from all of the humans you had to go through at the building. Please think rationally.” Kuro tilted his sunglasses, only allowing Caspian to see his eyes. “Please?” Caspian quickly turned, letting out a dry chuckle.

“That won’t work on me.” Kuro sighed, putting his glasses back in place.

“You don’t trust me?” Caspian froze, contemplating the words for a moment before getting into the vehicle after Kuro moved over.

“You’re lucky you’re my brother.”

“I’ll try to remember that the next time you snore.”

The Winchester brothers almost couldn’t resist the urge to laugh at that, however they did crack a slight grin.

Caspian’s face tinted pink. “It’s a natural thing.”

“Mother and father don’t snore.” Kuro pointed out.

“Have you ever tried sleeping in the same room as Brandeis?” Caspian asked.

“His wasn’t as bad.” Kuro’s lips twitched in what must have been a smile for him as Caspian turned to look out the window in embarrassment.

Dean looked at them using the rear view mirror. “Now that we’re alone, I think that it’s time to explain why we can’t just go around talking about monsters in public.”

“And why it would be a bad idea for everyone to be aware of monsters. It would be bad not only for monsters, but humans as well.” Sam added.

“There’s no point in hiding our existence.” Caspian assured them grinning. “Not for long, at least.”

“Well, for one, some hunters that are more trigger happy than us would start hunting you down. There’s hunters that will react first and ask questions never.” Dean stated.

“We learned that the hard way.” Sam said, instantly remembering Gordon Walker. “As for everyone being aware of the existence of monsters, it would only encourage more and more people to become hunters.”

“That and the monsters that kill people would feel free to walk around in the open killing as many people as they could.” Dean says. “All out war between the killer monsters and hunters.”

“It would just be one big bloody mess.” Sam concludes.

Caspian laughed and bowed his head. “You guys have no idea what’s going on below your feet, do you?”

“Brother.” Kuro warned. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone about that.”

“Relax, bro. They couldn’t get in, even if they wanted to. And you know I don’t give info out for free. No harm in hanging it over peoples’ heads either.” Caspian snickered.

Dean slammed on the breaks, pissed off at what he felt like was a threat. He turned to glare at Caspian. “You’re lucky that I don’t want to ruin Baby’s upholstery,” he threatened back. Sam let out a sigh.

“Dean just proved our point. You need to watch what you say.” Sam stated. “If you’d stop to think, you’d realize that it’s most likely been millenias since the entirety of the human race was last aware of monsters existing.”

“Then lets call a shindig and remind them what there is to be afraid about!” Caspian grinned “This place could use a bit of remodeling.”

Dean now pulled out his gun. Caspian laughed more at this.

“My, my. A gun? I thought you feared for your precious cars upholstery.”

Kuro’s eyebrows shot up over the brim of his shades and he quickly freed himself from his seat belt, pushing his form in front of Caspian’s protectively.

Caspian looked at him startled. “Kuro!”

“Yeah, but I can always fix it up…. Again.” Dean said, his gun still out. Sam looked at Dean, and then back at the twins.

“Killing people isn’t a very wise thing to joke about around us. Especially with whatever’s happening here going on already.” Sam warned.

“Maybe they deserve to die.” Caspian snarled as his brother, seeing that Caspian would not calm any time soon, sat on him. “Kuro, get off. Your muscle is heavy!”

“Not when your imagination is being troublesome and risking your life.” Kuro stated, crossing his arms as Caspian attempted to push him off.

“Ever since you got a bit stronger than me you’ve just loved using it against me.” Caspian muttered crossly.

“It has its advantages.” Kuro admitted. “Like keeping you out of trouble.”

Dean notices this, slowly relaxed, and continued to move the car forward. Now, for the first time, they noticed that some of the buildings and parks in the area were either named after Zain, or had a dedication to him. Once they even passed someone holding a sign advertising a party dedicated to Zain himself. The sign simply read COME CELEBRATE Midford’S FAVORITE UNKNOWN SON, ZAIN BLACK!

“Huh, looks like everyone has nothing but good things to say about Zain despite not actually knowing him.” Sam stated.

Dean looked over at him. “It is weird that they’re all basically worshiping the guy.” Dean said.

“I could change that.” Caspian muttered to himself.

“Brother.” Kuro warned.

“What? People who go and show off like this aren’t to be trusted. Proven fact.” Caspian glowered.

“By whom?”

“Mom? Duh. You heard the story. That’s all the proof anyone needs when it comes to this stuff.” Caspian pointed out. “She’s always right. And she tamed a gryphon! An adult one, not some hatchling other people brag about.”

“No, he’s actually kind of right. Take Hitler for example. A lot of people liked him, and yet he turned out to be a massive psychopath…. No, more like sociopath. Actually, that’s exactly what he was, come to think of it.” Sam said in defence of Caspian’s remark.

“Exactly. See? Even humans can agree with stuff mom says. That’s how smart she is!” Caspian grinned.

“Mother’s intelligence is… odd.” Kuro confirmed.

“Nah. Mom’s not odd.” At the look he received from Kuro, Caspian changed his opinion. “Ok, mom is as odd as a whale streaking at mardi gras in Japan, which I’m pretty sure would never happen in a million years, but my point is so what? She’s always right about everything!”

“Well, I guess we’d better be on our guard when we meet him.” Dean said.

“If we meet him. You heard what Kayte said; we’d have better chances at winning the lottery. That’s one in a million!” Sam stated. “However, you’re right. If we do meet him, we should be careful with not only what we say, but what we do as well.”

“Glad to hear that we’re on the same page, Sammy.” Dean said.

“Hmph.” Caspian glowered. “I say we drag his ass out of his hiding spot and demand he tell us what the hell’s going on here.”

Dean eyed them in the rear view mirror. “Alright, look. It’s either do and say as we do, or you can get the fuck out and go hunt down the Jersey Devil like you were supposed to!” He snapped harshly.

“Screw you!” Caspian snapped back receiving a stunned look from Kuro. “Relax, Kuro. I wasn’t serious. I doubt this guy has any info I’d want anyways.”

Dean went back to driving. He had to stop to ask a kind couple in their mid to late forties where Zain Black lived. They directed the small group uphill into the forest, and wished them luck. Several different songs played: Billy Squier’s ‘Lonely Is the Night’; Bob Seger’s ‘Hollywood Nights’, and ‘Night Moves’; Don Johnson’s ‘Heartbeat’; Foreigner’s ‘Dirty White Boy’; and Phil Collins’ ‘I Don’t Care Anymore’.

They drove down a long, winding dirt driveway to a wrought iron gate. A camera immediately swiveled around to look at them.

Six

Zain Black sat inside his mansion. He was busy reading John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. He finished reading that, and started reading a Stephen King novel. The alarm to signal that someone had come to attempt to visit him had just pulled into the driveway. He sat the book down, and walked into the security room. He turned the camera to look down at a black 1967 Chevy Impala. He could only tell that there were two people in the front. He hit the button to the intercom.
“Who are you?” He asked. He watched as the person in the driver’s seat rolled down the window and held out a badge.
“FBI. We wish to speak to Zain Black.” The one in the driver’s seat said. Zain hit another switch and a pneumatic tube came out of the ground next to the car.
“Please place your badge in the tube.” The guy placed his badge in, and it was sucked into the room that Zain was in. He examined the badge. FBI, hmmm? Zain thought to himself. He sat the badge back in, and sent it back to the so called ‘federal agent’. He used the intercom again. “May I ask why?” Zain asked.
“We need to ask him some things.” The short haired man said. Zain remained silent. He reached over and pressed the button to open the gate. He then walked out, gave himself a once over in a mirror, and made his way to the front door. He swung it open and waited for the men to walk up.
The two men held up their badges again, and presented themselves as Agents Young and Perry. Agent Young was the one with the short hair, and Agent Perry was the tall one. They were oddly accompanied by two adolescent males. The older two claimed that they were shadowing them. Sam looked at Zain.
“So, is your father here?” Dean asked, thinking that he was talking to Zain’s unborn son, for Zain only looked like he was in his mid to late twenties.
Twentysix is too young to be this rich, Sam thought logically. Zain looked at him.
“My father’s out of state on business.” Zain lied, no sign of him lying showing. “But I can speak on his behalf. Name’s Adir. Please, come in.” None of the guests were aware that Zain was lying about who he was, nor that he himself had once been a hunter. The two adolescents took a couple deep breaths and began to whisper in hushed tones to each other, making sure their conversation could not be overheard.
“But, brother.” Kuro attempted to make a final argument in their conversation.
“Ah, ah. You know the rules; info comes with a price. Let the humans figure it out themselves.” Caspian grinned, accidentally revealing his sharp canines. Kuro quickly pushed his face out of view.
“No smiling.” Kuro warned. “It shows your fangs.” Zain sat down, and invited the small group to do the same after telling them not to bother with taking off their shoes.
“So, what was it that you wished to speak to my father about?”
“We were wondering if your dad knew about the events that happened recently.” Dean said. Zain looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.
“Events?”
“Wintergreen Park, the ‘murder’, and the car accident.” Sam responds. Zain sat in thought for a short while.
“Ah, of course! How did it slip my mind? The events that took place at Wintergreen Park were tragic. In fact, before my father left he mentioned that he’s already planning on donating money for a memorial monument.”
“That’s very kind of him. We’ve heard that he’s done a lot of kind things for this city.” Sam mentioned. Zain smiled and shook his head in agreement.
“That he has.”
Out of nowhere the sound of Fall Out Boy’s song ‘Dance, Dance’ began playing. Slowly eyes turned to Caspian as Kuro turned his head towards his brother who remained still in his seat before sighing and getting up under the pressure of their stares, pulling a large smartphone from his tight jeans with difficulty. “One moment, please. Might be business.”
“Alright then….” Dean says. Was that Fall Out Boy before they went and changed things up? He looks at Sam, who is just about as indifferent as ever. Zain however, promptly glanced over at Caspian, and had him walk into another room for more privacy. He put his attention back on the Winchesters and Kuro.
Business indeed. So far they’ve only done things that those in ‘the business’ have taken to doing…. I miss the more simple days. “As for the unfortunate murder and the accident, my father is going to personally pay for the remaining family members’ schooling and the funerals.”
“Hey, pipe down, and quit acting like the pope. I’ve got a call here.” Caspian pressed the answer button, a grin spread on his face as he purred a greeting to the caller. “Hello, this is Caspian De’Sauvetterre Woolverton speaking.”
“Brother, you’re not allowed to make phone calls on your own anymore.” Kuro reminded him. Caspian rolled his eyes.
“Fine.” He pressed a button for speaker mode on the phone and a thick voice boomed through in fury.
“Woolverton! You better explain what the fuck is going on before I find your sorry tanned ass!” Caspian laughed at the threat.
“Geez, Haydon. Tense are we? What, your girlfriend not satisfying you anymore?” The voice didn’t answer, but the sound of angry breathing could be heard on the other end. Caspian laughed more. “The bitch left you, didn’t she? Just like I said she would.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Haydon snarled. “I know you have something to do with this! It’s always you!”
“My, my. So hostile today. You weren’t so grouchy when you needed information to save her sorry ass.” Caspian’s voice darkened. “Now listen. I don’t give a shit that you got screwed over while trying to get laid; that’s not my problem. Now if I were you, I’d be a good dragon and go take vengeance by burning a city or two down. How about New York? That’s bound to cause an uproar.”
“You’re insane.” Haydon snarled. “Just because you and that messed up group want our world to be exposed, doesn’t mean it will be!”
“And who’s going to stop me?” Caspian pointed out. “You? Good luck. You don’t even know where I am. Your only other chance is at school, and thanks to mum the security there is so tight now you’d have to be me to slip through.” There was a long pause on Haydon’s end in which Caspian’s smirk grew in triumph. Until the bitter sound of Haydon’s laughter cut through.
“Can’t find you, huh? For a guy who prides himself on never leaving tracks, you have an awful strong stench.” Caspian tensed. “What was the city you suggested, New York? I’d rather burn Midford. That’d have a bigger impact. Oh, and next time, remember you smell like a fucking girl.” The line went dead and Caspian trembled as he put the phone back in his pocket, a manic smile shaking on his face.
“Brother? Remind me never to deal with dragons again.”
“Not Haydon.” Kuro shook a bit. “He’d really do it, too.” Zain looked extremely calm, and stood up.
“Excuse me gentlemen, I’ll be right back.” He said calmly, and walked away. He made sure that he wasn’t being followed before going to the room that he was going to. He went into his bedroom, closed the door, walked over to the wall, and pressed against it. He walked in, and closed the hidden door, all traces of it disappearing.
Inside, he pulled out a large trunk. It had runes on it’s lid. He pulled it open, grabbed two automatic pistols that looked, oddly enough, similar to the Colt. Each gun, in fact, held thirteen bullets. He loaded them, and walked back out. He made his way back to where he had left his guests. He aimed first one at Caspian, and the other at Kuro. He still looked like he was calm.
“You are no longer welcome here, and by ‘here’, I mean Midford. Now get out!” He says in fury.
Caspian snapped. “You’re not the boss here, so calm your damn tits!”
“Last time I checked, this was my house, not yours!” Zain bellowed. Sam and Dean stared at him, for they weren’t expecting him to react in the way that he had. They weren’t sure if they should blow their cover or not.
“Dude, I don’t know what to do.” Dean admitted to Sam.
“Neither do I.” Sam confessed.
“You too, ‘feds’! All of you leave, now!” Zain demanded.
“And why should I listen to a whiney bitch human?” Caspian snarled. “My dragon buddy there is something to worry about; not pathetic humans like you.” Zain’s fuse was now shrinking more and more. Due to how enraged he was, his eyes darkened. He lowered the barrel pointing at Caspian to where Caspian was standing.
“Well, it just so happens that this ‘whiney bitch human’ knows how to take care of a dragon, so bring it!” This remark from Zain earned him amazed looks from the Winchesters.
“See, Kuro?” Caspian sighed before chuckling. “Humans are pigs, and pigs are meant to be slaughtered. We were made to reign over their existence, not the other way around. That’s what I’ve been trying to teach all of you.” Caspian looked at his brother, smirking to show his long fangs. “I mean, can you really trust someone who pulls out a gun at the first thought of a threat?” Seeing Caspian’s fangs, Zain reacted by simply yet quickly raising the barrel to aim it at Caspian’s leg. He pulled the trigger.
“Us humans have the right to defend ourselves from monstrous scum such as yourself!” Sam and Dean stood staring at Zain and the twins.
“Dude, did you hear Adir say that he knows how to take down a dragon?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. I take it that you’re thinking what I am….” Dean responded.
“That Adir and his father are hunters? Yeah.”
“KURO!”
Kuro was knelt over Caspian’s form, he had jumped to knock Caspian out of the bullet's path, but due to the change in position, the bullet had lodged inside Kuro’s chest creating a wound that was now pouring blood over Caspian who quickly sat to catch his twin as he collapsed, twitching.
“K-Kuro.” Caspian gently cradled his twin, shaking as a bitter laugh forced its way past his tears. “H-hold on, I’m going to make you better, ok? Just like before, you’ll be ok.” The young man struggled to haul the collapsed form. “Come on, Kuro. You can do it. Shake it off. You just need a bit of energy.” Caspian looked around, searching for their bags he forgot had been left at the campsite. “Blood.… I need blood.”
“I warned you to leave!” Zain snapped, glaring down at the two.
“Shut the hell up!” Caspian snarled, his attention immediately pulled back to Kuro as he coughed up blood. “It’s ok. We’ll get you all fixed up.” Caspian used his one free hand to pull out a pocket knife he flicked open. “Everything’s going to be ok.”
“Nuh uh, no way! You’re not gonna cut yourself open to help him!” Dean says. Sam starts moving towards Zain, but he swings around to now aim at Sam. Sam backs away, his hands raised in surrender.
“Don’t tell me what not to do for my brother!” Caspian snarled, cutting a thin line into his wrist before holding it up to Kuro, who weakly stared at the blood. His sunglasses had fallen off and cracked on the floor in his dive to protect Caspian, revealing the blood red color of his eyes. “Go ahead and drink, Kuro; it won’t kill me.” Kuro hesitantly latched his fangs into Caspian’s wrist. Caspian hissed at the pain, but encouragingly stroked Kuro’s hair. The blood in Caspian’s wrists wasn’t enough though, and Kuro quickly bit into his neck, forcing a low growl of pain from Caspian.
“Good… you need strength.” Caspian was quickly losing energy, and by the time Kuro had drained enough blood they were both just barely hanging onto consciousness.
“Sorry, brother.” Kuro rasped.
“I’s ok.” Caspian slurred. “Just glad…you’re ok. Now lets get out of here before-”
The sound of doors crashing open sounded, and soon the ones to the room they were in flew open as a man kicked them in. He was at least 5’10” with dark brown hair at a medium length, and eyes the color of glowing embers. Flames danced at the edges of his clothes as he snarled showing sharp fangs. “Where is Woolverton!?” He demanded.
“Ah shit.…” Caspian mumbled before falling back in defeat, succumbing to sleep. Kuro weakly pulled his brother into his arms.
“D… don’t hurt him. He’s not a fair fight.” The man calmed and the fire slowly died as he ran a hand through his hair.
“What the hell did you two get into now?” Kuro simply shook his head, falling just as the man stooped down to throw him over his shoulder, after a moment’s thought he picked up Caspian as well and threw him over his free shoulder before turning to the Winchesters and Zain. “Any other trouble this asshole cause that we should know of?”
Dean, Sam, and Zain all look at him, but Zain is the only one glaring at the new arrival. The three hunters are, however, aiming guns at him, obviously thinking that he’s a threat. Sam relaxed after he asked his question.
“Other than threatening me in my own home and the city that I live in? No.” Zain says, unaware of the fact that they want all monsters to be able to roam freely, and be known by everyone. Sam looks at Dean, giving him the look that asks whether or not they should blow their cover.
“They also talked about wanting every single human to know about the existence of monsters.” Dean says. This did partly surprise Zain, who quickly glanced over. He was suspicious of the two men being hunters, and now those suspicions were confirmed.
“I’m sure that we all know that that would be a very bloody outcome if it were to come to pass.” Zain said.
“Again?” Asked another male as he walked in. He was tall and lean, standing at about 5’ 11”. His hair was brown, and cut short, while his eyes were a crystalline blue hidden behind glasses. He calmly walked up to Caspian who was dangled over Haydon’s shoulder and lightly ruffled his golden hair, chuckling. “You never learn, do you?”
“Don’t treat this as a joke, Alsing.” Haydon snarled. “You should understand how dangerous an idea like that is.”
“I don’t know. I think watching a world ruled by Caspian would be rather entertaining.” Alsing smiled lightly as Caspian growled at him weakly. “That’s only a fantasy of his, though, and nothing more. He just likes playing king is all, Haydon.”
“He goes a bit too far with it.” Haydon grumbled. Zain looks at all of them, looks at a clock, and then back at all of them.
“I’ll be nice and give each of you about a minute in a half to get out of my house before I call the police; you’d better get going.”
“Caspian is injured.” Alsing pointed out. “As is Kuro; he seems to be doing alright though. Caspian on the other hand, isn’t even putting up a fight.” Concern showed on Alsing’s face as he turned to Haydon. “We’d never get them through the gateway in time.” Haydon’s face turned to a fearful look.
“Not Caspian at least…”
“You know very well neither of us could do that to him.” Alsing pointed out. Haydon huffed.
“Yeah. The thought of leaving your boyfriend to die just devastates you, doesn’t it.”
“You know it is not possible for us to form a bond of that level.” Alsing pointed out. Sam and Dean had already started making a run for it.
“Nuh uh, the two of you can stay! I think that we have certain topics to converse about.” Sam turned back to face Zain, surprised by Zain’s vocabulary. Zain stopped to allow himself some time to think. He looked around the room and noticed just how much blood there was. “Fine, all of you can stay… for now.”

Seven

“Thank you.” Alsing nodded to Zain. “I promise to keep Caspian in line. He’s probably just cranky because he hasn’t drank any blood in a while; they’re difficult creatures to maintain.”
“And carry.” Haydon grunted. Alsing took the hint and took Caspian, moving him onto his shoulder. Caspian growled lightly at the movement, making Alsing chuckle.
“He’s a bit cranky, do you have someplace I can set him?” Zain looked them up and down quickly.
“Hold on.” He walks off to the garage, and grabs a roll of plastic that he uses to cover the windows in the rooms that he doesn’t want to pay to heat. He walks back in, and has Sam help him roll it out over the couch, covering it. He made sure that it wouldn’t move before directing Alsing and Haydon to place Kuro on the protected leather couch.
“Anything else that we could do to help?” Sam asked. Zain didn’t look at him.
“Take the hall to the right, open the last door on the left; it’s where my father and I keep the medical aids. Grab gauze, a sterile needle, and sterile thread.” He looks over at Dean. “You, kitchen. Just to the right of the fridge is the wine cellar. We have whisky in there. Grab whatever you want that wasn’t made in the early 1900s; we’re gonna need it.” They hurry off to get what he requested.
“This is going to be fun.” Haydon muttered sarcastically as Alsing prepared the needle and thread.
“Just hold him down and comfort him. How bad can it be?” Alsing assured him.
“Caspian nearly rearranged your gut with a single kick that time you had to stitch him up!” Haydon reminded him.
“We startled him.” Alsing muttered. “I’m sure Kuro will be much more reasonable. Right, Kuro?” Kuro’s red eyes stretched wide as they caught the needle and instantly scrambled away with what little strength he had, tearing open the sticky scab that had formed, sending a new wave of blood over his clothes.
“No. No. No. Brother!”
“Damn it!” Haydon hissed, clamping a hand over Kuro’s mouth. “Hurry up, Alsing.”
“I can’t with his clothing in the way.” Alsing pointed out.
“Well how am I supposed to keep him from screaming and waking up Caspian?!” Haydon retorted. “He’s kind of squirming!”
“Oh for the love of god!” Zain says. He walks over and rips open the blood soaked shirt from where the bullet made its entrance. “Hold him down and cover his mouth.” He took the whisky from Dean, opened it, and once Alsing and Haydon had him held firmly and muffled, Zain poured some of the bottles contents on the wound, cleaning it. “Unfortunately, I can’t remove the bullet; he’d lose to much blood if I attempt to do so, and quite possibly die. Better to leave it in, and allow him to heal. Maybe it can be removed later on.” Alsing shook his head.
“We can’t leave it in; it’s right against his air sac. He’ll be in pain if we do.”
“You heard them; he’ll bleed to death.” Haydon pointed out.
“Maybe not…”Alsing muttered, looking at Haydon expectantly.
“No. I am not letting one of these blood addicts bite me!” Haydon growled.
“It’s Kuro! He feels guilty for answering a question before someone else. Just give him a little bit.” Alsing encouraged. Haydon looked at Kuro’s red eyes cautiously.
“Damn it. The things we go through to keep them alive…. Alright, fine. This one time.”
“That’s all fine and well.” Zain started. “Unless you actually want him to die, that is. Blood from one person won’t be enough to keep him going.” Sam looks over at him, impressed.
“How do you know all of this Adir?” Dean asked, still thinking that Adir was Zain’s name.
“Tricks of the trade.” He responds. He looks at the broken door sitting on the floor. “Perry?”
“Yeah.” Sam said.
“Go down the left hall, and open the last door on the right. That room is the woodshop. Grab a replacement door and install it, will ya? You should be able to find tools in a metal box just outside of the room.”
“These aren’t your average creatures.” Alsing pointed out. “They’re a new race; werewolf, vampire, mer, and even a bit of fire mage in them. They draw energy from blood and water, which blood is partially made of. The blood will sustain him long enough to stop the bleed.”
“And leaving the bullet so close to the air sac leaves risk of it tearing.” Haydon agreed.
“Fine, but if he dies, I am not to blame. Understood?” Zain said.
“Understood. Haydon, stick your hand in there.” Alsing removed his hand from Kuro’s mouth. Kuro’s teeth grew sharper, though he leaned away in hesitance. Haydon appeared to be having similar difficulties, but still stuck his palm under the fangs, slightly wincing when Kuro’s fangs sunk into the soft flesh.
“Hurry up, and get it out!” Haydon grunted. Alsing took out a pair of long thin tweezers from his pocket.
“Stay calm, Kuro. I’m just going to take out the bullet.” Luckily there were no problems as Alsing carefully wedged the tweezers down into the path made by the bullet. Occasionally blood would squirt from the wound, but Kuro remained surprisingly calm and hummed in relief when it was out after releasing Haydon’s hand. Alsing quickly placed gauze to the wound. “It’s out.”
Zain took it upon himself to close up the wound. Once he was done he went into the kitchen and got glasses for each of them. He got something non-alcoholic for the teens, and brought it out. He looked at Dean and Sam.
“Alright. Let’s start with your real names. I know damn well that you're not actual FBI agents, so don’t try to deny it!” Both Winchesters had been caught up in what had been going on around them, so they were surprised when Zain called them out. They both stared. “You’re hunters.” Zain concluded.
“Sam and Dean.” Dean said reluctantly.
“If you don’t mind?” Haydon caught their attention. “I would rather have you speak a bit quieter so Caspian doesn’t wake up.” He motioned to Alsing who was checking the vital signs on Caspian.
“He’s holding up pretty well. We will need to wake him, though, Haydon. He needs blood.” Alsing pointed out.
“But he’s quiet for once.” Haydon complained.
“You said that water works as well.” Zain said. He slid over one of the glasses, but not before slipping a drug into it. He ignored the looks that he was now getting. “Just a little sleep inducing herb that I found out about years ago. Harmless. Force him to drink.” Zain said, his voice now down to a more appropriate volume. Alsing glared and tipped the glass over, spilling the contents across the floor.
“Go to hell; I’m not forcing my friend to drink anything.” A low chuckle came from Caspian’s slumped over form that was rested against the couch.
“More proof to my theory on the stupidity of humans.” He muttered. Sam sat in a chair, getting off of his feet.
“Then you must be a hunter as well.” He said. Zain remained standing, being watchful of his company.
“Nope. Just my dad. He isn’t one to hide that part of life from me.”
“This is pointless. Grab Caspian, and lets go, Alsing. Their dad is going to freak and go on a rampage if they’re not home soon.” Haydon growled.
“He’s going to go on one either way.” Caspian muttered. “I can smell him.” Alsing appeared concerned.
“Leave it to him to follow after being told no.”
“He had better not break the new door.” Zain said. Dean had put it in place as the little operation on Kuro was taking place. Dean was now sitting down in a chair next to his brother.
“You’ll be lucky if your house is still standing if that guy finds out his ‘pups’ are hurt.” Haydon shuddered in fear. “I still remember the time he came to the school.”
“He’s going to be the new teacher for combat class.” Alsing informed him.
“What! Who puts a nut job like that in charge of a class full of students?” Haydon shouted.
“The academy apparently.” Alsing mumbled.
“Great, there’s a school for them as well!” Dean mumbles.
“Monsters have to go to school as well, Dean.” Sam states. He looks at Zain. “When will your father be coming home? I’m sorry, but we prefer speaking with him.”
“Did I not say that I could speak for him? Whatever it was that you had wanted to speak with him about, you can do so with me!” Zain said sternly. Caspian snorted.
“My parents taught me better than that. Listen to your elders, kid.”
“Caspian, I’m certain you’re younger.” Alsing responded sticking out an exposed wrist towards the tan boy. “Go on, and drink. I don’t want to see the mess your father will make if he finds you like this.”Caspian chuckled.
“Neither would I, I suppose.” Caspian was gentler than Kuro, though the bite still hurt, and took less, but the little blood offered was enough to make the tan boy sit straighter. “Thank you.”
“Any time.” Alsing smiled.
“So, you say that you wanted to speak of the ‘murder’, and the accident that left some children as orphans. Why?” Zain starts. He looks at the Winchesters with a look of contempt. “Did you not speak with the witnesses, reporters, and police?” Dean now glared at Zain.
“Listen smart ass! We were told about your father from the people that we talked with!”
“At first we thought that he was the one responsible for what’s happening, so we decided to come here.” Sam says. He tilts his head to the side. “Why didn’t your dad stay to take care of it if he’s a hunter?” This question caught Zain off guard, so he had to think on his feet.
“He was asked by a friend of his to take care of a different, yet difficult problem.” He explained.
“Such as?” Dean asked.
“Murderous ghosts.” Zain answered, saying the first thing that came to mind. Caspian cackled in laughter.
“That’s your story? Ghosts!” He then fell over to his side laughing.
“He’s nuts.” Haydon scowled at the tan boy. The Winchesters and Zain now glared at Caspian.
“Ghosts are not a laughing matter!” Zain and Sam snapped at the same time. Dean looked back at Zain.
“Still though, ghosts are pretty straight forward to take care of. Personally, if you ask me, it sounds like your father’s a coward; a pathetic excuse of a hunter!” Zain stood quickly, tipping the chair that he was in backward.
“HOW DARE YOU OFFEND ME IN MY OWN HOME, YOUNG MAN! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW! ALL OF YOU!” Zain bellowed, losing his temper. It usually takes a lot to set him off like this, but the combination of the insult, the mess that was made, the threats, the accusations, and his home being damaged, had made him lose it. The Winchesters now stared at him, surprised by the sudden outburst of rage.
“Your house?” Caspian smirked. “Rather contradicting, don’t ya think?” Zain gave a look that could kill to Caspian.
“Get out!” He repeated. Sam and Dean were still staring at him.
“Y-young man?” Dean asked rhetorically. “You’re what, twentysix? We’re in our thirties!” Sam’s face now went to the expression that he’d use when he was thinking about something.
His father is nowhere to be seen. He did say that this was his house, Sam thought. He now noticed that there were no family pictures anywhere throughout the parts of the mansion that he had seen. He looked up when it finally clicked. “Your name isn’t actually Adir, is it? You are Zain!” Sam concluded. By saying this, he was rewarded with the prize of a stupefied, amazed look from Dean and those that either couldn’t tell, or were acting like they didn’t know. Though greatly shocked by this, Zain didn’t allow the look of surprise to show on his features.
“No, I am his son, Adir Black.” He denied.
“Then be a daddy’s boy and call him.” Caspian snorted. “If your dad really was a hunter and gave a shit he would be here, so something is wrong with your story. Maybe the part where you made him out to be an ass-kickin hunter?” Zain again aimed one of his guns at Caspian.
“I am not one to trifle with, boy!” Zain spat. “I suggest that you and your company leave.”
“Whoa! Just hold up a minute. Nobody else is getting shot!” Dean said, stepping between the two.
“The only reason that you reacted like this is because you’ve been caught, and you know it! Why not give it up, and admit it?” Sam suggested. Zain’s eyes narrowed. He considered and weighed his options. He lowered his weapon, and stood still, glaring at them.
“Fine, you’ve got me.” He admitted at last. Caspian cupped his hands around his mouth and mimicked trumpet noises from his position on the floor.
“We have a winner; guy with the hippy hair!”
“Calm down, Caspian, or you’ll hurt yourself again.” Alsing coaxed the young boy, lightly scratching his scalp. Caspian hummed at the act.
“If you keep that up; ok.”
“Wait, if you’re Zain, then what was with saying that you were your son?” Dean asked. “Do you even have a kid?” Zain snorted
“How else would I have been able to go about in public without the entirety of Midford’s populace tracking my comings and goings?” Though he wasn’t aware of it, his eyes took on a different appearance at the mention of his having children.
“Why haven’t you done anything to stop what’s going on? I thought that you were a hunter!” Sam states. Again, Zain snorted.
“Me, hunt? It is none of my concern.” He responded.
“Fucking coward!” Dean retorted. Zain turned to briefly glare at him.
“Don’t you get it? He doesn’t even know what’s going on. Our dad would, though.” As if to answer Caspian, the loud sound of a wolf’s howl cut through the air, ringing against the walls. Caspian chuckled at the sound. “There he is now! Guess I should answer him.” Caspian cupped his hands around his mouth and drew in a large breath.
“You howl, and I promise you this, I will shoot you!” Zain threatened. Caspian shrugged.
“He’ll smell the blood either way.” He crossed his arms behind his head and fixed his posture to make himself more comfortable. “With no answer to tell him what’s going on, he’ll just charge in and kill anyways; not my problem.”
“Fine, but you break my windows, and you’ll be working for me to make up for it!”
“I’m confused. Are you a hunter or not?” Dean asked.
“I am not a hunter, Dean Winchester.” Zain responded. The Winchester brothers exchanged looks, making Zain smile faintly. “Yes, I am aware of the two of you and who you are!” Dean and Sam now looked very confused.
“But you said that you weren’t a hunter. How is it that you know of who we are when you’re not a hunter?” Sam asked.
'How indeed does he know?' Caspian thought, eyes narrowing for a second as he thought. ‘I hate it when someone knows something I don’t.’
“Because he’s screwing with you, dumbass. Now stand back! My wolf’s a bit rusty still.” Caspian cleared his throat a bit, and cupped his hands around his mouth. Both Haydon and Alsing covered their ears as the tan boy drew in a large breath. The reason why was evident. Caspian’s howl was loud, and rang through the entire house. For a second everything was quiet, and the three glanced around as if they expected Caspian’s father to appear out of thin air.
Slowly the sounds and music of the world came back. Birds started chirping again. The sounds of squirrels chattering could be heard. Zain quickly opened the door so that Caspian and Kuro’s father could come in without busting the door down when once he arrived. Zain turned back to the group.
“That is not something that I am going to explain just yet.” Zain answered. Moments after Zain spoke a large shadow fell over him, followed by a warm gust of air. Caspian grinned as the other faces in the room fell to slight shock.
“Hi, vatti!” Caspian called out, and waved to the mass behind Zain. It was easy to see why Caspian and Kuro’s father was a feared man. He stood at 6 foot 5 inches, and was built of complete lean muscle. His eyes were a deep shade of blood red while his skin was pale and rough; several deep scratch wounds scarred the entire left side of his face adding to its rough texture.
The clothes he wore were patched with dark stains, and smelled suspiciously of blood. The strongest scent of blood came from the dark large trench coat draped over his form. Oddly enough though, the man’s hair was a shade of platinum blonde that shone white in the light. Zain turned around, but didn’t back up. Instead he moved to the side to allow the new arrival to enter his home.
Maybe I should just be truthful about who I am with him, Zain thought wisely. “Come on in, sir. I am Zain Black.” Sam and Dean looked at the imposing figure of the man.
“Looks like he just fought a battle on the frontlines.” Dean joked, whispering to Sam.
“Yeah.” Sam agreed.
The large man grunted and reached to one of the inside pockets of his coat. A loud squelching sound was heard, and moments later he pulled out a head dripping dark rusty blood. There was fur on the cheeks, and the agape mouth and eyelids revealed sharp fangs and animalistic yellow irises glazed over in death. A closer look also revealed horns perched on the head which was unceremoniously thrown to Dean’s feet. All the man said was, “Had a job.”, revealing his thick German accent. Dean looked down at the head.
“What the heck is that?” He asked.
“It’s a rokurokubi head.” Zain answers.
“It’s annoying.” Gil grunted, then continued towards his son. Alsing and Haydon instinctively scooted away as the larger male stepped closer, giving him plenty of space to check over his young. Gil kneeled down and patted Caspian’s head first, noting that one was ok, then sniffed the air and growled as he turned to Kuro and looked towards the injured boy, growling lowly, his sharp canines glinted as his lips curled back in an animalistic snarl. “Who hurt my pup?”
“I helped take care of him.” Zain started, being careful with his words.
“Yeah, after you shot him.” Dean says.
Gil growled louder, his knuckles cracking as he flexed his fingers in rage. Alsing and Haydon both moved further away as the man's canines grew, along with his ears that now had white fur growing at their tips. “Say that again?” His accent made it near impossible to understand what he was saying. “Who hurt Cass’s pup?” Zain took some time to decipher what he had said.
“I-I-I did, sir.” Zain hesitated answering him. The man turned his glare to Zain. His red eyes were glowing with hate as he stood, a hand once more reaching into the jacket. When it was pulled out with a gun though, one of Kuro’s hands latched onto his wrist, dragging him back.
“I’m ok, father.” Kuro muttered quietly, voice sore. “Just tired.” A look of pain washed over Gil’s face and he instinctively knelt by the small teen again, going over his condition.
“What they did to you.…”
“It was an accident, father; I got in the way. My apologies.” Kuro responded, sitting up with the help of his father, who hugged him surprisingly gently. Caspian snuck his way into the hug as well, smiling now that he was back under the protection of his father. “No one tell Cass.”
“I am sorry for the unfortunate state that I put your son in, Mr?” Zain had to stop, for Gil had not told them his name yet. Gil grunted in reply. He did not seem to understand Zain’s implicated question.
“Wont happen again. Or else.” He growled, ruffling the hair on his sons’ heads.
“Excuse me, but who are you?” Sam asked politely. He too was wondering what the name of this man was.
“Gil Woolverton.” Zain looked at him.
“So, you’re the alleged murderer and assassin then?” Zain said while closing the door. “Impressive.” Dean and Sam now backed away from Gil.
“My job’s not your concern; yet.” Gil growled. “Besides, it makes good pay. Raising young isn’t easy.”
“Well, I think that it’s time that we try figuring out what’s going on here in this city.” Zain said. He decided to come clean about something. “I was actually, at one point and time, a hunter.” Sam looked at him, now somewhat understanding.
“That explains how you know of who Dean and I are, but I don’t understand why you said that you weren’t one.”
“I got out.”
“How?” Dean asked. “Once a hunter, always a hunter.”
“I faked my death, and I had a little bit of help in doing so.”
“One choice won’t define you.” Gil growled. Zain couldn’t help but giggle at this.
“Tell me, out of curiosity, just how old you think I am.” Zain challenged. Gil sniffed the air.
“Old.”
“Really old.” Caspian added, chuckling.
“Twentysix.” Sam and Dean said at the same time after examining him. “Why?” Sam asked. Zain smiled, walked over to them, stood between them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
“You poor young people. I’m actually much older than one would think; I’m older than this country even.” Zain admitted. He got wide-eyed looks from all of them.
“Just how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” Dean asked.
“I am ten centuries and five decades old.” Zain said. “Before my name was Black it was once Delecrux.” He confessed.
“Make that old as shit.” Caspian corrected himself.
“You better not use that language around Cass.” Gil warned.
“How is it that you’re still alive?” Sam asked.
“I was cursed by a witch to live an extraordinarily long life.” Zain said. He opened the door to walk out. “Come, it has come to my attention that you are in need of help on this case, Winchesters. People in this city know me as Adir, so please do try not to reveal who I am. Luckily for you, I actually founded Midford.”
“This is out of your control.” Gil grunted as he stood up. “I’ll take care of it.” The Winchesters stood up.
“That’s not how they work, Mr. Woolverton.” Zain started. “For these two, once they’re on a case, they won’t leave until whatever is happening is taken care of.” He stated. Almost immediately after he was done speaking sirens from police cars, ambulances, fire trucks and so on were heard in the distance. He looked around and saw a cloud of smoke and ash rising into the air. His heart sank, for the scene reminded him of 9-11. “Oh no!” He said in a hushed tone.
___________________
Earlier that day, Tayleen Jordhan was walking down the sidewalk to go to visit her family in Wonderland Apartments. The warm spring air hit her, and embraced her and the people around her. People in the city realized that they shouldn’t put their lives on hold despite recent events.
Tayleen was a voluptuous african american woman in her fifties. She wore a flowing seasonal blue floral dress, and had her long, thick dark hair held up in a bun. She entered the building’s lobby. Decorational plants were in the large room. She went to the elevator, and pressed the button for the top floor. She got on once a father and his daughter stepped out of the elevator.
As the elevator reached the top of the building it suddenly ground to a complete and abrupt halt. She tried to press the emergency button, but it was unresponsive. The lights went out, and she was left standing alone in the dark, empty elevator. The generator kicked on, yet the lift remained still.
She wiped her forehead with her hand, noting that she was sweating. Walking to the doors, she reached out to place her hand on the metal of the doors. They were cool to the touch. This left Tayleen puzzled; her face scrunched in confusion. She suddenly heard the elevator squeal. The elevator dropped. The entire building had been surrounded by very thick, strong vines, causing it to eventually collapse during the events at Zain’s house, killing the people inside. A bunny sat watching from a safe distance away from the chaos.

Eight

Gil stood from his crouched position beside his son, several cracks sounding from his joints in doing so, along with the clinking of metal from whatever was held in the numerous pockets of his jacket. “People died. More will die. I’ll take care of it.” He said gruffly as he patted both his sons on their heads, ruffling their sandy blonde hair. “You two are going home.”
“No offence, Mr. Woolverton, but this is my city.” Zain said, still looking at the cloud of smoke rising into the air. Sam and Dean stood off to the side, quietly talking to each other.
“Dean, if Zain really is as old as he says he is, and really did build Midford, then he’d know the quickest, easiest routes to places.” Sam said. Dean looked at Sam.
“Sam, you’ve got a point honestly, but I don’t know. If Adir, Zain, or whatever the heck his name is really has been out of the game for who knows how long, how do we know that we can rely on him?”
“He knew what that thing was.” Sam responds, pointing down to the rokurokubi head that was still on the floor. “He might know more than he’s letting on.” Dean looks at it.
“You’ve got a point.” Dean admits. He looks at Gil. “What about him though?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Sam says. They rejoin the group.
“If Mr. Black did found Midford, then it would be better to work with him.” Dean said to Gil, not sure to either call Zain Adir or by his actual name. Gil growled lowly at Dean, the shadows falling over his scar creating a dark contrast.
“You.” He pointed to Zain. “White hair.”
“Yeah?” Zain responded, not sure if Gil was asking about his hair color, or lack there of, or had indicated that he had wanted to speak to him.
“Where’s a bus station?” Gil grunted, ruffling his sons’ hair. Zain started out to walk to his car, a cherry red 1958 Plymouth Fury.
“There’s one just down the road from here, but it should be up to your children if they want to go or not; they’re old enough to make their own decisions.” He continued to speak without looking at any of them. “Dean, Samuel, you’ll be the ‘FBI’ again. I have no interest in impersonating as something that I do not understand.”
“We’re cool with that.” Dean admitted. He and Sam backed away from Gil, wary of how he could possibly react.
“Actually, it’s Sam, not Samuel.” He corrected, yet he knew that Zain most likely called him that out of habitual tendencies that were formed many long years ago. A loud snarl came from Gil as he bared his sharp fangs.
“Don’t judge how I raise my young! They are injured. They go home.”
“I see that you drive Christine,” Dean said.
Zain turned to look at him. “I am a fanatic of Stephen King’s.” He now turned to look at Gil, Kuro, and Caspian. “In my time children were responsible for their own choices once they were old enough to take care of themselves and do chores, which was when they were 9 or 10…. People these days are now overprotective with the young ones.”
Gil growled and walked forward until he was near Zain. Once close enough he grabbed the front of the man’s shirt and lifted him into the air, a dangerous glare twisting the scars on his face. “You think that’s ok?” His grip tightened. “Pups are to be protected by the pack; that is why there is a pack. Then, the pack still protects them. Always.”
“Customs come and go. With how things have become, I guess it would be logical to protect the younger ones.” Zain admits. They all made their way out of Zain’s house.
Gil let him go, and dragged Alsing and Haydon to the side before they could leave to take the twins to the bus stop. The others could not hear what Gil was saying to the boys from the distance, but the look on their faces told that whatever it was, it was not pleasant as they returned pale and shaking. Gil automatically returned to his sons, patting their hair flat and wiping any blood of their faces as gently as he could.
“Not a word to your mother. And change before she sees you.” Gil ordered. “She’d have an attack if she saw.”
“Right; don’t freak mum.” Caspian nodded and grinned. “Like the time we brought home the baby hydra.”
“She was just surprised that it was in the sink taking a bath.” Kuro pointed out.
“She still shouted loud enough for us to hear from the basement.”
“Funny word, the word fanatic,” Zain said. He got a look from Dean.
“Why’s it a funny word?”
“It used to mean that someone was insane.”
“That’s the thing about time. With it the definition of words change a lot.” Sam said. Zain led them to a block that was a close, yet safe distance away from Wonderland Apartments after taking Caspian and Kuro to the nearest bus station. Gil left the group as soon as the vehicle came to a stop and headed in the direction of the park.
Several people were standing around, watching as rescue workers came and went. Some of them addressed Zain as Adir, and told him what happened. Sam and Dean, guised as federal agents, were gathering information from witnesses, the police, and some of the EMTs. About half way through their interview with a grieving family, a young man with a camera hung around their neck ran up to them out of breath with a look of fear in his eyes.
“Mr Black!” The man puffed out. “That park! Something’s happening at the park!” Zain turned to look at the man.
“And just what, exactly, is happening at Wintergreen Park?”
“I-I don’t know exactly!” The man stuttered gripping his hair. “There’s this crazy big guy there hacking away at a tree with some kind of… sword? I don’t know!” The Winchesters came back over after Zain called them by using a cell phone. Both of them were covered in dust from the rubble, and had some blood on them. It was clear that they had helped pull some people out from the destruction of the building.
“Thank you for telling me of this. You may go now.” Zain told the photographer. He returned his attention to the others. “We have to go to Wintergreen park.”
“Why? What for?” Dean asked.
“Gil.” Zain answered, got back in his car, and made his way to the park.
Gil was indeed at the park. Once they got there they could easily make out the large man hacking away at a tree with what appeared to be a gigantic sword. The blade was two feet wide and at least six feet long, and two inches thick. Gil raised it over his head with no difficulties though and continued to hack off bits of the tree. As he did so vines and rabbits charged at him in an attempt to stop him, but were sliced through by the blade easily.
“What are you doing?” Zain bellowed, standing a safe expanse away to avoid being hit by the sword. He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Gil.
“Tree is bad.” Gil grunted as he continued to swipe at the tree, taking out chunks with every swipe. “Stand back.”
“And how, pray tell, would you know this?” Zain asked, anger showing in his voice.
“I could smell it.”
“And how could you smell that it’s evil?” Sam asked.
“As the Americans say; takes one to know one.” Gil grunted as he continued to chop away at the tree. His jacket was discarded, leaving him in the hole riddled tee shirt. From what they could see of his exposed muscle he was covered in scars. Most of them appeared to be made by fangs and claws.
“Well then, by all means, have at it. Take the tree down.” Zain said. As Gil continued to hack away at the tree more bunnies and vines appeared. As the rabbits grew in number, Gil began to pause in between swings at the tree to aim his aggression at the rabbits, turning the blade on them and the vines solely. He even used his heavy boots to crush open the skulls of the rabbits as they charged at him. “Damned fur things.”
Zain, Sam, and Dean, got busy with protecting Gil. Zain shot down bunny after bunny, and had to tear himself free from the grasp of vines more than once. Dean was busy fending off a horde of rabbits as Sam was busy making vines get entangled.
“Hurry up and get that darn tree down!” Dean yelled.
Finally, with one last chop, Gil managed to break through the tree’s thick trunk, causing it to fall to the ground. With that out of the way he turned his full attention to the rabbits and vines, quickly clearing half with a few swings. Working together, they quickly cleared the other half of the vines and bunnies. Zain strolled over to the stump, gun in hand, and reached into a hollowing, pulling free an ancient looking stone relic. The stone was in the shape of an egg.
“I think that it would be better if I be the one to hang onto this.” Zain said.
“An egg?” Dean inquired. “All of that was just for some silly stone egg? Oh c’mon!”
“It would seem so.” Sam said. Gil growled and held out a hand to Zain.
“Give.”
Zain stood still, looking at Gil. He seemed to be thinking. *If this object is the source of making the tree malevolent, then there is no telling what it could do to someone that has admitted to being evil, or what one could do with its power.
“That, Mr. Woolverton, is not going to happen,” Zain finally said.
Gil growled lowly, his lips turning in a snarl and he picked up his coat, digging in the numerous pockets it held. To their surprise, he pulled out a cell phone.
“Picture?” He grunted. Zain looked him up and down hesitantly. Dean and Sam stood still, yet were on guard for any subtle movement.
“Very well.” Zain agreed to the amazement of the Winchesters.
Gil seemed to be used to using the cell phone as he quickly snapped a photo before sending it. He stared at the screen as he waited for a response from whoever he had messaged. As they waited more vines and bunnies came. It was clear that they were upset that the amulet had been retrieved from the tree. They numbered double what had first attacked to defend the tree. Gil easily swiped his sword, cutting through any that dared to come near him as he waited for a reply on the phone screen.
“Eostre.”
“What?” Both Sam and Dean asked in unison as they fought off the attacking bunny rabbits and vines.
“Not what, who.” Zain answered while killing not one, but two rabbits with one bullet. “I’ll explain once we take care of these, and get back to my house.” Working as a team, they fought to kill the rabbits and vines. Once enough of them were taken care of to make it so that they could get away safely, they started to head back to Zain’s house. While driving away a vine did attempt to follow, but wasn’t long enough to catch them. Once safely inside, they all sat down. Zain got drinks for all of them, and sat down in his chair.
“Alright, so who’s this Eostre person?” Dean asked.
“Eastre is a goddess.” Zain answered.
“Wait, Eastre?” Sam said, confused.
“Yes.” Zain responded. “She has multiple names: Eostre; Eastre; Ostara. She is a goddess of fertility.”
“One of the names that you said that she has sounds a lot like Easter.” Dean said.
“That’s because Easter is named after her. Her symbol is the egg and a hare.” Zain told them. The alarm went off, signaling an intruder on the property.
“Not again.” Sam muttered as they heard loud footsteps thunder down the hall. From the sound the person creating them had to be at least the size of Gil, but as the doors were thrown open they were startled and confused to see a woman, barely in her 20’s with short brown hair in a studded leather jacket and tight green jeans throw open the door. She was barely 5 feet tall as she strode over to Gil with a look of pure anger in her bright amethyst eyes.
“Where in hell’s name have you been?” She hollered at the tall man who leaned back slightly as the small woman jabbed a delicate finger in his chest. “You said you would be back 24 hours ago, you daft git!” Zain remained sitting in his chair.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but who might you be, and how did you get into my home?” He asked politely to the surprise of the Winchester brothers. The short woman turned her fiery gaze upon Zain.
“Wait your turn, damn it! I’m busy here.” Gil had a look on his face that told this was normal and held his hands up in fake surrender to the short female.
Zain sat as still and patiently as he could, which for him was something that he could be good at under certain circumstances. Sam and Dean stared at the woman.
“Excuse me, but you did just break into his house. The least you could do is answer his questions,” Sam said.
“And I told you to hold your horses, gigantor!” The woman spat out.
“Cass, they don’t listen.” Gil attempted to calm the short woman.
“Like you?” Cassandra snarled, a look of worry crossed her face as she inspected Gil’s state. “You said you’d be home by midnight. You made me wait all night!”
“I’m sorry.” Gil picked the small female up in a hug and held her as close as he could without hurting her. Once Zain was sure that they were done he ventured to ask the woman how she got in again, and who she was. He did put together that she was in a relationship of some sort with Gil.
“Cassandra D’Sauvetterre, and I know how to pick locks,” the short female huffed. Gil had set her down allowing her to face them, but kept his arms wrapped around her torso protectively.

Nine
“Well Ms. D’Sauvetterre, this is my home, and although you did break in, you are welcome here in my home and this city. Now we should all get back to the matter at hand; Eastre,” Zain said before standing up. He walked off to the secret room and placed the amulet under lock and key in a curse box. He walked back to the sitting room.

“And just who, might I ask, gave you permission to hold onto that?” Cassandra crossed her arms over her flat chest and glowered at Zain.

“Well, I did, of course,” he responded to her. “It’s better off here, where I’ll know that it’s locked up good and tight, under my protection.”

“And just how are we supposed to trust you?” Cassandra glared.

“I trust him,” Dean said. “That’s final.”

“Besides, who better to watch it than a 1,050 year old hunter. I have all the experience and expertise needed, and even a state of the art security system,” Zain concluded.

“I’ll go get the shovel,” Gil stated as he saw the look of hate in Cassandra’s eyes as they turned purple.

“Now let me get something straight here,” Cassandra snarled. “Exactly how long have you known this man?”

Both Winchesters look at her. “….We only met him today,” Sam hesitates.

“He’s shown that he can be trusted,” Dean cuts in before Cassandra could say something.

“In a day?” Cassandra nearly screeched. “You mean to tell me, you trust the fate of an entire city to a man you have met in one day? Humans!”

“This is why we should kill them.” Gil growled. “They almost do it for us either way!”

“Gil, you are busy enough as it is, and you need to be home more! Faolan is teething,” Cassandra stated with a huff.

“Just throw him a bone. I might have one.” Gil began searching in his pockets. “Is it ok to give 6 year olds bones with human meat on them?”

“No, Gil. I would imagine, not.”

“Nobody is killing anyone, not unless the one that dies is whoever’s causing all of this to happen,” Sam stated.

“Though, for us, things usually get worse first,” Dean added on.

Zain shifted his seat in his seat, and then settled down once more into the chair. He folded his hands in his lap, and made eye contact with Cassandra.
“I’m the one that founded and built Midford, therefor the welfare of the city and its populace are of my concern,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“And I couldn’t care less, because I’ve done something a bit more difficult than just founding a town; I’m a mother of six children.” Cassandra spat out. “All the spawn of this giant.”

“They’ll survive.” Gil said.

Zain now glared at her. “Founding a city is no laughing matter, Miss D’Sauvetterre!” He said in a raised voice. He then took a few moments to calm down. “Though I do have to admit that being a parent is a hard and difficult, sometimes lifelong job to have. I mean you no disrespect by saying otherwise.”

Cassandra’s glare increased. “I would inform you not to mock my species, seeing as I have branched out in a way they never dreamed of.”

“That’s enough!” Dean snapped, slamming his hands down on a table. “We have more important issues to deal with!”

Zain shifted his attention to the eldest of the Winchester brothers. “You are correct; the matter of Eostre is, at present, the more pressing issue at hand.”

“Why is she killing people, why now? Who is she, where is she, and how do we kill her?” Sam asked himself aloud.

“It’s happening, because it’s happening, and why else do gods get upset and start wreaking havoc?”

“The humans who once worshipped them have forgotten them.” Gil grunted.

“Humans, again.”

Zain politely excused himself, stood up, and walked off into another room of his mansion. Once ensuring that he had covered up his scent, and that he wasn’t being followed, he entered another secret room in the house via the kitchen. Inside lay an assortment of books. Shelves lined the walls. Using a rolling ladder, Zain rolled himself to books related to the pagans, their rituals, and their gods and goddesses.

Pulling down an archaic looking leather tome, he flipped to where it mentioned Eostre. Once he found what he was looking for, he put the book back, and then went back to join the others. Sam was on his laptop, apparently researching Eastre.

“Enough of this!” Cassandra snapped. “You are not deserving of our trust.”

“This is my home, Ms. D’Sauvetterre, so I am free to come and go as I please. If you are uncomfortable with that, the door is right there.” Zain responded, pointing at the door.

“He’s got a point.” Dean says.

“Common courtesy is not exempted within a household. If anything it holds more importance!” Cassandra snapped. “When guests are over you treat them with respect!”

“That’s why I have to keep my knives and sharp things in the basement.” Gil grumbled.

“We have two one-year olds, Gil.” Cassandra reminded him.

“I’ll watch them if they want to play with them.”

“No.” Sam snapped his laptop shut, and turned it off.

“I think that I’ve found what to use to kill Eostre with.”

“What is it?” Dean asked.

“A stake made from a cherry tree, right through the heart I guess; like a trickster.”

“Well, that’s easy.” Dean responded.

“Plants.” Gil growled.

“Agreed, Gil.” Cass nodded. “That is a problem.”

Zain laughed at this, which made him get looks from the others.

“What’s so funny about this?” Dean asked with a look of anger on his face. “There’s nothing funny about any of this!”

“It’s not as simple as you think. That’s one of the problems with the people of your era; you all believe that you can solve all of your problems through using the internet. There’s a few things that the internet didn’t tell you.”

“Such as?” Dean questioned. He was looking at Sam, who looked hurt by Zain’s admittedly true remark. What an asshat this guy is. If it weren’t for his knowledge of things and being a hunter, or ex-hunter, or whatever the hell he wants to call himself, I’d probably kill him.

“I’m sure that it didn’t mention that the stake has to be soaked in apple juice, mango juice, tomato juice, pear juice, avocado juice, the yolk of a newly laid egg, and the blood of a virgin rabbit. It also has to be wrapped in the skins of garlic and onions, and must be stabbed through her heart after Ostara mates.”

“Damn.” Dean responded in a hushed tone.

“Gott damned deities.” Gil growled, his accent mangling the words.

(Hey. Sorry I have been gone for so long.