𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛[𝙳.𝚆]

086

"So, this is it. This is everything I know." John gestures to all the paperwork around the cabin. I was standing next to him, inspecting the colt as he continued speaking. It was a beautiful piece of work. It really is too bad there's only a limited amount of bullets to use.

I wonder if I can figure out what makes it tick.

"Look, our whole lives we've been searching for this demon, right? Not a trace, just nothing, until about a year ago. For the first time, I picked up a trial."

"That's when you took off." Dean says.

"Yeah. That's right. The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation."

"Alright, so, what's this trail you found?"

"It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, then California—each house burning down to the ground." I tell him as I set down the colt. Dean looks at his dad for confirmation and he nods.

"It's going after families, just like it went after us." John confirms.

"Families with infants?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, the night of the kid's six month birthday." That makes Sam straighten up a bit.

"I was six months old that night?"

"Exactly six months."

"So, basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason." Sam scoffs. "Same way it came for me?" Silence. Tense silence. I look at him sympathetically, the only one brave enough to make eye contact with him. "So mom's death, Jessica—it's all 'cause of me?"

"We don't know that, Sam." Dean tries to say but Sam quickly cuts him off, leaning off the dresser he was up against.

"Oh, really? 'Cause I'd say we're pretty damn sure, Dean!"

"For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault."

"Yeah, it's not my fault, but it's my problem!" Sam says angrily.

"No, it's not your problem, it's our problem!" Dean throws back, voice raising.

"Ay!" I call out, grabbing both their attentions. I cross my arms. "It doesn't matter whose problem it is anymore. What matters is that we stop it from hurting another family, yeah?" I raise a brow at them. Sam takes a deep breath and clenches his fist.

"Yeah." He whispers. Turning away to look out the window, he runs a hand over his mouth. "So, why is he doing it?What does it want?"

"Look, I wish I had more answers. I do. I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save..." John trails off, looking down at his hands on the desk still. I rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Alright, so, how do we find it before it hits again?" Dean tries to turn the subject around. I look at him and sigh.

"There's these signs." I start before John picks up for me.

"It took me a while to see the pattern, but in the days before these fires, signs crop in an area—cattle deaths, uh, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms." He pauses and looks over to Dean. "And then I went back and checked, and..."

"These things happened in Lawrence." Dean says for him. John and I nod our heads.

"The week before your mother died." John replies. He slowly looks over at Sam. "And in Palo Alto...before Jessica." Sam shifts his weight and I can see the struggle he has with himself at the news, trying desperately to hold himself together. "And these signs—they're starting up again." John adds after a moment.