One small act can hold great consequences and change the course of the future. What if Azazel had died years before he could make Sam one of his 'special children' and the Winchester brothers never grew up in the hunting business?
Instead of knives...
"You know very well what I mean. Let's just head home, Gabe. It's getting late." ~ Sam Winchester
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November 2014, Northern California
"Gabriel! Don't go off too far!" Sam called after his dog, watching the Cardigan corgi disappear amongst the bushes with a sigh. But it wasn't long before Gabriel reappeared, chasing after a squirrel until it ran up a tree, leaving the small dog behind to bark at it. Sam whistled sharply, and Gabriel's large ears perked up before the dog turned to look at him. "Come!"
Shooting one last glance up at the squirrel in the tree, Gabriel turned around and trotted back towards his side, pink tongue hanging out of his mouth as his foxlike tail wagged slightly. "Don't bully the poor squirrels so much," he said, grinning in amusement when the dog's ears jolted at the word 'squirrels'.
"You know very well what I mean," Sam continued to his dog who happily walked next to him on the trail as they continued on their way, "let's just head home, Gabe. It's getting late. We can play here again tomorrow," he added, nervously looking up towards what he could see of the sky through the trees looming above his head. Streaks of orange and pink were already painting the sky, signaling that the setting of the sun was drawing near.
While the woods might be beautiful during the sunset, with all the radiant colors giving it an enchanting feel, he would rather not be stuck here in the darkness just because his dog felt the need to chase every small animal he could find. Holding Gabriel's leash in his hands, he bent through his knees to attach it to the dog's collar, and they could go home.
Too late he noticed the tensing in Gabriel's muscles and how the dog's ears perked up in a direction leading off the walking trail. Sensing something only animals could. When Sam noticed that he was about to run off again, he nearly jumped at the dog to catch him, but Gabriel had already dashed away in a flash of reddish-gold. Landing face-down on the leaf-covered ground, Sam quickly stood up and looked at the direction his dog had run off too. Damn corgis and their speed.
He put his hands around his mouth as he stood back to his full height. "GABRIEL!! COME!" He yelled, but Gabriel did not come back like he normally would. Seeing the corgi running in the distance, Sam sighed once before he sprinted after him, calling the dog's name along the way in the hope that he would return.
Sprinting past the trees that towered high above him, he noticed how the forest became denser the further he chased after Gabriel and the trees thicker until they were wider than even a truck. "Gabriel!" Sam huffed again, looking around for any sign of the corgi. Nearly tripping on a tree root that was in his way, he managed to catch his balance before he would catch another mouthful of dirt.
Nearly jumping out of his skin, he heard what sounded like a screech high up in the sky, but when he looked up in a panic he could see nothing out of the ordinary. Probably just a bird, he thought, unsure but not wanting to dwell on it much longer.
Plucking a few twigs and leaves out of his shaggy hair, he noticed a flash of reddish fur in the distance. Sam huffed again and went in that direction - hoping that it was his dog and he hadn't gotten lost and was chasing after a fox or something. His heart hammered against his ribcage as his feet thundered over the ground, the sound of his tread dulled by the leaves and small plants under him. At this very moment, he took a second to appreciate the nearly daily jogs he took which enabled him to be able to chase Gabriel this far off the walking trail and deeper into the forest.
Suddenly, the ground shook underneath his feet and the man screamed in shock and fell again. An earthquake? Right now?! Before the panic could fully settle in, the earthquake had already stopped, and the forest settled down again, but silence now hung over it as even the birds had fallen quiet. Breathing heavily, he rose on unsteady feet, failing to notice how unusual everything going on was as his mind was all over the place.
"Gabriel!" Sam called out again in annoyance, a hint of panic leaking through. The corgi had run off before when he saw or smelled something interesting, but never this far, and Sam wasn't amused by his shenanigans. Hearing a chorus of barking in the distance, Sam stilled and strained his ears to hear.
Recognizing that bark anywhere, he set off again, failing to notice how the trees cleared out around him - his mind set on finding his dog and getting them home safely before it became too dark.
He ran past a few trees and stopped short in his tracks when he noticed he had entered a clearing deep within the forest. His eyes widened as his mouth dropped open slightly as he was reminded again why he loved this area so much. Mountains with snowy peaks rose in the distance, and he could hear the faint sound of running water. But no other sounds were heard - even Gabriel had fallen quiet by now.
Sam took a few steps forward as he moved through the pale grass which reached just past his ankles. Noticing a tree in the middle of the clearing, he stopped again and tilted his head at how different it looked from the other trees most of the forest consisted out of. This tree had a white outer bark with fiery red and orange leaves hanging on the low branches, while most trees here had an almost reddish bark and the leaves were only found at the very top as the trees towered above everything else.
He almost hadn't noticed him at first, but Gabriel stood in front of the odd tree, something having caught his attention as his tail had stilled all movement and the dog stood there looking almost suspiciously, still like a statue.
Silently, Sam moved closer, feeling like he would disturb the tranquility hanging over this place by called out for his dog.
The closer he came, the more details of the tree he could make out, like how the bark almost seemed to glow in the setting sun and appeared to be cracked, with deep red spatters over the bark which moving down in a trail. Blood, he knew, without having to look closer. The thought unnerved him, and he rather not drew closer to the blood-spattered tree, but if he wanted to get Gabriel, he knew he had no choice.
Then his eyes moved down, following the trail of blood, and he froze once he noticed what had caught Gabriel's attention in the first place.
It was the body of a man.
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