Rivers Deep | Sam Winchester

10. Scars And Apologies

"Scars remind us of where we've been, they don't have to dictate where we're going." - SSA David Rossi

"You never apologized for hurting me but I apologized 30 times for being angry." - Unknown

• • •

Two weeks had come and gone. Noah hadn't taken another case since, he needed time to calm down, especially with Nikki's birthday fast approaching right after the anniversary of Richard's...

Anyway, Noah was eating at a small diner. He was still in Missouri, he hadn't moved all that far. But his phone began ringing in his pocket, so he quickly finished the sip of coffee he was taking, the morning cold, and answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, Noah," Brian's voice greeted him. He nearly sighed in relief, if he had gotten one more call from the Winchesters, he might just explode. "Hey," Noah greeted, taking a bite of his bacon.

"I've got a case for you, you up for it yet?" Brian asked him. "Yeah, yeah, I think I'm ready to get back on that horse," Noah agreed as he brought a forkful of egg to his face.

"Okay, so this is in Mountain View, Arkansas, men all along the same neighborhood are found dead in their beds, with their throats slit, how I know it to be paranormal activity, you may ask? Well, apparently each victim's wife remembers waking up, but then it's like blacking out until suddenly they're waking up to their husbands with their throats slit," Brian explained. Noah hummed, nodding. It sounded intriguing.

"Hey, maybe when I'm through with it, I'll drop by your place," Noah proposed. The last time they saw each other, Brian had driven up to see him in the middle of a hunt, it woud be nice to spend some time at Brian's house.

"Yeah, maybe," Brian agreed, "Drive safe." "Okay Mom," Noah laughed.

• • •

Exiting his car, Noah carried his takeout to the bed, where he plopped down, grabbing a french fry from the bag. Opening his laptop, he sighed, "Okay, vengeful spirit? Seems simple enough."

He searched for an hour and he could not find a single violent death in any of the addresses. Deciding he would just have to visit the latest house in the morning, he closed his laptop, reaching into the takeout bag and pulling out a burger.

• • •

As dawn broke, Noah was wide awake, he had been awake for a while now. There was a reason he never took up cases in Arkansas, it always stirred up old memories.

"No," smack, "Son," smack, "Of mine," smack, "Will be," Smack, "A faggot."

"You sorry son of a bitch! You're brother died because of you!"

Whimpering, "I'm sorry, I don't know what I did wrong, please!"

"Take it or your sister will get it!" "NO! No! Anything but that." "Then stop crying, you will never amount to more than a whipping post!"

Noah blinked, closing his eyes tightly as he exhaled, pushing back the tears. Now wasn't the time for this. He had a crime scene to visit.

• • •

Taking cautious steps up the stairs, Noah crouched down, suddenly thankful for the cover that the porch fencing gave him. Quickly picking the lock with two paper clips, he slipped in. He walked upstairs, taking notice of how his footsteps echoed on the floor as he walked. There was no way that a human could've made their way in here and killed someone without waking anyone else up.

Looking into the room, he gazed around. He hated that this family had to go through this.

God knows he knew the feeling.