PhantomNatural

Ch. 2

After the clerk had put the new guests into the system, he handed them two separate keys and sent them on their way. The bell chimed above their heads as they left the office. Once the group had stepped back outside, onto the small porch that wrapped around the motel, the one named Dean turned his attention to the young boy. It was clear the older men were confused as to why this kid was here all alone, and at this hour no less. 

"What are you doing at a motel this late? And by yourself?" Dean asked, tucking one of his hands into his jacket pocket. His other hand held onto a dark duffel bag hanging over his shoulder. The contents of the bag remained unseen. He watched as the boy seemed to grow uneasy from the question.

"No reason, really. I just needed a place for the night, simple as that." Danny replied, trying to throw off the two men. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to him, the brothers lied enough in their line of work to know when someone else was. The taller of the two shifted his weight, causing a board beneath him to creak in complaint. His brows were knitted together, and he worried for the teen.

"Are you a runaway or something? Or is someone after you? We could probably bring you to the police, or-" He was cut off by the teen. Danny seemed to be irritated by their persistence, and just wanted to get on with the night.

"As I said, I just needed a place for the night. As much as I'm grateful for you guys paying for my room, I don't think that means I'll just tell you anything you want to know. So please, just get off my case, yeah?" The last thing he needed was being brought to the police and being interrogated to death. He wouldn't be able to keep moving if he was stuck at some police station, and he wanted anything but that. He didn't want to give them a chance to say anything else, so he turned and followed the porch. He looked down at the small tag on his key, finding that it said the number three. Once he found the third room, he unlocked it and stepped inside. He glanced out to find the men chatting to themselves, before he closed the door behind him to turn in for the night.

The two men had been discussing the boy as they headed towards their own room. Conveniently, they were assigned to room number four. Dean talked as he walked, flipping the key between his fingers every couple steps. "I don't know man, something about that kid was off. Didn't you see how rough he looked? Not to mention he couldn't have been more than sixteen."

Sam sighed lightly as they stopped in front of their door, and he waited for his brother to unlock it. "Maybe he's just like we were when we were kids. Maybe his parents just dropped him off here to go do something." Sam suggested , stepping inside of the motel room once Dean had opened the door. He tossed his bag onto the bed farthest from the door.

Dean shook his head and tossed his bag on the bed nearest to the door. "I don't think so. No one was pulling out or anything when we pulled into the parking lot. All I'm saying is that we should keep an eye on him. Something just isn't sitting right." He sat down on the corner of his bed, unlacing his boots and slipping them off.

Sam ran a hand through his unkempt hair and shrugged. "If you say so, but I'm taking a shower and heading to bed. You get the first shift since you're so interested in this kid." Sam told his brother, before doing just as he said he would, heading to the bathroom for a shower. Dean rolled his eyes and slipped his jacket off, getting comfortable for the night. He stood up and made his way over to a small table and a couple chairs by the window, just so he'd have a good view of the porch and parking lot. If anything happened that night, he'd at least want to have a good amount of time to get out there and take care of it. And so, the long night started.