Fighter | Supernatural [1]

Chapter Twenty-Four

        Sat on a bed inside of a motel room, Callum was reading through a book John had given to him to keep his mind off of everything around him.

The walls of the motel room were covered in pictures, maps and newspaper articles, John sat at the table that was covered in more paper pictures, maps and articles as Sam sat against a nearby counter and Dean sat next to Callum.

"So, this is it." John told them. "This is everything I know. Look, our whole lives we been searching for this demon right? Not a trace, just... nothing. Until about a year ago. For the first time I picked up a trail."

"And that's when you took off." Dean realised as he stood up, beginning to pace the room.

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

"All right, so what's this trail you found?" Dean questioned.

"It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California." John explained. "Houses burned down to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us."

"Families with infants?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." John replied. "The night of the kid's six month birthday."

"I was six months old that night?" Sam questioned.

"Exactly six months." John responded.

"So basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason." Sam said. "The same way it came for me? So Mom's death... Jessica. It's all because of me?"

"We don't know that Sam." Dean assured him.

"Oh, really?" Sam said, pushing himself away from the counter. "'Cause I'd say we're pretty damn sure, Dean!"

"For the last time, what happened to them was not your fault." Dean told him.

"Right. It's not my fault but it's my problem." Sam shouted as Callum threw the book down, covering his ears and closing his eyes tightly.

"No, it's not your problem. It's our problem!" Dean snapped.

John stood up, glancing at Callum. "Ok. That's enough. You're terrifying Callum."

Dean turned to the boy rushing over and lifting him up, the boy removing his hands from his ears to hold onto his father, but he didn't open his eyes.

"It's all right, kiddo." Dean assured him. "We won't shout anymore. I promise."

The young boy just dug his face into Dean's shoulder, still holding onto him.

"So, why's it doing it?" Sam asked. "What does it want?"

"Look, I wish I had more answers, I do." John told him. "I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save..." He looked away.

"All right, so how do we find it... before it hits again." Dean asked, gently rocking back and forth to calm the six year old in his arms.

"There's signs." John told them. "It took me a while to see the pattern but it's there in the days before these fires signs crop up in an area. Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked... and..."

"These things happened in Lawrence." Dean realised.

John nodded before answering, "A week before your mother died. And in Palo Alto... before Jessica. And these signs, they're starting again."