Paraskavedekatriaphobia: extended scene
March 1992
The weather had gotten warmer, Dean had recently gotten the cast off of his leg, and Dad had gotten a solid lead on the spirit he was tracking. All-in-all, the day was shaping up quite nicely. Sam was nearly finished with his classes for the day and was looking forward to the evening's events. Dad had told him that he could camp out in Joey's backyard with some of the other boys in his class while he and Dean finished off the ghost of Jebediah Arkly - miser, monster, and local baddie who had been terrorizing the town, off and on, since his death in 1936.
Sam felt like such a normal kid when he hopped into Joey's mom's minivan after school - even more so when Joey's dad helped the boys put up the tent in the backyard and set up their campfire for the hot dog and s'mores feast they would be having. It took all of Sam's concentration not to blurt out things like: I thought the only people who made s'mores were on TV, I can't even remember the last time my family had a back yard to play or camp out in, my dad's idea of camping is throwing a couple of worn sleeping bags inside a protective circle and taking turns keeping watch with a shotgun full of rock salt.
There were five boys camping in all: Joey, Sam, Luke, Will, and Jesse. It was the most friends, not including Dean, Sam had ever had at once. He was glad the other boys were having so much fun too because he didn't think there was any way he could keep the big, giddy smile from his face even if he tried.
Between the five nine-year-olds, a total of sixteen hot dogs were consumed before the boys moved onto making s'mores and telling ghost stories. Joey suggested Sam go first, since he was new and would therefore have a story they hadn't all heard a hundred times before. Telling his story gave Sam a good excuse to be a little slow on the s'mores making - only knowing the exact procedure from some kids' baseball movie he watched recently.
New Year's Eve, 1969, Sam began, Mr. And Mrs. Monroe went out to a big party and left their nine-year-old daughter, Marie, home with a babysitter. Since it was the babysitter's mom who booked the job, the babysitter wasn't that happy about it - having to miss her own party.
At about 10:00, Tina (the babysitter) told Marie she had to go to bed. Marie argued, but Tina wouldn't give in because she secretly planned to have her boyfriend over after Marie was asleep. Marie was getting ready for bed when she noticed that her locket - the one her grandma just gave her for Christmas - was missing. She searched the house but couldn't find it anywhere.
Almost an hour later, Tina had had enough and yelled at Marie to just go to bed. Marie started for the stairs when she remembered that she had played in the snow earlier in the afternoon. Seeing that Tina's attention was on the front door, Marie slipped out the back.
The snow was coming down hard and Marie was only wearing her nightgown and slippers. But, she went on into the large backyard, then into a wooded area that bordered the yard. It was dark since the moon was new - the only light she had to find her way back was the light inside her house. But, what she didn't know was that Tina, thinking Marie had gone to bed, had let her boyfriend in and they turned the house light off so they could make out.
Mr. and Mrs. Monroe got home pretty late - or, I guess, really early. Mrs. Monroe went straight to bed while Mr. Monroe drove Tina home. When he got back, he assumed that Mrs. Monroe had already checked on Marie and so he went straight to bed, too. Having been out so late the night before, the Monroes slept until almost noon. They were surprised that Marie hadn't woken them up yet. They went to check on their daughter and found that her bed had not been slept in. They searched the house and found the back door unlocked, so they went out and searched the yard and woods.
The snow had filled in any footprints Marie had made and her parents couldn't find any sign of her. She was never seen again - well, she was never seen alive again. On the next new moon, Mrs. Monroe thought she saw her daughter going into the woods in only her nightgown and slippers. She followed the girl's path into the woods as quickly as she could but could find no sign of her.
The Monroes moved within the year, as Mr. Monroe was worried about his wife's sanity. But, every new moon after that New Year's Eve in 1969, if you look into the backyard at 11:00 pm, you can see the ghost of Marie wandering into the woods, searching for her lost locket.
Sure, there were parts of the story that Sam had left out - like the numerous accounts of people being found frozen to death (even in the summer) in the woods after nights with a new moon. He also didn't tell his friends about how his dad found the girl's remains and the locket, giving her a proper burial with the treasured item and putting her spirit to rest. Even so, the boys agreed that it was the best story they had ever heard.
Joey had a story for them next. He was especially excited to tell Sam the tale, as Sam was new in town and probably didn't know all about Jebediah Arkly like everyone else - though he had recently gotten some new information that would make the story interesting for everyone. He reached into the bag of marshmallows to start roasting another while telling the story (because it looks really cool when you're telling a scary story and yet look indifferent about it) but found that the bag was empty.
Sam was sitting right in front of the food supply table and so Joey asked him to grab another bag. Sam turned and reached out behind himself, bumping the rickety table in the process, knocking over the bottles of mustard and ketchup and the shakers of salt and pepper. Luke told Sam that it was bad luck to spill salt or pepper, and doubly bad if they were both knocked over at once - to which Joey told them that all Sam had to do to reverse the bad luck was to throw some of the salt over his left shoulder, which Sam did, and Joey went on with his story.
You might not realize this Sam, Joey told him, but this town has its own resident ghost: Jebediah Arkly.
Sam nodded politely. He didn't want to tell his friends that he probably knew the legend better than any of them. After all, it was all Dad had talked about since they got here. He supposed he could tell them that he had a general idea, but his little voice of reason, which oddly enough sounded like Dean (and wasn't that the scariest thought ever), told him to just shut up and listen.
But luckily, Joey assumed that Sam had already heard some bits and pieces of the story and glossed over the more common knowledge details. After all, Joey wanted to get to the exciting part, too. And, he couldn't tell an old and boring story after Sam's had been so new and cool.
... Well, here's something that you all probably don't know. Jebediah Arkly was not an only child. (What, Jesse asked, where did you hear that?) My cousin told me. (Where'd she hear it, Will piped in.) A friend from her class. (and before Luke could interrupt) And her friend's mom works for county records. So, if anyone would know, it would be her.
When Jebediah and his father moved into town - just after Jeb's mom died - everyone thought that it was just the two of them. But, what nobody saw was that there was another boy, Abrahm. You see, he was kept hidden because Abrahm's mother was not Lilian Arkly, but a servant girl's - the girl who cared for Lilian when she first became ill.
Abrahm was about ten years younger than Jebediah. He was only kept around because his mother had also died - of unknown causes - and to send him away might make the affair come out and Jeb's father, the successful business man that he was, would not allow that to happen for fear of what it might do to his reputation.
Instead of hiring anyone to care for Abrahm, Jeb was made to do it, as he was the only other person to know of his step-brother's existence. Jeb's father made no attempt to even see his younger son - providing for him financially but not emotionally.
Now, no one knows this for sure - its only speculation on my cousin's friend's mom's part because there were no public records or anything. But, its her belief that Jebediah hated his brother. He hated the kid because his very existence made his father's betrayal of his mother (who was sick and dying!) real. Then, he hated him more because Jeb now saw his father less and less, due to the man never wanting to be in the same room as Abrahm. And finally, Jeb had to look after his brother, take care of him, be his teacher, and miss out on having friends and a life of his own.
One day, when Jeb was 23, his father told him that he would be leaving shortly - he had to leave the country on business and would be gone for three months. Then, he just left without further notice. After that, it was just Jebediah and Abrahm in that big house on the hill.
No one really knows what happened because no one else was there, but there were records that Jebediah - a month after his father left - hired someone to clean the floor of the entryway (and specifically the portion under the stairway balcony) and a chimney sweep to clean out the fireplace on the east side of the house (but not the one on the west).
Will and Luke both told mild ghost stories (both of which Sam knew to be completely ridiculous, though he didn't say anything more than the necessary 'whoa's at the right times) after that, but the rest of the boys fell asleep before Jesse was even ready to start his tale - their sugar highs (from many, many s'mores) having run out long ago.
But, as often happened, Sam's mind wouldn't allow him to sleep. He knew as well as anyone that even first-hand stories could be unreliable, let alone fourth or fifth-hand. After all, you didn't have to be a Winchester to know that the veracity of the 'my cousin's friend's mom found out something no one else has in over fifty years' tales were hardly dependable. However, what many non-Winchesters believed was pure fantasy, the Winchesters knew as fact.
The same - or similar - could be said for these crazy stories. Even if most of the details were false or embellished, some truths could be gleaned from the tale. Some minuscule hint could be found in the mountain of creativity.
Sam, while his friends snored peacefully within the tent around him, lay awake. He went over the facts in his head. A younger step-brother no one knew about - ten years younger. Could it be true? Who knows what could have been true in those days - certainly not Sam. And, said the voice that sounded like Dean again, people are crazy - they don't follow any set rules or patterns.
So, if it was true, Jebediah murdered his younger brother when he was 23 years old. 23? If he was ten years older... Dean was thirteen. Dean was going to that house. Dean was at that house now.
Sam wanted so desperately to give Dad this new information. Even if it was all made up, it was better to know than not know, right? If only Sam had one of those cool pins like on Star Trek - the ones that you tap and are immediately linked to the person you want to contact - then he could get a hold of Dad (he knew calling from the house wouldn't help since his father was not home, and the Winchesters' use of cell phones was still quite a few years away).
By morning, Sam was tired, his eyes were red and dry, and he was practically shaking - which he told everyone was due to all the sugar from the s'mores. The boys each went to the house, got dressed, and then sat at the kitchen table to eat the plates-full of scrambled eggs Joey's mom had made them before she left the room to answer the telephone.
Sam was still playing with his eats (more than eating), while his friends shoveled their food into their faces at an alarming pace, when Joey's mom came back into the kitchen. While she was making the next round of eggs, she casually told Sam that he would be staying with them a little longer than expected. Joey was ecstatic.
As the other boys were picked up by their moms (each one driving a minivan, Sam realized), Sam moved aside to talk with Joey's mom. He quietly asked her why he was staying - not that he was upset, he just was curious.
The woman gave him a sweet, but pitying smile - it was such a mom smile that Sam wasn't sure how to react to it. She told him that his brother had been in an accident last night, had taken a fall, and needed to be taken to the emergency room.
But don't worry, she told him, smiling at him warmly (to try and hide the commiseration) again, he'll be just fine.
oo0oo
A/N: Yep, there's a little problem with my time line here. The movie 'The Sandlot' (from which Sam gets his s'more making knowledge) did not actually come out until 1993, a year after the Friday the 13th in question here. It has always been my thought that Sam got the bulk of his normal world knowledge from television/movies - and watching the s'mores bit in 'The Sandlot' works perfect. So, let's just all pretend that, in the Supernatural universe, the movie came out more than a year before it actually did. Thanks!