Paraskavedekatriaphobia: extended scene
May 1994
Sometimes, Sam just honestly didn't understand his older brother. Didn't Dean want anything for himself? They had both recently begun school at Monongah Junior High - Dean (the upper class man) in ninth grade and Sam (bottom of the food chain) in sixth. And, while Sam had made a couple of friends of his own, it was hard to see his brother in the halls and not notice that almost everyone noticed him. Though it seemed Dean didn't take notice.
Sure, Sam had had a few years to get used to the idea - after all, Dean had been turning heads for as long as Sam could remember. Of course when he was younger, Dean turned the heads of teachers and faculty - some just wanted to reach the poor young boy who had switched schools more than an army brat they had ever known, some disliked him because of his attitude, and the rest wanted to comfort him to make up for the teachers that didn't like him.
Then, in the last few years, Sam saw that it wasn't only the adults who took notice of his brother. Every new school meant new gossip about the new guy. While Sam often found himself on the outer edges of social groups (hoping someone would look over and ask him to join them), Dean attracted attention by simply being there and his fellow students were nearly stepping over one another to be the first to meet him. And Dean either didn't recognize the recognition or (more likely) just didn't care. It was really unfair!
Case in point: the Monongah High School (yes, high school) spring dance was tonight. Sam happened to know that Dean had been asked by several sophomores, a handful of juniors, and even a few seniors to be their date to the dance. Sam wanted to be angry or jealous about his brother's effortless popularity. But, come on! It was really pretty cool.
However, Sam was apparently more upset than Dean about Dad's decision that their current hunt had to go down tonight. Sure, Dean's explanation about it being safer with most of the local kids at the dance and out of the way (as in, not at the local hang-out/make-out spot) made sense, but all Sam had said was that the 'kids' were all older than Dean and they were still allowed to just be kids. He honestly hadn't meant to snap at his brother. There was just a pattern of behavior he was setting up and Sam didn't want to have to sacrifice his own future school dances and activities and normal when the opportunities arose.
But, that argument took place on Sunday. The word quickly spread through the junior high - and subsequently the high school - that Dean would be unable to attend the spring dance. Sam had no idea what form of communication/gossip this town used and was simply amazed that the situation was common knowledge before the 3:00 bell on Monday.
The rest of the week was spent gathering any extra information for the hunt, securing weapons, and coming up with a plan of attack. They were up against a horde of kobolds, which Sam soon found out was something between a goblin and a gnome. They were known to haunt underground places, most commonly mines, and Dad had found the specific cave they inhabited.
It was just after dinner on Friday night when they began packing their supplies. There were plenty of fusees, which immobilized the quick little chameleons, and buckshot covered in silver (as pure silver wasn't necessary so why waste the money) to kill them. They were about to head for the car when Sam slung his bag over his shoulder and knocked one of the unattractive landscape portraits from the motel wall, which hit the floor and shattered the (surprisingly) glass front.
Dad barely paused in his path out the door to grumble something about costing them extra money in damages and how Sam needed to be more careful. Dean was the one who came over to make sure Sam hadn't been cut by any of the glass, telling him that he would clean it up later and the motel wouldn't even know the difference. Sam briefly hesitated to wonder if breaking glass was the same as breaking a mirror, but Dad yelled at him to hurry up and get in the car before he could even complete the thought.
They reached the caves quickly and quietly entered through the half boarded up opening which Dean had found a week or two ago (and John had decided he really didn't want to know how or why Dean found it). Dad had gone over the plan - again! - in the car and so, at the first fork, they split up - John going to the left; Dean and Sam going to the right.
Every path they took looked the same to Sam. He had studied the maps of the caves Dad had given them, but was soon feeling lost and disoriented. He stayed close to his brother, who had seemed to only glance over the maps (even Dad looked over them more than Dean had), and yet was somehow able to mentally mark their path.
With absolutely no true light (from the sun or the moon) filtering into the cave, Sam had no idea how long they had been walking. And because he couldn't tell one path from the next, he didn't have a clue as to how far they had gone. He was just wishing (and not for the first time) that he owned a working watch when he was suddenly hit with the inexplicable feeling that they were being watched.
He stopped and reached out to grab Dean's arm, not wanting to lose contact with his brother (and consequently end up lost). Without a word between them, both brothers pointed their flashlights to the ground and began silently scanning the upper walls and ceiling. They stood back to back and kept their eyes trained, strained, to catch sight of movement or the yellowy glow of the kobolds' eyes. But there was nothing - nothing accept the goosebumps growing on Sam's arms and the sudden cold he felt in the pit of his stomach.
He was starting think he had imaged the feeling and turned to tell Dean just that, when the soft sound of loose dirt and small pebbles began scratching and rolling down the cave walls. Sam spun back around frantically to find where the echoing sound was originating, but couldn't see or hear anything specific. Until his brother yelled out his name.
At the call from Dean, Sam began to turn to look at his big brother once more, only to be shoved backward. Before Sam could get angry at the abuse, he saw large rocks come crashing down in front of him - down right on the spot he had just been standing. He blinked and coughed away the dust and debris to find a thick newly-formed wall between him and his brother. At least he hoped it was between them.
Panicking, Sam stood up (a bit more wobbly than he would have liked) and reached out to the wall. He knew that he couldn't just start taking rocks away - he would likely cause more of a cave-in than there already was. He called out for Dean but got no answer. All he could hear was his own rapid, frightened breathing and low, gravelly laughter - inhuman laughter that caused him to panic even further.
He put his ear against the wall and yelled for his big brother again. Finally, he heard a muffled answer. Dean's voice was weak, and Sam really hoped that that was due to the wall between him and not because his brother was badly hurt. Then, hearing more laughter (was it louder this time?), Sam yelped in surprise.
Even through a wall of rocks, his older brother seemed to instinctively know what was causing Sam's anxiety. Dean called out as loud as he was able for Sam to shine his flashlight around the ceiling of the cave. Sam did as he was told and was both relieved and creeped out when the trick worked. Relieved because it had caused the kobolds to retreat (rather than anesthetize them as fire would); creeped out because Sam just got his first look at the little gnomes - wrinkled grey skin (as if made from rock) and pale yellow luminescent eyes.
Realizing that Dean was calling out to him again, he turned his attention back to the rock wall. Sam asked if he could remove any of the rocks from his side but unfortunately, Dean was stuck - and Sam needed to get to Dad. Before his little brother had a chance to worry again, Dean gave him directions.
Sam listened to his brother carefully, following his instructions completely (which only seemed to work when Sam was really frightened these days). Dean told him which turns to take and, if all else failed (which meant if he couldn't find Dad), to get out of the cave and wait for Dad at the entrance. And, if Sam heard the kobolds again, or felt as he was being watched, shine his flashlight round the area. Do not try and take them out yourself Sammy!
Sam had thankfully not felt the kobolds' presence while looking for his father. Once he located Dad (in what seemed to be hours later), he quickly explained what had happened. Dad led them bad to the original fork in the path, practically running all the way there. He started down the boys' route slowly - after all, he had looked at their route on the map but focused on his own so as not to get lost. A cave in was definitely not a part of his plan.
Between the two of them, using both their memories of the old mine map and the trail left by Dean and Sam, they got to a spot that Sam recognized. The triumph was short-lived, however, as Sam began having the same eerie feeling of being watched. Once again, he stopped moving, pointed his flashlight to the ground, and grabbed Dad's arm.
John was about to yell at the boy for stopping but then heard the almost-whispered, raspy laughter above him. He quickly pulled out one of the fusees and ignited it, lighting the cave in bright red fire. He waved the flare around quickly to cover as much surface area as possible, then dropped the still-burning light and pulled out his gun.
If Sam had been creeped out before, he was absolutely spooked now. Looking around, he found yellow eyes everywhere. Before his dad had the chance to reprimand him for freezing up, Sam pulled out his own gun and began to take careful aim. Wordlessly (as if he was still paired with his brother) Sam and John took turns lighting up their fusees as the previous one burned out. Sam didn't realize that there would be so many creatures in the horde, or that they would be so small - they looked just like average-sized rocks, only (on closer inspection) with eyes and short appendages.
After what Sam was sure had been hours, all of the kobolds they had found had been disposed of. They walked the short distance to the new wall, where Dad immediately called out for Dean. Three yells - all unanswered.
Dad began giving Sam orders, which Sam actually obeyed. Whether it was the slightly higher pitch in Dad's voice, the fear Sam was experiencing, the fact that Sam had no idea which rocks to move first, or a combination of the three - John and Sam worked steadily, as fast as they dared, to dismantle the kobold-made wall.
At the first sight of Dean, John and Sam both took a deep breath. Sam, being the smaller (therefore, lighter) of the two, scrambled over the rocks covering most of the left half of his brother's body and felt for a pulse. When he nearly giggled in relief, John let out his breath and began working again - all the while talking to Dean to try and wake the boy up.
Dean was semi-conscious by the time they had completely uncovered him. John helped him stand up but it was clear that his ankle was either badly sprained or broken, not to mention the various other bruises and gashes he had received from the falling rocks.
Sam pulled his brother's left arm over his own right shoulder and made himself a human crutch - making himself feel only slightly better, useful. They slowly made their way to the cave entrance, having to stop only once to clean up another small batch of kobolds that had strayed from the horde.
As they left the cave, Sam made a mental note to check on the superstitious repercussions of breaking the glass in a picture frame. He was really hoping that it didn't give him seven years bad luck - he didn't think Dean would survive.