Yellow Eyes Stole My Soul Part 1
The Impala rumbled to a stop outside the school, and Sam stared out of the passenger side window. The green double doors opened and closed erratically as students entered the lobby to go to class. Sam just sat there, staring out the window.
“Dude, you can’t sit there all day. I’ve gotta go to work.” Dean said from Sam’s left. Sam turned to look at him.
“I don’t really feel like going to school today.” Sam said. His voice sounded flat to his own ears.
“Please, you love school. As soon as you get in there some teacher is gonna give you an assignment and you’re gonna get all excited and make me drive you all around town to do research or something.” Dean smiled. His eyes crinkling in that way that meant he was proud in a big-brother kind of way.
“Yeah, I love school.” Sam echoed. He sighed and reached for the door handle, ready to get out of the car.
“Wait,” Dean said. He reached over and Sam tucked the little white square back under Sam’s shirt. “Your tag was sticking up.”
“Thanks, mom.” Sam said with a twist to his lips. It was his normal response every time Dean mother-henned him.
Dean slapped Sam’s back in response, a little harder than necessary. “Shut up, get out of here. Go learn something.” Sam opened the door and stepped from the car. He pushed the door closed and it creaked as it slammed shut.
Sam drifted into the flow of students into the building, letting them carry him along. He’d been feeling a bit weird all week. Like he was just…off somehow. He kept seeing flashed of yellow out of the corner of his eyes but when he turned to look there was nothing there. He’d hear someone say his name when there was no one around. He thought maybe someone was messing with him, but he was probably just being paranoid.
Today was the last day of school before they had two weeks off. Sam was spending those weeks at Camp Kinetic, a science and wilderness camp. All the students who were going had been invited by the camp after being recommended by a teacher for their grades and interest in science. It was an honor to go. Even more so since he’d won one of the camp’s scholarships. He’d worked on the essay for the scholarship every night for a week, needing it to be perfect because there was no way his Father could afford to send him to the camp on a military salary. When the letter of acceptance came he’d been over the moon, ecstatic. He’d jumped on his bed like he was five years old instead of fifteen.
Now he just had one more day of school to get through. He barely paid any attention in his classes, taking notes without absorbing any of the information. When Mr. Kelner called on Sam in Biology he’d had to ask the teacher to repeat the question, which had earned him a curious look. Usually Sam was the one raising his hand for every question, but not today. Not for the last few days, really.
Sam stepped down the stairs of the bus at the end of the day to the sound of his name being called from behind him. He didn’t turn around; it was probably just his imagination. He wasn’t usually in a town long enough to make friends. Military families had to move around a lot. Dean was over eighteen so he didn’t technically need to move the way Sam had to, but he still came with them, every time. Mom had died in a house fire when Sam was still a baby, so the three of them were all each other had.
Sam made his way down the road from the bus stop. He stared at the pavement in front of his feet not interested in the rows of houses he passed. They all looked the same. Small, square, one story houses with an American flag out front, flying proud. Sometimes the flag was for a sports team to add variation. No matter where they moved, the houses were the same, uniform shape. Compliments of military base housing.
He got to his own house and glanced up at their own flag. It hung limp, despite the wind, and a man stood beside the front door. He wore jeans and a dark jacket, his hands tucked into the pockets. His face was topped by a receding hairline and the most striking feature was his eyes. They were bright yellow, the color of fresh egg yolk. The eyes tracked Sam on his way up the sidewalk. When he got close enough Sam asked, “Who are you?”
The man just smiled real slow, like he had all the time in the world. Sam moved past him into the house, locking the door behind him. When he went and looked out the living room window the man was gone.
Sam shrugged and double checked the locked door before going to pack. He wasn’t going to let some creepy guy get to him. It was probably nothing anyway.
He packed his clothes into a camo duffle. Eight shirts, four pairs of pants, twelve pairs of socks and underwear were thrown in, because even though the camp was only a couple weeks, you never wanted to be caught without clean underwear. Thankfully the camp brochure said there were laundry facilities there. He also stuck in his favorite book, and a new one he’d gotten from the library earlier in the week. Electronics weren’t allowed, so he left his cell phone and charger on his desk. By the time Dean came home from his job at the local garage Sam was done packing and ready to go. His father was shipped out right now, on a ship somewhere on the Atlantic. That was all he and Dean knew. When Dean had turned eighteen he became one of Sam’s legal guardians, so that if anything ever happened to their Dad, there wouldn’t be any problems with them staying together. Their Dad was practical like that.
Dean came home around seven thirty with pizza from the place next to where he worked. It was a local pizza joint, and had some kind of secret sauce that made Sam want to fill a tub up and literally drown in it. He’d die happy.
He and Dean talked while they ate. Pizza grease dripped onto their plates. Dean told him a story about a woman with a canary tattoo who’d come to the garage to get her car fixed because it was making a strange noise. Dean had pulled a chipmunk out of the under seat in the back. He laughed as he told the story, and Sam tried to laugh too.
He told himself it really wasn’t that funny of a story.
Dean asked about school and if Sam was ready to leave for camp tomorrow. Sam said yes, and then recounted what he remembered about school that day, which wasn’t much. There’d been classes, and the bus, and then the weird yellow-eyed man.
“Hey Dean,” Sam said. “You ever seen a guy with yellow eyes? He was outside our house today.”
“Yellow eyes? You mean like, hazel?” Dean asked.
“No, yellow. Like that color." He pointed to the cabinets which had long ago been a cheerful yellow, but were now just drab and tired. “Except brighter.”
“I don’t know anyone with colored contacts, so no. I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Dean said. “Did the guy say what he wanted?”
“No, he didn’t say anything. Just smiled all creepy at me.” Sam went back to his pizza. For some reason it didn’t taste as good as it usually did. Dean spun his empty paper plate on his finger; Sam could tell he was fidgeting because the idea of some stranger hanging around their house bothered him.
“I’ll ask around, see if anyone’s seen the guy.” Dean said. “You nervous about going to camp?”
Sam stopped eating his pizza. Was he nervous? He didn’t think he was nervous, but he wasn’t excited either. He didn’t really feel any way about it. “No,” he said. Dean raised his eyebrows and nodded.
“That’s good. But, you know, you’ve never been away from the awesomeness that is me for a whole two weeks before. It would make total sense if you were freaking out.” Dean joked, but under the words Sam felt a sincere sentiment. It was true that Sam had never been away from Dean that long. His Dad, sure. Dad disappeared for a few weeks or months at a time, whether on military business or a vacation with his friends Jack and Jose.
Dean though. Dean had pretty much raised him. He always made sure Sam had school supplies and he came to Sam’s school events. They hadn’t been separated for more than a weekend, ever. And yet, Sam didn’t feel a thing.
“I’ll be okay.” He said, reassuring Dean.
“Call if you need anything.” Dean said, and then he balled up his napkin and threw it at Sam’s head where it bounced off and landed on the floor.
“You’re cleaning that up.” Sam said. Dean just laughed.
*~*~*
It was a five hour drive to the camp. The sun was shining and filling with fluffy white clouds. Dean rolled down the windows and let the air buffet them as they roared down the highway. Sam squinted his eyes against the wind as the trees went by. He could see how beautiful it was outside. He couldn’t feel it though.
Dean spent the five hours singing along, completely off-key, to Led Zepplin and AC/DC. Sam spent the hours trying to figure out why he wasn’t excited when he’d been looking forward to this for months. He felt like he was missing something. It didn’t help that every once and while he’d see a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye. As soon as he turned to look it was gone. It was the same yellow of the strange man’s eyes.
When the impala pulled into the camp, under the big arch proclaiming CAMP KINETIC in green, blue and brown, Dean looked over. “Sam, we could turn around. If you wanted. You don’t have to go.”
Sam eyed Dean, “Yes I do. It’s a privilege to go here, Dean. I got a scholarship.” It would look really bad if he backed out now. Besides, why would he want to? Just because he was in some kind of slump?
“I know,” Dean said. “But you’ve been…” He looked around like he was trying to see if anyone was listening. The only other people near were a Mother and son, and they were unpacking their car. “You’ve been weird lately. I mean, just, like, not really you.” Dean stared at Sam. “If there’s something wrong, if there’s too much pressure, if you just want to go home, you call me.” Sam nodded. “I mean it, Sam.”
“Dean, I’m fine.” Sam smiled at his brother and his lips felt false. Dean shook his head but he got out of the car and started pulling Sam’s duffle and sleeping bag from the back. Sam followed him, trailing behind as they went up to the check-in desk.
“Sam Winchester.” Dean told the lady with the clipboard. She had her gray hair in a ponytail and a pair of thick glasses perched on her nose. She smiled at both of them and handed Sam some pieces of paper and a key. “It’s to your cabin.” She explained. “You’ll be sharing with three other boys.” She checked her clipboard, “Luke, Mark, and Brandon.” Sam nodded. Dean stood beside Sam as she went over the rules, curfew at ten, no going into the girl’s cabins at all, and gave him directions to drop off his stuff. When she was done Sam thanked her and picked up his bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder.
Dean grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. “You have your cell, right?”
“No, Dean, they don’t allow electronics here.” Sam rolled his eyes; the lady had just said that.
“How can you call me then?” Dean demanded. He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m serious. I want you to be able to call me if you need something. I’ll drop whatever I’m doing and come pick you up.”
Sam rocked back on his heels. Dean was having a hard time letting him go. He was the one who was nervous. “Dude, I’m sure there’s a community phone. It’s just two weeks. I’ll be fine.” Sam put his hand on Dean’s shoulder and met his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
Dean nodded and huffed out a laugh as he rubbed his face. “Yeah, you’re right. I just…yeah.” He gripped Sam in a one armed hug and then stepped back. “I’ll see you in two weeks.”
“Bye.” Sam waved. Dean walked back to his car and get inside. The engine started up and the tires rolled away. Dean waved through the window of the car one last time as he left the way they’d come in, under the arch.
The landscape seemed emptier without Dean in it.
Part Two