Fight, Boy, Fight

Chapter 56

It's been three weeks since Bobby died, we haven't really done anything, now Dean's got a board up. I'm still really sick, I just don't have the energy yet, I can feel it slowly coming back. But I'm still freezing cold constantly, I've tried not to sleep a lot, tried to stay awake for as long as possible. The longest I went without a wink of sleep was 4 days, then I took a 10 minute nap. But I've tried to not sleep, and I just don't have the energy to fight off nightmares, or eat and drink, but Sam's forced me to eat and drink. I was watching Dean,
Sam said" Dean, you know, um... I wonder if-if we... I mean, should we be telling people? I mean, people he knew."
Dean said" How long ago did I give Frank these numbers? It's been a few weeks, right? What, is he nuts, or is he just being rude?"
" Probably both. Dean, I-I got to ask you a question."
" Unless, of course, something happened to him. He can't get to the phone because a leviathan ate his face."
" Yeah, also a possibility."
" We should go check on him."
" Dean, do you want to call Bobby's people or not?"
" W-Why is that our job?"
" Because who else is gonna do it?"
" I'm not calling anybody. If you want to, you go right ahead."
" I don't want to call anybody. You kidding me?" Then a phone rang, Sam looked at Dean,
" Well, I'm not getting it." Sam put down his beer and ruffled through Bobby's bag, pulling out a phone. He answered,
" Hello? Uh, no. He's, uh... I-I-It's not, but I'm a friend of his. He's... not here, but look, if you need s-" He looked at the phone,
" Who was it?"
" Just some kid."
" For Bobby? Girl Scout cookies?"
" I think maybe... maybe a-a hunter's kid? I mean, she sounded pretty scared. You know, I have a caller ID. Maybe we should go find her. We can check on her."
" What about Frank?"
" Well, Dean, I think we should go find this girl first."
" Sam, Frank's been working on the numbers that Bobby spent his last breath on, and you want to back-burner that?" He scoffed," Fine. You go check out Girl Scout. I'll find Frank."
" Fine. But you know what? On one condition- If Frank is just spinning his wheels, then you bail out on crazy and come meet me."
" And thanks for drinking my entire beer."
" I didn't touch your beer. Mine's right here. You probably drank it without noticing."
" Right." Sam went to walk out the door but then they both turned to me. I tilted my head," You take him. If Frank's alive, I don't want River around him, he's too loud for him right now." I looked at Sam, then to Dean,
" Yeah." Sam walked to me, grabbing my hands, helping me up, I whined loudly as I stood, my brain pounded against my skull." Shh, shh, shh." He lifted me up, wrapping my legs around his stomach, I relaxed as the headache stopped." He's still freezing cold." Then my bag was grabbed, and we walked out the door.
" Watch him."
" Always."

Sam came back from talking to the girl, I looked at him,
He said" Her dad's missing, 5 days, he left on a hunt. Hasn't checked in."
I said" So, we're going to find him?"
" Yeah, we are."
———
We were in a motel room, Sam went to look at a body found earlier, and I guess he looped Dean in too. Sam called Dean, but he didn't answer,
Sam said"  Dean, hey. So I think this guy was hunting a vetala. Dad took one down back in the day. Silver knife to the heart, twist, they're done. He says they're maladjusted loner types- Like to knock a guy out, drag him home, feed slow. So, if Krissy's dad got grabbed, there's a chance he might still be alive. It'd be nice to get this girl's dad back home to her, you know? All right, I could use your help. Call me." He sighed then looked at me," You doing okay, Riv?"
I whispered" I'm cold." He sighed then grabbed my bag, pulling out my huge hoodie.
" Here. Put this on." He handed it to me, I put it on, he rolled up the sleeves so I could use my hands.

Sam went into a truck stop, I was waiting for him in the car, I gulped as I saw him follow a woman between the trucks. Then another woman walked out, following them, my eyes glowed, I opened the door and got out. I followed behind her, I hid behind a wheel and saw my brother get attacked. I got angry, he passed out, falling to the ground,
I screamed" No! Leave him alone!" My arms moved as they were slammed to the truck and ground. I got really dizzy, the women ran at me, I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the black smoke. It grabbed them, slinging them around, then dropping them. Then I was attacked, I screamed as one of them bit into my neck, then everything went black.
———
I woke up, black smoke was circling me, I saw Sam tied to a chair between the cracks of smoke. I was on the ground, not tied up, but I couldn't find the strength to move. One of the vetalas came in,
She said" Hunter day at the all you can eat. How's everyone feeling? Good? Strong silent. Fine. I don't need much entertainment with my meal." She went to the other man, he must be Krissy's dad.
Sam said" Hey, Sally, uh, did I tell you about the vetalas I took down in Utah? Yeah. You remind me of them. Except they were so much... younger. I tied 'em up." No, he's baiting her," Not because I had to. More so... I could take my time."
" You're lying." He's wanting her to attack him instead, no! I can't let that happen! No, no!
" No. I just want you to know how much I enjoyed cutting up your sisters."
" Shut up!" Then she attacked, my eyes rolled back...

I was in front of Sam, I pushed her off,
I said" Leave my brother alone!" But it didn't sound like me,
She said" What the hell?"
Sam groaned" Riv..." Then he passed out, I saw the blood on his neck, I pushed her back.
I said" You hurt him!" The black smoke grabbed her and slammed her into the ground.
She said" What the hell are you?" I let my eyes glow,
" You hurt him!" She was thrown away from us, then I hit the ground-
———
I woke up to being moved, I whined loudly,
I heard Sam say" Hey, bud." I opened my eyes and saw him, then I rubbed my eyes, but felt scratchy on my neck. I went to scratch," Tsk, no, don't scratch. Patched you up, the vetalas are dead." I squirmed, he put me down, then I saw Dean, I ran around the car and to him, stumbling mostly, I crashed into him. He lifted me up, I saw a girl look at me, she must be Krissy. I wrapped my legs around his stomach, he kissed the side of my head, while walking to Sam.

I was playing with Dean's jacket, zoned out,
Sam said" He teleported."
Dean said" What?"
" I was baiting the vetala and she attacked me, before I could pass out, River appeared right there and pulled her off, his eyes were purple, black smoke was surrounding him. It was like he wasn't awake, and his voice, it was distorted."
" So, what? It wasn't him? He's possessed?"
" No, Dean, it was him, that's kinda the big issue here, he was just different. Like the powers take control, a different River takes over."
" How is this... I don't even-"
" Let's just leave it to that, okay? And if he even remembers this, he still won't know what's happening to him."
" What's happening to him?" I nuzzled my face against Dean's jacket, yawning, then shivered.
" I don't know. Let's just worry about getting him better, not his powers."
" Yeah." I closed my eyes, nuzzling closer to Dean,
" Hey, buddy, go cuddle Sam. He has your hoodie." I scooted closer to Sam, nuzzling into his side, laying my head on his stomach. He wrapped my hoodie around me, getting the hood over my head, it fell into my face. I closed my eyes again, yawning, holding onto his jacket with one fist before falling asleep.