The Beldam (A Supernatural Fan fiction)

February 1995

It was an overcast day in the foggy mountains of Ashland, Oregon. Sam looked up from the back seat of the Impala to see the Pink Palace apartments come into view. Dad was on another case and this was the only place they could rent space until it was done. The Pink Palace lived up to its name. It was indeed . . . pink. The brightest object on the grey landscape.

"Pink Palace? Really dad?" Dean judged from the front passenger seat.

Sam could see a very tall man climbing the roof and he appeared to be doing squats. It was a really strange spot to be doing stretches and exercise, but to each his own. The Impala rolled up the drive and around to the side entrance. As they unpacked the car, Sam could see an old lady riding up the basement stairs on a stair lift. She had pink hair that almost matched the siding of the house and gaudy blue eye shadow. She smiled and waved at him. He waved back.

They climbed the stairs to the door. Dad shuffled through the keys until he found the right one. Apartment B. He found it and opened the door to what used to be the main floor of a one family home. As they entered, bags were dropped and each went his own separate way. Dean looking for his own room and dad to the kitchen to set up shop. This was the moment for Sam to quietly sneak away for some peace and quiet. He went out the back door.

The view of the back yard looked like a dystopian garden. A bridge that went over an empty and dried out pond. A cobblestone path going around the perimeter all overgrown with weeds. A dead tree stood across from the wrought iron gates that hung open. Sam bypassed the gloomy scenery towards the woods. Along the way, he grabbed a twig off of a bush. One that looked kind of like a dowsing rod. He thought. He tried to see if this kind of thing actually worked.

As he walked along the path, he stopped when he heard some noise. Sam was used to things going bump in the night (and day) so small noises always caught his attention.

"Hello?" he called. "Who's there?" When there was no response he reached down and picked up a rock off the ground and threw it in the direction of the noise. The loud howl of a cat erupted from behind the cluster of boulders. He flinched, feeling bad that he might have hurt a cat and took off down the path in case the cat was feeling vengeful.

He finally stopped in a really muddy clearing and tried to catch his breath. More rustling nearby. Sam gasped at the sound, but then assumed it was probably just more wildlife. Again he heard the loud howl of a cat that scared him. He turned around to see a black cat sitting on the tree stump calm as ever. Aggravated, Sam took off his backpack and threw it down.

"You scared me to death!" he shouted at the cat. The cat gave one nod as if it understood what he said. He continued to look around until the sound of an air horn startled him. It was Dean up in the trees. He had obviously followed.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, almost mockingly. Dean climbed down to the muddy clearing to meet Sam.

"I'm just looking for an old well. Know it?" Sam said.

"You walk around too much inside that circle of mushrooms, you'll fall in it." Dean pointed out. Sam looked down to see that he was standing inside a circle of mushroom and carefully stepped outside of the circle. Dean came over and wiped away some of the mud to reveal the wooden lid.

"See?" he said. He knocked twice to hear the echo.

"It's supposed to be so deep, if you fell to the bottom and looked up, you'll see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day," Sam explained.

"Huh, where'd you learn that?" Dean asked.

"I did my research," Sam replied. He bent down to see if he could move the lid. Dean got back to his feet, but kept a watchful eye on his little brother.

"Hey don't go falling down any wells. I'm gonna have to climb down there to get you and I really don't want to," Dean warned Sam.

"I won't," Sam said. Dean turned to the edge of the hillside overlooking the Pink Palace.

"Dad says he's surprised the land lady let us move in. She won't rent to people with kids," Dean added.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. He said she thinks it's dangerous or something," Dean answered.

"That's not suspicious," Sam said sarcastically.

"Well apparently she had a twin sister," Dean added.

"So?" Sam said.

"When they were kids, the sister disappeared. She says she was stolen," Dean explained.

"Well what do you think?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Maybe she just ran away," Dean turned back to Sam and noticed the dowsing rod branch.

"Hey next time you're playing with sticks out here make sure you wear gloves," he pointed out.

"Why?"

"Because that one is poison oak," Dean answered. Sam look down at the branch and then his hands. He groaned in frustration. There wasn't a flare up yet, but his hands were going to start to itch really bad, really soon. Dean laughed and helped his brother up.

"Come on, let's get back to the house and unpack. I'll find something for the itch," he explained.

"Fine," Sam grunted through gritted teeth.