Being Dean's Impala

Mardi Gras Pt 2

Waking up, the sunken feeling still hasn't left me. I tried talking to Benny about it but he says that I just feel bad about the feelings I'm having. He once again assured me that it's not my fault. I don't think that's it though. I tried to brush off the sunken feeling on the way to the bayou. But even now as Benny is telling me what we're gonna be doing I can't shake the feeling. "Are you listening to me?" Benny asks, agitated.

"I have a huge feeling that something bad is going to happen." I admit. "Like really bad."

"We'll still need to figure out what you can do incase whatever you think is gonna happen, happens. Okay?" He calms down. "Now, I want you to smell the air." He starts walking. I follow.

"I've been doing that. It smells like a lot of wet grass and other things." I look around. It looks like a giant lake but with twigs and things everywhere. We walk along a dock and we come to a boat with a giant fan on the back. "What the hell is this?"

He points behind him. "This old thing? It's an airboat." He shakes his head in disappointment. "Dean really needs to have you watch something besides westerns and kung fu movies." Benny steps onto the boat and holds out his hand. I take it and he helps me on. "We're gonna go down a little ways and find ourselves an alligator."

An alligator? "What for?" I take a seat next to the big handle.

"This is how we used to train back when I was first turned before we went out on the seas." He starts up the boat. Benny sits in front of the big handle. It shakes a little. We begin moving. It's loud and windy. My hair is flying everywhere. "We're gonna wrestle with it." He shouts over the loud fan behind us.

"Are you insane?!" I shout.

Benny looks over at me. "You'll be fine. I promise. You're a vamp now. Not some fragile human anymore." He adds. "Or a vehicle. Just trust me. Okay?"

I think about it for a moment. "Okay. I guess." I shrug. The rest of the boat ride is silent. When we come to a stop he turns the boat off. We sit in the quiet for a few minutes. I cross my arms. "When are you gonna stop mentioning that I was a car?"

"Soon as I get used to it." He quips. "Now, I want you to listen in. Tell me what you hear?"

At first I don't hear anything but crickets chirping but then I decided to listen to the stillness in the air. It all became clear then. I could hear a plane miles away, I could hear birds from a distance but more importantly I hear ripples of water. Big ripples. "I think I hear your alligator." I behave like a whiny child. "Do I really have to wrestle the damn thing?! Don't you have better ideas?"

"We can't test you out on some human." He raises his eyebrows. "We can't test you out against monsters cause that's not what I do for a living and I will NOT have you go out there unprepared. You understand me?" He says like a stern father, pointing his finger at me. My head moves on it's own like a teenager who knows they're in trouble. "Cass wanted me to teach you and so I will."

We find the alligator about ten minutes later. I was honestly more scared for it then I was for myself. I knew it was going to die. It put up a valiant effort. I ended under the water wrestling with the damn thing for about five minutes but my strength AND speed were too much for it. It took me a minute to get my bearings and make sure to stay away from its teeth and stay on its back. After that it was done. I snapped the alligators neck quickly once I got a good grip. I feel a twinge afterwards. It's not a good feeling. I climb back onto the boat. I hear sniffling then I feel a hand on the small on my back. "It's okay. The first times always hard." I hear Benny say. I realize that it's me crying. "Taking a life is never easy. Wether it be a human, monster, or, animal."

I wipe my tears. "Is that part of the lesson?"

"On being human or vampire?"

"Both." More fall. I really wish I could hug Dean right now. Maybe he'd make me feel better.

I feel arms wrap around me. "It's a hard part of it but yeah." He mutters into my hair.

"I could really use a drink right now." I mutter back. I feel the hearty chuckle as well as hear it. I take a whiff of his scent and I step back.

"Yeah, well, we still have a bit of a lesson. It's here on the bayou so we don't have to go anywhere else." He walks to start up the boat. We take our seats and are off to our next destination. "I don't think you're gonna like this very much."

****

"What the hell are they doing?!" I whisper shout as we watch the two men wrestle an alligator into the boat from behind some brush.

"It's how some people make a living. Alligator skin or whatever you want to call it is in high demand. The meat is too." We watch as one of the man holds the alligator down as the other holds his foot at its head, aims a gun, and pulls the trigger. "To some people some animals are worth more dead than they are alive. It's called poaching."

"It's wrong." The men drive away. "Why did you show me this?"

"We're not so different from humans. We may have Supernatural abilities but it's all the same. We hunt for food or the fun of it or for wealth." He goes on to tell me other ways our kind is the same but different. It makes me feel a little better. "No one's perfect I guess." Not even me. "Don't say that."

"Say what?"

"That you're not perfect." I hadn't realized I said that out loud. "You are." He grumps.

I shake away the feeling. "So... what now?"

"Now we drink." He hasn't lost a bit of his attitude. Grumpily Benny walks over and starts the boat. We're off again.
****
"I wanna call Dean. Give me your phone." I order, holding out my hand.

"The word is please." Benny grumbles while searching through his pockets. "It's in the truck." He searches some more. "Found it." He flips it open and drunkenly dials Dean's number. "Hey bud. Your girl wants to talk to you." A pause. Benny wears a smile of a child on Christmas Day. "I'm doing just fine pal." The face turns to embarrassment. "Uh... well you know I'm teaching the Impala the ropes and we're doing just fine." He speeds through. "No. No need to worry." Another pause. A look of shock and then anger. "It's not like that!" He booms. "We're not killing people." Maybe calling Dean was a bad idea. Benny sighs heavily and listens like a child receiving a scolding. "New Orleans." Benny shuts the phone. He sits it down slowly and looks at me. "We're in trouble. Dean's on his way." He looks down at his hands and sits there.

A bartender walks by. "Excuse me." I stop them. "Could I get a few shots of your strongest?" The person nods and walks away. Benny looks up. "If we're going to get yelled at by Sam and Dean then I'm going to be hungover..." I think about it. "Hopefully, while doing it." I finish.

Benny smirks and nods. "Sounds like a plan." The bartender brings over our shots. We each take one. "To Eternity." He says holding up a glass.

"To Eternity." As soon as we clink our glasses together. There's a ear piercing scream just around the corner. Great, Sam and Dean is coming and now we've got a dead body. This is not going to be good. I guess Mardi Gras is over. For us anyway...