Sam said" It just doesn't make any sense, Dean. I mean, why would Uriel tell me you remembered hell if you didn't?"
Dean said" Maybe because he's a dick- might have something to do with it."
" Maybe, but he's still an angel."
" Yeah, an angel who was ready to level an entire town."
" Look, I don't know what-" I dug my face more against Sam's side, I think they're gonna argue. I don't like when they argue, it's scary.
A waiter said" Radical. What else can I get you guys?"
Sam said" Uh, I think we're good."
" Yeah? You want to try a couple of fryer bombs or a chipotle chili changa?"
Dean said" No, no, we're still good."
" Okay, awesome."
" Sam, honestly, I have no idea why Uriel told you what he did, okay?"
" Right."
" What?"
" Okay. Fine. Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't remember a thing from your time down under."
" I don't remember a thing from my time down under. I don't remember, Sam!"
" Look, Dean, I just want to help."
" You know everything I do. Okay? That's all there is." I closed my eyes,
The waiter said" Outstanding. Dessert time? Huh? Am I right?"
" Dude."
" Listen, bros. You have got to try our ice cream extreme. It's extreme."
Sam said" Uh, no extremities, please. Just the-"
" Check? All right, awesome."
" Thanks."
Dean said" All right, so, where do we go from here?"
" I'm not sure. Uh, looks like it's been pretty quiet lately." He reached over me, getting his laptop," No signs of demon activity, no omens or portents I can see."
" That's good news for once."
" Yeah, just the typical smattering of crank UFO sightings and one possible vengeful spirit. Here, check this out. Uh... up in Concrete, Washington, eyewitness reports of a ghost that's been haunting the showers of a woman's health facility." I looked up, Dean choked," The victim claims that the ghost threw her down a flight of stairs. I can see you're very interested."
" Women, showers. We got to save these people." I tilted my head, then went to ask a question,
Both said" Big brother stuff." I huffed but shut my mouth, Sam ruffled my hair, I tried to bite his hand.
I tilted my head, watching the demons torture a soul, the soul was screaming their head off. I felt sorry for them, I wanted to help them... I shuffled out of the hole I was in. Then I was surrounded by dark fog, I screamed, I was flung back against the wall, then dragged away, I started screaming, crying loudly, wanting someone to help me...
I screamed, the car swerved, the ground was shaking, I was scooped up, I opened my eyes to see Dean cradling me. I breathed heavily, clutching his jacket,
He said" Whoa, whoa, you're okay, you're okay, you're okay. River, it's okay."
Sam said" They're getting worse." The shaking stopped, I whimpered, sniffling, I squeezed my eyes shut a few times.
" Yeah." He started humming, his chin against my head, I tried to keep my eyes open but they kept shutting.
" He needs more sleep, it's like his body is starting to just... shut down."
" Mmhmm."
" The shakes are getting more violent, I think they're getting stronger."
" Hmm?"
" Like the nightmares are triggering whatever happened down there to him, his abilities... I think."
————
We dropped Sam off at a restaurant, I crawled into the front seat with Dean, he looked at me then looked at the road.
He said" You gonna be fine waiting in the car while I go into the women's facility?"
I said" Yeah."
" You sure?"
" Mmhmm."
" Okay."
I was sitting at Dean's feet, Sam walked up,
He said" Well, you pick up anything?"
Dean said" No EMF in the shower or anywhere else. This house is clean."
" Yeah. I'm not surprised. I kind of got the feeling back there. That crazy pushed Mrs. Armstrong down the stairs." We started walking to the car,
" I got to tell you, I'm pretty disappointed."
" You wanted to save naked women."
" Damn right I wanted to save some naked women." I blinked, I saw blood, I blinked fast, shaking my head," Run, Forrest, run!"
" Sorry, Dean, but I don't think anything's going on around here." Dean looked at a man and a sheriff talking,
" Something's going on." Dean let go of my hand and nudged my shoulder, I walked to the car and got in.
I held Sam's jacket as we walked,
Dean said" What the hell's going on in this town? First there's a ghost that's not real and now a bigfoot sighting?"
Sam said" Well, every hunter worth his salt knows bigfoot's a hoax."
" Well, maybe somebody's pumping LSD into the town water supply." We stopped at a big footprint," Okay. What do you suppose made that?"
" That, uh... is a big foot." We started following the trail, I'm really confused now.
We got to a liquor store, the door was ripped off it's hinges.
Dean said" Okay." We walked in, it was destroyed," So, what- Bigfoot breaks into a liquor store, jonesing for some hooch?" He crouched down," Amaretto and Irish Cream. He's a girl-drink drunk." Dean stood up, Dean slid a bottle into his jacket pocket.
Sam said" Hey. Check this out. River, stay over there."
" He took the whole porno rack?" I tilted my head," Well, I'll say it again. What the hell is going on in this town?"
We walked out and sat on a bench,
Dean said" I got nothing."
Sam said" It's got to be a joke, right? Some big-ass mother in a gorilla suit?"
" Or it's a Bigfoot. You know, and he's some kind of alcoholo-porno addict. Kind of like a deep-woods Duchovny." Then a girl rode past on her bike, something flew out of the box on the back. Sam and Dean got up, walking to it and picking it up, they looked at the girl." A little young for Busty Asian Beauties." I looked at them, then they followed the girl, I ran after them.
We pulled up to the girl's house, they got out, I pulled my knees up and leaned back.
Once they came back,
I said" So, is it a bigfoot?" I pulled myself up over the seat, hanging in the middle,
Dean said" A giant, talking teddy bear." I tilted my head," That's depressed." My mouth gaped,
Sam said" She said there was a wishing well."
I said" Wishes don't come true."
" That's what we're trying to figure out now, bud."
" A giant, talking teddy... cool."
Dean said" Mmhmm, confusing, creepy or crazy, not cool."
We walked into the Chinese restaurant, a boy just dropped a coin in, he walked past us. We looked at the wishing well, more like fountain, but whatever.
Dean said" Think it works?"
Sam said" Got a better explanation for Teddy back there?"
" Well, there's one way to find out."
" What are you gonna wish for?"
" Shh!" He threw a coin in," Not supposed to tell."
A guy said" Somebody order a footlong Italian with jalapeño?"
" That'd be me." I looked up at Dean, I don't understand...
We were sitting at a table,
Dean said" I think it works, dude. That was pretty specific."
Sam said" The teddy bear, the sandwich..." Dean pulled out a newspaper,
" I'm guessing this."
" I'm guessing that." They looked at a man and a woman,
" Well, that definitely goes on the list. What are we supposed to do, huh? Stop people's wishes from coming true? Sounds like kind of a douche-y thing to do."
" Yeah, maybe. But come on, man. When has something like this ever come without a price tag? And usually a deadly one."
" I don't know. It's a damn good sandwich. All right. Fine. We'll put a hold on the wishing till we figure out what's going on."
A man said" Uh, gentlemen, gentlemen. I'm sorry. We don't allow people to eat outside food here."
" Well, I am certainly not gonna eat the inside food here." Dean started looking for one of his badges," Health department. You, my friend, have a rat infestation. We're gonna have to shut this place down under emergency hazard code 56C."
" Rats?!"
They were looking at the fountain, I saw staring at a coin inside it,
Dean said" Typical fountain, plaster buddha. Nothing I can see."
The man said" Yes, nothing. We keep a clean place here."
Sam said" Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave during the preliminary investigation, okay? Thank you." He walked away,
Dean said" Oh, come on. Aren't you a little bit tempted?" He tossed a coin to Sam,
" No. Wouldn't be real. I wouldn't trust it."
" I don't know. That bear seemed pretty real."
" Yeah."
" Come on, if you could wish yourself back, you know, before it all started... think about it- you'd be some big yuppie lawyer with a nice car and a white picket fence."
" Not what I'd wish for."
" Seriously?"
" It's too late to go back to our old lives, Dean. I'm not that guy anymore."
" All right, well, what, then? Hmm? What would Sammy wish for?" I want to touch the coin,
" Lilith's head on a plate. Bloody."
" Okay." I reached over and went to pull it off but it didn't budge," What is that?" Dean moved my hands away, and looked at it,
" Some kind of old coin. I don't recognize the markings." Dean tried to pull it off,
" Damn."
" Lift with your legs." Dean tried harder but it didn't move,
" Is that little mother welded on there?"
" Huh."
Dean and Sam got a crowbar and a hammer, we walked back into the restaurant. Dean tried lifting it up with the crowbar,
The man said" You are gonna break my fountain!"
Sam said" Sir, I don't want to slap you with a 44/16, but I will." The man walked away," All right, thanks."
Dean said" Let me see that. I got an idea." Dean put the crowbar against the coin and hit the crowbar with the hammer, it broke the hammer." Damn."
" Coin's magical."
" Boy, I'd say. I think it's hoodoo that's protecting the well. I don't think we can destroy this."
" All right, here. You got to look into this."
" Where you going?"
" Something just occurred to me." Sam walked out, I looked at Dean, he looked at the man.
We were walking, we saw boys being chased by another boy. The others were picking on the one they were running from now earlier.
The boy said" You better run! You got a problem, mister?"
Dean said" What? No." The boy chased after the others, I heard Dean's stomach rumble.
I was covering my ears sitting on a bed, Dean was hurling in the bathroom. Sam walked in, I uncovered my ears but flinched when I heard Dean still hurling.
Sam said" Dean? You all right?"
Dean said" The wishes turn bad, Sam. The wishes turn very bad."
" The sandwich, huh?" Then Dean came out of the bathroom, Sam walked to the laptop.
" The coin was Babylonian. It's cursed. I found some fragments of a legend." He gagged," I'm good. The, uh... The serpent is Tiamat, which is the, uh, Babylonian god of primordial chaos. I guess their, uh, priests were working some serious black magic."
" They made the coin?"
" Yeah, to sow the seeds of chaos. Whoever tosses a coin in the wishing well, makes a wish, it turns on the well. Then it starts granting wishes to all comers."
" But the wishes get twisted. You ask for a talking teddy..."
" You got a bipolar nut job."
" And you get E. coli."
" Mm. This thing has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person gets their wish, it's trouble, but everybody gets their wish..."
" It's chaos."
" Mmhmm."
" Any way to stop it?"
" Yeah. One way. We got to find the first wisher. Whoever dropped the coin in and made the first wish, they're the only ones who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true, but once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get crazier and crazier."
———
Sam said" Dean, wake up!"
Dean said" What? I'm up!"
" Sleep well?"
" Tan, rested, and ready." Dean took a sip of alcohol,
" Dean, come on, man. You think I can't see it?"
" See what?"
" The nightmares, the drinking. I'm with you 24/7. I know something's going on."
" Sam, please."
" Uriel wasn't lying, but you are. You remember hell, don't you?"
" What do you want from me, huh? What?"
" The truth, Dean. I mean, I'm your brother. I just wish you'd talk to me."
" Careful what you wish for."
" Cute." I pulled my knees up, ready to cover my ears if they start arguing.
" Come on, can we stow the couples therapy, huh? We're on a job. I want to work. What do you got? Please?"
" We got teddy bear, uh, lottery guy, invisible pervert guy. They all must have wished sometime in the last two weeks. But who wished first, and how are we supposed to know who else wished for what when?"
" Well, it helps when they announce it in the papers." He walked to Sam, and dropped the newspaper down," Goes back a month."
" Wesley Mondale and Ms. Hope Lynn Casey have announced their surprise engagement."
" Ah, true love."
" Best lead we got." I yawned, my eyes closed, I opened them, trying to stay awake. I was lifted up, my eyes closed again, then everything went black.
I woke up to yelling, I pushed off Sam's lap and looked up, I saw the kid from yesterday push over a car with the other kids in it.
Dean said" Well, that should cover it." The kid yelled something then started shaking the car." All right." Dean grabbed my arm and tugged me out while getting out, I whined but let him put me on the ground. I yawned," I'll handle Todd. You get Wes to lucky Chen's. Go!" Dean closed the door, we walked over to Todd, Sam sped off." Hey, kid! Can I talk to you for a second?"
Todd said" Get out of my way!" He stomped towards us,
" Okay. Hey, I can dig it, Todd. It-It's Todd, right? Look, I-I know the score. Okay? They're-They're bullying you."
" Every day! Every day! You do not know what it's like!"
" No, no, I don't. But, you know, you're you and I'm me, so.."
" Couldn't stop them. I couldn't do anything. Then Audrey Elmer told me the wishing well worked."
" Okay, okay. Look-Look, I get it. They're-They're mean little jerks, huh? But they're not superhuman like you. You see, with great power comes great, great-" Todd punched him, Dean flew back, I got angry, the ground started shaking, I breathed heavily, Todd tried to punch me but something wouldn't let him. Everything started hurting, I got dizzy, then everything went black.
All I could feel was white-hot, I couldn't even think... All I could hear were screams... they were deafening.
I woke up to Dean,
He said" River! River?!" I gasped, grabbing his sleeves, he hugged me, I wrapped my arms around his neck. I heard him sigh, he went to let go but I wrapped my legs around his chest, he stood up, keeping me in his arms.
I was staring at the water, Sam walked up to Dean and me,
Sam said" Well, uh, the coin's melted down. It shouldn't cause any more problems."
Dean said" Audrey's parents are back from Bali. Looks like all the wishes are gone. And so are we." I jumped off the bench and followed them," Hang on a second." We stopped,
" What?"
" You were right."
" About what?"
" I shouldn't have lied to you. I do remember everything that happened to me in the pit. Everything."
" So tell me about it."
" No."
" Uh..."
" I won't lie anymore. But I'm not gonna talk about it."
" Dean, look, you can't just shoulder this thing alone. You got to let me help."
" How? Do you really think that a little heart-to-heart, some sharing and caring, is gonna change anything? Hmm? Somehow... heal me? I'm not talking about a bad day here."
" I know that."
" The things that I saw... there aren't words. There is no forgetting. There's no making it better. Because it is right here... forever. You wouldn't understand. And I could never make you understand. So I am sorry." Dean started walking, Sam grabbed my hand and we followed him.