Dean said" All right, well, call us if he wakes up or, you know, anything. Yeah, fine. Thanks for your help, Meg." He hung up," What a bitch."
Sam said" So, Cas is the same, then?"
" Yeah, down to the drool."
" Huh."
" By the way, how is your custard?"
" It's all right. It's getting better. Just wish it wasn't like the damn tape from The Ring. I mean, I feel like I'm okay 'cause I passed on the crazy."
" No, you didn't. You heard what Cas said."
" Let's-Let's not, man..." Dean's phone rang, he answered,
" Hello? Wait. W-Who is this? Oh, yeah. Yeah, how you doing, Garth?"
My head fell, I jerked it back up, trying to wake myself up more.
Dean said" Riv, sleep."
I said" Bite me." He groaned then looked at me,
" You've gotta sleep."
" For what? You to abandon me again?"
" One time, man."
Sam said" Three times, actually."
" Sam."
" What?"
" Fine, fine, three times, okay? Can we get past it? I'm bound to abandon you again, anyways." I froze, my lip shook, the car started jerking, stopping and going.
" Dean, seriously?" He grunted, trying to stop the car, he pulled it over and pulled the keys out. He sighed as the car stopped moving,
" I'm joking, I'm joking, River."
I said" It's not a joke to me!" He sighed then reached back, I climbed up to him, landing on his knees. He turned me around and looked at me,
" I know, I'm sorry."
" It's not funny."
" I know it's not, I know, buddy. But you've gotta understand, the only times we ever leave you is because it's something big that we don't want you getting in the crossfires of. We don't want you hurt."
" And you've gotta understand, I'm not a baby anymore, I'm a freak, I can protect myself."
" You're not a freak." I made my eyes glow,
" Normal kids can't do this. By definition, I'm a freak."
" Mm, see, I just think you're special. You complete psycho." He ruffled my hair then groaned as his fingers got stuck in the tangles." Sam's turn, right?"
" You wish." Sam looked at us, chuckling, Dean dropped his head,
" How about a hair cut?" I stared at him, squinting my eyes a little, tensing my jaw, he chuckled." A bitch face from my little baby brother... Nice. You taught him that, Sam."
Sam said" Ha, no way. You raised him up, remember?" Dean clicked his teeth,
" Start driving." Sam pushed the key back in and started driving." Riv, you've gotta sleep, man."
I said" The smoke comes back."
" The smoke can't hurt you in your nightmares, it can only scare you, but I know you'd never hurt us."
" But what if I do?"
" You won't."
" But what if..."
" Then it'd be on accident or to protect us, okay? You'd never hurt us on purpose, buddy, I know that, Sam knows that."
" You swear?"
" Yeah, cross my heart." I yawned, rubbing my head," You're past the point of exhaustion, River, just... I'm asking for an hour of sleep, okay?"
" Fine. But I make no promises on the hour part."
" All right, I'll take that." I laid against his chest, his arm wrapped around me, then his other arm went over the back of my head, grounding me. I relaxed, closing my eyes, falling asleep listening to him as he started humming.
I mumbled" Stop humming Metallica, weirdo."
He whispered" You're a bigger weirdo since you know I'm humming Metallica, River." He started humming again, I dug my face into his neck before drifting off finally.
———
They came out of the morgue, and got into the car,
I said" So?"
Dean said" We're between ghost or werewolf."
" Those are on opposi..." I tilted my head, huh?
" Yeah, that's where we are, buddy."
We were in a motel room,
Dean said" There's a million things with claws go bump in the night. Once you throw in invisible, the number goes down. Afternoon delights? Really, Garth? Don't you think this place is a little, uh..."
Garth said" Uh, You want a nice hot tub after a day at the office. It's the little things. I feel sad for those brewery dudes. Spend your life beautifying the world through beer. First a partner offs himself. Now two kids get ganked. By unknown freakadeek."
Sam said" According to this, Dale wasn't just a partner. He was also the brewmaster."
Dean said" Brewmaster?"
" He was widely considered a genius."
" All right, that's it." He got up," No microbrew is worth... what was it- Eight Food Magazine awards." He grabbed a beer from the fridge," Beer's not food. It's... whatever water is." He handed one to Sam," Hmm. Thighslapper." He opened it then took a sip," Wow, that's actually awesome. Damn it, I'm not even mad anymore." Then Garth was chugging the entire beer in one sitting." Wow. Party on, Garth."
Garth said" I don't even usually drink beer. It messes with my depth perception." He coughed," Especially when I skinny-dip. Hey, you guys want to hear a joke?"
Sam said" Listen to this. This is something interesting." Garth started laughing," Garth, are you drunk?"
" Dude, I just... drank a whole beer. Of course I'm drunk." He belched,
Dean said" Something interesting."
Sam said" Right. Uh..."
Garth said" Hey, can I have some more Thighslapper?"
" No."
Dean said" No. Coffee for you, Tara Reid."
Garth said" Coffee with Kalhúa in it."
Sam said" So, it says that Dale actually left the company two weeks before he died. Or... maybe he got pushed out 'cause he didn't want to sell. I mean, Baxter said the deal's been in the works for months."
Dean said" That would explain the widow. She's suing. Maybe Dale had a bone to pick, and he's still picking it."
Garth said" Right. So, maybe he's a spirito malo."
The radio said" Unit to McAnn residence. 698 Washburn."
Sam said" McAnn residence, as in Jim McAnn?"
Garth said" As in, let's hope for their sake our spirito ain't made it out of the woods. All right. Let's go check it."
" Uh, you two go. I'm gonna visit the widow." Dean stared at Sam, Sam smiled at him, I looked between them, giggling, Dean shot me a look. I smiled at him, he rolled his eyes, I ran to Sam, wrapped my arms around his neck as I stood behind him.
Once Dean and Garth left, Sam was getting ready to leave,
I said" So, let's go!" I tried to walk past him but he lifted me over his shoulder and dropped me on the bed." I'mma hunter too!"
He said" And I swear, when you're old enough to pull off being an FBI agent, you can help with that. But for now, you're stuck on the sidelines for this part."
" This is unfair!"
" I know, man, but you've only got a few more years."
" Dean says I'm a late bloomer, what's that mean?"
" Nothing, hey, remind me to slap Dean upside the head later, okay?"
" Okay!" I smiled,
" I'll be back soon, they might even beat me back. Should I even ask you to get some sleep?"
" Not happening."
" Got it. Uh, you've got snacks somewhere in your bag."
" Yep!" He walked out, I sighed, then heard him lock the door, I walked to my bag. I grabbed Rexxy and a pack of goldfish, I huffed, I hate being small, it sucks! I can't help my brothers till I'm bigger!
Garth came in, dragging someone,
I said" Where's my brothers?"
He said" Finding someone who can translate Japanese."
" For?"
" Dale sent a bottle of alcohol from Japan, we're thinking spirito."
" What's with the body?"
" He's alive. He caught Sam and Dean in his office." I closed the door, he continued to drag the body, I wish I could help him but Sam and Dean say not to use my powers around people we don't know well. I sat on the couch, he put the man in the tub, I shook my head.
I was watching Garth do yoga, I think it's yoga, I'm not sure. I was sitting in the middle of the floor, criss-cross, my head tilted. I heard Sam and Dean come in,
Sam said" Garth." Garth stopped and looked behind me," Where's Baxter?" He pointed to the tub,
Garth said" Dude's a lot heavier than he looks, FYI." He walked down to them, passing me." But here, thought you might want this back."
Dean said" You have the CEO of the douchiest microbrew in the US gagged in your hot tub? You really think that's gonna end well?"
" I'm not feeling the love."
Sam said" All right. Shojo. Uh, let's see what we can see."
" What's shojo?"
Dean said" Japanese booze monster."
" I guess that would explain why you got to be drunk to see it. Very poetic. Ooh. Creepy."
Sam said" Okay. So, a shojo is said to roam where there's lots of alcohol. There's lore saying back in the old day, if you were plastered enough, you could see one skulking around the breweries in Japan."
Dean said" Yeah, but why is this one shredding brewers' kids?"
" Apparently, you can harness the will of a shojo with the right spell box. Then you basically have an attack dog that you can sic on whatever sort of personal revenge mission you want."
" So Dale nabs one to punish his pals."
" Send the bottle, sooner or later it's popped open. Then you have a shojo that will do whatever Dale compelled it to do right here on the box."
Garth said" Wait. Except it's not killing the people that screwed him over."
" Well, Dale's widow said the company was his baby. So, if he really wanted his friends to feel what the felt..."
Dean said" He would take theirs. Well, their kids. Jim's, anyways."
" And Baxter was the godfather."
" All right, skip ahead to how do we gank it."
" Good news. It is killable."
" But..."
" But only with a samurai sword consecrated with a Shinto blessing."
" Well... that's not a silver lining. All right, the shojo already cleaned the house, right? I mean, Marie's the last target standing, so... I'll hit the pawn shops and, uh, look for the sword. You babysit Marie." Garth nearly dropped the EMF, it started warbling, turning red.
He said" Yikes. Sorry."
" Don't worry about it." Dean took it from him,
" Unless I've got nothing to be sorry for."
" Garth."
Sam said" What's he talking about?"
Garth said" I'm concerned that Bobby might be haunting you. I brought it up to Dean, and he shot me down."
Dean said" Garth! Leave it alone."
Sam said" It's okay."
" No, it's far from okay."
" I've already tried contacting Bobby. When that beer disappeared, I pulled out a talking board."
" Without me?"
" You know, I figured, why drag you in... when it's something I could just put to bed myself."
" And?"
" And if he was there, I'd have told you." Then the man groaned,
" We'll talk about about this later. You follow Marie. Let me borrow your keys."
Garth pulled the bag off of Baxter's head,
He said" I'm trying to help you, Mr. Baxter."
Baxter said" And who the hell are you?"
" Now, I'm confused. Dale goes to get you all where it hurts- the kids. Only, you don't have any kids."
" It still affects me. Believe me."
" Now, you want to tell me what you're hiding?"
" Hiding?" He stammered over his words, he is hiding something.
" Tell me this. When was the last time you have an employee three chances?"
" Probably never."
" Exactly. You're the axman, right? Tough job, but, hey, somebody's gotta. So, how come you cut that slacker janitor so many breaks?" He stammered again," Yeah. Well, I googled. Come to find his mother... was your secretary way back in the day. Of course, you were married to Mrs. B, so, uh... no way there's anything naughty there, right? What do you need to get? It don't matter what Dale knows about you, 'cause that thing out there killing the kids- It knows!"
" It didn't end well with his mom. She made me swear never to tell him."
" Oh. So much for that." Garth walked to the bar," Where is he?"
" He's, uh- He's at the brewery." I saw Garth grab bottle shots," Working the graveyard shift." Garth stuffed them in his pocket,
" Here." He threw the keys to the handcuffs to Baxter," If you care about that kid at all, don't call the cops on me just yet." He ran out the door,
I said" Dude! You can't... oh, man!" I ran to the bar, grabbing one of the tiny bottles, then ran to my bag. I grabbed my lock picks and stuffed them in my pocket with the bottle. I pulled on my bag and ran after Garth.
I got to the brewery, I breathed heavily, my eyes glowed, I really hope these stupid powers can see things that can't be seen because I really don't want to drink the stuff that smells. I pulled open the door and ran in.
I found Garth, with Baxter's kid,
He said" All right. I'll just shoot. Baxter is your father. Baxter screwed Dale. Dale roped this Japanese monster you can only see when you're drunk, and now it's here to kill you."
The guy said" Whoa, wait a minute. Baxter is my father?" Garth pushed the guy, then stared at something, I can't see it!," What are you looking at?"
" Damn it! Run!"
" Dude, there's nothing there!" Then Garth was thrown, I breathed heavily, getting mad, my eyes glowed, my vision blurred, black smoke surrounded me... no! No! Hey!
I saw the shojo, the guy ran, I ran after him, the door closed as he tried to go for it. Then the shojo made claws marks on the wall, the guy ran again, I ran after him, he stopped as Sam ran in.
Sam said" Whoa. Whoa. Easy!" Sam looked at me, then focused on the guy.
The guy said" We got to get out of here, man. It's here!" I looked at Sam, Sam followed the guy,
" Where's Garth?"
" Who?!"
" Garth!"
" There was a guy- He got knocked out!" Sam saw it,
" Oh, oh, okay. Stay behind me. Stay behind me."
" What, you can see it?"
" Yeah. I'm skunked. Just... Fire exit. On three. All right?"
" Okay." The shojo made the doors close,
" Okay. So much for that." Then Sam was thrown back, he hit the wall then the ground. I made fists, the entire place started shaking, I stood between the shojo and the guy. She tried to fling me, but I didn't move, she got in my face, then slung me, I hit the wall. Everything went black.
I woke up,
I heard Sam say" My right." I couldn't see the shojo anymore, Dean was swinging a sword through the air." 3:00, Dean! 6:00!" Then the sword was midair, stabbed into the shojo, it became visible. It screamed then fell back, vanishing, Dean picked up the sword.
Dean said" You okay?"
The guy said" I'm alive? Yeah."
" Sam? Riv?"
Sam said" Yeah." Giving him a thumbs up,
I said" Mm-hmm."
Dean said" Where's Garth?"
The guy said" Well, he's-he's over this way." I stood up, feeling dizzy,
" Could you go get him?"
" All right." He walked away, Sam followed him, I went to follow but stopped behind the wall. I peeked out, Dean stared at a spot behind him.
" This moved. Bobby?" Sam came up behind me," Are you here? Come on. Do something." I looked up at Sam, Bobby can't be stuck, he'll turn bad, he'll turn into the things we kill.
———
Garth said" You sure you guys don't want to hang out? Grab some brunch, maybe some brews?"
Dean said" Tempting but, uh, we better roll."
" All right, well..." Garth hugged Dean,
" Oh. Okay."
" Call me anytime."
" All right."
" And you, Sam." He shook Sam's hand,
Sam said" Yeah."
" Aw, come here." He hugged Sam, I giggled, my brothers don't do hugs from most people.
" Oh, yeah. Thanks, Garth." He walked away from them,
" Sayonara, kemo-sabes!" He walked to his driver door," Nice ride." Then got into his car,
" You're right. He has grown on me." Garth drove away," All right. Um... so, let's talk about it."
Dean said" About what? Oh. The, uh, talking board? That's fine. I get it, I guess."
" No, not that. Look, I heard you."
" Heard me what?"
" What happened in the brewery, Dean?"
" Nothing. It was, uh- It was just my imagination."
" Dean." We followed Dean back into the motel room," Look, I know something happened. I just want you to be straight with me."
" The blade was across the room, and then it was in my hand. And then my beer drank itself. Oh, and then, that page magically appeared on the bed. And-And then Bobby's book fell down, and out popped the number of the guy who found Cas. Nothing, I'm sure."
" Clearly."
" Well, then, what, Sam? Is Bobby here or not?!"
" You know what I think, Dean? I think that regular people, they see ones they lost everywhere, too."
" Yeah. Freaking ghosts!"
" Or they just miss them a lot. I mean, they see a face in the crowd- We see a book falling off the table. Same thing, Dean. I mean, I did the talking board. I ran plenty of EMF. When that beer went poof, I went a little nuts."
" Yeah, and why didn't you tell me?"
" Like I said, little nuts at the time."
" All right, well, if it wasn't Bobby, then what Jedi'd that sword into my hand?"
" The shojo slammed the door from across the room. Maybe it was trying to grab the sword, too."
" Right. Right, I mean, if it was Bobby, he would let us know. I mean, who knows more about being a ghost than Bobby? Instant Swayze, right?"
" Exactly."
" Okay. Okay, so your theory is that-that we're practically regular people about something for once." Sam scoffed, I rolled my eyes," All right. Well, you want to grab some brunch and some brews?"
" Ugh, no. I'm so hungover. Let's just hit the road."
" All right." He opened the door, I ran out, yawning.
We got into the car,
Dean said" Hang on." He got out, I leaned up and cranked the car before Sam could, Sam looked at me.
He said" Buddy, uh, you remember what happened last night?"
I said" Huh?"
" Uh, you know, uh... what's the last thing you remember?"
" I woke up on the ground, you were telling Dean which way to swing the sword."
" Okay, what about before that?"
" The black smoke got me... I'm sorry."
" No, no, it's-it's okay, you've got nothing to be sorry about." He smiled at me, I leaned back, rubbing my eyes, Dean came back and got in. We drove off.