Phoenix [Supernatural Season 1]

Bugs [4]

Sam, Dean, and Phoenix pull up outside the local university and get out of the car.

Phoe took the box of bones out from the backseat and followed the boys towards the building.

"So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave," Sam said.

"Yeah." Phoenix said solemnly "Maybe this is haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?"

"Yeah, maybe." Dean agreed "Question is, why bugs? And why now?"

"That's two questions." Phoe pointed out only for Dean to ignore her.

"Yeah, so with that kid back there..."

"Dean," Phoenix warned.

"Why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?"

"Just, uh...I know what the kid's goin' through," Sam shrugged.

"How 'bout tellin' him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?"

"Dean, come on," Phoe groaned as she sensed the upcoming sibling squabble.

"This isn't about his old man." Sam argued "You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about,"

"Just forget it, all right?" Dean sighed "Sorry I brought it up,"

"I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough,"

"So what are you sayin'? That Dad was disappointed in you?"

"Was?" Sam scoffed "Is. Always has been,"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I didn't wanna bow hunt or hustle pool-because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak,"

"Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters," Dean teased.

"Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house,"

"I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin' out of your mouth,"

"You know, truth is when we finally do find Dad...I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me,"

"Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared,"

"What are you talking about?"

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talkin'...he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could."

Sam's smirk faded.

"Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe,"

"What?"

"Yeah,"

"Why didn't you tell me any of that?"

"Well, it's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone,"

Sam stared at Dean sadly.

"Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment." Dean turned to walk towards the building only to stop "Where's Phoe?"

***

"So, you are a student?" The Professor asked Phoenix.

"Criminal Justice." Phoe corrected "There's an anthropology forensics course, and I hit a snag with this project and my professor's out of town. So, what can you tell me about the bones, Professor?"

"This is quite an interesting find you've made. I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American,"

"I didn't think there were any tribes or reservations on that land,"

"Not according to the historical record. But the, uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time,"

"Right." Phoenix nodded "Well, are there any local legends? Oral histories about the area?"

"Well...you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth,"

***

Phoenix entered a diner and found a Native American man playing cards at a table. "Joe White Tree?" she asked.

The man nodded.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions if that's all right."

The man nodded again.

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley,"

"I know the area," Joe said.

"What can you tell me about the history there?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

Phoe motioned to the seat in front of Joe and he nodded for her to take a seat. She sighed before she spoke, "Something bad is happening in Oasis Plains." Phoenix admitted "I think it might have something to with some old bones I found down there-Native American bones,"

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people,"

"Insects." Phoe breathed "Six days,"

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive,"

***

Phoenix hurried into the motel room where the brothers were waiting.

"Phoe, where did you go?" Sam asked.

"When did the gas company man die?" Phoe interrupted.

"Um..."

"We got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth," Dean replied

"March twentieth? That's the spring equinox,"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well while you two were squabbling I was getting some actual work done,"

"So...Spring Equinox?" Sam questioned.

"It's the night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals. That means that every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land. If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise,"

"So how do we break the curse?" Dean asked.

Phoenix rolled her eyes at Dean's question "You don't break a curse. You get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now,"