Survive, Boy, Survive

Chapter 10

I snapped awake, sitting up, breathing heavily, my eyes flickered then I scrambled up and fell into the front seat.
Dean said" You okay, buddy?" I nodded my head quickly, silently, I turned myself around and laid my head on his arm.
Sam said" You sure? You seem pretty spooked." I nodded again,
" Given how much he lies, he's a pretty crappy liar to us."
I said" Not lying, butthead."
" Sure about that?"
" Yep! Where we goin?"
" If you're not gonna tell us what's wrong, we don't have to tell you where we're goin."
" Ugh! Fine! Nightmare. Now tell me where we're goin?"
" Case. We'd like a description, how's that sound?"
" Horrendous. Am I using that right?" I looked at Sam,
He said" Yeah, buddy. Good job."
" Nice try though." I looked at Dean, smiling, he rolled his eyes then wrapped an arm around me. I settled against his side instantly, closing my eyes again,
He whispered" Fine, you little liar." I giggled," You win." I giggled again, he shushed me, thumping me on the head, I smiled.
———
I was bored, really bored, and my brothers are at a police station, a guy was ripped from limb. I pouted then the black smoke appeared, circling up my legs,
I said" Go away." My eyes flickered and it went away, I sniffled then sneezed, then shook my head. I felt blood slide down my lip, I huffed, then wiped my nose with my sleeve.

My brothers finally got back in the car, I was bouncing in the seat.
I said" So?"
Sam said" The energy, huh?"
" Shuddup. Tell me about the case!"
Dean said" LARPing. The two vics had that in common."
" Two?"
" Yeah, the second one just died in the interrogation room."
" No hex bag?"
" Nada."
" What the hell?"
" That's what we're saying, buddy. You okay?" I forced myself to stop bouncing, I sighed,
" I'm fine. And if you call me a liar, I'll punch you into next year." He scoffed, Sam did too," Shuddup, De. Shuddup, Sammy."
" When did we raise a little punk?"
Sam said" Don't know." I glared at the two,
" Keep telling me about the case."
" We're going to the LARPing place, Moondore. It's at a park. Charlie is the queen."
" Charlie?!"
" Yeah, bud."
" Do I have to stay in the car alone?"
" No, you can get out with us. But you're staying close by."
" I'm okay with that."

I was a few feet away from Sam and Dean, looking at all the weird stuff, cool! I sneezed again, but I think Sam and Dean got found out. Dean grabbed my hoodie as he walked past me, dragging me with him as I stared at a giant axe. I saw Charlie, she saw my brothers, I was barely paying attention to what she was saying.
She said" The queen needs some royal we time. Talk amongst thyselves." She walked into the big tent, we followed, Dean picked up a foam sword.
He said" Nice balance."
Sam said" Dude."
" Yeah." Dean and I walked to catch up to him.

Sam said" Charlie."
Charlie said" Charlie Bradbury is dead. She died a year ago. You killed her. My name is Carrie Heinlein. Oh, and guess what. Now you killed her, too."
Dean said" Okay, listen."
" No, I buried myself. Then Dick Roman went down, his company belly up, and I figured, hey, it's all good. And I was fine. I got my life back. Now you're here, and if you guys are here, monsters are here. Why do I have such bad luck? What am I- Some kind of monster magnet? Is there such a thing as a monster magnet? You know what? Don't answer that. I don't care. What I care about is not getting my other arm broken... or dying. So, I'm dropping my sword and walking off the stage, bitches." She put her crown on Dean's head as she walked past," Have fun storming the castle."
" Charlie. Charlie! Greyfox and Thargrim- Uh, Ed and Lance- they're not missing. They're dead."

Charlie said" Drawn and quartered and bleeding out? Please stop talking again. So what do you think did this?"
Dean said" Well, aside from the mark and them both being LARPers, there's really not much else to go on."
" Wait, I've seen this before. It's a Celtic magic symbol. At least it was in my favorite video game. Does that help? Can I go now?"
Sam said" It's a start, but no. Um, listen. What can you tell us about Ed and Lance?"
" Good guys. Two of the best members of the Queen's ever-shrinking army."
Dean said" Ever-shrinking?"
" My kingdom has had a lot of bad luck lately, probably 'cause of me, but maybe it's tied to this. A month ago, one of my guys had both her ankles broken before battle. Before that, I had three people have hospital-worthy accidents while at home. You think there's any connection there?"
Sam said" They have any enemies in common?"
" In real life? No. Everyone gets along famously. In the game, though, they had tons of enemies." She walked over to the map with figures on it," Red reps the followers of the moon- My peeps. Green's for elves, blue's for warriors of yesteryear, and black's for shadow orcs- total d-bags. This weekend is the battle of the kingdoms to see who wears the forever crown. This weekend, each faction is definitely an enemy of me and mine."
Dean said" You know, if you, uh... move your archers back and your broadswords men to the west..."
" Huh. Like the warriors."
" Yep."
" Hey, good call."
" Thanks."
" What about the southern wall?"
Sam said" Guys."
Dean said" Yeah? Right. Sorry."
" So maybe someone from one of the other kingdoms got ahold of real magic and started using it to weaken your army."
Charlie said" But why not just come after me? And why the escalation?"
Dean said" All right, we will canvas the kingdoms. You should get out of here. We don't want you to get hurt."
" Whoa, wait. Charlie knows moondoor a lot better than we do. We need her."
" Sam, I think we can take care of a bunch of accountants with foam swords."
" We need all the help we can get, Dean. People are dying."
" My point, which is usually yours, is that she should get somewhere safe and get back to a normal life."
Charlie said" Hey, I am right here, and I want to leave."
" Thank you."
" But the Queen... she has to stay. I mean, Sam is right. People are dying. That can't happen on my watch. And you know what? I am tired of running. I like my life here. I'm gonna stay and fight for it." Sam's phone rang, he answered,
He said" Yeah. Okay. Thanks." He put his phone down," So, the toxicology report came back on Lance. Nothing. But the medical examiner said his body showed clear signs that he was killed by Belladonna."
Charlie and Dean said" The pornstar?" I tilted my head, huh?
" The poison."
" Oh."
" Um, however, they couldn't find a trace of it in his system."
Dean said" Just like they couldn't find ropes in Ed's apartment."
" Charlie, I'm gonna need to borrow your laptop."
Charlie said" There are no laptops in Moondoor." I tilted my head," What? There are rules. But there is a tech tent four tents down."
" Okay. How about you guys go canvas, and I'll dig into these accidents and this mark?" He walked away,
" Okay. I'm gonna need a full wiki on where you guys have been. But first, you're gonna have to ditch the suit if you're gonna walk and talk with the Queen." She walked away, Dean smiled a little, then stopped once he noticed me staring.
He said" Shut up, little liar."
I said" I didn't say anything."
" Your face says everything." He followed Charlie, grabbing my hand, dragging me along.