PhantomNatural

Ch. 11

They had spent about an hour or so at the diner, and Danny enjoyed every second of it. It wasn't too different than the Nasty Burger back in Amity Park, so it was a welcome change of pace from the past couple of weeks. The brothers had even managed to get a couple laughs out of Danny, and they hailed this as a big achievement, all while Bobby went on shaking his head at the brothers' antics. 

Bobby reminded them that they had to find something to do with the rest of the day, as they couldn't do anything with the cave before tomorrow, as to avoid raising suspicion among the townspeople. 

"All right, all right, we get it Bobby." Dean exasperated, shoving his last fry into his mouth. "Why don't we spend the day in town then? It keeps us moving, so it'd be harder to track us, plus it'll give us something to do."

"Dean's right. If we head back to the motel now, we'd be sitting ducks for the rest of the day. It'd be better to make the best of it now." Sam agreed. He pulled out his wallet, throwing an appropriate amount of cash on the table before standing up. "In fact we should probably head out soon."

"I'm not even done yet!" Dean complained, earning a disgusted look from Sam.

"You've literally got no food left What are you going to do? Lick the sauce off the plate?" Sam questioned, raising a brow.

"...No."

This earned another chuckle from Danny, who slipped out of his chair to stand next to the table. He stretched lightly, still feeling the tiredness from that morning. Since he had told the Bobby and the two brothers about himself, he had felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It kind of changed his perspective about telling another couple of ghost hunters in his life...

Dean stood up and tapped his coat and jean pockets, making sure he had everything. "Let's get going then." He waited for Bobby to get up before leading the way out of the diner. By the time they had filed out onto the sidewalk, it was late noon, and the sun was still burning bright above them.

Danny squinted once the sun hit his eyes, waiting for them to adjust. Once they did, he glanced around, looking for something to do. If anything, they could window shop or poke around some old antique stores. Some of the townspeople milled about in familial groups or on their own, some holding shopping bags or school backpacks, some dressed for show and some for comfort. Danny was struck with another bout of homesickness, wishing instead for the familiar faces in place of the strangers surrounding him.

Picking up on this Bobby took to distracting Danny. It wouldn't do for Danny to get so homesick only a few days out from being home. "There's an antique store across the way we could head to. I always tend to find something useful in stores like that, mostly iron pieces. After that we could hit the crystal shop next door. If they're genuine stones, I could use to refill on a couple types." 

This seemed to bring Danny back out of his stupor, and the group set off towards the antique store. A sign was hung above the door, sitting slightly askew. It read "Rust and Rockers". When the group entered the store, a bell chimed above their head, informing the owner of new customers. She stood behind the counter, short and bent, with age making an appearance on her face. She gave off a warm and welcoming aura, peeking over the rim of her glasses at the boys. "Welcome in." She spoke. "There something for everyone in here."

With that said, she left the boys to their business. Bobby picked up an interesting basket to use for any iron parts he may find. A few times Danny had picked up an object, only for it to begin irritating his hands, forcing him to set it back down. Often times, Bobby followed after Danny, picking up the parts Danny had returned, only to place them in his basket. 

"Are you using me as an iron detector?" Danny asked, with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Bobby shrugged, an innocent look on his face. "Ain't no harm in it. You're finding more in the past half hour than I usually find in any of my trips." He picked up another piece Danny had abandoned, placing it on top of his stash. 

Danny couldn't help but laugh at Bobby's tactics. He was right, however. The iron didn't do a whole lot of damage to him, it was more of an irritation, sort of like the tingling feeling after one of your limbs fall asleep. 

After a while of wandering around the store, Bobby went to check out, along with Sam and Dean. Dean had found a couple of interesting pocket knives and a vintage Playboy, while Sam had found a couple of vintage books he thought he'd give a chance. Danny hadn't picked anything out, mostly because vintage stuff wasn't really his thing, and because he didn't want to have the guys pay for anything else of his. He didn't know how much money a hunter could make, but he assumed it wasn't as much as they deserved. 

They paid for their items, and headed towards the door. Danny was about to follow after, when the woman behind the counter beckoned him over. She held out a small, hard candy, wrapped in a strawberry themed wrapper.

Danny smiled and shook his head, ready to decline the offer. "No, thank you, really I don't-"

"Take it, dear. You remind me of my grandson, and he rarely visits me. So please, take it." She insisted, still holding out the candy. Danny relented, reaching out to take the candy from the old woman. Right as he took hold of the candy, the woman grasped her other hand around his. Danny jumped, trying to pull his hand back from the old woman. He could've sworn her eyes flashed black, even for a second.

"You're a very interesting young man. Have a safe trip home."

With that said, she released his hand, and the same welcoming aura returned to her. A chill ran down Danny's spine and he took off, following after Bobby and the brothers.

The rest of the day proceeded as normal, with nothing out of place occurring. Other than the old woman, of course. Danny had kept quiet about it, figuring it was just a lonely old woman, and that her eyes had been a trick of the light. After milling about in town, the group got Chinese takeout for dinner, taking it back to the motel to eat. After everyone had their fill they went over the next day's plan one more time before calling it a day. Once again they took turns keeping watch, with Danny excluded.