The Beldam (A Supernatural Fan fiction)

THE END OF THE HUNT

When Sam woke up, everything was back to normal. Just like last time. The windows still gray and leaky. His bags were still piled up in the corner half unpacked and waiting to be packed again. He felt a sudden wave of frustration, as though he didn't like being sent back to reality.

When he turned his head, he could see that the cheese he'd left for the jumping mice was gone. So maybe it was real. He did vividly remember seeing one of them come and take the bait and he did vividly remember chasing them downstairs to get to the door. The door. Sam leapt out of bed and ran back downstairs to the little secret door in the living room. He knelt down and tried to pull it open, but it didn't budge this time.

Sam knew he had to try to convince Dad and Dean that something else was going on here, but he didn't have any proof. When John came back from dropping Dean off to work on something for the case, Sam took his window of opportunity. He rambled on again about the other mother and added the latest details like the other Dean and the button-eyed copy of Mr. Bobinsky, the crazy man upstairs.

"I did not call him crazy, Sam. He's drunk," Dad corrected. He still wasn't convinced and Sam couldn't understand why. He crossed his arms and challenged John.

"So what do you think is in the other apartment?" he asked. After all, dad was the one who suggested that the inside of the little door may have led to another apartment and was bricked up when they renovated. John huffed with frustration.

"I don't know. Not a family of Winchester imposters," he answered.

"Then why'd you lock the door?" Sam added. He knew it was dad who had locked it. Dean didn't know anything about the key they found. Either John really didn't believe him or he suspected something too and was trying to protect Sam from it.

"Oh, I found some rat crap and I thought you'd feel . . . safer," John replied. Sam wasn't going to drop it there. He wanted the truth.

"They're jumping mice, dad," Sam corrected him. "And the dreams aren't dreams. They're real! I'm trying to tell you that there is something else going on here and you won't listen!" John's phone began to ring. He answered it. After a brief exchange, he hung up and looked across the way at Sam.

"That was Dean. He found something. I've got to go back and get him," Dad told him. Sam sat down at the table, defeated. John could see his frustration. "Look, Sam, if things go well with this case I promise I'll make it up. We'll check out the rest of the house and see what's going on."

"You're just saying that to get me to shut up," Sam declared. John grabbed his things and the keys and headed for the door.

"I won't be long," John said, and then closed the door behind him. Sam was alone in the house. He looked over at the drawer where they had found the key.

"But I might be," he added. Dad and Dean were clearly busy with their own case, so Sam was going to work on his own. He got up and opened the drawer full of keys. He sifted through them, but was unable to find the one he needed. Dad must have hidden it. Sam looked around to figure out where it might be and then he saw it hanging from a nail above the doorway to the hall.

He got a chair and climbed on top and reached for the key. It was still a little too high so he climbed back down and grabbed a spatula that had been left behind by the previous owners. Sam climbed back onto the chair and reached for the key again with the spatula as an extension of his arm. He finally knocked it down and cleared the doorway of the chair.

Sam took the key to the living room and stuck it in the key hole of the little door, then turned. Before opening it, he hoped deep down that he wouldn't open this door to another wall of bricks. Because then he'd have to wait for nighttime again and right now that was hours away. Sam closed his eyes, pulled the door open and felt a gust of wind. He opened his eyes to see the magical tunnel from the two nights before in front of him. The door at the other end opened just a crack and let in some light from the other side.

"I knew it was real," Sam said out loud to himself.