Reflections

Five

Dean insists we leave bright and early the next morning. He doesn’t know I know, but I overheard him talking with Castiel even earlier than when we woke us all up. He was comforting the angel, and I distinctly heard him say, “it’s okay, buddy, really. Your powers will come back. I’m promising you.”

Apparently, Cas is having angel (or lack of angel) problems.

Yawning, I lean against the back door of the Mustang. My hair is back in a messy ponytail, and my glasses sit crooked on my nose. Claire walks past, and with a smile, fixes the frames. “Tired?” she asks.

“I am beyond tired right now,” I reply. “I’m kind of looking forward to a long drive today. Do you know where we’re going?”

“Not a clue,” Claire replies. “I overheard something about Minnesota, though, so I assume we’re heading there in the long run. For now, though, no idea.”

“All right, everybody in!” Dean says as he walks to the driver’s side of the Mustang. “You okay if I drive today, Claire?”

She shrugs in response.

“Good,” Dean replies, “because I’m driving regardless.”

Claire grins and climbs into the backseat. I do the same, and pretty soon, we’re in the same seating arrangement as the last time we were all in the Mustang. I’m on the right in the back, Cas has the middle, and Claire is on the left. Up front, the brothers have switched seats so Dean can drive.

I close my eyes and lean against the window when I feel the car ease forward.

I’m probably asleep for a good five hours. It’s the most rest I’ve gotten in a while, and it feels great.

Until I’m jolted awake by the Mustang locking under Dean’s grip on the wheel.

“No, no, no!” Dean repeats. “Not today! Not now!”

“Pull over!” Sam yells. “You’re going to stall on the highway!”

Dean swerves the car onto a side road, and it’s fine for a couple of minutes. Dean slows down, just in case, but the Mustang seems to have recovered.

Dean’s car whispering probably helps. “It’s all right, honey,” he coos to it. “You got this. Just a little farther.”

Claire shoots me a look from the left, and I have to bite my cheeks to keep from laughing.

The road has turned from a paved side highway to a gravel and dirt combination, and I notice Sam and Claire looking out the windows, trying to figure out where we are. To me, it looks like we’re stuck in a thick forest. We’re deep into the Black Hills of South Dakota, and the car keeps ambling on.

Eventually, the Mustang is going much slower than Dean is making it go, and it sputters to a stop as Dean lunges the wheel to the right to get the car off the road. “Well,” he exclaims. “It’ll take me a while to fix this, but we should be back up and running in a couple of hours, tops. Why don’t you go and see the sights, pick up a brochure, take some cliché tourist pictures?”

“I highly doubt there is a brochure here, Dean,” Cas replies.

I stretch as I step out of the car. I’ve been asleep almost this whole time, and pretty much every muscle that can be sore is sore. Taking a look around the area, I spot another gravel and dirt hybrid road branching out from the one we’re on a little ways up ahead. Squinting, I try to get a better look, and when I do, I inhale. The red truck may be faded and half-rusted out, but there’s no mistaking it’s there, parked off the branch of the road. I open my mouth to alert everyone else, but Sam’s spotted the truck as well.