Currents

Chapter 24

Sam said" Heads up." Dean grabbed the cup,
Dean said" I caught wind of a case on this police scanner. Sounds like our kind of thing."
" I wasn't even gone 10 minutes."
" Okay. That matters why?"
" I don't know, Dean. How about because you havent said a word to me or Keir since Prentiss island? And now, what? You want me to shut up and ride shotgun and act like nothing happened?"
" You want to talk about Benny? Fine. Let's talk."
" Okay. How about he's a vampire?"
" He's also the reason I'm topside and not roasting on a spit in purgatory. Anything else?"
" Don't pretend I don't get it. I know you had to do what you had to down there."
" I highly doubt you get anything about purgatory."
" But you're out now, and Benny's still breathing. Why?"
" He's my friend, Sam."
" And what about my friend, Amy? She was what? 'Cause you sure as hell didn't have a problem ganking her."
" Well, I guess people change, don't they? We let that werewolf Kate go, didn't we?"
" She was different. She- you think Benny's different? Did he tell you he's not drinking live blood or something?" Dean did that face," And you believe him. Wow. Okay. You know, you're right. People do change."
" Yeah. I got a vampire buddy, and you turn your phone off for a year."
" Don't turn this on me."
" Look, Benny slips up and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it."
" But it's not gonna be you, right?"
" You coming or not?" I got into the car, laying across the backseat, closing my eyes. I just need to keep calm, if I get too angry... I'll go siren and I don't know if I'll be able to pull myself out of it before I kill Dean.
——
Dean said" So, guy's old lady comes home while he's working underneath his ride, puts the peddle to the metal, and takes half his head off."
Sam said" What, that's it?"
" Yeah, in a nutshell. She says she blacked out, doesn't remember a damn thing."
" Well, sounds like insanity."
" Maybe."
" So, how does that make this our kind of thing?"
" Because, Sam, Kevin's in the wind, okay, you're sulking around like a eunuch in a whorehouse, Keir looks like he's dying," I looked up," And I can't help but ask myself when is decapitation not my thing?" I went invisible, closing my eyes,
I mumbled" I'm not dying, asshole." They got out, I drifted off, too exhausted to stay awake any longer.

Garth was on this case, I didn't tell my brothers that Garth kinda became the new Bobby... because I don't want Dean yelling at me, so I'm just gonna stay silent. We were at bar, eating,
Garth said" So, Dean, give me the skinny. Where were you this past year?"
Dean said" Why don't we save what I did on my summer vacation for another time?"
" Aw, come on."
" All right. I was in purgatory."
" Like the purgatory purgatory?"
" No, the one in Miami."
" Man, that's balls." Oh, no!
" That's not how you say balls."
" So, how'd you get out?" Sam and I looked at Dean,
" What's up with all the, uh, hillbilly hankies? These people know the civil war's over, right?"
" Mm. That's a touchy subject around these parts. See, Missouri was a border state. So, half the men were confederate, the other half were the union."
Sam said" How do you know all this?"
" I went to college."
" You went to college?"
" Yeah. College, and on to dental school."
Dean said" Wait, you- you were a dentist?"
" Yeah, just for, like, a hot minute. Where'd you think I got my first case?"
" Let me guess- tooth fairy."
" Yeah. Man, I felt terrible when I ganked that SOB." I covered my face, shaking my head slightly,
Sam said" Uh, you killed the tooth fairy?"
" Yeah, man. I mean, not my proudest moment, but it happened." My eyes flashed as I felt a ping of pain from my chest." Man, this is good."

The son of the vic killed a guy, so now we split up, Sam made Dean go with Garth. I'm with Sam, but he's talking to the woman, Alcott. I put a layer of water on my skin, waiting for Sammy, I watched the veins appear and disappear. I saw Sam freeze while walking off the porch, my brain pounded against my skull, I hissed, my eyes flashing, I grabbed my pills and popped 3 of them into my mouth, quickly.
Sam called Dean,
Sam said" Sara Alcott's clean, if you look past the fact that she and Chester knocked boots on prom night back in the day." I water-ported next to me, leaning up to listen,
Dean said" Okay, so... Mary has a grudge against Sara, and Scott has a grudge against Jeff. Besides the fact this is making my head hurt, how does this add up to a ghost?"
Garth said" Guys! Bobby has it right here. Green goo equals a spectre."
" Which equals ghost, right?"
" Mm, yeah, kind of. A spectre is an avenging ghost. It, uh- it possesses you and finds you whatever betrayals you're feeling and forces you to act on them."
Sam said" Bobby say anything in there about how we hunt these things?"
" Uh, the last spectre he encountered rose shortly after someone desecrated a nearby grave. Which... uh, there was a grave desecrated locally three days ago. It says here... oh. This could get awkward."
Dean said" What?"

We met at the graveyard, oh, shit, this is gonna get interesting,
Dean said" The unknown soldier? You're kidding me, right?"
Garth said" Mary Lew steamrolled her husband the day after this place was vandalized. Do the math."
Sam said" But I thought the unknown soldier was buried in Arlington."
" Yep, but this is the confederate tomb of the unknown soldier. See, the idea was, they took a faceless, nameless soldier they couldn't identify, and they buried him here to commemorate all the soldier who died."
Dean said" Did you learn that in college?"
" Nope- civil war re-enactments. Once a year, every year. Don't hate."
Sam said" Okay, uh, what about the guard?"
" Uh, he's ceremonial. Gone by dusk."
Dean said" So, then we do this tonight?"
" Yeah."
Sam said" Burn a confederate soldier's bones in a town full of rednecks? Sure." He walked away,
I said" This is gonna be... fun." I smirked then followed Sam, my eyes flashing, I blinked the power away and smiled.

We walked into the tomb,
Sam said" Place doesn't look disturbed to me. What's the police report say?"
Garth said" Uh, they think it was just some kids messing around. They, uh- they found some beer cans, some graffiti. Oh, and the casket was open when they got here, but they closed that back up."
Dean said" Yeah, but not before casper had a chance to make a run for it."
Sam said" So, what? If they never touched this, none of this would be happening?"
Garth said" Yeah, according to Bobby."
Dean said" All right, well, let's get this party started. Sammy, you want to give me a hand?" Sam got up and walked to Dean," And... go." They pushed the top off, and we looked at the bones.
" Whoa. Check out this hardware. Do you guys know how much this is worth?"
" Yeah, but why open it up if you're not gonna take anything?"
Sam said" I don't know. Maybe the cops showed up and they had to split fast."
Garth said" You sure this will work, even on a spectre?"
Dean said" It's a ghost, isn't it? You burn its bones, the ghost disappears." Garth and Sam poured gas and salt over the bones, Dean got ready to light it.
" All right, all right, all right. Uh, I kind of feel like we should say something, all right? Don't you? Just... a little..."
" Sure. We won..." He threw the packet of matches in.
——
A deputy killed the sheriff, so something must have been taken from the tomb. We split up again, Garth and Sam going to see if they can find more on the soldier, while I got stuck with Dean.
We pulled up the hospital, Dean got out, running in. After a few minutes, he came back out, I went siren as I saw goo. He grabbed my jaw, I hissed,
I said" Dean! Let go!" His grip tightened," Before I hurt you!" I hissed louder, then everything went black as I felt his fist connect with my face.

I woke up, water-porting to my brothers instantly, I saw Dean's gun pointed at Sam.
Garth said" That's not Dean, Sam."
Dean said" Shut up! Mistakes? Well, let's go through some of Sammy's greatest hits. Drinking demon blood, check. Being in cahoots with Ruby. Not telling me that you lost your soul. Or how about running around with Samuel for a whole year, letting me think that you were dead while you're doing all kinds of crazy. Those aren't mistakes, Sam. Those are choices!"
Sam said" All right. You said it. We've both played a little fast and loose."
" Yeah, I might have lied, but I never once betrayed you. I never once left you to die. And for what, a girl? You left me to die for a girl?!" Sam grabbed Dean, slammed him into the wall with a few punches landing, then Dean threw Sam. Garth got in front of Sam,
" Garth, don't!"
Garth said" No, he won't kill me. His beef isn't with me. You're not gonna shoot me, are you, Dean?"
Dean said" Move."
" Come on, Dean. You do not want to kill your brother. You- You've been protecting him your whole life. Don't stop now."
" He left me to rot in purgatory!" I hissed, shifting,
" All right. All right. Maybe he did. I don't know. I wasn't there. But I'm sure he had his reasons."
Sam said" Just like you had your reasons for Benny."
" Who?"
Dean said" Benny had been more of a brother to me this past year than you've ever been! That's right. Cas let me down. You let me down. The only person that hasn't let me down is Benny." I snapped my jaw, resist... resist..
" I know you're angry. But, man, you got to fight this thing. Do not do this! Just let it go. Come on, Dean."
" Goodbye, Sam." I screeched, pushing Garth out of the way, I got in front of Dean,
I compelled" Give me the anchor!" Dean dropped a penny into my hand, I felt it's power, my fangs bared, my eyes glowed. I started shaking, then I fell to the ground, convulsing, everything went black.

I woke up, screeching, Dean swerved, I stopped the screech before it could cause damage. I fell back, coughing, I made the car stop, I got out, and puked up water onto the road. I breathed heavily as my body hit the pavement, I heard them get out, then someone pulled me up.
Sam said" Keir? Keir!" I gave him a thumbs up," What's happening to you? Honest answer."
I groaned" I honestly don't... know." I coughed," I'll be fine." I stood up, pulling from their grips, I got back into the car, laying down. They got in, Dean started driving," Just.. need more..."
Everything faded away...