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FIC: Carnival of Souls (2/10)
Title: Carnival of Souls (Part Two)
Rating: Adults Only (rating is for violence)
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: None (Dean, Sam, John - no 'cest, just the wonderful fucked-up family we all love)
Warnings: The story might get gory in the later chapters.
Summary: Pre-Series fic. Sam left his family to get away from the world of demons and ghosts. But when that world follows him to Stanford, Sam does the one thing he swore he'd never do: he calls his father.
Disclaimer: You don't seriously think I own Supernatural, do ya?
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
Part Two
Stanford University, November 2003 (One year, nine months later)
Wednesday Afternoon
Sam shut off his cell phone and threw it onto the bed. It landed on the open newspaper with a thud. Sam stared down at the phone and it seemed to look up at him mockingly. He had actually gotten as far as dialling the number this time. At this rate, he might even find the guts to make the call before someone else died.
If you walk out that door, Sammy, don't come back. You walk out on your family now, you're not family any more.
Why would I want to come back? You're fucking crazy, do you know that? I'm gone and you can go to hell for all I care!
The newspaper lay open on the bed. Sam's eyes were drawn once more to the grainy photograph above the article he had circled. The photograph showed a four year old boy, grinning cheekily at the camera. He was wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt.
You're a freaking coward, Sam Winchester, Sam's conscience taunted him. Make the call. What's the worst that could happen?
What's the worst that could happen? Sam might get through. He might have to hear his father's voice again.
Sam re-read the short article, though he already knew it by heart. What was the worst that could happen if he didn't make the call? Sam picked up his cell again and dialled the number. This time, he didn't hang up.
"The number you are calling is out of service. The number you are calling..."
"Damn it!" Sam punched the button to end the pointless call. It had been two years. Of course his dad would have changed his number. Now what was Sam going to do? It seemed a shame to waste all the time he'd spent angsting over this call, so he tried a different number, fully expecting to get the same recorded voice.
Instead he heard, "Hello?"
Sam took a deep breath. "Dean? It's me."
"Sammy?!" Dean's voice betrayed shock, perhaps even fear. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Sam thought he could hear the TV in the background. "I'm okay. But I...I kinda need to talk to Dad. Is he there?"
Dean was silent for a moment before he answered, "No, he's working a job."
Sam was startled. "Without you?" he blurted. Had things changed so much?
"It didn't need us both," Dean said. He sounded irritated.
Oh. That meant Dean had made some mistake and Dad was mad at him. Sam reached for his courage and asked, "Can you give me his number?"
"What's going on, Sammy? Why are you so desperate to talk to Dad? You told us both to go to hell the last time you two talked."
Sam sighed. "I know. But...there's something here, Dean. Something I think Dad will want to look into."
"Something like supernatural something?" Dean's voice was worried now. "Are you in danger, Sammy?"
"No, I'm too old."
"What does that mean?"
"There's a travelling carnival in town and I think there's something... It's taking kids, Dean. I've done some checking and this has happened in other places, too."
"Kids?"
"A boy, four years old. Two girls, four and five."
"Have they found bodies?"
Sam couldn't help looking at the newspaper article again. "Not whole ones," he answered flatly.
"Shit, Sammy. How have we not heard about this?"
Sam swallowed. "The newspapers are reporting it like it's a human, a paedophile serial killer. But they don't have all of the details. I...er...I hacked into the police files."
There was a silence. Sam heard gunfire on the TV, then Dean said, "Okay. I'll call Dad. We'll get there as soon as possible. Can you email me the information?"
The relief was overwhelming; Sam didn't realise how worried he'd been until that moment. "I can email some of it. What address are you using now?" He wrote down the email address Dean gave him. "Dean...thanks."
Sam ended the call and set the phone down. His heart felt so much lighter. It was good to hear Dean's voice again and knowing he would soon see his brother made him happier than he expected to feel. Sam looked down at the newspaper article again. Come soon, Dean. Come soon.
John Winchester was on the road when his cell phone rang. He dug the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the display before answering. "Dean, what's up, dude?"
"Dad, I just had a call from Sammy."
"Is he alright?" John asked sharply. He started to look for a place to pull over.
"He's fine, but there's trouble in Palo Alto. Our kind of trouble."
Fear laid icy fingers around John's heart. He steered the truck to the side of the road and parked. "Tell me."
"Three children are dead, all under five, all torn apart. Sammy linked it to a travelling carnival. He said it's happened in other places."
"Did he say what it is?"
"I don't think he knows yet. I told him we'd come, check it out."
John swore under his breath. "Dean, I can't. I'm in the middle of a hunt."
"I know. I thought I'd drive out there, see what's going on."
John shook his head, even though he knew Dean couldn't see him. "No," he said firmly.
"Dad!" Dean protested.
"I said, no, son."
"I can handle it," Dean insisted. "Dad, this isn't some random stranger. It's Sammy. He would never have called unless it's serious."
Damn it! If John told Dean to stay home, he'd go out there anyway. Dean was a good hunter, he'd find whatever it was. And then...? But John couldn't abandon his hunt. People were dying here, too. He had to find this poltergeist and banish the damned thing.
"Alright," John agreed reluctantly. "Go to Palo Alto and find out what we're dealing with. I'll be there as soon as I can. But, Dean...do not hunt this thing until I get there. That's an order. Understand me?"
"Yes, sir."
John heard the reluctance in Dean's voice but he trusted Dean to obey. "Call me when you know something."
"Yes, sir," Dean said again and ended the call.
John stared at the cell phone in his hand. Sammy called. Sammy actually called. That meant something. It meant John had hope for his youngest son, for the first time in two years.
Sammy called.
Thursday Evening
Sam had a bag full of books slung over his shoulder, and a heavy file full of his notes under one arm. Beneath the scruffy jacket, he was wearing a knife strapped to his wrist. He'd worn it since he first visited the carnival. Just a precaution. Part of him hated that his father's training was so deeply ingrained in him. He bought three tubs of salt that morning.
Walking the familiar paths back to his room after spending most of the evening in the library, Sam thought about what he had done the day before. He called his family. He was going to see Dean again. He was going to see his father. Seeing John Winchester was the last thing he wanted, because he knew they would fight again. His dad would find and kill whatever was preying on the carnival and then he would use it against Sam: tell him it's proof that Sam belonged with his family. Sam wouldn't go. He was top of his class and had a shot at a real future. He was not going to allow his father's obsessions to steal that from him.
Sam turned the corner and saw the Impala parked outside his building. The sight stopped Sam in his tracks, his stomach doing flip-flops. Then he saw the girl standing beside the car. She was smiling, listening to something the driver was saying. Sam smiled to himself. Dean. Still flirting with anything in a skirt.
He walked toward the car apprehensively. Was his dad with Dean? Sam could see only one person in the Impala and Dean's profile was instantly recognisable. Dad could be nearby, but he wasn't in the car. Sam felt better. He tried for a casual smile as he got close to the Impala. Then Sam realised the girl Dean was flirting with was someone he knew and his smile became genuine.
"Hi, Rache," Sam called. "Didn't your mom teach you not to talk to strange men?"
She stepped back from the car and grinned at him. "Hi, Sam. I was waiting for you. You don't by any chance have the notes from yesterday's seminar...?"
"Yeah, no problem. D'you want to come up now?"
Rachael glanced at her watch. "I'm in a hurry but...see you tomorrow? Library?"
Sam nodded. "Nine o'clock," he confirmed, making a mental note to copy the notes she wanted.
Rachael looked down at the car, smiling at Dean. "Maybe I'll see you around."
"Count on it," Dean said, turning angry eyes to Sam as Rachel walked away. "Dude, I was working!"
Sam shifted the weight of the file he carried. "You were trying to get laid," he corrected. "I hate to tell you, Dean, but her girlfriend would kick your ass all the way back to Kansas."
Dean's eyes went wide. "No way is she a dyke."
Sam shrugged. "I didn't say she was. But her girlfriend is."
Dean laughed, opening the door of the Impala. "God, I love college life!" He slammed the car door closed. "It's good to see you again, Sammy."
"You too," Sam said, and he meant it. Dean looked good. Great, even. Sam would have hugged him, but his bag and file would get in the way. Instead, he gestured toward his building. "Come on up. Where's Dad?"
"Hunting a poltergeist in Louisiana. He said he'll get here as soon as he can."
"Oh. Okay." Sam felt relieved he wouldn't have to see his dad tonight, but drowning his relief came the old, all-too-familiar fear that this could be the hunt John didn't come back from. Damn...he'd thought he was past all that!
Sam led Dean up to his room, unlocked the door and let Dean enter first. He followed his brother into the room, waiting for the inevitable commentary.
Sam shared the room with another student, Mark, and the room was almost all they had in common. Mark was on a football scholarship and liked sports, girls and bars, not necessarily in that order. Unfortunately, the room clearly demonstrated the very different personalities of its occupants. Mark's half of the room was untidy, with CDs stacked haphazardly beside a large stereo, clothing piled on the desk, chair and TV set, bookshelves full of...well, everything but books, and a large Fight Club poster dominating the wall. By contrast, Sam's half of the room was not so much neat as austere: he couldn't afford things like stereos and televisions. His bookshelf was full of class notes and library books. His one luxury – a laptop computer – sat on the desk. Sam had made some attempt to brighten the place up, but as Dean looked around Sam was conscious that it was very Spartan.
Dean sat down on Sam's bed. "Nice place, Sammy. When do you move in?"
"Oh, that's hilarious."
"Seriously, dude, could this place have less personality? You've got to let me buy you a Zeppelin poster or something." He tugged at the sleeve of his jacket, pulling it down over his hand.
Sam shook his head. "Then it would have your personality," he objected. He stared at Dean's hand. He probably wouldn't have noticed if Dean hadn't tried to cover it up. Something white was peeking out from beneath the leather cuff. Sam wasn't sure at first what he was seeing. Then he knew, and when he looked up to meet Dean's eyes he was grinning. "Dude, what happened to your hand?"
Dean looked annoyed. "It's nothing," he muttered.
"Nothing?"
Dean shot him a you're-gonna-die look and stripped off the coat, revealing the dirty white cast on his left arm. He dumped the coat on the floor beside the bed. "Give me a break, Sammy. It's fine. The cast comes off in a week."
Dean's broken arm (or wrist? Hand? Sam wasn't sure) explained why their dad was working a job without Dean. Dean must have gotten hurt hunting, so Dad made him stay at home until it healed. It made sense: you needed two good arms to hunt.
Sam set down his bag and pulled the chair out from under his desk. He opened the desk drawer and pulled out the file he'd prepared. "How'd you break it?" he asked.
"Doesn't matter," Dean said testily.
Uh-huh. "Did you get whatever did it?" Sam pressed. Dean was embarrassed about the injury; Sam understood that. Dad had probably given him hell for it.
Dean's eyes narrowed. "Not exactly," he evaded.
"What does that mean?"
Dean sighed. "You're not gonna let this go, are you? Fuck. Look, no one 'got' what broke my arm because no thing did it. I fell, okay?"
"You fell?"
"Geez, Sammy, yes. I fell. I was hung over and the freaking Alka Seltzer was on the top shelf and I couldn't reach it so I stood on a chair and I fell. Happy now?"
Sam laughed; he couldn't help it. Oh, yeah, Dad must have given Dean six kinds of hell for that.
Dean lifted his legs onto the bed and lay back, his hands behind his head. "So, this thing in the carnival. You know what it is?"
Sam's laughter faded. Down to business. He opened the file. "It's not a spirit. I've been over the whole of the site with an EMF. Nothing. I've tried to narrow it down, but..."
"You're out of practice, Sammy."
Sam nodded, accepting the criticism. "Yeah, I am." Mostly, though, Sam had been hoping he could stay the hell out of it. He'd called in the experts; what more did he need to do? He wasn't a hunter. Not any more. But looking at Dean's face, he knew that Dean expected him to join in the hunt and their dad would expect no less. Shit.
Sam opened the folder and started to explain to Dean everything he had found.
Also posted at AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/2899
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I have a thing for pre-series stories - I love the idea of catching a glimpse of what was the life of the three men before we got to meet in canon - and I'm enjoying your take at their relationship so far...
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LOL! That's usually best! Though in all seriousness, part one is in the nature of a prologue; you can read this part without it.
I love the idea of catching a glimpse of what was the life of the three men before we got to meet in canon -
Yes, me too. I'm not a huge fan of Wee!chester fic - I'm not a fan of kidfic, period - but the Stanford period fascinates me. Did Sam give up hunting as completely as he's implied in canon? What was it really like for John and Dean without Sam? Especially given the way that John is missing but so very present during season one...I wonder if that's how it was for Dean with Sammy away.
and I'm enjoying your take at their relationship so far...
Thanks. No 'cest in this one...but you're more than welcome to add it into the subtext!
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Oh, I'm a good little reader, if the writer tells me it's gen, that's how I'll read it *g* I don't have anything against gen; actually, I even wrote one myself! In SPN too :-) And like you it was a pre-series.
What was it really like for John and Dean without Sam
Yes, that's something that kind of fascinates me; what was it like, the hunt just the two of them? What about their relationship, their dynamics.
Though I'm glad you had Sam call them for help because it's making things interesting too *g*
Do you have the rest already written down?
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Well...this one is gen because it takes some of the pressure off me. I seem to hit writer's block when I get to the sex parts, just lately. But to me the subtext is there, regardless.
I even wrote one myself! In SPN too :-) And like you it was a pre-series.
You did? How'd I miss that?
Do you have the rest already written down?
Oh, gods, I wish? I don't even have a full outline yet; that's why I'm not announcing the fic anywhere. I don't like to do that until I'm certain there'll be a finish. I know what they're hunting, and I know a couple of things that must happen during the story. I've got part 3 in the editing stage. But the rest...no. Just bits and pieces so far.
But don't worry :-) I'm thrilled to have my John!muse back; I'm not gonna let him go too easily!
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I hear you re the writer's block when it comes to the sex parts but slash doesn't equal smut, so just because there's no fucking doesn't mean there can be no slash. I mean, I know you talk about subtext but it can be more than just subtext even without the whole smut factor. Still, you're right, not putting any kind of pressure on you is good when you're writing *nods*
You did? How'd I miss that?
We weren't on each other's flist, by then. It's here (http://castalie.livejournal.com/394618.html#cutid1) if you're curious. It's funny because if I were to write the same fic now - with two seasons and more of John knowledge under my belt - I guess I'd write it a bit differently but I'm still really happy with it. Also, it's my only gen story so it holds a special place in my heart *g*
I've got part 3 in the editing stage. But the rest...no. Just bits and pieces so far.
Good luck with the rest, then :-)
I'm thrilled to have my John!muse back; I'm not gonna let him go too easily!
Woohoo!
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Slash doesn't have to include sex. That's true.
The thing is, I'm very much a plot-driven writer. If I write with the premise that two characters are lovers, then it's likely at some stage in a story I'll reach a point where it would be natural for them to have sex. And, yeah, I could do the fade-to-black thing, but often, when I reach that point, I find the nature of the sex is important, so I must include that scene. (Like in Protector when I finally got Jim and Blair into the same bed - it would have ruined the story completely if I hadn't shown how they had sex.)
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Too bad that Sam can't seem to escape a hunter's life after all :) Can't wait to see where you're taking this.
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Love the drive of this and the fact that to both John and Dean it's Sammy, period.
Yes. No matter how much anger there is between them - and I think there's a lot, on all sides - neither Dean nor John is going to let Sam face danger alone. (And I don't think it would occur to either of them that he might not face it if they won't help.)
I especially loved the last part, the interaction of the boys after two years. It worked very well for me.
Cool. Thanks!
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neither Dean nor John is going to let Sam face danger alone.
Good. And this means John will join them for the most part of this case then I hope. The family stories got scarce after the season premiere so it's something I'm looking forward to.
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Um. Yes and no. John is definitely going to be in future chapters. I haven't quite decided whether he'll be in on the main part of the hunt. But yes, he's going to be around.
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And the case looks like it's going to be nice and creepy; haunted carnivals is one of my favorite horror tropes
Mine, too. This story has been in my head since...well before I read the spoilers for the clown ep. Then I had to wait to be sure my idea wasn't too close to what they were going to do with that one.
I think the whole carnival thing is perfect for horror/supernatural stories - the way things are never what they seem is so inherent to the carnie. Hope you enjoy the rest!
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(and glad that it's gen - it means I can read it).
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