Day 8:
Teeth
He tried to hide the sigh that escaped him when he closed the door to the basement. Beckett didn’t wait for him, choosing instead to go talk to Sam who was sitting alone in the living room. “I take it they didn’t need your help, then?”
Sam looked up from her cell phone. “Oh, no. They probably could have used my help but I got a text from my brother I needed to answer.”
He frowned at that as he came to a stop at Beckett’s side. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Sam assured him with a huff of annoyance, rolling her eyes. “Mark’s just being over protective as usual. You would think that after I had turned 18 he would have eased up but no. He and the other olders keep treating me like I’m ten even though I turned 24 last month. It’s almost insulting.”
“Older brothers can get that way,” Beckett agreed. “But I doubt anything Cole’s done has been to the same level as yours.”
The huff of a laugh Sam let out seemed sad. “Yeah.” She sighed, sagging into the couch. “I just...when Dad died 9 years ago, I could understand why his and Kyle’s behavior - heck, even Todd’s once he reached 18 - changed but now that Luke is 18 and out at college with Paul and Peter leaving John to be the only one of us still needing a legal guardian, you would think they would let up; that they would recognize that, hey, the majority of us are now functioning adults. You don’t have to check up on us 24/7 anymore.” Sam’s words stalled out but neither he nor Beckett moved to fill it. He wasn’t sure if he had any right to comment on the situation. He had an older sister but she had moved out before he was even out of diapers and hadn’t really stayed in touch. Last he had heard, she was married to Husband #3 with three kids from the first two husbands and a fourth on the way. He didn’t even know his nieces and/or nephews’ names, let alone their genders. Sam picked her phone back up and cast a sad look over the screen. “But as much as it irks me,” she set the phone aside, “I can’t help but feel relieved that he had texted me to call him.” She looked at them. “Kyle’s out there finally introducing his fiancé to the oldest of us. Mark’s been harassing him about it since Kyle started dating Lenix and now that things have settled for Kyle, they’ve finally made the trip out to see him.”
“You’re worried about them,” Beckett pipe in, voice amused but the words gentle.
Sam looked away with a huff, cheeks turning red. “So? Wouldn’t you?”
“They didn’t have any troubles flying out, then?” he piped in.
Sam sighed again but at least she uncrossed her arms. “Yeah. They landed sometime late last night. They’re hoping to fly out here to see me should the weather permit before they’re off back to New Zealand but with how much trouble they had just to make it to California, I doubt they’ll get the chance to fly here, especially not if this storm sticks around.” Her expression tightened. “Or brings friends.”
“You really could have gone home instead of coming with us.” He knew the words weren’t of much use now but he repeated the old argument anyways.
Sam sighed, repeating her original comeback. “No. It’s the anniversary of Mom’s death and the olders are going to be all mopey. Besides, I saw him and Lenix two months ago. I can let Mark have this visit. There’s talk of surprising Todd so I’m not sure who of the family is aware that Kyle was even coming to visit.” Her expression gained a touch of sadness again. “I hope they manage to give Luke and Paul a chance to see him before he flies back to New Zealand. They took him leaving the country hardest, I think.”
“They probably will,” Beckett spoke, confident in the optimistic viewpoint.
Sam gave them a soft smile but it was fleeting at best.
There was a thudding at the door that disrupted any further conversation. He started for the door without a thought, catching snippets of familiar voice beyond the solid door. The door opened with ease to reveal Orlean’s back and the water tank from the larger camper. Cole had the other end of the tank and while he wasn’t certain the tank wasn’t heavy, it certainly looked awkward enough to require two people.
“Where you headed?” he asked, stepping aside with the door till it touched the wall.
“Basement,” Cole stated as Orlean crossed the threshold. “We’ll store them down there until we either need them or return them to the campers. The tap down there should run clean.”
“I can go run it real quick,” Beckett offered.
Cole tugged on the tank, slowing Orlean to a stop. “If you wouldn’t mind, Kit.”
Beckett bounded ahead of them, opening the door to the basement wide before disappearing down the stairs. He stayed at the front door till Lora and Dean were through with the other tank. He closed and locked the front door before following the slow train of people into the basement. Sam followed the group, joining him down the stairs.
He stopped near the halfway point of the stairs as Cole and Orlean step away from the first tank. They had placed it against the wall that faced the bottom of the stairs, which made sense. The sink was on the left side of the washer and dryer while the icebox took up the remaining wall space on the right. His gaze flickered over the store room door without his consent.
It was open and for a moment, icy dread shot down his spine, but then Beckett slipped out with a stack of wood closing the door behind them. The relief was greatly welcomed. Beckett placed the four pieces of wood down mimicking what must be under the first tank.
“Stick it up against this one on the wood,” Cole directed, gesturing towards the four pieces of wood.
The sink was between the washer machine and the first tank gushing water out of the faucet. The second tank was shoved into place between the first tank and the wall. It was a tight fit but it didn’t sound like they had damaged the wall. Not that he could hear anything beyond the sound of water in the sink.
Cole looked the lot of them over. “Alright. I’ll get the tanks filled if you all want to meander upstairs. Lora, did you want to get lunch going?”
“Sure. Orlean, do you care to help me?”
Orlean offered her a mildly surprised look. “If you need the help.”
The pair started up the stairs. Artemis hugged the railing as Sam pressed against the wall a step below.
“Beckett, mind sticking around?” Cole inquired as Dean took the lead out of the basement.
Beckett took their foot off the bottom step. “Not at all. Do you have the hose?”
He let their conversation fall to mutterings behind him as he followed after Dean and Sam. The pair was chatting about Sam’s brothers - more of her ranting at Dean about how stupid her older brothers were with “their overprotective bullshit” - and having heard the significant points of that conversation already, he started for the loft where he had staked his claim to a sleeping spot.
He stopped on the bottom step, gaze going to Lora in the kitchen. “Did any of the camping bags get brought in? Any of our bags?”
Lora paused wrist deep in something that was coating her entire arm up to the elbow in flour. “I don’t think so.”
“I can go get them,” he offered, stepping back onto the floor.
“We can help,” Dean interjected, wandering over with Sam.
He gave them both a curious look. “Only if you want to.”
Dean shrugged. “Will make it go by faster. The wind sucks and the sleet’s uncomfortable. No need for you to be out there for long just because we didn’t want to.”
He chuckled at that. “Fair.” He looked back at Lora. “Campers’ unlocked?”
“Should be. If not, Cole’s got the keys. I believe everything but personal packs got stowed in the large camper.”
“I didn’t lock the smaller,” Orlean added.
Dean nodded. “Sweet. Sam and I will go get our things while you get started on the stuff in the big camper, like Beckett’s camera bag and your own.”
He smiled at that. “Sounds good.”
The wind smacked into them first. The front porch’s roof protected them from getting smacked by the sleet immediately outside the door. He tugged at the outerwear he still wore in an attempt to protect as much of himself from the bite of both elements before dashing out from under the protection of the overhang.
The sleet was unforgiving in its bite but the wind kept it from smacking into him in a way that went directly under every layer he had. He went straight for the door of the camper and gave it a solid yank. It swung open easily on the hinges but the wind pushed against it as if to close the door before he could get in. He pressed his shoulder into the door long enough to get past it and into the camper.
The lights were off but what sunlight was cutting through the storm filled the camper with a nice, slightly muted light from the sheer curtain in the dining space and bedroom and from the open driver’s space. He went straight to the bedroom and pulled Beckett’s camera case out from where they had stowed it, carefully tucking it into the top of their backpack where he knew it normally lived while traveling with more than the camera itself. His backpack was in the undercarriage storage with the other bags which was far easier to access outside than inside.
He had barely stepped into the center of the main space before he froze, one arm frozen awkwardly in the middle of pulling Beckett’s backpack on properly.
Something not human was meandering into the space from the driver’s space. It was vaguely humanoid shape in the aspect that it was bipedal, had four limbs, and something that resembled a head well enough to give him something to look at. The thing was tall, sinewy, but when it spotted him, its height shrank and what mass it had collected into a form with more shape definition, becoming almost bulbous when it stopped compacting itself.
The thing was shorter than he was by a good foot and a half but that didn’t stop him from scrambling backwards when the thing launched itself at him.
Something landed on his shoulders only to immediately kick off, launching itself into the thing coming at him. Unbalanced, he landed hard on his butt, the bulk of the backpack keeping him upright.
Noise filled the small space. Terrible noise.
There was no way of him being able to tell heads or tails of the undulating mass that was two things that looked more shadow or ink than a living creature. He couldn’t figure out how to tell the difference from body and limb, let alone which creature was which, but he saw enough to know that the creatures were capable of great damage with hands that were reshaped into claws and teeth that were startling white compared to the rest of their forms.
There was a shriek that cut through his brain and left behind a pounding headache.
One of the forms vanished. How or why and where to he had no idea. One thing could have very well eaten the other and he wouldn’t have been able to tell. The one that remained turned its head. There were no discernible eyes but the mouth was still open enough for the white teeth to mark a point of reference.
There was a loud thud against the camper door before it was yanked open. His eyes left the thing for a second only to return and find that it had vanished. Dean and Sam came barreling in out of breath and bewildered only to find him alone in the camper on the floor probably looking equally bewildered if not outright terrified.
What the hell had he just seen?
What the hell even were those things!?
Sam looked up from her cell phone. “Oh, no. They probably could have used my help but I got a text from my brother I needed to answer.”
He frowned at that as he came to a stop at Beckett’s side. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Sam assured him with a huff of annoyance, rolling her eyes. “Mark’s just being over protective as usual. You would think that after I had turned 18 he would have eased up but no. He and the other olders keep treating me like I’m ten even though I turned 24 last month. It’s almost insulting.”
“Older brothers can get that way,” Beckett agreed. “But I doubt anything Cole’s done has been to the same level as yours.”
The huff of a laugh Sam let out seemed sad. “Yeah.” She sighed, sagging into the couch. “I just...when Dad died 9 years ago, I could understand why his and Kyle’s behavior - heck, even Todd’s once he reached 18 - changed but now that Luke is 18 and out at college with Paul and Peter leaving John to be the only one of us still needing a legal guardian, you would think they would let up; that they would recognize that, hey, the majority of us are now functioning adults. You don’t have to check up on us 24/7 anymore.” Sam’s words stalled out but neither he nor Beckett moved to fill it. He wasn’t sure if he had any right to comment on the situation. He had an older sister but she had moved out before he was even out of diapers and hadn’t really stayed in touch. Last he had heard, she was married to Husband #3 with three kids from the first two husbands and a fourth on the way. He didn’t even know his nieces and/or nephews’ names, let alone their genders. Sam picked her phone back up and cast a sad look over the screen. “But as much as it irks me,” she set the phone aside, “I can’t help but feel relieved that he had texted me to call him.” She looked at them. “Kyle’s out there finally introducing his fiancé to the oldest of us. Mark’s been harassing him about it since Kyle started dating Lenix and now that things have settled for Kyle, they’ve finally made the trip out to see him.”
“You’re worried about them,” Beckett pipe in, voice amused but the words gentle.
Sam looked away with a huff, cheeks turning red. “So? Wouldn’t you?”
“They didn’t have any troubles flying out, then?” he piped in.
Sam sighed again but at least she uncrossed her arms. “Yeah. They landed sometime late last night. They’re hoping to fly out here to see me should the weather permit before they’re off back to New Zealand but with how much trouble they had just to make it to California, I doubt they’ll get the chance to fly here, especially not if this storm sticks around.” Her expression tightened. “Or brings friends.”
“You really could have gone home instead of coming with us.” He knew the words weren’t of much use now but he repeated the old argument anyways.
Sam sighed, repeating her original comeback. “No. It’s the anniversary of Mom’s death and the olders are going to be all mopey. Besides, I saw him and Lenix two months ago. I can let Mark have this visit. There’s talk of surprising Todd so I’m not sure who of the family is aware that Kyle was even coming to visit.” Her expression gained a touch of sadness again. “I hope they manage to give Luke and Paul a chance to see him before he flies back to New Zealand. They took him leaving the country hardest, I think.”
“They probably will,” Beckett spoke, confident in the optimistic viewpoint.
Sam gave them a soft smile but it was fleeting at best.
There was a thudding at the door that disrupted any further conversation. He started for the door without a thought, catching snippets of familiar voice beyond the solid door. The door opened with ease to reveal Orlean’s back and the water tank from the larger camper. Cole had the other end of the tank and while he wasn’t certain the tank wasn’t heavy, it certainly looked awkward enough to require two people.
“Where you headed?” he asked, stepping aside with the door till it touched the wall.
“Basement,” Cole stated as Orlean crossed the threshold. “We’ll store them down there until we either need them or return them to the campers. The tap down there should run clean.”
“I can go run it real quick,” Beckett offered.
Cole tugged on the tank, slowing Orlean to a stop. “If you wouldn’t mind, Kit.”
Beckett bounded ahead of them, opening the door to the basement wide before disappearing down the stairs. He stayed at the front door till Lora and Dean were through with the other tank. He closed and locked the front door before following the slow train of people into the basement. Sam followed the group, joining him down the stairs.
He stopped near the halfway point of the stairs as Cole and Orlean step away from the first tank. They had placed it against the wall that faced the bottom of the stairs, which made sense. The sink was on the left side of the washer and dryer while the icebox took up the remaining wall space on the right. His gaze flickered over the store room door without his consent.
It was open and for a moment, icy dread shot down his spine, but then Beckett slipped out with a stack of wood closing the door behind them. The relief was greatly welcomed. Beckett placed the four pieces of wood down mimicking what must be under the first tank.
“Stick it up against this one on the wood,” Cole directed, gesturing towards the four pieces of wood.
The sink was between the washer machine and the first tank gushing water out of the faucet. The second tank was shoved into place between the first tank and the wall. It was a tight fit but it didn’t sound like they had damaged the wall. Not that he could hear anything beyond the sound of water in the sink.
Cole looked the lot of them over. “Alright. I’ll get the tanks filled if you all want to meander upstairs. Lora, did you want to get lunch going?”
“Sure. Orlean, do you care to help me?”
Orlean offered her a mildly surprised look. “If you need the help.”
The pair started up the stairs. Artemis hugged the railing as Sam pressed against the wall a step below.
“Beckett, mind sticking around?” Cole inquired as Dean took the lead out of the basement.
Beckett took their foot off the bottom step. “Not at all. Do you have the hose?”
He let their conversation fall to mutterings behind him as he followed after Dean and Sam. The pair was chatting about Sam’s brothers - more of her ranting at Dean about how stupid her older brothers were with “their overprotective bullshit” - and having heard the significant points of that conversation already, he started for the loft where he had staked his claim to a sleeping spot.
He stopped on the bottom step, gaze going to Lora in the kitchen. “Did any of the camping bags get brought in? Any of our bags?”
Lora paused wrist deep in something that was coating her entire arm up to the elbow in flour. “I don’t think so.”
“I can go get them,” he offered, stepping back onto the floor.
“We can help,” Dean interjected, wandering over with Sam.
He gave them both a curious look. “Only if you want to.”
Dean shrugged. “Will make it go by faster. The wind sucks and the sleet’s uncomfortable. No need for you to be out there for long just because we didn’t want to.”
He chuckled at that. “Fair.” He looked back at Lora. “Campers’ unlocked?”
“Should be. If not, Cole’s got the keys. I believe everything but personal packs got stowed in the large camper.”
“I didn’t lock the smaller,” Orlean added.
Dean nodded. “Sweet. Sam and I will go get our things while you get started on the stuff in the big camper, like Beckett’s camera bag and your own.”
He smiled at that. “Sounds good.”
The wind smacked into them first. The front porch’s roof protected them from getting smacked by the sleet immediately outside the door. He tugged at the outerwear he still wore in an attempt to protect as much of himself from the bite of both elements before dashing out from under the protection of the overhang.
The sleet was unforgiving in its bite but the wind kept it from smacking into him in a way that went directly under every layer he had. He went straight for the door of the camper and gave it a solid yank. It swung open easily on the hinges but the wind pushed against it as if to close the door before he could get in. He pressed his shoulder into the door long enough to get past it and into the camper.
The lights were off but what sunlight was cutting through the storm filled the camper with a nice, slightly muted light from the sheer curtain in the dining space and bedroom and from the open driver’s space. He went straight to the bedroom and pulled Beckett’s camera case out from where they had stowed it, carefully tucking it into the top of their backpack where he knew it normally lived while traveling with more than the camera itself. His backpack was in the undercarriage storage with the other bags which was far easier to access outside than inside.
He had barely stepped into the center of the main space before he froze, one arm frozen awkwardly in the middle of pulling Beckett’s backpack on properly.
Something not human was meandering into the space from the driver’s space. It was vaguely humanoid shape in the aspect that it was bipedal, had four limbs, and something that resembled a head well enough to give him something to look at. The thing was tall, sinewy, but when it spotted him, its height shrank and what mass it had collected into a form with more shape definition, becoming almost bulbous when it stopped compacting itself.
The thing was shorter than he was by a good foot and a half but that didn’t stop him from scrambling backwards when the thing launched itself at him.
Something landed on his shoulders only to immediately kick off, launching itself into the thing coming at him. Unbalanced, he landed hard on his butt, the bulk of the backpack keeping him upright.
Noise filled the small space. Terrible noise.
There was no way of him being able to tell heads or tails of the undulating mass that was two things that looked more shadow or ink than a living creature. He couldn’t figure out how to tell the difference from body and limb, let alone which creature was which, but he saw enough to know that the creatures were capable of great damage with hands that were reshaped into claws and teeth that were startling white compared to the rest of their forms.
There was a shriek that cut through his brain and left behind a pounding headache.
One of the forms vanished. How or why and where to he had no idea. One thing could have very well eaten the other and he wouldn’t have been able to tell. The one that remained turned its head. There were no discernible eyes but the mouth was still open enough for the white teeth to mark a point of reference.
There was a loud thud against the camper door before it was yanked open. His eyes left the thing for a second only to return and find that it had vanished. Dean and Sam came barreling in out of breath and bewildered only to find him alone in the camper on the floor probably looking equally bewildered if not outright terrified.
What the hell had he just seen?
What the hell even were those things!?