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“What’s wrong with her Ari?”
For a moment, she looked at Dean as though she didn’t see him as he leaned beside her leg. Sam moved Ann to a more comfortable position on the sofa and readjusted her sling.
“Um, she is diabetic, she didn’t get her insulin, I’m sure that’s it.”
Sam stood up ready for action, “Where is it?”
Ann started to come around; Dean helped her up while Ari went to get the medicine.
When she came back, she asked, “Can one of you do it?”
Dean looked at Sam who shook his head.
“I’ll do it,” Dean said as he listened to Ari’s instructions.
Once the medicine was administered Ann looked a better. She took a deep breathed and apologized for causing so much trouble.
“I’m sorry boys this just hasn’t been my day.”
Ari had gone into the kitchen to make sandwiches while Dean and Sam helped her mother. Afterward she went to awaken Amber from her nap. They all ate quietly a few minutes later. Dean watched Ari as she made sure Amber was eating.
“Thanks for helping out,” Ari said to the Winchesters.
“Not a problem,” Sam said.
“Says he who is afraid of needles,” Dean teased his brother.
Everyone laughed. The tension in the room was broken and things went back to being upbeat. While Amber’s promised Apple pie was served,though it had limited sugar, once again everyone enjoyed the dessert in silence.
“The sign of good food is when no one has anything to say,” Ann said before putting a combination bite of pie and ice cream in her mouth.
“This is really good,” Sam tried to say around his piece that filled his mouth.
Dean laughed; his brother was always a lover of sweets. He thought the pie was good but he spent most of his time looking in Ari’s direction as she tried not to be affected by his staring. Amber chattered with Sam as she sat next to him.
“Can they stay with us so we can watch a movie?” Amber asked her mother.
“Honey I am sure they have other things to do besides hang out with us,” Ari said as she looked at Dean with hopes that he was free for the evening.
“We should really get going we have to leave early in the morning,” Sam said.
Dean nodded but while Ann put the dishes in the washer and Sam waited in the living room Dean pulled Ari to her bedroom. He guided her to the bed where he pulled her into his lap.
“We are going to be gone for a couple of days max, but you put me on speed dial and call me if you need to talk. Or just want to talk, okay?” he said.
She nodded, “You mean about the nightmares?”
“Anything,” he smiled before he kissed her while he ran his hand under her t-shirt.
He was beginning to care for this woman too much; though he knew it he couldn’t stop himself. Being a pleasure seeker was a trap; he had known it for a while. He believed what he felt was different. His desires were not pure of heart, but for Dean the emotions she evoked in him were close. To serve and protect had been his motto, but now the protection he needed was from his own awakening feelings. He should have guarded his heart better, with Cassie, but now he was doing the same thing as he had then. Would he ever learn his lesson? He had fooled himself into believing all those one-night stands were more than enough, until now. She looked up at him as she bit her lip, then sighed.
“I will call, don’t worry,” she teased.
“Maybe I was just thinking phone sex,” he said with a grin.
She laughed, “I knew that’s what you meant.”
Keep it light, buddy, keep it light he said to himself.
The next evening after work, Ari approached her car only to see Rick, the blonde from the club, stood there. She didn’t worry immediately at the sight of him, now again they bumped into one another around town. It was a small village so it was natural to run into one another.
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
He smiled back but she could tell right away the smile did not reach his eyes. He met her on the path and they walked in silence for a few moments.
“What’s up?” she asked into the quiet that had immediately put up her radar.
Why is he here at my job? This is not our normal meeting place.
“Not much,” he said as she opened her door then got in before he could lean on her car.
She automatically locked the door put cracked the window a bit, he didn’t seem to notice as he smiled the same dead smile at her.
“Rick, I would love to talk but I am running late for class, I can’t be late again. I need this degree to start my career,” she explained a bit hesitantly as he seemed comfortable against her car.
“Sure, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go out this weekend,” he said as he finally stood up straight and looked in her eyes.
She smiled, but she had never wanted to date the guy before she met Dean, he was just an acquaintance at the bar, she had no desire now to take that any farther.
“I really don’t have the time for an actual date, Rick, I’m sorry. Everything is hectic with work, school and my kid. I do appreciate the offer,” she insisted as she put her car in reverse.
Rick had seen her out a dinner with Dean but he nodded at her comment.
“Well, let me know if you change your mind,” he said in a way he thought sounded amiable but Ari felt threatened though it was nothing she could put a finger on, as she tried not to panic.
He waved as she backed out, she took a deep breath. That went well.
She saw Rick’s car behind her when she left the parking lot but didn’t pay much attention since the streets were limited in the area. But after a few miles he was still behind her she became nervous. He wasn’t just a car length behind her he was almost on her bumper. What is going on? Think, think, what should I do? She swerved a bit as she dug in her purse for her cell phone. Once she found it she dialed 911.
“Nine, one, one operator, Sue. What is your emergency?”
“I think I am being followed.”
“Why is that?”
“I just turned down a date with this guy now he is all over my bumper. I am driving in my car toward the college. I can’t be late. This is so nerve racking…….. Sh*t.”
“What was that?” the operator asked.
“He just slammed into my bumper.”
“Okay Miss, we will send someone, which road are you on?”
“Old Mill, about two miles from Mercy College, headed East.”
“Hold on, but don’t hang up. Drive slower if you can,” she said before she put her on hold.
Rick had hit the car three times but then, not quite ramming hits but definitely jarring. She tried not to break, but to let him push here along, lessen the resistance. What an idiot? I should have known he wasn’t happy with my answer. Men.
The operator came back on the line, “Okay Mam, this is your lucky day. We have a squad in that area, so just keep going in the direction and he will pull the guy over. You stay in the CAR. Let them handle it when they stop him you stop and wait for them to approach you. Okay?”
“Yes, Thank you,” she sighed as she kept driving.
She phoned her instructor to let him know what was happening but she got his voicemail. All she could do was leave a message. She doubted she would make it to class by the time the formalities were done. She might even need to go down to the police station, she thought. What a way to ruin her day, she wished Dean was there. By the time she was ready to turn into the college she saw the police car pull Rick over behind her. She stopped and did as she had instructed.
That morning Sam and Dean had driven an hour away to do away with an angry spirit. The thing was haunting an old couple in their home where they had lived the last fifty years. Dean insisted maybe that is why they have new homes, but even then you don’t know who lived on the land before. It is just as likely to be a new house on what used to be a graveyard as not. The couple’s daughter was the one who they had spoken to about the problem. She was a believer in the supernatural, which had helped them on the case from the beginning. She had placed an ad in a local paper for help with her problem. Though she had tried a few things on her own; a séance, using herbs and a couple other things she refuse to reveal.
“Amateurs,” Dean had laughed when Sam told him.
Sam was glad that at least she had taken initiative but he had encouraged her to wait until they came to try the séance again. Sam had gotten the impression from her that she wanted to help them. Dean hated the idea, besides he hated séance’s with a passion. He insisted they were creepy which always made Sam laugh aloud. Their lives were creepy he told his brother.
The lady, Paris, met them at the door dressed like a gypsy. She wore beads and a long flowing dress. She was a petite Brunette with flashing green eyes. Sam thought she was cute. Dean was not as impressed. He thought the costume was a bit much for any occasion especially this one.
“Hi,” Sam said.
“You are Dean and Sam right?”
They nodded as she let them in the house. She had packed her parents up for the day and sent them on an overnight trip. She no longer lived in the house but it was her home as a child. Dean still didn’t like the idea, if she was sure it was her dead brother haunting the place he had let Sam know they should just go salt and burn the remains and be done. He really wanted to get back to Ari. Sam told him this was their job and they should be amiable to those who needed them. Maybe the sister could make peace with her brother and he would no longer be upset.
After a few tries at the séance with no results, Dean suggested they take a break. It was already late since Sam had wanted to hear the history of the house, then the reasons Paris thought that the spirit was her brother. That process had taken over three hours, Dean had decided Sam liked to talk to the girl entirely too much.
“Sam, you said this was a job, if I had known it was a date I would have sent you alone,” Dean said when he pulled his brother to the side while Paris prepared them lunch.
“Relax, she said her brother died in a fire, right?”
“Yeah, he probably blames her parents because they were never around. Maybe we should let him haunt them and move on,” Dean said grimly.
“Tell me you don’t really think its okay. Someone could get hurt, it’s not like you to want innocents to be harmed,” Sam said as he looked at his brother while he ran his finger through his already mussed up hair.
He figured Dean was worried about Ari and the hellhounds but they still needed to get the current job completed.
By the time Ari got home from the police station she was exhausted. They had arrested him and she pressed charges but she had gotten the call on the way back that someone had bailed him out. What a waste of my time. She had gotten a restraining order and because of the emergency operators information she was able to get it immediately. However, the fact that he was out of jail made her feel vulnerable. She checked the door locks and windows at least three times before she looked in on her daughter and mother before she went to bed.
Sam was convinced after spending all day with Paris that they should go and do what they knew to do. Dean groaned as the got in the car after salting and burning the bones. Sam was on the phone with Paris as the left the cemetery on the way to the motel for the night.
“Let’s us know if anything else happens,” he said before he hung up.
“I sure hope you keep that number handy after all of this,” Dean teased.
Sam made no comment but he grinned to himself. He thought Paris seemed like a nice lady, though naïve about what she believed in. Maybe he could teach her a few things and she could get them some business in the area. He knew Dean would like that though he wasn’t going to reveal his plan.
At the hotel after their showers, Dean finally called Ari again. He had tried earlier but only gotten her voice mail. This time she picked up on the first ring.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” she said softly as she snuggled under the covers.
“Just in time, I am finally in the bed.”
Dean looked a the clock, it was after one in the morning.
Before she could explain he heard the sound of glass breaking and a scream.
“Sh*t, Dean let me call you back.”
Dean sat still for only a second before he jumped from the bed. He gathered all his things as Sam watched curiously.
“What’s going on?”
“We have to go.”
He was out the door before Sam knew he had gone. What? He was tired and ready for bed. What was going on now?
Dean came back to the door a second later, “You coming or what?”
“Dean, wait.” Sam said as he threw his things in his duffle bag.
An hour and a half later, they arrived at Ari’s house to see several squad cars in the drive. The door was open and policeman where going in and out, about three of them, that Dean could see. What had happened? I knew something happened.
He could see Ari as she spoke with a police officer near the front door. The policeman near the door tried to stop he and Sam from going inside. Ari looked up and told them it was okay. Dean looked around once he was inside but could not see anything out of place and there was no blood. Sam wondered over to talk with Amber who seemed lost as she sat on the sofa, quietly. Dean found Ann in the kitchen at the table and he went to speak with her.
“What’s going on?”
She told him the entire story, including the part where Rick came back and threw a rock with a note in Ari’s window.
“What?” Dean asked.
She shook her head. When had their lives flipped upside down? She looked at Dean, sadly.
“She is fine, but I think she may need to have you around later.”
Dean nodded. He wasn’t going anywhere, except maybe to kill Rick at his earliest opportunity. He hated egotistical male types, the ones that abused woman and took advantage of those less fortunate. He should have known when he met the man he was bad news. But Ari had not seemed threatened that night when he met the blonde. Things change so rapidly in life.
Ari took Amber to bed when the policeman left while Sam and Dean waited in the living room. Sam sighed as he watched Dean. He had insisted to his brother in the car that something was wrong but Sam had believed Dean had over reacted. He had even suggested that Ari had only dropped something. But he had to admit the fact that she never called Dean back during their entire ride, which was suspicious. As the moments had gotten close to an hour and they had driven nearer to Ari’s home, Sam had begun to tense up himself.
“I’m sorry Dean, you were right.”
“I wish I had not have been.”
Dean stood up as Ari came in the living room.
“Do you want us to stay?”
She nodded, afraid to speak of all she felt. She put her hand up to indicate that she would be a moment. When she came back she had bedding for Sam to use on the sofa. She smiled at Sam.
“Thank you two for coming,” she said to the youngest Winchester.
Then she took Dean’s hand and he followed her upstairs.
TBC