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Sitting in the sedan of a friend who has gone to pay for gas, a young woman with red hair and blond roots sits sketching in a notebook in the passenger seat. She’s not paying much attention to the world outside the car, until there’s a loud slam of someone else’s door. She looks up to see the figures of two men heading into the convenience store, and one beautiful specimen of classic car.
All shiny black with chrome wheels and rust-free trim, it triggers a memory she can’t quite place, but it intrigues her enough to actually crack open her door and step out for a look. With a look around, she approaches the car, trying to figure out why it seems so important. It has an Ohio license plate, and seems well taken care of. Even the interior is in great shape. While she’s wondering if there’s a car show in town, a throat clears from behind.
“Ahem.”
Turning around, she’s faced with a man who is more than a foot taller than her, with longish hair and a chiseled face. She takes in his canvas jacket and plaid button-up, and something clicks. “Hey, sorry. Just looking. Can I ask though, is this a ‘67 Impala?”
The really tall guy scrunches up his brows before answering, “Yeah. Why do you ask?”
Thankfully, her friend is coming back from the gas station, and making a beeline for them. “At first, I was wondering if you guys were headed to a car show in a classic like that, but I didn’t know there were any conventions in town this week.”
The tall guy looks even more confused as her friend comes alongside. She pulls her into the conversation. “Hey, Bri, check out this one hell of a replica.”
Bri, black hair pinned back in a clip, scrutinizes the car while sipping from an extra large cappuccino from the store. “Yeah, Mel, from those books about the brothers? Hmm…” She turns her eyes to the tall man. “And role playing, too.”
Before the man can answer, someone barks from the entrance of the convenience store: “SAM! Hurry and fill ‘er up! We ain’t got all day!”
Both girls giggle as “Sam” turns away with a look of doneness to go fill up the car. They head back to Bri’s own car before the bowlegged guy can approach them. As soon as they’re pulled back onto the road, they explode into cackles. “Oh my GOD, Mel! Did you SEE them?”
Selecting a picture from her camera toll, Mel flashes her phone screen at her friend. “I got a PICTURE!”
They dissolve into chatter about the possibility of some sort of convention or car show nearby, until they arrive at their destination, a modest two-story house in a cookie-cutter subdivision. While they unload bags out of the back of the car, Mel says, “Thanks again for letting me tag along this weekend. Are you sure you won’t want to spend more time with your dad?”
Bri shrugs and closes the car trunk, flipping her keys to find one for the house entrance. “Nah, he couldn’t help having training with the Marines this weekend, so we’ll be mostly alone. He doesn’t mind at all, as long as we don’t throw parties or anything.”
Once in the door, they toss their things on a sofa in the living room. “What, does he think you’re still in college?” Mel asks.
Bri rolls her eyes. “You know how it is, always ‘daddy’s little girl’.”
Mel pulls her laptop bag from the couch. “Let’s get plugged in and see if we can find a con or car show.”
Several hours later, the sky is dark and the girls are both embroiled in a conversation being had on Discord.
There’s a server they belong to called “Supernatural Book Club” and it covers pretty much everything to do with the books. Mel and Bri are currently in a mostly disused channel for cons and roleplay, where they’ve shared the picture Mel took with her phone. Somewhere during the conversation, a link to a tumblr post from three years ago showed the same men at a school play based on the Supernatural books. A couple of the server members are actually from that school but not logged in, so the channel has filled with theories and speculation.
Mel leans back and stretches. “God, I’m starving. You wanna get something to eat? I haven’t eaten since this morning.”
Bri sloshes the remains of the coffee at the bottom of her cup. “Yeah, I should eat before the caffeine starts to wear off.”
They end up at a family style restaurant called The Crossroads, and the irony is not lost on them. But there’s wi-fi, free drink refills, and a table near the back corner. After ordering a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and avocado, with a side salad and Dogfish Head IPA, Mel digs into the chat on Discord while Bri orders. One of the girls from the school that did the play is on, and she’s shared more pictures of the guys that showed up. And yeah, that’s pretty much the same “Sam” she saw at the gas station earlier today. She didn’t get a really good look at the other guy, so she’s not quite sure if that’s the same “Dean,” but since they’re together, it must be, right?
While they work on their salads, Mel tries to work out why the guys are here. All their digging has found zero car shows or conventions happening nearby. What if they’re really into it, and pretend to go hunt ghosts on weekends? She shares this with the Discord channel, even though Bri disagrees. There’s one person who is trying to say it could be the real Sam and Dean, but that would be ridiculous, because they’re just fictional characters.
But then someone links to some super old YouTube videos, of some guys who called themselves the GhostFacers. In these videos, the “Winchesters” are mentioned repeatedly. People are already saying that has nothing to do with the books, because Carver Edlund never gave them last names. The debate is scrolling past almost too fast to keep up with on her phone, but thankfully their food arrives, so Mel puts down her phone. After finishing, Mel decides she wants some of the apple pie she saw in the cooler on the way in, and orders some.
While she takes the last bite of pie, Mel recognizes two guys being led to a booth. It’s the ones with the classic car. Almost choking, she starts slapping Bri on the arm and gestures with her head in their direction. Bri’s eyes get big, and she whips her phone out immediately. While Bri tries to sneak some photos from her chair, Mel sinks lower into hers.
“Do you still have that knit hat in your bag?”
Bri gives her a look. “Yeah, why?”
“Because one of them TALKED to me, and I’m not WALKING PAST THEM when they might recognize me!”
Bri rolls her eyes but hands over a slightly linty knit cap that Mel proceeds to tuck her hair under. While Bri goes to pay the bill, Mel winds her way around the opposite end of the restaurant from the two men, in the hopes she isn’t spotted. Once outside, she finds the shiny black Impala parked in the bank next door’s parking lot. With a quick look to make the men can’t see, she slinks over and gets a better look inside. In the back floorboard is a box of what looks like cassette tapes, and some file folders are on the back seat. Before she can look any more, Bri calls her over, and they pile into her car.
Full from dinner, Mel reclines her seat a little and gets ready to scroll through the still-busy Discord chat on the way back to Bri’s dad’s house. But before she can really get into it, Bri is talking about what she overheard while she was waiting to pay her bill.
“So you know how you suggested they might be pretending to hunt?”
“Yeah?”
“One of them was talking about unusual accidents in the area.”
“Uh-huh?” Mel is only half paying attention as she scrolls through chat.
“Well, it was noisy, so I didn’t hear all of it, but the other one said something about ‘not again’.”
Mel lowers her phone. “Not again, huh? Like maybe it’s happened before, and there might be a hint in the books?”
Bri nods enthusiastically, eyes still on the road. “You up for a little digging once we get back to the house?”
Back at Bri’s dad’s, they start looking into local news reports. There’s a lot more than they were expecting. There are a high number of injury accidents, mostly involving men, over the past month. One got trapped under his car, another fell off a ladder, a mild electrocution while trying to repair wiring. Mel skims the ones involving too much blood or dismemberment.
While Mel’s taking a break from news reports, Bri says, “Oh, wow.”
“What is it?”
“Listen to this.” Bri reads out loud about a woman who tried to kill her own kid. She has been arrested and is under psychiatric evaluation.
“Jeez, is that here?”
Bri looks up from her screen. “I know that neighborhood, it’s not that far away. I think Dad works with these people.”
Mel has often heard or read about a chill going up someone’s spine, but this is the first time she’s really experienced it. They both agree to not mention this to the Discord group.
The next day, they’re still thinking about the local news when Mel gets a message in Discord.
-Been thinking about your guys, and looked at your local news. Do you think those Supernatural might be looking into it?
Included is a link to an article about the woman who tried to kill her child.
Freaked out that someone else had made the connection, they decide to maybe just drive around the neighborhoods where all the stuff has been happening. Bri mentions that her dad was supposed to have the weekend off, but has to cover for someone who got hurt or sick; she wasn’t paying attention at first, but now she wonders if it’s all tied together.
Mel knows she’s heard of something similar from the books, and had asked about it on Discord last night. Someone responded with the title of the book, “The Kids Are Alright,” which was about creepy kids who turned out to be changelings. Skimming her digital copy, Mel finds some very creepy similarities to what's happening in this town. She asks Bri if they should say something on the Discord server, and once again decide to keep quiet for now.
They do decide to scope out the neighborhood where all his is happening, and find it strangely quiet for the weekend, especially since it’s obvious that many of the households have children. some of the kids are sitting quietly in their yards, just watching.
Bri is pulling into a driveway to turn around at the end of one street when Mel spots the black Impala a street over. “Shit, there it is! They’re here!”
They stop and watch in the side mirrors as the two men, now dressed in suits, discuss something while getting in the car and drive off.
The girls sit and discuss the implications of all this, until one of them notices groups of children on either side of the car, staring at them. They roll down a window and ask nervously, “Hey kids, what’s up?”
One of the boys asks, “Do you know my mommy?”
Mel says, “Sorry, we have the wrong house. Bye now!”
She rolls up the window and tells Bri to just go. They both refuse to look in the rearview mirrors, afraid of what they might see there, until they're well out of the neighborhood. Back at Bri’s dad’s house, they finally allow themselves to freak out.
“It’s real!”
“Holy shit, what are we going to do?”
“Does this mean there’s a creepy changeling ‘mom’ out there somewhere, and cages full of real kids?”
“My dad knows some of those people!”
“Wait,” Mel interrupts, “I know how we can help without anyone knowing the truth!”
She gets online, and switches over to the fanfic channel. “Anyone who’s been keeping up with the cosplay channel knows we met a couple guys who look a LOT like Sam and Dean from the books, and I got an idea for a story. We’re going to help them fight changelings! What do you guys think?”
Waiting on someone to respond, Mel looks up at Bri. “Do you have any better ideas?”
Brainstorming, they look through the Supernatural books, while the forums have lit up with some completely out there ideas. Where are they going to get flamethrowers? Besides, crazy ideas aside, how will they even begin to look for the mother’s nest? Last time was a realtor, but there aren’t that many houses on the market here.
Bri wants to call her dad, but that would draw too much attention. Mel asks if he’s dating anyone.
“Why?”
“Because he’s not in danger unless he’s dating the mom of one of the kids.”
Bri doesn’t think he's dating anyone right now, which causes them to both sigh in relief.
Armed with what they know from the books, and a few not so crazy ideas from the forums, they work on a plan of action. They search the neighborhood full of creepy kids online, and try to find out as much as they can through social media. Even military families post on Facebook. A lucky break comes when they find a lot of the kids in the area go to place called “Smiling Rascals Family Daycare”.
Nervous but determined, they find the facility is actually open today, probably because of the weekend training. Stopping by, Bre uses her dad as an excuse to go ask about a “cousin” maybe moving to town, and since she was up visiting, she’s getting some information for the family. After picking up some brochures, a business card from the friendly lady who greeted them, and a short tour of the place, they start to head out. On the way, Mel makes out a partial reflection of a woman reading to children in another room, and tries to not scream at what she sees.
In the car she freaks out, and tells Bri what she saw.
“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure I saw a face that wasn’t human in there? YES I’m sure!”
“Oh god oh god, let’s go anywhere else now, please!”
They stop at a Dunkin Donuts and huddle around coffees with pastries.
“What are we gonna do?”
“We’re in way over our heads!”
“We should tell those guys.”
“The Sam and Dean guys? What if they’re just cosplayers playing though?”
“Come on, do you really believe that?”
“Can we afford to be wrong though?”
After the top of Mel’s muffin is gone, she turns the rest into lemon poppyseed crumbs. The next step is finding where the guys with the classic care have gone, and where they'll be next. Are they staying in a motel? A quick search shows there is a clump of hotels about 4 miles away, and the thought of having to check each one is disheartening. There are only two that are less expensive, but it still means getting lucky in finding the car, if they even happen to be there. Bri has the idea of checking Airbnb's, and there are a couple really cheap ones that are even closer.
Armed with the addresses, the girls set out to start snooping, when they get lucky and notice the Impala in the Goodwill parking lot. Bri has to turn around because she missed the turn off, but luckily the car is still there when they pull I to the parking lot.
Taking a deep breath, Mel leads the charge and heads inside the store to try to find Sam and Dean. The Men's clothing section is easy to spot two tall men sorting through shirts, so Mel drags Bri into the aisle next to them. They overhear the shorter one complaining about trying to find the nest, which eliminates one of their doubts. Nodding to each other, Bri and Mel decide to just walk right up to the men.
Picking up a purple plaid shirt, Mel asks, “Have you guys thought to check out the daycare yet?” which causes both men to jump.
The tall one, Sam, says, “What?”
While the one she thinks is Dean asks, “Who are you?”
Sam asks, “Aren't you the girl who was asking about the car yesterday?”
Bri looks around, noticing how much attention they're drawing from other people. “Do you think we can discuss this somewhere less public?”
They get herded to the black Impala at the edge of the parking lot, and Mel is glad Bri parked her car only a couple spots away, in case they need to make a break for it.
“Look we know you’re here hunting the changelings, and I think we found their mother.”
Dean frowns at her. “No offense, but you two don’t look like hunters.”
Mel rolls her eyes. “What? Hunters can’t have perfect smoky eyeliner? Anyway, that’s not the point. We’re actually not hunters, but we… um, recognized you. Because of the books?”
Dean groans and Sam rubs his face.
Bri says, “And we found the mother working out of a daycare, so you’re welcome.”
Sam scrunches his eyebrows and leans against the car. “But how?”
Bri explains, “My dad works with these people, so when we figured out what was going on, and who you might be, we went digging.”
Dean mutters something about them getting themselves killed.
Mel, a little annoyed, says, “Hey, we were careful! And again, you’re welcome. We found the daycare.”
Dean straightens up and says, “Thanks for that, now go home and forget you ever saw us. Got it?”
Both girls look at each other doubtfully before looking back at the guys. “That's not how this works,” says Mel.
This time, Sam tries. “Look, you've read the books, right?” He waits for them to nod. “So you know how dangerous this is. We don't want any more civilians getting hurt than necessary.”
Bri looks at Mel. “You know, he has a point. Maybe we should just go back to my dad's and keep an eye on the news?”
Mel is about to argue, but notices the way Bri is looking at her. With a sigh, she capitulates. “Fine, we'll stay out of your hair. But how will we know when it's over?”
Sam and Dean look at each other a moment before Sam says, “How about I get your email, and I'll send you something when we're done?”
“Fine.” They give Bri's email, and the men stand there, waiting for the girls to leave.
Getting into Bri's car, Mel keeps an eye on the men as Bri pulls out onto the street. When she sees them get back into their car, Mel tells her to pull into the next parking lot, and they hide behind a bank to see where Sam and Dean go. Instead of heading west, the Impala turns East, away from the direction of the hotels. That means, they're either heading to the daycare, or Bri was right and they got an Airbnb.
Turning in her seat, Mel faces Bri. “You didn't mean it when you said we were backing off, right?”
“I'm not going to be stupid and put us in danger, but of course we're not backing off.”
With a grin, Bri says, “Let's see where they're staying.”
The place turns out to be a small apartment in a run-down complex, so they quickly find a spot along the main street where they can look for the distinctive car to pass by from a parking lot. It doesn't take long before both of them are bored, and Mel is looking through her social media while Bri plays a game on her phone.
“You know,” Mel says, “They wouldn't try anything until after dark, right? Maybe we should go back to your dad's, have some dinner, and check back later?”
With a sigh of relief, Bri agrees.
About nine p.m. Mel starts getting restless again. They've eaten and changed into dark clothes in case they need to hide. How long will they have to wait? It's already dark, but will the guys wait until after midnight or something? She goes to the discord server to ask the others, using her “fic idea” as an excuse. Hell, depending on how this goes, she might just write about the experience and call it fanfic anyway.
Most are in agreement that Sam and Dean would wait until after midnight, so Mel and Bri watch some TV and try to nap, setting an alarm for 12 a.m.
Mel jerks awake when the alarm on her phone sounds, having fallen asleep in front of the TV. She turns it off, and goes to find Bri, who's sleeping in her room. While waiting for her to wake up, Mel makes some coffee so they can stay awake for however long tonight takes. Bri comes into the kitchen and hands Mel a wicked looking, long knife.
“My dad's, just in case.”
Bri shows her how to sheathe it and helps strap it to her leg.
With travel mugs full of coffee, they head out to the car, and debate where to stake out. The daycare is in the middle of a residential area, so their car might get noticed if the park too close. Plus, if they're too far away, they might never be able to tell if or when they guys show up. They find an intersection with what seems to be a reasonable escape route, and park just far enough from the streetlights. The Impala is nowhere in sight, so they settle in to wait.
And they wait.
Over an hour later, they finally hear the growl of an engine, and they see headlights sweep the street. The sleep black classic car passes them by on the way to the daycare, and Mel feels her boredom instantly transform into excitement.
This is it.
The sound of the engine fades, and the girls are left alone in the quiet dark once again, waiting.
And waiting some more. Mel looks down at her phone to see only fifteen minutes have passed, but it feels like forever. She sighs and shifts in her seat, prompting a question from Bri.
“What if the mother isn’t there? What if they have to go find where she lives, or if she’s keeping the kids somewhere else?”
Frustrated, Mel says, “Then I’m sure Sam and Dean thought of that, too. Honestly, what—”
She’s interrupted by movement outside her window. There are three children standing there, watching her. Shit. Bri’s hand grips her arm, and she turns to see four children staring in from Bri’s side.
Bri whispers, “Now what?”
“Start the car!” Mel whispers back like a hiss.
Thankful they’re not in a cheesy horror movie, the engine comes to life on the first try. With the children slapping at their windows, they take off down the street, faster than the posted limit. At the end, there’s the Impala parked in the lot of the child care center, but nothing else seems to be happening. Shit, did the guys mess up? Were they really not Sam and Dean, but just cosplayers after all? As thoughts swirl through Mel’s brain, Bri jerks to a stop, as children start running across the street in front of them.
For a moment she almost tells her to plow through them, but then she notices these are the captured kids, escaping the center. One child falls face-first in the middle of the road and starts crying, so Mel gets out to help him up. The child wraps his arms around her neck, and as she turns, she sees someone tall running for them.
As soon as he recognizes her, Sam yells, “Keep the kids together, Go!”
Mel nods and follows the rest of the children across the street, where they’re huddling next to a garage, the attached house’s lights off. Sam disappears around the side of the daycare building. Bri pulls her car into the end of the driveway, serving as a barrier. From both sides of the street, the changelings can be seen heading for them, and it’s all Mel can do to not panic. She pulls the knife Bri gave her earlier, and waits.
There’s shouting, gunshots, and a piercing scream, then all the changeling children scream and go up in flames. The night falls into an eerie quiet.
Sam limps back around the side of the daycare, and lumbers over to where everyone’s huddled, out of breath. “You girls might want to go before the police, show up. We’ll help with the kids.”
Mel hands over the little boy still clinging to her. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, go.”
Nodding, she runs to the passenger side of Bri’s car, and says, “Let’s get out of here.”
Neither of them sleep the rest of the night, the sound and sight of the changelings immolating in front of them chasing away any thoughts of rest. At dawn, things feel a little less scary, so they both manage to lay down and nap fitfully.
When Mel wakes some time mid-day, eyes gritty and heavy, she drags herself to the kitchen to see Bri’s dad sitting at the counter.
“Morning, did you girls stay out late?”
“Mmm, but we didn’t have a party,” Mel responds, remembering the teasing Bri had mentioned what feels like forever ago. Then she remembers he shouldn’t be home until later in the day.
Before she can ask, he says, “I’m back a little early, because half of my training team got the strangest calls early this morning, because their children were all huddled up near the daycare center.”
“Weird,” is all Mel can manage as she starts a fresh pot of coffee.
While Bri’s dad tells her all about the strange story about a woman at the daycare and kidnapping, she zones out a bit, only half listening. As soon as she has coffee in a mug, she says, “That’s really weird, sir. But if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to go nap again until Bri gets up.”
“Tell her I’ll cook something for all of us when you’re both awake!” he call to her.
Mel nods as she turns the corner.
Later in the day, after the promised dinner, Bri and Mel are back in the car, headed back out of town, towards their regular lives. They’re silent during most of it, with only idle chatter about other drivers, the weather, etc. When Bri drops Mel off at her apartment though, she turns to her and says, “Crazy weekend, huh?”
Mel nods, gathering her bag. “Yeah, real crazy.”
Bri drums her fingers on the steering wheel. “How about we never do that again?”
Laughing, Mel replies, “Deal.”