The knock on Bobby Singer's door came just after sunset, three sharp raps that carried an urgency even through solid oak.
Bobby set aside the ancient text he'd been studying, marked with symbols even he couldn't yet fully decipher, and moved to answer.
He'd been expecting them, of course. John's terse phone call two hours earlier had warned him they were coming, but not why. Just that they needed a safe place, and fast.
When he swung the door open, the sight that greeted him wasn't what he'd expected.
John, Dean, Sam, and Trevor stood on his porch, alongside two kids behind them, exhaustion etched into their faces like weathered stone.
But it wasn't their fatigue that made Bobby's stomach drop - it was the absence of the small figure he knew who should have been among them.
"Where's the boy?" Bobby asked immediately, eyes scanning the darkness behind them as if Lucien might materialize from the shadows.
John's jaw tightened, the only visible reaction to the question. "Inside," he said, voice rough with weariness. "We need to talk."
From the kitchen came the sound of a chair scraping against linoleum. Kate appeared in the hallway, Adam half-hidden behind her. Her expression shifted from welcome to confusion as she took in the group.
"John?" she asked, her eyes moving from face to face, searching for her son. "Where's Lucien?"
John stepped inside, removing his jacket with mechanical precision. The others followed, no one quite meeting Kate's eyes.
"He left with Katherine Pierce two days ago," John finally said, his voice carefully controlled.
Kate stood frozen, her mind struggling to process his words. Katherine Pierce - the vampire who had been stalking her son, who had invaded his dreams in the hospital. The name alone was enough to send ice through her veins.
"What?" she whispered, her face draining of color. "That's not... that's not possible."
Adam tugged at her sleeve. "Mom? Where's Lulu?"
Kate couldn't answer, her eyes fixed on John as if waiting for him to retract his statement, to reveal this was some kind of terrible joke.
"Kate," John began, taking a step toward her.
She backed away, shaking her head. "No. No, he wouldn't go with her. Not willingly. She must have taken him, or-"
"He chose to leave," Dean said quietly. "Tied us up first so we couldn't stop him."
Kate's legs suddenly seemed unable to support her weight. She sank into the nearest chair, her breathing shallow and rapid.
Bobby moved quickly, guiding Adam toward the kitchen. "Hey, kiddo, how about you help me find those cookies I've been hiding? Your mom and dad need to talk."
Adam looked reluctant, his worried eyes on his mother, but he nodded and followed Bobby.
In the silence that followed, Kate stared at her hands, which had begun to tremble. "I don't understand," she finally said, her voice barely audible, still just... processing "Why would he...?"
Sam exchanged a glance with Dean before speaking. "There's a lot we need to explain, Kate. About what happened in Mystic Falls."
"Mystic Falls," Kate repeated numbly. "The town where you went to escape Dracula." Her eyes suddenly widened as fragments began connecting. "John was hurt. Lucien healed him somehow. But you never explained..."
"More happened," John said, settling heavily into the chair across from her. "Much more."
Elena and Jeremy had gone to the top of the stairs, running from the voices below. They still hesitated, clearly unsure if they should join or retreat.
"You two might as well come down," Bobby called to them as he returned from the kitchen. "Reckon this concerns you too."
Elena nodded, taking Jeremy's hand and leading him downstairs. They chose seats slightly apart from the others, a subtle reminder of their status as outsiders in this family crisis.
John remained sitting, his usual rigid posture softened by exhaustion. "We should start with what we found today," he said, looking to Trevor.
The Belmont hunter nodded, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "We tracked them to a hotel about three hours from here. Or what was left of it."
"What do you mean?" Kate asked, her voice hollow.
Trevor's expression remained professionally detached, but his eyes betrayed a hint of disquiet. "The place was a war zone. Parking lot littered with corpses - vampires, werewolves, wraiths, shapeshifters. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds."
"All dead?" Bobby asked sharply.
"Very," Dean confirmed, his mouth set in a grim line. "Some burned to ash, others torn apart, a few looked like they'd been struck by lightning."
"The mark," Sam said quietly, his first words since arriving. "It's drawing monsters to him."
Kate looked up, confusion mingling with growing horror. "What mark? What are you talking about?"
John exchanged a look with his sons, then sighed heavily. "We should start from the beginning. Mystic Falls. The Founder's Day celebration."
For the next hour, they took turns explaining everything - the ritual disguised as a town celebration, the five gods who had possessed the town's founding families, Lucien and Elena being pulled into a mirror dimension as sacrifices.
"Elena died in that place," Sam said softly, looking toward the girl who sat quietly beside her brother. "Lucien couldn't save her. But somehow... she came back."
Elena nodded, her voice steady despite the horror of her words. "I remember the knife. My Dad - no, the thing using my Dad - stabbed me. Everything went dark, and then... there was light. So much light."
"What about Lucien? What happened to him?" Kate asked, her face growing paler with each revelation.
"He was restored," John answered. "Whatever brought Elena back healed him too."
"But not the mark," Dean added grimly. "That stuck. Branded on his palm, bleeding constantly."
"It's a beacon," Trevor explained, his expertise evident in his measured tone. "Drawing every supernatural creature within miles to him. The curse won't end until either Lucien dies or all five gods are destroyed."
"And Katherine?" Bobby asked, his eyes narrowing. "How does she fit into all this?"
John's expression darkened. "She showed up when I was dying. Lucien as you all know... saved me. But we didn't tell you all how. He... gave me his life force." At this Bobby's couldn't help but inhale sharply.
John continued. "She came with some kind of magical essence - claimed it was from Idunn's golden apples. Used it to save Lucien."
Kate pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to process everything. "So Lucien nearly died saving you, and then this... this vampire saved him?" Her voice rose slightly. "The same vampire who was stalking him? Who tried to... to groom him?"
"It's complicated," Dean admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "She made a blood contract with us. Protection for Lucien in exchange for regular contact with him."
"A contract?" Kate's voice cracked. "You made a deal with a vampire about my son without even consulting me?"
"There wasn't time," John said quietly. "Lucien was dying."
Kate stood suddenly, her shock giving way to anger. "And now he's out there somewhere, bleeding, being hunted by monsters, with only a vampire for protection? A vampire who's been stalking him for years?"
"She's dying too," Dean said, surprising everyone with the admission. "Got bit by Tezcatlipoca - werewolf venom. Fatal to vampires."
"That's why they left," Trevor concluded. "Lucien thinks he can save her. And he doesn't want the monsters following his mark to find all of you."
The room fell silent as the full weight of the situation settled over them. Adam, who had returned with Bobby and been listening with increasing distress, finally spoke.
"Is Lulu going to die?" he asked, his small voice cracking.
No one answered immediately. Kate pulled him closer, pressing her lips to the top of his head.
"Not if we find him first," John finally said, his voice firm with determination that didn't quite mask his fear.
Bobby stood up, moving to his desk where maps and books were already spread out. "Then we better get started. These gods - they got names besides the Aztec one you mentioned?"
"Tezcatlipoca, Sekhmet, Kali, Apophis, and Hecate," Sam listed hollowly. "All possessing members of Mystic Falls' founding families."
"Powerful combination," Bobby muttered, pulling a thick tome from his shelf. "Ancient deities from different pantheons working together - that ain't natural. All of them, are world enders."
Kate suddenly stood, Adam still clutched to her side. "I need a moment," she said, her voice tight with controlled emotion. She guided Adam toward the kitchen, murmuring something about getting him a snack.
As she left, Dean turned to his father. "We should have told her right away."
"And said what?" John countered, though without his usual heat. "That her son nearly died saving his father? That a vampire forced us into a contract? That her son ran away with a vampire after tying us up? That he's being hunted by every monster in creation because of a curse we can't break? She wasn't going to be able to do anything about it, only would've made her life and Adam's hell."
Trevor, who had been examining one of Bobby's maps, looked up. "Your boy's smart. The hotel massacre was deliberate - a message."
"To who?" Dean asked.
"To whatever's hunting him," Trevor replied. "He wanted them to know what happens when they find him."
"But he can't keep killing monsters forever," Bobby pointed out. "There's too many, and that mark won't stop bleeding."
Sam remained silent, things slowly... getting to him.
The conversation continued in the main room, strategies and theories being exchanged, while in the kitchen, Kate leaned against the counter, her composure finally cracking.
"Mom?" Adam asked, tugging at her sleeve. "Are you okay?"
Kate shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No, sweetheart. I'm not okay."
She sank to her knees, pulling Adam into a fierce hug as sobs wracked her body. "Your brother... he's in so much danger."
"But Dad will find him," Adam said with a child's certainty. "And Dean and Sam. They'll bring Lulu home."
Kate couldn't answer, her grief too overwhelming for words. She simply held Adam tighter, as if he might disappear too if she let go.
In Bobby's study, Sam had separated himself from the others. He stood by the window, staring out at the salvage yard while the discussion continued behind him for what felt like hours.
His hand reached for the bottle of whiskey on Bobby's desk, pouring a generous measure into a dusty glass.
Dean noticed, frowning as he approached his brother. "Little early for that, isn't it?"
Sam didn't answer, downing the amber liquid in one swallow before pouring another.
"Sam," Dean tried again, his voice lowering. "We'll find him. This isn't helping."
"You don't get it," Sam muttered, still staring out the window.
"Then explain it to me," Dean countered, reaching for the bottle.
Sam pulled it away, his movements suddenly sharp. "Don't."
"You need to focus," Dean insisted. "We need your brain working, not swimming in Bobby's cheap whiskey."
Something in Sam snapped. He hurled the glass against the wall, the crash silencing all conversation in the house. Amber liquid dripped down the faded wallpaper as Sam rounded on his brother.
"He left because of us!" Sam shouted, his voice carrying through the entire house. "He left because he knew - he KNEW we all resented him for bringing this danger into our lives!"
Dean stepped back, shocked by the outburst. "Sam-"
But Sam was beyond stopping. His face flushed with emotion, veins standing out on his neck as unspoken truth poured out of him.
"He told me, Dean. Days before the ritual. He told me he could feel it - how we all felt about him."
By now, everyone had gathered at the study doorway, drawn by Sam's outburst. John stood rigid, his expression unreadable. Kate appeared behind him, her face still wet with tears.
"He told me how I resent that ever since he created the Force, we've been facing apocalyptic threats, unable to even have a chance at a normal life," Sam continued, uncaring to his growing audience. "How Dad feels guilty about him because he feels like he's betraying Mom's memory. How he knows he's at the bottom of Dad's priority list if it came down to choosing, because he brings everyone else constantly in danger just by-." his voice cracked for a moment, "Existing."
At the phrase "created the Force," Trevor's expression shifted noticeably. He straightened, eyes narrowing as he filed away this new information.
Sam turned to Kate, his anger finding a new target. "And you - I've seen it myself. Ever since we moved to Bobby's, I've watched you grow more distant from Lucien every day he got deeper into hunting. I've seen how you focus more on Adam because he's 'simpler' to parent. How you look at Lucien sometimes like you don't even recognize him anymore."
Kate flinched as if struck, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Sam, that's enough," John warned, stepping forward.
"No, it's not!" Sam shouted, turning on his father. "The only one - THE ONLY ONE - who doesn't resent him even a little bit is Dean. And now Lucien's gone off with KATHERINE of all people because at least SHE puts him first! How messed up is that? A 500-year-old vampire cares more about him than his own family!"
The room fell into shocked silence, Sam's words hanging in the air like physical things.
Dean looked uncomfortable with being singled out as the "good one," shifting his weight and avoiding eye contact. John remained stoic, but his hands had clenched into fists at his sides.
Trevor cleared his throat, breaking the tension. "Created the Force?" he asked carefully. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sam glanced at him, momentarily thrown by the question. "It's... complicated. Lucien's abilities aren't like anything we've seen before."
Trevor nodded slowly, clearly recognizing the deflection but choosing not to push further.
Bobby stepped forward, trying to redirect everyone's focus. "Look, we can beat ourselves up all day about what we shoulda done different. Or we can start figuring out how to find that boy and break this curse."
Kate wrapped her arms around herself, Adam pressing against her side. "Bobby's right," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "We need to find him."
John nodded, turning to Bobby. "We should start researching these gods, see if there's a way to kill them without going back to Mystic Falls."
"I'll check my contacts," Trevor offered. "See if anyone's heard anything about unusual monster movements. They'll be drawn to the mark - might give us a trail to follow."
As the others began discussing plans, Sam looked around at their faces - some shocked, some guilty, some confused. Without another word, he reached for a fresh bottle of whiskey from Bobby's cabinet, uncapped it, and walked out the front door.
No one tried to stop him - they were too stunned by his words and the raw emotion behind them.
Through the window, Dean watched his brother disappear into the salvage yard, taking a long drink as he walked.
The sight of Sam - always the composed one, the rational one - breaking down had shaken Dean more than he cared to admit.
"He'll be back," Bobby said quietly, coming to stand beside Dean. "Just needs to cool off."
"Will he?" Dean asked, not taking his eyes off the darkness that had swallowed his brother. "I'm not so sure anymore."
In the living room, John spread maps across the table, his movements precise and controlled despite the emotional storm that had just swept through. "We'll start by checking all the locations with known werewolf packs. Katherine will need a cure for that venom."
"Klaus," Trevor said suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. "The Original Hybrid. If I was the kid, and again, he is smart, I'd try to get to him, because he's the only one who somehow balances werewolf and vampire without the two destroying each other from the inside."
"You think that's where they're headed?" Bobby asked.
Trevor nodded grimly. "If I were betting on it."
Kate sank into a chair, Adam's hand clutched tightly in hers. "Then that's where we start," she said, her voice finding new strength despite the tears still drying on her cheeks. "We find this Klaus, we find my son."
Outside in the salvage yard, Sam wandered between the rusted husks of abandoned cars, bottle in hand.
The whiskey burned his throat, but did nothing to dull the ache in his chest or the knowledge that somewhere out there, his little brother was bleeding, hunted, and probably convinced his family deep down, wanting him away.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter.
Do tell me how you found it.
What did you think of Sam's outburst? I hope you all liked it.
I thought it fitting that before everything, we at least see how the Winchesters are, after everything.
Well, hope to see you all later,
Bye!)