Motel Sprites: Part 4

( Start from here! )

Sam darted out from cover first, dashing over to the leg of the table. Though he disagreed with Dean on their timing, knowing they’d be better off waiting for this kid to step out of the room or fall asleep, there was also the possibility that the food would be put in the mini-fridge in the corner. The second it went in there, it would be out of their reach forever. They would be back to scrounging for scraps and discards.

Flattening his back against the table leg, Sam chanced one look out at where Jacob was, then motioned for Dean, starting the second half of their routine.

Dean ran full-speed at the table, pulling out his hook as he went. He sized up the toss and twirled the hook once, twice, three times to gain momentum before releasing it to arc up into the air.

It sailed up, and even as Dean hit the leg of the table next to Sam, found its mark. He tugged twice and smirked as he handed the black thread over to Sam to climb up. He never missed his mark.

Sam scrambled up the thread without missing a beat.

Jacob’s voice, deep and mellow, created the background noise for their risky plan. When the call connected, he couldn’t help a brief smile. “Hey, mom,” he greeted, knowing at least some of her concerns were immediately quelled. “Yeah, Kansas,” he said in reply to something on the other line.

His gaze didn’t wander much from the odd, plain painting behind the TV, sparing Sam and Dean from a glance. “Uh-huh. I got some brochures and stuff that we can look at when I get back. I probably could try to make the overnight drive …”

He trailed off and the faint mumble of his mother insisting he not do that could be heard out of the little phone. Jacob chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna,” he insisted. More mumbling from the phone. “Little place called Trails West. It’s cozy. Somehow I’ll survive.”

Sam reached the top of the table as Jacob droned on about the area he was in. Keeping the plastic bag of food between him and the human, he signaled Dean it was safe to come up.

Dean started his climb, slow and steady and nothing like Sam. He had never taken to the activity like his younger brother, preferring to keep his feet on solid ground. Solid, low ground. Unfortunately, their size worked against them in many ways, and one of them was the necessity of climbing and keeping to heights out of reach when possible, resigning Dean to a life of climbing. Sending up Sam as a sentry had become a regular habit between them, giving them the smallest amount of exposure down on the ground possible.

Sam sighed as he waited, looking once more around the bag to make sure that Jacob remained in the dark to their presence.

For all appearances, Jacob might never look their way. He had a patient look on his face as his mother went over her plans for the next few days, and how glad she was that he was on track despite his setbacks going into his last year of high school. A year was a long time, and it gave him a chance to heal.

“Yeah, mom, love you too,” he finally got to say. She seemed mollified about his stay in the Trails West motel, and let him hang up without more fuss.

As his thumb mashed the End button, he turned to the side to toss the phone down next to the rest of his stuff. That food was waiting, and his eyes next went right for the table. He was so shocked by what he saw that he froze halfway to a stand.

Hanging from a string, dangling at least a foot off the floor and climbing up to the table, was a tiny little figure. Jacob stared, not even noticing anyone else around, and finally straightened. “A sprite?” he blurted, more confusion than anything else in his tone.

Well, Dean’s plan has gone as well as Sam predicted!

Let us know what you think is going to happen! More to come soon!