Oscar’s shuddering never stopped. His heart pounded in his little chest and he had his arms tucked close to his chest while he gripped the strap of his cloth bag in terror. Wide eyes stared up at the human and waited for one of those enormous hands to return.
Oscar couldn’t stop anything that happened to him. He was too small.
“B-but I …” he began weakly, only to falter again. He took a slow, rattling breath and felt the telltale sting of more tears in his eyes. The human had asked him not to run off. Would he stop Oscar from trying? “I-I just … I don’t …”
Sam could barely hide a grin at the sight of the tiny form sprawled out on the pillow near Jacob. Dean might as well be a kitten in the center of the pillow, trying to claim it for his own.
“So much for ‘checking out the perimeter,’ ” Sam quipped, remembering Dean’s initial plan.
Well, I think this is as good a time as any for a visit from my favorite witch herself, Celeste!
Celeste let a look of disgust cross her face as she stared down her opponent.
The others in the coven were pallid, weak, disgusting excuses for witches. Celeste stood tall, her own powers outstripping them by far.
“I will not share my secrets with others,” she declared loudly, her eyes bright with distaste for having to deal with such lowly servants.
The leader stood, slowly uncoiling from her stone chair. “You stand against us?” she ask in a throaty growl, her red-rimmed eyes narrowing.
“I do not care where you stand,” Celeste replied back, her voice as mild as it ever was. Blonde, tall, and busty, she cut an intimidating figure wherever she went, a boon to the glamor she wore to cover up her true form. If they could see her original body… well these women would not be so keen on learning her secrets. Not all paths were desired, no matter that immortality could be hers to give and share with them.
“You must stop you experiments,” the leader commanded. Black robes coiled around her, sometimes giving the impression of smoke.
Even their glamor was predictable.
“Perhaps you would like to be the next I experiment on,” Celeste said, still mild.
A collective gasp came from those ringing where she stood. “But I thought it only worked on children! ” a woman on the left exclaimed. Her child was one of the ones Celeste had taken for herself.
Celeste stared straight at her, refusing to allow these women anonymity. “You know nothing of me. And little of my powers.”
Bored with the conclave, she ripped her hand through the air. The leader of the coven was tossed against the wall, and Celeste advanced while the others withdrew.
“You will not interfere with me,” Celeste hissed. “Or I shall have your entrails for dinner. I have been given a task by he who rules Hell himself, and no one shall stand in my way.”
Then she was gone, and all that proved she’d been there was a brand, burned into the lead witch’s forehead and glowing with the brightness of the sun. The women wailed as they read the message she had left.
Jacob Andris at 8 years old. Content Warning: Ailing family member
“Jacob, baby, you can come in the room if you want. He’s awake and we can all talk for a while.” Jacob looked up from his waiting room seat to see his mother’s tired face peeking out of the thick hospital door. The bags under her eyes had become a constant feature of her face, and her curls were always untucked from her hasty ponytails lately.
We’re looking forward to it just as much! (Sam and Dean must find their way back to each other, they must!)
I was actually working on editing a Brothers Adopted story just the other day so it’s ready to go for everyone ❤ The first story of Brothers Lost, The Road Not Taken, will be wrapping up on July 14th, which means this weekend it’s time – For another poll! I’ll cross my fingers for you, Jacob and Sam are the cutest cursed bros around, and they’re raring to go.
Jacob’s eyes widened. He let go of the tiny arm and his thumb released the little guy’s legs in pure surprise. The fear on that little face became more obvious just before it disappeared behind the miniature hands. The tiny person drew his knees up to his chest and curled into a protective ball, shoulders bouncing in time with his frantic sobs.
Once he checked out the edge of the forest around them, staying within the warm glow of the firelight, Dean drifted over to Jacob’s belongings, eyeing up the massive bag with an amazed gleam in his eyes that he hid most of the time. That bag could hold their old home in Lawrence if Jacob wanted it to.
Then, to the side of the bag, Dean spotted something far more interesting.
Jogging the last few feet, Dean found a pillow shoved up next to the bag. Just as massive as Jacob and the rest of his belongings, they could use the pillow as a pedestal for the Impala if they wanted to. He couldn’t resist scaling up it, discovering a fluffy, soft surface that he almost sank right into.
Mallory found herself accidentally ripping the fabric in her aggravation, instead of her nimble fingers slipping between the threads to coax them apart. Dethreading like this was the best way to get workable string, that wasn’t too thick for their delicate skin. Coarse fabric might be fine for humans, with their impervious skin, but it would chafe a person Mallory’s size.
Walt had the audacity to tell her that she needed to stay in the house. As though he couldn’t stay home for once and watch their toddling daughter, only just now taking her first steps.
Bree sat to the side on the floor, enthralled with the fabric toy Mallory had made for her. She hefted it up with a quiet squeal of enjoyment, her mouth widening in a toothy grin. She already had all her front teeth, and the back ones were starting to peek out.
It wasn’t that Mallory didn’t love spending time at home with her daughter. It was the fact that Walt always wanted to keep her inside. He never brought home the right colors for fabric, and she just wanted a chance to go out searching for herself. She could always just leave one night, she supposed, but that wasn’t fair to anyone. At least she knew that Walt was going to be out. He would fret if she vanished, but they couldn’t leave their daughter alone to search.
A scraping sound came from the entrance to their small home under the floorboards, and Mallory glanced up. Walt could be seen coming in with a sheepish look on his face. His hands were tucked behind his back.
Mallory stuck her nose up and turned back to her fabric.
She did her best to ignore him as he came over to her, one hand gently stroking down her back. He gave her neck a kiss, and she tried to squirm away, refusing to let him win his way back so easily.
“I thought things over,” Walt whispered, and that caught her attention. His voice was truly contrite.
She turned to him to grace him with a raised eyebrow and a severe look on her face.
Walt knelt down, his right hand still behind his back. “I talked to Katrine,” he said honestly, but continued before she could berate him for going to her best friend behind her back. “She is going to watch Bree for us tomorrow, so we can go out.” He gave her a hesitant, hopeful smile, pulling his hand from behind his back to reveal a purple snapdragon.
Mallory gasped in surprise as her hands flew to her mouth. The scent that washed over her meant it was a real flower, carefully gathered from outside where the motel they made their home in planted its gardens.
She took it carefully, stroking the soft surface of the flower petal.
“I don’t want to keep you locked up inside,” Walt said, his blue eyes full of remorse. “I just don’t want the humans finding you. You don’t even have a way to defend yourself! I need you – we need you. So… I’m sorry?”
Mallory sighed, and wrapped her arms around him to forgive him. She planted a soft kiss on his lips before nuzzling into the crook of his neck. “So where are we going while Kat watches Bree?” she asked, a pleased smile on her face.
Walt put two hands on her shoulders, pushing her away so they could look into each other’s eyes. “I was thinking we could spend some time under the overhang,” he said, his eyes glittering with mischief.
The overhang was one of three places in the motel that they could actually sit outside and watch the world pass them by. Fresh air, the wind on their faces, and enough cover to keep out of sight of any birds of prey that might hover around. Too high up for the humans on the ground to see them. There was another place Walt knew of, one he hadn’t shown her, that he used for his leatherwork. He would stretch out the hides of any rats he found and killed in the motel and leave them to tan.
They’d lived there since before it was a motel, back when Trails West was simply a bed and breakfast. Walt knew the layout of the place better than anyone alive, better than even the humans. He knew where to tap into the water so no one would notice, he knew (and had built, as the humans built) many ways in and out of the rooms near where they lived.
“That sounds wonderful,” Mallory said, leaning her head against his chest and listening to his heart beat. It helped calm her, and took away the rest of her anger from earlier.
Bree giggled over in her place on the floor, and tossed her fabric up.
With an unspeaking appearance from @nightmares06‘s cursed Sam Winchester from our collaborative Supernatural AU, Brothers Adopted.
Reading Time: ~10 minutes
Jacob wasn’t allowed to venture off on his own. It hadn’t even been a year since his curse, and the size of everything could still stop him in his tracks sometimes to stare. The thimble they used for water should be too small to fit on his thumb, but he could dip both hands in it. Sam’s climbing hook was fit for a hefty backup weapon if he ever lost his silver knife, when normally it should be pinched in a couple fingers.
Jacob was small, and he wasn’t used to the way everything around him had gotten so huge, so harsh, so loud.
Brothers Apart 