Tag: the borrowers

Sneak Peek of Like a Moth to Flame

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Something ancient is stalking people in town, and now it has its sights set on a certain pair of hunters in town. Sam and Dean find more to handle than they ever expected, and an evil that sets them against each other.

“Raise,” Dean said confidently, pushing his chips to the center.

The man across from him fidgeted at that, staring out at the five cards aligned on the table. Out there sat two aces… he knew that if Dean had the other two, it was all over for him. Even if Dean only had one ace, the guy risked going up against a full house.

Dean stared solidly back, his years of hunting serving him well and hiding his own tells. Out of everyone watching the game, the only person that could call his bluff was currently concealed in his chest pocket.

Sam, barely four inches tall, was adept at reading facial expressions. His small size meant that every little twitch and uncertain flicker that passed over Dean’s face, or any other human’s face, was easy for the small hunter to read.

Normally, Sam never came out to a bar like this. A rowdy bar scene wasn’t a safe place for him to relax and hang out with Dean. Plus, there was no way for him to enjoy a drink with his older brother, since he couldn’t risk coming out of the pocket. But this trip wasn’t just for relaxing and building up their stack of emergency cash.

This was for training.

Story begins 11/29/16 at 9pm est!

Sneak Peek of The Water’s Fine!

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Saving people, hunting things. Sam and Dean grew up on those words and now, over a decade after being cursed to live out their lives at a fraction of their height, Jacob Andris will help them live up to their destiny.

“Y-you’re with a human,” she called back to him, as if that cleared everything up. In her mind, it did. With how massive the human was, he was a danger to her and everyone living in that house. Even the weakest humans could overpower them easily.

The pipes leading to the faucet of the tub loomed ahead of her. She hesitated, wondering if she would have time to climb up. The sound of the man’s sturdy boots scraping on dust on the ground as he chased her made the decision. She nearly toppled over when she came to a stop and all but threw herself up the ladder formed by the supports for the pipes.

The metal supports were spaced just far enough apart that she had to really stretch to reach each one, but she climbed as quickly as she could. There should be a loose tile near the bathtub. She could take a shortcut from there. There had to be somewhere she could lose the guy before his human caught on to anything.

“Just leave me alone!” she insisted, pausing for just a moment to look down and see if he’d followed her.

“Be careful!” Dean shouted out instinctively when he saw how dangerous her climb was. “I promise, we’re just here to help!”

He growled when she didn’t show any sign of slowing down, and started to climb up after her. “Seriously,” he muttered to himself, “what is it with everyone always climbing? ”

The climb wasn’t as harrowing for Dean as it was for her, thanks to his longer body. He could reach the handholds without a problem, and for the first time in his life, it looked like he was actually faster than someone at climbing up. He didn’t bother congratulating himself, intent on catching up to her before she got herself hurt trying to run away from him.

“Please?” Dean called up. He didn’t need to worry about being overheard, so he didn’t bother lowering the volume of his voice.

He froze for a second as a chill crept up his spine. His breath fogged the air in front of him.

Not good.

Sneak Peek of First Hunt!

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The last thing Jacob Andris ever expected was to find himself cursed by a witch to live out his life under half a foot tall. He never expected to find himself becoming part of a family that once would fit in his hand.

And he certainly never expected to find himself adopted by a hunter twenty times his size.

Jacob’s heart rate jumped up for a few seconds at the sound of an unfamiliar voice in the dim lighting. He had to squint a little to find the man’s face as he sluggishly pushed himself up to lean against the backboard of the bed. Jacob shivered; he didn’t remember it being so cold before. He rubbed his eyes before looking at the silvery cup offered to him.

He couldn’t resist taking it and drinking down its contents quickly to soothe his parched throat. With that done, he looked around some more, letting his eyes adjust (as much as they could) to the light. The only source that he could see was the ceiling, where long cracks between the thick beams let light in in dusty golden bars. A part of him wondered why they didn’t just put a lamp in this room.

“Where …” Jacob managed to rasp, before he noticed the pile of huge blankets in one corner. He glanced across at the desk and chair, and the curtain blocking the rest of wherever the hell this was from view. There was a shoulder bag next to the chair and Jacob raised his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of a three-pronged hook sticking out of it. The barbs alone had to be the length of his fingers.

It inevitably drew him back to the man in the room with him. He wore jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, covered by a jacket with numerous pockets. There was something off about him, but Jacob couldn’t quite place it in the lack of light. After a moment, he found his voice, a list of questions all crowding into his mind at once.

“Who are you? Is this a basement? Where’s my mom?”

First Hunt coming 10/25/16

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September 3rd excerpt:

When Oscar was finished with his bag, Dean reached a hand forward and nudged the side of the tiny bag with a curious finger, wondering what else Oscar might have in there. He couldn’t imagine the kid could fit too much stuff in there.

Oscar flinched, let out a squeak of surprise and clutched his bag close, looking up at Dean with reddening cheeks. If he’d known he was being watched, he might not have put the food in his bag. Luckily for him, Dean didn’t look annoyed or angry with him for taking food. He had a more inquisitive expression and his focus on the little cloth bag.

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September 2nd excerpt:

When Oscar finally made it to his little home in the walls and pushed his door shut, he sank to the floor in a heap. His heart was pounding again and he hid his face while he let his mind catch up to what had happened. The low lighting in the cramped main room of his home couldn’t offer a distraction, and he was alone in his thoughts like usual.

After the Hunt

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A Brothers Found short story.

It was the light that woke him.

Sam Winchester, cursed to live at four inches in height, was not used to waking up to bright sunlight in his room. For years, he’d lived under the floorboards in the Trails West with his adopted family, staring up at what little light managed to trickle between the floorboards. The dark confines of their home were warm and safe, welcoming for the people who were smaller than a hand.

So opening his eyes to a brightly lit open space was the last thing Sam expected to see.

Looking around the room didn’t clear things up for him. His memories of the night before were still fuzzy and unfocused, mixing up with the varied dreams he’d had. Sam sucked in a gasp of surprise when he saw a massive human lying in a bed only a foot away, peaceful breaths of air drawn into lungs bigger than Sam… or his bed… or even his home.

Sam curled his legs closer, trying to make himself as small as possible while his mind raced. What had happened? He didn’t remember getting caught… at least not since Jacob first got his hands on him.

Then he spotted Jacob lying in the other bed, his face just as relaxed as the other man’s, and the memories came rushing back.

A bit of the tension unwound from Sam’s back. That man lying so close by was Dean. Sam’s determination had lead him and Jacob to the hunter’s doorstep, culminating in a reunion that was long overdue. Sam calmed his breathing and did his best to relax, repeating to himself that he was with his older brother, and Dean would never let anything happen to him.

That fact was clearly underlined by Dean’s reaction to the bruises covering Sam’s torso. It was the outcome of a mistake by Jacob, holding Sam just a little too tight, and the teenager was repentant. He’d helped Sam and driven the cursed man over eight hours to find his older brother, and so Sam had forgiven him.

Dean was a harder sell, especially only seconds after discovering Sam was alive. Sam had prevented Dean from putting more than an impressive bruise on the kid, and had a feeling that if he’d let Dean keep going, Jacob would have been tossed out of the room with no other thanks.

There was a shifting on the bed Dean was sleeping on, and Sam found himself curling more of the blanket– which, when he looked down at what he was sitting on, discovered it to be a black t-shirt– around himself so he didn’t feel so exposed.

Green eyes blinked tiredly open and Sam could swear his neck tingled as they glanced around at the room. It was a full minute before comprehension fell over Dean’s face, and he saw Sam sitting there, arms around his knees and trying his best to hide in plain sight.

“Hey,” Dean said softly. His eyes briefly flicked to Jacob to make sure he was asleep, then back to Sam. “How you feelin,’ pint-size?”

Nerves or not, Sam couldn’t hide a roll of his eyes at the nickname he had a feeling Dean would never give up on. At least, not from the look in his eyes. “I’m fine,” he said, more insistent than he meant to be. A doubtful look crossed Dean’s face, and Sam knew he wasn’t hiding his nerves as well as he thought.

Sam hunched his shoulders. “Just… not used to being out in the open like this,” he said hesitantly. It felt like he was admitting a weakness.

Understanding filled Dean’s eyes, and the hard look that always seemed to be on his face softened. “You fell asleep after the hunt,” he said in an attempt to explain. “I… wasn’t sure where else to… put you.”

The same hesitation filled Dean’s voice, and Sam realized his older brother had no better idea about how they were supposed to handle things than he did. For some reason, that made him feel a little better. He might not know what he was doing, but neither did Dean.

“Maybe…” Dean was scanning the room while he talked. “I’m sure we can find somewhere hidden for you to stay. Y’know… if you wanted to.”

Sam looked into those green eyes, trying to ignore the way they were the size of his head, and saw hope, and fear, and nerves that almost equaled his own. He remembered the night before, when Dean almost didn’t want to believe that Sam was back.

“Of course I want to stick around,” Sam said, his voice so soft that Dean found himself leaning in. Sam twined his fingers together, focusing on them more than the gigantic hunter. “I just… should get my stuff from my home. I didn’t say goodbye to anyone there when we left. Wasn’t… really sure we’d actually find you.”

“Well, you found me,” Dean said, grinning at Sam. After a second of contemplation, he moved his arm and Sam found a hand reaching towards him. He tried to not flinch, but stiffened completely and squinted his eyes shut.

Something large touched the top of his head, then lightly ruffled his hair. Sam opened up his eyes to see Dean’s hand already retreating back to his side and realized it had only been a fingertip.

“You’ll have a hard time losing me, ever again.”

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August 29th excerpt:

To the side, he saw something that usually drew him like a moth to a lantern. Breadcrumbs, left behind by some previous meal. On a normal day Oscar would be gathering each tiny piece in his bag, just in case it was all he’d find.

“I found another piece of that bread on the floor earlier, before you came in,” he announced, looking back up at Dean. “I …” He stopped abruptly and felt his cheeks flush. That piece of bread wasn’t on the floor anymore. Oscar had it stowed in his bag, and he’d more or less just admitted to Dean that he took something from the room.

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nightmares06:

81. Thunder

An echo of thunder rolled around Sean, and he dove underneath the scraps of fabric that made up his ‘nest.’

Standing at only three inches in height, the young boy blinked out at the world from his protective cocoon, huge tears flowing from his eyes. This was wrong. Everything was wrong, and he was scared.

Summoned by the yelp he’d heard, Walt Watch limped around the doorway that lead to the room Sean was staying in. The older man held his side tenderly, and Sean remembered hearing that his entire home had caved in on him, knocking him just out of range of a fire that raged. Walt was as lucky as Sean to be alive.

But at least he was used to being small.

“Hey, there,” Walt said, sitting next to Sean’s protective fort. “How are you hanging in?”

Sean said nothing, just blinked blearily at the older man. Another rumble of thunder came, this time with the rhythmic sounds of footsteps accompanying it. That made him dive down, out of sight. He hated the reminder of how small they were.

Walt put a hand on the top of the piled-up fabric. Krissy and Bennett had given up the extra room for Sean, since he wasn’t used to sharing with anyone the way they were. They were staying in the same room as their mother, and Walt had the room next to Sean’s. The young boy reminded him so much of Sam all those years ago. Afraid and alone and lonely. Forced to confront realities that no child deserved.

“Look, they don’t know we’re here,” Walt said wisely. “They won’t hear us, they won’t bother us. Sam once told me that humans had a way of getting through thunderstorms if young children were afraid. He said to just think of it as God getting a shower, and the thunder as his footsteps. Those humans up there are the same. Just walking around, minding their own business.”

Sean peeked out at Walt. “B-but if they find us…” he said in a half-moan of fear.

Walt ruffled his hair. “They won’t,” he promised. “We’ve got a safe home here. Besides, if it wasn’t for humans, we wouldn’t have much to eat, now, would we?”

Sean blinked back at him, looking unconvinced.

“If you want, I can stick around for a bit,” Walt offered. “Staying in a strange place all alone can be scary.”

Sean rubbed his eyes. “I’d like that,” he said shyly. “It’s just all so… different…”

“Sam said the same thing when we first found him,” Walt nodded. Sean’s wide eyes encouraged him to continue. Though Sean had never met Sam, he’d heard all about his rescuer from Krissy and Bennett. “He was just about your age back then…”

Walt told stories about Sam’s first days cursed until Sean couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer, and the young boy drifted off to sleep.