The plan was simple: dig up the body, salt and burn the bones, and then everyone’s’ home in time to watch Doctor Sexy. That was it. A hunt so easy they could’ve done it in their sleep. A milk run.
Dean should’ve known it wasn’t going to be that simple. When were the simple ones ever actually simple? He was suspicious of it ever since they got wind of the hunt a week ago. For one thing, they found all the information about it almost too easily – as if someone was spoon-feeding it to them. And when they got to the abandoned house on the edge of the town? You could practically cut the sense of dread that hung in the air with a knife.
Yep, it was a hunt that had all the markings of going so completely, horribly wrong, and yet… they went anyway. “It’ll be fine,”Sam had stated for the millionth time, “how often have we done a salt and burn? It’ll be five minutes, tops. Probably won’t even have to turn off the car.”
Oh boy, how wrong that was.
That’s how Dean found himself here, tied to a post in the aforementioned abandoned house, monster setting up for whatever crazy ritual it was gearing up for a few feet in front of him, and Sam…
Well to be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure where his brother was. But he wasn’t tied up next to him, and that couldn’t have been a good sign.
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Dean chuckled as his twin’s voices floated through the line, “Aw, thanks guys.”
“Are you and Dad having fun?”
“O-oh, yeah.” Dean subconsciously straightened and puffed out his chest, “Tons of fun.”
“Do you miss us?”
“Of course they don’t miss us! They’re celebrating.”
“Oh… Is the bed bouncy?”
Dean chuckled again and nodded, “Oh, it’s bouncy alright. You guys would hit the ceiling if you were here.”
“Aw man!”
“Can we come now?”
“Yeah! We could take the bus, or ask Uncle Sam to-”
The end of Tyler’s sentence got cut off with some rustling, before he heard faint giggling and hurried footsteps, “What are you guys still doing up? Get back to bed!” There was a moment of silence, before a hesitate-sounding Sam picked up the phone, “Hello…?”
“Relax, it’s just me.”
“Oh, thank God.” He could practically see his brother’s relief through the phone, “I swear, I had them in bed on time! I don’t know how I missed them getting up.”
“It’s fine, Sam. Not like they know anyone else’s number.”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, sorry man, I’ll let you get back to-”
“Wait!” Dean blinked in surprise at himself as he cut off his brother. He took a moment to compose himself and crossed his arms over his chest, “I-I mean, while you’re here, tell me how the night went. Any other trouble?”
“Nah, they were good. We ate dinner, watched a movie, then bed time. Nothing special.”
“Okay, good, that’s…. good. So,” Dean cleared his throat, “What uh, what’d you make for dinner?”
Sam let out a chuckle, “I know the social worker’s still on your case, but it’s fine, man. I can tell you when you get back. I don’t want to interrupt your anniversary.”
“You’re not! I mean… Cas is in the bath, so I can chat for a bit.”
“… You’re not with him?”
“The tubs here are really small.”
“Dean…”
“Okay, fine. Cas is…. not here.”
“What did you do?”
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One of the most highly debated things in writing is whether or not you should set a daily word count. Some writers swear it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever implemented, while others curse having a daily target like it slaughtered their first born child.
So, which of these sides are right? Is setting yourself a word count actually helpful or hurtful?
Truthfully, it depends on what kind of writer you are!
If you’re someone who works best or feels more efficient by setting yourself goals, you may find that setting yourself a word count can help keep you on track to get everything want to get, done.
If you’re someone who tends to procrastinate, setting a word count might also be helpful for you. Having that goal might be just enough pressure to nag at you while you’re ‘wasting’ your day watching TV and help you get off your butt and get going.
On the other hand, if you’re someone who has a lot of anxiety or tend to beat yourself up if you don’t make your goals, giving yourself a daily word count might just be setting you up for failure. If you end up being busier than you’d like or something unexpected happens or maybe the words just aren’t flowing that day, having a goal that you’re constantly not reaching won’t do your mental health any favours.
You need to know what kind of writer, and person you are in general, before you can ultimately decide if setting a daily word count is a good or bad idea. All writing advice needs to be tweaked to you, personally. You are the only person who can hold you accountable for reaching – nor not reaching – your writing goals. Advice is just meant to help you, but if you read something that makes you snort and go, “Yeah, right.” then skip that particular thing!
If you’re not sure whether or not setting a daily word count would benefit your writing, test it out for a bit first! There’s no rule that says you have to keep doing a particular thing if you don’t like it. Try it on for a few weeks or months and then see how you feel about it after. If it made you more productive or you liked it a lot, great! Keep it up. If you find it added unnecessary stress to your life or you didn’t actually stick to it, dump it and try finding something else.
You also don’t have to get that specific with setting yourself a word count, either. This might sound cliche, but being a human, setting some sort of goals is just something that makes us function better. We need something to strive toward. It’s unfortunately just the way things work. But, if you know what kind of goal setting works for you, you can essentially hack yourself into being more efficient.
For example, if setting a daily word count is too much pressure, try setting a weekly, monthly or yearly word count. Or, if that still sounds like too much pressure, or you’re worried about little things like spiraling because you gave yourself a 1,000 word count goal and you only managed to write 995 words, try setting more generalized goals for your writing. Like “I’ll write 2 short stories by the end of the week”, “I’ll write 3 articles a day” or “I’ll finish a chapter each month.” The goals you set will of course depend on what kind of writer you are – blogger, novelist, short story fictionalist (is fictionalist even a word? Well it is now), etc. – but no matter what kind you are, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a type of goal that’ll work for you.
It will also depend on whether or not writing is your career or more of a hobby. I’m not going to say it’s not important to set goals for your hobbies, but if it’s your job and you find yourself feeling behind, you might want to not be as lenient in your goal setting than if you were someone who writes more casually.
Not getting fired or being able to keep a roof over your head are great generalized goals, but you may find getting slightly more specific if writing is your livelihood (or you want to make writing your livelihood) is better for you long-term.
Specifically for me, I don’t set myself a daily word count, or monthly, yearly, etc. Since I’m a blogger and short story writer first (and I have wicked procrastination skills), I give myself more leeway in my goals. Mine are more general: I work on articles and short stories Monday to Friday, then leave the weekends for scheduling promotional posts, working on my current book (or whatever other big yearly project I’m working on, like a text-based game), coming up with new merch designs and socializing.
I find giving myself this more casual weekly goal is great because this means I could for example, write 3 articles one day, write 2 short stories another, and not feel as badly about ‘only’ getting a Photoshop tutorial done a different day. All my work is still getting done, and it’s enough of a schedule to keep me organized, but not so scheduled I feel suffocated creatively, which in turn minimizes the amount of time I spend procrastinating.
Of course this system isn’t perfect. Unexpected life changes, and/or the holiday season tend to wreak havoc on my work schedule, but if I stay the course for more of the year than I don’t, I tend to stay a few months ahead of when the posts and short stories go up, so I actually give myself some leeway for life events.
It’s like I’ve given myself the gift of time, and honestly, couldn’t we all use a little more of that?
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In honour of my 6th book Broken turning 3 this month (Mar. 19th), I thought it’d be fun to revisit the world with a short story based on the characters. This story has 0 bearing on the book’s plot and is not meant to be a sequel. If anything, this is technically a prequel (if you’ve read the book, you’ll know why). This is just a fun one-off story.
A fanfic based on my own book, if you will.
Regardless of what you choose to call it, I hope you like it!
“Are you sure about this?”
Stacey took in a deep breath, in an attempt to steel herself against what she was about to do as she accepted the plastic cup, “Yeah, I’m good.”
Jesse didn’t look convinced, but didn’t stop her from walking toward the cabin, anyway. He watched her go, small boulder settling into his stomach, “Be careful.”
The blonde turned away from the doorway, sly smile on her face, “Never.”
—
Stacey groaned, blinking her eyes open slowly as she woke up. She squinted against the harsh light streaming in from between the curtains, tilting her head away as she felt the familiar stab of needles in her brain.
The blonde carefully sat up, needing to swallow hard to keep her nausea at bay, that never gets easier. She stretched her legs out under the covers, freezing as her left leg hit something that definitely wasn’t bedding.
Oh no… Dreading what she’d find, she slowly turned to her left, peering over the pillow to the person who was sleeping beside her. Who did I…? She leaned a little closer in an attempt to identify the person, but it was no use – they were on their stomach, and their brown hair and tangle of arms was obscuring their face.
Stacey slid herself out of bed as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb her sleeping partner. She couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her as the cool air hit her body.
Her entire body.
She swallowed thickly and started scrambling around the room, on the hunt for her clothes. She quickly shrugged on her t-shirt before continuing the search, doing her best not to completely freak out. Crow wouldn’t have let me do anythi-
She froze on the spot as the person on the bed rolled over, subconsciously holding her breath. Once it was clear they weren’t waking up, she continued the search for her pants.
And phone.
Where are they? She frowned as she turned around the bedroom in a small circle, not seeing the rest of her belongings. She let out a deep sigh before making her way over to the door, guess we’re doing this old school.
The blonde pressed her ear to the door, trying to hear if anyone else was awake on the other side. After a minute of not hearing anything, she carefully cracked it open.
She slipped out the door and nearly tripped. What the…? She rolled her eyes as she saw the floor was littered with passed out party-goers. Didn’t anyone go home last night? She started down the hall, taking care to step over every sleeping teen.
Stacey let out a small breath as she reached the top of the stairs and noted it was empty. Thankfully. She made her way down the stairs quickly, using her unfortunately intimate knowledge of the cabin to her advantage to avoid the creaky parts of the steps.
Once she was at the bottom, she practically ran the short distance toward the front door, stopping just as her hand reached the knob as someone cleared their throat from behind her.
“Forgetting something?”
She braced herself as she heard the accent and turned around, plastering a smile on her face as she spotted the owner, “Hey, baby. What are you doing up so early?”
“Cut the crap, Sweetheart.” Crow half gestured to the empty space between them, “Everyone who cares is asleep.”
Stacey shrugged, posture changing, “Force of habit.” She walked the short distance over to him and reached for her phone, not bothering to hide her annoyance as he held it out of reach, “What the hell, Crow?” She swiped for it again, shooting him annoyed daggers as he took a step back, “I already stayed for your stupid party. Now let me leave.”
Crow’s brows rose at her tone and he gave her a once over, sly smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, “Didn’t leave the money on the dresser, eh?”
Stacey rolled her eyes, and turned on her heel, “You know what? Keep the phone.”
She was out the door in the next instant, and let out a groan as she heard him follow.
“Whoa, hey, there’s no need for that.” Crow cut in front of her path, blocking the porch steps. He dug a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and held them up, “Breakfast?”
“I have to go.”
“Emma’s fine.” At the raised eyebrow, he held up his hands in mock surrender, “Adam tailed her. He never came home.”
The blonde eyed him for a minute before letting out a sigh, moving to sit on the half-wall, “One.”
Crow wasted no time in following her the short distance over, holding the pack out to her. There was a moment of silence as the two teens lit up before Stacey blew out her first breath of smoke, eyes drifting over to the trees that hid the cabin from the rest of the park.
She could feel his eyes on her as she took her second drag, “So, how long are you going to be extending our deal, exactly? Y’know, just so I can plan the rest of my year.”
Crow let out a chuckle at that – not the obnoxious fake laugh he used around his cronies, but his real laugh – and shook his head, “I forgot how good you were.”
“At?”
“Ruining nice moments.”
“It’s a gift.” She paused to take another drag before raising an eyebrow, “Well?”
“If you came around more, I wouldn’t need to extend it.”
Stacey rolled her eyes, “Oh, puh-lease don’t go pretending like you’re the victim here. You know exactly why I left.”
“Actually, I don’t.”
Stacey scoffed and gestured to the cabin, “You’re a drug dealer!”
“And you’re a whore.”
Because he was standing behind her, she missed the guilty look that crashed onto his face as soon as the sentence left his mouth. Stacey bristled at it, and turned back to look out over the trees.
He hung his head for a moment, damn it, before forcing himself to take in a deep breath, “I mean…” he chanced taking a small step closer to her, half-raising his hand in a failed attempt to touch her shoulder, voice softening, “I-I miss you.”
“What?” The incredulous chuckle that left her mouth cut him like a knife and he quickly dropped his free hand back down to his side. She half-turned, raising an eyebrow at him as she brought her cigarette back to her mouth, “You’re gonna go out of business if you keep using your own product, y’know.”
“I’m not high,” Crow shifted his posture, not realizing his attempt to cover up his soft-side made it more apparent, “Forget it.” He dug the cell out of his pocket and tossed it at her, “There, now get out.”
Stacey blinked at him in stunned silence for a moment, “T-Tony, I…” her sentence died on her lips as she checked the phone and noticed all the missed calls, “Shit.”
Crow couldn’t help but be concerned as she jumped off the wall and smashed out her cigarette, “What is it?”
“He did come back.” She pushed passed him and ran down the porch steps, “I’ve gotta go.”
He momentarily shook his head, I’m going to kill Adam. He took another drag as he watched her disappear into the trees, barely registering her bare legs as she went.
“Yo, Queen, I’m making-” The voice from behind him made Crow turn to the cabin door, junkie’s face falling as he noted the empty porch, “pancakes.” He frowned and leaned out the door a little further, “I thought I heard her out here.”
“She had to leave.” Crow took one more drag from his cigarette before putting it out on the wall, “So, breakfast?”
The junkie’s brows furrowed more and he stepped aside, “I didn’t know you smoked.”
Crow let out a small sigh as he made his way back over to the door, “I don’t.”
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“Damn it, Dean!” Sam stomped through the door to their motel room, angrily throwing his school bag onto their shared bed, “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me!”
“That black eye you’re sporting begs to differ,” Dean followed him, closing the door behind them. He gave his brother a pointed look, “I’m not just gonna stand by and watch my kid brother get pummelled.”
Sam turned in the doorway to the bathroom, narrowing his eyes, “Now everyone at school thinks I’m a wimp.”
“Pfft, come on,” Dean waved a dismissive hand and made his way over to sit on the bed, “Everyone who was watching saw that fight wasn’t fair. There were four guys on you!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sam turned on his heel, slamming the bathroom door behind him.
Dean shook his head, did he seriously expect me to not jump in and save his ass? He laid himself down on the bed, it’s not even like he couldn’t of taken those guys, but he wasn’t! He was foetal, just letting them kick him in the stomach!What kind of big brother would I be if I didn’t jump in? Dean brought one arm up to rest it across his eyes as he let out a deflated sigh, I don’t understand why didn’t just-
Dean bolted up as his mind replayed him the crowd that’d gathered around the fight, of course! He made the short trip over to the bathroom door, knocking softly on it, “I’m sorry I embarrassed you in front of that hippie chick.”
He heard the groan float through the door, “Not everything’s about a girl, Dean!”
“True,” The eldest leaned himself against the wall beside the door, crossing his arms over his chest, “But this was… right?”
I was going to say I chose to do a sunset so we could get over our winter blues, but we actually had a pretty mild winter where I am, so not too sure how well that works. Whether or not you also had a mild winter, learning to make a sunset effect in Photoshop can still be fun!
This tutorial is one of the simpler ones, so you’ll have plenty of time to practice, and might pick it up faster than some of the others!
For this tutorial, it’s going to really help you out if you choose an image that’s almost a sunset, anyway. I initially tried this effect myself (as well as some Youtube tutorials) using a picture that had high-noon sun lighting and it just did not work. At all. I’ll show you that disaster at the end of the tutorial, so you can see.
Now normally, I’d consider using a picture that’s already close to what you want to achieve as ‘cheating’ – if you were going to just use the pre-made picture as-is, you might as well go all the way and just find a full sunset picture – but seeing the difference between the high-noon picture and the one I ended up using was so drastic, I’m giving it a pass. (Also because I couldn’t figure out how to make it work on the high-noon picture)
This is the picture I ended up using:
Step 1
After re-sizing your picture to fit your new work document, you’ll want to make a Gradient Layer.
You’re going to have to create your own sunset colour gradient for your image. The specific colours you use will heavily depend on the colours your image already has. If you don’t pick colours that are already somewhat close, it won’t tint the image correctly and will end up looking very fake.
You’ll want to use 4 sunset colours, and then the last colour you’ll need to make light grey.
For my image, these are the colours I used:
1st: Pale Yellow: Colour Code #fffac4
2nd Brighter Yellow: Colour Code #fcf38d
3rd Pale Orange: Colour Code #ffbb5b
4th Brighter Orange: Colour Code #ff8b2e
If you plan on using this effect often, feel free to Save this Gradient by giving it a name and then pressing the New button to add it to your Gradient Presets.
Once you have the correct colours, you’ll want to click on the colour bar to make one of those pointer things show up on the top of the bar, and then change it’s Opacity to 75%. Or, you can just drag the pointer that’s already at the top on the left side (over the pale yellow) over until it’s over the Pale Orange and change that ones Opacity.
You’ll also want to change the Opacity of the pointer that’s over the Grey to about 30%.
Once you’ve changed those Opactities, click the Okay button.
Then once you’re back in the Gradient Fill dialogue box, change the Style to Radial, change the Angle to 130 and change the Scale to between 120-135, depending on what works best with your image. (Mine was 135)
Step 2
Now we’re going to change the Brightness of the picture. To do this, go back to the Create New Fill/Adjustment Layer at the bottom of the Layers Panel and select Brightness/Contrast from the menu.
In the Panel that pops up, you’ll either want to slide the Brightness slider down or just replace the value by typing in -26.
After you successfully lower the Brightness, just click on the double arrows at the top right-hand side of the panel to close it.
Step 3
Now we’re going to add a filtered look to the whole picture. To do this, we’re going to add 2 Solid Colour Layers.
To make the 1st Colour Layer, go back down to the Create New Fill/Adjustment Layer at the bottom of the Layers Panel and click on Solid Colour.
The first colour we’re going to pick is going to be a darker colour. For my image, I had to choose a shade of Brown (#644503), however in one of the tutorials I saw on Youtube, the person made this colour a pinky Red. This will depend entirely on the image you chose.
If you find it easier, feel free to use the colours I’m using in this tutorial, and then once you’ve gone through all the steps, go back and see if changing the colours will make the image look better/more realistic.
The next colour layer we’re going to add is going to be a bright colour. For my image, I found a bright Orange (#ff7200) worked well. The Youtube tutorial person made this colour a pale yellow.
Step 4
Now that we’ve got both the colour layers, it’s time to incorporate them into the image!
Still being on your bright colour layer, change the Opacity to 35% and change the Blend Mode to Soft Light.
Next, go back to your darker colour (Brown) layer and change it’s Opacity to 27%, and then change this one’s Blend Mode to Vivid Light.
Step 5
At this point, you should see your image looking sunset-y. If you don’t and you’ve been following the tutorial colours, don’t worry. You might just have to change the colours to suite your own image.
For this step, we’re going to go back to the Gradient layer, and change it’s Blend Mode to Hard Light.
It doesn’t look like my image colour changed because I already had the Gradient layer’s Blend Mode to Hard Light. If it was on Normal (like yours should be), this should be what it looks like:
Step 6
Can you believe we’re already at the last step? Yep, it’s true!
The last thing you need to do is drag your darker colour (Brown) layer so it’s sitting underneath the Gradient layer.
To do this, just click on the layer in the Layer’s Menu and then drag it until it’s under the Gradient layer. Once it’s in the right place, take your finger off the mouse button.
Once you’ve got the darker colour under the Gradient, all you need to do is save because this effect is now done! Don’t forget to save both a PHSH file (.psd) and a picture file (.png, .jpeg, etc.), this way you can go back if you need to adjust something and/or to just play around with colours or layers later.
Also, as promised, here are my failed attempts at creating a sunset on a picture with high-noon lighting.
First, the original picture:
And now the first failed attempt. This attempt was the one I did by following a Youtube tutorial.
And this is the failed attempt from after I changed colours to see if that would help.
The 2nd attempt was closer, but no matter how I tweaked the colours – whether making them more red, more orange or more yellow – I just couldn’t make it work with the lighting. No matter what I did, it just kept looking fake/edited. I also had to add the sun to the image, and I feel like that also contributed to the failure of it.
So yeah, in case you didn’t know: just because I make these tutorials doesn’t mean I don’t also still fail at making effects! This is why I always try to remind you guys not to feel bad or get down on yourselves if you try an effect and it doesn’t work. There are many factors that go into making an effect work – the picture you choose, your version of Photoshop, and sometimes I swear just if you’re having a lucky day.
Keep practicing and fiddling around and you should get it eventually!
Also I don’t remember if I’ve ever said, but if you guys ever have questions about any of the effects I share, please feel free to reach out and ask! The whole reason I started this tutorial series was to help people (mainly indie authors) and it wouldn’t be very helpful if you found the tutorial confusing, or come away with more questions than answers.
Like this tutorial? Check out the rest of the series here!
The host raised an eyebrow, peering over the top of his glasses at her, “For one?”
April resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably under his gaze, eyes flicking over to the packed-with-couples dining room. She brought her eyes back to him after a moment and nodded, “Yep.”
She didn’t miss the annoyance that flashed across his face as he stepped out from behind the podium, “This way.”
She followed him through the dining room, using all her strength to keep her eyes on the back of his head and tried not to focus on the fact each happy couple stopped their chattering as she made her way past their tables.
It’s just a day on the calendar. She forced herself to take in a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm herself as he finally stopped at a table close to the back, gesturing for her to sit.
She gave him a polite smile as she slid into the chair, placing her purse down on the seat beside her, “Thank-you.”
The host grunted, practically frisbeeing the menu at her before walking away.
Wow, okay. April picked the menu up from the table, flicking it open. She raised the menu higher than necessary to read, cheeks burning red as she felt the eyes from the other patrons boring holes into her face.
Stop it. You have just as much right to be here as they do.
“Oof!” Gabriel sagged against the back of his chair, lowering his pants to under his stomach, “That was amazing, Sammich!”
Sam chuckled as he raised an eyebrow, “You ate it so fast, did you even taste it?”
“Of course!” Gabriel reached over to grab the giant’s hand, stifling a burp, “It was delicious. Thank-you, Sammich.”
Sam rolled his eyes as the angel leaned in to kiss the back of his hand, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Sam shook his hand out from his grasp, before clapping his hands together, “You ready for dessert, or do you need a few to digest?”
“Pfft, please,” Gabriel waved a dismissive hand as he sat back up, “My dessert stomach isn’t full!”
“Dessert stomach?”
Gabriel blinked innocently at his boyfriend, “What? It’s an angel thing.” Before Sam had a chance to remind him he wasn’t one anymore, he clapped his own hands, now-hungry eyes giving the table a once over, slight frown pulling at the corner of his mouth, “Where is it?”
Sam resisted his urge to shake his head as he stood up from the table, “Yeah, like I was gonna ruin the surprise by putting it on the table.”
He made his way into the kitchen, carefully picking the cake up off the island. He couldn’t help but smile as he started the short walk back to the dining room, this is gonna be the best Valentine’s present he’s ever gotten.
She raised her eyes from the box sitting on the table in front of her to his smiling face, “What the hell is this?”
The corner of his mouth twitched at her tone, “P-pepperoni and pineapple.” At the continued look, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, “y-you said it was your favourite, right?”
She jumped as the door opened and the other kids started to file into the room. Excited chatter quickly filled the silence as they took in the crappily hung streamers and end of year banner that was hanging behind the filled-with-food teacher’s desk. She closed the pizza box and hurried over to her seat, keeping her eyes on the floor.
“Hey,” He chased after her, unable to help his eyebrows from knitting together, “was I… did I remember wrong?”
She shook her head as she slid into her seat, “No, i-it is.”
“Okay, w-well then…” He tilted his head slightly to one side, staring holes into the side of her head as she refused to face him, “what’s the problem?”
“I-I’m just…” She rolled her shoulders and clasped her hands on top of her desk just as the teacher walked in, “I’m not used to people doing nice things for me.”
—
Cop cars filled the street in front of her house and there were two parked in her driveway, no trace of the butt-ugly pink minivan. As he neared the bottom of her driveway, he noticed the yellow tape that roped off her porch, oh my God.
He couldn’t help his eyes from darting around the police who were standing around. There were a bunch of small groups, all chattering quietly to themselves. He looked around and felt a small ping of hope as he didn’t see a coroner’s van. I knew she wouldn’t have-
“Coming through!”
The yell got his attention back on the house – they were wheeling a gurney out the front door.
Okay, Winchester, keep it together. Dean hurried around the motel room, ripping the newspaper clippings and thumb tacks off the wall. He shoved them into a large garbage bag as he flicked his eyes up to the clock on the wall, damn it.
Lydia was going to be there with the twins any second and the place was not rid of all hunting materials yet. Dean sped up his cleaning of the walls, kicking his duffle of weapons under the bed as he passed.
After that disaster of a picnic last summer he was sure they were never going to let him see the kids again. He had no idea how, but Cas had managed to convince Lydia – and the rest of Child Services – to give him another chance. So he’d been re-granted supervised visitation.
Lydia made it abundantly clear that this was the very last chance he was going to get. If he fucked it up, they would take the kids away – from both him and Cas – some bullshit about Cas enabling his detrimental effect on them – so Dean had been on his absolute best behaviour. No hunting stories, no weapons, hell, he even got Taylor to stop calling chocolate covered peanuts ‘bullets’. Albeit temporarily.
He was not going to blow this.
He had finally managed to work his way back up to this hopefully being the last supervised visit. If all went well today, he’d be allowed to see the kids without a chaperone. He had the place all ready two days ago – everything that could be considered hunting paraphernalia had been expertly hidden and stashed in the secret compartment of the trunk.
And then a Wendigo popped up.
Dean thought he’d have plenty of time to find it and light the bastard up before the visit, but unfortunately, because it was still January, this one was mostly still hibernating, which was making him hard to track. Every time Dean got close enough to even sniff a trail, it’d go cold.
The knock at the door made the hunter jump, “Uh, just a second!” He quickly shoved the garbage bag under the bed next to the duffle and gave the room one more once over as he made his way over to the door. He nodded to himself before taking in a deep breath as he opened it, “Hi guys!”
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