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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦

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Delaney leaned against Sam's bent knees on the Impala. She had a newspaper in her hands reading about an odd death that happened. It could possibly be a new case for her and her brothers to look into. She went to tell Sam about it when Dean walked out of the Billiards Bar they were parked in front of. He had a huge grin on his face as he waved a wad of bills around.

"Dean, we can get day jobs once in a while," Delaney commented as she shook her head at her eldest brother.

"Hunting's our day job, kiddo," Dean replied as he leafed through his money. "The pay is crap."

Delaney sighed and leaned forward on the hood of the Impala. Sam stretched out his legs and hopped down from the hood, dusting himself off. "You can't keep hustling kids out of their money, Dean. Or keep credit card scamming. It's not honest."

"Well, let's see, honest or fun and easy..." Dean trailed off and he pretended to weigh the options with his hands. After a minute, he shrugged his shoulders and fiddled with the cash in his hand again. "It's no contest, Della. Besides, we're good at it. It's what us Winchesters are raised to do. It's in our blood."

"Dean, unless you forget, the way we were raised was kind of jacked, especially me. It was like I was vermin or something," Delaney argued.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Says you. Anyways, we got a new gig or what?"

Delaney decided to ignore Dean's brushing off how John treated Delaney after their mom died in that mysterious fire. She was not in the mood to fight with Dean over their dad anymore because they were constantly going in circles with it. He didn't think their dad had done anything wrong, just treated Delaney that way since she was the baby and only girl. He wanted to keep her safe. If that meant treating Delaney like she was below him, then she didn't want to be protected.

"Maybe. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma. Not far from here actually," Delaney responded as she slid off the hood of the Impala and laid out the newspaper so both of her brothers could see. "Gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."

Dean raised an eyebrow, looking incredibly confused. "What? Don't use your fancy college words on me."

"Human mad cow disease," Delaney clarified for Dean.

"Mad cow? Wasn't that on Ellen or something?" Dean questioned as he chewed his lip in thought.

Sam snorted and crossed his arms across his chest. "You watch Ellen or something?"

Dean looked away awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck. "So, this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?"

"Mad Cow Disease causes massive brain degeneration," Delaney began and leaned her hands against the hood of the Impala. "It takes months, even years for the damage to appear, but this guy Dustin... sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour, maybe less."

"Okay... that's weird," Sam whispered and ran a hand over his face.

Delaney slowly nodded her head as she folded the newspaper back up and stuffed it in her back pocket. "Now it could be a disease or it could be something much nastier."

"Alright, Oklahoma!" Dean cheered. "Man, work, work, work. No time to spend my hard earned money."

"Shut up, Dean."

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A few hours later Dean pulled up in front of the building Travis Weaver was said to be at. The three got out of the car and spotted him near his car. Delaney stood next to her brothers and crossed her arms. "So, what are we telling him? We're his cousins or something?"

"Something like that," Dean responded before leading the way over to Travis.

"Travis Weaver?" Sam asked as the three approached the man by his car.

Travis looked up from the papers he shifted through. He eyed the three siblings a little suspiciously. "Yeah, that's right."

"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked.

"Dustin never mentioned having a niece and two nephews."

"Really? Well, he mentioned you," Delaney spoke up with a grin. "He said you were really great and one of his favorite guys to work with."

Travis turned bright red and the grin that spread across his face made Delaney genuinely smile that time. She could tell that Travis viewed Dustin as more of a brother than a co-worker. She couldn't imagine what he must be going through since he was the one that found Dustin.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you... uh... what exactly happened out there?" Dean inquired.

Travis sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. He fell in the sinkhole. I went to the truck to get some rope and, uh, by the time I got back..."

"What did you see?" Sam asked next.

"Nothing. Just Dustin," Travis answered, shaking his head. It was like even he couldn't believe how Dustin had died.

Delaney raised an eyebrow. "No wounds or anything? Nothing that could have been logical enough to kill him?"

"Well, he was bleeding from his eyes and ears, his nose and that's it. He mentioned hurting his ankle while he was down there. I'm not sure what was going on down there because he was really freaked out when he was calling for me to help him."

"So, do you think it could be the whole mad cow thing?"

"I'm really not sure. That's what the doctors are classifying it as," Travis responded. It was obvious he didn't know how else to explain what happened to Dustin down in the sinkhole. Delaney couldn't blame him because they weren't even sure what else it could be. "If it's not that, then what else is it?"

Delaney nodded her head in agreement. "That's a great question."

"Would you be able to tell us where this happened?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, sure," Travis replied and listed the address for the Winchester siblings.

The three gave Travis a polite good-bye and walked back over to the Impala. They got inside and Dean drove off towards the given address. The address was to some estate being built with dozens of luxurious homes. There were workers everywhere working on the homes and Delaney couldn't help but admire the already almost built homes as Dean drove past them.

Eventually, Dean pulled up in front of the house where Dustin had fallen and the three got out of the car once again. They jogged across the street and eyed the hole in the dirt near the road.

"Huh. What do you think?" Dean questioned as they stood outside the CAUTION tape around the hole.

"I don't know, but if that guy Travis was right it happened pretty damn fast," Sam replied.

Dean lifted the tape and they all ducked underneath it, standing just before the hole. It was dark in the hole and they could only see a few feet in thanks to the sun.

"So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Delaney offered, not knowing what else could be in the deep, dark hole in front of them.

"No, there'd be an entry wound," Sam responded as he tried to see into the hole as best he could while Dean shined his tiny flashlight around. "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."

Dean continued to shine the light around and sighed. "Looks like there's only room for one down there." He ducked back under the tape with his two younger siblings following after him. "Sammy, you wanna flip a coin?"

"I can do it," Delaney suggested as she warily looked back at the hole. She may hate the thought of having to go down there and seeing any insects. She was willing to do it for her brothers though so she could be of some help at least. Delaney hated feeling useless so if she had to deal with bugs... she had to deal with bugs in the hole.

"Delly, we have no idea what's down there," Sam said.

"Well, someone has to do it. Plus, I'm the smallest, so I can probably move around better down there. Let me help," Delaney begged.

Dean and Sam exchanged a look before shrugging and handing Delaney a nearby hose. She tied it tight around her waist and ducked back under the tape to stand by the hole again. "Dean, if you drop me I'll kick your ass."

"Yeah, yeah, just go down there will ya?" Dean held tight onto the hose and motioned for Delaney to get a move on.

Delaney took a deep breath and told herself it would only be for a minute then she can come back out after she took a quick peek down there. She grabbed the mini flashlight from the ground and made her way slowly down into the dark hole. When she hit the bottom, she shined the light around her. There wasn't much down there besides a bunch of dirt – which was obvious since it was a dirt hole – and on the ground were weeds and a bunch of dead beetles.

Delaney had to keep from squealing as she picked one up. She shined the light over it and raised an eyebrow. There were a lot of dead beetles, which wouldn't be so odd if at least most of them were alive still. However, all of the beetles were dead and she felt it was something to share with Dean and Sam. She tugged on the hose so Dean knew to pull her back up.

Once she was safely back on the ground again, Delaney took off her make-shift rope and handed Sam the dead bug. He looked at it oddly, not really understanding why Delaney had handed him a dead bug.

"I'll explain in the car. Let's get out of here," Delaney stated and nodded her head towards the Impala.

Dean got in the car with Sam and Delaney, starting it up before driving off. He glanced over at Sam who poked at the dead bug like it was suddenly going to jump back up to life.

"So, Della, you found some beetles in a hole in the ground," Dean sarcastically remarked. "That's really shocking."

Delaney leaned forward so her head was in between her two brothers in the front seat. "That's not all, Dean. There were no tunnels or anything for some other animal or creature to be down there. It was just dirt and dead bugs. Some beetles do eat meat, you know. It's usually dead meat, but –"

"How many did you find down there?" Dean cut Delaney off, glancing back at her for a second before his eyes went back to the road ahead of them.

"Ten, I would say," Delaney answered.

Dean made a face and shook his head. "No way. It would take way more than that to eat out some guy's brain."

"There could have been more," Sam defended Delaney.

"I don't know," Dean sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It sounds like a stretch to me."

"We need more information on the area," Delaney countered, glaring at the side of her eldest brother's head. "Whether something like this has ever happened before."

Dean smirked as he saw a sign on the sidewalk. The sign read MODELS OPEN NEW BUYERS BBQ TODAY! "Well, I know where we can start. Anyone up for some barbecue?"

"A barbecue? Now?" Delaney questioned in disbelief. "Really, Dean?"

"What, we can't talk to the locals?"

Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, and the free food has got nothing to do with it."

Dean feigned an offended and hurt look. "How dare you think that of me? I'm a professional."

Delaney leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "Yeah, professional idiot."

Dean pulled over into a spot closest to the place the barbecue was being held at. The three got out of the car and began making their way over. "Growing up in a place like this would freak me out."

Delaney looked around her, not seeing what was wrong. It looked like your average suburban community. People walked their dogs and played outside with their children. It was like a perfect world here. What could Dean see wrong with this place? "Dare I ask why?"

"The manicured lawns, how-was-your-day-honey? I'd blow my brains out," Dean explained.

"There's nothing wrong with normal," Sam said.

Dean pat Sam on the shoulder and said, "I'd take our family over normal any day." He led the way up the steps of the house that was holding the barbecue. He rang the bell and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he waited for someone to open the door.

A middle aged man opened the door, wearing a suit and a friendly smile. "Welcome!"

"Is this the barbecue?" Dean asked with a friendly smile back at the man.

The man looked around outside at the sky that looked dark and glumy. "Yeah, it's not the best weather, but... I'm, uh, Larry Pike, the developer here, and you are?" He greeted, sticking his hand out for Dean to shake.

"Dean, this is Sam and Delaney," Dean introduced as he motioned to each of his siblings.

"Nice to meet you all. So, you three are interested in Oasis Plains?"

Dean flashed him another bright smile. "Yep, we are."

"Let me just say, we accept homeowners of any religion, race... or sexual orientation," Larry said as he looked between Sam and Dean.

Delaney covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from laughing. Did this guy really think the two of them were together? Did he really think she was their adopted daughter? Delaney didn't think she looked that young. She was short, yes, but she didn't think she looked twelve or that her brothers looked older than their actual age of early and late twenties.

"Um... we're brothers and that's our sister," Dean corrected, looking extremely uncomfortable with the fact that the guy misjudged them.

"Our father is getting on in years and we're just looking for a nice place for him," Sam added on.

"Great! Well, seniors are welcome too. Come on in," Larry offered and stepped to the side for the three to step inside.

This was going to be interesting.

authors note

aye yall! this chapter was going to be a little longer, but i got lazy. i also didn't want to let you guys go without another update, SO HERE IT IS ANYWAY! it's summer now for me. i mean i have one summer class but it's twice a week so i literally have 5 days to write again and i'm so excited for it. hopefully expect more updates frequently if i don't get lazy or get stuck at work more since i have no school as often.

i hope you guys enjoyed it! don't forget to comment and vote!

ORIGINALLY POSTED: JUNE 18, 2018

EDITED ON: SEPTEMBER 19, 2019