“Hurry up dickwad,” Bo yelled over his shoulder as he shifted gears on his bike for a little more oomph.
1. Pumping his legs his mountain bike flew down the dirt trail. He tapped his breaks a few times causing him to fishtail a little, launching rock back in Dean’s direction.
“Screw you, fartknocker,” Dean yelled as he hit his brakes to avoid the rocks Bo had kicked up. As soon as he was safe Dean shifted gears to catch up with Bo. His head down while standing up on his bike he pushed himself until his legs burned from the strain.
Slowly catching up to his much larger friend, puberty giving Bo that unfair advantage in strength and size. Dean could barely catch his breath, refusing to slow down. Bo slammed on his breaks, skidding to a stop.
Dean wasn’t paying attention to Bo or his surroundings. Glancing up Dean barely had time to swerve. Just barely missing his friend, Dean rocketed toward the old train track the trail ran parallel to.
Dean screamed as his front wheel slammed into the metal track. The collision bending his rim as it bounced up and off of the track slamming the handlebars into Dean's chest. The wind knocked out of him, he reflexively bailed off of his into the underbrush that lined either side of the trail.
Laying in the bushes, he could hear laughter coming from his best friend. Pissed, Dean stood up ignoring his skinned knees. Bo’s laughter echoed loudly in Dean's head. Charging his friend he attempted to tackle him down the hill.
“YOU A-HOLE” Dean screamed as he slammed his shoulder into Bo’s stomach attempting to take him to the ground.
Bo smirked at Dean’s charge unafraid of his short pissed off friend. Catching his friend easily his footing barely being budged. Bo effortlessly tossed Dean to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“You made me wreck my friggin bike,” Dean yelled at Bo. His anger deflated after how easily Bo dealt with him. “My mom is going to kill me,” he winced.
“Quit being a little pussy about that. You’re probably getting anew bike for your birthday,” Bo said.
Dean saw the look on Bo’s face when he made that comment. They both had an unspoken agreement to not talk about it. Bo’s father refused to let him go to Dean’s house anymore. Dean’s mom had called CPS on Bo’s dad after seeing bruises all over his back.
They weren’t even allowed to hang out anymore. A real bummer if it wasn’t for their secret fort.
“Sorry, you can’t come,” Dean said dejectedly. “I will save some cake and we can meet back here later?”
“I don’t think you will want to hang out after I show you what I found,” as he walked down the embankment towards the dirty little creek. Taking the baseball bat from his backpack, Bo started smacking the plants out of his way aggressively.
“Really?” Dean asked
“Yeah, I found some porn mags in the field behind my house last week,” Bo said boastfully.
“You're just barely telling me this,” Dean practically yelled in shock. They had never kept a secret this beg from each other.
“Yeah because I’m giving you one of them, dork,” Bo said as he looked back up at his friend, his eyes alight with excitement. “You should see the boobs on these ladies! They are like this big,” Bo went gesturing with his hands before quickly disappearing behind a tarp.
Dean hurried after his friend. Practically bursting through the tarp he saw a few changes to the fort. It looked as if his friend had been staying the night here more. The walls and roof were more secure and there was a sleeping bag tucked into the corner.
It even looked like the mountain dew bottle they cut open to use as a piss funnel had been used.
“Happy Birthday Dickwad,” Bo said as he threw the slightly soggy porn magazine at Dean.
He barely caught it as he processed what he was seeing.
“Have you been staying out here,” Dean asked not even bothering to look at the magazine he was holding.
“Yeah just for fun you know,” Bo replied the lie being obvious.
“If it's that bad you could probably just stay with us,” Dean said. “You can even have my bed and I will sleep on the couch.”
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Dean knew he hit a sore spot as he saw Bo’s face flush a beet red. His body tensed ready to run from his friend if he reacted badly but stayed in case his friend needed him
“I DON’T NEED YOUR MOM TO SCREW UP MY LIFE MORE!” Bo screamed in anger. Breathing heavy Bo stood there staring at Dean as if daring him to say something.
Dean backed up holding his hands up in a placating way. “I’m just saying you can sleepover at my place secretly. Not here if you want.”
Bo stood there, tears unshed his anger quickly spent with the outburst.
Dean unsure of what to do just reached out and patted his friend’s arm.
As Bo tried to reign in his emotions he said with a shaky voice, “It wasn’t like this when my mom was around.”
Bo had lost his mom at a young age. Dean was told his dad died when he was an infant. He didn’t know how Bo felt losing his mom but he did understand that absence.
But where Dean’s life didn’t change much and always was good Bo’s did. His anger pushing all of his other friends away but him. Dean wished he could help his friend but didn’t know-how. As they walked out of the fort Dean knew he was going to figure out how to help his friend even if he had to waste his birthday wish on it.
As they walked to their bikes, Dean stopped suddenly. The hair on his arms stood on end. His breathing coming in short spurts. He turned to look back at the drainage pipe big enough for them to enter sat next to their fort. Black sludge slowly beginning to flow out of it. Nothing had ever come out of the pipe until now.
They had crawled inside to explore multiple times but never very far in. Dean always felt something wrong about the pipe the further he went in. Always chickening out he would make them both turn back around. No matter how much Bo teased him.
Right now whatever bothered him about entering before was coming to them. His gut clenched in fear. His instinct telling him to run away but he was frozen in place. His voice nothing but a tremor stuck in his throat as he tried to tell Bo to run.
Bo unaware of his friend had also turned around as he heard the sound of the sludge hitting the ground.
“Gross. What do you think that stuff is?” Bo said out loud as he went closer to investigate.
Grabbing a stick from the ground Bo started to poke the growing puddle of sludge. Looking back at Dean smiling he only saw the blood drain from Dean’s face as Dean mouthed something at him.
Dean was looking past his friend as glowing eyes appeared deep in the pipe. A hand too large with too many joints and flesh the wrong color to be human slowly reached out of the pipe heading and with too many joints slowly reached out of the pipe grabbing Bo’s arm and yanking him into the pipe.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Dean woke suddenly. His heart beating its way out of his chest, his forehead cold with sweat. He knew that dream would be back to haunt him. Like it always had over the last 12 years whenever it was close to his birthday.
Closing his eyes, he calmed himself with a slow deep breath. Relaxed let his mental eye reach out and touch the world around him. Nothing had shifted or came loose as it used to when he had night terrors. This was the greatest benefit of the hellish training Aggie had put him through to reign in his powers.
He heard the soft sounds of padded feet against the wood floors of his apartment before his bedroom door was slightly pushed open. The dark gray silhouette of a cat head pushed its head in as if checking on his wellbeing. Its eyes glowing iridescent green in the moonlight while it stood motionless, only the way a cat could.
“Dreaming of your lost childhood crush?” the cat asked in a patronizing tone.
“Screw you,” Dean replied casually. His half-hearted reply showing how often the cat spoke to him. If you knew their relationship you would know the cat always took a patronizing tone with him.
“I’m hungry and since your awake get to it,” the cat said sauntering into the room. Its tail flicked as it jumped up onto Dean’s bed.
“It’s too early for your shit. Go feed yourself,” Dean said as he kicked his feet to remove the cat from his bed.
“We ran out last night remember. You need to go get me more,” the cat replied as it leaped onto Dean’s chest, looking him dead in the eye. “And you still remember our arrangement, right?”
“Yeah, but it's,” Dean said as he checked the time on his phone “5 AM, nothing is open.”
“Pikes Place Market is open and I feel the need for some fresh fish,” the cat said as if it was obvious.
“That’s like two busses away. It can wait,” Dean groaned as he pulled a pillow over his face.
“You have a contract with me and no matter how young you are. You are still bound by it.,” the cat said as it slowly extended its claws into Dean’s chest.
Dean could feel the force of the magical contract he made with the cat came into effect. His body felt as if it were petrified in place. The cat was flexing a power over Dean that the magical contract gave it. He knew the cat could cause much more damage through their contract if it wanted to. It could probably even kill him with it. But Dean knew he was getting the better deal with their contract.
“Repeat our pact and I will ignore your impudence this early in the day, or not and pay the consequences,” the cat said as if either choice worked for it.
“I, Dean Fabre freely give Aggadorf the Grimoire room and board for the extent of my life or until Aggadorf the Grimoire deigns me a Master and releases me from our pact. In return Aggadorf the Grimoire shall train me, Dean Fabre, in the use of my powers, the customs of the Grimmlands, and the use of his knowledge until he deigns me a Master or my death” Dean said through gritted teeth.
“Good, and take that to heart. Some beings from the Grimmlands won’t be as lenient as I when you give them guff over deals you freely made. No matter how slight the deals seem to you,” Aggadorf said as he lightly jumped off Dean. His feet padding softly across the floor as he headed to the door expecting that Dean would obey.
“Aggie works fine when repeating our pact unless you piss me off,” Aggie said as if in afterthought as it walked through the doorway. “Now get ready, we will be leaving soon.”
The door slammed shut after the cat with force. Dean frowned in confusion at that. He didn't know much beyond that Aggie was incredibly old and knowledgeable. But it didn’t actually have any real powers from what Dean had seen.