“You’re doing all you can,” Sam murmured. When Brian’s eyes shot to his face, he shrugged and gave him an encouraging smile. “You’re doing whatever you can to protect him. By trusting us, that’s just increased your chances a lot more. We’re not going to let you down.”
Dean nodded in agreement before his gaze tracked to Baylee, who watched the brothers with anxiety apparent on his face. Dean knelt until he was eye level with Baylee. “Hey, Baylee. How are you feeling?” His voice was uncharacteristically soft because he didn’t think it would help Baylee any if he were to sound like the give-‘em-hell gunslinger he must’ve seemed like before.
Baylee clutched his bear closer and sniffed. “Okay,” he answered in a teeny tiny voice.
Sam took his place next to Dean. “Baylee, I wanted to say I’m real sorry for what happened today. My brother and I were supposed to keep you safe from the monster, and we didn’t. So we’re really sorry.”
Baylee studied him in silence for long moments, before his big blue eyes shifted to Dean’s face. After a few seconds he sniffed again. “S’okay. You tried.”
Brian rubbed Baylee’s shoulder comfortingly. “Bud, I’m sorry, too. I told you that the monster wouldn’t bother you again, but it did. From now on, I’m gonna hang out with you all the time. That way, you’ll always be safe. How’s that sound?” He wasn’t entirely positive that the monster wouldn’t appear when he was in the room with Baylee, but, at the moment, he just wanted to offer some sort of comfort to his son.
“Daddy.” Baylee snuggled closer into Brian’s arms. “You and Dean and Sam tried. You tried real hard to keep the monster ‘way. But the monster’s just gonna keep comin’ until it eats me.” He shuddered. “Please don’t let it eat me.”
Brian’s eyes met Sam’s then Dean’s. “We won’t. We promise that the monster will never, ever touch you, Bay.”
Sam had to admit that his heart broke for Baylee. He was trying to be brave and stoic, but he was terrified out of his mind. No child, he thought, should ever have to be afraid that a monster was going to kill him. But he knew better. Sam’s whole life had been defined by the monster that appeared in the dark, and he knew that the only way to keep yourself safe was to be smart. So he was going to be smart, and he was going to get rid of the monster in Baylee’s house because, every time he helped another child, it felt as though he was helping little Sam and Dean out, too. Balancing the scales…Sort of.
“Baylee, we have to ask you some questions,” he began, bringing Baylee’s attention back to his face. “I know you’re very scared right now, but Dean and I need to know what happened before the monster came. I know it’s hard for you to go back to that, but we need to know. The more we know, the more we can help get rid of the monster for you.” Sam took a chance and reached out to pat Baylee’s knee. “Help us help you, Baylee.”
Baylee squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his face into the teddy bear. “No.” His voice was muffled against the bear. “It’s too scary.”
Brian gently tugged the bear away from Baylee’s face and met his son’s terrified blue eyes. “Baylee, buddy. I know it’s scary for you. I know that you don’t ever want that to happen again, and that it hurts when you think about what happened. The thing is, if you don’t tell us what happened, we’ll never really know how to help you. We’ll never know why the monster shows up, and we won’t be able to make it go away.” Brian tapped Baylee’s nose lightly. “I know you’re very brave, Bay. I need you to be super, super brave and tell us what happened. It’ll be over before you know it, and then we’ll go out for pizza as a reward. How’s that?”
Baylee seemed to mull it over for a few moments. “What kind of pizza?”
Brian grinned. “Whatever kind you want.”
“Okay.” Baylee looked over at Dean and Sam. “Can they come, too?”
Brian grinned. “It’ll be a pizza party.” He hugged Baylee. “Are you ready to help out?”
Baylee nodded hesitantly. “I think so.” He looked up at Sam. “What do I say?”
“Baylee.” Sam gave him an encouraging smile. “What were you doing in the den? Were you playing a game? Watching TV?”
The little boy scrunched up his nose as he tried to remember. “I was making a picture for you. And I was watching TV,” he added, glancing up at his father. “I know you said no TV and no den, but Daddy, that’s where the crayons were. An’ then, I just wanted to see a little TV.”
Brian patted his shoulder. “It’s okay. Just this once, I’ll let it slide.”
“’Kay.”
Dean leaned forward. “What did you draw for Sam?”
“It was a picture of you and him and me and Daddy.” Baylee cracked a tiny smile. “It was a friends picture ‘cuz we’re friends, and you’re helping me and Daddy ‘cuz that’s what friends do. It was a thank you picture. I still have to make yours,” he added.
Dean grinned. “Thanks, man. I’m sure Sam and I will keep your pictures forever.” He paused. “What were you watching on television?”
Baylee shrugged. “I wanted Dora, but it wasn’t on yet. Just c’mmercials. So I was drawing and waiting.”
Sam and Dean exchanged puzzled glances over Dora. Who was she? Then again, maybe she wasn’t a person and maybe she was a giant purple hippo. Clearly, Dean thought, kid’s shows these days were really weird.
“So were you just listening to the TV and concentrating on your picture?” Sam asked. When Baylee nodded, he frowned. “Are you sure you weren’t thinking about anything? Like why Dean and I are here?”
Baylee hesitated a moment, fear flickering in his eyes. “Maybe. I was thinkin’ about how when the monster’s gone, everything will be okay again. And then I was thinkin’ about how in the scary movie, even when the lady thinks Samara’s gone, she’s not.” He started to tremble again, and Brian could feel him tense up.
“It’s okay, Baylee. Nothing’s gonna happen to you while we’re here.” Brian kissed the top of his head. “Just take your time and tell us what happened.”
Baylee swallowed hard and bit his lip. “I just…I just thought about how maybe our monster’s like Samara and won’t go ‘way even when we try. And then-” He shuddered. “And then the TV did the loud noise and black and white thing…and she was there,” he ended with a whisper. “And I knew she was gonna eat me if I looked at her eyes, so I didn’t. I didn’t.” And he burst into tears again, burying his face against Brian’s chest.
Brian cradled his son and tried to soothe him. “It’s okay, Baylee. You did good. You did the exact right thing. She’s not gonna come near you again. You’ll be fine.”
Sam and Dean stood and nodded at Brian. The monster fed off what Baylee was afraid of and showed up at any time. Now that they knew the what and how, Sam mused, it was a matter of finding the way to destroy the evil shapeshifting spirit. And that was going to require a lot of finesse.
“So.” Dean leaned against the hood of the Impala and studied the sprawling home, focusing in on the third window from the left on the second floor. His mind sped with the implications of everything Baylee had told them while trying to come up with a solution for their current problem. “Any ideas, genius?”
Sam paced the length and width of the Impala, muttering to himself, but he glanced over when Dean spoke. “I’m working on it. You?”
“It’d be nice if we could convince the kid to not be afraid of the Big Bad Wolf or the Ring girl,” Dean mused aloud. “Too bad life isn’t that simple.”
Sam sighed and thought. Hard. When a thought occurred to him, he stopped in half-step and frowned. “Hey, Dean? Remember that time we found that spirit in that old house? The one that changed into whatever people thought it was?”
“Was that the time I poured itching powder in your pants, so you scratched your ass for a day over that case?” Dean snickered at the memory.
“No, it was the time I super-glued your hand to the beer bottle,” Sam shot back and grinned at the image that popped into his head. “But, anyway, yeah. That’s what I was talking about.”
Dean shrugged. “Yeah, so? What about it?”
“Well, what if this case turns out to sort of be like that one? What if we could convince Baylee to not be afraid?” Sam paused as a light bulb seemed to go off in his head. “Or, what if we turned the Big Bad Wolf and Samara into something else?”
Dean listened to his brother ramble as an idea flickered in his mind. “Samara could only be defeated if you spread her message…or locked her into the damn well.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “And that has what to do with now?”
“Well, come on, Sam. That’s why the spirit didn’t die when I hit it with the rock salt. I just pissed it off.” He began to pace now as the idea picked up speed in his mind. “Now, think. We can’t lock her in a well, and we’re not making a videotape of her, so how do we get rid of her? Then there’s the Wolf. That sucker only died because that hunter guy split him open with an axe, right?”
Sam still didn’t know where Dean was going with the whole thing, but he knew his brother would get to a point that made sense. “Okay, yeah. We’d never get close enough to Baylee’s wolf to get an axe into him, so that’s out. Where are you going with this, Dean?”
“Just listen.” Dean leaned forward and finally said his idea aloud.
When he was done, Sam leaned against the Impala, too, and nodded. It was the only way they could think of, and it had to work. It would work.
