《red light》不渡万山

10、第 10 章

　　"Huh?" he mumbled sleepily.
　　"Can you give me a ride to work?" Dean asked impatiently.
　　Castiel shrugged.
　　"Sure," he muttered.
　　The two of them stood up and walked quickly towards Dean's truck. Dean unlocked the doors and the two of them climbed inside. Castiel immediately pulled out onto the road and headed towards town. Neither of them spoke a single word until they reached the station. Once he had parked the vehicle in its usual spot, Dean got out and headed inside. As he walked passed Castiel and into the station, he shot him a glance, as if he was checking up on him, before getting his stuff from the car.
　　Castiel watched in silence as Dean walked into the building. When Dean returned five minutes later, he was carrying a box and a bag. Dean handed Castiel his stuff and made his way back towards the truck.
　　Castiel followed suit and got inside the truck. When the younger Winchester closed the door, he took out a paper and placed it on Castiel's lap.
　　"So, I've been thinking," Dean began. "About that place that you found. It seems pretty nice, don't you think?"
　　Cas didn't even bother to hide the annoyed expression that appeared on his face. This was exactly what Dean didn't seem to understand.
　　"I guess so," he answered. "Though, according to you, it's nothing special, anyway. And besides, it doesn't matter. We're not going back there."
　　Dean laughed.
　　"Well, actually… we sort of might be going back there," he remarked. "I just remembered that I've forgotten something in town."
　　Castiel frowned as he examined the paper in front of him.
　　"What are you talking about?" he inquired. "This doesn't mean anything to me."
　　"Oh, yes, it does," Dean replied. "It means something to me."
　　He grinned at Castiel before climbing outside of the truck. Once he did so, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Castiel watched silently as the older man left.
　　When Castiel went inside, he spotted Bobby Singer at his desk, typing away. Castiel approached the older hunter.
　　"Hey, B," he said. "Where's Sam today?"
　　Bobby paused for a moment before turning around slightly.
　　"Probably helping you out at home," he replied. "Why, what's the matter?"
　　Castiel frowned.
　　"What makes you say that?" he asked.
　　"You just look worried," Bobby replied with a frown. "And you've been hanging around Dean too much lately. What's wrong?"
　　Castiel let out a quiet sigh. There wasn't really anything that he could say to avoid answering Bobby' s questions. He supposed it's only fair. After all, the guy had practically raised him since Castiel had gotten adopted into his family, despite their rocky start. Maybe if he told Bobby what had happened, he'd finally get some answers.
　　"Remember how Sam used to take me camping when I lived with them?" he began. Bobby nodded.
　　"When I was little, I loved camping. Whenever our parents were working, we'd spend days just enjoying nature's beauty and peace," Castiel continued. "I always remember feeling safe during those days; as though nothing bad could happen to us in the woods. But then... one night, my mom took me camping with her family. It was the first time in years that we'd taken my sister along. It was supposed to be a fun outing to celebrate her high school graduation. Mom promised me that we could leave early tomorrow morning and still make it back for dinner.
　　"Of course she was so focused on having fun. That's why it worked so great that my dad allowed us to stay the whole weekend instead of driving us home at dusk on Sunday morning."
　　Castiel stopped for a minute, taking a deep breath before continuing.
　　"But as much as she enjoyed it, I knew my brother hated camping."
　　Castiel looked down.
　　"I heard him complain every evening. Everytime we set up camp, I' d hear him scream in anger. He blamed me for everything that happened, blaming me for his stupid mistake. And the worst part was that my mum just laughed at everything he said. It's as though he wasn't worth her attention anymore. All that mattered in that moment was that he was there. His pain was mine and that made my life bearable.
　　"Eventually, he stopped complaining. Soon after that, he stopped talking altogether. One afternoon, my mom and her friends decided to take a walk through some woods nearby. The only sound they made were their laughs, which were so loud that I could barely catch some of their conversations. By this time, all of us kids had fallen asleep. Only I couldn't. Even though I couldn't hear anyone, I could tell that everyone else had already gone to bed.