Mystery Spot.

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE , MYSTERY SPOT

a/n : heyyyyyy!!!!! 🫶🏾

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"I love Asia."

Dean points at the girl that just walked into the motel room. "Hell Yes, Athena!"

Sam rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Oh, whatever...if I ever hear this song again I'm gonna kill myself."

Dean turns the volume up on the radio. "What? Sorry. I can't hear you!"

Athena lightly bounces Gil in her arms while humming the song. Dean points at Sam and mouths the words. Sam shakes his head and laughs.

Dean took way too long to get ready. He was still walking around the motel room, as if he was missing something.

"Whenever you're ready, Dean." Sam sighs.

Athena looks at Sam and giggles. Sam looks at her, "What?"

Athena shrugs, "You look sassy standing like that."

Sam looks at his hand on his hip and lets out a breath. "I'm hungry."

Athena frowns, "I forgot you get sassy when you're hungry."

"Yeah? Well, you get brain-farty." Sam retorts. "And Dean gets pouty."

"Whoa!"

Sam and Athena look at Dean, who's holding up black bra.

"This yours?" Dean points at Sam.

Sam's jaw clenches and Athena laughs. "That's so his."

"No, it's not!"

"Ha!" Dean obnoxiously laughs. He tosses the bra back into his duffel. His eyes find the item he was looking for. "Ah! Bingo." He grabs his gun and tucks it into the back of his waistband. "Now, who's ready for some breakfast?" He walks past his siblings and out of the motel room as if they hadn't been waiting for him for an hour.

"Me!" Athena exhaustedly exclaims. She dramatically sighs and follows him to the Impala. Sam drags his hands down his face and a small pouty whine comes from his mouth.

The siblings enter the diner.

"Drive safely now, Mr. Pickett."

Athena rushes past the host stand and slides into the nearest booth.

"Can't stay unless you order something, Cal. You know the rules."

Athena keeps her eyes on the menu above the diner counter and she squints her eyes. "Oh, god..."

"What?" The brothers finally make it into the booth. Dean presses his arm obnoxiously against Athena's and she groans—pulling her arm from his. "Personal space, dick breath."

"Dick breath? That's a new one." Dean tugs at her earlobe and she rubs it.

"I forgot my contacts." Athena growls. "I can't fucking see the menu."

"Well, that's okay." Sam shrugs. "I can read it for you, if you—"

"I just want my food, Sam." Athena seethes. "Can I get that? My food."

Dean snickers. "That's why he's offering to read you the menu." He then shakes his head. "Man, you get dumb when you're hungry."

Athena gasps, "Nuh-uh!"

Sam and Dean stay silent, practically arguing with her. Athena scoffs and sinks into her seat with her arms folded. "What's the menu fucking say?"

Sam and Dean look at each other with a smile. "Hey. Tuesday." Dean points at the menu. "Pig 'N A Poke."

Athena wrinkles her nose. "You probably don't even know what that is..."

Dean pulls his brows together and looks closer at the menu. Sam looks back at the menu, "There's French toast."

"And hash-browns?" Athena perks up.

Sam chuckles, "Yes, with hash-browns."

Athena frowns and nods her head. "Do you think...I could have eggs with cheese, too?"

Dean laughs, "Knew you couldn't resist eggs with cheese."

"Shut up." Athena nudges his arm.

"You three ready?"

The Winchesters look at the waitress.

"Yes." Dean eagerly answers. "I'll have the special, a side of bacon, and a coffee."

Sam nods, "Make it two coffees and a short stack."

Athena sheepishly smiles, "Actually, could you make it three coffees? And I'll have French toast with hash-browns, and eggs with cheese."

The waitress smiles. "You got it."

Dean looks back at Sam, "I'm telling you, Sam, this Jon is small-fry. We should be spending our time hunting down Bela."

Athena points at Dean, agreeing. Sam exhales, "Okay, sure. Let's get right on that. Where is she again?"

"Shut up." Dean grumbles.

"Look, believe me, I want to find her as bad as the two of you." Sam says. "In the meantime, we have this." He sets the paper out to his siblings.

"All right, so this professor..."

"Dexter Hasselback. He was passing through town last week when he vanished." Sam informs.

Athena grabs one of the sugar packets and tears it open. "Any last known location?"

"His daughter says he was on his way to visit the Broward County Mystery Spot."

Dean looks over the flyer, "Where the Laws of Physics have no meaning?"

Athena giggles, "That's stupid." She then pulls her brows together. "Who am I kidding—after everything I've seen, this is inspirational." She grabs the flyer and tucks it into her pocket. "I'm scrapbooking this."

"You don't scrapbook." Dean scoffs.

Athena shrugs her shoulder. "Well, when I start scrapbooking, this will be the first thing I scrapbook."

"Can we please stop saying the word scrapbook?" Sam speaks.

Athena and Dean don't even have to look at each other to have the same obnoxious thought.

"Scrapbook."

Sam rolls his eyes at his sibling's cohesiveness.

The waitress walks back over to the table with a tray of coffee cups. "Three coffees—black, and some hot sauce for the—" the hot sauce falls off the tray and shatters onto the ground.

"Crap. Sorry."

Athena presses her lips into a small smile. "All good. These things happen."

☆

"Aw, he's cute!"

Athena gives the golden retriever a small wave. A small 'meow' comes from her cat bag and she snorts. "Relax, it's not like I'm taking him in or anything."

Athena grabs the flyer from her pocket. "So, when are we—"

"Sam, you know joints like this are only tourist traps, right?" Dean grabs the flyer from her hands. Athena scoffs and kicks his shin, Dean lets out a clenched groan and hops up and down on one leg.

Athena sighs, "He does have point, though." She looks at Sam. "I mean, the balls rolling uphill, furniture nailed to the ceiling." She then raises her brows. "That actually sounds super cool."

"That's what they want you to think." Dean says. "The only danger's to your wallet."

"Look, guys. I'm just saying there are spots in the world where holes open up and swallow people—the Bermuda Triangle, the Oregon vortex—"

"Broward County Mystery Spot?" Dean scoffs.

"Sometimes these places are legit." Sam states.

Dean sighs with his eyes rolling. "All right, so if it is legit—and that's a big-ass 'if'—what's the lore?"

"Well—"

A girl bumps into Dean. Athena follows the girl and her brows pull together from the blonde's antsy behavior. "Excuse me."

"The lore's pretty freaking nuts, actually." Sam continues. "I mean, they say these places, the magnetic fields are so strong that they can bend space-time, sending victims no one knows where."

"Sounds a little "X Files" to me." Dean grumbles.

"I told you it wouldn't fit!"

The siblings look at the two men trying to fit a piano into the building. "What do you want a Pulitzer?!"

"But if it is, we got to check it out, see if we can do something." Sam shrugs.

"All right, all right—we'll go tonight after they close, get ourselves a nice, long look." Dean sighs.

Athena hums, "You guys think they're gonna fit that piano into the building?"

Sam lets out a breath, "Absolutely not."

"Not a chance."

Athena frowns and she nods her head. "Well, thank you for your honesty."

...

After the whole town had practically gone to sleep, the Winchesters snuck into the Mystery Spot. The entrance of the store was glowing in a green luminous light. Athena squeezes her eyes shut to keep her head from hurting. She massages the bridge of her nose and forces her eyes open again. The three siblings shine their lights through the shop.

"Wow. Uncanny." Dean deadpans. Athena pulls her EMF from her jacket pocket and walks around the shop.

"Find anything?"

Athena rolls her eyes, "No."

"Do you have any idea what you're looking for?" Dean asks.

Athena inhales, "Do you have any idea how annoying your voice sounds?"

"I don't." Dean replies. "But you have made it clear by telling me fifty thousand times before."

Athena frowns and nods her head, "Good."

They all continue to look around in silence, until another voice spooks them. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

Dean turns around with his gun aimed at the man. Sam and Athena whip around to the man holding a shotgun. He keeps his gun aimed at Dean. "You robbing me?" he then points the gun at Sam.

"Look no one is robbing you. Calm down." Sam says.

"Why would anyone bring a kid with them to rob?" Athena asks.

The man keeps his shaky grip on the gun. "To get sympathy points."

Athena opens and closes her mouth. "That's actually a really smart idea--"

"Athena--"

"--but we're not doing that!" Athena adds.

Dean shifts causing the man to point the gun at him. "Don't move--don't move!"

"I'm just putting the gun down." Dean crouches to the floor.

The man pulls the trigger. Dean crumbles to the ground as soon as the bullet hit his chest. Athena lets out a scream with her hands covering her mouth.

"Dean!" Sam runs over to him.

The EMF slips from her hand, shattering on the ground. Athena pulls her hands from her mouth and her breathing quickens. "Oh, my god..." she runs over to her brothers. Sam holds Dean in his arms and Athena falls to her knees on the other side of Dean. "Wh-what do we do?" she looks at Sam. Everything in her mind had gone blank. She couldn't remember anything. Her name, how to help. She was useless.

"Call 911." Sam looks at the store owner. The store owner looks down at his gun then at the panicked siblings. "I-I didn't mean to--"

"Now!" Sam snaps.

Dean begins to choke on his own blood and Athena's eyes blur with tears. "This isn't..." her voice trembles. "this isn't supposed to happen--this can't be happening!"

"Hey. Hey..." Sam tries to keep Dean awake. But he could see it in Dean's eyes, he was fading fast. "No. No--not like this."

Dean's body began to feel heavier in his arms. Athena lets out another cry when she sees Dean's head lull back and his eyes fall shut. Athena grasps her brother's arm, "Dean?"

"Dean!"

☆

"I love Asia..."

Dean points at the girl that just walked into the motel room. "Hell Yes, Athena!"

Sam turns to the girl and she looks at him. "Athena."

Athena pulls her brows together, "Sammy."

Dean turns the volume up on the radio, forcing Sam and Athena to look at their older brother. He points at Sam and mouths the words. Athena looks down at her cat and shudders. "Weird."

Sam and Dean finish getting ready and the three make it down to the diner.

"Drive safely now, Mr. Pickett."

The old man shrugs the host off, "Yeah, yeah..."

Athena watches the older man walk out of the diner.

"You can't stay unless you order something Cal." The waitress says. "You know the rules."

Athena sits in the booth with her brothers.

"Hey, Tuesday." Dean says. "Pig 'N A Poke."

"It's Tuesday?"

Sam and Athena look at each other suspiciously.

"Are you three ready?"

"Yes." Dean exclaims. "I'll have the special, side of bacon, and a coffee."

The waitress jots down Dean's order. She then looks at Sam. He looks at Dean then at the waitress, "Uh, nothing for me. Thanks."

"Let me know if you change your mind."

She then looks at Athena. The youngest sibling scratches her wrist, "Uh...just a coffee for, please."

Dean sighs, "I'm telling you, Sam, this job is small-fry. We should be spending our time hunting down Bela."

Athena shakes her head and taps her nails against the table. Dean snaps his fingers, "Hey, you two with me?"

Athena looks at Dean and she looks at his chest. She could've sworn there was a bullet hole...

"You guys feeling all right?" Dean notices them staring off into space.

"You don't..." Sam motions to the diner. "You don't remember any of this?"

Athena looks at Sam with wide eyes, "So, you remember too!"

Sam lets out a breath of relief. He's glad he's not the only one going through this.

"Remember what?"

"This. Today." Sam clarifies. "Like--like it's happened before?"

"You mean like DeJa VU?" Dean nods his head.

Athena shakes her head, "No, like it's really happened before."

"Yeah. Like DeJa VU." Dean blinks.

Athena squints her eyes, "No." she seethes. "Forget about the fucking DeJa VU."

Dean huffs, "Well, excuse me."

"We're asking you if it feels like--like we're living yesterday all over again." Sam adds.

Dean shifts in his seat. He looks from Sam to Athena. Just from the hesitation Athena knew what he was going to ask. "Okay, how is that not DeJ--"

"Dean!" Athena snaps.

"Don't!" Sam seethes. "Don't say it! Just don't even..."

The waitress makes her way over to the table. "Coffee--black, and some hot sauce for the..." the hot sauce topples over the tray. "Whoops crap!"

Sam quickly catches it. Athena and Dean raise their brows. The waitress grabs the hot sauce with a smile, "Thanks!" she sets it on the table. Dean laughs, "Nice reflexes."

"That happened yesterday too, right?" Athena points at Sam. Sam points right back at her, "Yes!"

Athena lets out a low giggle, "We're in a time loop, man." she smacks her hands on a table. "This is kind of cool."

"No--No, it's not." Sam says.

After breakfast, the three siblings walk down the sidewalk with the barking dog. Dean looks at his two siblings. "Listen, I'm sorry. But I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about."

"Okay, look." Sam starts. "Yesterday was Tuesday, right? But today is Tuesday, too."

Dean slowly nods his head. "Yeah. No. Good. You're totally balanced."

"So, you don't believe him?" Athena asks.

Dean laughs. His shoulder bumps the blonde woman's. "Excuse me." she brushes past.

"Look, I'm just saying that it's crazy, you know?" Dean looks back at his siblings. "Even-for-us crazy. Dingo-Ate-My-Baby crazy."

"Hey, maybe it was another one of your psychic premonitions." Dean suggests.

Athena holds her hands up, "Hi, my name is Athena Winchester. But most people call me "chopped liver"." she looks at Dean. "I was also in the time loop."

Dean winces, "Sorry."

Athena squints her eyes and growls.

"Okay, look. We were at the Mystery Spot when it happened, and then..." Sam trails off his words and glances at Athena. Both of them hesitated to reveal that Dean had died. They didn't know why, but it was scary saying out loud.

"And then what?"

"Then we woke up." Athena answers.

"I told you it wouldn't fit!" One of the movers exclaim, trying to shove the piano into the building.

"What do you want, a Pulitzer?"

Athena snaps her fingers, "The Mystery Spot--that's got to be it!"

Sam looks at Athena, "You think maybe it--"

"Maybe it what?" Dean asks.

"We got to check that place out." Athena says and Sam nods his head in agreement. Dean throws his hands up in the air. "Hi, I'm Dean Winchester. But most people call me "third wheel"."

Athena dismissively waves a hand at Dean. Right now, Sam and Athena need to find a way out of this mess and it was obvious Dean had no idea what was going on.

Dean looks between the two, not buying any of what they're saying. "Look just go with us on this."

"All right, all right--we'll go tonight after close, get ourselves a nice, long look." Dean suggests.

Athena and Sam both turn to him. "No!" the girl shrieks.

Dean's eyes widen and Athena glances at Sam. "I mean..." Athena clears her throat. "N-No. Let's go now, right?"

Sam nods his head, "Yeah, yeah. Now's good. Business Hours--nice and crowded."

Dean once again is left looking between his siblings in astonishment. "My God, you two are freaks."

Athena throws her arms up, "For fuck's sake--"

"Okay! Whatever. We'll go now." Dean walks away from them. Athena and Sam look at each other and they both exhale a breath of relief. The younger siblings follow behind Dean as he begins to cross the street. Suddenly, a speeding car rams into Dean's body sending him flying into the air. Athena's body jerks back with a loud gasp. Dean's body tumbles to the ground with blood coating his face and twisted limbs.

"Oh my god!"

"Dean!"

Athena and Sam run over to their brother. Sam pulls Dean into his arms and Athena's breathing begins to tremble. She looks back at the man, Mr. Pickett, in the car. Athena sucks in a breath and looks back at Dean and her eyes fill with tears.

Heat of the Moment.

Sam shoots up from his bed and looks to the side at Dean, tying his shoes.

"Rise and Shine, Sammy!"

Athena bursts through the door with her breathing heavy. Her eyes stay glued to the alarm clock. Then she looks at Sam, who had the same wide eyes. Athena's shoulders slump, "Okay, maybe this isn't going to be cool..."

On the way to the diner, Athena and Sam hurriedly try to explain to Dean that they were living the same Tuesday. But he obviously didn't believe them.

"Would you listen to me, Dean? Cause I am flipping out." Sam says.

The waitress walks up to the table. "Are you three ready?"

"He'll take the special, side of bacon, coffee--black." Sam orders for Dean. "Nothing for me thanks."

Athena raises her hand, "I'll have a black coffee as well, please."

"You go it."

Sam turns to Athena with a pointed gaze. Athena innocently shrugs, "What? Just because we're in a time loop doesn't mean I'm not going to drink coffee."

Dean teasingly smiles. "Sammy, I get all tingly when you take control like that."

"Quit screwing around, Dean." Sam snaps.

Dean softly chuckles, "Okay. Okay. I'm listening." he leans forward. "So, so--you two think you're in some kind of what?"

"Time loop." The siblings chorus.

"Like 'Groundhog Day'?"

Athena nods her head, "Yes. Exactly like 'Groundhog Day'."

"Uh huh..."

Athena then squints her eyes. "Wait a minute...he's mocking me--Sam, he's mocking me!" she points her finger in Dean's face.

"You don't believe us?" Sam exasperates.

Dean laughs, "It's just a little crazy." he says.

Athena rolls her eyes and massages her forehead.

"Even-for-us crazy." Dean continues. "You know like, uh--"

"Dingo-ate-my-baby crazy?" Sam finishes.

Dean pulls his brows together, "How'd you know I was gonna say that?"

"Because you've said it before, Dean. That's our whole point." Sam says.

The waitress comes back carrying a tray. "2 black coffees." she sets the mugs on the table. Athena softly smiles, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetie." The waitress beams. "Here's some hot sauce for the--"

The hot sauce topples off the tray. "Oh, crap!"

Sam holds his hand out and quickly catches the bottle. The waitress smiles, "Thanks." she grabs the bottle and sets it on the table. As soon as the waitress walks away Dean speaks.

"Nice reflexes."

"No. I knew it was gonna happen." Sam says.

Dean still wasn't buying it. "Okay, look. I'm sure there's some sort of explanation."

"Look, you're just gonna have to go with us on this, all right, Dean?--You just have to you owe us that much." Sam desperately begs.

"Calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!--I can't calm down. I can't because..." Sam trails off his words and a lump forms in his throat thinking about the last two Tuesday's he's witnessed.

"Because what?" Dean asks, he looks between his siblings noticing their hesitance.

Athena inhales a shaky breath, "You die today, Dean."

Dean blinks at the two. "I'm not gonna die. Not today."

"We have watched you die twice now." Sam states. "And I can't."

Dean's gaze softens from the trembling in Sam's voice. He looks at Athena, who's face heats up with embarrassment. She then looks at her coffee. Despite her being adamant on showing her emotions, it was obvious that seeing Dean die twice bothered her just as much.

"I won't do it again, okay?"

Athena looks up from her coffee. "You just have to believe us." she adds. "Please."

Dean gives Athena a soft nod, "All right. I still think the two of you are nuts, but...okay. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out."

After breakfast, the Winchesters walk down the sidewalk of the town. "And you think this cheesy-ass tourist trap has something to do with it."

"Maybe it's the real deal, you know?" Sam says. "The--the magnetic fields bending space-time or whatever."

Athena snorts, "It's nice that you think you know what you're talking about."

"This all seems a little too "X Files" for me." Dean sighs.

"As if we don't hunt monsters." Athena deadpans.

"I don't know how else to explain it, guys!" Sam exclaims.

Dean rolls his eyes, "All right! All right. We'll go tonight after they close, get ourselves a nice, long look."

Sam stops Dean, "No, no, no, no. We can't." his voice was filled with urgency.

Dean turns to his siblings. "Why not?"

Athena and Sam exchange a look. Dean looks between them, "I die there?"

Athena scratches above her brow and exhales. "Blown away, actually."

Dean pulls his face back, "Huh...okay, let's go now." he takes a step into the street. Sam and Athena both lunge forward, grabbing both his arms and pulling him back just in time to miss Mr. Pickett's deadly driving.

"Get out of the way!"

Dean laughs as the man's car speeds by, but when he glances at his siblings their faces were stone. His face then drops, "Wait did he...?"

"Yesterday. Yeah."

Dean looks back at the car that was speeding down the street. "And?"

"And what?"

A smile creeps onto his face, "Did it look cool like in the movies?"

Athena cranes her neck forward. Is he fucking serious?

"Are you fucking serious?"

Sam deadpans, "You peed yourself."

Dean wrinkles his nose. He then throws his arms out, "Of course, I peed myself."

Athena squints her eyes and looks to the side.

"A man gets hit by a car, you think he has full control over his bladder?--Come on!"

Athena slowly nods her head, "That's right, Dean. Defend your dead self." she then sarcastically pumps a fist into the air.

...

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

"We could use all the good ink we can get."

Sam brushes past the man's comment. "How long have you owned the place, Mr. Carpiak?"

"Well. my family's been guarding the secrets here since you don't want to know when." Mr. Carpiak answers.

"So, you'd know if anything strange happened?" Sam inquires.

"Strange?" Mr. Carpiak eerily speaks. "Strange happens here all the time. It's a Mystery Spot."

"What exactly does that mean?" Sam's frustration rises.

"Well, uh...it's where the laws of physics...have no meaning."

Dean blinks while Sam's jaw clenches, "Okay. Like how?"

"Take the tour." The man smiles.

Sam looks away from Mr. Carpiak.

"The guy who went missing, Dexter Hasselback, he take the tour?" Dean questions.

Mr. Carpiak pulls his brows together. "Uh...hold on a minute." he nervously chuckles. "What kind of article is this?"

"Just answer the question." Sam's voice was forceful.

"The police scoured every inch of this place." Mr. Carpiak states. "They couldn't find that man. I never seen him before."

"We're a family establishment--"

"Listen to me." Sam steps toward the man, towering over him. Mr. Carpiak swallows. "There's something weird going on here. Now, do you know anything about it or not?"

"Okay, look." Mr. Carpiak's attitude takes a 180. "Guys, um, give it a break. I bought the joint at a foreclosure auction last March, all right? Hell, I used to sell bail bonds."

Dean looks between Mr. Carpiak and Sam, Sam was not moving and he sure as hell wasn't taking his fiery gaze off of the man. "Okay, Kojack. Let's get some air." he pats Sam's arm and they walk out of the building. They get back to the motel room and Athena was sitting on the edge of the bed with Gil in her arms. Once the door swung open, Athena popped up from the bed with Gil.

"So? How'd it go?"

"Nothing."

Athena blinks. She was confused. "Nothing? What do you mean nothing?"

"It's like I said." Dean sighs. "Nothing."

Now, Dean was walking down the street with two stir-crazy siblings. "I hate to say it, but that place is exactly what I thought--it's full of crap."

"Okay, so what is it, then, Dean?" Sam hurriedly questions. "What the hell is happening to us?"

"I don't know."

"I'll tell you what's happening. Bullshit is what's happening." Athena seethes with her hands stuffed in her pockets. "If I'm stuck here forever and Asia get's ruined for me." she begins to unstably cackle. "I'll blow up this town."

"You're not going to blow up the--"

"I'll blow up this town!"

Dean shakes his head at the fuming 13 year old. "Let me just..." he stops and turns to Sam and Athena. "So, every day I die."

"Yeah."

"That's when the two of you wake up again, right?" Dean questions.

Sam and Athena nod, "Yeah."

"So, let's just make sure I don't die." Dean says. "If I make it to tomorrow, then maybe the loop stops and we can figure this all out."

The two siblings stop bouncing their legs and their eyes soften. The relief evident across their faces. "You think?" Athena squeaks.

Dean softly chuckles, "It's worth a shot."

"I say we grab some takeout, head back to the motel, lay low until midnight."

Sam and Athena look at each other, they both shrug--agreeing. "All right good." Dean turns from them. "Who wants Chinese?"

He didn't even take 2 steps forward when the piano fell and crushed him. Athena's eyes widen and a small shaky breath escapes her lips. She looks down at her blood soaked boots then up at the two movers from earlier.

Heat of the Moment

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author's note.

I just realized that there's only a handful of episodes left until the end of this season...

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