Prologue

Dean's eyes opened slowly, his blank expression turned into one of confusion. Where was he?

"Sam?" he called but there was no answer. He tried to get up and then he realised that he'd been tied to a chair. What the hell was going on? How many times had he been in this position? He felt around for a knife so he could cut the ropes but it wasn't there. Dean frowned, something was going on. He just didn't know what. He hoped that Sam was okay. Where was Sam anyway? Dean remembered that they'd got back to the motel late last night. Later than usual. Before Dean could remember why they'd gotten back late he heard footsteps. He could heart beating rapidly as he anticipated the presence of this mystery person approaching the doorway. He watched closely as the door swung open. He squinted as a bright light appeared, but his widened in shock as he saw who had entered the room.

"What's the matter Dean?" Dean didn't reply, he was still looking at the person in surprise. The person laughed,

"Wow for the first time in your life Dean you've got nothing to say huh?" The person said in a mocking tone. Dean's facial expression hardened and he asked himself again. What the hell is going on?

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Part One – A Days Earlier

Sam quickly shut his laptop just as Dean walked into the room. Dean gave his brother a look but he didn't say anything. Sam cleared his throat and said

"So what are you doing today?" Dean raised his eyebrows and said.

"What do you think?" in a sarcastic way.

"I think that we should try and break this deal" Sam said in an indifferent voice. Dean's muscles tensed; the deal, that damn deal.

"Sam not this again…I mean come on…we're in the middle of a war here…I'm just one guy, thousands of people could die" Dean replied in what he hoped was a convincing way.

"Well then let them die!" Sam yelled angrily. He didn't mean that Dean thought.

"Don't say that Sam, you don't mean that" he said out loud in a quiet voice.

"Don't I?" Sam shot back in an icy voice. There was a long intense silence as Sam and Dean glared at each other. Sam was the one to break the silence,

"Dean, you're my brother...all I want to do is save your life..and I don't care what it takes, I don't care about anything else". Dean remained silent; he didn't know what to say. Sam asked him if he was all right and Dean said that he was.

"And one more thing Sam, our job is too hunt things and protect people, we can't switch off from the job whenever we want to, there's a lot of people out there Sammy..and...we may not win this war but we've got to try". Sam felt a lump rising in his throat. Dean was right, he knew that. But he didn't care he just wanted to get Dean out of this stupid deal!

"Right," Dean said suddenly, "Bobby called earlier, we have a ghost to vanquish"

"Ghost?" Sam asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Well it could be an evil spirit of some sort, I'm nor sure yet, Bobby said that in the last couple of weeks three people have died in this town" Sam frowned and said,
"Well..how did they die?"

"Our guess that whatever this thing is, it used some sort of knife but I'm not sure"

"How do you know that it's a spirit" Sam said.

"There was a fourth victim, she said that she saw something, actually I'm om my way to talk to her now..you coming" Sam shook his head and said,

"I think I'll stay here and try and find out some information...or whatever"

"All righty, suit yourself...Bitch"

"Jerk" The two brothers smiled at each other for a moment, then Sam opened up his laptop and he began to type away. Dean watched him silently; Sam seemed distant and withdrawn. Dean wished that things could be different, he was scared. Scared that his inevitable death would push Sam towards the edge. Dean turned and walked out of the door. Just after he left Sam looked up, there was fear in his eyes.

As he drove to the hospital, Dean wondered about how things might have been different if their Dad was still here. He shook his head slightly, he didn't want to die. But he didn't want to like this either. He'd given up so much for his family; he'd given up everything. He hated what he saw when he looked in the mirror. He was bitter and twisted. Worthless. Sam was the lucky one, he'd had enough courage to do what he wanted to do. Leave. See what the real world was like as opposed to the supernatural world. Dean admired him for that. It'd been a stupid thing to do, but that was Dean's opinion. He'd stuck with John. John had spent the entire time worrying about Sam and doing his own thing. He'd never asked Dean how he was and he'd never told him that he was proud of him. But Dean had stuck by him, he'd looked after Sam. He'd been loyal. But what did he get in return? Nothing. He'd given up his soul for his brother, just like John had given up his for him. But his Dad had been a...hero. he was a nobody, just some dude who was slowly falling apart. Dean sighed and checked his watch.

Sam slammed a hand on the desk, a frustrated look on his face. His Dad's journal lay on the desk next to his laptop. He still didn't know how he was going to get Dean out of this deal. He knew that Dean didn't want to die, he could pretend all he wanted but Sam could see right through it. A single tear rolled down Sam's cheek. He wiped it away hastily. He had to keep himself together; for Dean's sake. But Sam felt guilty, everytime he looked at Dean he felt a sharp intense pain in his chest. But Sam was out of ideas, he didn't know what to do. Suddenly Sam's head began to hurt, the pain was minimal at first but then it grew stronger and stronger. Sam yelled out in pain...he could see something. He stood up and staggered across the room. The pain was becoming unbearable now. Then he saw Dean. He closed his eyes and the image became clearer, Dean was lying somewhere, he was unconscious. Sam fell to the ground as he writhed around in agony. As he lay on the floor a figure watched from the window.