I Wish it Were Butterflies

Chapter One

What happened?

Sam opened his eyes slowly, eyelids drooping with drowsiness. The area was plagued with darkness and humidity. The air was thick and hot, making Sam's skin moist and sticky. His hair and clothes damply stuck to his skin, causing much discomfort for the Winchester. Wherever he was, it was cramped, giving him hardly any space to stretch and move his limbs. The soft, wet ground beneath him seemed to move and pulse slowly.

What the hell!? Where am I!?

Sam sat up and looked around wildly, which didn't do his throbbing headache any good. He groaned and put a hand to his forehead, hoping to ease the pain. Despite the ache, he managed to stand on shaky legs. Or, he tried, the cramped area was preventing him from standing upright, leaving him no choice but to crouch lowly. His knees gave out quickly and he returned to sitting on the damp ground that barely resembled any kind of floor. He had to duck his head, given that whatever type of ceiling was above him was too low for him to even sit upright. Sam squinted and tried to see through the darkness. There was no light source anywhere, and he was left to sit in the dark, cramped space, with the floor still pulsing underneath him like it had a life of its own. Then it hit him.

Oh crap... The witch! She... Oh God... please, no... I can't be shrunken inside Dean's stomach!

Three Days Earlier...

"So... Dean, get this..."

Sam clicked through the windows of his browser lightly and pulled up the front news of Salem, Massachusetts, which was covered with articles involving a series of murders around the town. The articles had easily caught Sam's eye and he had already looked a bit into the case before deciding that he had enough information to share with Dean. There was no use pitching a new case to Dean before Sam had some evidence that it might be their kind of thing to look into.

Dean turned his head towards his brother, all attention drawn to Sam. They had finished their last case days ago and the older Winchester had been waiting impatiently for his brother to find them a new lead. Dean carried a half empty beer bottle in his hand as he slowly walked over to where Sam was sitting in front of his laptop.

"Yeah? What is it?" Dean questioned, before taking a sip from his beer. He stood behind Sam, elbows rested on the back of Sam's chair, staring at the screen intently from behind his brother.

"So, apparently, in the last week, there have been five cases of the same thing throughout Salem..." Sam started. "Each case is exactly the same. Two people, both usually very close, like girlfriends and boyfriends, or husband and wife, best friends... You name it. Then, one of the two disappears, and the other is left alone."

Dean blinked with a puzzled look on his face. "So... Isn't that a good thing? We have witnesses!" He stepped back from behind the chair and stared at his brother, putting an exaggerated confused expression on his face to let Sam know that he expected an explanation.

"Usually, it would be... But apparently, all of the witnesses have been marked out as traumatized or insane..." Sam leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. It was not unheard of that people who witnessed Supernatural occurrences went insane from the experience. It simply was the way some people's minds dealt with trauma. However, five out of five survivors losing their mind was unusual, to say the least.

Dean huffed out a humorless chuckle, now even more perplexed by this incident. "Insane, huh? Like, looney-bin insane? Sounds interesting..."

"Yep. All the more reason to check it out." Sam agreed, leaning forward in his chair and getting up in one swift motion.

"So, ya wanna check it out tomorrow?" Dean asked, walking around the hotel room.

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

Dean nodded and finished off the last of his beer. He needed a good and interesting case like this one... Sam and he hadn't had one like that in a while.

Sam grabbed his laptop and folded it shut, yanked the cord from the wall, and put the laptop in its bag. He zipped it up quickly and started to collect his clothes from the hotel room, grabbing stray plaid shirts, jeans, and socks and stuffing them in his duffel bag. Dean did the same, grabbing his clothes and Busty Asian Beauties Magazines and putting them in his own duffel.

Sam made a mental note to go to the store and get energy drinks and coffee in the morning for the trip ahead of them.

"Alright, so, we leave early in the morning?" Sam questioned, placing his duffel beside his bed.

"Yep. First thing. We should get a look into the crime scenes and talk to the quack-job witnesses." Dean said, giving a quick glance at Sam. The younger Winchester nodded, seeming prepared for the next morning.

Gonna be one fun case... Dean thought with a smirk before he and Sam both settled in their own beds and fell asleep, ready for morning to come. The intriguing case had the Winchesters hooked already, both thinking of all the different monsters could be behind the disappearances.

"Agents Young and Johnson." Both men held up their fake badges, showing them to the police officer in front of them. The officer, named William Smith, gave a nod to the Winchesters.

It was the next morning, and the Winchesters had already driven to Salem, and were investigating the crime scene. They had woken up quite early, Sam going to get energy drinks and coffee, and then the both of them leaving the hotel with their things. It had been a good five hour drive, Sam looking into their current case more, while Dean drove, occasionally turning on some AC/DC or Bon Jovi and singing along. Hours later they had finally arrived and were already at the crime scene and ready for anything the case might throw at them.

"Didn't know the FBI got involved in this sort of thing..." The officer said, hands stuffed into his pockets comfortably. He was a larger man, with a typical buzz cut hairdo like any officer would have. Just a typical police officer... Dean thought.

Sam and Dean both returned their badges to the inside pockets of their suits. "Well, it's quite the interesting case here, isn't it?" Dean stated with a chuckle.

Officer Smith laughed back. "Yeah, sure is... Never heard of anything like this before..." His laughter faded near the end of his statement and his look became serious.

Sam nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, we'll take a look here." He said in a professional voice, giving a nod to the officer.

Officer Smith nodded back and gave a gesture for them to enter. The brothers both stepped over the police line and entered the scene. It was the latest of the odd disappearances, only having happened a day ago. The crime scene was the living room of the couple's house, Sarah and Elijah. The couple had only recently moved in together. Sarah had disappeared the night before, Elijah being left alone to explain. His story was said to be just like the others' and he was put into a mental hospital.

The area was clean of blood, but there were signs of a struggle. A broken vase, knocked over chairs, and what seemed to be a crack in the wall that hadn't been there before. It was certainly a peculiar case...

Dean and Sam both searched the room for any satanic symbols, or anything demonic, but found nothing. They had checked on all the walls throughout the house, in the closets, under rugs... Anywhere they could find. Sam gave a glance to his brother, showing all the confusion and frustration he felt.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Dean's brow furrowed with confusion as he looked over the room again. There should have been something. Anything. He was at a loss of what to do... That was until he spotted a small, brown bag under the coffee table.

"Sammy..." Dean said as he walked over, crouched down and grabbed the bag from under the table. He felt it in his hands for a few seconds, just to make sure his suspicions were correct.

Sam narrowed his eyes and leaned forward to examine the small object. "Is that a..."

"Hex Bag..." Dean answered, looking up at Sam with a smug look. Hex bags obviously meant one thing. Witches.

"...Yeah." Sam sighed, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Dean stood back up, hex bag in hand. "Well, looks like we have a witch on our hands..." he said, frowning with a protruding lip. Their interesting case might have just turned into one of those the older Winchester didn't like at all. Witches weren't like the monsters or demons they usually hunted after all. They were much more unpleasant and unpredictable.

Monsters took humans apart, because it was in their nature, there hardly ever was a deeper logic to anything they did. Demons were evil sons of bitches from the deepest pits of hell. Witches however were still humans and that not only made everything more complicated, it also meant that they were capable of a completely different kind of evil. As Dean liked to say, "Demons I get, people are crazy."