Sam's eyes snapped open. Was that a noise? Surely not. She rolled over and buried deeper into the cushions. A soft thud made her leap from the bed. With quick movements, she yanked her dark blonde hair back from her face, pulling it into a ponytail. Her hand caught up a lamp, yanking the cord from the wall and ripping the shade off of it with her other hand.
Her bare feet made faint sounds on the wooden floor as she slipped down the hallway. She could see a dark figure in the living room. One, two, three. She leapt on the figure with a grunt, pressing the lamp to the figure's neck.
The intruder let out a muffled squawk and, bending over, deposited Sam onto the floor. Knocking the lamp out of Sam's hand, the intruder sat down hard on Sam's stomach.
"Hey, Sammy, baby." Sam could fairly hear the snarky grin in the intruder's voice. With a sudden, furious effort, she threw off her assailant.
"Dean!" She snarled, flipping on the lights to reveal a tall, angular young woman. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Lookin' for you, Sammy, baby." The girl grinned, spreading her hands. She wore her brown hair in a short, gelled pixie cut, and her fitted plaid button up hung loosely on her narrow frame.
"Don't call me that." Sam wiped her bloody lip on the back of her hand. "What do you want?"
Dean was about to reply when a tall, muscular young man emerged from the back room. "Sam? What's going –" He cut off abruptly when he spotted Dean. "Who's this?"
"This is my sister, Dean." Sam said with the air of someone not paying full attention to the conversation.
"I gotta say," Dean said, taking a swaggering step toward the young man. Her long legs beneath her short jean shorts were practically luminescent in the dim light. Her hips swayed suggestively as she grinned again and said, "You are completely out of my sister's league." The young man frowned, shooting an uncomfortable glance at Sam.
"Knock it off, Dean." Sam snapped. Her brown eyes, normally soft, were sharp. "What do you want?"
"Listen," Dean purred, still addressing the young man, "Can you leave for a bit? Got something I need to discuss with Sammy here."
"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Justin." Sammy bit off the ends of her words. Dean gives her a patronizing look.
Then, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one hip, "Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a couple of days."
Sam shrugged, trying to ignore the knot in the pit of her stomach. "He'll stumble back in a day or two. Not a big deal."
Dean cleared her throat, and the patronizing look became even more pointed. "Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a couple of days."
Sam closed her eyes, resisting the urge to stomp her foot and scream. "Justin, will you please excuse us for a minute?" The words felt like they were being dragged out of her.
Despite her best attempts not to be persuaded, Sam suddenly, somehow found herself packing an overnight bag and changing into loose jeans and a t-shirt.
"Where are you going, exactly?" Justin asked again.
"I don't know." Sam said shortly, pausing to kiss him gently. "I'll be back in a day or two."
"Why can't I come?" Justin asked with a soft laugh.
"Family road trip." Sam said, rolling her eyes. "I'll be fine."
"Two girls out on the road alone. . . sounds like you could use some protection." He jokingly flexed his muscles.
"Trust me," Sam widened her eyes in exasperation. "We'll be fine."
Dean was waiting impatiently by a black '67 Impala outside the apartment building. Sam grimaced at the sight of it.
"Still hauling this lunk of junk around?"
"Hey!" for the first time so far, Dean's voice was truly angry. "Don't insult my baby." Her words were joking but something in her tone wasn't.
"I thought I was your baby." Sam said resentfully as she slid into the passenger seat.
"Nope." Dean grinned as she started the car. She slapped the dashboard. Rock music screamed through the speakers and Sam leapt for the volume knob.
Dean's ever-present grin widened as she gunned the engine and roared out of the parking lot. As Sam closed her eyes, listening to Dean's hoarse voice singing along with the music, she remembered, with a chill, what was in the trunk, and wondered how on earth she'd been dragged back into all this.