Chapter 1-Night Strike

Arizona lived up to everything that Dean had ever learned about it in school; dry, hot, humid, and did I mention hot? The Impala's AC was working on overdrive trying to keep him and Sam cool until they reached Phoenix. They had been called by a friend, a retired hunter named Gabby, who said that Bobby owed her a favor for saving his ass back in Wichita. Bobby, never being one to refuse a friend in need, headed out to Arizona but called in reinforcements in the Winchester's when the spirit that was infecting Gabby's house became spirits and he couldn't handle them all at once. So now Sam and Dean had left the comfort of wet and cold Seattle for the hot and dry state of Arizona.

Sam was in a white t-shirt, trying to get some sleep despite the blistering conditions. Dean had slowly went from layers to an AC/DC "Highway to Hell" shirt. He kept changing the tapes in the cassette player. He had stocked up on his favorites at a used music store in Seattle and it was driving Sam crazy. Aerosmith he could handle, Poison was okay, but he started to go crazy around the time that Dean put in Guns n' Roses "Appetite for Destruction, and he officially lost it when the opening for Van Halen's "1984" began to play. Saying that Sam didn't like classic rock was an understatement. Good music to him was Three Days Grace, Linken Park, and Brittany Spears. They would've kept him awake so he wouldn't have a heat stroke.

"Turn it down." Sam moaned as he stared out the window at all the sand.

"Umm...no." Dean said.

"Why the fuck not?" Sam asked, turning to look at his brother.

"Cuz I said so." Dean snapped. The interior of the Impala remained silent. Dean kept up his tapping on the steering wheel. It was about five minutes later when Sam finally spoke again.

"Do you think that maybe once we could listen to some of my music?"

"They don't make that girly, emo crap on cassette." Dean said. "Plus, you wouldn't want to damage my baby with that shit that you call music, know would you?" Dean ran a hand over the dusty dash board. Sam rolled his eyes.

"You care more about this damn car than you do me." Sam said. That hit Dean where it hurt.

"What?" Dean asked. Sam looked at him and was about to repeat what he had just said when a dark shadow over the dark night caught his attention. He looked back out the window, but saw nothing. "What Sam? You think I care more about the car than you?" Sam ignored him and looked out the windshield. That's when the Impala's headlights locked on a figure dressed in black.

"STOP!!" Sam yelled. Dean looked out in front of him and hit the brake with as much force as he could. The Impala fishtailed, throwing Sam against the door. Dean set there, his breath coming in big puffs. He scanned the landscape in front of him. He didn't remember seeing anything, but Sam's frightened screams must have meant there was something in front of them. Sam held his right side, where he had smashed into the door. He looked over at Dean, who was still looking for something that he couldn't see. "It's...it's not there."

"Was there even anything there?!" Dean yelled. "Fuck Sam, I could've wrecked the car. I could've lost you...I mean, we could've been killed!" Sam set there in silence. Dean threw open his door and walked around to the trunk. He opened it and removed a shotgun and a flashlight. Sam followed him.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"You said you saw something." Dean said. "I'm a hunter, it's my instinct." That, and he wanted to see if it was the Yellow Eyed Bastard, here to take everything else in his life that meant anything to him.

Sam and Dean silently began to walk the dust covered pavement of the Arizona desert. There wasn't as much as a coyote howl or an owl hoot. That began to unnerve Dean to no end. There was something wrong tonight, something wrong indeed, and both the brothers felt it. Dean shifted the shotgun from one hand to the other as he glanced over at Sam, who held out the flashlight in front of him. Sam was a good actor and could hide his 'I'm scared' face, but Dean knew it was there. That's when they heard a noise. Behind them, like a twig snapping in half. Dean spun around to catch a glimpse. That's when he heard Sam make a grunt. He turned to see Sam on the ground, and then he met face-first with the butt of a gun.