Chapter One: Lily

Jerking awake with a start, Lily Abernathy almost toppled out of the window seat she had curled herself into. Not that she had been fully asleep of course; sleep was a luxury she simply was not permitted any more. Even in the half assed psych ward of a small town hospital, a place were the meds ran like water, Lily couldn't get more than a few minutes of honest to goodness, sweet, blessed, REM sleep. To be honest, though she needed it desperately, sleep was the last thing she wanted. Sleep meant dreams and the dreams she was currently prone to were so horrifically vivid and terrifying sleep had become less of a pleasantry and more of a punishment; as if she hadn't already been punished enough as it was.

Lily had no idea why, or even how she was still alive. She wasn't even supposed to have been, or and didn't even want to have been living in Hideaway on a permanent basis. But as luck would have it, she had been and now by the grace of someone or something, she was the last one standing. She was alive and had escaped as two by two, three by three, and upwards there of everyone in Hideaway, were massacred. Good people had been killed, gutted and ripped to shreds, by something unimaginable; something that belonged only in nightmarish fairytales and stories told around campfires. Everyone she had come to know in the past few years of her life had been torn apart by something that nobody was ever going to believe her actually existed.

She had tried, against her better judgment to tell people what had happened. Lily had nothing to lose and was dying to explain to anyone who would give her a moment to impart her knowledge; not that it was getting her anywhere or causing her anything other than a load of trouble. Everyone either thought she was batshit crazy or at least well on her way to being so and to be perfectly honestly Lily wasn't so sure they were all that wrong. Sane people didn't have these kinds of things happen to them, sane people didn't end up in a place like she had either, not voluntarily. But in being in a place as she was, there was at least the virtual guarantee of safety. To the best of her knowledge they couldn't get to her as long as she was tucked away inside the walls of the hospital. They could try, but for them to get in and get to her unnoticed would be next to impossible; for now. However, if nothing else, Lily had learned over the past few days that safety "for now" wasn't enough of a sure thing or a reassurance of much at all. These things – they – that had destroyed everyone else in town, for lack of better wording were hunting her; or stalking her. It hadn't been very long at all after police admitted her to the ward that they started showing up around the yard. A silent reminder that they knew exactly where she was; and maybe that it was only a matter of time before they could get their proverbial hands on her.

A tiny flash of movement in the yard, and Lily's attention was drawn outside. Reluctantly, she pushed the gauzy white curtains to the side for a better view, and in an instant she realized she should have known better. Standing between two towering and unruly oak trees was a painfully slender young man seemingly in his late teens. Dressed inconspicuously, and face obscured by a down tipped brim of a baseball cap and staring vacantly ahead of himself as he stood still as a statue, concealed gaze fixed solidly in her direction. Normal as anything for the most part, but Lily knew there was far more to the young man that met the eye.

Hand clapped over her mouth she stifled a sharp cry and jerked backwards, once again almost flinging herself from her perch. Lily clenched her eyes shut as tightly as possible and curled her fingers into tight little fists. A foolish, childish solution that once worked wonders on childhood spooks and minor disturbances, she was convinced that were she to just keep her eyes closed long enough, even just for ten seconds it would be gone and everything would be right again when she had the guts to take another look.

One...two...

If she couldn't see it, it wasn't there.

Three…four…five...

If she couldn't see it, it wasn't real.

Six...seven

If she just focused enough, she could get rid of it through sheer will and everything would be right as it should be when she mustered the guts to peek out the window again.

Eight...nine...

From behind and without any warning, a hand clapped down on her shoulder, ripping her attention away from her silly distraction and back into reality. Though she had managed to stifle one ear-piercing scream, there was no such luck this time. Eyes wide as saucers, she turned on the bench to greet an audience of fellow patients milling about the area startled into stillness by her sudden outburst. Among them was a portly and rather mousy looking woman (the head of administration, known only as Gladys to those in the ward) and accompanying her, two unassuming and moderately friendly looking young men, clad in sharp professional attire.

"Whoa, easy there…" The shorter of the two men half chuckled and held up his hands in apology and took an abrupt step back. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Silent, Lily eyed the strangers momentarily before turning her attention back towards the window. Whether by product of her wishful thinking alone or something else entirely, it was gone. The yard was once again blessedly empty and she pressed her forehead to the glass as a wave of relief coursed over her, stilling the panic and drowning out the heartbeat still thrumming in her ears.

"Miss?" The stranger's voice pulled at Lily's attention again. "Are you alright?

She nodded shyly.

"Don't talk much huh?"

Lily eyed him again, expression worn and drawn; in no mood for any form of humor and without energy to exchange niceties.

"Okay then." The stranger sighed to himself and shot his companion an exasperated look.

Gladys interjected "Lily, these two nice men…are from the FBI."

She smiled in a gentle kind of way that made Lily cringe each and every time she was subjected to it. It was the kind of smile that conveyed just how fragile everyone though she was, like she was made of glass and would shatter into a thousand pieces if anyone so much as sneezed.

"Agents Plant and Page." The short man smiled, and whipped an identification badge out just long enough for her to get a glimpse.

Lily cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at the questionably named pair. "Really?"

"Yeah," The agent Lily assumed should be referred to as "Plant", on account of his gestures, cleared his throat awkwardly. "That'd be…that'd be us. Anyway…"

"The agents would like a word; just a brief one, they'd like to know what happened…" Gladys smiled again, stepping in as if to keep Lily calm. "If you don't mind."

Lily shrugged and swung her feet over the side of the window bench and slowly trailed the men out of the common area. Just a few feet from the door, she dared to take one last look out the window. The yard remained blessedly free of the unwelcome visitor, but that as it were provided only a little comfort. He, or rather it, would be back; there wouldn't be much solace for Lily for very much longer.

Sam's eyebrows half knitted together in concern, his face grim as he gazed at Lily from across Gladys's desk. Pressing herself tightly into an overstuffed leather chair, Lily gnawed at her thumbnail anxiously as she stared pointedly out the window.

She was every bit as shattered and worn looking as she had been in the photo printed with the news article and maybe even more so. Her already fair complexion was even further blanched, and thick dark circles rimmed bloodshot and worry laden grey eyes. Mahogany hair slipped free in random strands from a lackadaisical ponytail and the sweat clothes the facility had given her hung slack and bulky off of her petite frame. Bright red crescents in rows adorned her palms from where she had squeezed her fingernails into her flesh so hard she had drawn blood. That and the way she was but a few good chews from having gnawed her fingernails down to the quick made Sam all the more certain she was at the edge. There was no way Lily would be able to carry on the way she was much longer, that much was clear.

Both Sam and Lily jumped in the respective seats as without warning the door to the office shut with a reverberating slam.

"Oops," He Dean chuckled sheepishly and strode across the room to rejoin the pair. "Quiet in here. Sure am glad you two didn't start up any small talk without me."

"Well, I know how you get when you miss out on things so…" Sam quipped.

"Oh, I do get a little uppity when I feel left out don't I?" He set his coffee and danish tandem down and took a seat of his own.

A faint smile graced Lily's only to vanish just as quickly as it had appeared when Dean's drew his attention to her.

"Are you don't want anything? Something a little sweet or uh, I could go back down and get you a coffee?"

"Coffee's a stimulant. It' not really allowed." She sighed. "They obviously don't want us very stimulated in a place like this."

"That is a valid point." He shrugged. "But we can break the rules a little and no one will know. Won't tell a soul, I swear."

"Nope." Sam smirked, and shook his head as Dean worked a little charm to soften Lily up. It was a well-honed skill to be sure; always very handy when put to use in these sorts of situations.

"Thanks…but no." She mumbled and swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. "I can't really sleep as it is."

"Really?" Dean pulled a healthy chunk of his pastry off and passed it across to Lily, who gave in and accepted the offer. "In a place like this they can't hook you up? I mean they've probably got enough sleeping pills to put an elephant out for a month."

"Yeah, they don't seem to work on me." Lily shrugged. "No one knows why. They've already upped the dose three times…hasn't made any difference at all. They say I'm stressed out and that my mind isn't open to accepting help so I'm subconsciously fighting the medication."

"And what do you think?" Dean asked gently.

"I don't know…I don't even think I know much about anything anymore."

A brief lull in conversation and Lily shifted anxiously in her seat and forced a small bite of danish down.

"Lily," Sam cleared his throat. "I know this is hard for you, and I know you've been over this probably a hundred times but, can you tell us what happened?"

She shrugged and pulled into herself a little protectively tighter.

"If we knew we might be able to help you." He assured her.

"That's what everyone says. So far no one's delivered."

"Yeah, well we're not exactly everyone else." Dean offered.

"If you need more time, it's alright." Sam assured her. "We can come back."

"More time." She chortled solemnly. "More time is exactly what I need but exactly what nobody can give me."

Sam exchanged a brief look with his brother. "I'm not quite sure I understand."

"They found me." Lily replied sadly, dropping her head and forcing back the memories. "They're already here and I don't know how long it's going to before it all happens again."

"Who are they Lily?"

"How should I know? I don't know anything…I don't know what they want…I don't even understand what happened…or what's still happening." Lily snuffled and dragged her sleeve across her nose, fresh tears already spilling down her cheeks. "And every time I talk about what I saw…or what I think I saw, everyone keeps telling me I'm confused and that I just need to sleep. They keep stuffing me full of these pills to try and keep me calm…" She choked. "My head is so fuzzy…I feel like I've got cotton stuffed in my skull but I still know what I saw and I'm telling you that you won't believe me even if you try. Nobody can help me, not now. All I can tell you is to get the hell out of here while you still can."

"That's where you're wrong, actually." Dean replied matter of factly as his voice dropped and he leaned forward on the desk between them. "See, I know exactly what you're going through right now. I get that people probably keep looking at you the same way they look at me from time to time. I get that the more they tell you you're nutty the more there's a part of you that actually starts to believe them but I will make you a promise. You tell me exactly what you saw, no matter what it is, and I'll buy it. Other people don't like believing in things they don't understand, it makes them…uncomfortable. Thing is, just because they don't like to believe in things doesn't mean they don't exist. We're not gonna tell you you're crazy."

"You won't?"

He shook his head.

"Lily…my brother and I, we're…not exactly FBI." Sam joined in. "And helping people like you is sort of what we do."

Lily's eyes darted between the brothers as she tried to work out just what they were saying.

"What you do?" She arched a brow and for the first time in days it was her voice inflecting with a note of disbelief. "You mean like some sort of a job?"

"More or less." Sam chuckled.

"No offence but that's a little weird."

"Sister, you don't know the half of it." Dean agreed. "But I'll tell you one thing…"

"What's that?"

"We're your best bet."

Lily sighed and chewed her lower lip as she tried to clear her mind and gather her thoughts. It was mildly overwhelming, to say the least, that all of the sudden actually being faced with people who seemed to care to hear what she had to say without casting even one lick of judgment. The last thing she expected at that point was people who were willing to hear her out without trying to put a logical spin on things or tell her she was just confused. For the first time since everything happened she wasn't just going to be told that all she needed was a little rest to help her memory and get her thoughts straight and as terrified as she still was, that little bit of understanding gave her a little hope that maybe, everything would be over before long. It was a tiny scrap of hope, a flickering light at the end of the tunnel, but it was good enough for her.

"They looked human at first you know?" She started quietly. "They looked human enough to blend in anywhere without anyone ever suspecting a thing."

"Small town, but not small enough that everyone knows everyone else." Dean urged her on. "The kind of place no one really bates an eye at the sight of a stranger kind of deal right?"

"Well it wouldn't be a tourist town without strangers right? End of the summer is always the peak time too. So when they just started showing up in pairs, or small groups day by day no one said a thing. Everyone in that town was always so damn trusting…why would they think anything was funny?" Lily sighed and hung her head. "I caught a look at one of them once, just a glimpse a couple of days before everything happened and I saw its reflection in a window in town. I should have told somebody but at that point I thought I was seeing things; like a distortion or an optical illusion because monsters aren't supposed to be real so how could I be seeing what I was?"

Dean nodded understandingly. "Happens all the time."

"What did it look like?" Sam asked gently.

"Dead…or dying…maybe rotting is a better word?"

Dean grimaced slightly. "Well that sounds pleasant."

"They were grey, like corpses…skin strapped to bones really. With these horrible black eyes that were more sockets than anything else." She shuddered. "They look like everything scary you ever thought was hiding under your bed or in you closet as a kid...and when they look at you, it feels like there isn't anything that will make you feel alright again ever."

"The police statement says everything happened over the course of a few hours." Sam prodded her. "Can you tell us what it was that happened?"

"They tore that town apart." Lily continued. "They ripped those people up like it was nothing. I saw them being hauled out of their houses screaming and all mangled and gutted. Some of them weren't even dead yet…and all that blood…God, there was so much blood. I could smell it in the air just as clear as I could hear them screaming; I could hear them screaming clean across town."

"Lily…" Sam interjected to try and give her a little comfort, or at the very least a little support.

"I hid in the attic when it first started. I'd keep peeking out the window to see if they went away…or-or maybe if it was some sort of weird joke. It was weird though, because they never even made a move to come and get me. They were all standing there, like soldiers…just standing all around the house as far as I could tell. I saw them, and they saw me but they never came to get me and they were out there for hours until they just up and left just like that. I don't understand why, or even how I got away…why they left me to get away."

"Most of the time there isn't much to understand, Lily." Dean explained. "There's no such thing as thought process or reasons why with these sort of things when it comes down to it; not really anyway."

"Then I guess you can't tell me why they're back." She flicked her eyes up to meet his, glassy, red rimmed and exhausted. "Or what's going to happen to me…what's going to happen next?"

"To be honest, we don't know." Sam sighed and flashed her a sympathetic smile. "But we're gonna find out, and what happened that night won't ever happen again."