Hello!
I am so sorry for the late updating; real life is going into overdrive
I really hope you enjoy this chapter, I really enjoyed writing it, and it's another long one, so I hope you enjoy that!
Onwards...
Sam woke up early the next morning, and as he turned in his bed he caught sight of his brother in the bed opposite-Dean was still out like a light, his mouth slightly open as he snored lightly.
Sam shook his head and smiled before swinging himself out of bed and loping to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes en route. Once he had finished washing and brushing his teeth he opened the bathroom door to come face to face with his father.
Sam jumped and stifled a yell; his eyes were on the floor as he walked out, and the sight of his father in the orange-tinged gloom of the motel room startled him a little.
'Jumpy much?' John chuckled, patting his youngest son on the shoulder as he opened the bathroom door fully for him. Sam grinned and shook his head. 'Nah, I'm ok-you should talk to Dean though...I think he had a nightmare last night' he muttered, ducking under his father's arm and going to sit on the chair by the window.
John frowned and cast his gaze on his eldest. 'Really? Did he seem ok?'
It was Sam's turn to frown-their dad didn't normally get worried over nightmares. 'Yeah, I'm sure he's fine, it's just unusual for him, that's all.' He muttered, smiling at his father.
John's taut face relaxed a little, and seemed to nod to himself. 'Oh ok-you let me know if either of you get any more nightmares, ok?' he asked, pointing a thumb at Sam.
'Umm...ok' Sam agreed, still dubious about the relevance of their nightmares. 'It's just the effects of this case dad, nothing to worry about!'
'I guess your right; I just worry about you two!' John grinned somewhat bashfully, before pulling open the bathroom door and closing it behind him with a snap.
Sam grinned and shook his head for the second time, before leafing through yesterday's newspapers.
About half an hour later Dean awoke, the older brother stretching like a cat, scratching his neck as he peered around the room.
'Sammy? What're you doing up?' he muttered thickly, patting down his hair that had been disturbed by sleep.
'Well, that usually happens when I've been asleep-what, it doesn't happen to you?' Sam feigned shock, before chuckling as Dean gave him the finger.
'Bite me' he grinned, before he rolled out of bed and grabbed his clothes. 'Dad's hogging the bathroom again' Sam muttered from his place at the table.
'Thanks Einstein- I could have guessed that from the steam coming through the bottom of the door!' Dean joked, before he sat on his bed to wait for their dad to get out of the bathroom.
Soon enough he did, and Dean was soon washed and dressed, and as he came out of the bathroom John clapped his hands- a sign he wanted his sons to listen.
'Ok-jobs for today. You and Sam can go around town to the neighbouring houses of the latest kid to die-maybe their children are experiencing something similar, and I know you don't like the idea Dean, but we might have to resort to live bait-'
He completely ignored Dean's angered face and turned to Sam, who shot a look at his brother's disgruntled expression before turning his attention to his father.
'I am going to the police station to gather up police files-from the way the coroner was speaking yesterday, this town isn't the only one to see deaths like this, it might help to see how far spread this is happening'
Sam nodded and stood up, before walking to the door and grabbing his coat.
'Shall we go?' he asked Dean, and he sighed as Dean heavily picked himself up from the bed and, with a face like thunder, walked over to the door like a petulant child before grabbing his coat from the rack and disappearing out the door.
Sam raised an eyebrow to john. 'He's just pissed I mentioned live bait again' John shrugged. 'He'll have to get over it' he sighed, before he walked out of the door as well.
'Live bait isn't the answer; I don't know why he keeps mentioning it...' Dean grumbled as he and Sam made their way across the street again. Sam shrugged and kept quiet- it wouldn't do to argue with his brother when he was on his moral high horse.
'Dad's just voicing what he thinks might have to happen' he said in a soft voice, before rolling his eyes as Dean began counting off on his fingers reasons why live bait wasn't a good idea.
'...and number five-the kid would get hurt! I would never forgive myself if that happened!'
Sam sighed and blocked out his brother's deep tones. They were looking for a house that could hold the next clue in their investigation.
The neighbourhood looked normal, just as normal as it did yesterday...only this time there was a gaggle of women by the house of the last child to have died.
Sam frowned and patted Dean's shoulder and pointed. Dean looked up and nodded-what was going on here?
They walked over and started to eavesdrop on their conversation...
'...He won't come out of his room...'
'I just don't understand it, did he say why?'
'He said 'they will get him' if he does- I don't know what to do, I can't talk to him, he's getting nightmares every night, I can't seem to help'
'Oh my god-that happened exactly before my Tomas died!' Mrs Rogers suddenly seemed to have colour back in her pale cheeks, her eyes shining at the realisation.
Sam and Dean exchanged excited glances, before slowly walking away from the group of women.
'So another kid is going through what happened to Tomas?' hissed Sam, looking at his brother for an answer.
'Sure sounds like it-we need to talk to this kid, find out what's happened to him.' Dean nodded, looking around as if to spot the child's house from the row of identical houses.
Sam patted his shoulder and nodded-the Woman who had been describing her son's experiences was now walking on the pavement towards them.
Dean's eyes widened and he cleared his throat as he walked towards her, his hand already moving in the inside pocket of his jacket.
'Hello ma'am, I'm Detective Lawrence from the County Sheriffs, this is my partner Detective Steele-'he brandished his 'credentials' for a few seconds, Sam doing the same, before he smiled again at the confused looking woman.
'What do you want?' she asked.
'We're investigating the death of Tomas Rogers over the street there? And we couldn't help overhearing that your son has been having strange experiences, and we wondered whether we could talk to him?'
'What does Tomas's death have to do with my Frank?' the woman instantly paled, her fingers lacing within each other.
'Nothing, we just want to connect all the dots, y'know? It might help us with our investigation-just half an hour, please?' Dean put on his pleading eyes, but the woman still looked uncertain.
Sam stepped forwards and laid an arm on her shoulder, his eyes soft and his expression open.
'I understand what you're going through, it must be hard to not know what is happening to your son, but we're here to help you understand what is happening to him. Will you let us help him?' he asked, smiling at her.
The woman smiled back and brushed tears out of her eyes and readjusted her coat. 'I just don't get it-he never normally get's nightmares'
'Will you let us help him?' Sam repeated, stepping back to rejoin his brother.
'Ok, half an hour, I want to know what is happening to him' she pleaded.
'We'll do our best' Dean nodded, and moved his hand to motion for the woman to walk to her house.
The house was quiet and clean, a chocolate Labrador asleep in a basket by a log fire. A freshly baked pie was cooling on the windowsill, and Sam had to allow himself a small pang of longing as he climbed the carpeted stairs after his brother, but pulled himself out of his own feelings as they approached Frank's door.
'He's so scared of something, but he wont say what' his mother whispered, before she knocked twice on the door before pulling it open.
Sam was the first to walk through, and he was instantly struck by the sheer feeling of fear and confusion that permeated the room like a toxic cloud, saturating everything in the room. The curtains were drawn, casting an eerie blue-black glow around the room, only distributed by yellow glow in the dark stars that were dotted on the walls and ceiling.
'Hey Frank...my Name's Sam, I work with the local police, is it ok if I ask you some questions?' Sam asked, tentatively sitting on the edge of the young boy's bed.
He guessed that Frank couldn't have been more than 10, his childish face pale and scrunched; his eyes wide and red rimmed from tiredness.
He didn't even look at Sam as he nodded. Sam looked back at Dean, his brother shrugging before turning to frank's mother. 'Maybe you should wait outside, kids might not talk for fear of upsetting their parents-we'll only be a few minutes' he suggested.
Frank's mother started to object, but she seemed to revaluate what was said in her head, before she eventually nodded and walked out the room, slowly shutting the door behind her.
Sam started to speak again, keeping his voice light but serious.
'Have you heard what happened to the other kid down the road?' he asked.
A nod.
'Do you know how they died?'
Another nod.
'Is it happening to you?'
Seconds passed.
'Frank?'
Another smaller, tentative nod.
Sam felt his stomach drop. His heart skipped a beat and broke as he watched the young boy nod. How could this be happening to kids?
Sam sighed and reached forwards, gently rubbing the young boy's shoulder.
'Now you listen to me-I will make sure nothing happens to you, I promise' Sam muttered.
Another, slight disbelieving nod.
'Can you tell me what's happening to you?' Sam asked, looking back at Dean. His brother looked pale and drawn, but he smiled reassuringly at Sam, and Sam suddenly felt he had the strength to go on.
'What is making you so scared?'
It didn't look like Frank was going to speak, but a few seconds later, he did.
'They come in the night, when I'm asleep. They creep to my door and start to knock, but only gently, like a cat trying to get in. We don't have a cat-teddy died last year...' Frank began to speak.
'Who comes, Frank?' Dean whispered from near the door.
Frank's head shot up and fixed Dean with a scared look. 'The Hands! Lots of hands-I see their shadows from the curtain-they press on my window like they want to get in, they keep banging and banging and I just want it to stop!' A tear fell down Franks face, but it looked like was just getting started on his explanation.
'Then the children start to speak, after the hands stop banging they start to laugh-I cover my ears with my pillow and my hands but I keep hearing them! They won't leave me alone and they say the same things every night!' Frank's face was almost beastlike in his fear, his young eyes bulging and his hair standing on end, Sam moved further across the bed to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
'It's ok Frank, nothing can get you here...what do they say?' he felt bad for asking, he really did, but they needed to know.
'They say...' Frank let out a scared gasp as he looked around. 'They say I'm next!' another tear wormed his way down his cheeks and he began to cry in fear.
Sam sat back, unable to register what had been said. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. What could prey on children in such as sick way?
'You're not next Frank, I promise.' He said firmly. He turned to his brother for the next step.
Dean cleared his throat and walked to Frank's bed. 'Hey Frank-listen, me and my partner here are gonna do everything we can to stop this, ok? Now is this all that you saw in your nightmares?'
Sam frowned. The last question seemed an odd thing for Dean to ask.
'Dean I-'
'-come on think now, have you seen anything else?' Dean pressed, ignoring Sam's attempts to ask him what he was doing.
Frank held Dean's gaze for a few seconds, before slowly nodding, a new type of fear in his eyes.
'What is it Frank?' Dean whispered, the oldest Winchester kneeling right down to be at the kid's level.
'The hands called his name once-they called him...the Sandman' Frank whispered back, a spark of complete fear erupting in his eyes.
'What does he look like?' Sam asked, casting his brother a look as he did.
'He's big and black, like he's wearing a cloak, I can't see his face though...he laughs at me as he walks into my room' Frank closed his eyes against the memory, and the little boy began to shake a little.
'I think we're done here' Dean muttered, and he stood up, but not before ruffling Frank's hair and giving him a patented Dean Winchester smile.
'Don't worry Kiddo, we'll get the sandman, I promise- he's not gonna hurt you any more.'
'You promise?' Frank asked, looking up from his bed with wide eyes.
Dean took a heartbeat to answer. 'I promise' and with that he walked out of the door.
'We have everything we need, thank you' he smiled at Frank's mother, before walking down the stairs and walking out of the front door.
With an apologetic look for the poor woman in front of him, Sam bounded after him, before grabbing his shoulder and wheeling him around.
'What was that about then?'
'What was what about?'
'Back then, in Frank's room, where you pressed him for an answer?'
'Chill dude, I got the answer, didn't I?'
'Yeah but how did you know?'
'Call I a hunch, ok?'
'...A hunch?'
'Drop it Sam.'
Dean sighed and walked ahead of his brother, before pulling out his cell phone.
'Who are you calling?' Sam asked. Dean frowned and gave his brother a look.
'The fairy princess-Dad, Sammy, I'm calling Dad. I think he should know, ok?' he snapped, before pushing the number in and walking away again, leaving Sam in the shade of a large tree.
He sighed and pushed his hands into his pockets. Something had Dean spooked, and how did he know that there was more to the story than Frank was letting on?
He didn't understand it, but he hoped that Dean would be of more help when he had calmed down.
The kid's story of the sandman and the hands had been unnerving and scary; he just hoped that they would be able to stop them before Frank's nightmares changed into reality...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it!
I know I promised regular updates, but real life is being really mean, so I can't promise them this time, but I will make a huge effort to update at SENSIBLE intervals, I think 3 or so weeks between posts isn't enough, so I apologise for that.
Please review this chapter; I would love to know what you thought of it!
Xx