Chapter Six

Sam and Dean had been through enough to keep from being disoriented for too long. Dean's first thought was that Dark had brought them here. And when he turned and saw Dark, that was confirmed. Sam was on the same wavelength because as Dean was pulling out his gun, Sam was pulling out his.

But then Dark let out a "Whoa!" and hurried around the corner and out of sight. Taking cover?

Dean looked at Sam. Without a word, Sam put his gun away. "You can come out," he said, putting away his own gun.

He was still ready for anything, but if Dark had brought them here, he wouldn't have turned and run. Unless otherwise proven, this was Mark.

Mark poked his head around the corner, but didn't walk back in until he made sure the guns were put away. And as Mark walked in, a woman showed up, stopping when she saw Sam and Dean.

A woman that definitely wasn't Amy. And then Dean noticed that they weren't in Mark's house.

"Where are we?" Sam asked, speaking Dean's thoughts as well.

"A plane of existence between alternate universes," Mark said in a "don't-ask-me-to-explain-further" tone.

Dean wasn't even going to pretend to understand, but he wasn't going to ask endless questions. It didn't seem like Mark knew anything else besides what he just said.

"And it turns out that Dark took control of his original body when the angel came up..." Mark mimed stabbing himself. "I ended up here."

Dean had a fleeting thought that he was glad Castiel was gone. Cas hadn't needed an innocent murder on his shoulders on top of everything else he had dealt with before Lucifer killed him.

"Then you've been here for nearly a year?!" Sam asked. That just now occurred to Dean. "While Dark -"

"And Dark's making a move," Dean said. He looked at Mark. "Whatever you did that brought us here -"

"No," the woman said, moving to stand in front of Mark. "What he tapped into can turn catastrophic if he does it again."

"Who the hell are you?" Dean demanded. He didn't like being told what could or could not happen. Especially when lives were on the line.

"She's a Seer," Sam piped in. Dean looked at him like 'how did you know THAT?' Sam shrugged. "I just have that feeling."

Dean looked back at the woman. "Seer or not -"

"The door Mark opened to get you here is closed anyway," she said. She looked behind her at Mark. "You have no idea what you could have done."

Mark looked at her. "You were going to do the same -"

"No, I wasn't," she said. "Leave it to me. I won't watch you fall again." She turned back to Sam and Dean, ignoring the confusion on Mark's face. "There's no way back. For the time being."

"Did you not hear me?" Dean said. "Dark is making a move. Amy called us for help -"

"For help?" Mark asked, a new look on his face. It had been clear he had been worried for Amy, but he obviously hadn't known the extent of things until now. "Celine -"

"We can't help them," Celine said. "Especially in the mental state you're in now. Remember the tower -"

"Amy needs help!"

"We'll get to her," Sam said, doing his thing to calm the situation. "From what she said, she's not in immediate danger. We've still got time." They didn't know exactly what was happening with Amy, but if Mark had brought them here, they needed Mark clearheaded to get back.

"Let's just focus on getting out of here for now," Dean said, relieved to see Mark calming down. He looked at Celine. "What'd you mean by Mark opening a door?"

"As Mark said, we're in a plane of existence between alternate universes," Celine said. "From here, I can see the different realities Mark could have lived in. You came from the universe Dark has blocked me from." She gestured to Mark. "Where he comes from."

Dean was still confused by it all. "You can only see Mark's different universes?"

"It's the way Dark wanted it."

"Dark made this place?" Sam asked.

Celine looked hesitant about sharing. "Before Dark became Dark," she said. "This was just a house. A dangerous house, but still a house. Then it started feeding on Dark's revenge against Mark and it became the doorway to alternate universes."

"So Dark could have his revenge against every alternate Mark that might exist?" Dean asked. "His schedule must be full." Sam gave him a look, but Dean ignored it. "What could Mark have done to make Dark so pissed off at all the alternate versions of Mark?" Mark looked like he wanted the answer to that more than anyone else.

"Betrayal and it goes much deeper than that," Celine said. "But that has nothing to do with right now. By bringing you here, Mark has proven that there's a way out. But to tap into that kind of power..."

"Might do more bad than good," Mark said. He had felt that kind of power and it had obviously scared him. But Dean could tell that that taste hadn't been enough.

"Then focus on the good part," Dean said. "We don't have all the time in the world."

"But we literally do, Dean," Sam said. He looked at Celine. "Time doesn't work the same here, right?" She nodded to let him know he was right. He looked at Mark. "How long do you think you've been here? Ignoring the fact that you know it's been a year."

"I've lost all sense of time," Mark said. "But it doesn't feel like I've been here as long as I have. Sometimes it feels like I just got here."

"That will soon fade," Celine said. Dean got the feeling that she had been stuck here for a long time. "I need a moment." She turned and left.

"She does that," Mark said, looking after her then he looked at Dean. "You said Amy called for help..." He sounded calmer, but Dean didn't want to say anything to rile him up again.

"From the way she spoke, Dark doesn't know she called us," Dean said. "Which means Dark's biding his time. Again."

"He wants to make my life hell," Mark said. "I stopped him from doing so much -"

"We'll get there in time," Sam said. "We always do." Dean said nothing, but he knew Sam knew there were plenty of times in their lives when they had been too late. That wasn't something to tell Mark. At least, not right now.

After everything that happened last time with Darkiplier, being too late now meant everything before had been for nothing.

Dean hoped they wouldn't be too late.


Amy had spent the night at Kathryn's. Spending a night with Dark...knowing he was Dark, was just too much for her. And she couldn't bring herself to confide in Kathryn because she knew she wouldn't believe her. Matt and Ryan never did. Why would it be any different now?

They would all know soon, based off what Dark had told her. And by then, getting everyone to believe was pointless. It would be too late for them all.

But Sam and Dean were coming. She just had to wait until morning.

Everything would be okay.