Chapter Ten- The Visitor

"Dean! Dean, wake up!"

Dean felt someone gripping his shoulders, shaking him awake. He grabbed the shirt of the intruder and flipped them onto the bed, gun out from under his pillow and pointed at the stranger's head. Dean blinked a few times, then saw familiar green eyes staring up at him. He growled, as he released him, "Sam, I could have-"

"Dean, it's Naomi. Something is wrong with her."

Dean immediately swung himself out of the bed, hugging the gun to his body. He bolted out of the room and pounded on the door of Naomi's room next to theirs. He tried to turn the doorknob only to find it was locked. Dean yanked on it furiously, spurred by the groaning he heard inside the room. His heart felt like it was ramming against his chest, each beat growing faster and heavier. He swore, beating on the door harder.

Sam yelled behind Dean, "Naomi! Naomi, are you okay?" No reply, but the groaning grew louder.

Screw this. Dean leaned back and kicked down the door, the lock and chain breaking easily. He and Sam burst through the doorway, both searching for Naomi.

They found her twisted in her covers, thrashing and kicking in her sleep. Dean could see from where he stood that her hair, now down from the braid, was sticking to her face and neck. The moonlight poking through the thin curtains showed her skin and pajamas soaked with sweat.

Sam shoved past Dean and clasped Naomi's shoulders to wake her. Suddenly, she began to scream, her arms flailing and clawing at Sam. Sam pushed her down, only causing her to scream louder and struggle harder. He opened his mouth to speak, but her elbow caught him in the nose. He reeled back, blood instantly flooding out of his nose and onto the floor.

Dean jumped into action, sprinting towards the bed and vaulting onto it. He dodged her arms and legs as best he could as he straddled her. Catching each of her wrists and pressing them into the bed, he yelled over her wails, "Naomi! Wake up!" When she didn't wake, he leaned in closer and roared, "Naomi!"

Naomi's eyes flew open and frantically searched the room. She shouted breathlessly, "Where is it? Where is it?" She fought against him, but Dean kept a firm grip on her.

Not letting his eyes stray away from her, Dean asked, "Is it still here?"

Naomi's breath was heaving and she was still squirming under him, trying to see around him. "Where is it? It was here, I swear! Where is it?"

Dean kept his eyes trained on her. He struggled to calm his voice enough to say quietly, "Naomi." Her eyes found his instantaneously. He asked, his voice slow and deep, "Is it still here? Answer the question."

She stared at him, mouth slightly open. Dean noticed the fall and rise of her body under him starting to slow down. After a moment, her body relaxed as she shook her head. "No…no, it's gone. I can't feel it anymore."

Dean sat still, their eyes locked. The moonlight hit her eyes at just the right angle to make them seem see-through, like crystal. Her dilated pupils seemed to enhance how mesmerizing of a blue her eyes were. Dean had only seen a blue that clear when they were doing a job on the coast. The view was beautiful.

Sam grabbed Dean's shoulder and wrenched him backwards, shouting, "Get off of her, Dean!"

Dean awoke from his thoughts, then shoved Sam's bloody hand off of him. He yelled, "What's your problem, Sam?"

Sam glared at him as he leaned down next to Naomi, now sitting up and searching the room.

Dean heard a noise behind him and spun around to see a crowd gathered outside the door. He glanced at Naomi, then Sam. He'll make sure she's okay. He turned and walked over to the group.

A man with a long, unkept beard stood in front of the group, wrapped in a plush robe. Dean recognized him as the manager. "Everything okay?"

Dean leaned casually against the doorway, blocking their view of Naomi. The last thing she needed was an audience. "Yeah. She had a nightmare."

A voice in the crowd retorted, "Pretty intense nightmare."

Dean turned towards the voice, finding a man staring at him. Dean took note of him, then of the scantily dressed woman wrapped around him. Of what little clothes she had on, they appeared to have been put on in a rush. Dean smiled to himself. Somebody was having a fun night. She gave Dean a once-over, then shot him a sultry wink at him while twisting a strand of obnoxiously blonde hair around her finger. He said to the man, "Yeah. They're called night terrors, genius."

He glanced at the manager. "Really. Everything is fine. Go back to sleep." Looking towards the couple, he added, "Or whatever else we interrupted." The man glanced at his date, then nervously back at Dean, tucking his left hand behind his back.

The crowd slowly dispersed, the manager taking his time. He attempted one last peek at Naomi around Dean before eyeing the broken door as he walked away. "I'll be adding that to your bill."

Dean nodded curtly, ready to agree to anything if it made him leave. "Fair enough".

Dean waited until he heard the last door close before he walked back into the room.

Closing the door to the best of his abilities, he took in the scene in front of him. His gun was lying on the ground, not realizing until now that he had dropped it. As he picked it up, he noticed the trail of blood snaking over the ugly off-white carpet, leading to the bed. They had made a mess, classic Winchester style.

Crouched down, he raised his head to check on Naomi. Sam had wrapped a blanket around her and was gently rubbing her far shoulder as she leaned against him. She was staring blankly at the ground, silent tears running down her face. Sam was whispering something into her hair, but Dean couldn't make it out.

Standing, Dean asked as he checked the safety on his gun, "What did you see?"

Sam glared up at him and whispered, "Dean, now isn't the time."

Dean tightened his jaw. Sam's attitude was getting old really fast. He replied, with what was left of his patience, "Sam, something found her and if we don't know what it is, we can't protect her from it. So, yeah, now is the time."

Sam worked his jaw for a moment, not meeting Dean's eyes. He turned back to Naomi, rubbing her shoulder as he asked, "Is there anything you could tell us about what happened?"

Dean resisted the urge to lean over and push her hair out of her face and instead, chose to stand in front of her, arms crossed. He added, "From the beginning would be nice."

Naomi looked to Sam, who nodded encouragingly. She looked up at Dean and said, "It almost felt like I had woken up. I knew I was still asleep, but I could tell it was all real. Almost like an out-of-body experience, I guess."

She glanced at Sam, looking for assurance that she wasn't crazy. He nodded. "Okay, that's good. Anything else?"

She turned back to Dean. "There was someone…something in the room. I could feel it there with me…and that it knew I was awake."

She shuddered, wrapping the blanket tighter around her. She nodded towards the corner behind Dean. "It was over there, by the door."

Sam asked, "Could you see what it looked like? Was it transparent, like a ghost?"

Naomi shook her head, still staring at the corner. "No, I couldn't see anything. There wasn't anything there. It looked like there was a shadow, but it had sucked out all the light. I haven't seen anything like it before." She shuddered again. "The…energy it gave off was overwhelming. It radiated fear, raw fear, that didn't even belong to me."

Dean couldn't think of a single thing that sounded like what she was describing. That made him nervous. He asked, "Did it speak to you?"

Naomi woke from her thoughts. "No. Not a word."

He nodded. "Okay. What happened next?"

"It began walking closer to me when I told it to go away and that it wasn't welcome here." She blinked, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks, which she furiously wiped away. "I then felt a weight on my chest. I couldn't breathe." She closed her eyes, her chin trembling. "I could feel it standing above me. I couldn't move, couldn't speak." She shook her head as she opened her eyes. "I just started praying, asking God for help. I felt like I was going to pass out, but I just kept asking for His help. That's when you woke me up." She looked to Dean, giving him a small, tight-lipped smile.

Dean shrugged off a shudder and looked at his shoes. Sam squeezed her shoulder. "That was really helpful. Thank you."

She switched her gaze between the two brothers. "Do you think I could…stay in your room tonight?"

Naomi and Sam both looked to Dean for an answer. An image of Naomi curled up next to Sam in his bed flashed for a moment and a knot twisted in the pit of his stomach. He nodded curtly before walking out of the room.

Dean snatched a pillow off of his bed and threw it on the floor by its foot. This Twilight Zone stuff needs to give it a rest. He paced back and forth a few times, trying to clear his head. Remembering the feel of Naomi's body under him, her blue eyes focused on his, wasn't helping. He shuddered as a shiver shot through his spine.

Hearing shuffling behind him, he stilled and turned to see Naomi walk into the room with Sam's hand floating above the small of her back. Dean nodded towards his bed. "You can sleep in that one."

Naomi tugged the blanket still around her as she glanced at the bed. She looked back at Dean, giving him a small smile. "Thank you."

Dean turned to Sam, seeing how his eyes hadn't left Naomi since entering the room. He said flatly, "You might want to clean yourself up."

Naomi followed Dean's gaze, her eyes widening as she noticed for the first time the smeared blood around Sam's nose and mouth, along with the stains down the front of his shirt. She gasped, her hand tentatively brushing his nose, "Oh my gosh! Did I do that?"

Sam smiled at her as he rubbed at the blood under his nose. "You've got some weight behind that arm of yours."

Naomi gave him a half-hearted smile. "I'm so sorry. Here, let me help."

She let the blanket fall off her shoulders as she went into the bathroom, returning a moment later with a wet paper towel. Sam reached for it, but she retracted her hand. "Let me do it, Sam." She nodded towards the bed. "Sit."

Dean watched Sam's smile spread across his face, as he obliged, his back to Dean. Naomi gently dabbed at the blood on Sam, her eyebrows knitting together in concentration. Dean smiled unknowingly as she bit her lip as she worked on a spot around Sam's chin.

After a few minutes, she leaned back and proudly placed her hands on her hips. "There. All clean."

Sam stood, taking inventory of his shirt. "My face is, at least. This shirt is probably going to have to go."

She shrugged. "It happens."

Sam walked into the bathroom to change, leaving Naomi and Dean alone. Naomi turned towards him, then blushed, quickly looking away. Dean cocked his head. "What?"

She smiled to herself, mumbling to her hand as she picked at a nail, "You're not wearing pants, Dean."

Dean closed his eyes and sighed, for the first time noticing how cool his legs were. In the chaos, he'd forgotten he'd gone to bed in only a shirt and boxer briefs. So that's what that chick was all smiles about. He stood and smiled slyly at Naomi. "You noticed."

She grinned at her nails. "Yeah. Kind of hard not to."

He smirked, walking slowly closer to her until he stood close enough to smell her vanilla perfume again. "Is that so?"

She made a point of looking him only in the eye, struggling to force a smile off her face. "Dean, get your mind out of the sewer and put some pants on."

He chuckled. "That still isn't the right expression."

She huffed in response, "Just cover yourself, Winchester."

Dean grabbed the pair of jeans he had ditched yesterday. He stayed close to her, taking his time as he inched each pant leg up one at a time. He grinned at her, enjoying the smile that played at her lips as she took inventory of everything in the room, save for him. Despite the tear tracks that still shone on her cheeks, her face seemed to glow.

Once he had the jeans buttoned, he zipped them, dragging out each second. When he was done, he said, "All right, Mother Teresa. I'm decent."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You had way too much fun with that."

He shrugged and winked. "It happens."

Naomi shook her head at him as Sam stepped back into the room. He wore the same style shirt, only now instead of baby blue, it was forest green. He stood in the doorway for a second, noticing the smiles both Naomi and his brother wore. Walking over to stand beside her, he gestured to the jeans and asked Dean, "Were you wearing those a minute ago?"

Naomi snorted, covering her mouth with her hand. Dean smiled at him. "Yeah. You didn't notice?"

Sam stared confusedly at Naomi, switching his gaze between Naomi and Dean. "What? What's so funny?"

Naomi struggled to not laugh as she said, "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

Sam looked to Dean, waiting for him to comment. Dean shrugged. "Don't look at me. I didn't do anything."

Sam was about to reply, when a yawn stopped him. Naomi fought the yawn she was trying to suppress as she said, "I think it's time for us all to go to bed."

Dean commented to his brother, "I'll take first watch." Sam nodded through his yawn.

Naomi turned towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Dean. Go to bed."

"That thing could come back."

"If it does, you guys are here." She gestured between him and Sam.

He replied, "You might sleep better knowing someone is keeping an eye out."

"I'm really okay. We are all due for some sleep." Her blue eyes blinked up at him. "Please, Dean."

Dean tightened his jaw, wanting to protest. After a moment of her blue eyes staring him down, he gave in. "Fine."

They all climbed into their sleeping areas. Dean punched his pillow a few times before lying down. He had closed his eyes for only a moment when he felt something warm wrap around him. He opened them to see Naomi tucking the blanket she had been using around his shoulders. She whispered, "Get some sleep" before she climbed into her bed.

Dean didn't notice he was smiling as the smell of vanilla lulled him to sleep.