Chapter 10

"Are we close?" Dean huffed as he followed Lark up a steep path about a mile from the hotel. They had veered off the main trail twenty minutes before and were making their way up to a small mesa that the Native Americans was said to hold mystical powers and was sacred to them. He wished he hadn't drunk that last cup of coffee now, but wasn't going to let Lark know it. He had already stopped to relieve himself twice along the way.

"It's right up here Dean; maybe five more minutes to the top." Lark told him as she chose a path around some large boulders.

"Now I remember why I hate hiking." Dean muttered as he caught his breath and trudged on after her. It was six minutes later that they stepped up onto a large level clearing. Dean wiped the sweat from his face before looking around trying to spot anything that might help. He started to walk further into the clearing when a hand pulled him back, stopping him from moving forward. He saw markings on some rocks toward the center of the clearing he wanted to check out.

"Wait Dean, let me." Lark stated in a no nonsense voice. She moved slowly a few steps away from him holding her hands out as she opened her mind to what was giving her goose bumps and cold chills down her spine. The power this place was emitting was more than she had felt before and treaded carefully knowing this could be dangerous. She was feeling something very strong and old here and it frightened her. "We're not supposed to be here." she whispered as images flooded her mind. She tried to comprehend what she was seeing but could only see the blood running red into the sand and feel the pain of anguish and sorrow and despair. But there was something else that was under all that, an evil of some kind that seemed anchored to this place.

"Lark what is it?" Dean asked her when he heard her words and saw her grow pale and break out in a cold sweat.

"This place has been cursed by the ones who were here before us. There was a horrible battle here and something bad is still here. We need to go now." she said turning to grab his arm and pull him with her the way they had come. She felt an immense force here that seemed dangerous, she wasn't sure, but she didn't want to find out. All she knew was they needed to leave this place before it was too late.

"Hey! Hey slow down!" Dean complained, stumbling slightly as he tried to keep up with her. She didn't let go or stop until they were well away from the place. "Lark what the hell? Talk to me." Dean commanded dragging her to a stop, which was harder than he thought it would be. He saw a hint of fear in her eyes that changed to one of uneasiness and worry as she sucked in short shallow breaths. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." she finally got out as she tried to calm her breathing.

"Don't give me that shit, something spooked you back there didn't it?"

"We need to get back to Sam." she said once she was able to speak.

Dean looked at her hard before grabbing her hand and continuing back down to the main trail. He didn't speak to her, but kept a strong grip on her cold hand that trembled slightly in his. He got them back to the trail in half the time it took to find the sacred ground. They set a fast pace back to the hotel, neither bothering with conversation. Dean kept a close eye out for any danger when he saw Lark was preoccupied with her thoughts wondering just what scared her that bad. Whatever it was had to be something very bad and very dangerous to get that type of reaction from her. He only hoped they would be able to stop the witch before someone got hurt or worse died.

spn

Sam looked up when the door opened to their room and watched a pale, sweaty faced Lark and red, sweaty faced Dean almost fall into the room. He knew something was wrong without asking as Dean made a bee line for the mini fridge to get waters, handing one to Lark. Sam watched Lark fumble with opening it and helped her and watched her trembling hands raise the bottle to her lips and gulp down several swallows before stopping to catch her breath. He looked to Dean who seemed shaken too and wondered just what happened to them. He remained silent, waiting for them to compose themselves so they could talk. Lark moved to one of the beds and sat down to stare off into space.

"Dean what happened?" he asked quietly looking over at Lark and back at him.

"I'm not really sure." he whispered back. "I think she saw or felt something at that place and it scared the crap out of her."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, she got us out of there fast and we double timed it back here."

"I'm gonna go to my room." Lark said suddenly, getting up and stumbling a step.

"Why don't you stay with us?" Sam asked sensing she shouldn't be alone.

"I'm fine, I'll just go lie down for a few minutes and then get a shower." she said.

"It's ok Kid, just lie down on my bed and take a nap?" Dean told her guiding her back to his bed and pushing her down on it. She didn't protest as he covered her with a blanket and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Lark closed her eyes and snuggled under the warm blanket, curling into a small ball as sleep overtook her.

"What else can you tell me about that place?" Dean asked Sam as he dropped into a chair at the table.

"Here's what Lark printed out. I'll see if I can find anything else online." Sam said handing Dean some papers to look at. "Think she'll be alright?"

"Yeah, she's tough. I think she just needs to rest." Dean said looking over at his bed at the small mound. He could only see strands of hair sticking up over the blanket. "I'm gonna take a shower." Dean stated once he got a whiff of himself and grimaced.

"I'll keep digging." Sam said as he scanned through an article he had found looking for anything new.

"Did you find anything on the other names?"

"Not really, whoever it is is good at hiding or it's not any of them." he huffed wiping a hand down his face. It seemed they were getting no where fast and time was running out before October 31st got here.

"Ok, we'll try another approach." Dean replied as he pulled clean clothes from his duffle and headed to the bathroom for a shower hoping the hot water would loosen his sore leg muscles. The more they learned about his case, the less they really knew. He hoped Lark could shed some light on things when she woke up. He might give Bobby a call and get his insight on the case, thinking maybe they needed a new set of eyes to look the data over.

spn

It was a couple of hours later that Lark began to stir in Dean's bed. She lay there for a moment gathering her thoughts before sticking her head out from under the covers. She saw Dean sitting at the table, but no sign of Sam. She sat up in bed drawing Dean's attention to her.

"Hey Kid, feeling better?" he asked as she shed the blanket and scooted to the end of the bed.

"Yes, I just needed a little nap. Where's Sam?" Lark said joining him at the table.

"He went down ten minutes ago to grab us some lunch. Figured it'd be easier since you were out of it."

"Thanks, I was going to see if one of you would get me something anyway."

"Here drink, you need to hydrate." Dean told her pushing a water her way.

"Thanks." she said smiling gratefully and sipping on the water as her mind wandered back to the mesa and her eyes went far away. "I'm gonna head to my room an' get a shower and clean clothes. I kinda smell ripe." she commented suddenly, wrinkling her nose when she caught a whiff her shirt.

"Alright, c'mon back over when you're ready." he told her watching her get up and leave. Dean studied her retreating form and sensed something seemed a little off with her. He had a feeling it was whatever she saw or sensed at the mesa. He closed the laptop and pushed it back on the table frustrated that they hadn't found anything new about the place. They had been searching since Lark had lain down, but they couldn't find anything new in any articles they found. If something really bad had happened there, it seemed it was never written down anywhere. He sat there contemplating their next move waiting for the others to join him.

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Lark was coming out of her room as Sam was walking down the hall burdened with bags of food and drinks. He smiled when he saw her and sped up his pace.

"Hey, how ya feeling?" Sam inquired a lopsided smile plastered on his face.

"Better after a shower. Here, let me help." Lark replied as she relieved him of some of his load.

"Thanks." he said trying to untangle his hands as Lark took some of the bags. Sam opened the door with the key and allowed Lark to enter first before following. "Foods here." he announced holding up what he was carrying.

"Smells good too." Lark added not realizing how hungry she was until she got a whiff of the food.

"Did ya get pie?" Dean asked pulling a bag toward him to look in it.

"Yes, how could I forget? You reminded me six times 'fore I left." Sam complained as he sat down at the table.

"Ya know you've got a good brother Dean. He wouldn't forget your pie." Lark teased them. "Especially if he wanted to live." she giggled taking the other chair at the table.

"Damn straight." Dean stated firmly only to make Lark laugh harder.

"Now I know why I keep you two around." Lark gasped as she caught her breath.

"Our ruggedly, handsome good looks?" Dean beamed as he opened a container with a bacon, double cheese burger and steak fries. "Come to papa." he cooed picking up the burger.

"My arteries are clogging just watching you." Sam sighed shaking his head as he opened up a large salad with grilled chicken on it.

"Just 'cause you can survive on rabbit food doesn't mean everyone can." Dean said around a mouth of burger.

"Geez! Dean! At least swallow before you talk." Sam fussed in disgust as he shielded his eyes from Dean.

Dean only smiled wider, showing a mouth of partly chewed up burger to Sam and smirked when Sam made a bitch face and threw a slice of cucumber at him.

"Boys, behave and eat your food." Lark said trying to be the voice of reason. She had seen some of their prank wars and knew it could get hairy and she didn't wanna get caught in the crossfire. "Don't make me get physical with you."

"Better do as she says." Sam said his lips twitching with a smile. "She might toss a spell at us."

"Yes Mom." Dean smirked as he dipped a fry in ketchup and popped it in his mouth chewing and swallowing.

"Well, if that's what it takes." she shrugged taking a bite of a grilled chicken sandwich and chewing thoughtfully.

"When we're done think we could talk about what happened earlier today?" Dean broached giving Lark a curious glance. He saw the quick change in Lark's facial expression and then the wall went back up as she sat her sandwich down and reached for her drink. He face remained passive but her eyes told another story and Dean wished he had waited until they had finished eating to ask her. "I'm sorry Kid, I should of waited to ask about that."

"No, no it's fine." she replied giving a brief smile that never went any further than her mouth.

Sam saw the awkwardness building between his brother and Lark and tried to change the subject.

"Boy this food is really good." Sam inserted. "I got you a piece of pie too Lark, I know how you like it."

"Thanks Sam, that was sweet of you."

"They're different kinds, so I though you guys might share." Sam said innocently glancing from Dean to Lark. He saw Dean suddenly frown and poof out lips before speaking.

"And you reasoned this how?" Dean asked arching his eyebrows with the question.

"Oh Sam, Sam you don't know me as well as you thought." Lark sighed shaking her head slowly. "I may share a lot of things with no problem, my knowledge, my weapons, my clothes and even my bed if the need did arise, but when it comes to my pie...That's a huge NO."

"What she said." Dean agreed giving Lark an interesting look. "How would you even think I'd con..."

"Ok, ok. I get it." Sam said holding his hands up in defeat. "I learned my lesson; always get the same kind."

"So what did you get us?" Lark asked curiously.

"Oh no!" Sam said shaking his head no with vigor. "They're covered so you can't see them. You two can fight it out among yourselves." he stated firmly taking a bowl of homemade banana pudding from a bag and sitting two white cartons shaped like a piece of pie in the middle of the table. "Go for it guys."

"Well since I'm a gentleman..." Dean started but was stopped by perils of laughter from the other two. "As I was saying, ladies first." Dean continued giving Sam a 'say anything and die' look.

"That's mighty kind of you." Lark nodded as she studied each carton for a moment before sliding one in front of her and pushing the other toward Dean. "I say if we both like our pies, we can try the other's at our next meal."

spn

"I guess it's time to talk." Lark surmised as she speared the last bite of apple pie and looked at it for a moment, and then offered it to Dean. "Try it; I think you'll like it."

Dean didn't say anything as he took the fork and ate the bite of pie, nodding contently. He had saved the last bite of pecan pie for her and pushed the carton to her. She smiled slightly and looked at Dean as a silent secret passed between them for a moment. They looked toward the bathroom as Sam came out, faltering in his steps for a moment with they steady gazes.

"Did I miss something?"

"No." they both said together and chuckled together.

"Ok...not strange at all." Sam mumbled more to himself than them.

"Look Kid, we tried to find more data on that place and couldn't find anything that we don't already know." Dean said stacking the empty cartons to throw away and getting to the point.

"I'm not surprised." Lark said.

"What happened Lark? Tell us." Sam said gently trying to encourage her.

"That place...It's not what we thought. It's sacred and much older than we even thought. But it's a prison too. Something is trapped there and I think whoever is summoning the spirits wants to use their powers to release it."

"Any idea what it is trapped there?" Dean asked.

"Only that it's evil, very evil and if it gets loose..." she said trailing off at the end not able to put into words what she saw. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes for a moment feeling two different hands coming to rest on her own for comfort.

"So...Is there any way of telling if a person's a witch or not? Like maybe a spell to reveal her or something?" Dean questioned as the chick flick moment passed.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading this story. I hope you are enjoying it. Please review. NC