A/N: hello all, update time again. thank you all for the reviews, i am glad you are enjoying the story. i'm sorry the first few chapters have taken so long, these last two months have been incredibly busy at work, but after this week it will calm down. so, get ready for more updates. yay! on with the show.

D: alas, i have nothing to do with supernatural

BY THE WAYSIDE

Chapter 10

Sam could feel the cold air blowing over his face, his hair rustling in the chilling breeze. He tried to move his body, tried to pull his hoodie tighter around himself when he realized that he couldn't move. But he was walking, that much he knew. 'How can I be walking if I can't move?' His tired mind was still clouded in haze, eyes unseeing, his whole world dark and cold. He felt wrong, terribly wrong, as though he were empty and full at the same time. He could feel his soul swelling with emotions, overflowing with thoughts and feeling that he knew did not belong to him. He felt as though he were being used, housing something evil behind his soft brown eyes, concealing itself deep within him, controlling him, destroying him.

"Dean." Sam called but his voice merely echoed around the darkness before him, his mind still foggy, actions still slowed. His body, no, his soul was weak, floundering, drowning among all the other souls that were bombarding it. He was lost, lost in himself and he couldn't understand why his brother wasn't there to help him.

"You know perfectly well why your brother is not here." The voice reverberated through his mind, assaulted his ears, pierced his heart. He remembered that voice, that echoing laughter, that freezing breath. Everything about it he knew and despised. And instantly the memories came flowing back into Sam like a freight train, running over his senses in a stampede of sounds and images. The Asura had taken control of his body, and it had used him to hurt his brother, to break him.

"You bastard. What have you done with him?" Sam screamed into the darkness, knowing now that he was still trapped in his own body, his soul pushed aside to make room for another. He could feel the Asura reaching into his mind, grabbing hold of his fears, of his memories. The youngest Winchester tried will all the power he could muster to push it away, ward off the invitation, to keep his private thoughts to himself.

But that simple act of defiance only made him weaker as he felt the demon feeding off of him, build strength within the walls of his host's tired and freezing body. And Sam knew then that this couldn't go on much longer. The Asura was keeping him going, keeping his body moving, breathing. But the simple truth was that Sam Winchester was hurt, his body was failing, freezing, dying, and he wasn't sure that he would have the strength to hold on once the Asura left him. If it ever left him.

"Oh, Sammy. Why so down?" The shadow asked, mockingly, drawing Sam away from his thoughts.

"What the hell do you want with me?"

"Survival. If you really want to blame someone for your current situation, blame your brother."

"This isn't his fault."

"Isn't it? He's the one that blessed the land, bound me to you. If it is not his fault then who's. You know what your father would say, 'you should never have gotten yourself in trouble, you shouldn't have made Sammy put himself on the line like that."

"Shut the hell up."

The Asura smirked as it continued down the street, not so subtly checking out a young woman as she passed. Sam could feel a fear growing from her when he felt himself leer at her, almost as though he were sizing her up, staring deeply into her soul, his brown eyes blazing through her. And, as in the hotel room, he found his soul unknowingly feeding off the woman, drawing in her fear and discomfort.

"Stop it!"

The shadow only laughed as it continued on, the woman moving to the other side of the street. "Oh my, this is going to be fun."

"Shut up."

"Come now, Sammy. You know, I wouldn't need to feed off of others if you would just come to grips with your true feelings."

"And what would that be?"

"Your brother. How you really feel. That you want to get away from him, want to be free of him. That you don't want to have to care for him his entire life. That someday you are going to leave him again for a real life."

"You liar! Stay out of my head, stop twisting my thoughts around."

"A little late for ultimatums."

"You just stay away from him."

"But what if I don't want to? Your brother means a lot to me. I can sense him, you know, feel him even when he is hundreds of miles away. He is so full of pain, so close to falling, waiting to be taken by something, anything."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"He is alone, Sam. Even now, even with you, he is still alone, and he always will be. You want him to open up to you, want him to confide in you, want to be his hero, but you never truly give him the chance. I can feel it in you, hear your mind screaming it over and over again. You need him to keep you safe, keep you grounded. You want to save him, but at the same time you want him to give you the strength to do so."

"I can fix him."

"Yes, you can. But you don't."

"What?"

"You have the power to save him, to keep him from falling, that much is perfectly clear. But you are too afraid to use your strength, to afraid to be anything but normal, to follow anyone's lead but your own. And that will cost him dearly. You have to decide, Sam, who is more important; you, or your brother?"

"You don't know us."

"Oh, but I do. Just as I know that Dean will inevitably follow us. If he wakes up of course."

"What did you do to him?"

"I did nothing except channel what was already in you. It was your energy, your soul, your pent up anger that threw him across that room. I was merely using the powers you are afraid to wield."

"I would never hurt him!"

"There is more then just physical pain. You hurt your brother long ago, left him behind, and from that moment on he has been broken. Don't tell me you cannot see it, cannot feel it. The brother you walked out on all those years ago is not the brother you returned to. The one you broke, the one you destroyed, he exists only in memories now. What Dean Winchester is now is the shattered remains of a once magnificent soul."

"I can save him."

"Maybe you can, and maybe you can't, that doesn't matter now."

"Why not?"

"Because, you will never be given the chance. I have plans for you, Sam, and by the time your brother finds us, it will be too late."

"And how are you expecting to make him follow along with this plan of yours?" Sam didn't know what else to do, he was terrified and he was sure that the Asura could sense it. It had wanted to trade them before, did it still have the same client waiting? And what did he mean that Dean would be too late, Dean was never too late, he always arrived just at the right time, because that is what Dean Winchester does.

"Does he now?" The shadow chided, hearing Sam's inner thoughts.

"Yes, he does."

"Well, lets put that to the test then. What do you say?" And before Sam could react, before he could even breath, he felt all of his energy being pulled from him, sending his inner body crashing to its knees, his mind reeling and fogging over with a sudden exhaustion. The shadow then focused all of Sam's strength, all of his powers at the busy street before them, sending the energy out across the traffic in waves.

Sam sat in horrified silence as his eyes were once more ripped open, unable to turn away from the scene that was unfolding before him. The Asura had sent the blast straight into a speeding Mac truck, sending the rig careening across the street, the driver honking and swerving as he tried desperately to stop the accelerating truck as it plowed through a red light and into the busy city intersection.

The carnage was too much for Sam to bare, the terror ripping into his soul, beating him, breaking him. He could hear the screams as the truck decimated a mini-van along with several other cars, feel the anguish as a pedestrian was not able to avoid a car as it swerved out of the path of the truck. And he watched, helpless, as his power, his soul, his energy wreaked havoc, stole lives, destroyed futures. And the Asura laughed, cold and deadly, as Sam felt himself beginning to slip away once more, silent tears falling from his eyes, a cold chill taking over his body. He had done this, he had killed, just like the Demon said he would.

And suddenly, more then anything, he needed his brother there, needed him to say that it wasn't really his fault, that he was not to blame. He needed to hear that voice, see the cocky smile, feel that brotherly concern. He needed Dean, his big, strong, older brother to come and tell him that everything was all right, that it was all just another nightmare, and that 'as long as he was around, nothing bad would happen.'

"So tell me, where is your faithful brother now?"

The Asura only smirked as it felt Sam fall unconscious inside it once more, knowing that the blast had taken much of the boy's energy. But he was young, strong, and he would regain himself soon. So the shadow continued on down the street, the screaming and sirens fading as it left the mayhem behind, searching for its next target.

"Like laying bread crumbs." It whispered as it continued on, laying a path of destruction for Dean to follow.

66666666666666666

Dean swerved as he drove down the street, searching for any sign of his brother, his eyes still unnervingly blurry, ears still ringing from his trip into the wall. In all reality he had been unconscious for a little over five hours, and he knew, at that moment, that he should probably be in a hospital. But that wasn't about to happen, not until he found Sam, not until he knew that he would be able to wake up, rested, to the sight of his fidgety and anxious little brother. Until Sam was safe there would be no rest for Dean.

In all honest Dean had no idea where to go, east or west, north or south, at that moment they were all the same, all roads his possessed younger brother could have traveled down. But he was just one person lost in a sea of what ifs, lost in a landslide of trial and error. He didn't have time to look down every road, to follow every path the demon may have taken. Sam had already been gone for five hours, five hours Dean wished he could have had back. He was terrified of what that thing was doing to his Sammy, of the amount of energy it was stealing from the younger man.

The blasts he had been dealt were strong, much stronger then what Sam had used to move the cabinet Max had trapped him behind, and Dean didn't know what that was doing to his brother's soul. The visions took a lot out of him, left him physically weak and sick, and they were nothing compared to the lightning bolts of energy the Asura had been throwing. And he could only guess what the energy bursts were doing to his baby brother's body. And his face, his skin, it was so pale, so cold, so wrong. Sam looked almost near death and Dean prayed with everything he had in him that that wasn't true. He needed Sam, alive and well, and he didn't know what he would do without him. How he would tell his father that he had sat next to him for five month and done nothing, let his brother be taken, bound the demon to him body and soul. And poor Sam never stood a chance. 'No!' Dean told himself. 'I won't lose him, not like this.'

The traffic throughout the city was a mess and, try as he might, every road he turned down was as back up as the next. Dean felt himself growing more and more frustrated, every moment he spent sitting in traffic was another moment lost, another step that carried Sam further away from him. "Hey," Dean called to the car beside him, the other man rolling down his window. "Can you tell me a better route, I'm kind of in a hurry." That was an understatement.

"Sorry buddy, everything is like this."

"Is it always this bad?"

"No, there was a pretty bad accident up on Camas and Sun highway. Semi blew through and intersection, took out about six cars and a few pedestrians. There's really no other roads around here."

Dean suddenly felt his body grow cold, his blood running like ice through his constricting veins. "Did it just happen?"

"No, about four hours ago. Saw it on the news, truck driver said it felt like lightening hit him, then the rig was controlling itself. I'll tell you what though, there's gonna be quite an investigation."

Dean couldn't think, he couldn't even breath. 'Like a burst of lightning.' "Oh god, Sammy." Dean whispered choking on the air that was trying to force its way into his lungs. The Asura had used Sam, it had made him kill, caused that destruction. He could feel his fists tightening around the steering wheel as an unchecked anger grew from somewhere deep inside his being. No one, no one, used Sam like that, ever. He was strong, brave, and caring, and Dean knew, without a doubt, that the younger man would blame himself for this accident, for the deaths, for the rest of his life. And it broke his heart. The kid had been through so much, he deserved better, and when Dean finally found this thing, creepy shadow or not, he was going to tear it apart. Even if he had to march into hell to do it.

"Aw, hell." He heard the man in the car next to him take in a deep breath as he raised the volume on his car stereo.

"What? What happened?" Dean asked, eyes bright, heart refusing to beat as he feared the worst.

"Apartment complex is on fire. They're thinking gas explosion. Ones that got out are screaming that every gas pipe in the place burst at once. Jesus, when it rains it pours, I guess."

"Anyone hurt?"

"I'm assuming. Radio says that there's about fifteen still missing."

"Damn it. Where, where was the fire?"

"Uh, about ten miles from here, up Going to the Sun Highway."

"Are there any other towns up there?"

"What? No, nothing really till you get to Lake McDonald, and that's a good fifty, sixty miles."

"There's nothing?"

"Maybe the odd cabin here or there, but this is a national park, there isn't a whole lot of anything besides hiking trails outside the towns."

"Great. Thanks for the info, I'll try and find another way around."

"Good luck." And with that the man rolled up his window, fighting off the bitter winter weather.

Great, just great, Dean thought to himself, a drive through a national forest in the middle of the winter, and Sam was walking, without a jacket. Dean suddenly felt a new energy swell within him, a new fear driving itself deep into his soul, sure to stay there for the rest of his days. Sam was out in the middle of winter, in Glacier National Park, walking in nothing more then a long sleeve tee-shirt, hoodie, jeans and boots. He was going to freeze to death, be probably was freezing to death, the demon keeping him alive, keeping him moving even after his body would have failed.

And the thoughts of what could happen, what he may really be facing fell down upon him like bricks being thrown from heaven. He had to exorcise the demon, had to get it out of Sam, but he didn't know for sure if he would be saving him or killing him. When he had exorcised the demon from Meg if felt like the right thing to do, 'put the poor girl out of her misery.' But at that moment he wasn't sure, he didn't know. Meg had thanked him, had helped him with her dying breath. And he knew, then and there that he couldn't listen to Sammy say good bye, couldn't watch as life slipped from his eyes, as his actions lead to his baby brother's death.

Dean pushed down hard on the accelerator as he made it to the open detour, his car headed out onto the desolate Going to the Sun Highway. He needed help though, he couldn't go in blind, he needed a plan. He had to find Sam fast, had to save him, before it was time to simply put his battered soul to rest.

TBC

A/N2: i know i had a road called Shadow Pine Highway in my last story. Going to the Sun Highway is real however, it follows the banks of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, Montana.