"I'm hungry." Dean said suddenly.
I looked up over the top of my book at Dean in the front seat. "Dean, sweetheart, we're in the middle of nowhere."
"Yeah, but there's a burger joint just up ahead." Sam glanced back at me, a slightly amused look on his face.
My brows shot up but I shrugged. "Fine."Then, "Not it!"
"Not it!" Dean yelled barely a second behind me.
Sam opened his mouth and then shut it again and huffed. "Fine." He sighed.
Dean parked up front and Sam got ready to jump out into the pouring rain. "Hey, don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?" Dean said with a grin.
I groaned and Sam said, annoyed, "Dude, we're the ones who are gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions."
Dean grinned back and Sam sighed, getting out of the car. "Hey, see if they've got any pie." Dean exclaimed. Sam glared and slammed the door shut. "Bring me some pie! I love me some pie."
I rolled my eyes and reached up front to turn up the radio. A second later the radio started to become static filled. Dean started fiddling with it, but the radio cut off completely.
I glanced up at the restaurant. And suddenly my senses were on high alert. I slapped Dean's arm and he looked up too with a puzzled expression. But that quickly turned to panic as we both realized that there was no one inside the diner.
Both me and Dean jumped out of the car, and my hand crept backwards towards my gun as we banged in through the door. A man was lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood.
"Sam?" Dean asked drawing his gun. I did the same.
I hurried around behind the counter to find the waitresses and cook also dead. "They're all dead." I said as Dean came up behind me. "Throats slit."
"But no Sam." I heard the escalating worry in Dean's voice though I knew he was trying to be strong for my sake.
Dean opened the back door and looked out, but the surroundings were empty with no signs whatsoever of life.
"Sam?" Dean called again, but there was no response.
"Dean." I pointed at the door handle where there was a light coating of a whitish yellow powder.
"Sulfur." Dean and I said simultaneously.
Dean took off back through the front door and back out toward the car screaming Sam's name. I stood frozen. Sam had been taken again. Possibly even possessed again.
I finally swallowed, wetting my dry throat. I forced myself to look around the diner for more clues, but I found none that indicated where Sam might be. Dean finally came back, dripping water onto the floor. The look of utter despair in his eyes was almost too much for me to take and I bit my lip.
"You call Bobby. I'll make the call to 911." I stated.
Dean nodded shakily and ran a hand through his wet hair before taking out his phone to call Bobby. I dialed 911 and reported the incident. When she asked me my name though I said, "Uh, Barbara Eden."
Dean gave me a funny look, but shook his head and went back to his conversation with Bobby.
I started wiping down our prints and then once Dean hung up we hightailed it out of there before the authorities arrived.
"What did Bobby say?" I asked once we were safely back on the road.
"Said he'd meet up with us. Call Ash and get him to do whatever it is he does to find Sam."
"On it." I said already dialing the number.
"This is it. All demonic signs and omens over the past month." Bobby said gesturing to the empty map spread out over the hood.
I gave him an incredulous look as Dean said, "Are you joking? There's nothing here."
"Exactly."
"Well, come on, there's gotta be something. What about the normal, low-level stuff? You know, exorcisms, that kind of thing."
"That's what I'm telling you; there's nothing. It's completely quiet."
"Well, how are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?"
I bit my lip and jumped slightly when my phone rang. I dug it out of my back pocket and flipped it open after seeing Ash's name on the screen.
"Ash, what do you got?" I asked desperately. Dean and Bobby both looked at me expectantly.
"Okay, listen, it's a big negatory on Sam." Ash said and I bit back a distressed whine.
"Oh, come on, man! You've gotta give us something. We're looking at a three thousand-mile haystack here." I looked around at the insignificant fields and farms surrounding us.
"Listen, MacK, I did find something."
My ears perked up at those words. "Well, what?"
"I can't talk over this line, MacK." A bit of worry had gone into Ash's voice.
"Come on, Ash, we don't have time for this!" I cried.
"Make time, okay? Because this-" Ash paused and I heard him speaking to someone else. Then he said hurriedly, "Not only does this almost definitely help you find your brother, this is...it's huge. So get here. Now." Ash hung up.
I flipped my phone down and looked at the expectant Dean and Bobby. "I guess we're going to the Roadhouse."
Bobby, Dean, and I jumped into the Impala and Dean we shot off.
I anxiously prayed that Sam was alright. If The Demon had got him we didn't stand a chance in hell at getting him back.
It was late morning by the time we got to the Roadhouse. But I knew there was something wrong from the minute I saw the smoke in the sky. When we turned the corner, I saw the entire Roadhouse had burnt down.
I gasped and practically jumped out of the car before Dean had even stopped the car. I ran up to the wreckage as I heard the doors slam behind me and Dean let out a breathy, "What the hell?"
I sifted through some the rubble looking for anything I could find.
"Oh, my God." Bobby breathed.
"You see Ellen?" Dean asked.
I shook my head, and Bobby said, "No. No Ash, either."
I continued sifting through the rubble until the gleam of melted metal caught my eye. "Dean." I said softly.
He turned and bent down beside me. He picked up the familiar watch which in turn was attached to a burnt arm.
"Oh, Ash, damn it!" Dean exclaimed. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"What are we going to do now?" I couldn't keep the escalating anxiety out of my voice.
Dean shook his head sadly. "I don't know. Dammit!" He cursed again.
Bobby took a deep breath. " This is..." He trailed off.
"What the hell did Ash know? We've got no way of knowing where Ellen is. Or if she's even alive. We've got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us. Now, how the hell are we gonna find Sam?" Dean, Bobby, and I started making our way back towards the Impala seeing as how there was obviously no sign of life anywhere nearby.
"We'll find him." Bobby said reassuringly, but he didn't sound very convinced.
Suddenly Dean clutched his head in pain. He doubled over. I rushed to his side as Bobby shouted his name. A moment later though he straightened, panting.
"What the hell?" I breathed, clutching his jacket sleeve tightly in case he happened to fall over.
"What was that?" Bobby asked. I looked at Dean expectantly, the worry showing clearly in my eyes.
"I don't know. A headache?" Dean said, still panting.
I raised an eyebrow. "You get headaches like that a lot?" Bobby asked.
"No. Must be the stress." Dean chuckled wryly. "I could have sworn I saw something."
"What do you mean? Like a vision? Like what Sam gets?"
"What? No!" Dean protested.
"I'm just saying."
"Come on, I'm not some psychic." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Dean fell against the hood of the Impala clutching his head in pain.
"Dean!" I shouted grabbing hold of his arm. Bobby ran up beside me.
"Dean? Dean! Are you with me?"
Dean sat up and blinked several times. "Yeah, I think so. I saw Sam. I saw him, Bobby."
"What?" I breathed.
"It was a vision."
I nearly fell over this time. I tried not to let my shock show on face but I know I flinched. Enochian words were whispered through my brain again.
Dean gave me a funny look but he didn't comment. "Yeah. I don't know how, but yeah. Whew. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels."
"What else did you see?" Bobby questioned.
"Uh... there was a bell."
"What kind of bell?"
"Like a big bell with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know."
I forced the voices to the back of my mind and tried to think. "Engraving?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Was it a tree? Like, an oak tree?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, exactly."
Realization washed over Bobby's face. "I know where Sam is."
Bobby jumped into the Impala. "I'll drive. Dean get some rest, if we hurry we can be there sometime tonight."
Both Dean and I stared for a moment. Bobby looked at us. "Get in the car, yaidjits."
Dean and I sprang into action, Dean taking the passenger seat and me jumping in the back.
Though neither me nor Dean were likely to get any rest knowing that we might have to face down yellow-eyes tonight.
We parked the Impala just outside of the woods. There wasn't a road anywhere in sight. Not good. If we had to go on foot it would be hard to have a quick getaway.
"Looks like the rest of the way's on foot." Bobby said.
We jumped out and grabbed our weapons as quick as possible. "Let's go." Dean said, slamming the trunk shut.
A cold sensation wound its' way into the pit of my stomach as we crashed through the woods.
As we came into a clearing I caught the outline of buildings, all wooden and old. The windows were either boarded up or broken. I caught the outline of a lone figure standing over the body of another. For a moment the cold feeling intensified until I realized that the figure standing was Sam.
Dean must have realized this too because he shouted out, "Sam!"
Sam turned a look of relief flooding his features as it does ours. "Dean! Kenzie!"
All of a sudden I catch a movement behind Sam. "Sam, look out!" I screamed.
The man behind Sam stabbed a knife into Sam's back and twisted it. When he drew his arm back I caught the glint of blood on the knife. "No!" Dean cried as all three of us broke into a run. The man took off into the night. Sam arched backwards for a moment his lips slightly parted in surprise and then he fell towards the ground.
Dean fell to his knees in front of Sam, grabbing him and holding him up. I fell to my knees atSam's side, a roar in my ears. I saw Dean's mouth moving as he tried to keep Sam conscious, and some part of me heard him while the other was too busy being in shock.
"Whoa, whoa, Sam. Sam! Hey! Come here. Let me look at you." Dean shifted Sam forward so that Sam's head rested on his shoulder. Dean put his palm over the gaping blood soaked wound and looked at his dripping hand in shock and fear. "Hey, look at me." He grabbed Sam's dropping head. "It's not even that bad. It's not even that bad, all right? Sammy? Sam! Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You're gonna be good as new. I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take you care of you. I've got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother? Sam? Sam! Sammy!"
I heard Dean speaking and I felt the cold tears slip down my cheeks and hover over my gaping mouth. No, some part of me thought. Sam couldn't die. He couldn't. Not now. Oh God, please not now.
Sam's eyes slid shut and he fell forward onto Dean's shoulder. "No. No, no, no, no. Oh, God." Dean murmured as the tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Sammy." I said, my voice raspy. "No." A sob choked me, and I fell forward with my head in my hands.
"Sam!" Dean cried out in anguish.
I heard Bobby come running back. "I couldn't get him in time. He's gone." He said as he came up.
I looked up at him and Bobby stared at Sam's limp form. "No." He breathed.
It was a while before Bobby was finally able to pull me to my feet. I leaned into his chest remembering all the times Dad had left me with Bobby as a kid.
Sam's dead, kept playing over and over again in my head like a broken record.
I don't know how but somehow I found myself inside of one of the building lying on an old mattress to cry myself to sleep.
