Four Days Later
Texas
After traveling to Philadelphia and burning Ben's bones, I got a phone call from Taron. He told me there was something going on around the Dallas area that he thinks may be something the three of us should look at. Young teenagers were dying in their sleep and they were all taking place at sleepovers.
There were no traces of blood or any kind of signs of break in. The only clue the officers have are the bodies themselves. The faces all looked frightened, like they were literally scared to death.
Authorities were thinking this was a case of teenagers doing some sleepover based prank like "Bloody Mary" and having it go horribly wrong, but the only witnesses kept insisting their innocence, saying they were not doing anything out of the ordinary.
Taron would come help but he was recruited by a few hunters out of state to help out with a case, so he had to take care of that.
It was just myself, Dean, and Sam trying to figure out what we are dealing with, books all over the hotel as Sam and I scanned every single one while Dean just laid in his bed, eating a cheeseburger.
He may be a good hunter, but when it came to research, Dean was pretty much like that one kid in the group that put in no effort on a project.
"The only explanation I have for this is a demon," I said, "They are known for being the cause of sleep paralysis...at least that's what we know. Medical experts usually try to link sleep paralysis to stress or other sleep disorders."
"So we're dealing with some kind of Freddy Krueger shit?" Dean said.
"Not exactly," I said, "Sleep Paralysis caused by demons have a multitude of origins, going from the UK, America, Thailand, Japan, even the people of Fiji have their own version of it. Freddy Krueger in the movies was once a man that was killed by an entire town, but I think in this case we're not dealing with some vengeful spirit like Krueger was. This is definitely a demon, as they know how to kill without making a mess."
"Has any of your psychic friends experienced them?" he asked.
"A few have, yeah," I said, "Taron spoke to a few people who have experienced a sleep paralysis demon in some way, and the most common reports say that the demon can either appear as a beautiful man or woman, also known as a succubus and incubus, or they come in the form of an old hag."
"Well if we get this demon to come after me, I at least want to die in the hands of a beautiful woman," Dean said.
I just rolled my eyes and went back to the book I had. "Don't count your chickens," I said, "You may just get suffocated by a handsome man instead if they heard you say that just to piss you off."
"Well, now you just jinxed by giving them the idea," he said.
"I'm not the one who..." I said.
"Hey guys," Sam interrupted, "Come look at this."
I looked over to Sam who was sitting at the motel table with his laptop.
"Find something, love?" I asked as I went over to where he was sitting.
"Yeah," he said, "This website that talks about how to control your dreams..."
"Controlling dreams?" Dean said as he sat on the other chair.
"Apparently there's this article going around about something called 'lucid dreaming.' It has an entire step by step procedure," Sam said, turning his laptop to Dean.
"Shit...this is never good," I said.
"Why, you know of this?" Dean asked.
"Some psychics used it in the past to connect and communicate with each other," I said, "Think of it as early long distance calls."
I took a look at the screen, scanning through the instructions.
"Some steps are missing it looks like," I said, "But this looks this was typed out with the idea of people who can't do what I can do."
Dean moved the screen a little more in my direction so I can take a look at it while Sam got out of his chair and gave it to me. He just stood behind me, both hands on my shoulders as he traced them with his thumbs a bit.
"You know a bit more about this," Dean said, "All I can say is that I know what I'm doing when all the good porn is gone. Just make up my own scenarios."
"Hold your horses and keep it in your pants for a second there," I said, "From the looks of it, there seems to be no sort of protective measure instruction when it comes to this."
"Protection?" Sam asked.
"The issue with Lucid dreams is sometimes, things slip in to our subconscious," I said, "And by some things, I mean...things that I have to see every day, especially when a spirit wants to speak to me while I'm asleep."
"Why would they even do that?" Dean said, "I mean...what if you're having some kind of wet dream with...whomever the latest hottest celebrity person is?"
"Well, first of all they don't just pop in when I'm having any dreams my subconscious picks up, so them walking in on a pornography is unlikely," I said, "The setting is usually in the place I'm at and there's no one else but me and them. Secondly...I honestly don't know why they come to be in dreams sometimes. The only thing I could think of is...confidentially? They feel more comfortable being in a dream as it is more quiet...but like I said, I don't have the answer to that question."
"So, then what's the plan?" Dean said.
"Well...seeing as I'm the only ones who knows how to properly Lucid Dream and not get killed, I've gotta make a little visit with Mr. Sandman," I said.
"Got the instructions!" Sam said.
"Thanks again, Taron," I said, "I'm really sorry about pulling you away from the current case..."
"I was already at the library computer, hon," he said, "No worries."
"Okay, good because," I said, "I need to keep you on the line for a little while longer."
"Sure," he said.
I looked over to Sam and Dean. "Taron needs to talk to me about something private. I'll be outside."
Both boys nodded and I took my spare key, making sure I had enough distance from the room so Sam and Dean won't eavesdrop. "So...did you find anything regarding the last thing we spoke about?" I asked.
"You mean the whole thing with Sam?" Taron asked.
"His visions...they seem to be getting more intense and it's putting him under so much stress," I said, "If there is some way I can maybe...train him to control them and use them to help us out?"
"No! Don't train him!" Taron shouted on the phone.
"What do you mean 'Don't train him?!'" I said.
"If you're going to train him in anything, help him block out the powers," Taron said, "Training him to use those powers is just going to end in disaster."
"But wouldn't suppressing them be more dangerous?" I asked, "Taron, you know what happens when we try to do it!"
"Sam isn't one of us," he said, "We all come from a long line of mediums that can be traced back to the beginning of time. We were MEANT to have these powers. Sam, however, was never meant to have his powers."
"What..." I said.
"Look, his powers came from a demon, correct?" Taron continued, "If he tries to use those abilities in some way, he'll be playing with fire...big time. Him and the others who got those powers from the yellow eyed demon...if they get too powerful, they are going to destroy everything."
"But what if...Sam has a heart of gold," I said, "He would never hurt anyone intentionally."
"No, he won't," Taron said, "But if he got a taste of that power...he's going to get hooked. Even if he thinks he's doing good, it's going to lead to something dark. You and I both know that demons like to disguise their evil intentions with possibly something good."
He was right. I hated it, but Taron made good points. Sam didn't have the centuries of practice that my ancestors did and had to learn the responsibility of what we do.
"So...I guess as you said, he has to shut them out?" I asked.
"Yes," Taron said, "The good news is once that temptation is gone, it's gone. He won't be able to access his abilities ever again."
"Okay," I said, "Thanks, Taron. I'll let you go back to the case. Please be careful."
"You, too," he said, "Those sleep paralysis demons can be a piece of work."
I hung up the phone and walked back to the motel room. I knew I had to tell Sam immediately because once we got this case under control, we needed to immediately get these powers in check.
I opened the door real quick and saw both boys setting the area up for the protection spell.
"How are we doing?" I asked.
"Doing okay so far," Dean said, "We just need to wait until a certain time to get this done."
I nodded and looked to Sam. "You, a word outside?" I asked.
Sam looked at me confused but nodded and went to the door.
"Woah, woah," Dean said, "If this is you two getting ready to have sex in Baby I swear..."
"Head out of gutter, Dean," I said, "You've had sex so many times in that car that I don't wanna corrupt it more. I just need to talk to Sam privately about something Taron told me. I'll discuss it with you later on."
I quickly closed the door before Dean could stop me and walked around the same area I used to get out of earshot from the boys.
"What's going on?" Sam said.
"I spoke to Taron," I said, "About your abilities."
"Wait, really? How come?"
"I was thinking there may be a way to train you to help you with the abilities," I said, "Maybe control them or to do something with them?"
"What did he say?" Sam asked.
I sighed. "I...wish I could train you," I said, "But...Taron made it clear that it's completely out of the question."
"Why? I can pretty much do what you can do...how is it different?"
"It's not a matter of what you can do, Sam," I said, "It's a matter of how you got these powers. My ancestors...we got these to help lost souls cross to the other side. You got your abilities from a demon."
"So, what? Am I going to go all dark side?" Sam said, "You know...I was hoping that you of all people would not make that statement but...of course..."
"Sam, don't be ridiculous and please do not put words into my mouth like that," I said, "You are one of the most compassionate people I know, which is part of the problem. There may be a time where you think you're heading towards the right side of things, but it'll only be short term. You know very well that demons do this shit all of the time: they give you something that may seem good, and once you take that temptation, you are given moments of bliss before you're given a lifetime of hell."
Sam just stared back at me, thinking really hard at what I just said. This normally wouldn't be a tough decision to make, but this is Sam we're talking about. He does see the best in everyone and everything, but his naiveness is making him believe that he has the power to overcome the temptation, and I've seen what that's done to people.
I'm no saint in this, either. This could easily be me or even Dean. We are human, after all.
"So, what do we do?" Sam asked.
"We need to find a way to block out your powers," I said, "Taron says if you keep refusing to access them, they will go away. However, it may be a while because you have to REALLY say 'I don't want this' or something like that."
"And then I'm no longer an X-men?" Sam said.
I smiled a bit. "Yes, all your...X-Men powers would be gone," I said.
Sam nodded and just looked on the ground. I felt so bad for him and I wish I could've said something differently, but I knew this was not just for everyone's safety. This was also for Sam's.
I took both my hands and cupped his face, getting him to face me. "Look," I said, "I do REALLY wish I can tell you that this isn't dangerous, but trust me when I say you will be better off without your abilities. There are some days where...it's hard, seeing what I see and feeling what I feel. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
Sam gave me a small smile. "I know," he said, "I just...wish I didn't feel like such a freak."
"You're not a freak," I said, "Not in that sense at least. Hunters and mediums...we're already kind of crazy because of what we do, putting our lives in constant danger and tempting fate, but we're doing it to make sure humanity is safe from the evils we do know about. However...what happened was not your fault at all. The demons...they just love to do whatever they can to break us when they have every chance to leave us alone."
My arms wrapped around his neck and I brushed my nose against his. "You like to jump the gun with these things as does Dean, but you need to look at the bigger picture."
He rested his forehead against mine and stroked my cheek with his free hand. "Kind of hard to make rational decisions when we're put in all these life or death situations."
"Why I'm here, to keep you boys in check," I teased.
Sam smiled, leaning in to kiss me. I kissed him back and felt my entire body heat up a bit while an overwhelming feeling of love came at me. I felt horrible that Sam was feeling like he wasn't good enough and evil, but I wanted to show him that he is good enough and that he's the opposite of evil.
I broke away from the kiss, resting my forehead back against Sam's. "I love you," I said.
"I love you, too," he said as he pulled me in to an embrace.
Evening
Dean got the last of the ingredients as I got out the list of items that I wanted to bring in to the dream with me, memorizing every detail. The last thing I wanted was to forget something and be left defenseless against a demon.
Sam stood by the lamp, getting ready to shut it off when I closed my eyes. He also gave me noise canceling headphones that played some white noise in the background to help me stay asleep in case either one of the boys needed to move or accidently cause a disturbance that could wake me up, and I need uninterrupted sleep in order for this to work.
Dean mixed the ingredients together and went up to me, sprinkling them on my head while reciting the protection spell. Once he was finished, he set the bowl aside and waited for my next instructions.
"If I'm in distress, I'll try to make a bit of noise," I said, "But it won't be loud. People who experience sleep paralysis will have try to cry out for help, so just pay close attention and make sure I'm not making any noise."
"Got it," Dean said, "Well...I guess this is...sweet dreams?"
I chuckled. "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite? Is that what we're going with?"
"Maybe more of 'don't let the bed demons bite,'" Sam said.
"Since when did you come up with porn titles?" I said laughing a bit.
I reached over to the CD player and turned the volume up. The white noise filled my ears as I laid on my back, staring at the ceiling as I did my best to let myself relax. My eyes closed slowly while I repeated to myself on what to look for to know I was dreaming and what I will have on me when I get there.
20 Minutes Later
I woke up in the motel room, Sam and Dean completely absent. I was alone.
I looked over to the alarm clock on the bedside to find the numbers completely distorted. Getting up and taking my headphones out, I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror and sure enough, no reflection.
I was officially dreaming.
I got out of the bathroom to find the bag containing the items from the list I wrote before going into the dream. Everything made it in: holy water, a rosary, and salt. Hopefully I will be able to perform the exorcism successfully in the world of dreams as I could in the real world.
The only thing I couldn't bring was a Bible as it is impossible to actually read while in a dream, but thankfully I had the passage memorized word for word.
Putting everything in my pockets, I walked to the door and braced myself.
"Alright, let's find this Freddy Kruger wannabe."
I got out of the room to find myself in the parking lot of the dream motel. I wasn't sure if the demon was either going to appear at me or I had to go to it. Either way, I was concerned the protection spell we used was too powerful despite me telling Dean what words to replace so that the demon can come to me without killing me in my sleep.
Suddenly, my dream shifted from the parking lot to a street corner, one single street lamp lighting up a spotlight on a figure. I reached out for my Holy Water, preparing to fight whatever this figure when I heard it chuckle.
"Try all you want with that, sweetheart," it said, "You won't get a scratch on me."
I opened up the cap anyways and threw the holy water in the figures direction. No sounds of flesh burning came from the figure. Their full face came to view and I saw them look at me in annoyance.
"Can't be too careful," I said, screwing the cap back on the bottle and putting it in my pocket.
"No worries," they said, "You're not the first hunter to try that out."
"How did you..." I almost asked, stopping myself from asking such a stupid question. It was painfully obvious that I was a hunter.
"Anyways, who are you?" I said, "I guess you're also here to find out what's going on?"
"I don't know, am I?" they asked, "I may be the one causing all these children to die in their sleep."
"You would've already attempted to kill me if that was the case."
"You have a protection spell on you."
"Doesn't mean you wouldn't have tried. I've met some pretty dumbass demons in the past that are super impulsive."
The individual chuckled. "Well...quite the witty one here," they said, "Well...I have many names, my dear."
"Many names?"
"The Romans called me Somnia," they said, "The Greeks called me Morpheus. You may recognize my father, though. He is known as Hypnos."
Wait a second...
"You mean to tell me," I said, "You're one of the gods, and you are the god of dreams?"
"The one and only, sweetheart," they said.
"Wha-what are you doing here in this small town anyways?" I asked, "The only way someone could get you here is...summoning..."
"Bingo," Morpheus said.
"Who summoned you, then?"
"Well...I can say children at sleepovers tend to get...curious," they said, "I am impressed that they managed to summon me successfully, though. When others try it out, those bastard demons tend to beat me here."
"Is that what's killing the teenagers, then? A demon, specifically one that does sleep paralysis?"
"Yes but this one...it was sent on purpose..." Morpheus said.
"What..." I said before Morpheus pressed their fingers on my lips.
"Darling, you and your little friends jumped the gun on this one. I think you need to wake up and come back later because your friends need to find the one who summoned this demon in order to stop it."
"But more people will die! I have to find the demon now!"
"This demon is on a leash," Morpheus said, "And it's more powerful connected to this person. Listen, if you want to make sure no more bodies pile up in the next few days, you need to get a move on. Check the papers, talk to the victims' families again."
"What's the name? Please just, tell me the name!" I said.
"I don't have much time," they said, "I can already sense the demon coming back. I'll do what I can to take care of this. Now, my dear, you need to wake up..."
Next thing I knew, my world began to shift again.
I woke up in a sweat, trying really hard to catch my breath as I sat upright. Dean and Sam immediately rushed over, Sam sitting down next to me and pulling me close to him while Dean grabbed my free hand.
"Sarah! What happened? Did you find the demon?" Dean said.
I looked over to Dean and shook my head. "No...but I think we got more than we bargained for," I said, looking up at Sam.
Few minutes later, I had a blanket wrapped around me and a glass of iced water. Sam and Dean sat opposite of me as I explained to them what happened, from Morpheus appearing at me to finding out that this sleep paralysis demon has a deal with somebody in the town.
"I was told to find the pattern," I said, "Yet the only pattern we found so far is this is happening at sleepovers with teenagers. Maybe...maybe this is a prank gone wrong?"
"No, if this was some kind of prank, there would be more bodies piling up," Dean said, "This is personal...so maybe I was half right about the Freddy Krueger thing."
"But...how do we find out what these teenagers have in common? I mean, we have to be careful on using our fake IDs and fake FBI personas. We could research it on our own, but sometimes these newspapers don't report the names because they are minors..."
"Some small town papers get away with it, though," Sam said, "I'm sure if we get some copies of the papers from the past few days, we can find some names."
"There's a 24 hour convenient store not too far from here," Dean said, "Sarah, you and I can go get the copies there. Sam, set up a space so we can map this out, maybe ask the motel front desk if they have any copies in case we can't get some."
"Wait, why can't Sarah and I go while you set this up?" Sam said.
Dean scoffed. "I nearly had a heart attack in that prison worried about her driving Baby," he said, "Last thing I want is to have that same feeling if you're driving her around this town."
He took the keys from the table and exited the room before Sam could stop him. We both looked at each other and just rolled our eyes at Dean's behavior. "I'll be back, then," I said.
I left the room as well while Sam left to go to the front desk. As soon as I was strapped in to the passenger seat, Dean began to drive off.
"You that worried about Sam crashing the car, or are you worried he's going to take me somewhere secluded and we'll have sex in the back of the car?" I said.
"Jesus, what is it with you putting that image in my head?" Dean said.
"Well...is it that?"
"No, it's not," he said, "But I swear I will kick both your asses if you even think about corrupting Baby."
"You've corrupted her enough times. Plus it grosses me out...the thought of having sex the same places you did..."
"Good, at least we're on the same page on that."
"So...why did you insist you and I go to the store to get the papers while Sam stays behind if that wasn't your concern?"
Dean just looked at me, giving me the "You're really that dumb, aren't you" look.
"No need for that," I said, "Reminder that I woke up frightened because I just ran into THE Greek god of dreams and he forced me to wake up."
"I just...I want to know what you and Sammy talked about that was so urgent," he said, "Plus, if I remember correctly, you said you were going to fill me in on that."
Oh, so that's why Dean wanted me to go with him to get the papers. I actually completely forgot about that until now.
"Was hoping to finish this case before we discussed that...but I guess there's no point in putting it off. Well...during one of our travels, I called up Taron and asked him about Sam's abilities. I wanted to see if there was a way I could train him like how I was trained so he could maybe have better control of then and to only use it when needed."
"Okay so...when does his training start?" Dean said, "Is he going to have to isolate himself like you had to?"
"Yeah...about that...Taron said...helping Sam with his powers is completely out of the question. I need him to reject them rather than use them."
"Wait...why?"
"Sam didn't get his abilities naturally, if you may recall. For people like me and Taron, we come from a long line of humans who have these gifts, and we were created to help lost souls cross to the other side when a reaper can't do it. Sam's gift was from a demon, as were the others you mentioned to me earlier, and if we tried to mess with a gift from a demon...well, we all know how that will turn out."
"How do you block it out?" he said, "His visions come at random..."
"Just be thankful that you're asking that question and not actually having to go through the training," I said.
Dean just nodded in agreement before looking towards the road. It didn't take long for him to park in front of the convenience store.
"I'll go in," I said, "Stay here in case they started posting pictures of you and Sam all over the place."
"You're getting a little paranoid on that," Dean said.
"One of these days, they're going to invent something that makes news spread like a virus," I said, "Then you will thank my paranoia."
I got out of the Impala and entered the store. I was the only one there minus the cashier, who went on high alert the moment I walked in.
Guess this place has been seeing a few robberies at this hour.
I found the local newspapers but was only able to pick up today and yesterday's paper. Looking through them, they had the names of the victims but only gave enough information on the ones that died that day.
I looked over to the cashier and approached him.
"Hey, quick question. Do you guys have prints of the paper from the past 7 days?" I asked.
The cashier eyed me suspiciously. "Why do you ask?" he said.
"I'm an investigative reporter. I'm doing a report on strange murders and I heard about what's been happening here...I just wanted to see if there was information in the local papers."
The cashier continued to give me the eye, almost as if he was determining whether or not I was telling him the truth. I don't understand what the big deal was. Maybe they were in the back and he was concerned that I was going to steal from the register.
Thankfully, I wasn't armed (minus the holy water which I put in a plastic water bottle) so I showed my empty pockets and my wallet.
"Sir, I'm not armed," I said, "All I want are the newspapers."
He finally nodded but continued to give me a threatening stare. "I've got some in the back," he said, "Don't even think about touching anything you're not willing to pay for."
Jesus, dude. Chill out.
I manifested calming energy in the room, and his face immediately went from stress to calm. There was a moment of confusion with the sudden changes coming off him but he quickly dismissed it as he walked into the back room.
I took a look at both papers to see what else was going on in this little town. So far, besides the teenagers getting killed in their sleep, just the typical town announcements. I looked at the date from today's paper.
July 30th.
Wait...
July 30th...
That means...in two days it'll be August 1st.
In two days...it'll be my 21st birthday.
How did time slip past me this quickly? Most importantly, how did I forget that my birthday was so close? Usually, this was a bad time for me as my folks were murdered by the demon two weeks after my 18th birthday, so I've always dreaded this time.
However, this time it felt...different? I didn't have that feeling of grief I usually get when my birthday draws closer. Maybe because I was in a much better setting...
Well, not better, but now I was back with Dean and Sam, two men I love in completely different ways.
I wonder if Sam remembered my birthday and had something planned. I certainly won't hold it against him if he forgot. We've been apart for about five years and reunited not too long ago.
The cashier came back with a stack of papers from the past week. I pulled out my wallet to pay him but he shook his head.
"No worries," he said, "I'm not too concerned about newspaper payments anyways."
Really? After all that bullshit earlier about not trusting me to be alone?
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"No one your age reads the paper anymore," he said, "I just keep them for display at this point."
"Oh um...thank you," I said as I grabbed the stack of papers.
I headed out to the Impala, Dean reaching over to the passenger side door and opening it up. Led Zeppelin was blasting in the car and I just rolled my eyes.
"Really? Still on Zeppelin?"
"Hey, just because you don't like them..." he said.
"Dean, they are thieves who ripped off so many songs and gave no credit to the original owners until they were caught," I said as I sat down in the passenger side and strapped myself in.
"Compared to many other artists out there?"
"Not saying that other artists haven't done that. You know how many shouting matches I got into with my mother because she was a die hard Elvis fan and I had to break the news that many of his songs, he stole from Black artists?"
Dean just rolled his eyes and started the engine. Backing out of the parking lot, we drive back to the motel.
"Thank God it's not raining at least," I said, "I don't feature having newspaper ink all over me."
"Yeah, what took you so long by the way?" he said, "Were you flirting with the cashier to get these papers for free or something?"
"I wasn't batting eyelashes at anyone, Winchester," I groaned, "The cashier was just...paranoid."
"Paranoid like how you are about myself and Sammy whenever we go to the store because you think we're going to get recognized by the cops?"
"Shut it. I worry about you two, okay?"
"Worry? About what? I mean...I know why you're worried about Sammy all the time because you both have this little affair going on but...you really worry about me?"
I rolled my eyes. "What kind of stupid ass question is that? Of course I worry about you as well!"
"Why?" Dean asked.
Normally people would question if a statement like that was either sarcasm or genuine confusion. However, by the change in Dean's attitude...he really didn't understand why I worried about him.
"Dean, I'm always going to worry about you," I said, my tone getting serious, "I know you don't open up very easily, especially when it comes to how you're feeling. Yes, I cheat by sensing your energy so I know when you're lying when you say 'I'm okay,' but I try not to push it too much as I know you will be a stubborn pain in the ass about it. Either way...I'm still going to worry about you. I care about you, Dean, and while I don't love you like how I love Sam, I love you like an older brother."
This was the first time in a while that I've opened up this much to Dean. Usually it was mixed with sarcastic comments and witty bantering, but I needed to be serious about this.
What I said was true. I do love Dean, but I love him like the older sibling I never had since I grew up as an only child. He protected me while my parents were away with his father and was someone I looked up to. I mean, where did I get all my great comebacks from?
Dean's emotions shifted from confusion to a bit of happiness. I saw him smirk a little bit after I told him how I felt about him and I couldn't help but mirror him. He looked like he wanted to say something to me but I stopped him.
"You don't have to say anything," I said, "I can already tell I made you a little giddy."
Dean just rolled his eyes but the smile was still present. "Whatever you say, cheater."
I shook my head and chuckled as we drove to the motel in silence.