-CHAPTER 5-

Sam crouched on the roof of the side porch, trembling,ducking away from the windows behind him. Inside his chest, his heart pounded so hard he felt it would lodge itself in his throat. The wind whipped at his face and his clothing, but he was too petrified to care.

He tried desperately to think, tried to control his raging thoughts, but flashes of images and sound flooded his mind.

The terrified screaming of his mother.

His older brother, lying in the hallway, a pool of blood expanding underneath him.

His other brother, rushing forward to shove him back into the bedroom, telling him to lock the door and hide.

The shouts, the threats, the heavy, pounding footsteps...the screams that were cut off with a sickening gurgle.

Shivering, Sam tried to choke down his sobs, swallowing the tears and snot that streamed into his mouth and throat. He knew this was a horrible place to hide, and he only hoped the night was dark enough to conceal him. But this was his only chance.

His father would be home soon.

And then, Sam spotted him at the far side of the yard. He was walking up from the main road, a dark form against the night. A lantern swung from one hand as he casually lead Forest, Sam's horse, back home.

Sam crawled forward frantically, his breath hitching, cursing as his eyes clouded with fresh tears. He tried waving his arms, but his father didn't look up. Sam almost gagged as he stifled his gasping sobs, his arms waving wildly through the air.

He was right there and Sam couldn't do anything. He couldn't scream, he couldn't call out.

He could still hear those footsteps, echoing in his ears.

Sam looked madly around him, searching for something, anything that would tell him what to do. His eyes finally settled on the metal cresting that bordered the roof. Maybe the past winter had weakened it. It was the only thing he had left to hope for.

Sam grabbed onto a section, wrapping his hands around the metal. With a sudden surge of strength, he yanked and shook it, trying to wretch a piece free.

Finally—blessedly--it snapped off into his hand.

Sam pushed himself into a kneeling position, his hands shaking. He looked at his father again, coming ever closer to the house. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled his arm back and then snapped it forward, throwing the metal as hard as he could.

He lost sight of it almost immediately in the dark, but a couple of seconds later, he heard a distant thud as it landed in the grass.

His father didn't notice.

Sam, overcome with despair, quickly lunged for another piece of metal. But this time it wouldn't budge, wouldn't break. He cried and sobbed, afraid of the noise he was making, afraid any second he would be caught. He thought he should call out, but fear made his throat seize up.

And then the window behind him flew up, and he screamed as a hand wrapped around his ankle.

Sam jerked awake to a girl screaming in his ear. Gasping to find his breath, he looked around and found himself outside, high above the ground.

The porch roof.

The images came flooding back, and he had to force himself to believe the terror he felt wasn't real. At least, not for him.

With a shuddering sigh, he convinced himself to look at his ankle. But of course nothing was there. No hand grabbing for him.

Running a hand through his hair, Sam pushed himself up into a four-legged position, balancing himself on shaky hands and knees. His bag was lying next to him, and he quickly slung that over his shoulder. Then, when he was reassured that the roof wasn't about to collapse under him, he started crawling towards the tall window.

He shouldn't have been surprised to see that it was open, but he was. The sound of it flying open echoed horribly in his head, and he briefly feared he would find something on the other side of it.

But the bedroom inside was empty. Sam sagged with relief.

Until he thought of his brother. Rushing forward, Sam looked out of the room. The gaping hallway greeted him silent and empty. "Dean? Dean!" he hollered, spilling out into the hall.

The doorway to one of the back bedrooms opened, and Sam felt relief rush through him. "Hey, Dean, where-"

But the black shape that billowed out wasn't his brother.

Behind him, he heard a scream. A girl, the same scream that had been echoing in his ears.

Sam whirled around and saw her for the first time. A young girl, maybe twelve years old, with long, stringy blonde hair. She wore a loose, white nightgown, her bare feet sticking out from below. Her mouth and eyes were open with terror.

Sam turned back around and saw the dark form approaching. As it swept closer, the shape of it started to grow more defined, more human-like, but still it remained a black cloud with no features.

Glancing over his shoulder, he was shocked to see the girl racing towards him. He swung his gaze around, realizing both apparitions were headed towards each other. And he stood in the middle.

"Oh, God!" Sam immediately grabbed his bag hanging off his shoulder, and reached in for the canister of salt. His hand quickly closed over its familiar shape and pulled it out, and in the next instant he was pouring a circle of salt around himself on the floor. He frantically shook the canister, spilling the salt from the metal spout in a thick, shaky line around his feet.

As he poured, racing against the advancing figures, he kept glancing up to check their progress. The dark figure was a couple of feet away and gaining, but the girl was almost right on him.

Just as she closed in, Sam saw her wide eyes pleading with him, reaching a hand out. Then Sam completed the circle, and she instantly disappeared.

Sam spun around. The hallway was empty again. The black shape had also vanished.

He let out a loud breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Hattie?" he called out gently. "Hattie Schumann, I don't know if you're still there…" He paused, waiting for a sign. When nothing happened, he continued anyway. "If you are, I just want you to know--you're safe now. Okay? He can't hurt you anymore."

He waited again, staring down the hallway. "You're safe now," he continued, not sure if he was being heard but knowing it was worth a shot. "You can move on, go with your family. You don't need to be afraid anymore."

With that, he gave up and stepped out of the circle. He had to find Dean.