DISCLAIMER: I STILL don't own Supernatural, in spite of my best efforts. And I'm STILL pathetically poor.
"This is ridiculous," Dean grumbled as the two brothers stood in pouring rain on the abandoned, rickety old bridge. The bridge, as it turned out, was actually a walking bridge and was wide enough for two people and only about ten feet long. A small stream trickled beneath the bridge, growing into a larger creek as the rain fell. The surrounding area was wooded, with trees blocking out any view of anything.
"We've only been here for two minutes, Dean," Sam snapped back. "We haven't given anything enough time to happen."
"I don't care. It's like 10 degrees out here AND it's raining and I'm completely miserable," he groused. He was holding his thin jacket over his head in a failed attempt to keep dry.
"Take one for the team," Sam returned. "I can't believe you get attacked by demons and ghosts and poltergeists and random other horrific things and you can't stand a little rain."
Dean snorted his disgust and turned away. It was around that time that the fog rolled in.
"See that?" Sam asked, excitement entering his voice.
"What?" his brother asked, still grumpy.
"The fog. It's coming, just like they said it would."
"Sam, it's pouring rain and freezing cold. Clouds get lower in this sort of weather. I thought college boy would know that."
"I DO know that. It's just that it's coming in so fast."
Actually, the fog had completely surrounded the two of them by that point. They could barely see each other. And when the rain stopped dead but they could still hear the sound of the rain in the trees around them, Dean had to confess that they might be experiencing something unusual.
"Okay, this is odd," he said. "At least it's not raining anymore."
Sam smirked. "You can say that again."
They could no longer see each other at all, standing merely a foot away. In fact, when Sam put his hand in front of his face, he couldn't see it. He was, for all intents and purposes, effectively blinded.
"Dean?" he asked. "Are you convinced yet?"
There was no answer. Sam swallowed but remained calm. After all, he faced things like this every day of his life. "Dean?" he called again.
He waited a few tense moments before getting angry rather than frightened. "Dean, that's not amusing in any way! Just answer me!"
When he still received no answer, Sam reached out to where he knew his brother was still standing. No rain was falling on him anymore, even though he could still hear the sounds of it around him. What he hadn't heard, though, was any movement from Dean's side of the bridge. No light footsteps, no heavy breathing, no nothing.
To his mounting horror, Sam's hand touched nothing. He moved forward tentatively and swished his arm around, trying desperately to feel his brother's jacket. But there was nothing.
"Dean?" he called again, louder this time. "Dean, where are you?"
He wanted to look around, but the thick fog made it completely impossible. He wasn't sure where to look for his brother, so he stayed on the bridge, waving his arms around as he frantically tried to reach Dean.
"Dean?" he shouted.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Dean hated rain. Well, he liked to look at it and run through it on occasion, but he hated to stand in it. Sam's idea of coming to look at this bridge was completely idiotic. He looked over at his brother.
"This is ridiculous," Dean grumbled.
"We've only been here for two minutes, Dean," the younger Winchester said back. "We haven't given anything enough time to happen."
"I don't care. It's like 10 degrees out here AND it's raining and I'm completely miserable," he groused. He was holding his thin jacket over his head in a failed attempt to keep dry.
"Take one for the team," Sam returned. "I can't believe you get attacked by demons and ghosts and poltergeists and random other horrific things and you can't stand a little rain."
Dean snorted and then looked at his surroundings again. He noticed the wisps of thick white clouds as they came toward him, but he didn't really care.
"See that?" Sam asked, excitement entering his voice.
"What?" his brother asked, still grumpy.
"The fog. It's coming, just like they said it would."
"Sam, it's pouring rain and freezing cold. Clouds get lower in this sort of weather. I thought college boy would know that."
"I DO know that. It's just that it's coming in so fast."
When he realized that the "clouds" were blocking out everything that was more than five feet away from the bridge, he raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, this is odd," he said. "At least it's not raining anymore."
Sam smirked. "You can say that again."
The fog continued to close in on the brothers, and finally Dean could no longer see his brother. He couldn't see anything. He could hear the rain, and he could hear Sam's breathing from right behind him.
It took too long for all of the information to sink in, Dean realized. Sam wasn't behind him. Sam was in front of him, unless he had somehow learned to teleport himself. Which meant only one thing: someone, or something, was standing right behind him.
In spite of knowing that couldn't see it through the thick fog, Dean turned around very slowly. Just as he expected, he could see nothing. But that wasn't what suddenly got his heart rate going. He could now feel warm puffs of air on his face as the person or thing in front of him exhaled. Dean opened his mouth to say something to Sam and suddenly blacked out without making a single noise.
- - - - - - - - -
Sam had finally decided to go back to the car for a flashlight. At least if he was searching for someone in this thick fog, he should have some sort of light. He took a few steps off the bridge and suddenly the rain started again. Shaking his head in disbelief, he took a few steps forward and then stopped. He was sure he and Dean had come from the other direction, and didn't really want to get lost trying to get back to the car. He walked back onto the bridge, expecting the rain to stop again. It didn't.
Now, completely confused, Sam walked off the other end of the bridge and took faltering steps forward. Once he reached the trees, the fog was thinner and he could see a few inches in front of his face. He tripped over countless branches and weeds as he tried to get out of the forest that surrounded the haunted area, sighing with relief as he spotted the black Impala ahead of him. He broke into a run as he neared the end of the trees and went to the car, hoping his brother had gone back and was no peacefully lying across one of the seats.
Dean wasn't there.
Sam opened the trunk and pulled out a flashlight. Retracing his steps to the crossing, he angrily realized he would no longer need the light. It appeared the fog had receded as soon as he had gone. He could see everything around the bridge very clearly, and Dean wasn't in the area. But he still had to look for his brother.
He dialed Dean's cell phone number with his own as he trudged up to the bridge to look. The phone rang out; no one answered. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket and wiped rain out of his face. It was only a few short minutes of standing on the bridge and turning in circles before the fog started to come again, and the rain stopped. Sam jumped off the bridge and back into the rain. He flipped on the flashlight to see through the gathering fog and ran into the trees on the other side of the bridge, calling his brother's name. There was no answer.
Sam searched for two hours before giving up. He had called Dean's cell phone a few more times, and he had gone over every inch of the bridge and forest. There was no one around. He went back to the car, wondering what he should do.
He checked the seats again, but his brother still hadn't returned. He put the flashlight back into the trunk and got into the car. He couldn't drive away to search for Dean because Dean had the keys. He had nowhere to go, so he just sat and stared as the rain hit the windshield. He had been sitting for 45 minutes and had almost fallen asleep when his cell phone rang, startling him so much he almost went through the window. He jerked it out of his pocket without looking at the caller ID.
"Yeah?" he said, sure it was Dean.
"Hi," an unfamiliar female voice said on the other end. "Is this Sammy?"
"That depends," Sam said. "Who is this?"
"My name is Krista Muller, and I hope you have a good explanation for this."
"Explanation for what?" Sam asked, thoroughly lost.
"You might have noticed that I'm using Dean Winchester's cell phone," she said.
"I hadn't checked, actually," Sam admitted.
"Well, I am using Dean Winchester's cell phone. I called half of the numbers in his contact list before someone told me to talk to you. I scrolled down, and had it dial you. I have a bit of a problem."
"Besides having my brother's cell phone?" Sam asked.
"Yes, besides that," the girl said. "I just found your brother unconscious on my couch."