Bonjour! Well, first off my apologies for this chapter not being up sooner. On Monday I realized that the term paper for my government class that I thought was due NEXT Friday was actually due THIS Friday. So, I've had an exciting week on that end, as well as like 80 tests. You'd think it was the week before Christmas break. Anyways, I live on the East Coast and was banking on getting a snow day, but no, I got gipped. 2 hr delay only, so this chapter that I've written 4 times now, that was to be posted during my snow day, is being posted now. So without anymore bullshit from me here is chapter 6. HAPPY READING!

Disclaimer: I own only those characters you've never seen on The WB that I keep typing as The EB. Whatever.

SJ

Chapter Six

"Ready? Let's get started." Dean said, hands shaking slightly. Caleb, from the other side of the bed, nodded though he paled slightly as he did so. With a responding nod Dean handed the younger man the lines that he would need to say. On the bed between them Sam and Adelaide, who had been given a mix of herbs and water, were finally asleep, hopefully in a blissful, peaceful place. Dean started with a protection charm, figuring that it couldn't hurt to try, the familiar Latin serving to calm his frazzled nerves. With a nod to Caleb they moved into the actual exorcism, beginning by exorcizing Adelaide from Sam. They got a reaction right away. Adelaide's back arched dramatically, her breaths labored. Sam tried to turn away from her, but the silk scarf that bound them was as strong as a metal chain and held him in place. Dean continued, though he ached to reach out and lay a hand on his brother, anything to let Sam know Dean was there, but the older Winchester resisted and continued with the exorcism. As his words grew in strength Adelaide began to thrash even more violently on the bed. Dean spared Caleb a look and saw the way the older boys' eyes were focused on his younger sister.

"Caleb, can you do this?" Dean's only break in his Latin.

"Yes, I'm fine." The younger man responded, though his voice shook slightly.

"I need you to hold Adelaide in place. If that scarf comes untied we'll lose them both." Dean stressed. Not bothering to look and see if Caleb had complied, Dean pushed on nearing the end of Adelaide's ritual, but though the end was near Adelaide's breathing was becoming far more strained and thousands of tiny cuts in her skin had appeared. Though Caleb had been restraining his sister for only a few moments his shirt was already covered in her blood. Dean spoke as quickly as he could, wanting to end Adelaide's suffering as well as Caleb's. He should have explained to Caleb more clearly what it was like to be the one on the outside, always watching people suffer through them, but he hadn't and now that they were in the thick of things there really was not point to it. So, Dean kept his comments to himself, ignored the screams issuing forth from Adelaide's mouth and the way they drew her brother's tears, and ignored the familiar guilt that welled up in him at being the cause of such pain. When it seemed that Caleb was about to reach his breaking point, Adelaide finally quieted with one last cry of agony. Dean took a shaky breath and looked down at the girl for the first time since he'd started the exorcism. She was pale, tiny lines around her eyes and lips spoke of the physical strain that she was under, and cuts, some deep others shallow, covered her body. Through the slits in her t-shirt he could see a few on her stomach that would need stitches. Dean sent up a quick prayer that Sam would not suffer similarly.

"Do you need a minute?" Dean asked with uncharacteristic kindness when he saw how close Caleb was to the breaking point.

"No, I just want to get this over as quickly as possible. Keep going." Caleb replied, unable to keep a slight tremor from his voice. Dean turned his attention back to his father's journal, turning back to the previous page and starting the same ritual over, this time on Sam. The reaction, to Dean's chagrin, was exactly the same. His back arched dramatically as he fought against Caleb who, though stronger than the average boy his age, had his work cut out for him. For all of Sam's lankiness he was pure muscle. Sam's skin split, one long cut just above his left eyebrow, another along his right arm, cutting from his elbow to his wrist, as well as three deep cuts that resembled claws along his abdomen. Dean tried to block out his brother's cries of agony, but they bit at him, and Dean found that he could feel every single cut Sam received. As Dean approached the end Sam's cries became less frequent, ending just at Dean whispered his final words. Here he paused and looked up at Caleb.

"This is going to be the rough part. I don't know what happens from here but we have to finish this thing now. If we stop in the middle of this we'll kill them both. I need your help but if you can't handle losing your sister I need you to leave." Caleb nodded, understanding Dean's warning. What he had just experienced was nothing compared to what was coming.

Caleb stood back and watched his sister closely; looking for any signs that Dean's words were having any affect at all. He had begun the second part of the exorcism just a few minutes ago and so far both Sam and Adelaide had been silent and motionless on the bed. He spared a look at Dean and could tell that the older boy found it odd as well, if the wrinkles crisscrossing his forehead were any indication. As Dean continued Caleb began to notice that each time Sam or Adelaide took a breath the vapors could be seen in the air, but he felt no temperature change in the room at all.

"Dean, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" He asked quietly, afraid of what the answer might be. Dean halted in the middle of a sentence and looked down at the prone forms on the bed. He saw what Caleb had wanted him to see, the little vapor puffs and the steady rise and fall of their chests the only sign that they were still alive. Dean placed his hand on Sam's chest and frowned. His younger brother's body was cold to the touch.

"I've never seen something like this. Let's try to finish this as quickly as possible." Dean suggested and, without waiting for Caleb's response, resumed the exorcism. Not a minute later both men could see that things were clearly going to get worse before they got better. Sam's lips had taken on a bluish tint to them while Adelaide's lips were already purple and both of them had begun to shiver. Still, Dean plodded on and felt his heart drop when Caleb called to him again.

"What, Caleb?"

"They aren't breathing!" He cried moving to perform CPR.

"No! Don't touch them. We can't risk it. This will be over in a few minutes and then they'll be able to breathe again." Dean reasoned returning to the Latin words before him. As he approached the climax of the exorcism, his attention split between the words before him and Sam's still unmoving chest, he watched in horror as both Sam and Adelaide's shivering increased until it was violent shaking.

"Caleb," Dean only had to say his name and the younger man was trying to hold the two down, making sure that the scarf remained tied around their wrists, and Dean suddenly understood how things were going to end. So, ignoring the fact that both Sam and Adelaide were gasping for air Dean took a moment to say to Caleb, "As soon as I finish this thing take Adelaide and get her to a hospital. Don't tell them that you had your sister exorcized, lie to them." Caleb, though confused nodded his agreement.

"When I give you the sign grab her and get her to a hospital." Caleb nodded again, though Dean was already finishing the ritual and with a look Caleb was gathering up his sister and making a run for the door. Immediately Adelaide had regained her color, turning from bluish purple right back to a healthy pink, but Sam failed to do so, but somehow Dean had known it was coming. He'd known that he'd have to fight for Sam. Throwing the journal to the side Dean went to his brother and checked to see if he was breathing. How long had it been? How long before he suffered brain damage? Dean pushed such thoughts out of his mind and started CPR on his little brother, shocked at how cold Sam's lips were. Over and over in his head he counted as little prayers slipped in between the numbers. One-one-thousand-please God don't do this to me-two-one-thousand-don't take Sammy from me-three-one-thousand- damn you Sammy breathe. Dean continued pushing air into his brother's frozen lungs, trying to remember the project he'd done at some long forgotten school about hypothermia. Despite Dean's efforts, he could feel Sam's heartbeat slowing, feel his brother slipping away, and when Sam's heart finally gave out Dean did the only thing he could; he rested his head against his brother's chest and cried for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. He'd killed his brother.

Sam was exhausted but felt something pulling at his subconscious that forced his eyes open. He was freezing cold, that was the first thing he noticed; followed closely by the fact that he was no longer in the motel room in Oklahoma. He was also alone; Adelaide, Caleb, and Dean were nowhere to be found. Pushing himself into a sitting position Sam looked around him. Somehow he'd been moved to the woods, all around him trees of varying sizes seemed to be staring at him while just ahead there was a gate.

"Where the hell am I?" He muttered to himself as he walked towards the gate.

"You got it right the first time, dear boy." A viciously seductive voice called to him from behind. Turning quickly, Sam found himself face to face with a fascinatingly beautiful creature. Her ears were pointed, like an elves, and was taller than he expected, she could almost look him in the eye. She was garbed in a flowing, elegant black dress that looked to be made of velvet. Her eyes were as black as the dress and her hair, if possible, a shade darker. She seemed to magically materialize to Sam, though he wondered how long she'd been watching him sleep.

"I don't understand. What happened? Am I dreaming?" Sam moved to scratch his head but stopped the action when he realized there was a large cut across the back of his hand. He looked down and realized that his clothing was in tatters, he looked as though he'd been whipped.

"You are in the realm of the damned. Right now you are neither living nor are you dead. It is here that the next part of your journey will be decided." She explained in a voice that was smooth as silk.

"So, you're telling me I'm dead?"

"No, obviously you weren't listening to me. I said that the next part of your journey would be decided here. There are options. You may die and if that is part of your journey you may be reincarnated, you might go to heaven, you might go to hell, or you might be sent back to your body." She clarified.

"Well, do I have any say in the matter? Who decides?" Sam asked, anger building. He wanted to go back to Dean, to his life, to the endless road trip that he let Dean believe he hated. At that particular moment Sam wanted nothing more than to live.

"I don't know. I am not the one that makes decisions such as those. I am only your guide, to explain to you where you stand and to make sure you move on to your next gate. I don't like company. And now, Samuel Winchester, you have hovered here long enough. Follow the light and wherever it stops is your decided path. Hopefully I'll see you again someday." She said and with no further explanation Sam was pushed through the wrought iron gate into a light that did nothing to warm him but comforted him all the same, and Sam prayed that today would not be the day he died.

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