Chapter 2

The Chevy Impala was their traveling home away from home, with all the amenities of mullet rock, as Sam so brazenly called it. Dean was obsessed with the likes of AC/DC, Motorhead and his favorite – Metallica. This was not exactly the kind of music that Sam was used to, being fresh from the College scene, but he was starting to appreciate it. He would never tell his brother though. The Winchesters boys approached the city limits of Peculiar, Missouri. They came to a sign that read "The Odds are With You."

"Well that's an odd town saying." Sam shot Dean a glance to shut him up. "What dude, I'm just saying?"

"There's the hotel. Let's go check in now so we have a home base" Dean nodded in agreement and they pulled into the parking lot.

After settling into their room, they headed back to the desk clerk. She was in her late 30's with a cheery face and a ponytail in her hair. She wore glasses around her neck.

"Damn shame about that woman. And her poor son. Did you know her?" Dean leafed through a pamphlet about the local history of the town, looking up to see if she took the bait.

"Yes, we have children the same age. Johnny is just devastated by this whole thing. He lost his daddy overseas, and now his momma. I don't know what they're going to do with him." The woman shook her head in disbelief. "He hasn't been in school for the last week, so my boy hasn't seen him."

Sam leaned into the counter to get a feel for the woman. "The poor boy. It's overwhelming to lose someone so unexpectedly. We have some experience with that, and dealing with young children." Sam looked into the woman's eyes and smiled deeply. "Do you think there's anything to this ghost theory?" He cocked his head slightly.

The woman chuckled. "Johnny's been talking about ghosts for a while. I think that was his way of dealing with his 'situation.' It has escalated since his daddy died. Charles was overseas on and off for two years in Iraq. I think Julie was having an affair, but I didn't know her well enough. It's all just gossip – but in a small town, everyone knows everyone's business"

Dean looked up from the leaflet. "Yeah, the war! What can you do?" The woman gave Dean a blank stare.

Sam quickly changed the subject. "So, where is Johnny now? Is he is foster care?"

The woman looked down through her motel records and started to organize some items. "I think he is staying with his Aunt down the road. She doesn't live far from the home on Gregory."

Getting warmer. "Right, Gregory. Do you remember the address?" The clerk looked from the records to Sam who was smiling at her again. Dean looked to the ceiling in disgust.

"Sure, 999 Gregory. It's right past Kayla street, where his aunt lives. Were you thinking about going to see them? I'm not sure how they will react to strangers." The woman suddenly realized she had made a mistake. "I can't believe I just let all that out…."

"Please don't worry m'aam. We are here to help the boy." Dean pulled out a myriad of fake ids and chose "social worker" from his pile. "The state just likes to check on orphans to make sure they are in proper care." Dean handed her the proper identification.

She looked at the id and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry. I was just worried that you were some weirdos chasing a ghost story." She laughed despite herself. Dean accompanied her to lighten the mood.

Yeah, weirdos. Freaks! You just never know who's out there," he said sarcastically.

"Please don't be concerned," said Sam trying to swing the conversation back around. "We are just trying to ascertain the situation. You have been a great help." Sam took her hand and the woman blushed. "Thank you." They turned to leave.

"You don't happen to know a good place to grab some chow by chance do you," Dean asked, realizing he was suddenly hungry.

"Well the Peculiar Drive-in has some of the best burgers around, and it's just up the road."

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you for all your help." She raised her hand in a wave goodbye. The boys left the lobby and went back to their hotel room. Sam trailed Dean slightly.

"Dude, I know you are good, but how did you do that," demanded Dean. "She might as well have given us the key to their house."

Sam walked back in silence. He wondered the same thing. It came so easy this time. Much easier than before. She was like a sieve of information, and when he touched her, he knew they were in the right place. What did it mean?

"Sam!"

"What?" He turned to look at Dean.

"Our room is over here. You just walked right past it."

"Oh yeah, right. I thought we were down a bit more." Sam walked back sheepishly to the room, lost in his thoughts. He followed Dean through the door.

Chapter 3

They climbed into the Impala and Dean went right for Metallica, which was a sure sign that he was worried about Sam. What is going on with Sammy? On cue Sam said "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Right dude, right!"

"Look, I'm trying to be honest with you about what's going on in my head. I really don't know." Sam looked to him in desperation. Dean could tell he was just as upset. "I don't know what to do."

"Sammy, we'll figure this out together. We made that promise. I don't know whether this is good or bad, but we'll figure it out." Dean patted Sam on the cheek. Sam punched him in the shoulder.

"What?" They both smiled.

"Turn here, this is Kayla, so Gregory is around the corner." The Impala made a squeaking noise as it made the turn. The town seemed to be mostly farm country, so the houses were scattered here and there. As they approached the intersection of Gregory and Kayla, Sam saw the house a bit up the road. It was white, two stories. He shivered involuntarily.

"What is it," asked Dean seeing Sam shudder out of the corner of his eye.

"That's the house. The house in my dream." Dean turned to stare at him. "Two story, white house."

"Great," he said sardonically. "Well at least we know we're in the right place"

They pulled up in front. The white house had a low picket fence with an arch gate to enter the yard. There were still some signs of police activity as bits of the "Police Line do not cross" tape were strewn in the yard. The nearest neighbor was at least 500 feet away. No one would have heard her scream to help her.

Dean looked to Sam. "What do you think?"

What he wanted to do was turn and run. This could only be bad. His visions gave him clues, but this last one was just bits and pieces. It was different from the rest. He couldn't remember what actually happened. Sam viewed the area and noticed a car in the driveway. He took a deep breath and said "I think we knock on the door and see what answers."

They got out of the car and headed toward the fence. Dean led the way. He wanted to get this over with. Sam stopped just as he got in the archway.

"What is it?"

He leaned against the fence to catch himself. "It's….. evil. All around, I.."

"Sam?" Dean started to his side.

"No, I'm ok. It's just overwhelming. I've never felt like this before. It's a draining feeling, dark and ugly." He pushed himself back up and started slowly toward the door.

"We don't have to do this, you know. We can turn around right now."

Sam ignored him and climbed the steps to the front door. They came this far, they might as well see what was behind door #1. A cold chill washed over him. With shaking hand, he pushed the doorbell. Dean arrived next to him, too late to see his unsteady hand. Thumping was heard inside and the door whipped open.

"SAM! I knew you'd come!" It was the little boy in Sam's nightmare. "See Aunt Jana, I told you he would come! Sam and Dean are here to rescue us!"

Chapter 4

A feather could have knocked the boys over with that comment. Sam and Dean exchanged looks of incredulousness. "I'm sorry, have we met you before," asked Sam, trying to catch his breath.

"No! I just called for you." The little boy, about 10 years old with strawberry blonde hair wearing a t-shirt and jeans, was filled with glee at the sight before him. Jana, the boy's Aunt, looked at the Winchesters and then to her nephew. Her mind was trying to process the information at hand, and it wasn't computing.

"I….I don't know what to say. You're Sam and Dean?"

"Well that makes three of us sweetheart! What the hell is going on here?" Dean started to look around the neighborhood for surveillance of some kind, thinking he was on Candid Camera. Unfortunately, he knew better and that it was more of a spook radar than comedy.

Sam gazed at the little boy, who he assumed was 'Johnny' and saw recognition. Not just from his face, but from somewhere else. The boy grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him in the door without asking his Aunt. The moment they touched, Sam felt relief from the darkness. The cold was gone. "You feel it too, don't you?" The boys face lit up at the touch of Sam. A connection was made, a bond that Sam could not explain. "You can feel the ghost in the house too, can't you?" Sam nodded and followed him.

At the door, Jana and Dean watched the events unfold. Dean's guard went up automatically. He made a motion to enter the house, but wasn't sure how to proceed. "Come in, I guess. I'm Jana. Dean?" The moment was extremely awkward.

"Ah, yeah."

Jana McGregor, Julie Davis' sister, was a pretty young woman in her mid twenties with auburn hair. Her build was medium with stunning blue eyes. She wore a fitted sweater that enhanced her figure. Jana looked at Dean, wondering what he and his brother were doing in her sister's home. He smiled back and cautiously looked for Sam.

Sam and the boy were already in the living room on the floor looking at his toys when Dean and Jana entered. Sam looked to Dean with a questioning expression, but continued on with the game. "So that's Johnny, right?" Dean asked of Jana. She nodded.

Dean made his way to the living room and stood in the doorway. "Johnny," called Dean. The boy quickly turned to look at him. The dog tags around his neck jingled softly. He gave him a big smile. "Can you please tell me what's going on here?" Sam shot him a look.

Johnny took no notice of Dean's tone in the question. "You already know," he began. "My mom died a week ago. The ghost in our house did it. I've been staying with Aunt Jana, but he's still here. I knew that Sam could help, so I called out for him, and you guys came." He picked up his toys and continued to play as if it were common news to the Winchesters.

Sam stood up. His large frame towered over the young boy. "But Johnny, how did you call me?" He shook his head in wonder. "Why me? I don't understand."

"Because of who you are and what you do." He stated matter of factly. Jana moved and crossed her arms as she stood next to Dean.

"But…. What do I do," begged Sam.

Dean watched in anticipation. Could it be that this boy knew what was going on with Sam? Could he help his brother live a normal life? If he had the ability to call to Sam, maybe he knew how to control the nightmares? It all seemed so far fetched, yet there they were standing in front the boy who did it.

Tension filled the air. The boy laughed and ran out of the room, his dog tags flowing behind him. Sam slouched in a nearby chair, suddenly feeling that coldness enter him again. He felt the blood drain from his face. He looked to Dean for an answer.

"What the hell?" cried Dean. The sudden change in Sam was alarming. He looked pale and discontent. He was having second thoughts about this job.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I have no idea what's going on. Frankly, this whole thing is creeping me out." Jana began to move about the room nervously picking up Johnny's toys to distract herself. "He's been talking for days about two people named Sam and Dean coming to rescue him. Now, here you are, out of nowhere!" Jana kept moving despite herself. "I've heard his ghost stories for a while now, I might even believe them. But, I don't know." She trailed off. She placed the toys in a chest near the couch and sat down befuddled.

Dean glanced to Sam who was clearly shaken by the whole ordeal. He's no use right now. Dean took it upon himself to explain the situation. He went into high gear. "There's really no point in hiding what we do," began Dean. Sam looked up at him in wonder. "The short and long of it is, we hunt evil and destroy it. Last night my brother woke up from a nightmare. Two seconds later we had coordinates to this city via a text message from our father." He pulled the brochure he had taken from the motel out of his pocket. "We arrived in town, talked to a local and she pointed us here. We pulled in front of this house and Sam recognized it, and your nephew, from his dream." Jana was bewildered at the words that came out of his mouth. "There is a reason we are here, so we need to figure out what it is and kill it." Jana just stared.

Slowly Sam came back into the conversation. "It's a demon, a really nasty one," he stated from nowhere.

"Are you sure?" asked Dean. "What makes you say that?"

"I felt it when I hit the property line. It's very powerful and it wants something. It definitely killed Johnny's mom." He rose to his feet and walked toward Dean, still shaken.

What the hell is going on here? Jana looked at both of them wanting to laugh it off, but deep down, she knew they were right. "What do we do?"

"We'll need the history of the house and the family," began Dean. "We need to figure out what it is. I think Sam already has a few ideas of how to destroy it." Dean looked at Sam for confirmation. He shrugged. Dean turned to Jana. "What can you tell me about Julie and Charles relationship?"

Jana sighed and started to cry. Sam sat next to her on the couch and put his arm around her. She explained how Charles had gone to Iraq and had leave a few times. During that time he was away, Julie was very lonely. She did everything she could for Johnny. She loved Charles very much, but ended up seeing another man. Julie ended up telling Charles in a letter of her affair. When he received it weeks later, he called her and told her to go to hell. It was angry, vicious stuff, cursing her and swearing revenge. One month later, he was killed in combat. They got the knock at the door and were given Charles' dog tags.

"Since then, things have been even more strange. I honestly think that Charles is haunting this house, but I can't say how." She fidgeted nervously in her seat. She heard 'bang, bang' upstairs from Johnny who was playing away like nothing had happened.

Dean and Sam looked at each other "The dog tags"

"Sometimes items can be used to shelter a soul. He would have known if he was killed in combat that the tags would come here. He probably lost the will to live and decided it would be better to get revenge in the afterworld." Dean paced around the room, refusing to sit. "Will Johnny give them up?"

"He never takes them off. I can't imagine that he would be willing to give them freely to be destroyed." More thudding and 'bang' noise could be heard from the boy's room.

Sam looked to Dean. "It's more than that. Charles would not be a demon. He may be a catalyst, but that's not it."

"Ok, then what is it, Sherlock," quipped Dean, annoyed that they hadn't resolved the issue.

Sam held his head in his hands. The headache was back. "I don't know."

"Well that's just great!" Dean kicked a toy soldier that Jana had missed lying on the floor. "I say we nuke the tags, do the satchel thing and call it a day."

Sam got up from the couch in a daze and made his way into the kitchen, ignoring Dean and his tirade. Jana observed as he freely walked about her sister's home. That's nervy! As he arrived in the kitchen, he could smell cleaning supplies coming from the dining room, where Julie had been killed. Without thinking, he entered. Dean and Jana watched him from the living room. "Sam?" He continued into the dining area and noticed an extremely clean area in the room. The exact spot Julie lost her life. "Sam, what are you doing?" Instinct kicked in and Dean sprinted toward the room. Jana followed him.

Johnny appeared, standing in front of the spot. Sam stared at Johnny for a moment. Their eyes linked and Sam knelt down to get a better look. There were still traces of blood in the carpet. He reached forward.

"Sam, don't!" Dean appeared in the kitchen behind him.

"Touch it Sam," said Johnny playfully. His eyes smiled like the Cheshire cat. Sam needed to know what was there, beyond the spot. Something was calling him here. Touch it, touch it. He touched the carpet as Jana appeared in the doorway.

"NO!"

Sam jolted back in a convulsion. Pain was streaming all around him. He could see Julie being attacked by something, but he couldn't make it out. It seemed more of a shadow. It or they came from everywhere, every angle. Sam lived each moment of her murder. Her screams became Sam's screams. She tried to run, but her feet wouldn't move. It enveloped her and suffocated her. Then Sam felt it – a ripping in his chest. He tried to scream, but the thing was killing her from the inside out. It was killing them. Sam couldn't breathe…

"Sam! SAM!" He could hear his brother screaming, see the pain that he was in. Dean ran to Johnny who stood watching the site expressionless and grabbed the dog tags from his neck. "Salt. Where is the salt?" Dean yelled at Jana who stood with her mouth open, unable to move. He tore through the cupboards and found table salt. It would have to do. He threw the tags into the sink and poured the contents of the package.

"Daddy's tags. No!" cried Johnny, but Sam was already coming around. Dean saw it was working and took the olive oil sitting on the counter, threw it on the salt and pulled out his lighter. The fire was weak, but it would have to do. Once he knew it was going, he ran back to Sam. He lay unconscious on the floor.

"Sammy!" He turned him over to see that he was burning up. He felt for a heartbeat. It was erratic but stable. Jana snapped out of her coma and ran to get some ice and a cloth. Johnny came back into the room to look at Sam and Dean.

"Why did you do that? Those were my daddy's tags." He was upset with Dean but then looked at Sam. He didn't understand what just happened.

"Well little Johnny, daddy will have to live on in your memory. He's the one that killed your mom – through those tags." Dean cradled Sam hoping that he would come around now that the tags were gone. Still nothing. He looked to Johnny accusingly. "Why did you make him touch the carpet? Did you know what it would do?"

"Here," said Jana as he handed Dean the cloth for Sam's forehead.

"Daddy didn't kill mommy, they did. And they told me to bring Sam in here."

The room was ice cold. Dean raised his head to see several shadows hovering over the spot where Julie was killed. He swore he heard satanic laughter. Jana screamed. Then they vanished.