Chapter Eleven

Stacy brushed past Dean as he entered his first period math class. She looked tired, not as vibrant as she normally appeared. He started to speak to her, but she seemed indifferent and walked right past him. Her abrupt manner made him wonder if she was alright.

The final bell rang and he took the seat behind Stacy. He kept his eye on her but he really couldn't tell how she was from behind. He thought her body language revealed her exhaustion and he was concerned but there was nothing he could do until class was over.

Stacy had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She had endured a difficult night reliving the nightmares of her mom's death and the memories had worn her down and brought to the surface all the anger and pain she felt at losing her mom at such a young age. She couldn't keep her eyes open and drifted off toward the end of class.

The fire burned so bright if was blinding him. The heat was sweltering and seared his flesh. The pain seemed to engulf everything with flaming torment. Mommy, Mommy, he cried out. Mommy, come down from the ceiling, come tuck me in. Mommy, I'm so scared. Mommy, please don't leave me, I'll be good, I won't ever be bad again. Mommy, please don't leave me, I'm so scared. Mommy, Mommy, please don't die.

The fire was following him down the stairs, hot on his back as he carried Sammy out of the house. It was overcoming him, it was consuming him, he could feel it burning his flesh, he screamed out in total agony. Mommy, Mommy, save me. Mommy, Mommy, I'm on fire, make the pain stop, make the pain stop. Mommy, save me.

He looked into his arms and saw baby Sammy was on fire. For an instant, Sammy's screams drowned out his own, until the full horror of the situation impacted on him. His brother's agony was the worst pain Dean could imagine. It was beyond his endurance, it was totally unbearable. He was powerless to save his brother as Sammy disintegrated to ash in his arms. His grief was consuming him like a fire, he wanted to die. He couldn't bear to go on without his brother. How could he live with this pain? He was his brother's protector and he had failed. Sammy was gone, extinguished before he had a chance to live.

Dean was alone. A black hole of loneliness beckoned him. An abyss so deep and dark that he could see no light, no hope. His deepest, darkest fear had been realized. The emptiness encompassed him until a lone voice called out to him from the deepest regions of his mind. Join your brother, he needs you. Follow him into the darkness, there is light deep within.

Stacy was startled awake. She turned and looked into Dean's eyes, uncertainty overcoming her.

The bell signally the end of class rang.

"Dean, what's happening? Are you doing this to me?"

"Stacy are you having nightmares? Come with me, I can help."

Dean escorted Stacy out of the classroom to the courtyard outside where they could talk with some privacy.

Dean repeated his question. "Are you having nightmares?"

Stacy told him she'd had a restless night reliving the nightmares of when her mom died, but the real confusion came with the nightmare she just had in class. It was his nightmare. He was a four year old boy and he was carrying his brother Sammy out of his flaming house.

"How could I have your nightmare? What's going on? I felt your terror when your mom died. I felt your anguish at Sammy burning up. I saw the black hole of loneliness that wants to swallow you. Dean what's happening? I felt your pain. I felt your torment." Stacy was looking to Dean for answers.

Dean was shell-shocked. He was horrified at the thought of Stacy having his nightmare. He cursed this evil son of a bitch for revealing his deepest, darkest fears. Stacy looked at him with such empathy and tenderness, that part of him wanted to wrap her in his arms and revel in her sweetness; while the other part was appalled she knew his secret anguish, and wanted to run away and hide.

This dreamwalker had managed to torment Dean even though he wore the protection charm. His nightmares were his own private pain. He couldn't bear the thought of others knowing his secrets. How could he stop this torture?

"Dean, is that how your mom really died?" Stacy quietly asked.

Dean was hesitant but knew he had no choice but to trust Stacy. She knew his darkest secret and her life was now entwined with his in this battle against this evil bastard. He took a deep breath before he replied.

"Yeah, she was killed by an evil force. She was put on the ceiling over Sammy's crib and set on fire, but I need you to not repeat that." Dean agonized over the words, but he needed Stacy to understand how crucial it was she keep his secret.

"Dean I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know. What I mean is, don't repeat that to my dad or Sammy, OK?"

"What are you saying Dean? They know how your mom died, don't they?"

"Yeah, they know." Dean hesitated again; this was so hard for him to share. "What they don't know is I saw it happen. I never told my dad I saw Mom die."

"Oh, Dean. You were only four and you didn't tell your dad you saw? I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell him? How could you stand it by yourself?"

"He had his own pain. It was hard enough for him to see Mom die like that. I don't know. I just never told. It's been twelve years. I don't see any point in telling now."

Stacy looked at him with such love and compassion that Dean doubted he could ever turn his back on her again. She reached up and gently stroked his cheek. He had not felt such tenderness since those long ago days when his mom would comfort him after a bad dream and tell him how loved and protected he was. She would caress his face and tell him all his worries were needless and nothing would ever hurt him. Oh God, he missed his mom and the safety of that time.

Stacy gently reached out and touched the bandages around Dean's neck. The concern in her eyes was heartbreaking.

"Dean, what happened to your neck?"

Dean needed to regain control over his emotions. He needed to focus. Stacy was asking more questions he didn't want to answer so to relieve his tension he fell into old habits.

"Well, I guess most of my teachers would probably like to slit my throat so I just saved them the trouble." He offered a nervous smile.

"Dean, what are you saying? You did this to yourself?"

"Yeah, with the help of our miserable dreamwalker. It can control our actions. It made me cut myself. It tried to get me to kill myself. Somehow Sammy broke through and stopped me." His smile grew weaker and then simply disappeared, replaced by a hesitant pensive look.

"I can't believe all this. How did you fight it? What can we do?" Stacy was scared at the power this evil could wield over someone as strong as Dean.

"Stacy, don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Let's go to my house. My dad will know what to do." Dean put his arm around Stacy's shoulders to comfort her.

He walked her back to the Impala and they left school.

John was surprised to see Dean coming home just a little over an hour after school started. He was more surprised to see who was with him.

"Dean, what did you find out?"

Dean struggled to tell his dad what happened. It was distressing his nightmare could be passed on to others. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone else knowing his dark, disturbing nightmare. Somehow, someway they had to stop this evil creature.

All he knew is they now had to protect Stacy from any danger. Even if he had to give her the amulet, he would not let anything bad happen to her.

John determined the safest solution would be for Stacy to leave town until they resolved this situation. If she went to visit relatives she would be out of the dreamwalker's control. Her dad was already out of the country on military business, so she called her aunt and arranged to visit her.

The most disturbing revelation came when John pointed out this dreamwalker didn't just randomly pick Stacy; it knew she had a connection to Dean. It knew this was a way to reach him. That wasn't a comforting thought to John or his older son. It meant Sammy and Dad were obvious targets if this evil wanted to get to Dean.

For the first time in his life Dean was beginning to feel hopeless. This was turning into a waking nightmare. He had his dad with him planning strategy but somehow he still felt alone in this fight. How were they going to overcome this evil? Why was this evil so intent on possessing him?