Chapter 4

Dean had heard Sam yell out, and it had instantly yanked him from sleep. He sat straight up, cast eyes to Sam's bed, saw nothing and then turned to where a strangled voice struggled to speak. Sam was leaning into the glass window and he was fighting for his breath, his voice, his strength, everything. Dean shoved himself out of bed and made his way quickly toward Sam, but stopped when something shimmered outside the window. He saw two pinpricks of green surrounded by white and he was frozen to the spot. He couldn't move toward his ailing brother as much as he wanted to.

"Sammy?" Dean called out, his voice crackled in the electrified silence, broken only by Sam's ragged breathing and wheezing voice.

Sam flinched, as though he was trying to turn around, but didn't get far before he clearly lost the fight and slumped, unconscious to the ground. Dean kept his eyes on the thing outside the window and felt cold spots break out all over his body.

"What did you do to him?" Dean asked, his teeth were chattering from the sudden chill.

The demon didn't speak. There was a snapping sound in the room and Dean instantly felt a sharp pain jab him in the side as though he'd just been hit in the ribs with the butt of a gun. It crippled him, but he was unable to double over to protect his side. Instead he was forced to stand upright as the pain cursed his body. There was a twisted smile setting on the lips of the demon and it continued to stare at him. Dean was nearly convulsing because of the chill that he was feeling. He shook madly and couldn't seem to bring the shivering under control. The demon raised a hand, and with barely a wave sent Dean hurdling back to tumble over the first bed. His head hit the corner of the nightstand and he landed painfully and tried desperately to recover the breath that had just been forced out of him by the landing.

When he felt well enough to paw his way back to his feet, the demon in the window was gone and Sam was having a near-seizure on the floor. Ignoring the pain he felt, Dean scrambled across the double mattress and rushed to kneel next to Sam who was still unconscious. Dean got to his feet and pulled a pillow from the nearest bed to gently place beneath Sam's head to keep it from hitting the floor. There was a knock at the door and Dean's eyes focused on it. While he kneeled next to Sam, refusing to move, a key turned in the lock and a hand reached to the light switch to flood the room with colour.

"The neighbours said they heard a disturbance. Sounded like somebody was getting killed. Are you two okay in here?" The voice was that of a woman.

Dean bolted to his feet and hurried to the door to confront the woman before she came inside. She took one look at him and her face melted to concern.

"You're bleeding." She replied, stating the obvious.

"Uh yeah, I slipped in the bathroom. My brother forgot to mop after he washed up." Dean replied.

"Well, do you need a doctor?" The woman asked, her eyes were playful, but worried.

"Cause, I have some medical training." She said simply.

"And how I'd love to take you up on that offer, but my brother's asleep, he wouldn't like it much if I let you in, now would he?" Dean questioned, slapping on his most genuine smile.

"You could come to the office, nobody comes after midnight. It'll be quiet." She said.

"No thanks, I'm a married man." Dean responded.

"You're not wearing a wedding ring."

"Don't need one, I'm married to that girl right there." Dean pointed lovingly to his car.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "You men are all the same, worried about nothing but your looks and your cars." She replied heatedly.

Dean smiled sheepishly. "Guilty as charged." He said and the woman pulled the door tightly shut, filling the room with a sharp slam.

Dean turned his attention back to Sam, who was now lying still on the floor. He dropped quickly next to the younger one and pressed a gentle hand against the cold cheek.

"Sammy, wake up for me, will ya?" Dean asked the closed eyes of the dark haired man on the floor.

He was rewarded with a fluttering of eyelids from Sam and smiled, not hiding his relief.

"Dean?" Sam called.

"Yeah, I'm right here. Are you okay little brother?" Dean questioned.

"I think so. You're bleeding, what happened?" Sam questioned pointing to the general region on his own forehead.

"I got on the bad side of an angry demon." Dean responded.

"Why didn't the salt barrier work?" Sam questioned.

"It kinda did. At least the thing didn't come in. It did its damage from the outside." Dean stated.

"How?"

"I dunno, but we should find out. I'll start some research, maybe dad mentioned something about it in his journal."

Sam nodded and rubbed his temples. "Do you think it'll be back?"

"Hope not, but you never know. It's better to be prepared."

"I'll search the Internet." Sam replied and gently pushed himself to stand.

On uneasy legs, he walked to the table, grabbed the laptop and went back to his bed to do the searching. Dean cast worried eyes after him, but said nothing and gathered his father's journal to settle in for some reading.

The night passed quickly, with neither brother falling asleep again and by the time morning broke no information had been found. Dean stretched and tossed the book aside. He ran a hand down over his face and turned to where Sam was diligently typing on the keypad.

"Find anything, Sammy?"

"Not really, you?"

"Nope, dad didn't mention anything about it in his journal."

"I did find something about a demon with psychic abilities though. A Saenu demon. It says that it's an extinct species though." Sam replied, checking a hand written note next to him.

"If that thing was a Saenu, then it's alive and living. It sure didn't look extinct." Dean replied.

"I don't think it is a Saenu. I mean it has some elements of a Saenu, but, it didn't say anything about shape shifting on the website." Sam replied.

"Then you think it's a subtype of the species?"

"I don't know what it is, Dean."