Chapter 14:
The first thing that hit him when he walked through the door was the eerie silence. He no longer heard the birds, the crickets, or the rustling of the wind. And worse, he no longer heard the scream. His brother's voice. As much as his heart wrenched when he heard it, at least he knew at that moment Dean was still alive. Now with the quiet, he worried his worst fear had come true. What the hell had made Dean come back in here? Maybe it wasn't by his own free will, Sam thought, and that sent a chill down his spine.
He stepped further into the darkened house, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light provided by the moon. He searched the immediate area for any sign of his brother or their left behind weapons and flashlights. There were no signs of any of them. "Dean." He called out softly. There was no response. Hesitantly Sam made his way towards the living room. As he entered he heard the front door slam behind him. "Just great." He muttered to himself. "Damn you Dean, there better be a damn good reason you got us locked in here for a second time."
As he walked through the living room the moonlight filtering in was less and less. Darkness surrounded him. He continued to call out for Dean, but he continued to get no response. Just as he was going to give up his search of that room his foot hit something. Something that moaned with the contact. He looked down and found his brother slumped on the floor, doubled over with his arms wrapped around his middle. "Dean!" Sam dropped down next to his brother and rolled him onto his back. "Dean! Can you hear me! Open your eyes!"
Dean's eyes fluttered, then opened slowly. "Sam...Sammy...that you?"
"Yeah it's me. What the hell are you doing here Dean?" Sam knew that shouldn't have been his first question, but 'are you okay' seemed stupid and pointless at the moment. Of course his brother wasn't okay. He could barely hold his eyes open. Gently, Sam bent and placed his arms under Dean's intending to lift him off the floor. "We gotta get out of here Dean. We'll get Dad and get out of here." As he lifted Dean, his brother shouted out in pain.
"Sam! Stop!"
Sam slumped to the floor quickly, holding Dean from behind, keeping him tight to his body. His heart raced with panic. "Dean, I'm sorry. But we have to move." Dean didn't respond back. The brothers sat for a moment in silence, their heavy breathing the only sound. Sam wasn't sure what to do. They were stuck again. Dean was hurt even worse than before, and Sam wasn't faring much better, and their father was still passed out outside. This day had definitely taken a down hill slide. "Dean, why did you come back in here?" He asked quietly.
For a moment he didn't answer, then just as quietly Dean said, "I don't remember. Actually, I don't remember much of anything."
Sam was confused, "What do you mean you don't remember?"
"I don't remember why we are here, when we got here, what's going on." Dean sighed, "Everything's fuzzy right now."
Sam sighed. "Well, I'll explain it all later. But first we need to get out of here. So, I'm gonna help you up. I'm sorry it's gonna hurt. We've got no choice man."
Dean nodded and took a deep breath, steadying himself for what was coming. He felt Sam get his feet beneath him and then the pressure under his arms as Sam began pulling him up. He bit his lip against the pain, holding his scream inside. All the while Sam kept muttering his apologies for hurting him.
"It's okay Sam. Like you said we've got no choice." Dean paused, he looked to Sam, "Was I imagining things or is Dad really here?"
Sam smiled, "He's here." Sam left out that fact that he left him unconscious outside. But his brother didn't need to worry about that right now. "Okay, we'll move slow, one step at a time. The front door isn't that far."
Dean nodded, then a thought hit him. "Wait, front door. Thought we couldn't get out."
Sam felt a little hope wash over him, "Starting to remember?"
"Maybe." Was all Dean said. Right now it took everything for him to concentrate and get his feet to move.
"All right bro, let's go." Sam said, praying once again they could make it before that son of a bitch made another appearance.
He awoke with a start, realization hitting him hard. He found himself lying outside facing the house. How the hell did he get out here? Quickly his trained eyes darted, looking for his sons. "Sam! Dean!" Nothing but the chirping crickets answered his call. "Damn it!" He looked back at the house, the closed front door, and just knew his boys were once again in harms way. This time though, he let the soldier inside of him take over, pushing his fatherly feelings away. There was no reason to bust in there with guns blazing again. He couldn't risk getting trapped himself again. No. This time he would do it right. He pushed himself to his feet, gave one last glance to the house, and headed to his truck. This time he would save his sons the right way. He grabbed the shovel and can of salt. It was time to burn that mother fucker and send him to hell once and for all. Only then could he return for his boys.
-TBC-