Part Five

Jess had stopped moving and stood a foot away behind Sam in the hallway, her face had gone pale and her eyes were closed. A part of Sam wanted to run over and check on her, but another part couldn't bring himself to move. He was scared, he realized. Irrationally scared of his girlfriend. "Jess?" he tried again, reaching over to her.

Before he could touch her, he felt a strong hand grip his shoulder and spin him around to face his brother. Dean was glowering past him, at Jess, which was a bit ridiculous considering she didn't do anything to deserve his scorn. "Don't touch her. That's not Jess," Dean hissed, pulling Sam stumbling over to him.

He could feel Dean's fingers tighten around shoulder and winced when it became painful. Dean seemed to notice his discomfort right away, loosening his grip a fraction with a mumbled, "Sorry. Just stay behind me."

Sam's bewilderment clashed with his growing irritability over Dean's seeming inability to tell him why he couldn't go over to comfort his girlfriend. He twisted from Dean's grip and faced him, his mounting frustration written all over his face. "What the hell, Dean? That's Jess, my girlfriend. Why the hell can't I go over and check to see if she's okay?" Why the hell was his brother so vague? "What the fuck aren't you telling us?" he demanded because he had the right to know, both of them had the right to know.

Dean stared at Sam for a moment, looking like he was debating on what to tell him. Before either one of them could continue the conversation, there was a low giggle from behind them. Sam froze, recognizing the giggle as Jess's. But it was darker and lower.

"You boys sure are adorable when you bicker like that," Jess's voice echoed in the hallway.

He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand up. Sam forced himself to turn back around to face his girlfriend. Jess was standing up straight, watching them like a hawk. Her lips curled in a vicious smile, reminding Sam of a shark just finding its prey. "Look at you, Sammy," she crooned. "Aren't you a big boy." She looked him up and down appreciatively. When Sam didn't move, she sighed. "Why don't you come over here and give me a kiss? We can go back to bed and forget about all this crap. What are we running from anyways, Sam?" She looked from one brother to the other, her eyes lingering a little too long on Dean. "Think your big brother's got a loose screw."

Sam hesitated. Why the hell was Jess saying all these things?

"Sam, don't listen to her," came his brother's voice. Just barely a whisper. "That's not Jess. You've got to believe me."

"Yeah, Sammy, don't listen to me," Jess mocked, "I've only been your girlfriend for the last two years compared to this loser you call a brother who never bothered to call you or check in to see if you were even alive. Definitely take his word over mine."

There was no way Jess would say that. She'd never badmouthed anyone ever. And the brief meeting between her and Dean earlier...it was like she had a split personality or something. "Christo," Dean growled.

Jess flinched at the word and for a moment, her eyes were completely black. Sam stared. What the hell?

Dean wasted no time in taking Sam by the arm and racing through the hall, barking out, "Sam! Come on, move it, little brother! Go, go, go!"

Sam found himself stumbling along, adrenaline fueling his body, even as his mind was still trying to catch up with what was going on. That's not Jess, Dean had said. And it wasn't. There was no way. Jess's eyes didn't blink black like that. She didn't look at Sam with mocking love and throw hate at a man she barely knew. Dean reached the front door first and tugged at the door knob. He started cursing when it didn't budge, which shouldn't have been possible since it locked from the inside and it was currently unlocked. Sam barely had time to react before he saw his brother go flying back, like a yoyo springing back to its owner.

"Son of a bitch," Dean cursed as his head collided with the wall on the other side of the room.

"Tsk, tsk, Deano. Don't you know it's impolite to curse in front of a lady?" came Jess's familiar voice full of false sweetness. Sam turned around just in time to watch his girlfriend saunter slowly over to his brother. He could see Dean struggling against the wall but there was nothing pinning him there. He made to move over to them but Jess must have heard because she paused and turned around to see him. She smiled coldly and raised a hand up, "Oh, Sammy, don't think I've forgotten about you. Just wait your turn like a good boy, won't you?" Before he could ask what she meant by that, he was suddenly being lifted in the air.

Dean shouted, "Sammy!"

Then he was flung backwards, his back hitting the doorframe hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. He gasped in surprise.

"Oh he'll be fine. You Winchesters really are dramatic, aren't you?" Jess was saying. Her voice sounded far away though. Sam's head was throbbing from the impact of the door. He blinked a few times, trying to get it together. Dean and Jess needed him. He blinked a couple more times. He tried to lift his head and caught a glimpse of Jess's back. She was crouching in front of his brother, reaching out to touch him. "So tell me, Deano, how'd you know what I was? How'd you know to say that word?"

"Oh you mean 'Christo'?" Dean spat, the smirk in his voice so obvious that Sam could vividly imagine it. Jess startled, cursing, as she took a stumbling step back. "Had enough yet, you demonic bitch?"

Even in the face of the supernatural, Dean had time to joke. Wait. Sam almost didn't register the second to last word in the sentence before Jess growled and lunged forward. He heard Dean shouting, "Close your eyes, Sammy!" Then there was just a blinding white light that seemed to engulf the whole room before Sam lost himself to darkness.