Chapter 2:

Night was closing in fast. Dean had built a small fire and Sam was laying on his back watching the stars drift into view. They had circled their campsite with salt and now Dean was reloading his shotgun. "Get some sleep Sammy. I'll take first watch."

"I don't mind going first. I'm not really tired yet anyway." Sam said, hoping his brother would give in. Dean simply shook his head. Sam sighed. He was getting tired of the fighting between the two of them. He wished they could just get along and agree. But the Winchester streak of stubornness ran deep in both of them. So once again, he gave in, not wanting to push Dean again. He didn't think he'd be able to fall asleep, but in the end, he was out within ten minutes.

Dean sat there with his shotgun across his lap watching his brother. Maybe this was a bad idea, he thought. What the fuck did that thing mean this place wasn't what it seemed? And how the hell did it know who they were? Dean was beginning to get a headache. The last few weeks had been too much. He kept replaying it over in his mind. Chicago. Who knew it would turn out like that? Dean knew it was his fault. He had driven Sam straight into Meg's hands because he drove off and left him. He had almost gotten Sam and his Dad killed, because of his stupid pride and anger. He never saw the trap coming, and he almost lost what was left of his family. Maybe I should have left him at school, Dean thought as he looked at his brother sleeping peacefully. At least when he was there I could keep my promise, he thought. Dean was trying to fight sleep as hard as he could, but his eyes were getting heavy and his head was bobbing. Then suddenly he jerked up, wide awake. Singing? He heard singing. A soft, sweet melody floating from the stream. He stood and made his way outside the salt circle. He knew he should wake up Sam, but he needed to see this first. He knew that voice, and that song. As he walked to the stream he saw her. His breath caught in his throat and his heart began to pound faster. There she was standing at the waters edge in a long white silk gown, the moonlight shimmering around her making her glow like an angel. She was humming that song. The one she always sang to help them sleep. Dean walked slowly towards her. He became blind to everything around him. He forgot he was in the woods, on a hunt, and for the moment he even forgot about Sam. She turned as he approached and smiled. That beautiful smile that made his heart ache and tears well up in his eyes.

"Hello Dean."

"Mom?" Dean's heart was beating against his chest. It couldn't be her, could it? "Is it really you?"

"Of course my sweet son." She held her hand out to him. "Come here my darling. I need to tell you something. I need to remind you." Her voice was soft and floated on the night's air.

Dean hesitated and looked around him. He suddenly remembered where he was and why. Sam was at least thirty feet away and still sleeping. But he didn't see anything else that looked suspicious. He figured he had to be dreaming so he saw nothing wrong with walking to her. He looked back towards his mother as tears began to fall. He didn't care. His mother was in front of him, and he didn't care if he cried like a baby. He took a step and reached for her. Just as he was about to reach her hand a blinding light came out of no where. He could no longer see his mother. He tried to shield his eyes, but to no avail. He felt a force strike him hard in the back and he landed into the water face first. Just before he hit the water he managed to scream "Sammy!" Then all was dark.

Sam bolted up instictively grabbing his gun kept tucked by his side. Through blurry eyes he looked around him, trying desperately to focus. The first thing he noticed of course was Dean was not there. Panic began to set in. "Dean!" He screamed. "Dean where are you! Dammit Dean answer me!" Sam turned in slow circles, scanning the area. "Think dammit!" He said aloud. What did I hear? Then it hit him. Water. He heard Dean scream and he heard a splash. He knew it. At full speed he ran toward the stream. Thank God it was a clear night and the moon was shining bright or he would have stumbled more than what he already was. When he made it to the waters edge he stopped, eyes scanning. It was so hard to see anything. "Dean!" He screamed again. "Damn you Dean if you don't answer me I swear I'll kill you myself!" He screamed again. The he heard the coughing. Looking to his right he saw Dean struggling to pull himself out of the water. Sam ran to him dropping the gun as he grabbed his brother and hauled him out of the water. Dropping to his knees in front of Dean he grabbed by him the shirt, holding him up. "Dean, are you okay? Say something!"

Dean looked at him with confused eyes, "Sammy?" He asked as if he was unsure.

"It's me Dean."

Dean's eyes looked from side to side. "Where is she?" he asked and then collapsed into his brothers arms.

Sam tried to shake him awake, it was no use. With a head full of questions he put his brother up over his shoulder and carried him back to camp. Gently he laid him onto his sleeping bag and began checking him for injuries. Nothing seemed to be broken. But he did find a good size lump forming on the back of his head. Sam lightly patted Dean's cheek. "Dean, come on man. Wake up. You can't do this right now. Dean? I can't carry you all the way back. Wake up!" Dean made no response. Sighing in frustration and fear Sam removed Dean's wet clothes, put dry ones on and tucked him snugly into his sleeping bag. "What the hell were you doing you freakin' idiot?" Sam asked him aloud. "We are leaving here first thing in the morning and I don't care how much you argue."

Sam sat as close to his brother as he could, monitoring his breathing and holding the shotgun across his lap. His eyes kept constantly scanning the woods around them. He had a feeling that this was going to be a very long night with God knows what coming out of the darkness. He tried again to wake his brother and got no response. The silence was killing him. All he could hear was crickets and frogs, it was driving him nuts. "Shut the hell up!" He screamed into the darkness. Then suddenly he heard something else. A whisper. Sam stood and scanned the area. It was definitely whispers, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Then they stopped and one came through loud and clear 'you are all alone now'

He didn't know where the voice came from or what was out there, but just for good measure he fired a few rounds of rock salt into the darkness then knelt beside his brother and said a prayer of protection. They were going to make it through this night, he was damn well going to make sure of it. "Dean, why can't you ever just be more comprimising. We shouldn't be here." Sam whispered to him.

Sam looked at his watch. It was 3:30 am. At least it wasn't much longer till sunrise he thought. Suddenly Dean began to stir and mumble. Sam bent over him grabbing his shoulders. "Dean? Dean wake up. Come on man, open your eyes. Please!"

Dean's eyes opened, though when he looked at Sam he couldn't focus. "Dean? Say something. Can you see me?"

Hoarsely Dean whispered, "Yeah Sammy I see you." He reached his hand to his head. "Well, wasn't that fun." He smirked and began to sit up. Sam gently helping him.

"How many fingers?" He asked Dean, holding up three in front of his face.

Dean stared at his hand for a minute, making Sam nervous. "Three."

Sam released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "I'm sure you have a concussion Dean. As soon as it's light we're outta here."

Dean began to shake his head. "No Sammy. I'll be fine. It's just a bump. I've had worse. We can't leave yet."

"What! Of course we're leaving jerk. You were attacked by something, you're hurt and there is something really wicked out here man. We are not going to attempt to go that cabin. We need more research, and you need a doctor."

Dean looked at Sam with a steady gaze and said, "I told you we are staying Sam. I'm older and what I say goes. We cannot leave yet. Got it?"

Sam was beginning to forget about his concern for his brother. Anger was taking over. "Wanna tell me what happened over there? What attacked you, what were you doing checking something out without waking me up? And why did you ask me where is she. Who is she Dean? What did you see?" Sam knew he was speaking a mile a minute but he had to get all of his questions out.

Dean was rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't know what hit me. There was a flash of light and then bang. Didn't even catch a glimpse." He paused for a moment to cough. Trying to scream when you're going head first into water isn't a good idea he thought. His throat was burning like crazy. He turned to look at Sam. Dean felt bad. He was driving his brother nuts. He knew it, but he couldn't tell him what he saw. It wasn't real, he knew that. He wouldn't want to get Sammy's hopes up. "Before you say anything else Sammy, we came here to do a job. We are going to do it. I'll be fine. Come on, we've both been hurt worse than this and kept going. We need to get rid of this bitch."
Sam clenched his jaw. Dean was right. They always keep going hurt or not. But Sam's bad feeling about this place was getting worse by the minute. And why was he dodging the last question? "Who were you talking about Dean? Who did you see?"

Dean looked at Sam and didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He could still see her. He swallowed hard then shook the memory from his head. "I don't know what you're talking about Sammy. I didn't see anything."

"You're lying. You forget Dean. I'm not a little boy anymore and I know you a lot better than you think. So don't fucking lie to me!" Sam was so pissed he could spit fire. When was Dean going to start treating him like his brother, his equal, and not a child?

Dean laid back down and stared up at the stars. "I didn't see anything. Look, I've got a little bit of a headache going here, so can we stop the chit chat. Let's just keep our eyes and ears open huh?"

Sam sighed. "Yeah, whatever. Just don't fall asleep okay?" He tried to push his anger aside. No matter what, they were in fact brothers and no matter what Dean did, he loved his big brother. When he wasn't an asshole and when he was. And even though he was being an asshole at the moment, he was hurt and even if he wouldn't admit it, he needed Sam.

Sam tried his hardest to keep Dean awake. It wasn't easy. Dean's eyes would close as soon as he stopped talking. Sam found the stupidest things to talk about, just to keep it going, but it was a loosing battle. Sam thought enough time had passed by to let him sleep for a few minutes at a time. Then suddenly Dean murmured something in his sleep that made Sam's jaw drop.

"Mom...don't go...it's you...don't stop singing...she's singing Sammy...can you hear it?"

Sam knew he wasn't really talking to him, he was asleep. But he knew this wasn't a dream. His senses told him that was who Dean saw. What the hell had they gotten themselves into?