-1Dream-State
Chapter 2
By infinite shadow
Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable from Supernatural including the boys, but when I find that genie in the lamp… No money was made from this endeavour so please don't sue.
Author's note: Thanks to lynxlan who has seriously helped me out over the months with this story. Your patience is appreciated my friend. Additions and changes have been made after the fact so any errors you see in the story are solely mine.
Thanks to all of the kind reviews for chapter 1. Here is the second chapter, hope it's ok. Please let me know what you're thinking after you've read the story. Good, bad, ugly or suggestions.. Feedback is always welcome.
Now on with the story….
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Hours passed quietly while Dean spoke about the demons and spirits he'd hunted on his own over the last couple of years. Silence fell over the small room again after Dean had finished telling Sam about the New Orleans job he'd been on just before getting him at Stanford.
"I wish you could tell me what was happening in there," Dean said softly. "I haven't felt this useless since the damn berserker attack."
Dean was quiet for a few moments just watching his brother's chest rise and fall as he breathed in and out. It was the only movement that proved for the moment his brother was alive but not reachable. He looked so calm and peaceful as he slept. It reminded Dean of the nights when he would wake from a nightmare about losing Sam. His heart would be pounding in his chest and a fine layer of sweat would cover his face. He would spend over an hour watching his little brother breathe in and out as he slept before he was convinced he was really there. Only then would he allow himself to go back to sleep.
"You're not just sleeping are you Sammy? Cause, dude if you are, I'm so listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd all the way to our next job," Dean said knowing Sam would rather listen to anything else, including talk radio, before listening to that group. Dean had never understood Sam's aversion to the group, but had used it to it's full advantage when he could.
"C'mon Sammy. I'll do just about anything, you know that right? But you gotta let me know how to help you," Dean said but Sam didn't give any signs that he'd heard him. "You know how much I hate the silent treatment kiddo."
The room was quiet for quite sometime as Dean tried to figure out what to talk about next.
A pounding on the door startled Dean almost making him fall off the bed. He rubbed at his eyes and got up to answer the door. He slowly opened the door a crack planning to tell who ever it was to go away. He swung the door open as surprise registered on his face.
"Well? You just going to stand there all day with your mouth open boy or are you going to let me in?" the woman said with feigned annoyance.
"How?" Dean sputtered too surprised to do anything else.
"It's what I do. Now where is your brother?" She demanded as she brushed past Dean and walked into the room.
Dean closed the door leaving his hand on the door knob as he watched the dark woman approach Sam. "Yeah, but we're like two states over," he protested still perplexed.
Missouri ignored him as she paused at the base of the bed on which the younger man was sleeping. As she looked over his sleeping form her eyes showed her concern and affection even if her face looked stern. Making a tisking noise she moved to the side of the bed and placed her hands over Sam reaching out to find him.
"Is he here? Is he ok?" Dean asked quietly not able to hide the concern in his voice.
Missouri lowered her hands looking annoyed at him. The look quickly faded as she saw the fear in his eyes. Dean shook his head and looked away effectively hiding the fear. He slowly slunk down on the end of his bed as if his legs wouldn't hold him up anymore and rubbed his face with his hands. The psychicleft Sam's side and sat beside Dean on the bed just shy of rubbing shoulders with him.
"He is here and he's scared. I can feel his exhaustion and waves of fear coming off of him," she said quietly not adding that she could feel Dean's fear and anxiety as well. "He knows you're here. In fact you led him back here where he could be safe."
Dean turned to her his expressive green eyes mirroring the fear and anxiety she could feel coming off of him like gale force winds. "Can you help him?"
"Oh honey of course I can, that's why I'm here, but it won't be easy. I can feel another spirit here, one angry vengeful spirit. We need to get Sam back soon before it's too late," she said.
"Too late? But he's just asleep," Dean said then turned to look at her. "Isn't he?"
"Sam has been attacked by a powerful spirit and it's not been easy on him. The more he's attacked and the longer he's kept asleep, the harder it will be for him to wake up. It's kind of like the spirit is slowly taking his life force from him, one excruciating small drop at a time. This type of spirit thrives on the pain and suffering it inflictson a victim and will make it last as long as possible. That has worked in our favour as it gave me just enough time to get here," Missouri said as gently as she could. She didn't want to finish what she had to say but knew the hunter deserved to know the entire painful truth. "Dean, Sam will expire in his sleep if we do not pull him out in the next hour or two."
Dean took a shaky breath as he paled noticeably. "God. What can I do?" He asked then swallowed convulsively as if trying to keep himself from throwing up.
"Stay close. He'll need to hear you and see you as soon as he wakes up. It'll help confirm to him that he's actually awake," she said.
Dean nodded and moved to the side of the bed watching Missouri walk between the beds. Missouri stepped up to the bed putting her hands above his chest again. Stretching out she let her energies flow from her like a gentle wave seeking out Sam's essence.
"Sam? I know you're here in this room with us. Talk to me boy. Let me hear you," she said as she closed her eyes and concentrated. She pushed past Dean's fear fuelled energy and after a few moments she felt another presence. A weak, scared and exhausted energy.
Sam wearily lifted his head slightly and looked up from where he sat on the floor encircled in salt. "Missouri?" he whispered.
"Yes. I'm here Sam," she said her voice resonating in both Sam's world and in true reality doing her best to sound strong and comforting.
Dean let out a sigh of relief when she responded to his brother. But when nothing else happened relief turned back into heart pounding fear. His little brother was so close, close enough for Missouri to talk to him, but far enough away that Dean couldn't reach him. "Well? Is he going to wake up?" He blurted out.
"The spirit is here, and it's a piece of work. It's keeping him from waking," she murmured. "Oh Sam."
"What? What!" Dean demanded.
"This angry spirit, it has several images surrounding your brother. I believe two of them are your mother and his girlfriend. And, oh dear," Missouri paused.
"Damnit what?" Dean almost growled as he placed a protective hand on his brother's arm not liking being kept hanging especially when it came to his brother.
"You and your father are there as well, something the spirit found in his memory. You are both extremely angry with him," Missouri said and the disapproval in her tone sent a warning chill up Dean's back.
Dean sighed heavily. Sam and Dad had fought a lot over the years with him in the middle playing referee. There were almost nightly fights and Dean had hated every last argument. He wished Sam would get past the testosterone teenager angst filled dad's not always right arguments. But when he'd graduated from high school he'd put in for scholarships without telling him or their Father. When their Dad had found out about the scholarship he'd never told Sam he was proud, it was just another argument. Dean found himself in the middle again playing referee and not even able to consider the ramifications of Sam leaving them. Twin slamming bedroom doors rang out in their small apartment. Instead of checking up on his brother Dean grabbed a beer and watched TV trying to forget the words spoken in the argument he'd just broken up.
He and Sam had fought like any brothers did usually good natured insults or sparring for training. Any actual heated arguments had never gotten out of hand. But a few weeks after he'd broken up the argument between Sam and his Dad about school he'd found Sam packing for university. Dean had felt betrayed at him leaving and was scared that he'd never come back. Instead of telling his brother that they screamed at each other until Dean had literally seen red and he'd hit Sam hard. The blow had sent his brother backwards over the bed stopping when he'd hit the corner of a dresser. Dean looked down at his hand to his brother in shock. It was the first and only time he'd hit his little brother out of pure anger. He'd watched as Sam slowly picked himself up, grabbed his partially packed bag and left without a glance or word to Dean. He didn't talk to him againuntil he'd shown up to Stanford asking for his help in finding his father.
"Sam you can come back to us now," Missouri said and her strong voice brought Dean back to the present.
Sam rested his head back down on his knees. "I can't. I don't know how. Can't, can't you feel them?" He said his voice betraying his exhaustion and fear.
"Yes I can feel them, but they're not real," she said calmly hoping to give the young man a ray of hope.
"It's probably not even you," Sam said curling up a little tighter in the circle giving in a little more to his fear.
"Sam listen to me," Missouri said and the sudden change in her tone made Dean tighten his hold on his brother's arm.
"You're not real. None of this is real. Mom and Jess are not standing in front of me crying. Dean can't possibly hate me this much. The dark shadow does not exist. I'm going to wake up in the car and this nightmare will be over," Sam said desperately. "Why can't this just be over."
"We need him awake," Missouri said pulling back the bed sheets.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked.
"He's not going to last a couple of hours. We need him back now," she said pulling up Sam's shirt and touching his chest with one hand and his head with the other. Her body stiffened like she was having a few thousand volts run through her body.
Dean looked on helpless to do anything.
"Sam?" Missouri said quietly.
He lifted his head off his knees again seeing his friend standing nearby. "Missouri?"
"Yes it's me," she said stepping through the images of Jessica and Mary making them disappear. "It's time to wake up," she said extending a hand to him.
"How do I know it's really you? You're just another dream, another trick of the darkness," he said exhaustion colouring his voice.
She stepped forward. "Sam all I can tell you is that it's me. I'm here to help you. Dean is just beside himself with worry. Now give me your hand boy, you are waking up."
Sam looked at her for a moment unsure what to do. Miranda could know about Missouri, she seemed to know about everything else. It would be easy for her to trick him out of the protection he had found. Then Sam took a closer look and realized that Missouri's hand had passed through the protective circle of salt. He smiled slightly and took her hand.
A bright flash filled the room. Missouri pulled her hands off and staggered back sitting on the other bed. Sam gasped for breath and tried to push himself up and off the bed but his limbs were on fire with pins and needles.
"Sam? Hey it's ok, look at me it's ok," Dean said placing a hand on his shoulder.
Sam reached out and grabbed Dean's arm tightly. "Dean?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yeah it's me geek, who else," Dean said smiling as relief soared through him making him light headed and almost giddy for a moment.
Sam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and moved to get up.
"Sam?" Dean asked as he helped him up and steadied him. "I don't think you should be up," he said gently forcing Sam to sit on the bed, sitting close beside him.
"Have to go," Sam said panting slightly at the effort it took to get up as he stared at the motel door.
"Sam take a good look at yourself. You've been asleep for like a day and a half while under attack from a demon. Cut yourself some slack and take it easy for a bit. Besides where could you possibly have to be?" Dean asked.
"Dean I promised her, I-I have to," he said then paled.
"Sam?" Dean asked as his brother closed her eyes.
"Dizzy," Sam whispered leaning forward.
Dean put his hand gently on is brother's lower back and he wasn't sure if the touch was to reassure his little brother or himself. "You need to hurl?"
"Don't think so. Just need a minute," he gasped out.
"Take as many as you need," he said then nodded at Missouri. "Thank you."
Missouri smiled at him. "Welcome," she said then looked to Sam hearing his unsaid question. Her smile turned to concern as she looked at his current position. He was sitting on the bed with his head almost between his long legs trying to get the blood back into his head before he passed out.
"I felt your distress and thought I could help is all," she said softly.
"But," Sam tried to protest but was having trouble collecting his thoughts. He decided to concentrate on breathing slowly and closed his eyes. He tried to ignore the burning in the back of his throat and the dizziness that made the room seem to spin around him.
"Yes I am far from home," she paused seeing the unconvinced look on Dean's face and sighed. The jig was up. "Oh all right. Your father told me you were in danger and that you and Dean would need my help. He told me the motel name and here I am."
"Dad told you?" Dean repeated his eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes," she said patiently already feeling the confusing mix of emotions coming off the older hunter.
"Why didn't he come himself?" Dean asked.
"He wanted to but he wouldn't have made it in time," Missouri said softly. "Dean had I arrived an hour or two from now it would have looked like Sam had suffered an aneurysm in his sleep. He would have never woken up."
Dean looked down at his brother feeling Sam's breathing speed up as he began to shake. "Dean?" Sam said.
"OK buddy," Dean said quietly hearing the urgency in Sam's voice. He helped Sam up to his feet and into the bathroom.
Sam collapsed around the toilet and his back arched painfully as he threw up. When he was finished he sat on the floor with his back to the tub and wiped his hand over his sweat and tear stained face. Sam drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them grasping them tightly.
"Does Dad hate me that much that he would stay away?" He asked as tremors shook his body.
"Sam Dad doesn't hate you, he never has. He's been hard on you to protect you, so you would know how to be safe. I'm sure he'd be here if he could," Dean said.
Sam looked up at him. "You don't really believe that do you?"
Dean knelt in front of Sam. "Honestly Sam, I know Dad would be here if he could," he said and frustration flared in him as Sam looked away.
"Look if he didn't care about you he wouldn't have sent Missouri to help you out of wherever you were. Think about it, Dad could not have saved you himself," Dean said then paused when he was sure Sam paled even more.
Sam nodded as he closed his eyes, rested his head on his knees and sighed. "Yeah you're right. He would be here if he could."
The words were said so softly that Dean wasn't sure he'd actually spoken for a moment. His stance softened at his brother's words and the frustration was gone replaced with concern. He quickly got a facecloth and doused it with cool water. "Sammy?" he said quietly.
"Yeah?" Sam said as he opened his eyes and looked at his brother.
"Here," Dean said handing him the cool cloth and turned back to the sink. He filled a glass with cool water. Turning back to his brother on the floor he took back the cloth and handed him the glass.
"Thanks," Sam mumbled and rinsed out his mouth. He spit out the vile water and rinsed again. He handed back the glass to his brother.
"Come on let's get you back to bed. You're a mess," Dean said as he pulled his brother to his feet as gently as he could.
"I have to go," Sam protested weakly.
"You're not going anywhere right now kiddo," Dean said as he pulled Sam's arm around his shoulder and led him back into the room.
Sam's eyes widened in panic as Dean tried to get him to sit on the bed. "N-NO!" he said trying to push Dean off of him. "I don't want to sleep, I won't wake up again. Don't make me sleep, please Dean!"
Dean grasped him harder afraid that he'd fall. "Ok man it's ok. How about you sit at the table," Dean said helping him over to the table and into a chair.
Sam sat down and closed his eyes for a moment resting his head in his hands. Dean grabbed the trash can and placed it beside Sam just in case. Then sat across from him on the bed Missouri moving to join him.
"Why don't you tell us about the promise you made and where you need to go," Missouri asked.
"I promised Jessica I would help her," Sam said quietly looking over at Dean.
"Sammy," Dean said softly.
"Jessica wasn't here, you know that right?" Missouri asked.
Dean looked at the woman sitting beside him. He'd had his suspicions that it wasn't Jessica that his little brother was seeing, but in their line of work stranger things had happened.
"Her name was Victoria and she was in love with a married man. She was killed near here and has been stuck here for over fifty years. I promised to free her," Sam said looking away.
"Do you know where her bones are?" Missouri asked.
Sam looked over to the woman and shrugged slightly. "Not exactly, but I don't think it's far from here."
"Well did she show you were she was? Maybe we could figure it out," Dean suggested.
"She showed me," Sam said and closed his eyes as phantom pain from the run and fall seemed to spike through his back and ribs for a second and was gone.
"Sam?" Dean said and stood up as his brother grimaced in pain.
Sam opened his eyes when he felt his brother's hand on his shoulder and took a deep breath. Looking up into Dean's concerned gaze he tried to smile. "I'm ok."
Dean looked unconvinced but pulled back and sat beside him on a chair. Sam smiled. This felt real and familiar. Whenever he was hurt Dean would hover protectively. Now he knew he was back and this wasn't some elaborate trick by Miranda to keep him in his dream.
"She fell into an old welland after three days of agony Victoria died. She's been stuck here being chased by the dark spirit for years. She just wants it all to end," Sam said softly looking out the window.
"Sam we'll help you keep your promise to her but you are no position to take a walk through the woods right now," Dean said. "She can wait a little while longer while you get some strength back."
Sam looked back at him. "Dean you didn't see her, didn't talk to her. She's tired and the darkness hurts her."
"I understand that Sam, really I do," Dean said catching his brother's gaze. He did understand but he'd been looking after his little brother since he was four years old. He knew him well enough to know that Sam believed he could go and do this now, but his strong willed intensions would not get him very far in his exhausted body.
"Take a good look at yourself Sammy. You won't be able to take 10 steps out that door and I can't carry you through the woods looking for a well that may or may not be here," Dean said calmly.
"It's Sam and if you won't help me I'll go myself," he said. He slowly pushed himself up from the table paling slightly with the movement and took a small step, then another. He began to shake with the effort paling considerably more by the fourth step.
Dean watched him, making no move to help or stop him. "Sam don't do this."
"Boy aren't you going to stop him?" Missouri demanded starting to get up.
Dean grabbed her arm gently to keep her where she was. "No," he said quietly to her watching Sam.
Sam was visibly shaking and panting by the time he reached the door. He leaned his forehead against it for a moment trying to get his breath back. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea," he mumbled more to himself than to the others in the room and he sent a silent apology to Victoria.
Dean stood up slowly and took a few steps towards his brother closing the gap between them. Sam stood there for a moment leaning on the door then began to slide down it as he lost consciousness.
Dean caught him before he could fall to the floor and shook his head a little. "Stubborn to the end, just like dad," he muttered and carried his brother as best he could over to the bed.
"Get the sheets," he said to Missouri.
She looked disgusted with him as she did what he asked. Dean laid his brother on the bed gently then pulled the covers up around him. With a deep sigh he sat down beside him.
"Look no matter what I said he would have gone for the door," Dean said softly. "I don't want to fight him Missouri he's been through enough."
"But the spirits," Missouri protested.
Dean got up and walked over to the table picking up a device. "This amateur device has not gone off once since Sam woke up, has it?" he said showing the EMF meter to her.
"Well no," she admitted holding her retort at his tone knowing that he was beyond exhausted and still filled with worry over his little brother.
"Do you feel them?" Dean asked.
"No, but that does not mean that they won't come back," she argued.
"I don't think they will. Look the way I see it, the one that wanted Sam's help, Jessica, wants this all to be over. She should realize that Sam needs to regain some strength to do what he promised. She is probably leading this dark spirit on a wild goose chase," Dean said.
"And if it takes him again?" Missouri asked.
Dean looked away putting the meter back on the table. "Tell me I had another option," he said quietly.
"Well, no," she said softly. "Dean I don't know if I can pull him out again."
"Let's hope it won't come to that," he said quietly grabbing the car keys from the table. "I need to get some food for when he wakes up," he said swaying slightly grabbing the car key out from the rest on the ring.
"Boy you are in no condition to be driving right now. You are going to get some sleep while I go and get us some breakfast. Don't you even think about fighting me on this," Missouri scolded.
Dean sputtered slightly. "I'm fine."
"Bull," she said starring him down.
Dean looked at her trying to come up with an appropriate comeback but came up empty.
"Just like I thought. You get into this bed and get some sleep or you won't be any good to Sam when he wakes up. Give me the room key," she said holding out her hand.
Dean fished in his pocket and silently handed it over to her then laid down on the bed fully clothed. He closed his eyes and heard her leave. He got up grabbed the EMF, put one headphone in and laid down again. He was asleep in minutes.
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The key sliding into the lock brought Dean to an aware state in his sleep. He slowly reached under his pillow for the knife he always kept there, jolting awake as he didn't feel the familiar blade handle there.
"Oh for heaven sake boy it's just me," Missouri said as she opened the door.
Dean sat up slowly on the bed watching her struggle with three cups of coffee and a bag of food. She placed them onto the table handing Dean a cup.
"Thanks," he mumbled taking a drink of the hot liquid and glanced at the time. "Where did you find something open this early?"
"Oh well I used to live in this town for a few years. Looked up an old friend who runs a bakery and deli in town," she said.
"Town?" Dean repeated.
"It's about a half hour down the road. She was nice enough to open up and let me take what we needed. It was good to see her again and get caught up," Missouri said with a smile.
Dean nodded glancing over his shoulder as he heard movement behind him. Sam was slowly easing himself into a sitting position.
"You ok?" Dean asked.
"Yeah," Sam mumbled as he rubbed his head a little.
Missouri smiled and brought him over his coffee. Sam nodded his thanks to her. She returned to the table and unpacked the bag. Sam quickly got dressed then the boys joined her and had breakfast. Sam told them what he remembered from the dark spirit and the white spirit who had taken Jessica's form. There wasn't much to go on as he'd been shown what the well looked like in the dark.
They got ready to go and Missouri headed out first. Dean grabbed Sam's arm just before he left the room.
"You sure you're up to this? Missouri and I can find this on our own," Dean said the concern clear on his face.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he said looking at his brother's disbelieving look. "Dean I feel better, really."
Dean looked at him for a moment then let him go following him out of the motel room. After getting the supplies out of the Impala, they headed into the woods trying to follow Sam's description of his dream. The trees were taller and the brush overgrown. There was no trail to be found.
After hours of searching they paused in a small clearing. Misty rain had begun to fall making them cold and wet.
"Anything look familiar at all?" Missouri asked.
Sam shook his head and sat on a tree stump, jumping back off as if he'd received a shock. "No, wait," he said looking closely at the stump. He closed his eyes trying to remember the dream more clearly. He started walking away hearing Dean and Missouri following behind him. They walked for a few minutes before Sam stopped looking around him.
"This is it," Missouri said.
"Yeah," Sam said. "Do you feel it Dean?"
"You're the one with the happy tingly feelings here Sam, but it's way creepy if that's what you're asking."
Sam smiled slightly and looked around the ground. There was no tell tale sign of a well. There were twigs, branches, leaves, moss and bushes covering the ground.
"Ok. Be careful where you step," Dean cautioned adjusting the bag in his grip and stepping forward. "I don't want to pull anyone," he froze pausing mid-sentence as he felt the ground bow slightly under him. A loud groan and crack was heard and then he fell hitting a few roots on the way down. He landed hard on top of his bag and some old bones. He was still, momentarily stunned at the sudden stop to his freefall.
"Dean! Dean can you hear me?" Sam shouted from somewhere above him.
Dean moved enough to roll off the bag and the now broken bones and onto his back. He inhaled to yell up to them but coughed on the dirt he'd disturbed. Pain flared momentarily in his side then was gone. He closed his eyes as a quiet groan escaped his mouth. "I am not going to think about what I just inhaled," he mumbled to himself.
He opened his eyes to see Sam and Missouri looking down at him concerned. "Sammy the entire state can hear you."
"You ok?" Sam hollered down.
"Peachy," Dean shot back.
He got to his knees and took a look around at his surroundings. It was dark, dirty and damp. The well was mostly dry with one or two small puddles. He'd landed in one of them and mud clung to his clothes and had splattered on the bones next to him. There were two skeletons lying side by side, the smaller one had it's arm around the larger one.
"What a way to go," he said quietly.
Dean opened the bag that had fallen with him and fished out the rope. He glanced up to see Sam above him still looking down.
"Sam catch," he said. "Secure it around a tree or something so I can get outta here."
Dean threw up the rope catching his breath on the pain that wrenched across his side. Sam disappeared from view and he hunched over holding his side until the pain subsided.
He pulled rock salt and lighter fluid out of the bag, ducking as the rope came back down smacking him in the head. Dean glared upwards muttering curses at his brother.
"Oops," Sam said innocently at him then disappeared from view.
Dean closed up the bag and tied it to the rope. "Sammay! Pull the bag up," he shouted and watched as it began inching upwards.
When the bag was clear he opened the rock salt and shook the container. White pebble-like salt fell all over the floor of the well and the bones. When the container was empty he soaked everything with lighter fluid. He dropped the empty container on the ground.
"Sam where's the rope," he yelled looking skyward. "Hey I don't want to be down here all day."
"He is not there," a voice whispered beside him.
Dean visibly flinched stepping back to the well's wall. "Who?"
"I am the one who asked Sam for help. Now the darkness has him again," she said softly
"Sam!" Dean yelled again, but go no response. "Missouri, what about her?"
"She is not awake," the white spirit said looking away from him.
"Is she hurt," Dean asked. "Can you wake her?"
The spirit suddenly disappeared. "Man, I hate it when they do that," Dean mumbled as a chill ran through him. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," he murmured to himself over and over.
The rope finally came down and Dean moved out of it's path as it hit the ground.
"Sam!" he shouted when no one peered over the edge of the well.
Dean grabbed the rope in his hands and looked up the well wall. It wasn't going to be easy. He slowly began to pull himself up towards the surface, stopping frequently as the pain in his side increased every time he inched his way up. He continued on until he got to the surface.
He crawled his way onto firm ground then rolled onto his back panting. His eyes were closed as he took a moment to get his breath back around the pain in his side. He opened his eyes as he slowly rolled onto his knees to get up.
He eyes bulged as he took in the scene before him. Missouri was crouched over Sam her hands on his side and head. Her face was scrunched up in concentration with beads of sweat beginning to form on her brow.
It was Sam that made his heart skip in fear. He was curled up on the ground, his head cradled in his hands, low whimpers of pain coming out of him.
Dean turned back to the well, pulled out a pack of matches, lighting up the entire pack and threw it into the well. He rushed towards Sam and Missouri falling to his knees as the lighter fluid caught and began to burn.
"Sam?" Dean said quietly. There was no response from either him or Missouri. He looked back over his shoulder at the well as the smoke began to rise and something white caught his eye under some brush.
Dean looked back to his brother. "Fight the bitch Sam. I have an idea."
He went over to the bush, pushing the branches out of the way, revealing more human bones.
"No!" he heard a shriek from behind him. Dean looked up and saw a solid shadow leaning over his brother a dark haze surrounding Sam's head.
"Let him go," Dean yelled.
"You all have too much to pay for," it snarled intensifying it's grip on Sam.
Sam screamed kicking out and knocking Missouri from him.
Dean looked down at the bones then back at the spirit. "You've messed with the wrong family," he said as he unearthed the bones throwing them down into the fire.
The spirit wailed, yelling in anger, screaming in pain. It released Sam from it's grip as it was pulled back towards the well and into the fire disappearing from sight.
He went to Missouri who was beginning to move holding her thigh. "You ok?"
"Yeah," she said manoeuvring herself to sit against a tree.
Dean knelt on the wet ground beside his brother. "Sam?" he said quietly but got no response as he hovered over him.
"He'll be ok. Just give him some time," Missouri said quietly.
Dean nodded. He pulled Sam off the wet ground as much as he could shifting to sit against a tree and pulled him back to rest against his chest doing his best to ignore the pain in his side. He leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.
"What happened?" Dean asked quietly
"I'm not exactly sure. One minute everything was going fine, the next something threw me against a tree. Had the wind knocked out of me. I could see Sam start to come towards me but the spirits had come back. That shadow thing had attacked him," Missouri said quietly shaking her head. "Sam looked like he was screaming but no sound came out. Then he was on the ground and you were yelling up for the rope. I tossed it down to you as soon as I could then tried to connect with Sam. He wouldn't let me in though, fought me tooth and nail."
Dean nodded his arms tightening slightly around Sam who had started to shake slightly.
"This is so messed up," Dean said quietly watching the smoke rise from the well. "Even for us."
Missouri studied him for a moment. "Why haven't you asked me?"
Dean looked over to her. "Asked you what?"
"Where your father is?" She asked gently.
Dean shook his head a little looking away. "I don't know. For a while now I've been ok with just knowing he's alive by the text messages. I thought he would've come to the house in Kansas. When he didn't show then I figured he wouldn't surface until he was ready, regardless of what Sam or I needed.
"He was there," Missouri said softly.
Dean looked back at her, nodded, shifting slightly not saying anything for a moment. "Couldn't be bothered then, cause it's not like he needed directions to the house," he spat out looking away.
Sam mumbled something undetectable in his sleep and shifted against his brother. Dean sucked in his breath when intense pain flared across his side. He blinked away the tears and cleared his throat. He closed his eyes trying to blank everything out.
"Dean?" Sam said confusion filling his voice. "Why am I covered in dirt?" he asked looking down at his clothing.
"God dude, you weigh a ton, sit up," Dean grumbled.
Sam leaned forward shivering against the cold. He got to his feet. "You ok?" he asked Missouri.
"Yes I'm fine," she said accepting his hand to help her up. Sam turned his attention back to Dean who was struggling to get to his feet.
Dean groaned and leaned against the tree he'd been sitting against. "We're all fine, the fire's out and Casper and the bitch are gone. Let's go."
Sam watched Dean walk away from him and Missouri favouring his side. "It was bad wasn't it?" he asked her.
"Still is," she said limping slightly.
"You're hurt," Sam said reaching out to help her.
"It's nothing," she said waiving off his help.
Sam let her set the pace back to the motel and after a few moments he asked, "Did I do that to you?"
"No, that dark spirit did this," she said sternly. "Don't you worry about it."
Sam nodded. "Dad was in Kansas with you."
Missouri looked at him surprised. "Yes. Did you feel him? Did you know he was there?"
"No I couldn't feel him. It doesn't seem to work like that for me. I just get these weird sensations sometimes when spirits are around. It's just that if dad were to show up and not want to be seen he'd seek out a safe place where he could get good intel. You've helped him in the past so you'd be a safe place for him to go."
"Well he's not there now, and when he was he didn't stay long. He was checking up on you boys to make sure you were ok," she said and looked over at Sam when he sighed heavily.
"So he doesn't want to see us? I mean I understand why he wouldn't want to se me, but why would he avoid Dean?" Sam asked.
"I don't know why he's avoiding you or your brother," she said emphasizing the you. "I think he's searching for something he may never find."
Sam pushed open the motel room door that had been left open a crack. Dean had his bag on the bed and was throwing things in it.
"What's this?" Sam asked him.
"Time to go Sam. Thank you for your help Missouri," Dean said not looking up from putting clothes in his bag.
"Dean," Sam started to say.
"Don't Dean me. We've stayed too long in Motel Psycho. Time. To. Go."
Sam looked disbelievingly at his brother. He took two steps forward and barely touched Dean's side that he had been favouring. Dean gasped, doubled over and sat on the bed. "What the hell Sam!" Dean yelled when he found his breath.
"We're staying for at least another day, you are getting medical attention. And, when we do leave, I'm driving for the next couple of days," Sam said in a no nonsense tone.
"Fine," Dean said glaring at him. "But if you scratch my baby I will kill you."
Sam rolled his eyes and turned back to Missouri. "Did Dad say anything or give you any clues as to where he was going?"
She shook her head. "No. I wish I knew. He never lets me know where he's heading."
"So he goes to you a lot?" Sam asked.
"No, not really. Just when things get too much or too muddled he comes to me for a little clarity," she said and silently added a safe place to find sanctuary for a few hours.
Dean shook his head. "Give it up Sam. Dad will find us when he's ready. Until then we're just wasting our time."
"How can you say that? Dean we need him," Sam said turning back to his brother.
"No. You need him. I thought I needed him, but I was wrong Sam. You don't need him that much either," Dean said getting up, going into the bathroom and quietly closing the door behind him.
Sam stared at the closed door. There had been no anger in Dean's tone just resignation and acceptance of how things were. How could he think that the search for their father was a waste of time? It had been important enough for his older brother to come and get him from school to find their father. When had it changed for Dean? Was it because Dad didn't show up at their old home in Kansas? How was their Dad supposed to know they were there. Then he suddenly realized hat Dean would have called their father for help and when he hadn't answered Dean had given up on him somewhat.
"He misses your father an awful lot, doesn't he? Your father is just so stubborn," Missouri said.
Sam turned to her as her words broke him out of his reverie. "Dad's searching for what killed Mom and Jessica."
"Yes, I think so. I also think it's more than that, but I don't know what," Missouri said quietly.
Sam shook his head and started to sit on the bed. He changed his mind and moved to the table. "Missouri why can't he just talk to us?" Sam asked quietly.
"I don't know Sam. Your Dad's a pretty big mystery to me as well. He's just as hard to read as you are at times," she said softly.
Sam looked up at her. "I am?"
"Yes. I can read your brother like a book, he's got so many walls up, so guarded, he can't watch every corner at the same time. But you, and your father, your walls are smaller, thinner but stronger. You don't have them up all the time, so when they are up you know exactly what to protect, so I can't get in. People like you and your Dad could put me out of business," she said smiling at him. "You will find each other in time, of that I'm sure."
"You will tell us if you hear from him? Even if you don't know where he is, just that he's alive?" Sam asked.
"Of course," she said and opened the door. "You look after that brother of yours."
"I will," he said smiling slightly at her. "Thanks for everything."
Missouri left and Sam called the front desk to keep the room another night. He went through his clothes and pulled some out for laundry, doing the same with Dean's clothes. He sat on his bed and turned on the TV. He surfed for a while before Dean staggered out of the bathroom, damp from the shower, with a pair of boxers on. The bruising on his side was stark compared to the light blue material.
"You ok? Nothings broken?" Sam asked.
"Nope," Dean said sitting gingerly on the bed. "Don't need a doctor."
"Ok," Sam said getting up and handing the remote to Dean. "I'm doing a laundry run. Did I miss anything?" he asked putting Dean's bag beside him on the bed.
Dean glanced through it and shook his head.
"There's a laundry unit at the end of the motel. I'll be back, ok?"
Dean nodded and started flipping channels. "Use fabric softener this time, college boy."
"Fine. Make some coffee," Sam said around a yawn and left.
Dean surfed for a while after Sam left. His eyes strayed to his phone every couple of channels. He turned off the TV and spent some time struggling into a pair of jeans. He grabbed his phone, flipped it open, and chose a number from his address book. He paused with his thumb over the send button momentarily then pressed it. The call connected directly to voicemail.
"Dad it's Dean. Thought you'd want to know that Sam finally woke up and he's fine. It was real close though. Thanks for sending Missouri, I couldn't have gotten him back without her," Dean paused for a moment wanting to demand where he was and why he couldn't be bothered to see his sons. "Take care of yourself dad."
Dean flipped his phone closed angry with himself for not saying what he wanted to. Knowing that he'd never be able to stand up to his dad the way Sam could.
He eased himself off the bed and sat at the table pulling the laptop over to him. Time to go back to work. He began searching for any more missing children through newspaper articles. When he'd gotten through those he researched night demons. He looked up much later when Sam came into the room with the clean clothes.
"Hey," Sam said quietly as he put the laundry on Dean's bed. "Find anything?"
Dean watched as Sam grabbed their bags from the closet and began to throw clothes and their other things in them indiscriminately. "A few things," he said as Sam threw a shirt and socks at him.
"Like?" Sam said as he stopped packing looking around the room and looked at Dean. "Get dressed," he added as he went into the bathroom returning with a handful of motel toiletries and stuffed them into a bag.
"Are we leaving?" Dean asked as he slowly got his t-shirt on watching Sam put the packed bags by the door. "Damn dude you are packing up for us from now on."
"We need to get moving," Sam said looking around him. "Where are the keys?"
"Table. Why the sudden rush?" Dean asked struggling with his socks.
"Cops are on their way," Sam said opening the motel room door peering around the edge. "Come on."
"Next time you get to fall down the well and get bruised ribs, ok bitch?" Dean groused shoving his foot into his shoe.
Sam grabbed the bags and watched as Dean got his shoes on then grabbed the laptop. They got into the Impala and drove away before the police arrived.
A couple miles down the road Sam glanced at his brother. "You doing ok?"
"I'm fine," Dean said absently as he went through his cassette collection looking for some music.
"You must have made some serious points on check in," Sam said pulling up to a light and stopping.
Dean stopped rummaging through the music and looked over at Sam. "Oh Yeah?" he said the corner of this mouth beginning to curve up into a smile.
"Yeah. The girl came to the laundry to warn me her dad had called in the fraudulent credit card," Sam said.
"Right," Dean said digging in his jacket for his wallet. He played with the card they'd used during check-in. Folding it back and fourth for a while until it broke. He then broke the two pieces into smaller ones. He sighed as he tossed it out the window. "So long Nugent."
Sam shook his head as his brother took up the search again for some music. He popped in Nazareth and then slumped down in the seat a little.
"You know I could pull over and you could stretch out in the back," Sam offered.
"Nah, I'll live," Dean said over the music. He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a map. He plotted out their course told Sam and then put the map away. He put on his sunglasses and eventually fell asleep.
It was almost midnight when Sam turned off the motor and woke Dean. He was surprised that he'd been able to drive for as long as he did, but it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes and attention on the road.
"Well it's not as creepy as the last one," Dean said looking at the Back Road Motel.
"Yeah," Sam said quietly. "Look we've been on the road for twelve hours, straight. I'll be lucky if I can keep both eyes open to check into our room."
"I got it," Dean said as he eased himself out of the car. By the time he was out Sam was standing wearily on his side of the car waiting for him.
They checked into the motel. Dean put his bag onto the bed nearest the door and Sam put the laptop on the table. They cleaned up and went to bed. Sam woke first the next morning after another nightmare. He quietly got up and dressed. He opened the laptop and began researching the Sandman. Sam was surprised that he had been good and evil entities in DC Comics. There was quite a popular series from Neil Gaiman called The Endless Series that had the Sandman in it. Aside from the actual legend there wasn't much he could find.
"How long have you been up?" Dean asked his words muffed by the pillow.
"Not long," Sam said not looking up from the computer. "Couple of hours."
Dean looked at his watch. "Dude it's 6:30 am."
Sam looked over at him. "Yeah, so?"
Dean sat up and pulled on a shirt. "How much sleep did you get?"
"This conversation is getting really old," Sam said turning his attention back to the computer.
"How much Sam," Dean pressed.
"I don't know. Four maybe?" he said looking at his brother.
Dean nodded, scratched his head and went into the bathroom surprising Sam by not giving him a lecture about getting more sleep. Dean came out and put on some jeans.
"You're not going to find much about the Sandman in there," he said.
"Yeah, it's strange cause almost every culture has a lore that's similar," Sam said turning away from the screen and rubbing at his eyes.
"What you should be looking for are child-stealers, night raiders or boo-baggers," Dean said
"Boo-baggers?" Sam repeated.
"Yeah. There is lore out there that night raiders from other worlds that cannot have children of their own come to this world and steal them. Boo-baggers steal babies and young children. They stuff them into a carry bag or sack until they return to their world. But there are many stories of children being taken. Remember any?" Dean asked as he sat on the bed across from where Sam was sitting at the table.
"The Pied Piper of Hamlin?" Sam ventured.
"That's right, although not what were dealing with here. There's also Hansel and Gretel. There is a similar Russian legend about a witch named Baba Yagga. Her home is fenced by the bones of her victims who's eyes are said to glow in the moonlight. But again I don't think that's what we're up against," Dean said.
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"Mostly cause no bodies have turned up. In the fairy tales we've heard over the years children that were stolen or abused, with few exceptions, were taken outside - walking through a forest, skipping down a path towards a mountain, or going to Grandmother's house. At least one of the many children taken in the last couple of weeks would have fought back if they could have. They would have called out, or turned something over, made enough noise to get their parents into their bedrooms. All of these kids were taken from the safety of their rooms. It just doesn't fit with those other stories," Dean said.
"So the Sandman has gone from an old guy sprinkling sand in children's eyes for good dreams into a kidnapper who never asks for ransom? It just doesn't make sense," Sam argued.
Dean nodded. "Well the Sandman wasn't always looked upon as a good visitor. He's been shown over time as a fairy, a small jolly man in a costume or even as a grim reaper. Some stories have him throw things at your head while you sleep, or suffocating you with sand, or putting you to sleep forever, or my personal favourite, he steals your eyes and eats them," Dean said grimacing slightly.
Sam shook his head. "Not quite the picture most people have of him, is it?"
"Nope. He's not just the old guy, with the long beard and candle helping you to get good dreams by sprinkling sand on you," Dean said.
"So what could it be then?" Sam asked as he rubbed his eyes. "He leaves the sand and lit candle behind as his calling card. I would have thought that this thing or person would have used this and called for a ransom or something."
"This isn't out of CSI here Sam. You're right, if this was a person he'd use that as his MO but it isn't. We just have to figure out which demon this actually is," Dean said. "Have you checked the headlines from this morning yet?"
"No, not yet," Sam said turning back to the laptop and was quiet for a few moments while he did his search and went through the results. "Dean there was another abduction last night. Two actually, Jason and Sarah Archer, but Jason fought back and escaped. He's in a trauma ward at the local hospital."
Dean walked over and read over Sam's shoulder. "We need to get there," he said quietly.
"Yeah, let's go," Sam said as he closed up the laptop.