-1Dream State
Chapter 3
By infinite shadow
Disclaimer: I do now own anything recognizable in the following story. All recognizable characters belong to the WB, the CW and company. No money was made so don't sue. I have no money anyway. So you'd get nothing.
Author's notes: Here is chapter 3! Yay! Thanks as usual to Lynxlan for the beta. Welcome to the site!
Author's notes part 2: If chapter 4 isn't up by August 4th it won't be up for a while. Going on vacation that day. Working on it now, but it may not get done in time. Wish me luck.
Please read and review. Enjoy!
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Metallica flowed from the speakers while the car ate up untold miles down another highway as the boys headed towards their destination. Dean woke in the passenger seat and reminded himself that he was letting his brother drive. Sam was driving because he thought his older brother couldn't handle it. Dean knew he could drive in this condition, he had before, but he was not above letting his little brother think he was looking after him. And as an added bonus it had happened without some mushy chick flick moment that his brother seemed to enjoy so much.
Dean glancedover at Sam who looked like he was seriously concentrating on not scratching his precious car. His ribs were yelling in protest at being in his current seated position and he shifted hoping to ease some of the discomfort. He grimaced over the steady throb coming from his chest.
"You ok? Time for more Tylenol?" Sam asked not taking his attention away from the road ahead of him.
"Nah I'm good," Dean said. He looked out the window and watched the scenery fly by.
More miles passed, no more words had been spoken and the Metallica tape played on. Dean had snuck looks over at the driver several times over the past couple of hours. Sam was tense behind the wheel and if he was any stronger his grip would have mangled the steering wheel. But the most disturbing factor was that not one word had come out of Sam when the Metallica tapehad started it's third rotation, not one smart ass remark or even a heavy 'the things I endure for my brother' sigh.
"Uh Sam?" Dean said not really sure how to start this conversation, but knew it had to be done.
"Yeah?" Sam said.
"Next rest stop," Dean said and sighed internally. He so sucked at this although being that it was Sam it was easier, but still this was no where near his comfort zone.
"There's a town coming up. Do you feel like eating?" Sam asked.
"Sure," Dean said.
Silence filled the car again as Dean tried to figure out how to start.
"I'm ok Dean," Sam said quietly.
Dean whipped his head over to his brother. "Ok. Now I know I was up for the next super power. When did you get the mind reading power? Who do I get to send my complaint letter to?"
Sam chuckled slightly and felt himself relax a little. It always surprised him that his brother didn't believe that he had any super powers. Dean had always had this sixth sense about him and trouble. He was always there to get him out of trouble and it was always just in the nick of time. Stanford was a big example of that. When he'd asked his older brother about it, why he'd come back after dropping him off, Dean had just shrugged him off. That was only one time, but he had dozens of examples while growing up where Dean had saved him from something before he or his dad knew he was in danger.
"No I didn't get any new powers and with your penmanship they'll never know what you're complaining about," Sam said glancing over at his brother. "Seriously you have that look that you get when you have to do something you don't want to do."
"Oh yeah? And exactly what look is that?" Dean asked one eye brow going up into his forehead.
"It's a one of a kind Dean Winchester, I'm too uncomfortable to do this, but I'll do anything for my baby brother, even start a chick flick moment kinda look," Sam said and looked over at his brother with half a smile. "Kinda like that look you're wearing now. And no, if you're expecting me to sprout another head it's not gonna happen."
Dean blanched slightly as he looked over at his brother. It never occurred to him that Sam would remember any of what he said. At the time it was the only thing he could do, but now in the light of day with Sam sitting here beside him he was slightly horrified that he had been heard. He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably on his seat.
"Sammy did you hear what I said to you while you were . . . sleeping?" he asked.
"Yup. I heard lots," Sam said with a wide grin and glanced over hoping to see his older "no chick flick moments" brother squirm uncomfortably. Instead he saw Dean's horrified expression instead.
"Man," Dean moaned as he straightened and looked out the windshield.
"Well I could see you, kinda feel your presence," Sam started and shook his head. "But I really couldn't hear you."
Sam heard Dean shift again and glanced over. Dean had gone from horrified to unconvinced and Sam crumbled. He could never pull the wool over his brother's eyes, and he had definitely tried over the years. Sam swore it was one of Dean's superpowers. He just always knew.
"Ok. I heard some stuff," he said softly.
"What stuff Sam?" Dean asked hearing the frustration in his voice. He hated when Sam answered without really answering. It would be so much easier if his brother would just say what he was thinking straight out instead of Dean pulling it out of him bit by bit.
Sam cleared his throat. "Um, well… I heard a little about Dad and my first girlfriend. Mostly I heard your voice on and off but I didn't get much of what you were saying."
Sam paused again and Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes slowly. "Sam just spit it out already," he growled slightly.
Sam sighed and cleared his throat. "I didn't know that about Mom," he said quietly.
Dean reached over and turned off the radio. He so couldn't do this over Metallica. Taking a steadying breath he looked directly at Sam. "You heard that, huh?"
"Yeah. I never… I mean… You told me what happened that night in very vague terms," Sam started.
"Christ Sam! You were seven years old when you cornered me about it and wouldn't be persuaded to let it go. What did you want anactual full colour play by play?" Dean said angrily.
"No!" Sam said incredulously then reigned in his emotions as best he could. "I just never thought about what it was like to go through it. I mean it was hard enough to hear the story you told me when I was a kid. I never thought about you living through it."
Dean snorted. "You still are a kid."
Sam rolled his eyes and sighed showing his frustration with this conversation. "I just… Thank you for telling me. It must have been hard to tell it and re-live it like that."
"S'alright Sammy. It's part of us and you should know," Dean said looking out the passenger window grimacing slightly.
"That's the thing, though. Whenever I asked you about Mom you always told me what you could remember. You told me what she looked like, what you did together and stuff," Sam said.
"Yeah," Dean said softly as he wrapped an arm around his chest. "I only remember so much, though. I wish I could remember more, that there was more to tell you."
Sam looked over at him with a serious expression then quickly averted his eyes back onto the road. He reached behind them into the back seat and pulled out a drug store bag. Keeping his attention on the road he passed the bag to his brother.
"So can we add rubber stretchy arms like that Fantastic Four dude to your arsenal of super powers?" Dean asked as he opened the bag.
"The long arms come with the superior height," Sam said lightly.
"Bitch," Dean growled good-naturedly. "OK now I know I was out for a while but when did this happen?"
"Two hours into the drive, you were already asleep and I needed something to keep me awake. I stopped at a coffee shop that had a drugstore next to it. Thought you'd need those at some point today," Sam said.
"Thanks man," Dean said as he pulled out the pain reliever and a bottle of water. He quickly opened the package and downed two of the white pills.
"So you wanna tell me what happened in that head of yours?" Dean asked.
"No," Sam said and Dean couldn't help but notice that he'd stiffened up again.
"Sammy," Dean said shaking his head. "That's so not the right answer. Try again."
Sam sighed heavily. "Dean I don't want to talk about it."
Dean shook his head. "Listen Missouri told me there was some seriously heavy stuff happening while you were locked in there. Sam you don't have to keep that to yourself, it had to hurt."
"Yeah some of it did," Sam said quietly.
"You saw Jessica, man I know that. You were seeing her, or something that looked like her before you went to sleep," Dean said.
"Victoria," Sam said. "She was living a nightmare."
"It must have been hard seeing her as Jessica," Dean prompted.
"Yeah it was, but I'm ok with it. Really I am," Sam said as he pulled off the highway and into a diner's parking lot.
"Sam," Dean started.
"Ok, maybe I'm not ok with it, but I'm not ready to talk about it either," Sam said and sighed. "It's kinda disjointed and I'm still trying to put some of the pieces together."
"Ok I can respect that. You know that when you're ready, even if it's 3am, you can talk to me about it, right? Dean said.
Sam smiled a genuine smile at his brother. "Yeah I know. Thanks man. But just remember you offered the early morning appointment."
Dean snorted and he had no doubt that at some point his brother would be waking him at 3am just to talk.
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They drove for the rest of the day before finally making it to the town wherethe Sandman was attacking children. They checked into a motel before going to the hospital.
"Dean they're not going to let us see Jason. According to this morning's paper he's still not talking. That kid is going to be watched over very carefully. Wards like the one he's in are always locked down," Sam said as they pulled into a parking stall.
"I know. We're not going to see Jason. We're going to pay a visit to his doctor's office," Dean said as he got out of the car catching his breath slightly on a flare of pain across his chest.
Glancing over at his little brother Dean hoped that Sam hadn't seen him react to his sore ribs. Sam didn't seem to have noticed becausehe was staring up at the cold looking cement building with the words Mercy Hospital written on it. They shared an unhappy glance. Both hated hospitals, visiting and staying, and slowly made their way into the building.
After a few wrong turns they eventually found the wing with the trauma patients. It was a closed ward, just like Sam had said. The fire doors were closed with big notices on each of them.
Trauma Ward.
Authorized Personnel and Approved Visitors Only.
Everyone entering must check in with the duty nurse.
They kept walking following the hallway around and came across two offices.
"Hey looks like we lucked out," Dean said as the offices were empty. "Hopefully they're on rounds or they've gone home for the night. Dude get us in."
"I still don't know why we're here," Sam said pulling out some skinny long tools and knelt in front of the door. Scowling slightly in concentration he inserted the tools and began picking the lock.
"It's simple Sam," Dean said looking down the hall to make sure no one was coming. "The medical file will have the information we need for tracking this sucker down."
The lock sprung and Sam opened the door. "If Jason isn't talking how is it going to have the information we need?"
Dean walked past him and into the office. "Lucas spoke volumes without saying a word," he said opening a filing cabinet.
Sam kept watch on the hallway as Dean pulled out the boy's medical file. He put the file on the desk and did a quick scan of the doctors written notes. Shuffling through the already thick file he paused as he found what he was looking for.
"Say hello to the Sandman," Dean said giving his little brother a cheesy grin. He held up a picture drawn in crayon so Sam could see it.
"Great. Let's go before someone comes," Sam said only glancing at the picture of a man wearing a white robe with a blue cloak for a second.
Dean picked up a few other pictures from the file and replaced the file into the cabinet. He folded the pictures up carefully and put them in his jacket pocket as he hurried out of the office.
Back at the motel room Dean dry swallowed some Tylenol as he laid the pictures out on the bed. There were three that had been brought back from the hospital and he studied them intently looking for any clues that could help them.
"Have you seen that guy before Dean?" Sam asked moving over from the table where he'd been working on the laptop and looked at the picture over his brother's shoulder.
"No, but he could be a Sandman," Dean said looking lost in thought.
"There's more than one Sandman?" Sam asked. "Kinda like the reapers?"
"Well why not?" Dean said picking up a picture. "What are these other things here?"
"What things," Sam said taking a closer look at the picture as well.
"These things hanging off his belt," Dean said pointing at the picture.
"Is that a crescent moon?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Maybe this is like an old iron key?" Dean said.
"An ancient one at that. Maybe it allows him access to any house?" Sam surmised.
"What about this here?" Dean said. "It looks like an old fashioned glass star."
"Yeah, it looks like its filled with sand," Sam suggested picking up one of the other pictures. "Maybe it's what he uses to keep them sleepy enough to move them to wherever he's keeping them so they won't call out and wake their families."
"Look here," Dean said pointing to the man's side. "He's armed. Hard to say if it's a knife or a sword."
"They've got to be important cause he's drawn another picture with those exact objects here," Sam said showing the picture to his brother. "But why?"
Dean took a closer look at the picture. "I don't know," he said quietly.
"He's got scars on his face that run under the beard," Sam said.
Dean shook his head and put the picture back onto the bed. "This really isn't getting us anywhere. It doesn't show what we really need," he said around a sigh.
"Did any of the articles say how Jason escaped or where?" Sam asked turning to the table and picking up that day's newspaper reviewing the article.
"It just said he was found wandering on a street. He was in shock and didn't know where he was. But he was calling his sister's name until the police arrived. Since then he hasn't said a word," Dean said.
"No street name?" Sam said.
"Nope," Dean said getting up and looking at the article he'd printed the day before. "But I'll bet there's only one Pop and Snack Depot in town," he said handing the article to Sam.
Sam looked at the picture from the article. Young Jason was there wrapped in a blanket standing beside an officer in front of the store. He looked up as Dean moved to the laptop doing a search on the stores.
"Well three stores aren't bad," he said writing down the addresses. "Let's check them out."
They drove to each store on the list, finding the right one on the second try. They drove around the area near the store but the houses did not match the picture Jason had drawn. They went to the last store as well checking the homes in the area, but none of them came close to the one in the picture.
Sam stared at the picture on the way back to the motel. It was a good drawing for a six year old, but most of the features were not completely defined. But there were areas that it was obvious Jason had taken pains to draw out right.
"Why do you keep staring at that picture?" Dean asked.
Sam sighed as he was brought out of his musings. "I was just thinking."
"That usually gets us into trouble," Dean said.
"No you usually get us into trouble running head first into things," Sam said putting the picture down on the bench seat and rubbing at his eyes. "Dean he's drawn moons on the house."
"I don't remember seeing moons on that house," Dean said as he pulled up to a light and stopped. He picked up the paper and looked at it.
"I don't know how I missed it earlier," Sam said taking the picture back as the light changed.
"You've been looking at it too long. I don't see them," Dean said.
"They are there," Sam insisted as Dean pulled into the motel and killed the motor.
Dean took the picture back from Sam looking closely at the picture again. He looked over at his brother. "I don't see it."
Sam glared daggers at his brother's back as Dean got out of the car. He sighed and got out of the car following his brother into their room.
"Look I'm telling you they are there," Sam said frustration creeping into his voice. He grabbed a water bottle off the table and held it out to Dean. "Look again."
Dean took the bottle of water from him. He looked from the water bottle back to his brother. "What do you want me to do with this Sam? Soak it down and hope the message suddenly appears?"
Sam rolled his eyes, snatched the bottle back and held it out diagonally in front of the picture. "It will magnify the image for you."
Dean nodded and tried it out. "Ok, yeah I see where you could think these were crescent moons. Nice job Sam."
Sam nodded and sat down on one of the beds. "It still doesn't help us, though."
"No, it could be helpful later. Right now we need to find this house," Dean said putting the picture on the table.
"Something else. The house looks old, right?" Sam asked looking up at his brother.
"Yeah, but there aren't many features to go on," Dean said.
"What if there is?" Sam asked. "What if the house is old enough to be in public records as a heritage house?"
"Look Sam it's not that great of a picture," he said shaking his head.
"No it isn't, but it's all we have. It's a two story really old estate. Dean I'm telling you if this city has the records it will be there," Sam said rubbing at his eyes again.
"What's wrong with you?" Dean asked not liking how Sam had been rubbing at his eyes for most of the day.
"It's nothing. Just a headache," Sam said waving off his concern.
"Leftover from before?" Dean asked.
"Yeah a little," Sam admitted reluctantly.
"Are you sure Sam," Dean asked wanting to press for more details, but willing to let his brother not talk about it, for now.
"It's just a headache. Just like you keep holding your side when you think I'm not looking," Sam said shaking his head. "Dean two days ago you fell down a well and bruised some ribs. Eventually you have to rest to heal. You can't run after some night demon in your condition."
"Yeah well Sammy we don't have much of a choice here, do we? We've got to stop this thing before another kid gets taken," Dean said.
"Yeah, I know," he said.
"Hey we always do what it takes to get the evil sons of bitches. No matter where or what they are," he said as he took the keys out of his pocket. "I'm going for some food. Need anything?"
Sam shook his head. "I could go for it," he offered knowing Dean was in more pain than he was letting on.
"Nah it's ok. It feels better right now to keep moving," Dean said then left.
Sam felt a wave of exhaustion break over him. It would have been so easy to lay back and fall asleep, but he fought against the urge. If he could figure out a way he was sure that he didn't want to sleep ever again. He got off the bed and settled at the table researching old homes in the area.
A short while later Dean returned with some fast food. He closed the motel room door as quietly as he could. Sam had fallen asleep at the table where he'd been working on the laptop. His head was resting on his arm and both hands were still on the keys of the laptop.
Dean pulled the laptop out from under Sam's fingers and put it on the bed. He pulled his food from the bag and settled himself on the bed looking through the page Sam had been in. It was on heritage homes in that county. Several pages of them. Dean started to go through the pictures and read the descriptions of them. Some of them had gone through extensive restorations or complete changes over the years. Many had pictures from when the homes went up to their current state. He was about half way through when Sam let out a scream.
"No!" Sam yelled standing so fast the chair fell back and he stumbled over it. He was breathing heavily and looking wildly about the room.
Dean got up as quick as he could and put a steadying hand on Sam's shoulder. "Hey."
He looked over at the touch on his shoulder. "Dean?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Bad one?" he asked.
Sam nodded and looked away trying to calm his breathing.
"Wanna tell me about it?" Dean asked as he reached down and righted the chair.
"I," Sam started then cleared his throat. "I'm not sure," he said closing his eyes and rubbing his head. He felt Dean guide him back into his chair. Then the comforting pressure of his brother's hands were gone. He heard Dean move away from him and then come back.
"Here," Dean said quietly.
Sam opened his eyes and saw Dean's hands in front of him. One contained two white tablets and the other had a glass of water. He shook his head and tried to push away his brother's hands. "I don't want those."
"Take them Sam. It'll help," Dean said.
Sam looked at his brother for a moment then took the pills and drained the water in one go.
"Now," Dean said sitting across from him. "Tell me."
Sam shook his head. "I don't know if I can. It didn't make much sense."
"Tell me anyway," Dean pressed.
"Well some of it was jumbled images from before when I couldn't wake up. Mom. Jess. Dad. You. There was something else," he said getting to his feet and starting to slowly pace the room. "Something else."
Dean watched him walk back and forth for a moment. "What else Sam?" he prompted filing away the small amount of information for a later discussion.
Sam rubbed his hands together as if he was cold while he paced. "Someone else? I don't know. It's too mixed up and muddled," he said stopping and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.
Dean got up and steered Sam over to his bed. "You need to take it easy."
"Don't let me sleep Dean, please," Sam pleaded as he allowed himself to be led to the bed.
"I hate to break it to you kiddo, but you need to sleep. Catching two hours here and four hours there just isn't healthy man," Dean said.
"You don't understand," Sam said as he felt his bed on the back of his legs and he sat down. Keeping his eyes closed his hands moved to his temple massaging them slightly trying to ease the pain.
"So explain it to me then. Because unless you're some kind of mutant, and the jury's still out about that, you need a lot more sleep than what you are getting," Dean said hoping for a glare or half smile from his brother.
"He was there," Sam said ignoring his brother's comment.
"Who?" Dean asked.
"The Sandman," he whispered.
"The Sandman?" Dean repeated then frowned. "Sam the Sandman goes to little children, not adults. And he goes to them before they go to sleep, not after."
The pain was slowly ebbing away and Sam pulled his hands away from his face. "I saw him Dean. He looked exactly like the picture Jason drew."
"You mean the white robe, blue cloak," Dean said.
"The rope belt with a sword, crescent moons, star filled with sand and an old iron key," Sam finished and looked at his brother. "He's real."
Dean was quiet for a moment as he digested the new information. "Where were you when you saw him?"
Sam shook his head and closed his eyes again. "It doesn't matter," he said quietly.
"Sam where?" Dean pressed.
Sam was quiet for a moment then opened his eyes and stared straight ahead. "Jessica's grave," he said quietly.
"What else was there?" Dean asked hoping to keep Sam focused on the conversation.
Sam's face scrunched up in confusion. "Beds. Rows and rows of beds where the headstones would be."
"Empty or full?" Dean asked.
"Some were empty some had children in them. Every child had a necklace with a crescent moon on it," Sam said before closing his eyes again and rubbing at his head.
Dean was quiet as he processed the information and realization slowly dawned on him. "That's good Sam," Dean said.
Sam opened his eyes and looked over at his brother. "What! How is that a good thing?" He yelled as his temper flared at the suggestion.
"It means the kids are given the necklaces to be bound to the Sandman. It's how he's keeping them asleep and in his realm," Dean said a grin spreading on his face. "It means those missing kids are still alive."
Sam yawned and closed his eyes. "What did you give me?"
"Aspirin. Look you can't fight it off forever. Just get some sleep," Dean said.
"But the kids," Sam protested softly half asleep.
"We'll find them all and bring them back home. Get some sleep. I'll wake you if I find anything," Dean said
He put a hand on Sam's shoulder pushing back ever so slightly. Sam stretched out on the bed and Dean watched over his brother until his breathing was deep and regular. He got up slowly and got out the extra blanket from the closet.
Sam flinched as Dean put the blanket over him. "You're safe Sammy. Nothing will hurt you here," he said hoping that somewhere in there he'd heard and would have one night of safe dreams.
Dean settled back on his bed putting the notebook on his lap and continued to look up the homes. He searched the website for hours, paying close attention to the homes that had been renovated over the years. He was almost giving up hope that he would find the answer a couple of hours later when he saw an estate that came close to the drawing of the house.
He shook his head. "This is it. What would I do without my side kick geek-brother?" he said wryly.
He got up a little quickly and sucked in his breath against the pain in his side. After dry-swallowing some Aspirin he looked over at Sam. He'd been sleeping so peacefully and soundly that he didn't want to wake him. Dean gave serious thought to leaving him behind on this one and letting Sam get the sleep he desperately needed. But even if he was at the top of his game he needed Sam to watch his back on this one.
He reluctantly leaned over Sam as he shook his shoulder lightly. "Sam," he said softly hoping not to startle him out of sleep. Sam tensed under his grip then opened his eyes slightly.
"Dean?" he said groggily.
"Yeah. We gotta go," he said.
Sam rubbed at his eyes sleepily. "You found it?"
"Would I be waking you otherwise? Now come on get up," Dean said straightening up and grabbing his jacket.
Sam slowly swung his feet over the side of the bed pulling the blanket off him at the same time. "How long did I sleep?" he asked around a yawn.
"Three to four hours," Dean said as he tossed Sam's jacket at him.
Sam put it on and followed Dean out the door. Dean revved the engine once and they sped away from the motel.
"The house has been completely renovated. Apparently the moon and star design were part of the original home and the new owner liked them so much he had new ones done to match," Dean said.
"When were the renovations completed?" Sam asked rolling down the window to help him wake up.
"Jeez dude that's cold," Dean complained pulling his jacket around him. "The renovations were done about a year ago. The owner moved in but didn't stay long. Local papers had a story about ghosts chasing them out."
"Well renovations have been known to wake a vengeful spirit," Sam said. "But I thought we were dealing with a demon here."
"We are. People can't always tell the difference like we can," Dean said. "The story in the paper said they had brought in psychics, none of who I recognized by the way so they must have been locals, but they didn't find anything."
They pulled up in front of a beautiful two story home.
"You tell me as soon as you feel anything, ok? I'm ninety nine percent sure that we're dealing with a demon, but just in case," Dean asked.
"Yeah," Sam said looking the house over, but not getting any strange vibes over it.
They dug through the weapons cache in the trunk of the car. Dean glanced up taking a look at the neighbourhood. No one seemed to be watching them. Sam moved the shotgun to put it down, but Dean took it from him and stowed it under his leather jacket.
"I'll never know how exactly you get it to stay there without some kind of holder," Sam said.
"Come on now Sam I can't possibly give away all my tricks now can I," Dean said smiling slightly back at his brother as he closed the trunk.
They approached the house stopping on the porch. Dean pulled Sam back from touching the door. "You stay with me at all times. No running off, no matter what you see, ok?"
Sam rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of the over protective brother speech. "Yes Dad. Look I can take care of myself."
Dean sighed. "Sammy I know you can take care of yourself. I just need to know you're not going to go running off anywhere, ok?"
Sam quickly went from annoyed to concerned. "Your ribs still bothering you?"
"A little," Dean admitted. "It's no big deal. It's just better to stay together on this one, ok?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, ok. By the way, it's Sam." He reached out for the door handle and twisted. The door was locked, but hepulled his hand back as if he'd been burnt.
"What is it?" Dean asked stepping closer to his brother protectively.
Sam smiled. "Nothing, just locked."
"Bitch," Dean said a little relieved that Sammy was joking with him again. Things were beginning to return to normal.
Sam went to work picking the lock and had the door open in minutes. Dean pushed past him walking in the door.
"Oh after you, I insist," Sam mumbled to himself as he pocketed his tools.
Dean popped his head out of the door. "You coming dude, or are you staying out here all night," he said then disappeared from sight.
Sam shook his head and walked into the house. He expected cobwebs or a lot of dust on the floor. What he found was an empty entrance way without dirt or cobwebs. Aside from having no furniture the house looked like it could have been cleaned that day. He hurried over to where Dean was waiting for him at the base of some stairs.
"Feel something? Dean asked mistaking Sam's curiosity at the home for something supernaturalin the home.
Sam shook his head. "No, nothing unusual."
Dean pulled out the E.M.F. reader and gave it to Sam. "Not that I don't believe in your abilities," he said.
"Yeah I know," Sam said as he turned it on. Nothing appeared on the read-out. "Clean."
Dean nodded. "Ok. We'll go from top to bottom," he said turning from Sam and starting up the stairs. He paused half way looking through the slats of the wooden banister? to ensure nothing was waiting for them. The hallway looked empty and he continued up the rest of the way.
They cautiously went from room to room, but there was nothing in them, no furniture, no children. They slowly made their way downstairs listening for any noise or movement coming from below. No noise was heard and they continued on to the main floor. They checked the living room, dining room, kitchen and family room. All rooms were empty, devoid of furniture or life. It looked like a nice, normal family home.
They stood in the empty living room.
The boys looked at their feet as distinct noises were heard below them.
"I thought you said there wasn't a basement," Sam said.
"What the," Dean said. "There was no basement on the blueprints."
"Well there should be an entry way to it somewhere," Sam said. "There were two closets in the kitchen right?"
Sam headed back to the kitchen Dean following close behind. "What if one of these is not a closet but a stairway?" Sam asked.
"Dude, we looked in them already. They're empty," Dean said.
"Well we looked at them, but we really didn't check them," Sam said heading for the closet farthest away. He looked back to see Dean look in the closer one. He heard him knocking on the walls, hearing a solid sounding thunking.
"I got nothing," Dean said as Sam opened the pantry and took a step into it. All there was on the three walls were shelves from top to bottom.
Sam reached in between the shelves and knocked on the wall. A solid thunk was heard. He did the same with the other wall with the same results. He heard Dean behind him as he knocked on the back wall. It echoed.
"Found it," he said looked back at his brother. He pushed and pulled on the shelves and the brackets. Dean tried as well and nothing happened.
"Is there a light Sam?" Dean asked still trying the brackets.
Sam shone his flashlight over the outside of the frame and then on the inside. There were two light switcheson the inside of the wall. One was taped over, the other was open. Sam flicked on one, but nothing happened. Peeling back the tape he flicked on the second switch. There was a groan and the back wall moved slightly. The paint cracked along the seams and chips of paint fell off the wall where it had separated.
Dean pushed on the shelves with his shoulder and abruptly pulled back. He sucked in a pain filled breath. "Ok college boy, lets see how strong you are," he said taking a step back allowing Sam back into the pantry.
Sam gave him a concerned look before he pushed the wall back. He shone his flashlight into the darkness and saw an old rickety wooden stairwell that descended into darkness. He looked back at his brother smiling then took a step forward.
"Since when do you go first?" Dean said pulling Sam back and shaking his head. He pulled out the shot gun from where he'd stashed it under his arm and started forward before he also was pulled back.
"What are you doing?" Sam demanded.
"What do you think I'm doing genius? I'm demon hunting," Dean retorted.
Sam took a deep calming breath before telling his brother off. "Dean there could be children down there. What if you shoot one of them instead?"
"I won't. Besides this is for their protection as well as ours," he said pulling his arm out of Sam's grip and taking the first step down the stairs. He grimaced at the growing pain in his side glad Sam was behind him so he couldn't see it.
Sam shone his flashlight ahead of Dean so he could see where they were going. They were almost all the way down the stairs when there was a loud crack and Dean began to fall. Sam dropped the flashlight grabbing his brother and the rail at the same time.
Dean swallowed the yelp of pain as best he could, and brought his leg out of the broken stairlooking for solid wood. He found it, Sam let go and he was down two more steps and back on solid ground. He bent over at the new flare of pain erupting in his side.
"Dean? You ok?" Sam asked.
Dean grabbed the flashlight from the floor and shone it near Sam's face. His brother was pale and worried.
"Nice catch Sam," he said panting then gave him back the flashlight. "I just need a minute."
Sam nodded unconvinced that his brother was ok. He knew that as long as Dean could breathe, walk and wasn't bleeding everywhere he would continue the hunt. So he didn't press the issue, just gave him the time he needed.
Sam looked around to make sure nothing threatening was around them. He found that they had come into a long narrow hallway with doors on either side of them. He could see eight doors on either side of his flashlight beam, but it didn't penetrate the length of the hallway.
Dean straightened up slowly as the pain became bearable. He looked down the hallway where Sam's light was pointed.
"You want to try door number one or door number two?" Sam asked moving the light back to either side of them.
Dean opened the one on his left. There were ten beds in all in the room, five on each wall and all were empty. He turned around and Sam opened the door on his right. There were also ten beds in this room, just like the last one, but two were occupied. A soft glow from a crescent shaped light lit their small slumbering faces. They both went to a child and tried to wake them.
"Dean I can't get her to wake up," Sam said after trying to talk to her quietly and shaking her shoulder gently.
Dean glanced over at his brother and saw that he was doing the same thing that he had just tried to wake the little boy.
"He won't wake up either," Dean said quietly.
"She has a necklace," Sam noted quietly as he looked down at her. She looked to be all of five years old with dark curly hair spilling out over the white pillow.
Dean had noticed the necklace around the young boy's neck. "That must be the key. Try to get it off," Dean suggested.
Sam reached down and tried to remove the necklace but it wouldn't break and he couldn't find the clasp.
Dean tried to remove the necklace from the young boy as well, but his wouldn't break either.
"We'll have to find the alter and destroy it," Dean said moving away from the child in the bed and going towards the door.
Sam knelt next to the small figure in the bed. "If you can hear me we'll be back to help you," he said quietly to the little girl.
Dean followed him out of the room and they looked through several more rooms. Some had children and others were still empty. Dean tried another door and was surprised to find it locked.
"Hey," Dean said getting Sam's attention who was looking in the room on his right side. "It's locked. Get us in."
"Since when do you really need me to pick the lock?" Sam asked.
"Since you're better at it," Dean said taking the flashlight from Sam and holding it up so Sam could work. He put his hand on his side as if it would stop the pain emanating from his bruised ribs. He dropped it as soon as Sam started to stand back up.
Sam looked at his brother as he flicked his wrist and opened the door. The room was bathed in candle light. In the middle of the room was a wooden table covered in a blue velvet cloth. They walked into the room and found the cloth was covered in a sprinkling of sand, a smattering of dried blood, small child-sized bones, old fashioned iron keys, small bronze coloured moons and stars. Standing above them on small stands were one big crescent moon, a sand filled star and an iron key.
"Look at this," Dean said disgusted and sickened by the small child-sized bones on the table.
"We have to destroy it," Sam said shaking his head equally disgusted. No matter how many alters they'd seen and destroyed it was always harder when it involved children.
"Right," Dean said reaching out to the large crescent moon planning to destroy that first.
A child's cry was heard coming from outside the room. The boys traded a look and hurried to the door frame cautiously peering around it. One of the doors a little further down the hallway was open and a soft light spilled out of the room. They silently crept down the hallway as fast as they could Dean in the lead. He looked into the room saw a person in a blue cloak looming over a child who had just been placed in a bed.
Sam peered around Dean and saw the Sandman's latest addition to his collection. The child looked like she was sleeping, her wet tear stained cheeks shone in the soft glow of the light. The cloaked man was murmuring an incantation over the child. As he finished a necklace floated down and encircled the child's neck silently, effectively locking the little one into the dream world.
Sam felt his anger rise inside of him. "Hey! Why don't you try that on someone more your size."
Dean raised an eyebrow surprised that the words hadn't come out of him.
The Sandman's head turned slowly and locked eyes with Dean as he straightened.
"You dare to challenge me?" the cloaked man demanded.
"Oh hell yeah," Dean replied.
The Sandman was quiet for a moment before giving a hearty deep laugh.
"Ah yes. The tough Winchester boys. Come further into the light my children," he beckoned softly.
The brothers quickly shared a look and Dean swaggered into the room with Sam on his heels.
"Tell me young Samuel are my brothers entertaining you enough?" the Sandman asked.
"What?" Dean asked.
Sam said nothing but stared back at the demon shivering slightly under the cold stare.
"Do you enjoy these gifts?" he asked again raising a hand towards Sam.
Sam paled as he was assaulted with images of his nightmares. His mom and Jessica burning on the bedroom ceilings screaming for his help. No matter what he did he could not get to them. His father an empty shell of a man with a drink in his hand never having caught the demon responsible for killing his mother. Softly repeating over and over Sam why did you leave us? We could have got the son of a bitch with you. Dean lying dead in a pool of blood at his feet because he was too late to save him. He saw himself cold and alone in a small room sitting on the floor with a straight jacket on as he murmured incoherent words and rocked slightly.
"You sick bastard," Dean snarled.
"No!" Sam shouted as he raised his hands to his head desperately fighting back the pictures.
"It's not real Sammy. Fight it," Dean commanded as he grabbed his brothers arms.
The images slowly faded away as Sam felt Dean grab his arm drawing him back to reality. He pulled his hands away from his head blinking rapidly and taking a couple of steadying breaths. "I'm ok," he said quietly to his brother.
Dean turned his attention back to the Sandman. "This ends tonight."
The Sandman laughed again. "That may be, but usually I must search out my quarry, it doesn't usually come willingly into my home."
Dean pointed the shotgun at him. "Your quarry will not come easily," he said cocking the gun.
"There's no fun without the fight," he said throwing off his blue cloak and tossing it on a bed. His belt made tinkling noises from the metal objects banging into each other.
Dean fired and the Sandman easily moved out of the way before the shot reached him.
The Sandman laughed again raising Dean's ire. "Is that all you brought?" he taunted slowly unsheathing a short sword making fine grains of sand fall to the ground.
"Damn," Dean whispered. This was going to be a little trickier than he thought. He heard Sam's jacket rustle slightly beside him and saw a glint of light flash off the demon.Well at least one of them was bright enough to bring a knife. He hoped it was a large one.
Sam shoved the familiar handle of a blade into Dean's hand. Dean grabbed at it tightly and brought his hands into his fighting stance smiling inwardly. Leave it to his baby brother to bring his favourite blade. His inner grin grew as the cocky smile on the demons face slowly fell. A glint of light in his peripheral vision told him Sam had brought another blade with him.
The Sandman moved away from the child in the bed and slowly advanced on the brothers. As he advanced he pulled out a small wooden staff. The demon stopped sizing up the boys ready for the fight.
The brothers sized up the demon also ready for the fight, surprised that none was forthcoming.
"What are you waiting for," Dean growled.
The Sandman smiled serenely. "I do not require violence," he said as two necklaces rose from his belt and moved quickly towards the boys.
Sam watched the metal come towards him. When it was close enough he lunged with his knife. Metal on metal contact created a wave of sparks and a small whirlwind of sand. A second wave of sparks and sand erupted beside him as Dean destroyed the necklace coming at him.
"Keep your cheap parlour tricks for the kids," Sam spat at him.
"As you wish," the demon said and his eyes glowed fiery red. "The hard way."
Sam swallowed and saw Dean tense a bit beside him. Both gripped their knives tightly.
"Bring it on, bitch," Dean said quietly.
The Sandman moved forward fluidly bringing up his sword to strike Dean who avoided the blow. Sam brought his knife up to stop the staff from striking his brother. Dean swung and hit the Sandman square in the jaw. His hand bruising with the impact and the demon staggered back a step.
Sam stepped forward swinging his blade at the chest of the night demon missing by mere inches. The Sandman reached out grabbed Sam by the arm and shoved him away violently. Sam stumbled at the force and rolled over a bed.
Dean was in his place a second later landing a kick to the Sandman's knee and then struck out at his head. Although Dean knew he'd made contact with the demon it just laughed at his efforts and then lashed out. He hit Dean square in the chest and then hit him twice in the face.
Sam shook his head slightly as he got onto his knees and used the bed to help him up. He rushed forward to rejoin the fight.
The Sandman swung a powerful blow to Dean's arm with his staff then threw Dean across the room. He hit the wall hard and collapsed to his knees trying to get his breath back. He wiped at the blood on his forehead, wondering momentarily when he'd been cut, then looked up to see where Sam was.
Sam landed blows to the demon's head and body, but it didn't seem to make a difference. He jumped up as the Demon swung his staff low. Sam hit the ground and managed a slice to the Demon's arm. The Sandman swung around and hit Sam across the leg hard making him stumble slightly. Sam came right back, swung his knife, missed his chest but the blade glanced off the key hanging off his belt. It barely moved from the touch, but the Sandman roared with anger. The Sandman swung the staff around hard to Sam's chest.
Dean struggled to his feet as Sam doubled over against the pain. He ran to his brother's side grabbing the Sandman's arm stopping him from cutting his brother with the sword. He felt anger growing in him. It usually did while they were fighting and Sam was in danger. Over the years he'd learned to channel that anger into his fight making his moves faster and more agile. He steered the demon away from his brother. His concentration never wavered but relief filled him when Sam was fighting beside him once again.
They traded blows with the demon but no matter how many shots got through the demon did not show he'd been hurt. Both brothers were beginning to notice that the Sandman protected the items on his belt more than the blows getting though to his body.
Dean struck out with his knife hoping to cut an item away from the belt. The demon neatly avoided the blade and brought his staff down on Dean's unprotected side. The already bruised and slightly swollen area buckled under the blow. Dean screamed in pain and fell to his knees. He curled up and rolled back slightly waiting for the next painful blow, but it never came.
"NO!" Sam yelled stepping in front of his brother. He put both hands on the demon's chest and shoved for all he was worth. The demon was unprepared for such an attack. He stumbled back loosing his balance as he fell onto a bed.
Sam was on the demon before it could regain its balance. He swung his blade barely catching the Sandman across his cheek and leapt back as the Sandman swung his own blade. The sword missed its mark and he struggled to his feet. A surprised look crossed his face and he reached up to touch his cheek. Blood oozed out of the cut and slowly slid down his skin.
Sam used that moment of surprise to help Dean back onto his feet. His brother swayed slightly then seemed to regain his balance. Sam stepped forward putting himself between Dean and the Sandman.
Sam lunged trying to hit the sand filled star on the demon's belt. His sword deflected off the glassand the demon roared again bringing his sword around. Sam lifted his knife up in defence but it shattered on contact. He cried out as the Sandman's sword sliced into his upper arm.
His right hand immediately reached up to cover the wound. Blood had already soaked through the light material of his torn t-shirt and jacket. He staggered back his eyes wide with fear.
"Sam!" Dean yelled as he saw his brother get cut then stagger back. He blinked as the room's glow seemed to change from soft yellow to bright red and felt blinding rage fill him. The demon bastard had hurt his baby brother that he'd sworn to protect. He screamed something unintelligible and lunged attacking the demon.
Sam heard his brother shout his name, but even though Dean was two steps away from him it sounded like it came from far away. His arm throbbed and he began to shake. He felt like he was going to be sick and his world began to spin. The wall made contact with his back and his legs couldn't seem to hold him up as he slid slowly down the flat surface. He pulled his blood soaked hand away from his shoulder. Even though he'd been around blood all his life during training and hunting somehow he was surprised at how red it looked and for a moment he was transfixed by the colour. A clanging noise from metal on metal made Sam looked up to see Dean fighting the Sandman. His brother's eyes were cold with anger, his face flush from the adrenaline.
"Dean," he whispered but couldn't finish. Fear chilled him as he realized he was falling asleep. He looked back at his hand and realized that his blood had mixed with something gritty. His mind sluggishly came to the conclusion that the sword had been coated with sand and he was falling asleep. He fought against it even as his arm fell to his side now to heavy to hold up.
He struggled to keep his eyes open but they closed of their own accord and he fell into darkness.
The Sandman laughed. "He will have the pleasure of knowing my realm. You shall be next."
"Like Hell," Dean growled.
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Sam heard creaking floorboards and whispers around him. He cracked an eye open and saw children nearby watching him and whispering to each other behind small hands.
A young boy of about 10 years old stepped out from the crowd and looked down at Sam. Sam closed his eyes as a wave of pain washed over him and swallowed a groan. The young boy silently knelt beside Sam and with shaking hands tried to pull off the torn jacket.
"What?" Sam said his words slurred with sleep. "Dean?"
"Jeremy," the little boy said quietly. "My name is Jeremy. Please let me take off your jacket."
Sam leaned forward and felt the jacket taken off him gently. "Where am I?"
The young boy did not answer him. "My daddy is a doctor and I watch him patch people up all the time," he said and there was no mistaking the pride in the youngster's voice.
Sam felt the sleeve of his shirt being pulled up and he struggled to open his eyes.
"It will be ok," the boy said quietly to reassure him as he brought up a white cloth and wiped down Sam's wound. "I just need to get some of this sand out."
Sam slowly began to open his eyes as some of the sand was removed. The pain began to dissipate as well. He looked over to see the boy putting down a red cloth that had small dots of sand in it andpull out a fresh one from his small bag. He watched as the boy wrapped the cloth around his arm to cover his wound.
"Thank you," Sam said quietly to him.
Jeremy looked into Sam's eyes and looked like he wanted to say something then changed his mind. He nodded at him, picked up his bag and walked back into the crowd of children.
"Jeremy wait," Sam said to the boy's retreating back.
"Thank you Jeremy," a slightly older girl said to him as he walked past her. She turned her attention to Sam.
"Where am I?" Sam asked hoping that one of the children would answer.
"Why do you not carry his mark?" the girl demanded.
"Mark? Whose mark?" Sam repeated as his brow furrowed in confusion. "Who are you and where am I."
The girl ignored his question and turned to the children who were watching Sam with open fascination and curiosity. "He is not one of us."
With those few simple words the children's curiosity and fascination turned to fear and they quickly fled the room.
"Wait!" Sam called to them as he struggled to his feet relieved to see a few children had stayed behind.
"You have been sent to the Sandman's realm. We are all bad children and have been brought here as our punishment. We cannot leave and we will never wake. We will never see our brothers, sisters or parents again. When the chains that bind us here grow too small we will parish," said the one older boy who had stayed behind.
A little girl who looked about five years old held the boy's hand. She tilted her head as she looked up at Sam then hopped over to him. She stood by his leg looking straight up at him. Sam knelt to be on her level.
"Hi," he said softly to her.
She pulled her thumb out of her mouth and pointed at his neck. "No."
Sam smiled slightly. "Yeah I don't belong here, do I?"
The girl shook her head, her dark curls bobbing with the movement. "Not scary man."
Sam's smile broadened. "Well I sure hope I'm not scary," he said quietly to her.
"Have you replaced him," the boy asked.
Sam smiled at the young girl then stood up. "No. My brother and I came here to free you."
The older children looked at each other and hope replaced the fear in their eyes.
To be continued…