Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters. I and am not making any money on this…I'm just having fun filling in the time until September!

Ghost Hollow

Chapter 3 – Mystery Deepens

"I went somewhere? Dean, I…I…I just woke up, I haven't gone anywhere!"

Dean looked at the confused look in his brother's eyes and wondered if Sam had hit his head a little harder than he thought. "Sam, you went for a drive in my car…you were gone for over an hour and you can't remember?"

Sam looked at Dean trying to decide if his brother was pulling his leg or not. "Dean, the last thing I remember is going to bed last night…where did I go?"

Dean ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know Sammy…you wouldn't tell me."

Sam tried to remember what had happened, but the pain in his head was making it hard to think. He closed his eyes and groaned as the pain continued to increase. "Dean, there's something I need to tell….argh!" Sam screamed as the pain in his head began to block out all conscious thought. He had never experienced anything like this before.

Dean reached forward and grabbed his brother around the shoulders. "Sammy…what's wrong, come on Sam don't do this!" Dean watched as Sam's breathing began to hitch and his brother's body began to shake. He knew that his brother suffered when one of his visions was coming on, but he had never seen it so bad before.

"Dean…I…Oh God, I think I'm gonna…" Sam swallowed as he tried to keep the contents of his stomach down.

"Hold on Sammy, do you think you can make it to the bathroom if I help you?" Dean reached to help his brother to his feet as Sam nodded, his eyes now closed as he tried to control the blinding pain. "That's it, just lean on me Sam"

Dean knelt beside Sam and rubbed his brother's back as Sam continued to heave into the toilet. As the spasms began to lessen, he helped his brother back to his feet and got him back into the bed. "Just relax Sam…whatever it is we'll handle it. Try to get some more sleep."

Sam sighed as he allowed the darkness to claim him. Dean ran his hand through Sam's hair, glad that the pain seemed to be easing from his brother's face. "Don't you worry Sam, I'm going to get to the bottom of this!" Dean said softly.

Dean rose from the bed and walked over towards the door. He decided to try to figure out where Sam had gone without his brother's assistance. Going out to the car, he checked to see if there was any clue that would explain his brother's odd behavior. "Well, you must have gone somewhere close by, because you didn't use much gas…but where would you go Sam?" Dean looked towards the highway. If Sam hadn't gone to the restaurant, then maybe he went the other way…which would mean his brother had gone back towards the bridge they were at last night. "But why would you go back there Sammy?" Dean decided that he better grab the computer and start doing some research of his own while Sam slept.

Two pots of coffee later, Dean threw another hand of M&M's into his mouth as he looked over at the sleeping body of his younger brother. Sam had moaned a few times, but as soon as Dean went over to check on him, he would calm down and fall back into a deep sleep. Whatever had caused his brother's headache had taken a lot out of him. Dean figured that it had to have something to do with the incident last night. He remembered that Sam had complained of a headache on the way to the motel.

Dean had been spending his time while waiting for Sam to wake up looking at the on-line copies of the local newspaper. Narrowing the search to deaths that had happened in Ghost Hollow or the White River, he found a number of articles going back to the earliest records. Dean had printed out the stories and had begun to put them together, looking for something that would tie them together. But so far, he hadn't found a common link, other than them being found dead or disappearing in the same area. The victims were anywhere from their late teens to some as old as 90 years of age. They all had different occupations, were from different ethnic groups, were male and female and came from different economic groups.

Dean looked through his Dad's journal and noticed that his father had been following some of the deaths, but even his father had not been able to come up with a clue to what was happening to the victims. The only reason it probably hit his father's radar was that they always died at night and always in the same stretch of river that ran beside Ghost Hollow. Dean looked up as he saw his brother begin to move on the bed. "Hey Sammy, are you ready to wake up yet…I mean, it's getting close to dinner time and I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

Sam groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. The pain was not as bad, but the headache was still there. He rubbed his aching temple as he struggled to sit up. A bout of dizziness assaulted his senses as he stood to go into the bathroom. Sam felt his brother's arm slip around his waist and gently guide him towards his destination. "Thanks Dean!" Sam mumbled as he headed for the shower.

A short time later, Dean watched as Sam came out of the bathroom. His color was still off, but at least his brother wasn't wincing in pain. "So, are you ready to get something to eat?" Dean asked, deciding that he wanted to get some food into Sam before they did anything else.

"Sure, actually I am kind of hungry…what time is it?" Sam quickly changed into clean clothes, surprised that his stomach actually gurgled at him. He looked up and saw the grin on his brother's face.

"I swear Sammy…I guess you must be hungry!" Dean laughed at the blush that was creeping up his brother's neck.

Dean decided that they may as well go back to the same restaurant at the night before. Besides, he was hoping that he might get information on where Shirley lived. If they were going to get anywhere on this, they needed to talk to her to see if she could shed any light on what happened to Brett.

Dean smiled as the waitress from the night before poured coffee for both brothers. "I just wanted to thank you boys for helping out last night…even though things didn't turn out…you didn't have to help. Dinner is on the house tonight, so what can I get you?"

Sam shook his head as Dean almost smacked his lips in anticipation of the free meal. Sam smiled up at the woman as he gave her his order. "Thanks Desiree is it? My name is Sam and this is my brother Dean, we were glad to help. How is Shirley doing?"

Dean watched as his brother worked his magic on the waitress. Sam had a natural way of getting people to open up to him without even trying hard. He was glad Sam appeared to be thinking about their current case, maybe whatever was bothering him earlier was getting better.

"Well the girl is all broken up over the death of her boyfriend. It's just too bad that her father had made things so hard for those two."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked as he folded up the menu and joined the conversation.

"Oh, he never liked Brett. I guess he just thought his daughter could do better than with the likes of him. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a bad kid…but he was a dreamer and her father knew that dreamers usually end up stone cold broke."

"It sounds like Shirley and Brett were finding ways to be together anyway…" Sam began, hoping the waitress would give them a little more information.

"They shore did, they had to sneak around behind her father's back. But like I said, her father made it clear that he would never condone a marriage between the two of them. I'm not sure that Shirley would have been strong enough to go against her father's wishes. But I guess none of that matters now does it? So what can I get for you Dean?" Desiree shook her head, getting back to the business at hand.

"I guess not, just one more thing Desiree, any idea on when the funeral will be…we would kind of like to pay our respects." Sam asked, giving her his puppy dog look. Dean smirked as he saw the waitress eating it up.

"The funeral will be tomorrow afternoon at the local cemetery. I'm sure that Shirley would appreciate the support. I'll have your food here in a jiff!"

Dean watched as Desiree walked off, but turned back as he noticed Sam beginning to rub his temples again. "Sammy…is your headache getting worse?"

"No, not really, it's just that I can't seem to shake it. I'm fine Dean, I just need to eat." Sam sighed as he saw the look of concern on his brother's face. He knew that look and he knew that it meant Sam was going to be under the watchful eye of big brother until this was over. "So did you find anything on the computer Dean?"

Dean smiled, his brother may not be feeling well, but there was nothing wrong with his powers of observation or his ability to deflect attention away from himself. He must have seen the computer on the table and assumed that Dean had started to do some research. "Well, actually, I did find a number of deaths that have happened in that area of the woods over the years. But I haven't been able to figure out what may be causing the problem…"

Sam looked out the window as his brother continued to talk about what he had found. As the sun began to give way to darkness, Sam couldn't help shivering as a chill ran up his spine. He felt himself looking towards the road and the woods that he knew were just beyond. He felt drawn to the quietness of the woods in a way that he couldn't explain. Shaking himself from his musings, Sam tried to concentrate on what his brother was saying, he hoped they could wrap this mystery up soon because he had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

TBC

Raven524: I'm posting a little early tonight as we are having sever weather here tonight. So, just in case we lose, power, I thought I would post. Please forgive any typos as I didn't take as much time to proof read this time. Also, thanks to all those who have reviewed so far. Even thought the site is still not sending emails…I am reading them and responding! So keep them coming.