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 11 – Needle in a Haystack

Sam groaned as the morning sun that was shining in the motel window hit his tired eyes. He had been asleep for a long time, yet his head felt like it was filled with cotton. Sam tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, when he noticed he couldn't move his arm. "What the hell!" Sam cried as he saw the handcuff that was holding him to the bed.

"Good morning sunshine…did you have a good nights sleep?" Dean asked cheerily as he came from the bathroom.

"Dean, why am I handcuffed to the bed?" Sam asked evenly as he jingled the cuff attached to his wrist.

"Well, do you remember what we discussed last night?" Dean watched closely as Sam nodded with only a slight wince. "You went all Night of the Living Dead on me…so, I decided to keep you from making any unauthorized visits to your spooky girlfriend."

Sam shook his head, he remembered eating dinner and he even remembered what Dean had told him, but he couldn't remember getting into bed at all. "So, are you planning on removing these soon or are you going to go to the bathroom for me?" Sam jingled the cuff more forcefully, not liking the fact that Dean had not only drugged him, but also restrained him to keep him safe.

Dean walked over and removed the handcuff, using the time to take a closer look at his little brother. Sam was pale and the dark circles under his eyes seemed to be even darker. In short his brother looked exhausted even though he had slept through the night. Dean wasn't surprised, even though the pain pills kept his brother asleep, they apparently couldn't stop the pain completely or prevent the nightmares that had plagued his brother all night long.

"If your done with the inspection, I think I'll go take a shower." Sam stood and swayed, but he batted Dean's hand away as he headed for the bathroom.

"Fine Sam, we'll grab some breakfast before we head to the forest…we have a grave to find today!" Dean called as he finished getting dressed.

A short time later, Sam and Dean found themselves eating breakfast at the Diner. Sam had wanted to go somewhere else as he didn't like taking advantage of Cal's generosity. But Dean pointed out it was the only diner close by and besides, why should they turn down Cal's offers of free food. "So what's the plan for today Dean?" Sam said as he tried to get Dean to focus on the job instead of the cute waitress.

"Dude, can't you ever turn it off?"

"Not when I'm on some sort of time clock, with the minutes ticking away towards my eventual death!" Sam said tightly. He regretted it the moment the words left his lips. He didn't want his brother to feel guilty about what was going on. Reminding Dean of the time slipping through their fingers, was also reminding him that he may not be able to do his job and save Sam.

"I'm sorry Dean, I'm just a little edgy…" Sam looked down and began to play with the water ring left on the table in front of him.

Dean sighed, moody Sam was back in full swing. "Sam, it's going to be ok…we have plenty of time to find the ghost's grave and burn her bones. Now finish eating, I want to make sure we are back way before dark…I'm not taking any chances!"

Sam looked up at Dean. "You know if we don't find her today, you can't keep drugging me and chaining me to the bed Dean. "

"So what would you suggest?"

"Well, I've been thinking…if we don't find her bones today. Why don't you just follow me to Ghost Hollow and see what is going on? I mean, you could hide in the back seat of the car or something. Shirley wasn't affected after she saw the ghost, so I'm betting she can only focus on one person at a time." Sam hurried through his explanation, surprised that his head wasn't hurting. "Huh, it looks like I can plan things to do as well as research and listen to Dean" Sam mumbled under his breath.

Dean raised his eyebrow. "Dude, I know you're a little sleep deprived right now…but what makes you think that I'm going to let you put yourself in danger?"

"Look…we are running out of time here and I for one need a good nights sleep before I really do turn into a zombie. You can cover me with a shot gun loaded with rock salt in case things get out of hand…You have to let me do this Dean or we may run out of time." Sam couldn't explain it, but he felt like time was in deed running out for him. Just because it was a couple of weeks for Brett, they had no idea what sort of time frame the other victims were on before they died.

"I'm not going to argue with you about it now…we're going to find her bones today and take care of this today…so this won't be an issue!" Dean stood and grabbing the check, headed for the car. He wasn't really mad at Sam, but it scared him to think that they may have to resort to his brother's plan in order to get to the bottom of this.

Dean lead Sam to the location that they had identified for searching. It had taken them about 30 minutes of hiking into the woods. Dean constantly checked on Sam to make sure he wasn't having any pain or discomfort, but other than being unusually quiet, Sam didn't appear to be having any problems.

"According to the map, the old homestead should be somewhere in this vicinity." Dean ducked under a low limb on a tree as he entered what appeared to be a meadow at the base of a small hill. He could hear the river in the distance, but other than the wind in the trees, there was no sound. Not a bird or even a cricket could be heard. Dean pulled out his EMF and wasn't surprised to see that it was lighting up.

"Well this is definitely the area to begin searching. We'll have to cover the area in a grid fashion, I'm guessing the EMF will be strongest near her grave." Dean headed towards the first area to begin the search.

Sam followed Dean, but was lost in his own thoughts. He had remembered some of what had happened, but the memories were scattered and hazy. He remembered Marie asking him to follow her, and he knew that he did from what Dean had told him. But he couldn't remember what she told him. Sam tried to remember, knowing it was important…but the pain immediately started to build in his head.

Dean paused when he heard the small groan of pain from his brother. "Sam what is it?"

"There's something important I need to remember!" Sam sunk to his knees, grabbing his head as he continued to try to remember. But nothing would come, except more pain.

"Sammy stop it! Come on bro' use those meditation techniques and clear your mind. I'm not carrying you back to the car damn it." Dean wished he hadn't brought Sam, but he knew that his brother would have followed on his own.

Sam slowed his breathing and began the meditation technique that had worked before. Once again, the pain began to recede as Sam cleared his mind. "Good, Sam…that's it, you can do this." Dean coached as he saw the pain receding from his brother's face.

Sam stood and once again began following his brother. This time, he just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Once they found the bones, he wanted to be able to at least guard his brother's back.

Sam and Dean continued their search until it was getting close to dusk. Dean was frustrated. They had covered only a small portion of the search area and still had no idea where Marie was buried. To make matters worse, they had found the remains of the old homestead, but upon seeing it Sam had started to have another attack. This time, even meditation didn't work so Sam had spent the last couple of hours suffering in silence while Dean frantically searched.

Dean knew that Sam had been here…he could see his brother's foot prints and he also saw the area that looked like something large had fallen. As Dean looked down into the cellar, he shivered. If the dust was any indication, his brother had fallen just below him. No wonder he had a head injury…it was a long drop.

As the sun began to drop in the sky, Sam was becoming more agitated. The pain in his skull was not getting worse, but it was wearing him down. To make matters worse, he was getting the feeling again that they needed to leave. "Dean…we need to leave…we need to leave now!" Sam announced as he stood and headed towards his brother.

"Ok Sam, but we'll come back here tomorrow and start again. She has to be buried somewhere near here." Dean began to lead them back towards the car. It seemed to take them longer to get back than before, probably because Sam was past exhausted. But they finally reached the car.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starved…how about we stop for some dinner before we go back to the motel and turn in…you look beat Sammy!" Dean had hoped that Sam's headache would begin to get better as they left Ghost Hollow, but his brother was still rubbing his temples.

"Dean, can you just get something to go…I'm really not up to sitting in a restaurant right now."

"Sure Sam, you need to take a pain pill anyway."

Sam paused and looked at Dean for a moment. He had made his decision while trying to manage the pain all afternoon. He couldn't continue like this much longer. "Dean, I'm not taking any pills…I intend to go to Ghost Hollow and this time, you're not going to stop me."

"The hell you are!" Dean said as he pulled into the restaurant. Dean hesitated, if he left the car, Sam could take it and head back to Ghost Hollow. "I'm afraid you're going to have to come in with me Sam…I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Sam looked at Dean and shook his head. "I don't want you to let me out of your sight…I want you to follow me Dean. It's the only way and you know it! You have to let me do this, I don't think I can go through another night like last night and remain sane…the pain is not getting better Dean, it's getting worse. So you can either back me up or I'll go alone…it's your choice!"

Dean's mouth dropped open as he watched his little brother exit the car and start walking back towards Ghost Hollow. Dean jumped from the car and grabbed Sam's arm. "I swear Sam, I'll deck you where you stand if you take another step!"

"Don't bother!" Sam yelled as he landed a punch on Dean's jaw. He sighed as he saw his brother fall to the ground unconscious. "God Dean, why do you have to make things so difficult…I'm not a child any more!"

Sam grunted as he lifted his brother's unconscious form and headed back for the car. He placed Dean in the back seat and got back behind the wheel. He figured it would be dark by the time they got back to Ghost Hollow. He just hoped that Dean would follow him once he woke…of course he would, because Dean was going to be pissed and wouldn't rest until he kicked his ass for this stunt.

Sam parked the car and went to the trunk to get a shot gun and his flashlight. No sense going unprepared he thought. He checked on his brother one last time and sighed with relief as he saw his brother's eyes beginning to move and heard the soft groan. "Ok Dean, it's time to play follow the leader!" Sam said as he quickly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and left a quick note.

Sam lifted the shot gun and started to head towards the hollow as the night swallowed his form, a soft cry could be heard coming from the back of the Impala.

"Sammy…Noooo!"

TBC

Raven524: Moving right along…just a mini cliffie…I mean, who knows maybe the ghost will decide to sleep in tonight. (LOL) Thanks to everyone who has read the story and especially to those who have sent me a review. I'll try to get back to you all tomorrow sometime, but wanted to finish this chapter first !