A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I had some major writers block on thisbut I did put up twoOneShots in between this andthe last updateto help me get through it. They're called'To quell the pain' and 'Big Brother', you can check them out if you want.We're almost there ;)
A/N2: I forgot to mention at thestart of the last chapterthat the part about Sam and his nightmares of Dean killing himself, it wasreferring to what happened in my other story Bad Dreams. I guess this has kind of become a sequel. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and a specialthanks to princesspeanut, TV Manic, PowerRangerFreeek and SpookyClair who reviewed the last chapter. Now on with the story!
Dean stood in the trunk of the Impala going through his weapons. The car was packed just off the road next to the Rhodes house. The night air was cold but the sky was clear. The moon hung near full and bright in the sky surrounded by glowing stars that looked as if they were out to play. As they had gotten closer to the house it seemed to have gotten colder, and Dean shivered.
Sam watched his older brother with concern in his eyes. The older hunter stood with his weapon of choice, a sawed off shotgun tucked under his left arm, holding his 9mm in front of him and checking that the right bullets were loaded into the magazine.
"What?" Dean asked not looking up from what he was doing. He didn't even have to look at his brother to know Sam was staring at him.
"Nothing," Sam said taking his eyes off his brother and accepting the gun Dean handed to him, "Just promise me you'll be careful okay?"
"I'm always careful Sammy." Dean quipped waggling his eyebrows suggestively at the younger man before closing the secret compartment and then the trunk, "This bitch is going down." He said and started off to the front door of the house.
Sam ignored the jibe. He wanted to yell at his brother that he wasn't always careful. That he really only seemed to be careful when someone else could get hurt, like his family or an innocent person. He wanted to yell that he should stop with the whole hero complex and that it was going to get him killed one day one day and that he should for once in his life put himself first. Hell, he even put the car first before his wellbeing! But Sam didn't say any of that, instead he trotted up to the house to catch up with his brother.
The older hunter was already at the front door by the time Sam reached him.
Dean opened the door which was surprisingly unlocked and stepped into the front room, "You know for something that didn't want us in here it shouldn't have left the front door unlocked." He muttered under his breath.
The boys moved carefully into the house. Dean held the EMF meter out in front of him once again. The little lights flickered ominously. Following the plan they had thought up in the car the boys moved to search over the house again. Sometimes at night you could see things that you couldn't see during the day.
"You know I once hooked up with a girl who had a fetish for ice. Man the things she could do with a bucket of ice." Dean said and shuddered for effect smiling at the horrified look on his brother's face.
"I don't even want to know." Sam replied walking ahead of his brother a little to get away from the smug grin Dean was shooting at him.
"Hey don't knock it till you try it." The older stated defensively.
"I'm right thanks." Sam said shaking his head, trying to hide the smile on his face.
The light banter they had worked up stopped when the temperature seemed to drop around them. The boys raised their guns and pointed ahead of them. The EMF went off its head until Dean turned it off and tucked it into the left pocket of his jacket. The movement hurt his ribs but he bit down on the pain. Now was not the time to be worrying about a few bruises. He quickly redirected any pain his body was feeling into focusing on the job at hand.
The hairs on the back of Dean's neck stood up and he moved instinctively in front of his brother taking up a protective stance.
Before anyone could do anything Sam was pulled backwards down the hallway by an invisibly force and slammed into the wall at the end. Dean spun around but before he could move he was pulled backwards into the same room he had been in earlier that day. He hit the inside wall with enough force to have him seeing stars and birds floating in circles in front of his eyes. The pain in his back had been bearable up until that point but now it was just damn excruciating. He grunted as he pulled himself to his feet and made for the door.
The old wooden door, even though rotted somewhat held sturdy against the battering it received from Dean upon it not opening the first time. He kicked at it as hard as he could with his heavy booted feet but it still stood closed, almost mocking him. When that didn't work he took to slamming his shoulder against the hard wood but each time his body struck the door it sent bright light into his eyes from the pain and threatened to take his consciousness away from him.
"Sam!" Dean screamed pounding on the door with his fist. Each hit reverberated up his arm and into his shoulders and back. The stray thought of needing a massage when all this was over crossed his mind. Hopefully from some hot chick that he could have some fun with.
Sam picked himself off the floor from the end of the hallway with a groan at the sound of his brother's voice, "We really need to find new jobs." He muttered under his breath when he got his feet underneath him and shuffled quickly down the hallway. He reached to the door and tried to open it. Locked. Well that would explain the panic in Dean's voice.
"Dean you okay in there?" Sam yelled through the door and the pounding stopped.
"Sam?" Dean looked at the door again and then behind him, a feeling of uneasiness settling over him, "Are you okay?" he shouted.
"Yeah." Sam replied, not failing to notice that Dean hadn't answered his question, "Dean are you hurt?"
"Not more than usual little brother." He paused as a sudden thought came to him, "Step back I'm going to shoot the doorknob off."
Dean waited until he heard Sam back off before he aimed his shotgun (which he had somehow managed to hold on to) at the doorknob. The loud shot rang out and the doorknob flew off. He sighed pleased with himself and pushed against the door. It didn't budge. With a frustrated growl he hit the butt of his gun against the door a good few times and then gave up. That thing obviously wanted him and Sam separate.
That thought however was not appealing to Dean at all. If he wasn't with Sam how the hell was he supposed to protect him? A feeling of failure and slight panic was starting to form around Dean's mind. He couldn't let Sam get hurt, not after everything they had been through in the last few months. He couldn't go through all that again. He wouldn't.
"Dean?" Sam asked from the other side of the door.
"It isn't going to let me out Sam." he paused and hated to say this but he had no choice at the moment as some rational thought passed through him, "You're going to have to find the body on your own Sammy."
Sam stood staring blankly at the door separating him from the most important person in his life. Dean would never have said that unless there really was no other way. He nodded to himself. It was up to him. He could do this. No big deal, he would just look around until he found it, salt it and burn it. Simple. Sam gulped; things were never that simple in the whacky Winchester world.
"Okay. You hang tight bro." Sam said and moved from the door to start his search.
"Be careful little brother." Dean whispered under his breath. He turned his back to the door and started looking for another way out of the room. The window was too high and to small, there was no way in hell he could get out through there. Even if he could he was still on the second floor, the jump from there to the ground would most likely break something, and at least hurt like an absolute bitch.
The older hunter swung the gun around in his hand and reloaded it with more rock salt from his pockets. His hand grazed the EMF meter and he took it out and turned it on. The lights were low, indicating only a residue from what ever had attacked them earlier. He hoped that it was just on holiday and not out stalking his brother. Then again years of hunting under his belt told him to stop being naive.
Dean walked slow circles around the room. If he stayed still to long his muscles would contract back into the stiffness he had partly stretched out earlier. The pacing also helped to keep his body temperature up. The air around him was cold at best and it seemed to be dropping slowly. He hoped Sam was having more luck that he was.
Sam moved as quickly and quietly as he possibly could given the new soreness in his body. He pushed the pain aside however. Dean was locked in that crappy room upstairs and Sam refused to let anymore harm come to his brother.
The youngest Winchester ran his hands over the walls looking for any signs that there were hidden doors or rooms. The walls were cold to the touch and he wondered where the spirit was. His anger flared thinking about it. What kind of person could abuse their child? Or any child for that matter? He saw a lot of terrifying stuff in his work but it was the human evils that had always got to him the most. That's why had wanted to become a lawyer. Help rid the world of some human evil.
"Demons I get, people are crazy." He muttered under his breath. It sounded like something that Dean would have said which made him search faster. He had to get Dean out of here. Dean was hurt enough as it was, "Damn it Sam. Next time put you foot down!" he chided himself for not stopping Dean coming back here tonight.
The hairs on Sam's arms and the back of his neck stood up and he knew that while he had been off in La-La-Land something had snuck up on him. Raising his gun and turning slowly he came face to face with none other than the flickering ghost form of Donald Rhodes himself.
Ha!Little cliffhanger there for you! Next chapter should be up soon. Hit the little button and let me know what you think (the more reviews the faster I update). Thanks for reading.
Mishka xXx
