The meat freezer opened with a loud squeak and the smell of what could only be a decaying corpse entered Sam's nostrils. It was so bad he had to cover his mouth and nose with his hand and take a few steps back to stop the sudden urge to dry heave.

When the younger Winchester had regained his composure he stepped back towards the freezer and looked in. Inside was the body of a girl, no older than eighteen. She was curled into the fetal position, her once beautiful face now grey and blackened with rot and frostbite that hadn't completely healed, the skin and muscle falling off her bones. Her once golden hair now frail looking and in clumps around her head from having fallen out however long ago. Her skin that was visible from underneath her tattered clothes was shriveled and missing in places, completely decomposed through.

If Sam had to guess he would assume that she had been locked in the freezer while it was still functional and had frozen to death. It made sense and explained why people were freezing to death. But wait wasn't Donald the ghost making all this happen? Then again Sam knew these things were possible.

Sam looked over at Donald who looked downright miserable next to him. The ghost had a look of pained sadness and regret on his face.

"What happened?" Sam asked. He needed answers but when the image of his brother came into his head he decided answers could wait. He had to torch her, and he had to do it now. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a salt shaker, some lighter fluid and his Zippo.

The youngest Winchester was so busy covering the girl's body in salt that he didn't notice the distinct temperature drop in the room.

---

Dean made his way as fast as he could down the creaking stairs, hands braced against the wall for support, tripping over every second step. He would have fallen asleep if his constantly chanted mantra didn't remind him why he was pushing himself so hard. Sam, find Sam. Save Sammy! Rest later. Sam!

By the time Dean reached to bottom of the stairs his muscles were shaking from the physical strain he had put them through. His knees almost buckled when he made to move forward and the sudden thought of where the hell Sam was came into mind.

"Sammy?" he called out, his voice raspy from the dryness of his throat. No answer came to his desperate question, just the silence of the night. In fact, come to think about it, it was too silent.

Moving through the first few rooms Dean berated himself for not having brought a gun with him. 'What the hell kind of hunter am I coming in here unprepared?' Dean found that keeping upright was almost impossible at the moment. It felt like his legs had turned to jelly and wanted to melt into the floor.

Dean bopped his head sluggishly to a random Metallica tune that had floated through his mind as he made his way into the last room on the first floor. He hoped to hell that Sam wasn't on the second floor because he honestly didn't think he could make it back up those stairs again.

His eyesight swimming in and out of focus Dean didn't notice the old rug that lay bunched up in his path and fell face first onto the floor with a loud thump. Panting against the pain in his stiff muscles the hunter rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

'What a stupid place to put a rug!' He turned to slap the rug out of his way and teach it for messing with the almighty Dean Winchester when he noticed a hole in the ground. Not just any hole however, this hole looked like a trap door.

---

The hairs on the back of Sam's neck stood up as he sensed something enter the room. Knowing that whatever it was it was evil, Sam quickened his actions and managed to cover half to corpse with the lighter fluid before an invisible force picked him up and threw him backwards. 'Must be my lucky day.' He thought bitterly as he landed on the old couch. But unfortunately for him his Winchester luck kicked in and the couch collapsed under him from the strain of holding his weight.

"Damn it!" he swore out as his lower back connected with one of the old springs which dug rather rudely into him. Rolling onto his side and jumping up Sam raised his gun menacingly at the cold air that seemed to be flowing in from the open trap door.

The next thing Sam knew someone was rolling down the stairs and landed at the bottom with a thump. Raising his eyebrows in surprise recognition at who that someone was.

"Dean?" he asked almost dropping his gun and running to his older brother's side. His father's voice in his head however made sure he listened to the hunter in him and not the brother. The hunter would get them out alive, the brother would only get them killed. So Sam forced himself to slow down and make sure there were no immediate threats near his brother or coming down the stairs before he went to his brother's side.

Dean looked up with a dazed and confused look on his face but smiled brightly when he saw Sam, "I thought I'd take a trip." He quipped giddily.

Sam took a quick inventory of his older brother and recognized more than a few signs of hypothermia. His medical knowledge was limited but their father had made sure they knew how to recognize and treat a wide range of things that they could encounter, and being that they had hunted in the snow a few years before Sam had left for college, he had made sure both his boys knew how to recognize and treat hypothermia.

Looking down at his brother now he was sure that Dean at least had a moderate case. He had to get them both out of there now. 'Move them away from the cold and into shelter if possible.' He pressed his hand to Dean's forehead and pulled his hand back in alarm when he felt the skin was as cold as ice. Dean's skin was not only cold but pale and clammy and judging by the tremor he had felt beneath his brother's skin he figured the man had been shaking before but had pretty much stopped now. It wasn't the shaking you had to worry about because the more sever the condition got the less the person would shake. His older brother's breathing was also slow and shallow and after a quick check of Dean's pulse Sam found his pulse was slow.

Resolved at what he had to do Sam pulled his brother gently to his feet, keeping his hands on the older hunters shoulders until he was sure that Dean had at least some of his balance, "Dean we gotta get you out of here. You're suffering hypothermia, understand?"

The older Winchester nodded his head sluggishly and let his eyes drift closed. He had found Sam and from what he could see his little brother was okay. 'Good, Sammy's okay which means I can finally get some damned sleep.' Dean let his legs buckle underneath him but didn't hit the floor. Opening one eye lazily he saw Sam standing over him and supporting his weight for him, "Sammy you're so great. Remind me to take you to the beach." He said, his speech coming out slurred.

"Oh no you don't. Wake up Dean. Come on man you gotta stay conscious." Sam lowered Dean so he was sitting on the ground and shook his shoulders, "I am not lugging your ass up those stairs Dean. Wake up!" he gave him another shake until Dean's eyes opened lazily and glared up at him.

"Sammy go away, I'm gonna sleep." Dean muttered under his breath but kept his eyes partially open for his brother's sake.

Turning around and straightening up with the full intent to burn the corpse in the freezer Sam noted that the air was crackling with an energy and it was way colder in here than before. He let Dean slump back against the wall, raised his gun and shot a glance at Donald who hadn't moved from the freezer.

Sam realized that he was shivering. Not good. If they stayed down here much longer with the temperature like this Dean would be a dead man and Sam was not going to let that happen.

Moving quickly back to the freezer Sam picked up the tin of lighter fluid he had dropped there and was about to cover the rest of the body when he was surrounded by a freezing white fog. The metal cooled quickly in his hand and he dropped and let out a cry of surprise when it burnt his fingers.

Dean heard his brother's cry and opened his listless eyes. When he saw his brother in the middle of the white fog the hunter and big brother came together, told his hypothermia to go fuck itself and made him push himself to his feet. Swaying dangerously Dean crossed the room as fast as his wobbly legs would carry him.

"Hey bitch get the fuck off my brother!" he screamed out. Dean decided that really had to think before he spoke when he flew into the side of the work bench, courtesy of his new 'friend'. His back ignited in sharp pain and he heard a loud crack. 'Defiantly broke some ribs that time' He thought bitterly as he fell ungraciously to the floor with a yelp. 'Suck it up soldier! Save Sammy!' his panicking mind screamed.

Running on pure adrenaline and fighting vigorously the need to sleep Dean pulled his battered body back up. When he had his feet again he looked to Sam to see his little brother on his knees shaking violently and arms wrapped tightly around himself. With a burst of energy Dean lunged at his brother pushing him out of the white could and landing himself directly in the middle of it.

Already on his knees from the jump, Dean fell to his side as his strength failed him and pulled his knees up to his chest making the fetal position as the cold bit into his skin and seemed to seep through his pores and into his bones. 'This is it' his clouded mind realized. He was going to freeze to death. Here, now. Curled up on this fucking floor shivering so hard that someone unknowing would think he was shivering a seizure. 'Stupid shaking came back.'

A hand so cold it burned grabbed his face and forced him to look up. It didn't feel soft like before. His teeth were chattering so hard now that he was mildly aware that if they chattered any harder he would mostly likely end up with chipped teeth. 'Not like it matters, I'm about to die anyway. Sorry Sammy. Least I'm going out with a bang.'

He forced his eyes to open and looked up at the thing that was holding his face so brutally. If he was going to die, he was going to look death in the face. A pair of icy white/blue eyes looked back at him before his brain short circuited and it all went blank.

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Sorry for the long wait in updating. I have the next chapter in the works so it shouldn't be too long until I update again soon. A big thanks to vincesbabe, snchills, DeanLives, laughandlove, KateCyrus, sudoku and SpookyClaire who all reviewed the last chapter. Press the little button and let me know what you think.

Mishka xXx