With The Coming of the Dawn

Summary

The hunters become the hunted when a creature stalks a remote community, and one of the brothers has a choice to make. Will both brothers survive the hunt and the decision of the other?

Disclaimer

Still don't own anything Supernatural although I will own to be Supernaturally obsessed! Have a sneaky feeling I may not be alone…

Author's Note

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far – it's appreciated!

Chapter 6

"There are many stories" Elsie continued, "of creatures such as these going back hundreds of years. Like the Wendigo, they are human – though you might find that hard to believe- or perhaps not" Elsie had caught Sam's grimace. "Some were early settlers and frontiersmen; some trappers, loggers, tinkers or miners. No two are identical – you see it all depends on the deal they make."

"Deal?" Sam queried, intrigued.

"Yes, deal – this is not some natural evolution at work you know" Elsie smiled sadly. "These were once men and women who have come to an arrangement with a supernatural entity-be it pagan spirit, witch or something equally or more powerful. In return for longevity, wealth, sometimes revenge or even out of fear, they will periodically take on physical attributes of animals. At times, the entity will intermix with aspects of other more unnatural creatures, again depending on the bargain made. But it is at a terrible cost – ultimately they have bargained their soul."

Elsie paused to collect herself before continuing.

"In our case, it has taken some attributes of a great cat. From what Missouri could tell me, this cat hunts for the sport of the entity it serves. She could not give me specifics without some physical token of the creature and that I could never find. All she could tell me is that it was cruel and evil, and enjoyed toying with its prey. That is somehow feeds from the pain its prey endures. She sensed a powerful psychic connection between the creatures and their master but could not tell what this was and could only assume this was how it communicated with them."

Elsie stopped and looked closely at the younger Winchester.

"Are you feeling unwell Sam?"

Sammy…

Sam had been listening to Elsie but a feeling of unease had been developing during her monologue.

Help me Sam…

Dean, he thought, he needed to find Dean – he rose but suddenly his head exploded in agony, the room was spinning, and he fell to the floor unconscious.

The vision assailed Sam's senses, this time though he was not viewing Dean as he was hunted, but was Dean. He could feel the pain coursing through his body, the agony of every movement, the disorientation, and mounting fear that this time, he was not going to make it, that he would no longer be able to protect his family. He could feel the static in the air and smell the storm approaching, the wind cutting through his shaking body.

Sammy, help me Sam! Dean's mind automatically reaching for the one person that mattered most to him. The only one who would really, truly mourn his passing.

Sam was with Dean as he ran from the forest, could feel his heart almost bursting from his chest from the exertion, the exhaustion setting in. He felt each stumble, the brief flicker of hope as his eyes finally made out the town through the swirling mist and dwindling light. He could feel the hope turn to despair as the figure in front loomed out of the long grass. His last desperate burst of energy to try to run around the creature. He could see through Dean's faltering vision, the shadow tower above him, the claws slashing down and then only a cold emptiness where once his brother had been.

Dean was now seriously pissed off, if whoever had taken the Impala, had damaged her in any way, he would wring their scrawny necks, resurrect them and then kill them again. He swore loudly. All of the weapons were in the trunk with the exception of the shotgun, and his boot and wrist knives that he customarily carried.

He checked his phone again- damn, still no signal! He headed into the mill but considering the lack of noise coming from within, he had a feeling he was on his own. The mill was deserted- where the hell did everyone go? Dean wondered it couldn't be knocking off time already. He looked again at the quickly darkening sky and realised that they must have headed back to town to prepare for the storm. Surely not everyone?

He headed to Danny's office and as he opened the door, a familiar, sickly sweet smell of copper hit him. He looked around and grimaced – Toby was definitely dead. His torso had been ripped open, his arms torn; obviously he had been trying to defend himself. Toby was not a small man and it looked like he had put up one hell of a fight – the office was trashed and blood was everywhere. There was no sign of Danny but Dean could see more blood behind the desk and a trail where a body had been dragged.

Dean reached out to close Toby's eyes, eyes that were still wide and fearful; disbelieving that death had finally claimed him.

As he did so, Dean realised that Toby was not yet cold - he hadn't been dead for long. Although he knew from the blood pooling on the floor that no-one could have survived this attack, the older brother stood to look for the direction that Danny had been taken, when nausea hit and the pain intensified. He fell to his knees as it spread down his limbs, taking his breath away and leaving him gasping, doubled over.

This was no cold, he realised. "What is wrong with me?" he whispered as he struggled to his feet. The town, he had to get back to the town. He staggered out of the mill and made for the town and his brother as fast as his weakening body could take him.

"Sam…Samuel! Wake up" A woman's voice insisted.

"Dean" Sam whispered.

"You had a vision," Elsie stated. Sam nodded painfully. "It's going after my brother, " He spoke quietly, fearfully, as if giving voice to the thought made it inevitable. "I have to get to him!"

"Do you know where he is?" Elsie didn't question further, sensing the desperation bordering on panic coming in waves from Sam.

"No, but I know where he is heading". Sam got to his feet and looked outside. The sky was darkening rapidly and he could see the wind picking up, whipping at the ash and elder trees in Elsie's garden, the rowan tree lashing at the gate. This was happening now Sam realised with dawning horror.

Sam brushed past Elsie and ran from her house heading full pelt for the guesthouse. "Dammit, I told Dean not to wander off on his own, where the hell is Dad?" Sam was frantic as he burst into their room. Most of the weapons were in the Impala, he had his handgun, and his curved blade, but that was it.

Sam ran from the room and sprinted to the field, his long legs eating up the ground before him, the rising wind pulling at his jacket, and his eyes desperately searching for his brother

Vaguely he could feel pain, on the edge of his senses, and knew that somehow he was sensing Dean, could feel his anger and mounting confusion.

Sammy

He stopped, turning in place until he could identify where the feeling was strongest. - There! He moved quickly forward – a fog started to creep up out the ground, shrouding the world around him in an eerie silence and rain started to fall, heavier with each passing second.

"What the..." Since when did you get fog with rain? Sam thought, but with the mist thickening fast and the sky darkening still further, he was quickly becoming disorientated and he realised this was deliberate. He dared not risk calling out Dean's name for fear of leading the creatures straight to his brother. Someone or something was trying to stop him reaching Dean." No!"

Help me Sam

Sam closed his eyes and concentrated. The sense that was Dean grew stronger, he's in agony, Sam's eyes flew open as he panicked and lost the thread to his brother. He closed his eyes and tried again. "Found you!" and raced on.

The Other within John followed Sam from Elsie's house, looking back at her house when he could feel her mind brush against his. Oh no you don't, witch. You, I will deal with later. Now I am going to watch the fall of a Winchester!

He could feel the pain coming off the elder of the brothers, his agony both in his body and in his mind. Dean's mind was reaching out for help – that was expected and acted as a beacon for his pets. It was the main purpose of the venom after all, he thought with a smile. The hunt was well underway. He frowned, feeling an echo of the brother's pain, a resonation.

Where? The witch? No, it was heading away. He could see Sam leaving the guest house when he suddenly realised. Oh Johnny, your boy is a psychic and you don't even know it! This was even better than he had planned; Sam would feel everything his brother went through. And a host with power, now that was enticing! He could feel John's anguish at what he could feel through the Other, at what his sons' were going through. He could feel him battling to break free and in doing so the Other got a glimpse of something. The Other faltered, but you did know – how had John managed to keep that from him? What else are you hiding? No matter, John couldn't resist him forever, he thought with satisfaction, and the Other followed Sam into the fog.

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Dean leaned heavily against a tree, desperately trying to catch his breath. He had first heard the high pitched bark shortly after leaving the mill, and recognised it from the night before. He knew that if the creature caught his scent, he would be no match for its speed. At first he had tried to confuse his trail, wading in streams, trying to stay on hard rocked areas where he could, anything to slow the creature down. But he could feel himself weakening, the constant barrage of pain seeping all strength from his body. His vision was becoming unfocussed and he was starting to feel detached and woolly headed and knew a fever was setting in. Suddenly the bark erupted again, much closer than before, Dean groaned as he pushed himself away from the support of the tree and hurried on.

A fog began to rise from the ground and the threatening sky finally released its burden, and heavy rain began to fall. He slid and slithered his way down the hill he knew led to the field behind the guesthouse. Despite his body's objections, he had made fairly good time but from the high pitched barks he had been hearing, the creature was gaining fast. The hairs on his neck and arms rose as the bark rang out right behind him, spurring him on. The fog ebbed and flowed around him, dangerously distracting, but he briefly caught a glimpse of the lights of the town ahead. He was going to make it. Then suddenly from the grass not 6 foot in front of him, a figure rose, graceful and deadly. "Fuck" Dean whispered and tried to dart around it. The creature was too fast and swung around, raising a huge taloned paw. In slow motion, Dean watched it flash towards him when he heard his brother scream his name.

"Dean! No!" Just as Sam had seen in his vision, he could see the creature towering over his brother, the paw already starting its deadly fall. Suddenly, the creature yelped in shock and it was tossed away from his brother and crashed to the ground. Sam's nose started to bleed as he raced for his brother who had fell to the ground. The creature snarled and charged at where Dean lay- determined to get to its prey. Again, it was thrust away by an unseen force- Sam staggered, each use of his power was crippling him in agony, and just pushing the creature away twice had him exhausted. The creature whined in confusion, then suddenly sniffed the air and loped away from the brothers.

Sam knelt at his brother's side. Dean was unconscious, his face pale and twisted in obvious pain. His eyes were shadowed and sunken, his breathing fast and shallow. Sam placed his fingers against Dean's neck – he was burning up and his pulse was fast, erratic and thready. Sam could feel Dean's pain, battering at his mind and it nearly overwhelmed him. "Jesus Dean, What's wrong with you?" Sam whispered, terrified for his brother. He awkwardly pulled his brother into a fireman's lift and headed for the one place he trusted - Elsie Baker's.

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The Other stopped in amazement and a little fear. He had just seen one of his pets swatted away like a fly by psychic energy alone. That Sam could do this, untrained was worrying yet promising. He should not have been able to do it twice. The fact he could and that his abilities were just emerging made the Other pause. If he could harness it… he thought to himself, but he would have to be careful. The witch he could fool, and the one in Kansas was too far away to sense anything, but if this one learned to control his abilities, he would be discovered. He would have to take steps and quickly… Dean will still die though, the Other thought with satisfaction, and that will distract his brother just long enough…

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