OK slightly after the weekend I know, I hope you guys aren't mad with me. Here is the next chappie. Hope you like, please R&R.

Chapter 18: - Life isn't worth living.

Letting out a shout in shock, she rushed towards him, not noticing the demon, which had slipped behind the door as she had opened it, emerge. She sank to her knees clasping Dean's sweaty trembling face in her hands, looking at him desperately. Behind her, the door slammed shut in Sam's face, leaving him standing on the porch.

Turning slowly, a feeling of dread consuming her, she turned, meeting the demon's penetrating cold gaze. As it advanced on her, she shrank backwards into the corner, unable to move her eyes from the demon's.

Smiling, the demon stuck out its tongue, feeling the fear exuding from her body. Slowly, it let its influence crawl through the air and into her mind, bewitching her as Sam thundered his fists against the door outside.

Alex, entranced by its eyes, felt her mind grow hazy as the demon seized control.

"Look what you made me do to Dean," it whispered, as it leant forwards to her ear.

It was so close; she could feel its moist clammy breath upon her skin. Shuddering, she moved her head away from it, tearing her eyes from the demon's to look at Dean, seeing him slicing through the delicate skin on his wrists, grief-stricken tears sliding down his face, his spirit broken.

Alex winced, her body shaking as the demon continued whispering into her ear. It felt her body tense as fear seized control of her limbs, her breath catching in her throat as tears filled her eyes. It grinned as it watched her confident façade begin to crumble just like it had done with Dean, leaving her weak and vulnerable, totally exposed to its will.

Creeping further inside her mind, it felt for her nightmares, bringing forward a barrage of them so strong she screamed.

Sam stood stock still in surprise as the motel door slammed shut in his face.

As the rain poured down the back of his neck, soaking into his clothes, he shook his head with a smile. "Hey, come on Alex!" he tried, juggling the grocery bags as he reached for the door handle. "This isn't funny. Let me in!"

Getting no response, he sighed, putting the grocery bags aside on the floor. 'Dean had spent too much time with Alex,' he thought, amusedly. 'If it wasn't him pulling pranks or being a sarcastic ass, it was her.'

Reaching forwards, he turned the handle, and leant against the door, trying to push it open. Annoyance welled up inside him as it refused to budge, the persistent rain soaking him to the bone.

"Okay, enough's enough," he snapped. "You've made your point. Now open the God damn door, before I kick it in."

Listening, he heard nothing, silence filling the air. 'Something's wrong,' he thought, knowing he'd hear hysterical laughter by now if this was a prank.'

Tilting his head up, he ran his hands across the top of the door frame feeling for a spare key. Finding none he cursed as he leant back, looking at the door critically. As he stepped back, trying to peer through the drawn curtains, he heard a bloodcurdling scream.

"Shit!" he hissed, thundering his fists against the door. "DEAN! ALEX!"

Alex was back in her old house in Covesville. It was dark, the day of her eighteenth birthday. She had needed to ask her mother something and had gone to her parents' room. Opening the door, she saw again her mother pinned against the wall behind the double bed, terror written across her face. She watched as she screamed, flames engulfing her body.

Alex gagged as she watched it happen, unable to do anything to stop it. As tears escaped her, the nightmare ended and was replaced by the morning of her stepfather's death.

She stood on the platform underneath the old oak in the town square, a noose tied around her neck, watching as Jack had tried to save her, the town stopping him and bludgeoning him to death. Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she looked down to where he lay in a pool of blood, trembling.

Her mind went blank before the next nightmare came. She was pushed off the platform, the noose tightening against her throat cutting off her oxygen, her feet flailing desperately for the ground, her mind beginning to cloud, fogging up her senses as unconsciousness closed in around her, her body slowly shutting down.

Finally came the nightmare of Sam and Dean almost dying because of her. Dean tied to the ground, heavy slabs balanced upon his chest as he refused to condemn her. How Elizabeth, her ancestor, had nearly forced her to kill Sam, torturing him with the memories of Jess's death.

The demon grinned as it whispered, "See, you failed to protect them all, your friends and family. You always end up causing the deaths of those closest to you. It's all your fault. Look."

Alex followed its finger seeing Dean lying slumped against the wall, his head resting on his chest, his arms hanging limply in his lap, blood soaking into his clothes. "He's dead because of you!"

Alex's eyes swam with tears as she looked at Dean, dreading what Sam would say. Guilt seeped through her as she watched flashes of memories. She saw Sam and Dean lying dead in coffins, saw them smiling at her in the surf back in Covesville, saw Dean being crushed under those wretched slabs and Sam clutching his head as his body writhed on the cliff side.

Snapping out of her memories she again looked at Dean lying beside her, his body limp. Dead. She looked from him to the bracelet on her wrist. The ring attached to it had been a gift from John Winchester to her mother nearly twenty years before, a reminder that there was always someone there for her. She glanced at the necklace that hung round her neck, a reminder of her mother's love and smiled sadly.

A glimmer of hope flashed through her as she watched the bracelet twinkle against her skin. Dean had saved her life against all the odds back in Covesville. She had in turn saved him and Sam from her ancestor Elizabeth when she had threatened to kill them all. Dean had trusted her. He had phoned her because he needed her help. He had trusted her with his life.

'These are only memories,' she thought, through her tears, the haze in her mind weakening. 'That's all they are! Yes she feared failing those she loved, of losing people she cared about, but wasn't that normal? Wasn't that human nature?'

She could feel people nearby. She could sense the tension, loss and despair that filled the room. 'What was happening? What was going on?' she thought, as she could faintly hear pounding on the door across the room. Dean was here somewhere, she could feel it. He was hurt, broken and bleeding.

Hope flooded her senses as she realised Dean couldn't be dead, not yet! The demon hadn't won, not until Dean had bled to death. Struggling to gain control of her rebelling limbs, she crawled towards him, pressing her hands firmly against his wrists, trying to stem the flow of blood.

The demon could feel her change of spirit, a stubborn determination building within her that it wasn't able to quash. Angrily it tightened its control over Dean, who was sitting unmoving on the floor, before turning on Alex, fighting to regain control, fighting to smother her with nightmares.

Refusing to submit to its will, the demon, in bitter frustration, hauled her to her feet, dragging her away forcibly from Dean as she struggled to save his life. It brought her face so close to its own that it could feel the warmth of her breath and could smell the subtle fragrance of her perfume. It glared into her eyes, looking for a weakness. She stared back into its stone grey eyes determinedly, refusing to be intimidated.

Scowling, it threw her back against the wall, slamming her head, which took the full impact, so hard her eyes rolled. She let out a muffled cry as her head cracked open and she crumpled to the floor near Dean, her vision blurring as stars popped in front of her eyes, unconsciousness threatening to eclipse her.

The demon sneering down at her, turned back to Dean, placing a gun in his hand, muttering, "Life is not worth living."