Chapter 3: Bogyphobia

It was nearly midnight and all was quiet in the small hospital room. Shelly sat at her stepbrother's bedside reading a pamphlet on a disease known as Bogyphobia. The passing hours were finally causing her eyelids to droop despite the discomfort of the hard plastic chair she was sitting on, and with a heavy sigh she rubbed her tired eyes forcing them to stay focused.

As she continued to read up on the diagnosis the doctor's had given her, the cupboard door beneath the sink across the room slowly unhinged itself. Shelly heard the tiny creek it produced and looked up. She noticed the cupboard was cracked open but thought nothing of it and went back to her reading.

Once the unsuspecting woman was focused again and all was quiet the cupboard door silently fell fully open. A pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the darkness beneath the counter. A sudden chill filled the room and Shelly could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as the evil eyes rested their gaze upon her. She felt his stare and looked up again, but the glowing eyes had vanished. For a brief instant the open cupboard struck fear in Shelly's heart but she looked down at the paper in her hands and laughed it off. "Come on Shell, the bogeyman?"

Shelly laughed again and put the pamphlet down on a small night table. She crossed the room and closed the cupboard making sure it was securely fastened. After a big stretch and a yawn, she sat back down and looked over at the eight-year-old boy resting beside her. She smiled sadly knowing that the peacefulness he displayed was only a lie. "I whish I knew what happened to you buddy." She batted at the tears in her eyes and then placed a kiss on his forehead. "You get better soon."

Dean pulled up in front of the building and felt a tinge of uneasiness as he read the words, Livonia Children's Psychiatric Hospital. He'd seen people over and over again become traumatized by the evil that existed in this world, but there was nothing like seeing a child stripped of his innocence. It was devastating.

Dean had been robbed of his own naivety at a very young age with the death of his mother. The only peace he found in the ordeal was that Sam was merely an infant when it happened and all he knew of that tragic night were the stories told, and not the vivid memories that often haunted Dean. He'd protected Sam as long as he could and supposed that was the reason Sam always fought so hard to distance himself from the family business and live what he claimed was a normal life, but it all caught up to him the night his girlfriend shared his mother's fate.

Dean looked over at his brother's sleeping figure with a guilt stricken heart. Had he not always sheltered him and coddled him when he struggled, he might have been more prepared to face Jess's death. He might not be so hesitant to let people get close. And now with these nightmares, these premonitions of death he had, he struggled even more. He tried to be strong like his brave big brother, but Dean knew he was scared of it all. Sam often resembled a fearful child, and deep in his heart Dean feared Sam could one day end up in a place much like this.

Dean shook off the depressing thoughts and pulled the keys from the ignition. Until that day came, if indeed it ever did, Dean would keep his brother's spirits up the only way he knew how. He looked around the car and then grinned as he plucked a rubber band off the dashboard. His smirk grew as he stretched the elastic over his index finger and finally, took aim at the side of Sam's face.

He let go with no remorse and stifled a laugh as his brother awoke in a bit of a panic. He lost it completely, laughing hysterically, when Sam put his hand to his stinging cheek and discovered the rubber band in his lap. Sam slowly turned to his assailant with his mouth hanging open. "You're a friggin' jerk."

Dean proudly accepted the title with a boyish smile. "Chicks dig the bad boys."

Sam rolled his eyes and then proceeded to rub the sleep from them. "Look alive Sammy." Dean chirped as he pulled some fake ID's from the glove box. "It's show time."

Sam heaved himself from the car and followed Dean through the front door of the hospital. They casually strolled up to the reception desk, greeting the stout nurse behind it with angelic smiles. "Good evening Wanda." Dean said with all of his natural charm. "Could you kindly tell us where to find the Halloway boy?"

"I'm sorry hun, but visiting hours ended at nine."

Dean sighed and then leaned his weight on the desk. "I understand that, and I hate to disturb anyone this time of night, but unfortunately we're here on official police business."

Dean pulled a badge from his jacket pocket and quickly waved it in front of the nurse. "I'm Detective Tony Iommi, Detroit PD, and this is my partner…" Dean looked at his brother and smirked, "Detective Timberlake."

Sam shot Dean a frown and then forced a smile to the nurse. "We have some questions about the missing boy and I'm afraid it can't wait until morning."

The woman eyed the boys for a moment and then sighed as she pulled a clipboard off the desk. She flipped through the pages on the chart and then said. "Room 153. Down this hall and to the left but I'm afraid it won't do you much good."

The nurse shook her head earning curious looks from both Sam and Dean. "That poor little boy was so bad we had to sedate him pretty heavily. Probably the worst case of post traumatic stress I've ever seen."

"That's awful." Sam whispered.

The nurse nodded her head but then gave them a nasty look. "Cops are saying the boy ran away, but a kid doesn't get that upset from his brother walking out the front door. I can't even think about what that poor boy must have witnessed."

Sam and Dean exchanged concerned looks and then Sam smiled sympathetically at the nurse. "That's what we're trying to figure out ma'am. Thank you for the help."

Shelly had finally dosed off completely but woke up when she heard another long creaking noise. She woke with a bit of a start, but all was still so she leaned over and rested her head on the bed in front of her. Just before she drifted off again, she noticed the cupboard out of the corner of her eye. The door was wide open again, but Shelly knew she'd closed it tightly.

Slowly, she made her way across the room, weary of what might be lurking in the darkness. As she reached the counter, she carefully pulled the cupboard door all the way open and peered beneath the sink. She laughed at herself when the space was empty but she stopped when she heard the faint sound of a wicked laugh behind her.

She whirled around examining every inch of the room, but no one was there except Jeremy. She listened to the silence for a moment and heard it again. This time there was no laughter, just the sound of breathing. The noise seemed to be coming from a supply closet on the other side of the room. It too was open just a crack and a malicious voice began to whisper so quietly she could barely make out the words. They were familiar though. They were the only words her stepbrother had spoken since he'd been admitted to the hospital.

"Baby, baby, naught baby,
Hush! you squalling thing, I say;
Peace this instant! Peace! or maybe
Bogey will pass this way."

Anger took over as her mind told her this was someone's idea of a sick joke. "Who's there?" she demanded as she headed toward the closet.

Just as she reached for the closet the door to the room opened, nearly forcing a scream from her as she jumped sky high. She turned to face her intruder and breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar face. "Dean! You made it."

Dean hugged his old friend but his smile became a look of concern when he saw how pale Shelly's face was. "Everything ok in here?"

Shelly glanced back at the closet, shaking off her nerves, and forced a smile. "Fine." She laughed. "Just psyching myself out I guess."

Dean smirked, eyeing the open closet curiously. "Is little Shelly Halloway scared of the dark?"

Shelly's eyes narrowed, but her lips curved into a smile as she stepped dangerously close to Dean. "Why don't you turn out the lights and find out?"

Dean let a single laugh escape as he attempted to control his hormones. "Well I would," he teased, "But uh, Sammy here's sort of afraid of the dark."

Shelly stepped back in surprise as she noticed for the first time that Sam had entered the room after his brother. "Sammy!"

"Its just Sam actually."

"Really? It didn't seem to bother you the last time I called you that." Shelly smirked and then sent a playful wink his direction.

Sam's face paled as Shelly greeted him with an enthusiastic hug, which he returned very stiffly. Dean watched the interaction very curiously. He knew his brother could be uptight sometimes, but this was bad even for him. Sam stepped back next to his brother and Shelly looked the boys up and down. "Well this is a surprise." She said being the first to break the silence. "The Winchester Boys together again. I thought Joe College would be off saving the world in a courtroom by now."

"Actually I never made it to law school."

Sam tried to hide his pain behind a smile and even though it didn't fool anyone, both Shelly and Dean let it slide. While Dean was not in the mood for another Sammy pity party, Shelly simply had the decency to let sleeping dogs lie. "I don't know about saving the world," Sam continued, hoping to change the subject as he motioned to the sleeping boy. "But I would like to help this little guy if I can."

"I'd like that." Shelly smiled as she joined him at her stepbrother's bedside.

Dean took his place on the other side of Shelly and tried his best to keep his mind focused on the little boy in front of him instead of the conveniently low v-neck top on the woman standing next to him. "So the police really have no leads huh?"

"Nothing." Shelly sighed, "But I know Brent didn't just run away. The kid is a teenage nightmare, but he never would have left Jeremy alone like that."

Shelly's voice softened a bit and her eyes glossed over as she continued with her explanation. "He was completely in shock when they found him. He'd wet himself and he was curled up so tightly that they had to pry his little arms from around his knees. That kind of fear is just not normal."

Shelly sighed again as she gently pushed the boys hair back and Sam about died when he saw Dean leaning back a little in order to enjoy the view Shelly created as she leaned over to place a kiss on Jeremy's forehead. He shot Dean a look of disgust, but Dean replied with a confused shrug. Sam couldn't believe Dean didn't know what he meant, and he made a slight motion with his head toward Shelly's backside, which she caught out of the corner of her eye.

Dean smirked rather proudly when Sam appeared to be the one checking her out and barely resisted the urge to laugh when Sam turned sick with embarrassment. He was intrigued with the peculiar smile Shelly gave Sam, but the poor kid looked so uncomfortable for a moment that Dean took pity on him and broke the silence, pulling Shelly's attention away. "What do the doctor's think is wrong with him?"

"That's actually what made me think to call you. When he's awake he just stares at the closet and repeats this poem over and over again and the doctor's think he's developed this weird condition."

"What condition?"

"Bogyphobia?" Sam read allowed as he noticed the pamphlet on the night table.

"Yeah. It's where kids who've witnessed something traumatic subconsciously turn what they've seen into an imaginary monster as a way of dealing with their fears."

"Imaginary monster? Like the bogeyman?"

When Shelly nodded a confirmation Sam and Dean glanced at one another both feeling the seriousness of the situation just went up a notch. "Are you saying you think the Bogeyman took his brother?"

Shelly shrugged, unsure exactly how to respond, but her hesitation was proof enough of what her heart was telling her. "But that's ridiculous right? I mean there's no such thing as the Bogeyman… Is there?"

Shelly glanced back and forth between her friends knowing their eyes were saying things their mouths weren't. Shelly looked to Dean for an answer but he shrugged and looked to Sam. "Look, I don't know. Not that I know of, but never say never right? Something obviously scared this boy nearly to death."

Sam's speech was hardly comforting and tears began to spill from Shelly's eyes as she envisioned a horrific monster dragging off her stepbrother into a vast nothingness. Dean pulled the distressed woman tightly into his arms. "It's ok to be upset." He whispered, "But Jeremy needs you to be strong right now. Imagine how much more scared he'd be if he knew you were scared too."

"We may not know what happened," Sam added, "But at least Jeremy is safe now and we have a place to start looking. We're going to need to get into your stepbrother's bedroom though."

Shelly gave Dean one more tight squeeze before letting him go and then nodded Sam's direction. "Karen and my dad will be here first thing in the morning. I'd be happy to take you guys to the house after they get here."

The boys took that as their queue to say goodnight and Sam shared an understanding smile with Shelly before heading to the door. Shelly grabbed Dean's hand and gave it a firm squeeze before he walked out the door behind Sam and then surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for coming."

Dean's face lit up at her touch and he smiled down at her. "We'll be back at eight am. You try and get some rest. No more psyching yourself out."

"I won't." She promised. "I'm glad you're here."