Chapter Two


Dean quickly left the office and headed straight for the motel room, needing some space to think. The motel manager's description perfectly fit the girl from his dreams. He didn't know what it meant. Were his dreams repressed memories? Or were they something more, like Sam's dreams? He doubted the last one. Or maybe he just badly wanted to believe that she was real. She had been a source of strength for him, seeminly untouched by the pain and chaos around her. She was his and his alone. He supposed that was why he hadn't told Sam about her. He wanted to keep her to himself. But if it was the same girl, how was it that she had been the one to check into the room where he had woken up? Had she been the one to bring him back? How was that possible? Who was she?

"Dean!"

Dean glanced behind him, never breaking stride, to see Sam hurrying after him, trying to catch up, his long legs easily making up the distance, the damn weed, "What is it, Sam?"

"You're not telling me something, Dean. I mean, I knew you weren't telling me everything…but, who is this girl? Do you know her? Who is she?"

Dean sighed in annoyance. Typical Sammy, always asking questions, always had to know everything, "It's not important."

"Not important?! Dean! This girl was the one who checked into the room you woke up in last week! She could be the one who brought you back, who has answers! She could even be a demon for all we know!" Dean said nothing, "Dean, please. I'm trying to help you here. And you've been keeping secrets since day one. I am not going to drop this."

"Okay. Okay…" Dean raised a hand to calm Sam down, "Calm down. I'll tell you." Dean sighed, "I've been having these dreams. Memories, I guess."

Sam furrowed his brow in confusion, "You said you didn't remember anything."

Dean gave Sam a look, annoyed at being interrupted, "I didn't. But when I'm asleep I get these…flashes. Kinda like in those movies when someone has amnesia and remembers something."

Sam is silent for a moment, trying to digest what Dean had just told him, "What do you dream about?"

"Oh, they're just flashes. I don't really remember." Dean decided not to tell Sam about what he remembered. He didn't want to upset him, "But, uh…there was this girl. She only showed up a couple of times but she was there and she was important."

"Was she a demon?"

Dean gave Sam a look as if that was the craziest idea in the world, "No! She was human."

"Who is she?"

"I don't know!" Dean stared at the ground and frustratedly ran a hand through his hair. The whole situation was too much. He wanted to remember. At least he thought he did, but he couldn't. All he knew was that there was a girl, she was important, and he wanted to find her. "I don't know who she is. I just want to find her, Sam."

Sam was silent for a moment, trying to understand how his brother was feeling. He wanted to be there for Dean, and he was trying. But Dean wasn't giving them enough to go on, and wasn't sharing everything. There had to be more to this girl. How did the same girl from Dean's dreams of Hell turn up at the exact same motel, in the exact same room? Something was definitely going on. After sorting his thoughts, Sam slowly nodded, "We will, Dean. We'll find her. But…are you sure she's not a creature of some kind?"

Dean made a noise of annoyance and stormed off, leaving Sam standing in the parking lot, "Dean! I'm only trying to make sure! DEAN!!"

SLAM.


There had to be some clue here somewhere. This girl had checked in here a week ago, and motels weren't exactly well-known for their high cleanliness standards. So Dean knelt down and slowly and methodically checked out the room for any clues, any signs that could offer him information about his mystery girl. So far, no luck.

"Hello…" he caught sight of a small sprinkling of powder on the floor. It was a beige color. Definitely not salt, or dust. He would have to get Sam to look at it, see if he had any ideas. As soon as he let him back in the room anyways. He deposited the small amount of powder on a piece of motel paper and folded it up for later. Sam couldn't say he never gave him anything.

He went back to his investigation of the room but, besides the powder, found nothing else out of the ordinary. He looked out the window. It was getting dark…He should probably let Sam back in the room now.


"So you're saying you found this stuff on the floor? In here?"

Dean just gave Sam a look, "Do I need to repeat myself?"

Sam sighed, "I'm just trying to make sure." Sam picked up a small pinch of the powder and rubbed it between his fingers, analyzing it. "You know…I'm not positive, but…this stuff looks like Angelica root. Crushed Angelica root." He looked over at Dean who had a blank expression on his face, "Angelica root is used in hoodoo to ward off evil or for protection. The fact that you found this here shows that someone who used this room had some knowledge of protection spells…"

"And that said someone needed protection from something."

"Exactly."


Sam and Dean climbed out of the Impala, slamming the doors behind them with an audible creak, after having returned from the nearest diner. They'd asked around if anyone meeting their mystery girl's description had been around, but unfortunately, so many pretty blonde girls pass through town that they had no way of telling if it had been her. Once again they were stuck at square one.

"Hey, dude!" Dean turned around to face the stranger who had just yelled after him, "You okay now?"

Dean frowned, confused, "What do you mean, am I okay now?"

"I've been here in town for over a week now, on vacation. Last week some chick was dragging you into your motel room, said you'd had too much to drink. You didn't look too good."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks. Sam frowned at the man, stepping closer to him, "This girl…what did she look like?"

The man gave him a weird look, but thought for a moment, "Uh let's see…blonde, hot, kinda short…"

Dean gave Sam a look, before looking back at the guy, "Thanks." He grabbed Sam's arm and marched off back to the motel room, leaving the man staring after them, shaking his head. Dean quickly pulled Sam along to their room, slamming and locking the door behind them, "What the hell is going on here, Sam?"

Sam sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on, "I don't know. Let's just think about this. What do we know so far?"

Dean sighed and sat down on the bed, "Well, we know I died. Then suddenly, a week ago I wake up in this motel room with memories of a girl. Turns out the girl was registered here in this motel room at the same time I was here, we find a powerful protection herb ground into the carpet, and now some tourist describes the same girl dragging me into the motel room. Probably when I was still dead."

Sam was silent for a moment, thinking over the facts. He frowned as something occurred to him, "You know, Dean…Something's been bugging me about this whole thing. I don't know, but…the whole thing is kind of…messy."

Dean had been thinking the same thing. For someone who knew a thing or two about Hell, resurrection and protection spells, she didn't do a very good job of covering her tracks, "Well you know what that means, little brother."

"What?"

"It means we stand a better chance of finding her."