AN: WARNING... THIS FIRST PART ISN'T FOR THE SQUEMISH!! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it...


The night barely had any sound, just the occasional left over cricket who refused to admit that it was time to sleep, which made it so important to get the ritual and cleansing done as quickly as possible; anyone could just walk by and notice that something odd was happening and call the police. After double checking that their boys remembered their jobs, Max and Josie quickly entered the tree line to tend to their portion of the plan.

With Dean close by, Sammy didn't have a problem with staying by the car, it meant that although his warning to his dad might not have been taken as seriously as he'd hoped, his position in the hunt was still solid… he was still considered part of the family and not some freak. He knew that he didn't have a lot of information to give his dad, but he felt that something was off about this haunting and knew he had to speak up. Now he and his brother were waiting for either the ghost or spirit to try something, or until their parents finished up and they would head back to the house again where they would sit at the table and drink hot cocoa to warm themselves.

The sound of yelling broke through any other thoughts, freezing him in place. It wasn't until he saw Dean rushing towards the sound of their parents screaming that he knew he needed to do something.

"Dean, we have to get help! Please Dean, we have to…" he pleaded, knowing that if his brother disappeared into the woods then whatever was in there would kill him too.

He had no idea what Dean told him but he was relieved to see they were heading towards the car. Sensing more than seeing his big brother turn slowly to look behind him, Sammy knew what they'd see and he willed himself to be in the grips of a nightmare instead of actually living this moment. Turning with his brother he saw the shadow at first coming towards them and then Dean was flying through the air until he hit the ground hard enough to bounce.

"DEAN!" he screamed and tried to go towards his brother only to be held captive by what felt to be a circular wall only he couldn't see one. Looking up he saw a man with pale yellow eyes gazing at him happily as he swung an object back and forth in his hand. Unable to stop himself he looked hesitantly and would forever wish that he hadn't, then he would not know just how horribly his parents had died as he stared into the lifeless eyes of his mother whose head was hanging loosely by her hair in the man's hand.

"Sammy Sammy Sammy… what am I going to do with you?" the man asked. "You knew that you shouldn't be here, you dreamt what would happen, but now you're here and they're gone. Just what do you think your brothers are going to think when they find out… hmmm? Tell you what, it can be our little secret, ok? No? Well, then I guess there are other ways of dealing with that, I can't have you ruining my plans, now can I?"

Sammy watched the man circle him while constantly swinging his mother's mangled face back and forth. Finally the movement stopped and he felt relieved until the man looked straight into his eyes, held his finger to his lips and spoke.

"Shhhhh Sammy….."

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Sammy had no idea how long he actually slept, but now he wished he hadn't. The memory of that night was bad enough without the knowledge that his brothers weren't with him when he needed them. Worried that something had happened, he quietly got out of bed and moved through the house to try and find out where everyone was.

As he reached the living room he saw his dad's tools lying out on the coffee table and the newspaper spread out on the floor. He knew they weren't looking into any hunts at the moment, not with people constantly snooping into their activities, but he had to wonder what was going on.

"Hey, there you are kiddo… I was about to come and get you. After everything that's been going on I called the school to let them know you'd be a little late today. Once I told them that you were actually sleeping they understood and agreed to leave you be for awhile. So… how are you doing?" John asked as he sat on the couch and placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon on the coffee table before patting the cushion next to him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sammy wasn't sure what he should do. If he let his brother know he had a nightmare then he'd get asked a bunch of questions that he just didn't want to think about.

John knew that something was going on with his baby brother, but the agreement he had with Dean was to let Sammy get through a week without shaking so damn much and then they could tackle the problem of what their little brother saw. However coming up with that plan and keeping with it was becoming two completely different things, especially with said little brother drawing in his book almost constantly making them all wonder if his visions were increasing or if he was now able to go into greater detail; and didn't that last thought scare the crap out of them.

"Ok, you eat up and hurry getting ready and I'll see what I can do about landing a job today, how's that?" John asked while ruffling Sammy's hair. Smiling he couldn't help but remember the light hearted arguments their parents would have about cutting the curly locks. Mom would always win especially when she reminded Dad how much time he had spent playing with the curls when Sammy was a baby. "You know, Mom and Dad loved your hair kiddo… you know that, right? That's why Dad let Mom trim it instead of taking you to the barber like me and Dean… he didn't want to risk someone messing it up."

Shocked, Sammy looked at his brother and wondered what brought that on. He knew that his parents would joke about giving him a buzz cut if he brought anything lower than a 'B' home from school, but he knew it was just that… a joke. Looking at John quizzically he tried to convey the question running around in his brain.

"Sorry about that Sammy, guess I'm feeling a little sentimental at the moment. Hey, don't look so shocked, you'd be surprised how sentimental I'd get while I was at school." John said and wished he hadn't when he saw the wall go up behind his little brother's eyes. "I did miss you, and if it hadn't been Texas A&M I would stayed here, you know that right? I just wanted to make everyone proud and I thought I was."

Sammy sighed and leaned back against the couch. It wasn't that he and Dean weren't proud of their big brother, but it was the timing that made them feel like they didn't matter. It was a week after graduation that they found John packing his bags saying that he wanted to get a summer job down there to get a feel for the place before the fall semester started. Both he and Dean had planned on having the whole summer of new hunts, new adventures and even some new memories with John before they all took a week off to drive him down and help him get settled in his dorm. It was something that they had secretly been planning with their parents from the moment Mom had sent in the application right under the deadline. He knew he needed to explain it, but he couldn't get the words out and knew that Dean would never admit to any of it.

Patting Sammy on the knee John smiled. "Come on kiddo, time to go. With any luck I can land something temporary and start tomorrow." His smile faded as he saw the dejected look on his baby brother's face and wondered what was really going on.

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Dean couldn't concentrate on anything and the reason was his little brother, who had been sleeping so soundly he actually slept through both him and John getting ready for the day. He couldn't help but wonder if Sammy's sudden exhaustion had to do with his increased journaling. Now that he thought about it, he was having to buy more colored pencils than usual and wondered just how much detail Sammy was putting into his vision recordings.

Sighing, he knew he was in trouble when Mr. Epson called out his name apparently for the second or third time and demanded he answer the question.

"I'm sorry sir, my mind was elsewhere." He said honestly while ignoring the giggling in the classroom.

"At least you were being honest Mr. Winchester, however that will not excuse you from the problem at hand. Now please look at number twelve and enlighten us with preferably the correct answer."

Although he normally hated his Math class, right now they were dealing with Algebra and to him it was more like a puzzle to be solved that some idiotic rule or definition. Seeing what they were dealing with he nodded. "Sure Mr. Epson, it's 12x-2y+3"

"Very good Dean. Now how about we continue to pay attention so we all can get through the following month before Christmas Break, with the least amount of stress, shall we?"

Numbly Dean nodded his head while Mr. Epson's words ricocheted around his mind. It would be Christmas soon and they would have to celebrate it without their Mom and Dad. Feeling nauseous, he grabbed his books and hastily left the classroom ignoring his teacher who was calling out his name. All he could think about was getting out of the building whose walls were clearly closing in on him.

So intent on getting outside he was completely unaware of the custodian who watched him rush out the double doors before his eyes flashed their pale yellow.

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Knowing that his brothers were expecting him to hold up his end of the bargain, Sammy didn't try to get out of going to school even though all he really wanted to do was hide until the world ended. As he walked into his classroom and held out his pass from the Office, he could feel everyone looking at him as if he was something to be studied. Normally he wouldn't care, but at the moment it really was bugging him and he was starting to recite small curses in his head at those who just didn't seem to want to leave him alone. By the time he got to his desk he could feel a headache building and all he could do was ride it out. With John looking for a job and Dean busy at school, he didn't have anyone he could call to bring his medicine to him. His parents had thought about leaving some with the school nurse, but thought it would only add suspicion to their family if people were privy to the intensity and frequency of his headaches. Their doctor assured them all that it wasn't that uncommon for children with higher than average intelligence to also have increased number of symptoms, but even he didn't know what really triggered them... sometimes it really didn't pay to be psychic in an unsympathetic world. Whatever it was that he was tapping into at the moment though he wished it would move on because it was really starting to get on his nerves.

The sound of the fire alarm shocked everyone until the teacher had the presence of mind to get everyone out the door calmly and onto playground. It was too bad they didn't have their coats since it was a chilly November day, but no one was going to ask to go back inside; it might be a drill, but there were still rules to follow. Suddenly he tuned into what some of the teachers were saying and he started to worry about being out in the open.

"I made sure to double check the schedule. There isn't supposed to be another fire drill until Spring. Do you think it's one of those crank bomb threats?"

"I don't know, but if I find out that someone knew about this and didn't warn us I'm going to have a fit. Jennifer Dawson just got back to school from having bronchitis, how do you think she's going to…"

The windows blowing out from two classrooms and onto the side parking lot brought screams and curses alike from those standing by watching. The knowledge that whatever was going on wasn't a drill became more evident with the arrival of the Fire and Police Depts., both of which assured the teachers that they would make sure the situation was taken care of quickly, while the arriving news crew were more than willing to do a blanket announcement that parents and guardians needed to pick up the children from the nearby park.

Although the pressure inside his head had relieved somewhat, Sammy couldn't help but feel that he was missing something. Looking around he saw a man in a custodian uniform looking as upset as everyone else. It would have been so easy just to pass him by and not think anything else about him… except for the flash of yellow in his eyes.

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John couldn't believe he was in the position he was in at the moment. It was weird enough to be driving the Impala as if he owned it, and technically he did, but now he was asking one of his dad's former bosses for a job. If he didn't know better he would have thought he was on some sort of comedy show where the host would jump out and yell something ridiculous like 'Fooled You!' In all honestly he had only stopped in at Midtown Garage because he knew they always carried parts for his dad, but it didn't take long for Mr. Peterson to start talking about how he missed having the eldest Winchester around and wished that he and his mom hadn't been attacked in the park that night. How the hell they got on the subject of jobs he still had no idea but as he listened to the older man he had to really wonder what the punchline was.

"Now I know that your dad liked to be flexible with his work, and that was fine for me at the time, but I've expanded quite a bit and I really need another set of hands full time. Now I'm not saying that I can't be flexible with your hours, 'cause I know how it is with raising kids, but I really need to know you're willing to work a full schedule even if that means you come in on a Saturday or Sunday to make up for any time lost. Now last year we were advised to add health insurance and a retirement fund by the accountant and I have to admit that the insurance isn't the best, but it does what it needs to in a pinch and it starts thirty days after you start… your portion is taken out weekly so it doesn't hit as hard like it would once a month. As far as the retirement fund… sorry son, you'll just have to do it the old fashioned way – save your pennies in a jar and bury it in the back yard."

Laughing, John could tell why his dad liked the man and had to admit that this was something that he'd been hoping for. He held out his hand in agreement and was just about to thank the man when one of the mechanics turned up the radio with a concerned look on his face. It took a moment to understand what the announcer was saying.

"… the new state of the art alarm system bought by the bond money voted on by the citizens of Lawrence five years ago registered the beginnings of the fire that began in the boiler room at Cleveland Elementary School less than an hour ago. All students and faculty had successfully evacuated the building before the fire spread blowing out several windows and damaging numerous classrooms. It is unknown at this time the extent of structural damage. All parents and guardians are asked to pick up their children at Hilldale Park…"

"Oh my God!" John blurted out, staring at the radio in shock.

"Go John, we'll discuss the job's details tomorrow or whenever you're able to start." Mr. Peterson said as he grasped the younger man's shoulder. "Go on… I'm sure your brother is fine, but I bet he'll be glad to see you."

Nodding, John ran to the Impala and didn't bother with the seatbelt as he sped down the road towards the park that he remembered having picnics with his family. It only took him a few minutes before he broke harshly to a stop in front of a small crowd and knew instantly that whatever had happened his baby brother had experienced some backlash. He hadn't managed to get fully out of the car before Sammy practically tackled him with a hug and didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon.

"Come on kiddo, let's get home and we can figure out what's going on, ok?" John asked; worried that whatever was going on was going to place them all back to square one with Sammy.

Somehow they were able to pull into the driveway with Sammy still holding on for dear life the whole way. What surprised John though when he stopped the car was the kitchen door opening to reveal his other brother looking pale and shaky in the doorway.

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Sammy was drifting again and knew that he couldn't stop it. His brothers were in the kitchen arguing quietly about something that he could never figure out and he had wanted to be close but not in the middle of it which left the couch to lean back on. It didn't take long before he was wherever he was supposed to be and as he looked around he wished once again that he didn't have this gift.

"Hey there Sammy boy… how ya doin'?" the custodian asked as his eyes flashed once again. Seeing that the boy wasn't going to say anything he smiled once again. "You know I could have sworn that you were thinking about letting those brothers of yours know about what happened… about me. Now we both know that wouldn't be a good idea, don't we… after all, we wouldn't want a repeat of mommy and daddy, would we?"

Shaking his head, Sammy's eyes widened while he tried to plead his case that he wasn't going to tell anyone, but once again nothing came out of his mouth.

"Oh relax Sammy… I made sure you can't actually talk to them, but I am concerned about that wonderful little journal of yours. If I were you, I'd make sure it was well hidden… just so that something… accidental didn't happen."

Waking with a start, Sammy knew that what he just experienced was real and not some sort of demented dream but he had to wonder just what that man was if he could get by trained hunters. Trying to calm himself he turned and watched his brothers continue to talk about something that they only knew about. Finally he made a decision… he'd do whatever it took to make sure his brothers lived – no matter what else it cost him.