The flames now leaked up high and consumed the whole room. He could feel the four children screaming, seeing them with their backs against the scorching wall. He could smell the devastating smell of burning flesh as it sizzled away from the bones.

And suddenly he heard himself utter the words of the rite of exorcism in Italian. The words came to his mind so easily that he wondered how he could have learned them so fast. Until now, he had only used this prayer once and he was sure that he would not have been able to remember these words. Now that they came out it felt natural to use them. Although he did not know exactly what he said, the words made complete sense.

Dean's eyes widened when he heard what his brother murmured under his breath. "What are you talking about, Sam?" Of course he knew that Sam couldn't hear him. It was not the first time that Sam had these visions but it was the first time that he was so deep in this trance.

Sam now stumbled backwards and fell flat on his back, hitting the ground hard with his head.

"Sam!" It was Lucy's voice that barely came through, but he heard it. "Sam! Come back!" There it was again, this sweet and strong voice that almost shone like a light in his darkness. With what felt like a struggle, Sam pried his eyes open and tried to look around but Lucy was not there. How could he have heard her voice? The place he was in also didn't look like the Hawking's kitchen. He suddenly felt the flames as if they ate their way through his own flesh but there was no pain. And then there was water, too much water that buried him.

He choked again and opened his eyes, blinded by the sunlight that fell in through the window. His hands groped around to find something to hold on to and found a pair of other hands, small, warm, securing him.

His eyes were watery and his nose was dripping and when he wiped his face, he realized it was blood. "God, this was intense…" he said hoarsely and coughed.

Lucy offered him a kitchen towel to stop the bleeding which Sam took with shaking hands. He knelt on the tiled floor, his head still spinning, his throat dry, his hands wet. He tried to clamber to is knees but he couldn't do without is brother's help.

"What did you see?" Dean inquired while holding his brother in his arms. Sam was still weak and a little drowsy.

Lucy pushed Dean aside. "What? What is going on here? What is this supposed to mean?"

Sam held up his hand to stop her from asking too many questions right now because he felt really dizzy and couldn't get together one sense-making thought. Lucy understood the gesture but couldn't hold back.

"No!" she snapped. "Not this time. You're going to tell me what is going in here…" Dean pulled her back but Lucy struggled free. He didn't try again. Instead he got up and filled another glass with water which he brought to his brother. Sam took it gladly and drowned it with one long sip.

"God…" he groaned and put both hands to his head. When Dean approached him, Sam held up one hand. "I need a minute, ok?"

Dean only nodded and walked out of the kitchen, followed by Lauren who seemed to have recovered. Lucy stayed and watched Sam squirm on the kitchen floor.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lucy suddenly said into the silence. Sam had finally recovered from the headache but he still couldn't piece together all the bits of information he had seen in his vision. He nodded but he felt that what she was about to ask would be difficult to explain. Dean nodded as well.

"Why are you doing this?"

"This…what?" Sam asked back.

"This all. Helping us and such things. I know that there is something weird going on but you seem to know so much more about this than you say you do. What is going on here?"

Sam cleared his throat. This was not going to be easy but he knew that she would ask, eventually. He had just hoped that this eventual point in time would not have come so soon. He decided not to let her in smoothly. It wouldn't work on her, he thought.

"We hunt supernatural phenomena."

"Supernatural phenomena? What, are you magicians or what? Fight angels and demons?"

"Well, not angels, but yes, demons, ghosts, monsters…" Sam's voice was nearly inaudible.

"Excuse me?" Lucy sounded exasperated. "You do what? I think I just heard you say you fight ghosts and monsters but I must have misunderstood." The look in her eyes showed Sam clearly that she was hurt. He remembered Dean telling him about him telling Cassie, his first real girlfriend and he also remembered that Dean described the look in Cassie's eyes. It was the same look Sam now saw in Lucy's eyes and it nearly broke his heart. He had never told anyone about their 'job' but he had imagined it to be hard to let anyone in on their secret.

"No, you didn't misunderstand. It's the truth. And that's why we're here. We think that there is something supernatural going on here." He slowly got up.

"What?" Lucy shouted. "Supernatural? All that's been going on here has been done by men, human beings, alright? Not by ghosts and demons! You understand? This is not a movie! This is about real people, not some weirdo ghosts. Real people like Lauren. And they hurt her! As will you. You're not so different to them." She was really upset now.

"Lucy, please! Calm down." Sam said with a low voice. "We're just trying to help." He looked at her but she turned away. Her face was flushed with anger and regret at the same time.

From what Dean could observe from his seat on the sofa, Lucy had gone back to her hostile behavior with which she confronted him the first time they had met. He could understand her, at least to some extend.

"Yeah right!" By the time the words were out, Lucy regretted saying them in such a harsh tone. She tilted her head. From the corner of her eyes she saw Sam leaning against the counter, one hand at his head, one held in front of him as if to ward her off.

Lucy could see that Sam was not feeling well. It was obvious. But instead of helping him she had offended him.

"I am not going to hurt Lauren and I'm not going to hurt you. But sometimes things happen that I can't change. I am what I am. I can't change that either." His voice trailed off until Lucy had to strain her hearing to understand his last words. "But I'll try to let nothing happen to you…"

She pretended to not having heard them. She didn't deem it good to simply let things slip away from her, so she – mentally - took a defensive position.

Sam moved across the kitchen slowly. Lucy followed him and when both reached the living room where Dean and Lauren were sitting on the couch beside the big window, she began to speak again.

"And by the way…what's with the name? Winchester? Like the rifle? Listen, guys, I'm not stupid." She gave Dean a weird glance. "Is it just a coincidence or did you choose the name because of the mystery that is around it? I mean…you make a big mystery about yourselves…Any chance you're related to Sarah Pardee Winchester? In case you are, I heard that insanity is genetically transferable to other members of the family. Maybe you're just crazy?" She laughed. "From what I learned about that mystery, the Winchester House began with a curse, was built under the guidance of spirits and has the creepiest architecture of any American home. Sounds freaky, eh?" Her voice had changed from worried and sad to an aggressive undertone.

Sam couldn't suppress a cough. "Well, as far as we know, we're not related to that woman.

"And by the way, that house was never haunted." Dean added. Sam turned at the sound of his voice. Sweat formed on his forehead. Not the legendary Winchester house had been haunted, their own home was. What a perfect association with the Winchester house. He had never thought about it but now that Lucy brought it up, he needed a few seconds for his mind to wrap around this revelation.