hello again everyone. thank you all again for the wonderful reviews. this chapter is low on action, sorry, but i am still setting up the back story a little for anyone who hasnt read 'something lost'. i promise, the action will be here soon!!!

as always, enjoy and let me know what you think :)

D: still my, but only in my dreams.

TWILIGHT

Chapter 2

Dean stood in the doorway, watching as the black car disappeared down the road, dust flying up in its wake. The air around him felt suddenly still, the dirt trail dissipating into the heavy summer afternoon. He was alone, a child left behind with the responsibilities of a grown man. And in all honesty, he was terrified. Because he knew that he had to look after not only Sam, but Evelyn and Kerri as well.

It was times like these when he wished he was a normal child, times like these when he wished that the responsibilities would fall to someone else. He wouldn't trade his little brother for the world, but there was still that little voice inside his head, that small whisper of reason that was telling him that he was still only eleven years old, telling him that children were not supposed to fight the monsters.

"Dean?" Kerri spoke softly beside the young boy, her blue eyes following his stare, gazing out over the now empty road.

She knew what the older men's absence was doing to Dean, had watched him fade more and more into himself as the hunt grew ever closer. He was strong, brave and so unlike anyone she had ever met, but underneath it all he was still nothing more then a child, still a boy her own age. And she was angry with both her father and John for putting him in such a position.

It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, and she could see that it was aging him, dulling him, drawing him further and further away from the world outside of hunting. Every time he came to visit he was more and more withdrawn, the vibrant young boy she had met five years ago all but gone. And while Sam grew up like a normal kid, Dean grew old before his time. And it was all just so wrong to her. He should have been allowed to be himself, should have been allowed to be a child, not have been forced to become a soldier at the tender age of four.

"Huh? Yeah?" Dean took one more long look at the empty road before turning to Kerri, his smile firmly in place; deep, soulful eyes the only give away to how he was truly feeling.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine." He lied as he moved back into the house, pulling himself up to his full, yet still meager height. He was a child trying to be a man, plain and simple. And he was more then grateful that Kerri didn't call him on it. He didn't have the energy to defend his father, didn't have the strength to listen to the same argument over and over again. Yes, John had made mistakes, he was human, but Dean would take all those mistakes a hundred times over if it meant that he got to keep his family. Because, when all was said and done, that's what really mattered to him.

As he turned back towards Kerri, her keen eyes almost staring through him, he felt suddenly free, suddenly found. He had spent too much of his life alone. Yes, he had Sam, but that still wasn't always the same. Kerri was someone who knew exactly what he was going through, someone who had gone through it herself. She was the only person he could talk to about his mother, the only person who knew what it was like to awaken to fire, to lose everything you had ever know to evil. And she knew what it was to be responsible, to be the older sibling. And he reached for that when ever he was near her.

Far too often he and Sam were left alone in dingy, one or two room motels. Many of said establishments being of questionable practice. He had heard fighting, heard sex, heard violence, heard crying, all as he tried to protect Sam, tried to keep the darkness that surrounded their small family at bay. And the truth of the matter was, that it was starting to take its toll, starting to pull him under. He knew, in all honesty, that he had to be more like his father, had to leave his emotions behind, do his job. And he tried, every day, every hour, he tried.

He feigned indifference hoping that one day he wouldn't have to pretend. He shut out all but his closest friends, fearing the world beyond their car windows would not understand him. And he made keeping Sam safe his soul purpose in life. He did it all because that is what his father did, and if Dean Winchester wanted to be a hunter, then he would have to be just like John.

But, the truth of the matter was, that no matter how much he idolized the older man, no matter how much he tried to be like his hero, like his dad, Dean was still just a child, still a small soldier that was afraid of fighting on his own. So when he heard about this hunt, to say that Dean was petrified would be an understatement. His father had originally wanted to go alone, leave the boys in the room while he camped out and waited.

And, even though Dean knew he wouldn't have been gone quite so long, the idea of being alone again was starting to way on his slim shoulders. But then, well, then things changed. And somehow, for some reason, John had decided to team up with Tom Harrison, to leave all four children together. And, while Dean feigned indifference on the outside, inside his soul was dancing.

"Two weeks will be gone before we know it, right." Kerri smiled, glad to have Sam and Dean back, even if it was only for a month. The truth was that she missed them everyday, and would often sit in her room, listening for the rumble of the impala, listening for their return.

They were the only people who really knew what was happening, really knew what was going on. And, while she attended school and seemed perfectly normal on the outside, inside her was the world of the hunters. She didn't hunt herself, and she told herself every day that she never would, but that still didn't lessen the reality of what was around them, what was really in the dark. And so, while the kids at school joked about it, forced the little kids to say 'bloody mary', she sat at home with Dean, talking about anything, as long as it had nothing to do with monsters.

"Yeah, and hey, at least it's summer." He smiled as the two made their way back to the large kitchen where Sam and Evelyn were still eating, knowing that winters in the Wyoming mountains were far from fun.

"Not quite quick enough, dude." Dean chided, pulling the spoon from Sam's hand mere seconds before he launched his oatmeal at an unsuspecting Evelyn, the young girl still staring absently out the window.

"Aw, Dean, she wasn't even looking."

"Well, good thing I saved her then."

"You're no fun. Dad would've let me do it." Sam pouted, turning back to his breakfast.

"No he wouldn't." Dean smirked, sitting down beside Sam with his own bowl as he sifted through a stack of comics on the table.

"What're looking at, Ev?" Kerri asked, eyeing her sister suspiciously as she too sat at the table. Evelyn was staring, empty eyed out the kitchen window, the forest dancing in the wind a few hundred meters away. It was almost like the small girl was in a trance, the other three watching as she sat, still and quite, her eyes glued to some distant image.

"Ev?" Dean began, his senses picking up while Kerri walked to the window, trying to find what had her sister so enthralled. The truth of the matter was that Evelyn had an extremely active imagination, and, while this was still creepy, it wasn't unusual for the little girl to stare into space, it was unusual, however, to have her not answer when called. "What's wrong? What're looking at?"

"Nothing." She began after a few moments, her voice oddly flat. "Can Sam and I play outside?"

"Uh, I don't know." Dean began, a strange foreboding taking him over. His mind immediately snapped back to the previous day, to Evelyn leaning out the window, asking him if he heard the pretty music. He had a bad feeling then, and this was only making it worse. And god, he thought, their dads had only been gone a few minutes.

Dean absently thought about calling them back, about telling them of Evelyn's strange behavior, telling them about the music she claimed she could hear. 'No.' He thought, his mind shifting as Kerri made her way back to the table. 'They trust me, they would know if there was something here. They wouldn't leave us without checking first.'

"Come on, Dean." Sam chimed in, eyes bright. "It's so nice out, can we please. Nothin's gonna happen."

"We wanna play basketball." Evelyn's gaze finally broke free of the window, her voice again light and cheerful, as she bounced up and down in her chair. "It's not far, it's on the back of the shed."

"All right. But." He added as the two seven year olds bolted from their chairs. "You gotta wait for me and Kerri. I don't want either of you outside without at least one of us."

"Dean." Sam began, turning back to his brother, his face twisted in all the anguish a seven your old could muster. "Dad's gonna be gone forever, and now I can't go outside without you or Kerri!"

"Them's the breaks little guy." Dean ruffled Sam's hair as all four made their way outside.

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The shadow smiled as her song reached across the sun drenched fields, the little girl before her staring out, pale eyes locked with hers. She could feel her youth, feel her strength, her innocence. It all called to her across the fields, echoed to her like her music echoed to the child. She wrapped the little girl with her warmth, pulled her spirit closer as she beckoned her on. She told the child of rainbows and flowers, of eternal summers and living dreams, told the little girl of everything her forest had to offer, everything there was beyond the walls of that big old house.

And she could feel her answer, feel her move towards her, but then, suddenly, she felt her pull away again, felt the connection break. The spirit cursed softly when it saw the other two move into the room, blocking away the younger children, shielding them from her pull. And while they were only children themselves, she could feel that a part of their innocence had long since faded away. They knew what it meant to be afraid, knew what it mean to be wary, to not believe.

They had both seen what was in the darkness, and therefor, they both knew how to keep it at bay. And now they were standing in the way of her prizes. The spirit looked down once more into the dark lake at her feet, the icy waters brushing against her toes, the cold breeze around her chilling the warm summer air. It would have to get around them, have to keep them out of the way somehow. The watcher slowly lifted its head, eyes falling on the four small figures running across the lawn before finally resting on the two little ones. Sam and Evelyn. It needed them, it wanted them, and, as its gaze gently drifted to Dean and Kerri, it knew that it would find someway to have them.