The darkness of the room was really starting to close in. Sam had long ago lost track of time. Day and night were no longer tangible things in the small, blackened room. He'd tried once to count the hours, but he'd only made it to 45 minutes before even that had become tedious and driving him closer to insanity. Every once in a while, he would stand up where he was and do some jumping jacks, or jog in place, anything he could think of to stretch his body and keep his heart pumping.

Sam had no idea how long he'd been in the room, but he knew it had been a long time. His stomach ached from lack of food, and restroom facilities… well, suffice it to say that was most likely why the mattress smelled like it did.

Without any warning, the black world in which Sam now lived was blasted with light. The suddenness at which the light over head flashed on sent Sam's senses into overload. The pain that shot through his head was instantaneous and strong. He thought he heard himself cry out from the pain, but it could have been his imagination. Sam covered his eyes with his hands and tried to calm his pounding head and racing heart.

The door on the other side of the room opened and a try was slid onto the floor. The door to the room slammed shut as quickly as it had been opened, and before Sam could even attempt to adjust to the light, the room was plunged into darkness again. He stayed where he was for several minutes, trying to recover from the onslaught and somewhat fearing another one.

It didn't take long, though, before the smell of food filled the room. Sam's stomach growled uncontrollably as the smell filled his nostrils. He moved slowly, as before when he'd searched the room, again using his hands as his guides. He finally found the edge of the tray. His fingers searched the contents as best he could.

A surprise! A small flashlight rested on the tray. It was tiny – small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. The light it produced was minute, but it was enough that he wasn't totally in darkness anymore.

He forced himself to eat only a portion of the food on the tray. If this was to be his only meal for awhile, he needed to make it last as long as possible.

It was then that a thought dawned on him. Time! His watch was still attached to his wrist and finally with the small flashlight he'd been given, he could tell what time it was. But yet another surprise awaited Sam.

"What the hell?"

-----------------------------------------

Dean shined his flashlight down the isle of the warehouse in both directions. His trained eye searched for anything out of the ordinary. Well, for him it would be totally ordinary, but that was beside the point. He knew what he was looking for, and so far, he hadn't found it.

Bobby was with him now and together they had searched fifteen abandoned barns, warehouses, crop bins, and a few other buildings they couldn't really identify. A couple of abandoned farmhouses in the area were next on the list. So far, there was no sign of Sam – nor the thing that took him. Dean's frustration was great, and it had him even more on edge than usual.

A pingy version of "Smoke On The Water" came floating out through the pocket of Dean's black denim jeans. He reached for the phone feeling the same sense of hope he'd felt everytime his phone had rung since Sam's disappearing act. The anger and added frustration were the same, too, when he saw that it wasn't Sam calling.

"Bobby. Anything?" he asked gruffly.

"Maybe." Bobby's voice sounded distant and scratchy through the poor cell phone signal. "Meet me on the highway."