Dean marched through the tall grass, following the same path he'd taken with Bobby just a short time ago. He knew it was stupid to go out here alone, but couldn't just sit around and wait. Bobby was going to do things the way he wanted to, and so was Dean. He was going to find out as much as he could. He followed the tracks into the cornfield, looking for another print left by the creature. There had to be more. There had to be something more! Surely this thing didn't just stop right here where it was.
Before Dean even had a chance to know what was coming, a searing pain shot through the back of his skull and he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He didn't have time to think or even cry out before unconsciousness took over.
------------------------------
Sam was starting to drift. He had no idea how long he'd been awake in the darkened room. With a haywire watch and no way of knowing if it was night or day, his senses were starting to shut down. He was fighting sleep, but at the moment, it was a losing battle. His head bobbed forward and in an instant, Sam found himself laying flat on his back in the middle of what looked like tall stalks of corn. It was dim outside – not bright but not yet dark, either. Sam groaned as even that small amount of light hurt his head. He covered his eyes with his hand and sat up. He couldn't tell if this was real or if he was dreaming. The cold dirt beneath him and the clap of thunder overhead sure felt and sounded real enough.
Slowly, Sam began to remove his hand and open his eyes. It took what felt like a long time for his eyes to adjust, but finally he could look around him without the throbbing pain in his head. What the hell was going on? It was a question he seemed to be asking a lot recently. He stood up, trying to get a better look around him. He couldn't really see much besides corn stalks in any direction. He was tall, mind you, but at the moment, the corn was taller.
He looked around for any clue of direction. It wasn't long before Sam spotted the footprints on the ground. The pattern was unmistakable. Dean had been here – and recently. Sam began walking, following the footprints through the corn to the edge of the field. As he emerged from the tall stalks, he could see the Impala ahead. Dean. Thank God.
Sam took off in a run towards the car, jumping over the nearly fallen barbed wire fence like a hurdler jumps in a race. He reached the car quickly and was surprised to find it empty. Even more surprising was Dean's cell phone lying in the front seat. Dean never went anywhere without that phone. Something was wrong.
Sam slid into the driver's seat. Even the keys were in the ignition. This was bad. Very bad. Sam grabbed Dean's phone and quickly dialed Bobby's cell phone number from memory. "Bobby! It's me. I need you! Something strange is going on!"
"You're telling me," Bobby answered in a surprised tone. "Sam? Where are you?"
Sam looked around, a bit confused, but more anxious about why Dean's was here but there was no sign of Dean. "I'm really not sure. I'm at the edge of a corn field. The car is here, and Dean's phone was in the seat, but there's no sign of Dean."
"Damn!" Bobby uttered into the phone. "Alright. I know where you are. Just stay there! Don't move from the car, do you understand me?"
Sam nodded his head, even though he knew Bobby couldn't see him. "Yeah, I got it. I won't move." He snapped Dean's phone shut, but then quickly opened it again to look at the time and date display that covered the picture of a half naked girl Dean used as a wallpaper. "Four days," he whispered in astonishment. He'd been held in that place for four days. It hardly seemed possible, but according to Dean's phone, that was it. He stared at the display again to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Nope. It had really been four days. Almost to the hour. Wow.
Sam was sitting in the car – just as he'd been told to do – when Bobby pulled up beside him and got out of his own car. Sam got out, too, and the two men stood face to face. Bobby looked him up and down and without warning, threw a splash of holy water in Sam's face.
Sam sputtered slightly as he reached up to wipe his face. "Bobby. It's me. Come on!"
"Sorry," Bobby said with a slightly sheepish shrug. "Can't be too careful. You've been missing for four days, Sam. And Dean and I figured out who's been holding you. You'd probably do the same thing."
"Who's been holding me?" Sam asked quickly. "And where's Dean? The thing that had me kept asking me about something that Dean supposedly has."
Bobby looked at Sam again and finally nodded towards the cars. "My guess is that it let you go and has Dean now. Come on. Come back to the hotel with me, and I'll tell you everything we've figured out."
Sam hesitated. "Bobby. If it's got Dean, we have to find him!"
Bobby turned back to Sam, his obvious frustration written all over his face. "Dean and I have been looking for you for four days now. We couldn't find you, so what makes you think you and I can find him? Trust me, Sam. You need to come back to the hotel with me. You're not getting out of my sight, and that's final."
Sam knew better than to argue with Bobby when he was like this. "Fine," he said quietly and once again slid behind the wheel of the car. It felt wrong to be driving the Impala without Dean beside him giving him a lecture about his driving habits or questioning every turn he made. He followed Bobby up to the main road, then through the winding roads to an old, broken down motel. He followed Bobby into a room and within minutes, had a beer in his hand and listened as Bobby began to spell out everything that he and Dean had figured out.