Authors Note: Yay! I managed to get this chapter written by late Sunday night :-) I had to wait til today to type it up but at least i was able to post a little faster this time :-) I hope you enjoy ...

Chapter 10. You should always trusts your instincts

What the hell was the first thing that came to the hunters mind. He was somewhere between peaceful oblivion and consciousness and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to wake up right now. He was quite comfortable where he was and he was confident that Dean would handle things this morning and get Sam and himself off to school. The boys were quite capable without him. Self sufficiency and independence were two very important things that John had tried to instil in both of his sons.

Despite his complete faith in not being needed for anything John had the sinking feeling that something wasn't right, that he was missing something. He couldn't for the life of him think of what could be wrong and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to know enough to break the peaceful dream state he found himself in.

As much as he would have preferred to stay asleep John had learnt a long time ago, even before he had started hunting that he should always trust his gut instinct and right now it was yelling at him to wake up.

Against his own wishes, John willed his body to wake up and he could start to feel the pull of consciousness. The massive headache that came along with his return to consciousness was causing him to second guess his decision to wake up. Did he really want to know what had caused such a headache? He was pretty sure that he hadn't been drinking the night before which meant only one thing. Something had gone wrong. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and tried to move his arms only to find that he couldn't move them. He could feel it now. His wrists were bound together behind his back and from what he could make out he was lying on his side.

Realising that this new information was not good John opened his eyes quickly to find himself alone in a dark room. From what John could see from his position on the floor it looked like some kind of basement. He struggled with the ropes for a moment trying to find a weakness so he could get free. It was no good. The ropes … no … actually they felt more like thin electrical cord. Whatever it was, they were tied expertly around his wrists, tightly. In fact they were so tight that John's hands were starting to go numb.

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed as his struggling only caused the bindings to cut into his skin.

What the hell had happened? John racked his brain trying to remember what he had been doing to land himself in this situation. Lawrence. He remembered now. The fog in his mind was clearing. Missouri had called and asked for help, bringing him back to Lawrence. He remembered speaking to Mike and losing his temper, but till managing to get the information he needed. That's where his memories ended. He tried rolling over but was stopped short. He wasn't just tied up but he was also tied down to something. He twisted around as much as he could and looked over his shoulder. It seemed he was tied to a wooden post or beam. He sighed in frustration.

There had been no record of a Gaylord Alan Carlson ever dying in Lawrence Kansas or anywhere else for that matter. Missouri had been sure that whatever had killed Biggs had been supernatural.

John got back into his truck and looked at his watch. It was 3.30 in the afternoon. His trip back to the library to use the computer hadn't given him any clue as to where the guy was buried and John came to two conclusions. Either the guy had died and no-one knew about it or the guy wasn't dead at all which would change some things. He had hoped that once he had learnt the killer's name that this job would be easy to complete. Maybe he could even make it back to North Dakota by sometime tomorrow and surprise the boys. He smiled ruefully as he should have known that things rarely went the way he hoped they would.

John shivered all of a sudden. He had the strange feeling that someone was watching him. He slowly looked out of the car window to the right and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He glanced in the rear view mirror before looking out of his passenger side window. He jumped when he came face to face with a man he had never seen before. After the initial shock John realised that there was something familiar about the man. There was a small scar just above his right eyebrow. It wasn't a coincidence and although John didn't know Carlson he was certain that it was the man in question that was staring back at him through the window.

John was just about to get out of his truck and confront the man that had been responsible for a number of murders but as suddenly as he had appeared; John was startled when he literally disappeared before his eyes. John's eyes darted around looking and he was even more surprised when Carlson re-appeared standing next to the blue car that was parked in front of his truck. Carlson turned and looked back at John one more time before the car door opened by itself and Carlson slipped inside.

John looked around. It seemed that no-one else on the street had noticed the man appearing and disappearing. The car Carlson had gotten into pulled out onto the road and John didn't waste any time in following. If this was indeed Carlson's spirit, it obviously wanted John to follow him. He wasn't sure whether it was the smartest move but this had been the best lead he had gotten in a while.

As John followed the car in front and he started to get a feeling of something like Déjà vu. He had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly where the spirit was taking him. His suspicions were confirmed when the car stopped in front of a very familiar house. John stopped behind the car and just sat there for a moment staring at his old home. There was a 'For Sale' sign on the front lawn. Why had the spirit brought him here? He hadn't even known the guy as far as John could remember.

"You're right John. You don't know me."

John jumped and turned towards the sudden voice. There next to him in the seat was Carlson. John wasn't given the chance to respond before Carlson struck out with a closed fist sending the hunter into darkness …

John blinked as the flashback finished. Everything had come back in one clarifying moment and now he was pissed. He had been a hunter for a long time and a marine before that. How had he let that damn spirit get the drop on him? He closed his eyes. He knew why. He should probably have never followed the damn thing in the first place and he had also let the sight of his old house distract him. He was better than that and now he was mentally beating himself up over it.

The most important question now was why hadn't Carlson killed him like the others? He had gone to the trouble of leading John through town and to his old home. There had to be a reason and if it wasn't to kill him then what was it. Maybe Carlson knew he was trying to stop him so he had gotten John out of the way. But that brought John back to the same question. Why didn't the spirit just kill him?

John tried once again to get free from his bindings, hissing when he only managed to cut into his already chaffed wrists again. He clenched his teeth and tried to think of a way out of this mess. If Carlson kept to pattern he would be going after Mike next and John was in no position to help.

His eyes had now adjusted to the dark so John took this time to check out his surroundings. The basement looked familiar. Just as that thought entered his head he felt sick. It couldn't be could it? He was sure of it; Carlson had left him tied up in his old home. It made sense he guessed. The house was for sale so it was vacant. That was why the spirit had brought him there. He didn't have time to dwell on why Carlson would do that however. He felt a vibration in his pocket seconds before a ringing sounded from his jacket pocket. John huffed. That was just ironic. His phone was on him and ringing but he couldn't reach it to answer it. He wasn't even sure how long he had been out for but he hoped that it was Missouri calling him because he was late getting back to her house. She would know something was wrong if he didn't answer his phone on top of being late. He just hoped that she didn't waste any time in calling in some back up for both his sake and Mike's.

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Caleb looked up at the car enthusiast store as he leaned on the hood of the Impala, waiting for Sam to get out of the car. There had never been any doubt that Sam knew his brother extremely well. The kid had probably spotted this store when they had first arrived in this town knowing that Dean's birthday was coming up. If there was anything that Dean loved almost as much as his family it was his car.

"So Sammy, what ya got planned?"

Sam jumped out of the car holding up one of those Velcro wallets. "I have been saving money just to buy this."

"Okay … how have you been making money and what is this thing?"

Sam smiled proudly. "I helped a few students with their assignments."

"You're doing other kids school work for money? Sammy, Sammy, Sammy that's not exactly perfect student material. Mac would be disappointed."

"I'm not doing their school work jerk, although it would be worth it. It was just these kids. They were behind and needed help with some last minute research and they were willing to pay a little for it."

Caleb smirked but then placed his hand on the boys back, directing him towards the store. Standing in the rain was not something he wanted to be doing. "How much did ya earn Sammy Boy?"

"Thirty dollars, which is exactly how much I need for Dean's present." Sam opened the door and held it open for Caleb.

"Great. So what is this great and wonderful present?"

"Here, I'll show you." Sam directed Caleb over to a glass case and pointed to a small key ring. "That's it."

Caleb looked down at the small silver key ring. Hanging on a short silver chain was a black Impala. Caleb had to admit that it was well made and the Impala on the key ring even looked exactly like Dean's. "That's really nice Sammy."

"There's more." Sam told him, smiling as he called the store owner over. "We'd like to take a look at that Impala key ring please."

"Sure kid."

Caleb leaned on the glass case and raised his eyes briefly to look at the gruff looking store owner.

The man handed Sam the key ring and stood back patiently waiting. Sam quickly handed it over to Caleb for his inspection. Sam wasn't sure why but Caleb's opinion on his choice of present for Dean was important. He thought maybe it was because Caleb and Dean could be so much alike at times that if anyone would know what Dean would like it would be the psychic.

Caleb held the key ring up. "It's a good choice runt."

"Turn it over." Caleb did as he was told and turned the key ring over. On the back, engraved in the silver was the year 1967, the exact same year as Dean's beloved Impala. "I changed my mind Sammy, this is perfect. Dean will love it."

Sam beamed up at his family friend. "I was hoping you would say that."

"Did you wanna take it kid?" The store owner asked, stepping forward.

"Yes please." Sam replied as Caleb placed the key ring back on top of the case.

"That'll be forty dollars."

Sam's smile faded. "When I came in last week it was only thirty dollars."

"Last week was the stores fifth birthday sale but now everything's back to normal price."

"Forty bucks for a little key ring!" Caleb exclaimed. "Come on dude."

"Buddy, this is an authentic piece of Chevrolet merchandise. Believe me when I say that is a perfectly reasonable price."

"I only have thirty."

"Sorry kid, it's forty."

Caleb looked down at the emotions running across Sam's young face. Not only could he see the emotions but Sam's crushed feelings were easier to read than a kid's story book. He had felt earlier how excited Sam had been and Caleb was reaching into his back pocket before he even realised what he was doing. The psychic rolled his eyes and didn't hesitate pulling the ten dollar bill out of his wallet. He would feel like a bastard if he didn't intervene. "We'll take it." He stated holding out the money to the store owner.

"It's okay Caleb." Sam tried. His father had drilled it into both his and Dean's heads to not take charity from anyone. It was a hard habit to break.

"Hand over the rest of the money runt and don't think your not paying me back." Caleb knew that the kid would feel better knowing that he wasn't just giving him the money. Damn Winchesters and their stupid pride.

"I will … I promise."

"Just pay the man already."

Sam smile returned and he removed his savings from his wallet and handed it to the store owner. They both waited for the key ring to be put in the small velvet bag. Once the bag was in Sam's hand Caleb gave the tight ass store owner a glare before following Sam to the door. It was still raining steadily when they walked outside. Sam placed the small black bag into the pocket of his jeans and jogged over to the Impala to get out of the rain.

"Aghh!" Sam whipped around at Caleb's distress. The psychic had stopped on the sidewalk. He was wincing and his hands were clutching his head. Sam ran back over to him and grabbed hold of his arm. "Caleb!"

"It's okay." Caleb tried to reassure when the pain in his head faded. He shouted out a second time when the pain shot through his head again and a glimpse of something flashed across his vision and his knee's buckled. He could vaguely hear Sam calling his name but knew the vision was about to take hold. Sam had witnessed many of his visions in the past so he hoped the kid held it together until he came out of it.

"You're going to pay John Winchester." That name immediately got Caleb's attention. Then he saw him. John was slumped against a wall, looking a little worse for wear. Actually that was an understatement. The man looked beat to hell. Caleb didn't know what John had been hunting in Lawrence but for some reason the thing that had John captive hated him. Caleb could feel the person or things rage. It was intense and Caleb could feel its need for revenge.

"You're nuts!" he heard John rasp.

"You never were good enough John." Caleb hated that most of the time he managed to connect with the bad guy. It always felt like he was the one doing the damage. It was disconcerting. Mac had mentioned that it was most likely to do with his demonic heritage which hadn't made him feel any better.

He saw John tense and felt himself pick up a knife. Caleb could feel his heartbeat quicken. He really didn't like where this was going. "It's time for the final stage John." Caleb found himself moving towards the older hunter. "It's time for you to pay for what you took from me."

"Go to hell." John growled. Caleb watched as John held back a cry of pain as he was lifted up the wall by an invisible force.

"You first John." And then Caleb screamed in his mind as he felt his arm rush forward, plunging the knife into John's stomach to the hilt. All Caleb could do was watch as his mentors mouth opened in a silent scream. The last thing Caleb saw before the vision started to phase out was the light going out in John Winchester's eyes.

"Caleb!" Sam called frantically, holding onto the older hunter's upper body in his lap. They were rain soaked and Caleb's little episode had drawn quite the crowd.

"Should we call an ambulance kid?" Some stranger asked.

"No! … Its okay, he's epileptic. He'll be fine in a minute." Sam lied, just wanting everyone to go away.

"No, no, no" Caleb painfully mumbled all of a sudden and thrashed in Sam's arms.

"Caleb?" Come on man." Sam sighed in relief as Caleb's eyes fluttered. Seconds later he jack-knifed into a sitting position. "Take it easy man."

"Is he alright?" a woman asked.

Sam ignored her and looked into Caleb's panicked amber eyes. "Sammy, we gotta go!" Caleb rushed to his feet and nearly went head first into the pavement before finding his footing. He already had the car door open and was sitting in the driver's seat before Sam had processed what had happened. "Caleb?"

"Move it Sammy!" Caleb ordered, starting the Impala barely waiting for Sam to close his own door before taking off.

Caleb didn't know what kind of trouble John had gotten himself into but he did know that he was going to do everything in his power to prevent his vision from coming true. He just hoped that they had enough time. He was never going to dismiss Dean's instincts ever again.

TBC ...

So Johnny boy is in trouble and now i think Caleb wont have any trouble deciding to head to Lawrence ... will Dean tell him "I told you so"? lol seeya soon :-)