Chapter 6: Narrow Escape

"Sam! Sam!" Dean called, but his voice echoed through the gravestones and the churchyard with no reply.

He ran to the church where his brother had been searching, but there was no sign of the younger Winchester.

"Sammy!"

Still no answer. Dean felt his heart pounding in his chest. It wasn't time to panic yet, but it was definitely time to start getting scared. Dammit, why wasn't he answering? He couldn't have gone that far.

Dean!

Dean turned at the sound of the disembodied voice, the one that had warned him and called out to him. As he turned, he noticed a path, almost invisible in the trees, leading away from the church. Somehow knowing that that was where Sam was, he took off running down the path, calling his brother's name.

When he saw the well his heart gave an unpleasant lurch.

"Oh, God..." he breathed, "Sam!"
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After Sam was pushed he had the unpleasant sensation of a free fall as he fell down into the old well, headfirst. He tried to grab something, anything, to stop himself, but the walls were worn and slick.

He hit the water harder than he would have liked, but he silently thanked God that the well was deep and he hadn't broken his neck in the fall. He gasped as he broke the surface, looking up at the light that was the top of the well. It seemed much deeper than it had before from here.

He began to look around for handholds. The shaft of the well was wide enough for him to stretch out his arms on both sides, but as he feared, there was nothing to grab onto. Also, his feet didn't touch bottom. How long could he tread water in an abandoned well, he wondered?

Well, if all else failed, there was always one thing to do in times of trouble.

"Dean!!"
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Oh, thank God, Dean thought as he heard his brother's voice coming up from the well.

"Sam!" he called down, leaning over the side of the well to look down inside. God, it's deep.

"Watch out," Sam warned, "That first step's a bitch."

Dean smiled in relief that Sam was well enough to joke around. He was kind of peeved that Sam hadn't answered him the first 20 times he'd called his name, but he really couldn't stay mad at him when he was just happy his brother was alive. But he still had a problem. How was he supposed to get Sam out?

"Alright, Sam, just hang tight. I'm going to grab some rope from the trunk and pull you out. 'Kay?"

"Alright," Sam called back.

Dean hated leaving Sam at all, especially after his brother had just done a swan dive into an abandoned well. That wasn't like him at all. But he knew that he had to get Sammy out somehow, and that would require him leaving him for a few minutes.

Dean ran back to the Impala and opened the trunk a little forcefully.

"Sorry, babe," he apologized to the Impala as he proceeded to pull out rope and also a pistol loaded with rock salt, just in case.
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Sam sighed in relief as he tread water. He hadn't had time to tell Dean that he had actually been pushed into the well, but he hoped that it didn't become a problem when his brother tried to pull him out. Of course he was wrong.
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"Alright, Sam, here's the rope," Dean called as he dropped the rope down to his brother, hoping that it would reach. He felt the tug at the end of the rope. "Tie it around your waste and I'll pull you up."

Sam did as his brother told, gripping the rope when he was done.

"Alright."

Dean felt a shiver as he began to pull up his younger brother, Sam helping by bracing his feet on the well walls. The older Winchester brushed the chill off as nerves. I mean, his brother had just fallen into an old well.

"Hey, Dean," Sam called up.

"Yeah?" Dean replied with a grunt, sounding a little winded.

"You might want to keep an eye out."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't fall down here. I was pushed."

"Pushed?"

"Something pushed me."

"Oh, great, now you tell me?" Dean snapped, looking around as he felt another chill down his spine.

"Dean?" Sam asked as he felt the rope stop moving.

"Man, now you've got me paranoid," Dean hissed, "The next thing we need is for both of us stuck in a well."

"Just get me out of here," Sam replied.

Dean continued to pull. Almost there, he thought to himself, Almost-

Behind you...

Dean turned only to be pushed in the chest instead of the back. He stumbled, the rope sliding from his hands. He heard Sam cry out in surprise as he fell back down, but grabbed the rope again before he heard a splash at the bottom. Dean felt another shove on his chest and was barely able to keep himself from tumbling into the well.

"Dean?" Sam called up. "What's going on?"

Dean reached for the pistol in his waistband, but he felt the hand holding the rope jerked down into the well like someone had grabbed a hold of it and tried to pull him down. Still managing to hold on for dear life, he gritted his teeth against the pulling sensation he felt. With his other hand he fired the pistol, though he wasn't sure what he was shooting at since he couldn't see anything.

Sam's heart leapt at the sound of the gunshot.

"Dean? Dean!"

"Not now, Sammy!" Dean replied as he felt the hold on his hand slacken and then release. Breathing heavily now, he placed the gun on the side of the well and grabbed the rope in both hands before the spirit came back. This time the salt kept the spirit at bay long enough for him to pull Sam from the well.

"You okay?" Dean gasped.

"Yeah, are you?" Sam asked.

"Come on," Dean replied, pulling his sopping wet brother away from the well, gun held firmly in his other hand just in case Casper decided to come out and play some more. But it seemed that one murder attempt for the two brothers was enough for this particular spirit, because they made it back to the Impala without being harassed any further.

As he got in the car, though, Dean could not shake the feeling of being watched.