A/N: Okay, you've already figured out this fic has some adult content but I would like to warn you again it also has some dark subject matter also. Nothing too graphic but just giving you a heads up – don't want to upset anybody.

CHAPTER 3

It was almost three o'clock in the morning by the time they reached Phoenix despite the time Sam managed to make up with his lead foot. He woke the sleeping pair up on the outskirts of town so they could get dressed before the traffic got close enough for someone to see them.

The Impala purred its way to a stop along the curb right outside the university's Sandridge Hall women's dormitory and the three hunters got out. Bobby had informed them they were expected so they walked up the front steps to the ten-foot-high solid oak main door. Sam commented on the intricate carvings in its face as he pulled it open and Dean snickered.

"What's wrong with appreciating the architecture, Dean?" Sam huffed, though he had honestly just made the comment to cover the awkwardness he felt being in Tasha's company after what had happened in the car three hours ago. He made a point not to look directly at her but he couldn't shake the mental image of her rocking back and forth on top of him, glistening with sweat and moaning loudly.

"Keep your panties on, Sam, I'm used to your Martha Stewart moments," Dean laughed. "It's just that it feels weird going into a girl's dorm through the front door instead of one of the windows."

"Dean!" Sam hissed reproachfully, sparing a very quick glance in Tasha's direction only to find she was laughing also.

Bobby's contact, Phyllis Kogen, was waiting for them at the security desk, much to the night guard's obvious annoyance. Phyllis was a slim woman in her mid sixties with a somewhat prim and stern appearance. She stood up sharply as they approached the desk.

"Sam and Dean Winchester?"

"Yes Mam," Dean answered. "And this is Natasha Dunn," he gestured towards Tasha. "You Phyllis?"

"I'm Ms. Kogen, yes," she corrected sternly. "I was expecting you sooner."

"Sorry," Dean shrugged unapologetically, a sly grin spreading across his handsome features. "Car trouble," he said with a wink. "It, uh…overheated."

Dean didn't miss the disapproving looks he received from both Sam and Tasha and cleared his throat sheepishly.

"Well, I hope it's not too late," Phyllis added.

"Too late for what?" Sam asked politely, still blushing slightly at his brother's awkward comment. All Bobby had told them was an acquaintance needed help with what seemed like their kind of problem. They'd just wrapped up a hunt in a town just outside of Albuquerque and were therefore the closest hunters Bobby knew of to call.

"Did Mr. Singer not tell you the particulars?"

Dean snickered at the formal title for his greasy, grizzled old friend. "Uh, 'Mr. Singer' is working a case in the Nevada desert and his cell kept cutting out so all we got was to meet a Phyllis Kogen here."

"He did mention you knew about hunters, Mam," Sam added with his usual abundance of manners.

The look on Phyllis's face relaxed and she took a deep breath before bringing the hunters up to speed. "Yes, I've run across your kind before and I do appreciate you coming. I'm a professor here at the university," she explained. "The girls here," she waved her arm in the air to indicate the entire dorm, "Are young. Impressionable. I stay in Sandridge Hall in a room of my own to keep my eye on them."

Tasha leaned in to Dean. "I'll bet they just love that!" she whispered. Dean nodded his agreement, trying to hide his smile.

Phyllis continued, oblivious. "I had a daughter once and I know I would have appreciated someone looking out for her had she chosen to go to college rather than join the army." It was obvious to all that the professor hadn't approved of the army decision and none of the hunters questioned her on her use of the past tense in reference to her daughter. "I've become sort of an unofficial dorm mother for these girls."

She ushered them away from the security desk and out of earshot of the guard before continuing. "Several of the girls have had rather disturbing dreams of late," she said in a hushed voice.

"Bad dreams?" Dean didn't hide his skepticism. Bad dreams weren't a reason to call in the cavalry. "We're not Dr. Freud."

"Really bad dreams," Phyllis said slowly before pausing.

"Nightmares?" Tasha urged.

"The same nightmare," the professor finally elaborated. "They all dreamt that they were…attacked…by a man…you know…"

"Are you saying these girls dreamt about being raped, Ms. Kogen?" Sam asked softly, his voice full of compassion.

She nodded.

"All of them had the same dream?"

She nodded again. "Well, no. Not exactly. They all described different, really vivid nightmares up to that point but their dreams all ended the same way."

There was an uncomfortable pause before Dean spoke up. "Anything else?" he fished, thinking she hadn't exactly given them a lot to go on.

"Yes. I never would have even found out about it because most of the girls just thought it was a natural nightmare and never said anything about it."

"What makes you think it wasn't?" Sam asked, not liking the feel of this hunt already. This was a whole new level of evil as far as he was concerned. It could conceivably be a coincidence but Winchesters didn't believe in coincidences. Bad dreams were also a sore spot for him.

"Yeah, isn't it possible that a news story or a movie they all watched triggered their subconscious and them dreaming a similar dream is just a coincidence?" Tasha suggested without any real conviction in her voice. She was a hunter too and Sam knew she didn't believe in coincidences any more than he or Dean did.

Phyllis shook her head. "Ashley Wilcott is why I know it's real," she told them. "She started screaming one day in the cafeteria and when her friends brought her into the den and calmed her down, she said she had seen a man looking in the window - the same man that she had dreamt about a couple of times. She was so sure. And she started describing the dream and the man and one of her friends admitted she'd had the exact same dream a week earlier. Word travels fast around here, you know how girl's talk," she looked to Tasha who simply gave her an uncomfortable, tight-lipped smile in return.

"Who was the guy?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. Nobody else saw him at the window. But that night six girls came to my room saying they'd all had the same experience at least once over the past three weeks. And they all described the same man."

The three hunters were silent for a moment, soaking up the intel Phyllis had given them. "There's something else you should know," she offered. "This hall has a history."

Both Winchesters arched a brow at the elderly lady. "History?" they asked in unison.

"Yes. This part here was built in the 1950's but the south wing is much older. Back at the turn of the twentieth century, it was a bunkhouse for workers for a large citrus farm. One worker supposedly went crazy and butchered three other workers before killing himself."

"He a rapist?" Dean asked.

Phyllis shrugged. "Not that I know of. I don't know much else about it. History's not my really my forte." She looked pleadingly at the elder brother. "I hope you can figure out what's doing this," she said, placing her hand on his arm. "I know it's just dreams but this kind of thing can be quite terrifying for a young woman. No girl should have to go through an experience like that, dream or otherwise."

"Well, I agree with you there," Dean said vehemently. "Don't worry, we'll stop this bastard one way or another."

"You think it's some kind of ghost?" the professor queried.

"Freddy Kreuger the crop worker?" Sam asked. "It's a possibility…"

The brothers exchanged a look that communicated as much as a full conversation could have between people who didn't know each other inside out. The angry spirit thing was feasible but there was another possibility.

"Can we talk to Ashley?" Tasha asked.

The professor's forehead creased in concern but she agreed. "I don't see why not. She'll be awake. She hasn't slept at all since she saw him three days ago. I did tell her I was bringing in some people to help."

She walked back to the security desk and grabbed something from behind the counter. It turned out to be two security guard shirts and she handed one to each of the Winchesters.

"I can't have two strange men walking about in the halls in the middle of the night," she explained. "You'd scare the girls. Especially these days; everybody's a bit on edge."

The brothers nodded in understanding and changed into the shirts right there in the lobby, Phyllis's hard stare silencing the complaint the guard was obviously about to make. Sam coughed uncomfortably when he caught Tasha staring at both of them with a cheeky grin on her face and rushed to get the too-tight uniform shirt buttoned up.

Dean noticed his brother's discomfort and couldn't help but laugh. Kid was such a prude.

Phyllis led them up two flights of stairs and down a long hallway before knocking quietly on door 315. A young blonde girl of about twenty answered, opening the door just a crack and studying the three hunters behind the professor. The girl and her 'dorm mother' spoke to each other in hushed voices for a moment before the door was opened and Phyllis gestured for them all to go inside.

Ashley was definitely pretty. Or she would be if not for the bags under her eyes and the worn and haggard expression on her face. They all crowded into the tiny room and she practically backed herself up against the far wall, avoiding direct eye contact with all of them. She stood with her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was cold but it was at least eighty degrees in the cramped dorm room.

"Hey Ashley, I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean and that's Tasha." Sam spoke in a gentle voice as he made the introductions. Ashley nodded but in truth looked like a cornered rabbit about to bolt. "Can we ask you some questions about your dreams recently?"

The blonde gave him another quick nod but none of them missed the nervous glance she threw Phyllis, looking for reassurance. She sure was jumpy. Dean noticed the bottle of ProPlus caffeine pills on the bedside table. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be that scared to go to sleep, that terrified of the nightmare you knew was waiting for you.

"You've had more than one of these dreams?" Sam continued, unable to help feeling like a bully picking on a scared little kid.

"Y-yes," Ashley stammered.

"Uh, guys?" Tasha looked at the brothers. "Why don't you two check for EMF or something and I'll talk to Ashley?"

"Good idea," Dean let out a breath of relief and was already reaching for the door handle behind him. Sam was quick to follow suit and the brothers left the room, shutting the door behind them.

"This is a bitch of a hunt already," Dean spat quietly as they walked back down the hallway.

Sam was digging through the knapsack he was carrying for the homemade EMF reader they had packed as part of the standard 'don't-know-what-the-hunt's-about-yet' kit. "Tell me about it. Most spirits just kill. This is strange."

"Sick fuck's going down, I can tell you that," Dean said vehemently.

"You know, it could be a dude on dreamroot," Sam pointed out a possibility that both brothers had thought of earlier. "If it is, then it's a human."

"Oh don't start your 'we can't kill humans' crap, Sam. In this case, we make an exception."

"Hey, I totally agree with you," Sam shrugged. "It's not like we can get him arrested and there'd be no way to stop him doing it again."

Dean threw his brother a wary glance. Despite feeling they were completely justified, part of him wanted Sam to argue the possible killing of a human being. A couple of years ago, he would have. He would have at least tried to figure out another way. Not so anymore.

They decided to start on the top floor, the fifth, and work their way down. The EMF reader squeaked and buzzed very quietly, showing no signs of a supernatural presence. They scanned the entire fifth floor in silence but as they began their tour of the fourth, Sam decided to take advantage of the fact that they were alone.

"So, Dean, about earlier, in the car…"

"Oh, dude, we are so not talking about that."

"Why not? We should at least…"

"Sam." Dean lowered the instrument and looked at his brother. "That's just one of those things that happens but then it never happened, get it?"

Sam huffed, one of his most Sammiest expressions and Dean was struck with the notion that despite the fact that it usually signified the kid was annoyed with his big brother, it was the one he was going to miss the most after he was gone.

"Sooo…we're okay?" the younger Winchester said slowly.

"We're fine coz it never happened. You're not listening." Dean resumed his EMF scan, walking slowly down the long hallway.

Sam followed. "You don't think it's maybe gonna cause a problem between you and her?"

Dean scoffed. "Dude, she started it," he said without looking up. "Besides, it's not like we're a long term thing." He wasn't long term anything. His deal was up in just over three weeks and so far, they had squat on saving him. Not even the name of the demon that held his contract.

A touch of anger entered Sam's response. "Yeah, but she doesn't exactly know that, does she?"

A groan escaped the elder Winchester. "Oh, please don't start that again. You're like a broken record these days."

"Dean, you have to tell her."

"Is that you giving up then Sammy? I thought we were gonna find a way to save me."

"I am," snapped Sam, as frustrated at his brother's attempt to change the subject as his insistence that what was going on between him and Tasha was still purely casual. "But…you know…just in case I don't…" he trailed off.

"Well if we don't, then I'll have bigger problems than Tasha being pissed at me, won't I?" Dean knew he was being a thoughtless prick but he was struggling every day to deal with what was coming his way and just couldn't handle another emo conversation with his brother about it. With just over three weeks left on the clock, it was getting harder and harder to hide his heart-stopping fear and dread of what was in store for him. He picked up his pace, moving a few steps away from the taller Winchester and effectively ending the conversation.

/\\/\\/\\-/\\/\\/\\-/\\/\\/\\-/\\/\\/\\-/\\/\\/\\

A/N: Okay, so now would be a great time to let me know what you thought. This is my first story so I will appreciate all the feedback I can get! Are you interested in more or should I quit while I'm ahead? I plan to hopefully post a couple of chapters a week.