A/N: Story skips ahead over halfway through season three, nine months after Dean's deal.

NINE MONTHS LATER

Washington Depot, Connecticut.

Norah Gilmore walked down the empty sidewalk, the strap of a black messenger bag slung over her shoulder, and a book held against her chest. Her long, chocolate brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a Twilight hoodie overtop a dark red shirt. She hummed a song to herself as she passed by a patch of trees, her high top Converses tapping along on the sidewalk. As she walked by the trees, she heard a soft meowing coming from the branches of the tree. Sitting up in the top of the tree was black cat with a white face and a white stripe that ran down its neck and over its belly. It flicked its tail as it looked down at the girl.

Norah looked up at the cat and smiled. "Well hello, there," She said, walking over to the tree and looking up at it. "Here, kitty kitty kitty…" She called, but the cat merely stared down at her. Norah frowned a bit, and stood for a moment before dropping her messenger bag by her feet and sitting the book she had been carrying, on top of it. She pulled off the hoodie and tossed it aside, looking up at the tree. Looks pretty easy to climb, she thought, and then pulled herself onto the bottom branch and started climbing.

The cat continued to stare at her as she climbed up the tree. When she reached the branch it was on, the cat stood up onto its feet. It stared at her a moment longer then as she reached for it, the cat lurched forward with a screech and pinned her against the thick trunk of the tree. Norah soon found herself bound to the tree with thick ropes. The cat hopped onto the girl's chest, clinging to her shirt with its claws. It waited until it was up to her face before it opened its mouth wide, staring into the girl's eyes as it inhaled slowly, drawing a pale smoke from the girl's mouth.

Norah's eyes widened, and when the cat stopped, and the smoke had stopped flowing from her mouth, she slumped forward, unconscious. The cat snapped its wide mouth closed and hopped down off of her chest onto the branch. It licked its paws, cleaning its head casually before it leapt down from the branch and down onto sidewalk, darting off into the woods.

After a few minutes, Norah woke up, and lifted her head, her eyes darting around to look where she was. "I can hear them singing to me… the bees… they're singing 'The Cow Jumped Over The Moon'….."

TWO WEEKS LATER

The motel sat on the corner of the street; the letter O on the motel's red neon rope lights was flickering and buzzing lowly, casting a flashing red light on the black Impala that sat in the parking space out in front. Sam was laying on his stomach on the bed, the covers twisting around his middle and drooping over to the floor into a pool of burgundy, flower patterned comforters and sheets. He, his brother and the girls had gotten a room to get a few hours sleep after completing a job. Oshea was sitting at the table nursing a cup of coffee in the room by the window, which was covered with the thick burgundy curtains. Since learning about Dean's deal, she had not been able to sleep without nightmares of Dean dying in various ways. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes with her thumb and middle finger. The dreams had been getting worse as the year started to draw to a close. She could not believe in three months, Dean's bill would be due and he would die.

Dean was laying on the other queen sized bed a couple of feet away from Sam's bed. His green eyes fluttered open and he rolled over in the bed, looking over at Oshea, sitting up. "You okay?" He stretched for a moment before swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Oshea took another sip of the coffee then turned her head toward him, nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, forcing a small smile. "I didn't wake you up did I?"

Dean rubbed his eyes a little. "Nah, just… bad dreams," he said with a shrug. "What are you doing up?"

"Bad dreams," She said slowly, drinking down the last of the coffee in her cup. "I made coffee." She said, standing and walked over to the pot. "Want some?"

"Sure," He said, nodding and standing up from the bed and walking over to her. "Not like I'm going to get any sleep anyhow." He smiled weakly.

"That makes two of us," She said, pouring some coffee into a cup for him and handing it over. She filled her cup again and sat down at the table, running a hand through her hair. "So… you're having nightmares? Anything you want to talk about?"

Dean shook his head. "Just the usual spooks," he said, taking a sip of his coffee and then sitting back down on the edge of the bed. "Nothing I can't handle."

Oshea nodded slowly, drumming the tips of her fingers against the side of the cup. "Dean, I-" She stopped as Dean's cell phone started to ring.

Dean picked up his cell phone from the nightstand, putting the coffee cup in its place. He flipped the phone open. "Hello?"

"Dean?" Bobby's voice said on the other line. "I know it's late… well, early. But I think I have a case for you. Washington Depot, Connecticut. Norah Gilmore, found tied to a tree babbling like a madwoman. No history of mental illness in the family, no drugs in her system, she was a normal girl, made good grades, has a nice family life, friends. And she's not the first. There have been three other cases of people being found in trees, mad as a hatter."

Dean pulled out a pad of motel stationary and a pen from the drawer in the nightstand, scribbling down the girl's name, and the location. "Thanks, Bobby. We'll check it out."

"Good luck. If I find out anymore I'll let you know. Call if you need anything." He said before hanging up. Oshea's brows furrowed.

"What's going on? New case for us?"

"Couple of crazies found tied up in trees, all with no history of mental illness. Sounds like our kinda gig," he replied.

She took another drink of coffee and nodded, standing up. "Alright, then. Guess we should wake up the others."

Dean nodded and stood up, walking over to Ella, who was sound asleep, huddled underneath a blanket on the small couch on the opposite side of the room, and shook her shoulders. "Wakey, wakey."

Ella grumbled something and pulled the blanket over her head. "Nuh-uh."

Oshea finished off her coffee and shook her head. "That's not how you do it." She grabbed a pillow from the bed that Dean had been sleeping on and walked over to where Ella was and swung the pillow, smacking Ella in the head. "Get up, Ella."

Ella sat up and glared at her sister. "Why did you do that?"

"We have a new case, Ella. We need to pack up and get going." She said, feeling her way over to the chair she had been sleeping in, gathering up the blanket she had been using. She knelt down and ran her hand over the floor, finding her suitcase and stuffing the blanket inside.

Ella sighed. "I got like, two hours of sleep," She grumbled, walking to the bathroom to grab her toothbrush from the edge of the sink.

"You guys can catch a few z's on the way," Dean said as he walked over to Sam's bed to wake him up. "Hey, rise and shine, Sammy."

Sam groaned softly and pushed himself up onto one elbow, "It's like… four in the morning. What's up?" He said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He rubbed his eyes.

"Bobby found a case," Dean replied. "I'll explain it on the way."