CHAPTER 3

Lily was waiting at the bottom of the steps when Sam came down. "Where's Jake?" Sam asked, glancing around.

"He went to go get Ava, make sure she's okay," Lily said, and shrugged. "I figured I'd wait for you."

Sam nodded and stepped toward her. "Thanks," he said. "That's nice of you."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not doing it to be your friend," she snapped. "I just figured that you're one of the few people who knows how to use your gun, and we'd better not let anything happen to you."

"Right," Sam said quickly. He hesitated for a moment, then took another step toward her, and asked, "How are you doing? I mean, it's not like any of us are that great, but how are you handling all of this?"

She looked him up and down, then scowled. "You should move back from me," she said. "Don't want to touch me by accident."

"None of the other psychics' powers work on me," Sam pointed out. "Don't see any reason why yours would, either."

"You're willing to bet your life on that?" she asked.

Well, okay, that was a pretty good point. Still, though, he stayed where he was, waiting for her to answer his question.

It didn't matter if he moved away from her, after all. A few more seconds passed, and then she was the one to move away from him, holding her poker between the two of them almost like she was trying to hold him off. "Everything about this sucks," she said harshly. "And I'm not going to talk about this any more with you."

Sam nodded, but he didn't plan on that being the end of the conversation. He didn't get the chance to say anything more, though, because right then, Jake and Ava walked back in.

"Definitely nothing – and nobody – here," Jake said, and headed for the door without even glancing toward them. "Let's head on to the next place. We don't want to be out here for any longer than we have to be."

Sam sent one last look in Lily's direction, then nodded. "Okay," he said. "Let's go."

Lily fell into step immediately behind Jake, very pointedly not looking toward Sam as they headed out the door.

Except for one time. Just as they were starting down the street toward the next house, she glanced back at him. It lasted barely a second, and she turned back around before he could read the emotion in her eyes. There had definitely been something there, though. And whatever was happening with her, Sam intended to figure it out.

"Seriously, Ash," Dean snapped. "I don't even care what you do. Search for a spike in demon activity, look for a sudden burst of angelic white light, get a new spell. Hell, go bust out your Ouija board and ask the spirit of the great beyond to find my brother, it doesn't fucking matter. Just tell me where he is."

"I'm trying," Ash argued. "You think that searching for demon mojo wasn't the first thing I tried? All of my searches are turning up nothing. And anyway, Ellen threw my Ouija board away. Said it was bad mojo, like I was going to get myself into shit."

Dean just growled under his breath. "Then do something else," he said. "Anything else."

"I'll keep working," Ash promised. "Listen, man, you're brother's a nice guy. I mean, he's cool in my book, and that means that I want to get him back just like you do. But all of that wanting doesn't do a damn bit of good if there's nothing left to try."

"Then think of something new," Dean snapped, and hung up the phone before Ash could say another word. Then he closed his head, pressing his hand against his forehead, and trying to resist the urge to throw the phone across the room again. Cas had told him off the last time he'd done it, pointed out that they needed a way for Ash to reach them if he ever did find something, and destroying their best means of contacting him was a terrible idea. And dammit, Dean hated that Cas was right.

"How are you doing?" Cas asked in a low voice, and Dean slowly turned to look at him.

Cas was standing directly behind Dean, one hand raised hesitantly, like he wasn't sure if he should reach forward to touch him or not. Dean sighed, and ran his hand through the hair, until he was sure that he was making it stand on end.

"Dean," Cas urged, after a minute had passed with no answer. "Are you alright?"

He thought about telling Cas that he was fine – running the standard line, keep his boyfriend from worrying. He didn't really see the point in it now, though. Wasn't like Cas would believe him, anyway. So instead, he scowled. "No, I'm not fucking okay," he snapped, "and believe me when I say that I'm not going to be until I get Sammy back here, alive and in one piece."

Instead of looking upset, Cas just nodded, his face unchanged. "Yes, I know that," he said. "But I want to know more specifically than that. How are the hallucinations?"

Dean swallowed. And again, the thought of lying crossed his mind. But to be honest, he was just way too tired to even think about trying to make up a story, and putting in all of the work to make Cas believe it.

"Bad," he said. "Really bad. And don't you dare ask for more details than that, because I swear there is nothing you can do that will make me talk about it more than that."

He was being honest. They were bad, obviously. But if he were going to tell the complete truth, he'd say that "bad" didn't even begin to cover it.

It was like the hallucinations he'd had when Cas had been missing. Or the ones that had come in the instants after Gordon's bullet had gone through Cas' flesh. Or, it had started out like that, anyway. Now, he could feel them evolving into something stronger.

He didn't know what was happening. Maybe the hallucinations got stronger the longer that you avoided death, and after more than a week of running from the hounds, their pull was driving him insane. Maybe it was just Sam being gone, the voices in his head screaming at him that saving his brother was the most important thing in the world. Hell, maybe it was just him finally loosing it. He didn't even care about the explanation, not really. All he knew was that he was miles outside of just feeling "bad".

It was like the hallucinations were writhing inside him, until he didn't feel like he was even real, and maybe he wasn't, who knew? He wasn't seeing monsters anymore, but he didn't have to, because the world was warping around him, like the floor and the light and even the damn air were avoiding him, like he wasn't even a part of the world any more. Everything was darker, covered by a shifting layer of shadows. He didn't think he could breathe anymore And yeah, he knew that that couldn't be true, but fuck if he could convince himself of that, no matter how often he tried to remind himself that it didn't make one fucking bit of sense.

When Cas had been missing, when he'd been the one who could've been dead for all Dean knew, it had honest to god felt like the world was ending, like he might as well be dead for all that he cared about what happened next. This was different. This was more like he was already dead, but he somehow got to keep walking around inside his corpse. He wasn't sure which one was worst, but he did know which one scared him the most.

Cas stared at him for a long time, that look of his plastered on his face, the one that was both confused and concerned at the same time. Then suddenly Cas was stepping forward, grabbing Dean and yanking him against his chest, his arms wrapped around Dean's back way too tight.

The feeling still wasn't right. It was like there was some sort of interference with this, too, like he was touching Cas through a layer of cotton. Or maybe it was more like he was standing back and watching himself hug Cas, instead of actually feeling himself doing it. It didn't matter. And it didn't stop Dean from grabbing onto Cas and clutching him like his life depended on it, burying his face into Cas' shoulder in a way that'd be really embarrassing if he wasn't so desperate.

"We will get him back," Cas promised fiercely, whispering the words into Dean's ear. And the words sounded like they were coming from far away, like Cas was down at the end of a long tunnel instead of right beside him. But it was still Cas' voice, and his words, and Dean was pretty sure that he really frickin' needed to hear that.

He took a deep breath, then reluctantly stepped back – partly because he needed to get back to work, looking for some way to save Sam, and partly because if he held on for any longer it really was going to get pathetic. Cas was still watching him, and Dean wanted to at least do something to try to erase the worry from his eyes, so he pasted on his best fake smile. "Don't tell Sam I was practically bawling on your shoulder like a little girl," he said. "He'd never let me live it down."

Cas raised one hand and pressed it against Dean's cheek.

"I am going to tell Sam," he said. "In fact, that is going to be the first thing that I do once we find him again. He can add it to his list of embarrassing stories to torture you with."

Dean's smile was still not even close to being genuine, but at least it didn't feel quite as fake, just for a moment. "You're a terrible boyfriend, you know."

Cas nodded seriously. "I know," he said. "I am choosing Sam over you. It's terrible, isn't it? But I will enjoy watching Sam 'give you hell' over it." He said the last phrase awkwardly, in typical Cas fashion, and Dean swore that there was a tiny split second where he forgot that Sam wasn't just in the next room, that they didn't actually have a clue when Cas would actually get to tell him any of this.

Then Dean released the breath he was holding, and the moment passed, and all of a sudden he was struck all over again by the fact that Sam was gone. "Let's keep looking," he grunted, moving back and quickly dialed Bobby's number from memory, barely even needing to look at his phone.

"I told you, I'll call the moment that I find something that has even the slightest chance of being useful," Bobby said in lieu of a greeting. "Until then, there's no point in distracting me."

Dean winced, because yeah, he'd known that. Bobby had said the exact same thing last time he'd called. "Sorry," he said.

Bobby's tone softened abruptly, and he said, "I'm doing all I can, boy. Just stay out of my hair for a bit and let me look. Believe me when I say you don't have to keep checking on me to make sure I'm doing what I should."

"Right," Dean said, but still, he couldn't resist adding, "Any idea how long it might take you to get something figured out?"

"What, you think I'm a psychic?" Bobby asked, and Dean could practically hear him shaking his head in annoyance. "I'm going as fast as I can. Be a lot easier if I had my own books. Damn if I didn't choose the wrong week to plan a trip to the west coast."

That was exactly the answer that Dean had expected, but that still didn't stop him from grimacing in disappointment. "Call me the second you got something," he said, even though he'd told Bobby the same thing at least a half dozen times already, and judging by the way that Bobby grumbled, he didn't exactly appreciate yet another reminder.

Dean hung up without saying anything more. It wasn't like talking more was doing any good, other than at least making Dean feel like he was being productive, even if nothing was actually getting done. Still, though, better not to distract Bobby, or it'd only be harder for him to find something useful.

That was when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

It was Cas, but now he was standing frozen, not moving or even blinking – shit, maybe not even breathing. Which wasn't too weird for him, really. Neither was the way that his head was cocked to the side. Or the way that his eyes were wide and distant, like he was seeing something that Dean couldn't. Add all three of them together, and it ended up being kinda on the strange side, even by Cas' standards.

"Cas?" Dean asked, taking a half step toward him. "You okay?"

"Yes," Cas said, his voice barely more than a breath. Abruptly he turned and locked his eyes on Dean, though they were still way too wide, and still looked like he wasn't actually seeing what was in front of him. "Yes!" he repeated, louder this time, and then a grin spread over his face. "It's Sam. I can hear him."

Dean rushed forward, grabbing Cas by the arms. "What do you mean that you can hear him?" he demanded. "How?"

"He's praying," Cas said, still speaking slowly, though now Dean could hear the excitement rising in his voice. "Praying to me specifically. And- it's faint. It's harder to hear him without my grace. But his voice is there. It's definitely him. I remember what his soul looks like, and this soul feels the same."

"Well, what does he want?" Dean demanded, followed immediately by, "And where the hell is he?"

"He wants us to come rescue him. He didn't tell me much more than that," Cas said at once, then frowned slightly. "The second is more difficult. If I had my full grace-"

"You could just zap us there instantly," Dean cut in. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Can you track him down or not?"

Cas hesitated, then nodded. "I can sense his location," he said. "Vaguely," he amended, like he was worried about getting Dean's hopes up. "But I think I can get us to the right general area."

"Good enough," Dean said, already letting go of Cas and rushing to grab the keys. He didn't bother with packing his stuff, though he did pause long enough to grab their duffel bags, so that they could take the stuff that was already packed with them, at least. He even grabbed Sam's one shoe, since the poor guy was probably going to need it once they'd rolled in to rescue him. Everything else could get left behind for all he cared. All that mattered was getting to Sam as soon as possible.

Except for the bullet. No matter how much of a hurry Dean was in, he wasn't stupid enough to leave that one behind. He quickly got the safe opened and slid it into his pocket, the one with the zipper, to make sure that it stayed. Now, they just needed to steal back the Colt so that they could actually put it to use.

There. That was everything that they had to bring. Dean turned and practically ran out the door, headed straight for his baby.

"Are you safe to drive?" Cas asked, as he rushed after Dean, following him outside to the Impala.

That was a good question, actually. "Does it matter?" Dean asked. "You don't know how, and it's not like we can wait around."

"Bobby-" Cas started to suggest.

Dean cut that one off quickly. "Too far away," he said. "We need to get there as soon as possible. There's no time for us to sit around and wait around for him to play taxi."

Cas frowned, but did not argue, though he did place his hand on Dean's shoulder, stopping him from getting into the car. "There will be no point in hurrying to Sam's recue if we get into a accident while trying to reach him. That would delay us worse than anything. Not to mention the fact that you or an innocent person could be harmed. If you do not believe that you can get us there safely, then I am not allowing you into the car. We can send Bobby to rescue Sam on his own. I know that it will take him a long time to arrive, but it would be better than your death."

And dammit if that wasn't a good point, even if every fiber in Dean's being rebelled against the thought of leaving Sam alone out there when he needed help. Still, though, Dean closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then opened them and nodded. "I'm fine," he said. "Not perfect, but not seeing things that aren't there, either. Not much, anyway. I can tell them apart."

Cas narrowed his eyes. "You're certain?" he asked. "I will trust your judgment, but only if you are absolutely sure."

"I am," Dean said. Cas nodded then, but still looked like he wasn't convinced, so Dean added, "Come on, I'm not about to risk something like that. Especially when you're in the car with me. You might be an angel and all, but I still don't want to see what happens if our car flips at ninety miles and hour. If I thought I couldn't handle it, we wouldn't go."

"I think that you might severely overestimate what you can handle," Cas said, but he nodded again, and then climbed into the passenger seat. "Begin by traveling northwest," he said. "I am not entirely certain of Sam's exact location yet, but I should be able to sense it better once I am closer."

"Sounds good," Dean said, climbing in after Cas and wasting no time pulling out of the parking lot. He waited until he was on the road before he glanced over and asked, "Is he far away?"

"It's hard to tell," Cas said. "I'm not sure what you would consider to be far. But no, I don't think so."

"Good," Dean said. Wasn't exactly the answer that he wanted, but he'd take it. "At least he's alive."

"I told you that he would be," Cas said.

"Yeah," Dean agreed, and didn't want to say that he hadn't known if he could believe it, not really, even if he'd had to keep thinking it for his own sanity. Instead, he just pushed harder on the gas pedal, cursing the traffic that stopped him from going as fast as he wanted, and told himself that he would make it in time, before anything bad had happened to Sam, and that everything would be okay.

They made it through three houses before Sam said, "This isn't working."

Jake nodded grimly. "It's taking too long," he said, hoisting the bag of what few supplies they'd managed to find higher on his shoulder. "At this rate we'll never make it through, and who knows how long until the demons show up?"

"Well, what else do you want to do?" Lily demanded. "It's not like we can just go running down the streets yelling for the other survivors to come out and meet us. Pretty sure we're going to start attracting demons before we even see a sign of another human."

"Yeah, I know," Jake said. "We're going to have to split up."

"Split up?" Ava asked, her voice shaking slightly. Out of all of them, it was obvious that she was the one who was the most terrified, or at least the worst at hiding it, even if she'd done a better job of putting on a brave face than Sam would've expected from her.

"Two of us take one side of the street, the other two take the other," Jake said. "No more searching the houses thoroughly, either. Just a quick in and out. Grab things if you happen to find them, but don't go looking carefully. And if there's no signs of life, you don't waste your time."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Ava protested.

"So is waiting around out here in the streets," Lily snapped. "Pretty sure we're going to be in danger from now until the moment that we get back to the base. Do we wanna risk splitting up, or do we want to risk staying out here twice as long? Either way, there's still a chance that we're going to be screwed."

For a moment, Ava looked like she wanted to protest. Then she set her shoulders and nodded, looking determined. "Okay," she said. "Then let's just get this done, then."

"You and me?" Jake asked, looking over at Sam. "Leading the groups, I mean," he amended. "Figured that we've both got the guns, so we're better off not going together."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, then glanced over at Lily. "You want to come with me?"

She narrowed her eyes. "No," she said.

Ave frowned, and cleared her throat. "Um, actually," she said slowly, "do you mind if I team up with Jake? No offense to you, Sam," she added quickly, glancing over at him, "It's just, I don't actually know you, and Jake kinda saved me right after I woke up... I don't want to be rude, but I trust him over you, I think. Not that I think you wouldn't be able to fight demons, because I'm sure you can! It's just, I've seen Jake in action, and the last time you fought someone your friend got shot."

Sam frowned, but nodded. "That's okay," he assured her. Ava smiled at him, as genuine a smile as any of them could manage, considering.

Lily looked significantly less happy about it, but she nodded once. "Fine," she said shortly. "Let's go, Sam." She turned and stormed off toward the next house without another word, leaving Sam scrambling to keep up.

They passed through the first few houses quickly, neither one of them saying a word, and not lingering in the buildings for any longer than they had to, though they did at least manage to find some extra salt and ammunition that Sam tucked into a bag he'd picked up in the second house they'd checked.

It was then they were walking through their fourth house that Lily finally spoke. "This is pointless, you know," she said, pushing open the door beside her to check inside. The room was empty. "We can't check every single house in the town, and odds are we're not going to find anyone here. All we're doing is putting ourselves in danger for no reason."

For a minute, Sam didn't say a word. He couldn't exactly argue, considering that he had thought of the exact same thing.

"We have to try, though, don't we?" he finally said. "I mean, maybe we'll save someone, maybe we won't. But it's still worth it to try."

She just shook her head. "That's right," she said, a bite in her voice. "You just love to save anyone, don't you?" She shoved open the back door and cut across to the next house ahead of them.

Sam jogged after her, easily catching up. "I just wanted to talk," he said. "I'm not trying to piss you off-"

"Well, you are," she snapped.

"I'm just saying that I know where you're coming from," Sam said. "Your girlfriend-"

She stopped walking, and spun around. "I never should have told you about her," she said, voice low, almost deadly. "I don't know how you got me to talk about it in the first place, but I never want to hear you mention her again, you got that?"

Her eyes were narrowed, her entire body practically radiating anger, and Sam almost started to believe her. But he still remembered the look on her face when she started talking about her girlfriend, back when they'd thought that Azazel was going to come for her that night, and they'd been alone in the kitchen together. She hadn't said a whole lot – just that this girlfriend had existed, and that Lily had known what her powers were going to do, but that she hadn't been able to move back in time. Sam had asked what had happened next, and Lily had just shrugged and said that she had moved back in with her parents because she'd been too scared of touching people to go outside or hold down a job. She hadn't said another word about her girlfriend, or even mentioned her name.

But there'd been something almost desperate in the way that Lily had talked about her, Sam remembered that much. Which made sense. He wondered how much people knew about her powers, whether her parents even knew how the girlfriend had died, if anyone did.

"Look," Sam said slowly, then grimaced. Even just thinking about this hurt, but he could tell that Lily was in real pain, too, and he had to at least try to do something to help. So he forced himself to continue, "I know what it's like, okay? Azazel- he killed my girlfriend, too. So yes, I know about wanting to get revenge, and how much it hurts." She didn't move at all, or say a word, just narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Sam swallowed, then finished, "I'm just trying to say that I can help you if you want."

For a second, Lily just kept glaring. Then she lifted one hand and slapped him across the face.

"Ow, hey!" Sam protested, more out of instinct than anything else – it hadn't actually hurt.

Lily stepped closer, grabbing Sam's arm and squeezing tight. "I don't care if you've got the same kind of sob story as mine," she snapped. "I don't want to talk about it, alright? I don't even want to talk to you. I'm just doing this to try to get out of here alive, because God knows that if I actually wanted to die I would've done it already. So we're going to watch each other's backs, and we're going to kill Azazel to get our vengeance or whatever the hell you're after, and then I am getting the fuck away from here and never talking to you again. Got it?"

"Got it," Sam said, then glanced down at her hand, still wrapped around his wrist. "I hope that you knew that your touch wasn't actually going to kill me," he said.

Instantly, she dropped his wrist and went back to wrapping her arms tight around herself. "I did," she said shortly, not looking at him. She didn't say anything else, but he waited, and finally she added, "When I first got here, a boy tried to kill me, alright? I started clawing at his face but it didn't do any good. So yeah, I figured out that whatever it is that gives us these powers, it also keeps you safe from me."

Sam nodded. "What happened to the boy?"

He could instantly tell that that was the wrong question to ask. He could practically see Lily shut herself down, her face closing off like a house with the curtains gone. She turned and kept walking, not saying a word. Sam followed her in silence.

But despite all of her words about not wanting to talk to him, he could tell that that wasn't exactly true. If it was, then she wouldn't have taken a deep breath just a couple minutes later, then suddenly tell him, "Dead."

By that point, enough time had passed that Sam didn't immediately understand, and he frowned. "What?"

"The boy who tried to kill me," she said. "He's dead. You want to know how?"

"Do you want to tell me?" Sam asked.

She immediately shook her head, but a second later, the rest of the story came, almost like she couldn't stop herself. "I'd found a knife in the room where I'd first woken up. Taken it with me because it made me feel more secure, it wasn't like I was expecting to actually use it."

"You didn't have a choice," Sam said. "He attacked you first, right? Then it was self defense."

"Yeah," Lily said, but it was obvious that she was just agreeing for the sake of shutting him up. "Here's the thing, though," she said. "I had killed people before, but every one of those times had been on accident. I never thought I'd be able to do it on purpose."

He didn't like the way that she sounded as she said it. Cold, lifeless. Almost emotionless, like she was cutting herself off from whatever it was she was feeling.

"But I guess that's just it, though," she said with a shrug. "We never know what we'll do until we do it. And when things like this happen? Well, who knows what we're going to become?"

The longer that they searched, the faster that they moved through the houses. Sam wasn't sure if it was because they were growing aware of just how long it would take them to go through every single building thoroughly, or if they were growing discouraged after not finding any signs of a single other survivor, or if it was just that staying out in the open for so long was making them feel more and more exposed as time passed. Maybe it was a combination of the three. Sam had been hunting his whole life, so he was used to looking over his shoulder, but still, even he had to admit that constantly watching his back was starting to get to him.

In all the time that they'd been out here – he'd guess forty-five minutes, more or less – he hadn't seen even the slightest hint of a demon, either. It was almost enough to make him think that they could start to relax. Then he'd think of the corpses scattered in the road, and he'd reconsider.

Whatever the reason, it wasn't long before Lily and Sam were barely walking through a house before moving on to the next one. "Odds that if someone is hiding in one of these houses, they'll hear us walking around and at least come to look," Lily said, almost defensively, like she felt the need to justify it.

Sam could think of a dozen reasons why someone might want to hide out somewhere and not come to investigate strange noises – especially if it was someone who had been attacked by demons in the past hour, and was probably pissing themselves with fear already. He just nodded, though, and didn't say any of that out loud. They didn't have time to host a full-out search. He just had to hope that she was right, and that if someone was nearby, they'd see the signs.

They were on the last house on the street when they found their first person.

She wasn't a survivor, though. It was obvious from the first glance that there was nothing more that could be done for her. They found her head before they found the rest of her body.

"Oh, god," Lily said, gagging, reaching up to put her hand over her mouth like she was going to be sick.

Sam quickly grabbed her and steered her out the door, back into the middle of the road. "Nobody's in that house. No way anyone would hide out there, with a body lying there."

"Yeah, I figured," Lily said, and jerked herself away from Sam. "This is pointless, isn't it? What are the odds that anyone is even still alive, besides us and the group?"

"They could be," Sam insisted. "Even when you take into account the corpses, there's still about ten people that we don't know what happened to."

"Yeah," Lily said, "and I bet you anything that they're all corpses, too." She broke off, shaking her head. "Come on, I know you've got a thing for saving people, but even you've got to see that the odds are against us with this one. We can keep searching for the rest of the day and all night if you want us to, and all we're going to do is keep finding bodies until that's what we end up as ourselves."

She crossed her arms tight, turning her back on Sam completely.

For a moment, Sam didn't know what to say. Then he stepped closer.

"I know," he admitted after a moment. "I've seen what the demons have done, too. And honestly, you're right, it's hard to imagine that anyone could have survived this outside of our group. But maybe somebody did, and maybe we can find a way to keep that person alive. Don't you think that that's reason enough to try?"

She snorted. "I think that you're an idiot who needs a big dose of reality," she said, but her voice was subdued, lacking the bite that it had had a moment before.

Sam chuckled, but without any humor. "Reality," he said, and rubbed his eyes. "That's pretty much the first thing that goes out the window when you start hunting monsters."

"Okay," Lily said after a second's pause. "I guess reality means different things to you than to everyone else. This is pretty par for the course for you, isn't it?"

Again, Sam laughed dryly. "Not really," he said. "And thank god for that. I don't think that we'd make it if-"

Then Jake screamed.

It wasn't a normal scream, like the kind that you'd give if something frightened you. It wasn't even one of those bloodcurdling screams or terror, like the kind that Sam had heard over and over again, on practically every hunting trip he went on, the ones that people gave when they were scared beyond their wildest imaginations. This was the agonizing scream of a pain so strong that it left no room for anything else, not even fear.

It was another kind of scream that he heard on hunting trips sometime. It was the scream people gave when he and Dean weren't in time to save them.

Sam took off running instantly, the rest of his sentence forgotten completely, leaving Lily to scramble after him as best she could.

It was easy to tell which house they were in. It was across the street, a few houses back. The front door was still standing open.

Sam burst in, gun raised and ready to shoot, scanning the room exactly the way that Dean had taught him.

Jake was on the ground, hands clutching at his throat, blood still gushing from between his fingers, pouring out of a wound in his neck. His eyes were wide, face twisted in pain. He wasn't moving. Ava was crouching over him, breathing hard.

Sam could tell in an instant that Jake was dead. If he wasn't, then he would be. This was way beyond anything that Sam could fix up himself, even if he had a way to find the tools that he needed, which they didn't. And the blood- Sam could stitch Jake up now, and it would still be too late. You couldn't lose that much blood and still be alive. Sam was certain that if he moved Jake's hands, there wouldn't just be a puncture wound there – his entire throat had to have been torn open.

Sam scanned the room again, scared that he'd missed something the first time, that there was some sort of demon crouching in the corner, ready to pounce. There wasn't. Aside from the body on the floor, Sam couldn't see a single sign that an attack had occurred.

Then Ava looked up, her eyes widening when she saw them standing there. A second later, the bloody knife slipped from her fingers, its metal blade clattering against the wooden boards as it hit the floor.