No Ordinary Boys ~ Chapter 15

[kc246]

Chapter Fifteen

Samuel stood back up to his full height. "Hello, John."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

At the gruffness in the John's tone and the thunderous look on his face, Sam slowly inched back from Samuel until he was standing just slightly behind John. Sam had no idea who this Samuel person was but John's reaction was enough for him to believe that he was some kind of threat.

Samuel scoffed. "I hope that's not how you greet all your guests."

"You're not a guest." John's voice was cold and hard. "Now I suggest you leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until I've spoken to Mary."

"You're not welcome here, Samuel."

Samuel just ignored John, stepping further into the house. Sam could feel the anger coming of John in waves and he fisted a hand in the material of the bottom of John's shirt in response. Both men were stood tense and the way they were glaring at each other made Sam nervous and afraid about what was about to happen.

At the feel of something grabbing a hold of his shirt, John looked down and immediately felt guilty when she saw how frightened Sam looked, his eyes were wide as they darted rapidly back and forth between him and Samuel.

"Hey, it's okay kiddo." John smiled, deliberately softening his voice. "Everything's alright. There's nothing for you to worry about, okay?" John placed his hand reassuringly on Sam's shoulder. "Why don't you go and wait upstairs with Dean? I'll be up in a minute."

Sam once again glanced anxiously over at Samuel. "You sure?" he asked his voice coming out not much more than a whisper. Sam really wanted nothing more than to hurry to Dean but he felt uneasy about leaving John alone. What if the man tried to hurt John?

"It's fine, Sam." John assured. "Go sit with your brother. I won't be long, alright?"

Sam nodded and gave John's hand a gentle squeeze before making his way back upstairs to Dean.

Samuel smirked. "Can't see you keeping this fostering gig for much longer if you scare all your foster kids like that."

"It's not me he was afraid of." John snapped.

"We were getting along just fine until you showed up."

John let out a frustrated sigh. "What do you want, Samuel?"

"I came to speak to Mary."

"Well she's not here." John gestured towards the front door. "I'll be sure to tell her you dropped by."

Samuel walked into the kitchen, pulling out one of the chairs and sitting down. "I'll wait."

"No, you won't." John growled. "You're not welcome in this house."

"I'm Mary's father. I have a right to see my own daughter."

John snorted. "You lost any rights as Mary's father the day you kicked her out."

"I didn't kick her out." Samuel snapped. "She's the one who left."

"It's not like you gave her much choice."

"She had a choice." Samuel glared over at John with disdain. "And she chose you."

"What kind of father would force her to choose between her family and the man she loves in the first place?"

"The kind who didn't want to see their daughter make a huge mistake." Samuel snarled. "Which is exactly what you are."

"Don't you dare talk to my husband like that."

Both men turned to see Mary stood in the doorway, groceries bags in her arms which she quickly slammed down on the table before fixing her father with a hard stare. "What the hell are you doing here Dad?"

"Mary," Samuel smiled. "You're looking well."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Mary repeated, her voice harder and lower.

Samuel sighed. "A father can't just visit his daughter anymore?"

"Oh, so I'm your daughter again now am I? Last time we spoke you made it quite clear that as far as you were concerned you didn't have a daughter anymore."

"I was angry. You know I didn't mean that."

Mary laughed bitterly. "We both know you meant every word."

"Look let's not go over the past, okay? I'm here now and it's really important I talk to you."

Mary folded her arms across her chest. "You could have just phoned."

Samuel huffed out an irritated breath. "Are you going to hear me out or not?"

Mary glared at him for a few more moments before sighing. "You've got five minutes."

Samuel nodded then scowled over at John when the man didn't make any moves to leave. "Mind giving us some privacy?"

John snorted. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"I want to speak to my daughter alone."

"I don't care what you want."

Mary placed a hand on John's arm. "It's okay, John."

"Mare..."

"It's fine," she assured, giving him a quick smile. "I can deal with this."

John shot Samuel another disapproving glare before turning his attention back to Mary. "I guess I'll go check on the boys."

Mary nodded. "Thank you."

"I can see he hasn't changed." Samuel huffed.

"You've got five minutes, Dad." Mary stated. "I suggest you use them to talk about why you're really here."

"I heard about what happened with the kidnapping." Samuel replied. "I wanted to check you were okay."

"And?"

"And what?"

"You don't honestly expect me to believe that your only here out of concern for my welfare so what else is it?"

Samuel sighed. "Just because we haven't spoken in years doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to you."

Mary gave him a disbelieving look. "So, there's nothing else then?"

"Well, yes there is but..."

Mary huffed out a laugh.

"Mary..."

Mary held a hand in the air cutting him off. "Just get on with it, Dad."

"Fine." Samuel pulled a folder out from his jacket and slid it across the table to Mary. "I'm here because of a job and I need your help."

Mary shoved the folder back to him. "Get out."

"Listen..."

"No, you listen," Mary hissed, "I want no part in this. Maybe I wasn't clear when I left but I'm done with this. All of it. So, get out."

"Unfortunately what you want doesn't matter." Samuel stated. "You're already smack bang in the middle of this."

"Excuse me?"

"Those foster kids of yours," Samuel explained. "We believe it was something Supernatural that killed their father."

"What?" Mary shook her head. "That's ridiculous."

Samuel once again pushed the folder back towards Mary. "There are demonic signs all over the house he was killed in."

Mary frowned as she began glancing through the file.

"We've been tracking this thing for a while and..."

Mary slammed the folder shut, handing it back to Samuel. "That's enough."

"Mary..."

"No, I'm not talking about this here." Mary stated, firmly. "You can't just show up and bring this into my home."

"You can't just ignore this." Samuel snapped.

"And I won't but I'm not doing this here." Mary insisted. "I'll meet you later at your motel."

Samuel didn't look happy but he nodded. "I'm staying at the Sunrise."

Once her dad had left, Mary sank down into one of the chairs with her head in her hands. She couldn't believe this was happening. She had fought so hard for a normal, safe life. A life away from hunting, a life with John, and now all that was at risk. She had to figure out a way to fix this and fast before it ended up costing her everything.

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"You sure you don't mind sorting out dinner?" Mary asked as she shrugged on her coat.

"I think I'll manage" John smiled and he ruffled Sam's hair who was sat on the couch watching TV with his brother. "Besides I'm gonna have help, right kiddo?"

Sam nodded eagerly. He always loved it when he got to help out with the food. "Definitely."

"You big girl." Dean teased and Sam scowled, hitting him playfully on the arm.

"We'll be fine." John assured. "Have a nice time with Sarah. Tell her I said hello."

Mary nodded and tried not to look guilty. She hated lying to John. "I will."

John placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "And be careful, okay?"

Mary smiled. "I'm only going to Sarah's. I doubt I'm going to find much trouble there."

"I know but it's just with your dad still being in town." Ever since Samuel had shown up, John had been feeling uneasy and now he knew the man was going to be in staying town for the next few days that feeling only increased.

"Like I said, he's just in town for business and he thought he'd stop by." Mary replied, squeezing his arm reassuringly. "Once he found out nothing had changed, he left. It's unlikely he'll be bothering us again."

John nodded. "I just worry about you."

"I'll be fine." Mary kissed him goodbye. "I'll see you later." Grabbing her purse she waved over at Dean and Sam. "Bye, boys."

"Bye." Sam called after her but Dean remained silent. He'd been watching Mary curiously when she had been speaking to John and he no idea why but he could tell Mary was lying.

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"You know I've missed this." Samuel said, watching as Mary looked through his research papers. "Me and you working together on a hunt."

Mary sighed. "I haven't."

"Come on, it wasn't all bad." Samuel smiled. "You used to love hunting."

"That was when I was a kid." Mary remarked. "And the only reason I wanted to hunt was because it was the only way to get you to spend anytime with me."

Samuel frowned. "That's not true. I spent lots of time with you. I was the one who raised you."

"Raised me?" Mary huffed. "Who's childhood are you remembering because it sure as hell isn't mine. After Mom died, I practically raised myself. If it wasn't to do with hunting you just didn't want to know."

"I think you're being a little unfair." Samuel stated. "It's not like I was off drinking every night. Hunting's an important job. It saves lives and unfortunately that meant that sometimes I couldn't be home but..."

"Hunting's not your job." Mary snapped. "It's your obsession. You've always put it first. It's the reason I left. It's the reason Mom died."

Samuel narrowed his eyes. "That's enough."

"I remember that argument you know. Mom begged you not to go on that hunt. She told you that something wasn't right but you just didn't listen and you ended up getting her killed."

Samuel slammed his hand hard down on the table. "I said that's enough."

Mary stared up at him, her eyes challenging. Samuel took a deep breath, "Look, why don't we just concentrate on what's happening now, alright?"

"Fine." Mary said and turned her attention back to the numerous papers spread out on the table in front of her. "Who did you have put this together? It's a very through job."

"Michael and like I said earlier we've been tracking this thing for a while."

"Any idea on why the demon would want to kill Dean and Sam's father?"

Samuel nodded. "Because of Sam."

Mary furrowed her brow. "Sam?"

"We think the demon is linked to him."

"Linked to him how?"

Samuel pointed down at one of the pages on the table. "Everything this demon does seems to be centred around a group of children. Children who we have discovered all have some kind of supernatural ability or gift."

"And you think Sam is one of these children?"

Samuel nodded. "Yes but we won't know for sure until we've had a chance to speak to him."

"And if he is? Then what do you plan to do to him?" Mary asked, her tone harsh and protective.

"I'm not planning on doing anything to him Mary." Samuel replied. "I just want to speak to him that's all."

"We both know you don't see shades of grey, Dad." Mary stated. "If you think something is in anyway supernatural then you hunt it."

"I don't go around hunting children!" Samuel protested. "You honestly think I'm that heartless?"

"You really don't want me to answer that."

"Well despite what you may think of me, I do not want to harm Sam. I just want to talk to him and find out what happened to his father."

"No." Mary said, sternly. "You're not speaking to him."

"Mary..."

"I'll talk to him." Mary stated. "Find out if he knows anything but I don't want you anywhere near him."

"You have no idea how powerful this demon is." Samuel huffed. "You're gonna need my help with this."

"Maybe but for now you aren't to approach Sam in any way." Mary ordered. "If you do or if you send any more hunters anywhere near him then I will take him and disappear, and trust me when I say that you will never find us. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Samuel said through gritted teeth.

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"Have a good night?"

Mary startled at the voice not expecting anyone to still be up. She smiled when she saw John sat on the couch. "Hey baby, what you still doing up?"

John took another long pull from the beer he was holding before answering. "Wanted to make sure you got home safe."

"That's sweet but you didn't have to." Mary sat down beside him on the couch, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "The boys okay?"

John nodded. "They're sleeping."

Mary frowned at John's tone. It was dull and flat, and his body language was tense and withdrawn. He hadn't looked Mary in the eye once since she'd come in, preferring instead to stare blankly ahead at the muted TV. "John, you alright?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" John answered. "You have a good time with Sarah?"

"Yeah, it was nice to catch up." Mary said, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what was wrong with John. "Did you and boys have a nice night?"

"Yep. We had dinner then watched a movie before the boys went to bed" John replied, his voice taking on a harder edge. "Then someone phoned for you."

"Who was it?"

John finished the rest of his beer, placing the empty bottle down on the table in front of him before finally turning to look at Mary. "Sarah."

Mary briefly closed her eyes. Damn.

"She called to ask if we wanted to go over on dinner on Sunday." John continued and Mary flinched at the betrayal and anger she could see in John's eyes.

"John..."

"You lied to me." John hissed. "You stood there and lied right to my face and then you came home and kept lying to me."

"I know and I'm sorry." Mary reached out to take his hand but John quickly pulled it away and Mary swallowed down the pang of hurt she felt. "I swear I never wanted to lie to you. I hated it and..."

"Where did you go?" John demanded.

Mary sighed. "To see my dad."

"What? Why?"

"He needed my help with something." Mary replied. "I know I shouldn't have lied to you about where I was going but it's complicated and I didn't want you to worry."

"Well I'm worried now." John snapped. "So you better start explaining."

"I can't" Mary looked at him with a torn, sad expression. "I'm sorry but I can't explain right now."

"Why the hell not?"

"John, please, I promise I'll explain everything to you, but right now I just can't." Mary knew she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from John much longer, but she needed some time to figure out how she was going tell him. Also she didn't want to tell him anything until she had all facts herself about was going on, which meant she had to speak to Sam first and find out if there is any truth in what her dad was saying.

"That's not good enough, Mary." John said angrily. "I deserve to know what's going on. I deserve to know why you've been lying to me. And I'm not just talking about tonight either."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you fought with Mick." John replied. "That was no freak adrenaline thing. Your moves were perfect. They were practiced. That's something you have to be taught not something that just randomly happens."

"I know I have no right to ask but John I'm begging you, please just trust me for a little while longer."

John stood up abruptly and snatched his car keys off the table before storming towards the front door.

"John!" Mary called after him. "Where are you going?"

"Out!" John snapped and slammed the door shut behind him.

Mary slumped down further onto the couch. God, how had everything got so messed up? She didn't blame John for storming out, if the situation were reserved she probably would have done the same thing. Tears began to pool in her eyes as she thought about what could happen when John finds out that she's been pretty much lying to him since they met. She had just wanted to protect him. Wanted them to live a safe and normal life, free from hunting and demons but now everything was falling apart and she could end up losing the one person she loved more than anything. She put her head in her hands and couldn't stop the sobs that broke through.

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"Dean?" Sam whispered, shaking his brother gently. "Dean, wake up. Dean?"

Dean groaned, rolling over in the bed and following the sound of his brother's voice to wakefulness. "Sammy?"

"Yeah, it's me. You awake?"

Dean gave a non committal grunt as he blinked sleepily up at Sam who was standing bedside the bed, his hand resting on Dean's shoulder. "Whatcha doin up?"

"Something's wrong."

Dean instantly became more alert and sat upright in the bed, his eyes roaming over Sam in search of any sign of what might be wrong. "What is it? You okay?"

"I'm fine." Sam nodded and he chewed on his lip as he cast an anxious look over at the open bedroom door. "I think Mary might be crying."

"What?" Dean rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear the last of sleep from his mind.

"I woke up to go to the bathroom and I heard her arguing with John and now she's crying." Sam was shuffling nervously on his feet. He really didn't like it when people argued.

"Where's John?"

"He left." Sam grabbed a hold of Dean's hand. "What if John hurt her and that's why she's crying."

Dean pulled Sam down until his brother was sitting beside him on the bed and he gently rubbed his thumb back and forth across Sam's palm to help keep his little brother calm. "John wouldn't hurt Mary." Dean assured and he did believe that, although there was the small possibility that he could be wrong. I mean people were rarely what they seemed. "I'm gonna go check on Mary. You stay here, okay?"

"I'll come with you."

Dean shook his head. "No, I need you stay here, alright? People can be unpredictable when they're upset."

Sam looked worried. "You think Mary's gonna react badly?"

"No but I'm not willing to take the chance and end up getting you hurt. So stay up here, okay?"

Sam nodded. "Kay, De."

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Dean slowly made his way downstairs and followed the sound of quiet crying into the lounge. He watched from the doorway for a few moments before taking a deep breath and walking cautiously over to where Mary was sat on the couch.

"Mary?" he said, keeping his voice quiet so as not to startle her. "You okay?"

Mary looked up, surprised to find Dean stood beside her looking concerned and more than a little awkward. She quickly wiped at her eyes and attempted a smile. "Hey Dean. What you doing up, sweetie? Everything alright?"

"I'm fine." Dean said and sat down next to her. "Sam...um...Sam heard you crying and I...you know...I wanted to check you were okay."

Mary smiled, touched by the boys concern for her. "I'm alright. Just got a little upset over something but it's nothing for you worry about. I'm sorry I disturbed you and Sam."

"That's okay." Dean replied. "What happened? Did you and John have a fight? Sam said he heard you guys arguing."

Mary nodded. "I did something stupid and John found out."

"Did he find out you lied to him?"

Mary raised her eyebrows in surprise. How loud had she and John been when they were arguing?

"Earlier when you were talking about going to your friend's house you looked like you were lying." Dean explained. "I didn't say anything to John though." He hastened to add.

"It's okay, Dean." Mary reached across and squeezed his hand gently. "I wouldn't be angry even if you had have said something. This is all my own fault and I've got no one to blame but myself."

"Why did you lie?" Dean had to admit he was curious but he was also worried he was overstepping the line and he didn't want to make Mary angry at him for asking. "Not that you have to tell me or anything."

Mary sighed. "It just felt like the right to do at the time. I just didn't want him to get hurt."

"So you were trying to protect him?"

Mary nodded. "But that's no excuse to lie to him."

"John will forgive you." Dean said gently. "I used to lie to Sam all the time to protect him. I used to lie about how badly I was hurt or what happened when Uncle Mick took me to his friends' houses. I knew it would only hurt him if I told the truth. If you lied to protect John then he'll understand and he'll forgive you."

Mary smiled and reached up to gently cup Dean's cheek. "You're a very sweet boy, Dean."

Dean blushed and lowered his head, smiling shyly.

Mary waited for a few moments before speaking again. "Listen Dean, if you don't mind, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

Dean looked back up at Mary. "What is it?"

"It's about your brother."

Mary watched Dean instantly bristle. His body going tense and protective like it always did when something involved Sam. "What about him?"

"I need to know if he's told you anything about how your dad died."

Dean tensed further and he averted his eyes, shaking his head. "No, nothing."

"Dean, I need you tell me the truth. I promise whatever you say I'm not going to get mad and I'm not going hurt you or Sam." Mary assured. "But it's really important you tell me the truth."

Dean bit his lip. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to tell Mary about what Sam had said because that would mean she could find out about Sam not being normal and that never ended well, but Dean also knew he couldn't handle what Sam had said about the thing that killed their dad on his own. Sam was still having nightmares about the yellow eyed man and nothing Dean did seemed to be able to soothe him. He had no idea if the demons and the things Sam described from his visions were real or not but if they were then Dean would need help.

"Are you afraid I won't believe you?" Mary asked. "Because I promise you Dean, no matter how crazy it sounds, I'll listen and I'll take you seriously."

Mary could tell Dean was still battling with himself about whether he could trust her so she continued trying to encourage him. "When John caught Sam putting down the salt, he was doing that for protection, right?"

Dean nodded.

"Do you know what Sam was trying to protect himself from?"

Dean nodded again but still didn't say anything.

"Was it something not human?" Mary asked carefully.

Dean's eyes locked with hers, his expression one of surprise and wariness.

"Dean, it's okay." Mary said, keeping her voice low and calm. "You can tell me."

"Demons." Dean said, his voice barely above a whisper and he watched for Mary's reaction with nervous, fearful eyes.

Mary took a deep breath, she'd still been hoping that there was some non-supernatural explanation for all this but unfortunately it was looking like that wasn't the case. "Have you ever seen the demons or anything else supernatural?"

Dean shook his head. "Only Sam has, in his..."

"In his what, Dean?" Mary encouraged when Dean trailed off.

"In his visions." Dean finally answered.

"Visions?"

"The seizures he has, he sees things when he has them." Dean replied. "Things that haven't happened yet. Sometimes he'll see a demon or some kind of monster but not always."

Mary took a few moments to absorb what Dean was telling her. She remembered that her dad had said that all the children linked to the demon seemed to possess some kind of supernatural ability. "How long has he had the visions?"

"You believe me?"

Mary nodded. "Yes, I believe you."

Dean eyed her suspiciously. "Why? Most people would think I was insane if I told them this."

"I'm not most people." Mary smiled. "The way I grew up there's not much that I would have trouble believing."

"What do you mean?"

"I promise I'll tell you all about it later but we need to finish talking about this first."

Dean nodded. "He had his first one when he was about five. I totally freaked out when he just dropped the ground and started seizing, even Dad looked panicked. It didn't last very long and Sammy was too young to make much sense out of what he was seeing, so for a while we didn't even know they were visions and just thought they were seizures."

"Then they started getting worse." Dean continued. "Whenever anyone would touch him during one he'd scream in pain and weird stuff would happen, windows would shake and the lights would blow. As Sam got older he started to be able to say what he was seeing. If I could then I would try to help whoever Sam saw but sometimes he wouldn't remember a lot and Dad and Mick never cared so I wasn't able to do much."

"So, your Dad and Mick knew about the visions?"

"Yeah but they didn't care about what Sam saw or what was causing them." Dean replied unable to keep the anger and disgust out of his voice when he thought about how his dad and Mick had treated Sam whenever he had a vision. "They would just use them as an excuse to call Sam evil." Dean shot Mary a stern glare. "Sam's not evil. There's nothing evil about him. My Dad and Mick were wrong."

"I never for a moment thought he was." Mary assured. "How often do the visions happen?"

Dean shrugged. "Sometimes he can go months without one. The worst I remember was three times in one week but that's only happened once." Dean looked at Mary hopefully. "Do you think you can find a way to stop them? They really hurt him and I don't know how to make them go away."

Mary wrapped an arm around Dean and gently pulled him closer to her. "I don't know if there's a way to stop them but I promise I'm going to help Sam, okay? You don't have to deal with this by yourselves anymore."

Dean nodded against Mary's shoulder.

"Can you tell me what Sam said happened to your dad?"

Dean took a few deep breaths before telling Mary about what Sam had said about the yellow eyed demon killing their dad and that it had told Sam that it had big plans for him.

"What...what do think that means?" Dean asked, shakily.

"I don't know but whatever it means I swear to you that we'll find a way to keep Sam safe." Mary promised and she meant every word.

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"How could you do that?" Sam shouted. "How could you tell her?"

"Sam, calm down. It's okay, kiddo." Dean expected Sam to be upset and worried when he found out that Dean had told Mary about his visions and what happened with their dad but he hadn't expected him to freak out this much. His brother was stood facing him, his face red with anger and his hands were clenched tightly into fists at his side. His breathing was hard and fast and he was rejecting any attempts Dean made at soothing him.

"You promised they wouldn't find out about me!" Sam yelled. "Why would you tell her? Why would you do that? You know how bad things got when Dad and Mick found out."

"Shhh, Sammy. It's alright. I won't let anyone hurt you." Dean reached out to pull Sam into his arms but Sam shoved at him hard making him stumble back a few steps.

"It's not me I'm worried about!" Sam screamed. "You're the one who is going to end up getting hurt. You'll get hurt protecting me and it will be all my fault just like it always is! Things were going okay here and now everything is going to get bad again. How could you tell her?"

"I told because she might be able to help you Sam." Dean argued. "She might be able to find a way to stop the visions."

"And what happens when she tells John? How's he going to react?"

"I don't know but I'll make sure he doesn't come near you." Dean promised. "I'll make sure you're safe."

"And what about you? Who's going to be protecting you?"

"It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as you're safe."

"Of course it matters!" Sam screamed and he swiped out angrily at the items on the bedside table, the lamp crashing to floor and shattering on impact. "How can you think so little of yourself? How can you not care what happens to you? Because I care and it kills me every time I see you hurt and know it's because of me!"

"Sammy please, just calm down, okay?" Dean placated, trying to keep his voice low and soothing. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to upset you but I promise everything's going to be alright."

Sam heard the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs and his head whipped round to face the bedroom door. Any second now they would come bursting into the room and Dean would end up getting punished all because they found out about what Sam was. No! Sam wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't. As someone began to push the door open, Sam flung his hand out in the direction of the door and it slammed back closed. Sam could feel some kind of force flood through his veins and he centred it all on keeping the door from being opened. It hurt and it made it feel like his blood was on fire but he wouldn't stop. He had to keep Dean safe.

Dean watched frozen in shock as his brother appeared to slam the door closed from across the room and keep it shut without even touching it. Sam's arm was outstretched toward the door and his whole body was trembling. Dean could hear Mary pounding on the other side of the door as she called their names and when Dean finally found himself able to move again, he hurried to Sam's side.

"Sam!" He tried to move Sam's arm but it was solid and no matter how hard Dean tugged he couldn't move it. Dean's eyes widened in horror when he saw the blood dripping from his brother's nose and he redoubled his efforts to get Sam to lower his arm. "Sam, stop! Sam!"

Mary was banging on the door, desperately shouting out Dean and Sam's names when John came running up the stairs.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know." Mary stammered. "I can't get the door open."

John tried the door himself but it wouldn't budge. He could hear movement from inside and Dean's panicked voice. John pounded a fist against the wood. "Dean, Sam! Open the door!"

Sam began panting, his breaths short and shallow and Dean could tell that Sam's body was desperately struggling for air. Blood continued to pour from his brother's nose and his whole body was covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Sammy, please stop." Dean begged. "Sam, you're hurting yourself. Sammy, please. Please stop." Dean framed his brother's face with shaking hands and rested his forehead against his brother's. "Sam please."

Seconds later Sam's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped in Dean's arms. "Sam!" Dean lowered them both to floor just as John and Mary came bursting through the door.

"What was blocking the damn door..." John's voice trailed off when he saw Sam lying unconscious and bleeding in Dean's arms. "What happened?" John quickly knelt down besides them.

"I don't know." Dean stammered, his voice trembling as he brushed his brother's bangs from his face. "Sam? Sammy, can you hear me? Sam?"

John reached for Sam so he could lie him on the floor and check him over but the second he touched him, Dean tightened his grip on his brother and looked up at John with something close to a snarl.

"Dean," John said, gently but firmly. "I'm not going to hurt him but you need to let me help, okay?"

When Dean slowly nodded, John carefully moved him from Dean's arms and laid him flat on the floor so he could check him out.

The words John said next caused Dean's whole world to stop turning.

"Call 911." John yelled at Mary. "He's not breathing."

Chapter 16