Chapter Text
Dean still had both hands on his shoulders.
“Sammy?”
Sam stared at him.
For a few seconds,he couldn't make sense of Dean's face.
It was wrong.
The skin looked gray and loose,sagging strangely over the bones.Dark patches spread across his cheeks and jaw,as if something beneath the flesh had begun to rot.One eye seemed clouded over,the other sunk too deep into its socket.His mouth hung open,lips split and blackened at the edges.
Sam recoiled.
Then Dean blinked.
The ruined face was gone.
The worried eyes,the crease between his eyebrows,the way his hair was sticking up in places like he'd barely bothered fixing it before coming in.
It was Dean.
Sam's chest rose sharply.
“Hey.” Dean's voice softened. “Easy there,buddy.”
Sam pulled away from him.
Dean let go immediately,his hands dropping to his sides.
“What the hell?” Sam muttered before swallowing.His throat felt raw.
“You tell me.”
Dean looked him over,then glanced down at the sheets.
“You were sweating like crazy.”
Sam looked around the room.
“And shaking.”
Sam didn't answer.
Dean watched him for a moment.
“You wanna tell me what the hell that was?”
His voice wasn't accusing.
Not exactly.
But there was irritation underneath it.The kind Dean got when he was worried and had no idea what to do about it.
Sam looked at him.
For a second,he almost told him.
The words were right there.
I saw Jessica.
She was standing in the bathroom.
She's supposed to be dead yet she was talking to me.
Instead,Sam looked away.
“I had a nightmare.”
Dean's expression tightened
“That's it?”
“Yeah.”
Dean stared at him
Sam could feel his eyes on him.
He hated it
He hated being watched like that,like Dean was trying to figure out what was wrong with him by staring hard enough.
Dean finally sighed and sat down beside him.The mattress sank beneath his weight.
Sam shifted slightly away.
The sheets were twisted around his legs.One corner had been pulled loose from the mattress during the struggle in his sleep.The fabric was wrinkled and damp with sweat.
Cold air drifted through the room.
Sam shivered and looked toward the window.
The curtains were moving slowly.
Back and forth
Back and forth
Dean noticed him looking.
“What are you looking at?”
Sam didn't answer immediately.
His eyes stayed on the window
“Did you open that?”
Dean looked toward it,then back at Sam.
“No.”
Sam frowned.
“You didn't?”
“No.”
The curtains lifted again.
A cold breeze slipped through the gap and moved across the room.
Sam's eyes narrowed
Dean followed his gaze again
“Maybe the window's busted.”
Sam shook his head.
“I shut it.”
Dean looked at him.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Dean glanced back at the window.
Sam kept staring.
“I know I shut it.”
Dean was quiet for a moment.
Then,trying to lighten the mood,he said,
“Maybe that chick you were with got annoyed by your loud snoring and decided to make a run for it through the window."
Sam slowly turned his head toward him
“What?”
“The woman.”
“What woman?”
Dean frowned.
“The one I saw in your room?”
Sam's expression changed.
“No one was in my room.”
Dean looked at him for a moment
Sam's voice had sounded too certain.
Dean's eyes drifted back toward the window
“I know what I saw.”
Sam frowned
“What did you see?”
Dean didn't answer immediately.
He seemed to be thinking about it,trying to put the memory into words
“You were standing over there.”
He pointed toward the other side of the room.
“Your back was toward the window.”
Sam's eyes followed his hand.
“I could see the back of your head,so I waved at you"
Dean paused.
“but then you walked away.”
Sam looked at him.
“Okay...?then what?"
“I thought you didn't see me,so I stared for a few more seconds.”
Dean rubbed the back of his neck.
“Then I looked past you and that's when I saw her.”
Something cold moved through Sam's chest.Not the kind of cold that came from the open window.This was different.It started somewhere beneath his ribs,then spread outward in a slow wave.His stomach tightened.His arms prickled with goosebumps and the muscles in his shoulders pulled tight without him realizing it.
Dean continued
“She was standing behind you.”
“She was just...there?"
"Well,yeah."
Dean's eyes flicked toward the window again.
“I couldn't see her face tho.It was too dark.”
He hesitated
“She was wearing some kind of white nightgown.”
Sam's breathing slowed.
“White?”
“Yeah.”
Dean squinted slightly,trying to remember.
“...actually,it wasn't completely white.”
Sam just stared at him
“It looked dirty.”
Dean scratched his chin
“it looked like she spilled red juice on it."
Sam stopped hearing him.For a moment,the motel room disappeared.
He was somewhere else.
He was looking down.
His hand was shaking.
Something was caught between his fingers.
Long strands of blonde hair.
Jessica's hair.
Her hair was tangled around his hand,sticking to his skin.
There was blood on his fingers.
On the floor.
Too much of it.way too much.
Sam couldn't move.Couldn't breathe.He could only stare down at what was in his hand.
Something had pulled her hair.
Or he had?
He didn't know.
He didn't remember a thing.
“...and she was just waving at me.”
Sam blinked.
The motel room slammed back into focus.
Dean was staring at him
Sam's lips parted,
“Huh?”
Dean frowned.
“I said,she was waving at me.”
Sam stared at him.
“What?”
"Dude. Were you not listeni-.. nevermind."
Dean shifted on the edge of the bed.
“i said, after a few drinks,I'd say maybe an hour later,the girl was standing in front of the window again.”
“Again?”
“Yeah.”
Dean gave him a confused look.
“She was waving for me to come over.”
He pointed toward the window again
“I figured you told her to call me over,so that's why I'm here.”
Sam stared at him.his mind was still trying to put everything together.Nothing made sense.
Dean was still watching him.
After a few seconds,his expression changed.
“Dude.”
Sam looked at him.
Dean leaned forward slightly.
“Did she fucking roofie you?”
Sam blinked.
“huh?”
“When I found you like that.”
Dean gestured toward him.
“like...you were sweating,you wouldn't wake up and you were shaking like crazy.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I figured she was trying to do something to you and you scared her off or something.”
“....?"
Sam just stared at him with the most confused expression.his mouth opened slightly but nothing came out.
He didn't know what the hell Dean was talking about.
Dean kept staring at him,waiting for an answer.
Sam looked away.
His thoughts were moving too quickly and now Dean was telling him there had been a woman in the room.
Sam swallowed again, averting his gaze.
Dean sighed and shook his head
“Look,sammy.I don't wanna nag you but if you have a girlfriend,you probably shouldn't be doing this.”
Sam frowned
“Doing what?”
Dean gave him a look
“You know.”
“No,I don't. Do enlighten me.”
“Cheating on her.”
Sam stared at him.
For a second,he genuinely thought he'd misheard him.
“What the fuck, are you talking about?”
Dean blinked.
“What?”
“What girlfriend?”
Dean's eyebrows pulled together.
“Jessica..?"
Sam went completely still.the name hit him like something cold being poured down the back of his neck.
Dean noticed his expression.
“Wait.”
He slowly straightened.
“You don't have a girlfriend?”
Sam stared at him.
“No.”
Dean's face went blank.
“Oh.”
Silence.
Dean looked toward the window.
Then back at Sam.
“Oh.”
Something seemed to click in his head.
“Oh,shit.”
Dean's expression shifted.
“Did you guys...break up?”
Sam didn't answer
He couldn't.
His face had gone completely still,but there was something in his eyes that Dean couldn't quite place.Pain.Confusion.Something almost desperate?
Dean mistook it for heartbreak.
“Damn it,Sammy.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I didn't know.”
Sam just stared at him.
Dean glanced down at the floor,looking genuinely uncomfortable now.
“I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known.”
Sam's lips parted slightly
“I—”
Dean suddenly went still.
Sam noticed the change in his expression.
“..Dean?"
Dean didn't answer.He felt something warm slide down the corner of his eye.He blinked.
A small drop landed against his cheek.Dean frowned.
Then slowly, he raised a hand and touched the corner of his eye.
When he pulled his fingers away, there was blood on them.
Dean stared at it.
“What the fuck...?”
Sam's face went pale.
“Dean..your eyes-"
Dean barely seemed to hear him.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at the red smear across his fingers.
Then something moved.
Dean froze
For half a second, he convinced himself he'd imagined it.
A tiny,dark shape wriggled inside the drop.
Then another.
Dean's eyes widened.
“No."
The movement became clearer.
Something impossibly small twisted through the blood,disappearing beneath the surface before another one crawled into view.
Dean recoiled.
“What the fuck?!”
He shot to his feet so quickly the mattress bounced beneath him.
Sam stood up to stop Dean from bumping into the wall.
Dean wiped his palm against his shirt then immediately pulled his hand back, staring at the stain.
His breathing had gone ragged.
“What the fuck was that?”
Sam couldn't answer.
Dean looked at him.
“Sam!?”
“I don't know!”
Dean looked down at his hand again.
For one horrible second, he thought he saw another tiny movement beneath the skin of his palm.
He quickly dropped his hand.
“Jesus Christ.”
He backed away from Sam.
“Did you see that?”
Sam nodded.
“Go wash your face.”
Dean looked at him.
“What?”
His heartbeat was so loud he couldn't hear a thing
“Your face.” Sam pointed toward the bathroom. “Go wash it.”
They were both still standing with their hands slightly raised, like they didn't quite know what to do with them anymore.Their fingers felt cold.Cold enough that Sam could barely feel the tips of his own.
Dean finally nodded.
“Yeah.”
He kept his hand on his eye as he walked toward the bathroom.
Sam watched him disappear inside.
And as the bathroom door clicked shut..the light disappeared with it.
The room fell almost completely dark.
For a few seconds,sam couldn't see anything.
Then his eyes adjusted.
A thin strip of moonlight leaked through the curtains,barely bright enough to outline the furniture.
The motel room looked different in the dark.Not different enough to be unfamiliar,just enough to make everything feel wrong.
The chair.The table.The television.The bed.
All of them sat in the same places they'd been sitting all night but the darkness seemed to stretch the space between them.
Sam looked toward the window
The curtains were still moving slightly.
He got up
His bare feet touched the cold floor
He crossed the room and grabbed the window before pulling it shut.The frame clicked into place.
Sam stayed there for a second, staring at the glass.
Nothing moved outside,just the pale reflection of the room.
He quickly turned away.
Behind him, water started running in the bathroom.
Sam exhaled shakily.
He grabbed his clothes and changed as quickly as he could, keeping one ear turned toward the bathroom the entire time.
.
.
.
A few minutes later, the water stopped and the bathroom door opened.
Dean stepped out,wiping his face with a towel.
Sam looked up.
Dean's face looked completely normal.
No blood or strange movement.Nothing.
Dean touched the corner of his eye again.
“I looked at it."
He paused.
“Couldn't find anything wrong.”
Sam stared at him.
Dean looked toward him.
“But you saw them too, right?”
Sam's eyes dropped back to the laptop.
“The worms.”
Dean's voice was quieter now.
“You saw them.”
Sam nodded.
“I did.”
The room went quiet again.
Dean glanced toward the clock.
5:03 AM.
The sky outside had begun turning the faintest shade of gray,Morning wasn't far away.
Somehow, that didn't make either of them feel better.
Sam sat at the small motel table with his laptop open in front of him.
John's journal lay beside it, pages spread across the table.
He'd been going through it for a few minutes now.
Names,cases,symbols,old newspaper clippings.Anything that might explain what the hell they'd just seen.
"Maybe we should arrange an appointment with an actual doctor.."
"Maybe."
Dean watched him for a moment.
Then his eyes drifted toward the window.
Something caught his attention.
He frowned.
“Sammy.”
Sam didn't look up.
“What?”
Dean pointed toward the window.
“You didn't salt the window.”
Sam looked over.
“I didn't think we'd need to.”
Dean gave him a look.
“Seriously?”
“I forgot.”
Dean shook his head.
“You're getting sloppy.”
Sam didn't answer.
Dean crouched beside the bed and reached for the duffel bag he'd tossed there earlier.
“Move.”
Sam looked at him.
“What?”
“I've got salt.”
Dean pulled the bag toward himself.
The zipper sounded unusually loud in the quiet room.
He opened it and reached inside.
His fingers closed around the salt container.
Then he stopped.
Dean's expression changed.
Sam noticed immediately.
“Dean?”
Dean didn't answer.
He was staring at the space beneath the bed.
Sam slowly stood.
“What is it?”
Dean remained crouched.
For a second, there was nothing.
Then-
a breath.
Dean's hand tightened around the salt.
Sam froze.
Neither of them spoke.
Another breath came from beneath the bed.
A little deeper this time.
Dean slowly lifted his eyes toward Sam.
Sam's face had gone pale.
“De-...”
Dean raised one finger to his lips.
Don't.
The breathing stopped.
Silence
Dean stared beneath the bed.
Nothing moved
Then, very faintly..
another breath.
That wasn't either of them.
Dean didn't move,neither did Sam.
The room seemed to hold its breath with them.
Dean kept staring into the darkness beneath the bed.There was barely enough moonlight reaching the floor to see anything.Just a thin strip of gray beneath the frame.
Empty
At least, it looked empty.
Dean slowly lowered himself another inch.
Sam's eyes widened.
“careful...”
Dean ignored him.
He couldn't hear anything now.
That somehow made it worse.
Dean's fingers tightened around the salt container.He leaned slightly closer.
The darkness beneath the bed seemed impossibly deep.It shouldn't have been.
There was only a few inches of space underneath it.
But the longer he stared, the more it felt like he was looking into a room.
A room that shouldn't have been there.
Sam took one careful step forward.
The floor creaked.
Dean's head snapped toward him.
Sam froze.
“Sorry.”
Dean slowly turned back
a faint scrape.
His eyes widened.
Something had moved,not enough for him to see it,but enough to hear.
A soft drag against the carpet.
Dean's breathing stopped.
Sam's hand instinctively went toward his pocket.
“Did you hear—”
Dean shook his head sharply.
Don't talk.
Dean swallowed.
Maybe it had been the bed settling.
Maybe it had been the pipes.
Maybe-
A slow inhale came from underneath the bed.
Dean's entire body went rigid.His eyes stayed fixed on the darkness beneath the frame.
His hand moved slowly toward the back of his waistband and the gun came free without a sound.
Dean raised one finger.
Stay back
Sam didn't argue.
He took another step away from the bed.
Dean shifted onto one knee
The gun was pointed toward the floor,ready.
His breathing was slow now.
Whatever was under there...monster or a creep,he was going to deal with it.
Dean leaned forward slightly and his finger tightened around the gun
“Come on,” he whispered
The thing breathed again.
Dean's eyes narrowed
And then his nose twitched
He tried to ignore it.he really did..
Not now!
He sniffed once.
Sam noticed.
Dean shook his head slightly, trying to fight it.
His nose twitched again.
“Oh, you've gotta be-”
“HA—CHOO!”
The sneeze exploded through the room.
Something underneath the bed jerked violently.
The mattress rattled.
Dean flinched backward.
Sam jumped.
“What the-”
A black blur shot out from beneath the bed.
Dean reacted instantly.He swung the gun toward it.
The shadow tore across the carpet.
Dean tracked it with the barrel.
It moved too fast.
Left.
Then right.
Across the room.
Sam stumbled backward as it shot past his feet.
“Dean!”
“I know! I can see it!”
Dean kept the gun trained on the moving shape.
It disappeared behind the table.
Silence
They waited , catching their breath.
Dean slowly lowered the gun.
“Where'd it go?”
Sam looked around the room.
“I don't know.”
Dean took one cautious step forward.
Then another.
They searched the room for what felt like forever.
Under the table.
Behind the chair.
Near the bathroom.
There was nothing.
Finally,Sam crouched beside the bed.
“Wait.”
Dean immediately raised the gun again.
“What?”
Sam pointed.
“Under there.”
Dean stared.
Two small eyes reflected faintly in the darkness.
Neither of them moved.
Dean's expression went blank.
The eyes blinked.
Sam blinked.
Then a small black head slowly emerged from beneath the bed.
Dean lowered the gun.
“No fucking way.”
The cat stepped out,its tail flicked once.
It looked at Dean,then at Sam.
Then calmly sat down.
Dean stared at it and the cat stared back.
A few seconds passed.
Sam slowly exhaled.
“It's a cat.”
Dean didn't answer.
He just kept staring.
The same animal that had sounded like something breathing beneath the bed.
The same thing he'd been ready to put a bullet into.
The same terrifying little shadow that had nearly made both of them jump out of their skin.
The cat yawned.
Dean slowly rubbed a hand over his face.
Fuck me.
That was a cat?
He looked at the gun still in his hand.
Then back at the cat.
I was about to shoot a fucking cat.
The cat blinked at him.
Dean lowered the gun completely.
“Jesus Christ.”
Sam stared at him.
“You almost shot it.”
“I know.”
“You were gonna shoot a cat.”
“I know, Sam.”
The cat casually walked past Dean's boot.
Dean watched it rub it's head against his boots.
“Don't say it.”
Sam's mouth twitched.
“I didn't say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
Sam looked down at the cat.
Then back at Dean.
“Pretty scary monster.”
Dean gave him a flat look.
“Shut up.”