In War There is Always Sacrifice….

In War There is Always Sacrifice….

"Sam, move," Dean yells as he herds Sam forward. The slick ground of the soggy forest, makes their dash a little harder; the bloodthirsty creature chasing them makes it more urgent.

A few days ago they'd gotten wind of four mysterious deaths occurring in Jefferson City, Missouri. These deaths had been listed as an animal attacks, but when they had seen the autopsy photos they had known it was anything but. Neither of them had wanted to go back there, not when the last time they had come they lost not only their father, but also their only known hope of defeating the Yellow-Eyed Demon. But neither one of them could sit by and let more innocent people die.

"Damn it, Dean, I'm going as fast as I can!"

Dean makes sure to trail behind Sam, his eyes darting from Sam to their surroundings and then back to Sam, making sure that if anything heads towards his baby brother, he'll be the first to know. He gets his hand on Sam's back and pushes him, "Sammy, unless you want us to be that thing's lunch I suggest you move her lanky ass a little faster."

The thing roars and Sam speeds up. Suddenly he skids to a stop, Dean crashing into him.

"What the hell, dude?"

Dean looks around Sam and sees a second monster has appeared, bigger than the first.

"Looks like someone's got a momma and she's pissed."

Dean turns around to see that the first creature has closed what little distance was left between it and them. Both Dean and Sam pull out their guns and fire: Dean on the larger, Sam on the smaller of the two creatures. Sam fires round after round into the smaller one, finally getting a shot into its head. It falls to the ground unmoving. "Momma" throws back her head and lets out an unholy roar, causing both men to cover their ears. When its head lowers, its once milky white eyes are now solid black.

"Shit," Dean mumbles.

Sam and Dean raise their secondary guns and once more begin to fire as the remaining monster charges them. Sam's gun clicks as the clip empties, moments later it changes its path, seeing Sam as the weaker one.

"Sam," Dean screams as he shoves him out of the path of the creature and lets himself get the brunt of the attack. Sam watches helplessly as the creature sends Dean flying into the air, his body slams into a nearby tree.

Sam's heart stops as he waits for his brother to crash to the ground, body broken from the impact but there's only one impact. And then he notices that Dean's not moving from where he hit the tree, his feet are dangling nearly ten feet from the ground. Sam's heartbeat quickens to the point that it feels like his heart is trying to beat out of his chest.

Sam quickly runs closer to Dean; every scenario of why his brother is hanging there runs through his head, none of them good. Finally he gets close enough to notice the growing stain on Dean's chest, encircling the forearm thick branch that protrudes from his chest. And in that instance Sam feels as though there's a gaping hole in his chest as well.

Dean raises his head and looks from the branch to Sam. He tries to speak, but only manages to mouth, "Run," as blood seeps from his mouth. Sam's stomach twists as he's struck with a feeling of déjà vu.

"Dean," Sam screams as Dean's head falls downward. Sam's scream echoes and the creature tumbles away from an oblivious Sam as though violently pushed by an invisible force. It shakes its head and once more stalks its prey.

Sam reaches out to touch Dean, get him off the tree. He stops, his hand hesitates at the blood slick branch. He can't make himself go past the branch. Even now he fears adding onto the pain his brother must be feeling. He clinches his jaw as he silently begs Dean to move, flinch, hell, he'd even deal with Dean calling him Sammy but still he gets nothing but deathly silence. Because that's what it is. He's just watched his brother die. All the regrets rush him, making his chest feel tight. Now he truly is alone…..everyone he's ever loved has died….because of him. It has to end.

The creature closes in on Sam and almost appears to be smiling at what it's done. Sam's attempt to free his brother stalls as he hears the thing advance. He clenches his fists; his head begins to pound as he turns to face his brother's murderer. The pain in his head grows in intensity; this ache is different from that of a vision. This one doesn't come in sharp jabs as images flash before him. No, this time the pain pulsates and grows as though it's building in preparation of a catastrophic release. He feels a trickle of blood start to fall from his nose. As the creature rushes towards him his breathing quickens as he closes his eyes, concentrating on the pain, trying to control what before has been uncontrollable.

The monstrous beast jumps, ready to pounce on its prey. Sam opens his eyes and the creature stops midair. Sam stares at it hovering in front of him; at the monster that has cost him the only thing in the world he loves. The look of concentration vanishes as controlling his powers becomes as easy as taking a breath. The creature stares at him with cold emotionless inhuman black eyes and he stares back with vengeful hazel eyes. He feels not unlike Beowulf facing the monster Grendel.