Sam's First Nightmare

[likethegun]

Everything was a little blurry when Sam came to, and his first instinct was to rub at his sore neck. Freaking demons, always going for the throat.

"Dean?" he said, his voice sounding a little rough. When there was no answer, he slowly sat up and looked around, his heart starting to race as he took in his surroundings, and the fact that he was all alone.

"DEAN!" he yelled, but the echo off the walls was the only reply he got. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes, trying to calm down, and he was so focused on that that he almost missed the sound of footsteps approaching.

"I don't think yelling will help. It's not like anyone's around to hear you."

Sam glanced up, and found himself staring at a young woman in her 20s, with chin length black hair, and an almost sympathetic smile. "What? Where's my brother?" he asked.

"I don't know, but he's probably not here," she said. "It's just you and me."

"No, no way. He was with me, he has to be here," Sam said. He stood up and looked around, and realized he was in town, back in Fandom. But any hope he might have felt disappeared when he realized how quiet it was. There was no one on the streets, no one in any of the stores - it really was just him and the girl. "Dean!"

"Are you really going to keep screaming like that? You're only going to end up giving both of us a headache," the girl said. Then she paled, and all trace of a smile disappeared from her face. "Did you say Dean?"

"Yes, Dean Winchester," Sam said quickly. "Do you know him?"

"I know of him," the girl replied. "He's not here anymore. He left."

The idea that Dean would go anywhere without him made Sam's stomach sink. "I need to find him. Or my dad, or my stepmom, or...do you know Dawn Summers? Or Peter Petrelli? There has to be someone here besides the two of us."

The girl stared at Sam openly now, looking like she was choosing her words carefully before speaking. "I know where Dawn Summers is. I can take you to her if you really want me to."

Sam sighed with relief, and nodded. "Yes, please. I need to see her." He followed when the girl started walking, taking in more of their surroundings. Many of the buildings in town looked partly destroyed, with windows shattered and fire damage on the walls. Sam became more and more nervous as they walked, as he realized what they were getting closer to, and he had to stop short when they walked up to the cemetery.

"Where's Dawn?" he said quietly.

"I told you, I'll show you," the girl replied, holding out her hand.

Sam smacked her hand away in a swift, solid movement, and then gasped, startled at his actions. "Where is she?" he asked again.

This time, the girl was silent as she held her hand out, and Sam took it gently, letting her lead him over to one of the graves. DAWN SUMMERS, it read. BELOVED SISTER AND FRIEND.

"What happened?" Sam asked, kneeling down next to the grave.

"You don't know?" the girl asked, sounding surprised. When Sam shook his head, she said, "She was murdered. Got burned up by a demon."

"No, that can't be what happened. We stopped that," Sam said. "The demon didn't kill her."

"Who's we?" the girl asked, sitting down beside Sam.

"My dad and my brother and I. I found her before the demon could kill her."

The girl looked almost amused for a moment. "Oh, I don't think so. The demon got her, and then took out all the women in one of the houses on Unicorn Street. Zoe Washburn and her baby," she said, pointing to another grave nearby.

Sam whimpered before he could stop himself, and shook his head harder. "No. We saved them. We saved all of them. They can't be dead." He wiped at his eyes, trying to keep his vision clear. "Where's everyone else? What happened to the rest of the town?"

"I don't think people were keen to stick around with a demon on the loose," the girl said. "Some people tried to stop him, like that Peter guy you mentioned, but..."

"But what?" Sam asked, suddenly feeling a little cold. "What happened to Peter?"

"You don't want to know," the girl said simply. When Sam opened his mouth, she said, "You really don't want to know."

Sam had been angry before, but he didn't think he'd ever been as angry as he was in this moment. He grabbed the girl by the arms, and yanked her closer, feeling surprisingly satisfied when she gasped and looked scared. "Where is my brother? Stop giving me pointless answers. I want to know what happened."

The girl shook a little in his grip, and when she looked at him, Sam realized it was the first time she was meeting his eyes. "He's hunting the demon, with your father. So, I guess if you wait around long enough, they'll be here."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, relaxing his grip almost instantly. There were red marks on the girl's arms where he'd held her, and for a moment, he felt guilty for grabbing her.

The girl reached into her pocket, and pulled out a compact, offering it to Sam. "This is what I mean," she said.

Confused, Sam opened the compact, and found himself looking at his reflection. All the air around them seemed to disappear when he saw his reflection staring back, gazing at him with pitch black eyes.

"It was you," the girl said, and where Sam would have expected fear or anger, he heard only pride. "You destroyed everyone, Sammy."

At the sound of his nickname, Sam shut the compact and looked back at the girl, only half surprised when she blinked, and her eyes turned yellow. "That's my good boy," she said.

Anything else she might have said was drowned out by the sound of Sam's screaming.