My lungs burned, each breath shorter than the last, while claws raked across my throat, my chest, my arms. I was drowning in pain, in blood, and in the sound of Ana's screams.

There was no stopping it. No fighting it. Just the Hellhound devouring me piece by piece, while the woman I loved screamed herself hoarse in the background.

And Lilith just watched, smiling.

The hound's jaw closed around my throat, tearing, shredding - I could feel the hot gush of blood choking me, taste of copper flooding my mouth. Claws ripped through my chest, splitting me open. I tried to scream, but nothing came out except a wet gurgle.

Ana's voice screamed into the darkness, but I couldn't see her.

Couldn't move.

Couldn't breathe.

Darkness was pulling me under. And then -

───※ ·❆· ※───

Dean and Ana are running on the road, hearing growling and barking noises behind them. They turn around a corner, and runs into a shopping cart, and falls to the ground.

They see a homeless man rummaging through a garbage bin. "Run! It'll kill you!" Both Dean and Ana as the homeless man looks at the couple and then the dog. Then the couple starts running while shouting at the same time.

───※ ·❆· ※───

The coroner opens a bag, a body bag. "Agent Tyler, Agent Perry, and Agent Neil, meet Frank O'Brien."

"He died of a heart attack, right?" Sam asked as Ana was on the other side of Dean, as Dean is in the middle of Sam and Ana.

"Yeah, three days ago." The coroner says to the three of them.

"But O'Brien was 44 years old and, according to his, a marathon runner." Sam says to the coroner.

"But everybody drops dead sooner or later. It's why I got job security." The coroner says as Ana nodded her head at what he said.

"Yeah, but Frank kicked it here. Now, just yesterday two perfectly healthy men bit it in Maumee. All heart attacks, you don't think that's strange?" Ana asked.

"Sounds like Maumee's problem to me. Why the FBI give a damn, anyway?" The coroner asked.

"We just want to see the results of Frank's autopsy." Dean says as the coroner looked at him, as Ana tried not to smile, as her and Dean's hands are interlocked with each other.

"What autopsy?" The coroner asked Dean.

"The one you're gonna do." Ana says as the coroner cuts open the dead body, as both Ana and Dean wince.

"First dead body?" The coroner asked.

"Far from it." Dean says.

"Oh, good. Because these suckers can get pretty ripe. Hey, hand me those rib cutters, would you?" The coroner asked as Sam and Ana both take a fortifying breath while Dean picks up the cutters and hands it to the coroner. The coroner cuts the ribs open while Sam keeps himself from squirming, as Ana tries not to get sick, just by looking at it.

This was her first case since having Kota. Dean had convinced her to join them on this one, as it was also just an excuse for Dean to have Ana near him within reach. Hey, if he's gonna have an opportunity to have his fiance beside him, he will take up that opportunity.

Ana sees a mark on Frank's fingers as she moved a little closer. "Is that from a wedding ring? I didn't think Frank was married." Ana says as she looked back up to the coroner.

"That ain't my department." The coroner says.

"Any idea how he got these?" Ana asked as she picks up Frank's arm which is full of scratches.

"You know what? When you drop dead, you actually tend to drop. Body probably got scraped up when it hit the ground. Huh!" The coroner says.

"What?" Ana asked.

"I-I can't find any blockages, in any of the major arteries." The coroner says as he breaks off the heart while Dean tries not to vomit. "Heart looks pretty damn healthy." The coroner says as he hands Dean, Frank's heart, who is looking freaked off, as Ana tries not to hurl. "Hold that a second, would you?" He says as Sam is smirking on the side. The coroner then cuts something else in the body, which ends up hitting Sam in the face. "Oh, sorry. Spleen juice." He says as Dean has a smirk at Sam's displeasure, along with Ana's. Which earned him a smack upside the head from Ana, as he gave her a small glare, as she just smirked at him.

───※ ·❆· ※───

The three of them are now at the Sheriff's Station, sitting down in front of a Deputy's desk waiting, the Deputy smiles at Dean, as Ana rolled her eyes at him, as just then the Sheriff opens his office door. "Hell's bells, Linus, have you seen my... who are they?" The Sheriff asks, as Ana and the brothers stand to their feet.

"Federal agents. I-uh..." The Deputy says to the Sheriff.

"And you kept them waiting?" The Sheriff asks.

"You, you, said not to disturb." The Deputy says.

"Come on back, fellas." The Sheriff says as the three of them walks over to the Sherrif's office, but he stops them. "Shoe's off." The three of them takes off their shoes and walks into the Sheriff's office. "Al Britton. Good to meet you." He says as he shakes their hands.

"You, too." Ana says, as he gestures for the three of them to sit down as Ana sits on the opposite side of Dean, making him be in the middle of Ana and Sam.

The Sheriff takes an alcohol gel and starts slathering his hands with it. Dean looks at Ana with a weird look on his face. "Okay, so, what can I do for Uncle Sam?"

"Well, we're looking into the death of Frank O'Brien. We understand some of your men found his body." Sam says to the Sheriff.

"They did. Me and Frank, we were friends. Hell, we were Gamecocks." The Sheriff says as Dean snickers, as Ana tries not to smirk. The Sheriff gives them a stern look, as the couple looks abashed. "That's our softball team's name." He says as Ana and Dean nodded his head. "They're majestic animals. I knew Frank since high school. To be honest, I just this morning got up the strength to go see him. Frank was... He was a good man."

"Yeah, big heart." Ana says as her lips curled up in the softest smile.

"Before he died, did you notice Frank acting strange? Maybe scared of something?" Sam asked.

"Oh, hell, yeah. Real jumpy." Sheriff Britton says.

"You know what scared him?" Ana asked.

"No. Wouldn't answer his phone. Finally, I sent some of my boys, over to check on him, and well, you know the rest." Sheriff Britton as Ana nodded his head, as the Sheriff coughs and pours alcohol gel on his hands again. Dean looks at Sam with a 'WTF' look on his face, as the Sheriff slathers gel on his hands. "So, why the Feds give a crap? You don't really think there's a case here?"

Dean looks at Sam. "No, no. It's probably nothing. Just a heart attack." Dean says to Sam.

───※ ·❆· ※───

The three of them are walking down the street, as Dean's hand is interlocked with Ana's hand. "No, way that was a heart attack." Dean says to his brother.

"Definitely no way. Three victims, all with those same red scratches. All went from jittery to terrified to dead within 48 hours." Ana says to Dean.

"Something scared them to death?" Dean asked his fiance.

"Alright, so what can do that?" Sam asked.

"What can't? Ghosts, vampires, chupacabra? It could be a hundred things." Dean says to Ana and Sam.

"Yeah, so, we make a list and start crossing things off." Ana says.

"Alright, who's the last person to see Frank O'Brien alive?" Dean asks.

"Uh, his neighbor, Mark Hutchins." Sam says.

Dean sees something ahead. "Hang on, hang on." Dean says.

"What?" Ana asked him, as Dean faces Ana.

"I don't like the looks of those teenagers down there." Dean says as Sam and Ana look around and sees teenagers talking near the Impala. "Let's walk this way." He says as he crosses the street while Sam and Ana stand in their spots with a perplexed look on their faces.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked Dean's fiance.

"When isn't he." Ana says, as Sam nodded his head at what she said.

───※ ·❆· ※───

The three of them are now at their neighbor's house, talking about Frank. "Tyler, Perry, and Neil. Just like Aerosmith and Vince Neil." As Dean is looking around the room.

"Yeah, small world. So, the last time you saw Frank O'Brien?" Ana says as Dean sees a big lizard and suddenly faces forward, swallowing, as his hand grips onto Ana.

"Monday, he was watching me from his window. I waved at him, but he just closed the curtains." Hutchins says to the three of them.

"Hmm. Did you speak to him, recently? Did he seem different? Uh scared?" Sam asks.

"Oh, totally. He was freaking out." Hutchins says as Sam looks at Dean who looks freaked out too.

"Do you know, uh... do you know what scared him?" Dean asked.

"Well, yeah, witches." Hutchins says as Ana furrows her eyebrows at what he said.

"Witches?" Ana asks confused as she and Dean looks at each other. "Like...?"

"Well, 'Wizard of Oz' was on TV the other night, right? And he said that green bitch was totally out to get him." Hutchins says, as Ana nodded her head at what he said.

"Anything else scared him?" Ana asked the man.

"Everything else scared him. Al Qaede, ferrets, artificial sweetener. Those pez dispensers with their dead little eyes. Lots of stuff." Hutchins says to the three of them, as Dean looks around again at the animals inside the aquariums.

"So, tell me. What was Frank like?" Sam asked.

"I mean, he's dead, you know? I-I don't want to hammer him, but he got better." Hutchins says.

"He got better?" Sam says.

"Well, in high school he was, he was a dick." Hutchins says as Ana tilts her head slightly.

"A dick?" She asked.

"Like a bully. I mean; he probably taped half the town's butt cheeks together..." Hutchins says that's when Dean snickers to himself. "... Mine included."

Dean stops snickering and turns serious. "So, he pissed a lot of people off. You th ink anyone would have wanted to get revenge?" He asked.

"Well, I don't... Frank had a heart attack, right?" Hutchins says.

"Just answer the question, sir." Ana says.

"No, I don't think so. Like I said, he got better. And after what happened to his wife." Hutchins says as Ana's eyebrows raised up a little.

"His wife? So, he was married." Ana says.

"She died about 20 years ago. Frank was really broken up about it." Hutchins says as Dean is staring at the snake that is around his neck. As Mark notices, as he has a small smile on his face. "Don't be scared of Donny, he's a sweetheart. It's Marie you got to look out for." He says as he nods to the couch. "She smells fear." He says as just then an albino snake creeps up from behind the couch, as Ana and Dean both gasp, as they stay very still as it creeps down their laps.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Ana and Dean are sitting in the car, reading while scratching their arms. Ana on her right and Dean on his right. Sam opens the door behind Dean's side of the car as Ana is in the passenger side, and climbs in. "Hey, any luck at the county clerk office?" Sam asks the couple.

"We're not sure yet, I'd call it luck. Frank's wife, Jessie, was a manic-depressive. She went off her meds back in '88 and vanished. They found her two weeks later, three towns over. Strung up in her motel room, suicide." Ana explains.

"Any chance Frank helped her along to the other side?" Sam asked the couple.

"No, Frank was working the swing shift when she disappeared. Airtight alibi." Dean says as he turns on the car, as they are driving in the middle of town. "How was Frank's pad?" She asked the youngest Winchester.

"Clean. Searched it top to bottom. No, EMF, no hex bags, no sulphur." Sam says to his brother.

"So, probably no ghosts, no witches, no demons." Dean says to his brother. "3 down and 97 to go." Dean says.

"Yeah." Sam says as he peeks at the speed that Dean is driving. "Dude, you're going 20."

"And?" Ana asked.

"That's the speed limit." Sam says.

"What? So, safety is a crime now, Sam? Unbelievable." Ana says as Dean drives through an intersection, which was passed their hotel.

"Sam, I'm not gonna make a left-hand turn into oncoming traffic." Dean says to his brother.

"Dean isn't suicidal." Ana says as Sam looks at Ana confused, before he looks back at his brother as he had a confused look on his face. "Did I just say that? That was fucking weird, man." Just then the EMF goes off in the background.

"Do you hear something?" Sam asked as he takes out the EMF meter and moves it to and from both Dean and Ana which makes it going off crazy.

"Are we haunted? Are we haunted?!"

───※ ·❆· ※───

Sam is on the phone talking to Bobby, he hears music coming from the Impala, and he walks towards it. Sees not only Dean but also Ana was lying in the car, as Ana was in the back seat of the car, the couple are doing air drums to 'Eye to the Tiger', as Sam bangs on the roof of the car which scares the couple.

The only reason why Ana is doing this in the first place, is A), why the fuck not. B), because Dean bribed her of doing it in the first place. C), Ana can't say no to Dean, he just looks like a kicked puppy when she does say no, and he uses those fucking puppy dog eyes, and she breaks.

"Dude, look at our arms." Dean says as he holds his and Ana's scratched arms.

"I just talked to Bobby." Sam says to the couple as he hands Ana a box of donuts and she eats one and doesn't share with Dean. Ana is a food gremlin and will bite Dean if he tries to take some of h er food when she is a food gremlin. She protects her food like it is something sacred. "Uh, you two aren't gonna like it."

"What?" Dean asked.

"It's ghost sickness." Sam says, as he knew that Dean wouldn't know what it is.

"Yeah, uh, some cultures believed that certain spirits could infect the living with a disease which is why they stopped displaying bodies in houses and started taking them off to funeral homes."

"Please tell me the good stuff." Dean says as Ana gave him a stink eye, as she took another bite out of the donut that she is eating ─ more like shoving in her mouth.

"Symptoms are you get anxious, then scared, then really scared, then you heart gives out. Sound familiar?" Sam says as Ana finished half of the donut box, in less than a couple minutes.

"Yeah, but we haven't seen a ghost in weeks." Dean says to his brother.

"Well, I doubt you two caught it from a ghost. Look, once a spirit infects that first person, or in you and Ana's cases, persons, Ghost sickness can spread like any sickness through a cough, a handshake, whatever. It's like the flu. Now, Frank O'Brien was the first to die, which means he was the first infected. Patient zero."

"Our very own outbreak monkey." Ana says with a mouth full of donuts, which taste like heaven in her opinion.

"Right. Get this, Frank was in Maumee over the weekend. Softball tournament. Which is where he must have infected the other two victims." Sam says to the couple, as Ana eats another donut.

"Were they Gamecocks?" Dean asked his brother, as he shook his head at what Dean said.

"Cornjerkers." Sam says to his brother, as Ana snickers.

"What is with the team's names?" Ana says to the brothers, as Dean has a small smile on his face at what she said, knowing that she wasn't wrong.

"So, ghosts infected Frank. He passed it on to the other guys, and me and Annie got it from his corpse?" Dean asked his brother, as when he called Ana, 'Annie' it made her think of before Dean went to Hell.

The last time that Dean had called her 'Annie' was right before he got chewed up by the Hellhound, as she remembers exactly the last time that he called her, 'Annie'.

(This is a little flashback to season three; episode sixteen - no rest for the wicked)

"Hello, Sam. I've wanted to meet you for a very, very long time." Ruby/Lilith says as she grabs hold of his chin forcing him to face her. Against his will, he gives him a kiss as there is a sizzle from their lips meeting. "Your lips are soft."

Sam moves his head up and to the side, trying to get loose from her hand. "Right, so you have me, and Ana, now let my brother go."

"Let him go you demon bitch!" Ana yells as that's when Lilith backhands Ana in the cheek which made her neck crack.

"ANNIE!" Dean yells to his fiance, which made Lilith scowl at Dea, but then she smirked because he can't get up and protect his fiance from Lilith.

"Silly goose. You wanna bargain, you have to do something that I want. You don't." Lilith says.

"So, this is your big plan, huh? Drag me, to Hell. Kill Sam or Ana. And then what? Become queen bitch." Dean says to the demon.

"I don't have to answer to puppy chow." Lilith says as Dean is clearly in pain on the table, trying to hold himself against her invisible restraint that she has on him. Lilith suddenly moves from Sam, as she looks at Dean, and walks over to the door while Dean follows her with his eyes, as Ana's is glued on Dean.

She grabs hold of the doorhandle and while looking at Dean she says. "Sic 'em boy." She says as Sam snaps his head to Dean at this as, Dean is looking at Ana.

Ana feels her heart break as she is looking at Dean This is it, he's gonna die. Right now. In front of her. Even if it is no use, she musters up all the strength that she has in her body, but it isn't strong enough against Lilith's hold. "I love you sweetheart." Dean says, as that is when Lilith opens the door and the goofer dust blows away as the hellhound gets him.

That's when Ana flinches when Dean touches her arm, which she never did before. Dean looked at her concerned, as she avoided looking at him.

"So, now what, we have 48 hours before we go insane, and our hearts stop?" Dean says to his brother, but he didn't break his gaze from Ana.

"More like 24." Sam says as that made Ana's eyes shot up at Sam when he said that.

"Great."

"Well, why me and Annie? Why not you? I mean, you got hit with the spleen juice." Dean says to his brother.

"Yeah, um, you see Bobby and I have a theory about that too. Turns out all three victims shared, a certain, uh, personality type. Frank was a bully. The other two victims, one was a vice principal, the other was a bouncer." Sam says to his brother as both Dean and Ana give him a 'what?' look.

"Okay..."

"They were all dicks." Ana says outloud which makes Dean and Sam look at her as Dean raised his eyebrows a little at what she said.

"So, you're saying I'm a dick?" Dean asked her as she shrugged her shoulders as he gave her an offended look. "That's low, sweetheart. Even for you."

"It's not just that, Dean. All three victims used fear as a weapon, and now this disease is just returning the favor." Sam says which brought Dean's attention back to Sam.

"I don't scare people." Dean says to his brother as Ana took a step closer towards Dean.

"D, all we do is scare people." Ana says to her fiance, as he looks back at her too.

"You're a dick too, apparently, baby." Dean says to her, as she shrugged her shoulders. Then he turns back to his brother. "You're a dick too."

"Apparently, I'm not." Sam says as he smirks at what his brother said.

"Whatever, how do we stop this?" Dean asked.

"We gank the ghost that started all this. We do that, the disease should clear up." Sam says to his brother and Ana.

"You thinking Frank's wife?" Ana asked the youngest Winchester.

"Who knows why she killed herself, you know? Hey, what are you two waiting out there, anyway?"

Both Ana and Dean look up at the hotel. "Our room's on the fourth floor." Dean says, as Sam looks at the hotel and shakes his head as he looks back at the couple.

"It's... it's high, and heights aren't my thing, because you know you can fall, and then you know..." Ana says as she was motioning with what she said. "...and then you go..." She says as she made a 'splat' sound to emphasize her point, which made Dean nodded her head at what she said.

"She gets it." Dean says to his fiance, as he had his arm around her.

"I'll see if I can move us down to the first." Sam says to his brother.

"Thanks." Dean says to his brother.

"Sure." Sam says as both Dean and Ana climbs into the Impala and looks at the donuts, which had zero left as Ana had eaten them all.

Dean looks at her as she shrugged her shoulders, at him. "What? They were good."

"You're lucky you're cute, sweetheart." Dean says to her as she had a faux pout on her face, as he only rolled his eyes at her.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Dean sits at the table with a book in front of him, as Ana is on the other side of the table as she is rapidly tapping her index finger on the table, as she is nervously looking around.

Dean stares above Ana's head and looks at the wall clock which is ticking loudly in the background. Dean then goes back to reading and starts coughing when he sees disturbing images. And sees words that seem to be talking to him and starts to panic, irritatingly looks back the clock. He then grabs his gun and shoots twice at the clock, which breaks and falls right in front of the door.

Sam then comes in the room, and sees a broken clock on the floor, as Dean is on the sofa drinking beer as Ana nervously looks around. "Everything alright?" Sam asks his brother and Ana.

"Oh, yeah. Just peachy. Find anything?" Ana asked the youngest Winchester.

"Yeah, Jessie O'Brien's body was cremated, so I'm pretty sure she is not our ghost. Hey, quit picking at that. How you, feeling?" Sam asked as Dean stopped scratching his arm, when he said that.

"Awesome, it's nice to have my head on the chopping block again. I almost forgot what that feels like." Dean says to his brother as he took another drink of his beer.

"Yeah." Sam says to his brother.

"It's freaking delightful." Dean says, as then he starts to cough, as moments later he gags over the sink, where he spits out a wood chip.

"We've been completely ignoring the biggest clue we have, you and Ana." Sam says as Ana grabbed a towel and handed it to Dean who wiped his mouth.

"I don't wanna be a clue." Ana says with a little pout on her face when she said that.

"The abrasions, this, the disease, it's trying to tell us something." Sam says as both Ana and Dean look at Sam confusedly.

"Tell us what? Wood chips?" The couple says in unison as they did their fist bump, like they always which made Dean and Ana share a look, as that was the first time that they did it since he, went to Hell.

"Exactly." Sam says to the couple.

───※ ·❆· ※───

They just got to the Lumber Mill, to see if there is anything about this ghost sickness investigation, that could tell them what happened. Dean and Ana both look around apprehensively. "We're not going in there."

"I need backup, and you two are the only ones I got. We're going in." Sam says to the couple as Ana shakes her head at what he said.

Dean takes a drink of the whiskey and gave it to Ana who also did the same. "Let's do this." Dean says as Ana screwed the cap back on the bottle.

"It is a little spooky, isn't it?" Ana says as Sam hands the couple guns.

"Oh, we're not carrying that. It could go off. We'll hold the flashlights." Dean says as he and Ana held up the flashlights.

"You two do that." Sam says as he is trying not to laugh at the couple.

───※ ·❆· ※───

EMF goes off in the background, as they are walking inside the lumber mill. "EMF's not gonna work with me and Annie, is it?" Dean asked.

"You don't say. Come on." Sam says as he puts the EMF back into his jacket as it goes off a little quieter. Then that's when he sees something on the floor. He picks up something which startles both Dean and Ana, it was a wedding ring. "To Frank, Love Jessie." He reads then looks back up to the coupe. "Frank O'Brien's ring."

"What the hell was Frank doing here?" Dean asked.

"No, idea." Sam says, as they walk into a room full of lockers, where they hear rustling.

Ana is clinging onto Dean like a koala. Sam opens a locker and Dean and Ana both scream after being startled by a cat. "That was scary!" Dean says as Sam walks away leaving the couple.

"Wait, get back over here." Ana says as she grabbed Dean's hand and the couple follows Sam.

The couple walks around a bit and finds Sam looking at an ID card. "Luther Garland." Sam says.

The couple sees a drawing on the table. "Hey, this is uh... this is Frank's wife."

"Plot thickens." Ana comments to the brothers.

"Yeah, but into what?" Dean asked, as that's when Dean tears off the drawing and the machines turned on. Looking around he sees something in the corner, along with Ana.

Sam turns and looks at the couple and sees them looking behind them, he turns around and sees the same thing they are seeing. "Hey!" He says as when he turns around, he sees that both Dean and Ana are running out of the mill. Sam shoots the apparition and goes after the couple who is hiding behind the Impala, as Ana is sitting on Dean's lap, as he is taking another drink of the whiskey bottle. "Guess, we got the right place."

───※ ·❆· ※───

The three of them are back at the Sheriff's station, as the Deputy hands Sam a folder. "This is the Garland file." He says as he sees that Dean is swaying. "Is he... drunk?"

"No, Deputy, according to this, Luther Garland's cause of death was physical trauma. What does that mean?" Sam asked.

"The guy died 20 years ago, before my time. Sorry." The Deputy says to the youngest Winchester.

"Then can we talk to the Sheriff?" Sam asked the Deputy.

"Um, he's out sick today." The Deputy says to Sam.

"Well, if you see him, will you have him call us? We're staying at the Bluebird. Mind if I take this?" Sam asked as Ana is fiddling with her hair.

"Know what? You're awesome." Dean says to the Deputy as Ana giggles at what he said.

"Thanks. Um, y-you too, I guess." The Deputy says.

───※ ·❆· ※───

The three of them are walking through an assisted living care facility. Dean and Ana are startled by a resident that they bump into the hallway. "This isn't gonna work. Come on, these badges are fake." Dean says as he held up his badge as Ana does the same.

"What if we get busted? We could go to jail." Ana says, as just then Sam shushed her.

"Ana, shh! Calm down, deep breath, okay? You too Dean." He says as the couple both takes a deep breath. "There. You feel better?" He asked as the couple shakes their head no. "Just come on." He says as Dean and Ana both scratch their respective arms as Sam hits them both. "Don't scratch."

"I can't help it, it scratches." Ana says like a child as she has a little pout on her face.

"Well, I don't care." Sam says as Dean held Ana's hand as he brushed his thumb on her knuckles.

"Mr. Garland. Hi, uh, I'm Agent Tyler, this is Agent Perry and Agent Neil, FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your brother Luther.

"Let me see some ID." Mr. Garland says to the three of them.

"Certainly." Sam says to the older man as the three of them show him their ID's.

"Those are real, obviously. I mean, who ─ who would pretend to be an FBI agent, huh? That's just nutty." Ana says as Sam nudges her foot with his when she said that.

"What do you want to know?" Mr. Garland asked.

"Uh, well... according to this, your brother Luther died of physical trauma." Ana says, as Mr. Garland scoffs at what she said. "You don't agree."

"No, I don't." Mr. Garland says.

"Well, then, what would you call it?" Sam asked.

"Don't matter what an old man thinks." He says to Sam.

"Mr. Garland, we're just trying to get the truth on your brother, please." Ana says.

"Everybody was scared of Luther. They called him a monster. He was too big, too mean-looking. Just too different. Didn't matter he was the kindest man I ever knew. Didn't matter he'd never hurt no one. A lot of people failed Luther. I was one of them. I was a widower with three young'uns. And I told myself there was nothing I could do." Mr. Garland says to the three of them.

"Mr. Garland, um... do you recognize this woman?" Sam asked as Dean holds Ana's hand like he always did to her.

"It's Jessie O'Brien. Her, man, Frank, killed Luther." Mr. Garland says.

"How do you know that?" Ana asked.

"Everybody knows. They just don't talk about it. Jessie was a receptionist at the Mill. She was always real nice to Luther, and he had a crush on her. But Frank didn't like it. And when Jessie went missing, Frank was sure that Luther had done something to her. Turns out the old gal killed herself, but Frank didn't know that. They found Luther with a chain wrapped around his neck. He was dragged up and down the stretch outside that plant till he was past dead."

"And O'Brien was never arrested?" Ana asked the old man.

"I screamed to every cop in town. They didn't want to look into Frank. He was a pillar of the community. My brother was just the town freak." Mr. Garland says.

"You must've hated Frank O'Brien." Ana says to the older man.

"I did for a long time, but life's too short for hate, son. And Frank wasn't thinking straight. His wife had vanished; he was terrified. A damn shame he had to put Luther through the same, but... that's fear. It spreads and spreads."

───※ ·❆· ※───

The three of them exit the assisted living through the back. "Now we know what these are, road rash. And I'm guessing Luther swallowed some wood chips when he was being dragged down that road."

"Makes sense. You and Ana are experiencing his death in slow motion." Sam says, as Ana groans a little.

"Great." Ana says.

"Yeah, well, not slow enough, huh? Say we burn some bones and get me and Annie healthy." Dean says to his brother.

"Dean, it won't be that easy." Sam says.

"No, no, it'll be that easy. Why wouldn't it be that easy?" Dean asked.

"Luther was road-hauled. His body was ripped to pieces. He was probably scattered all over that road. There's no way we're gonna find all the remains." Sams ays to the couple.

"You're kidding me." Ana says.

"Look, we'll just have to figure something else out." Sam says.

"You know what? Screw this." Dean says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dean." Sam says.

"Come on. No, I mean, come one, Sam. What are we doing?!" Dean says.

"We're hunting a ghost." Sam says.

"A ghost, exactly! Who does that?" Ana chimes in as Sam looks at her too.

"Us." Sam says to the redhead.

"Us? Right, and that Sam, that is exactly why our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell?! I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we ─ we search out the things that want to kill us. Yeah? Huh? Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We are insane!" Ana says as Dean chimes into the rant that Ana is saying.

"You know, and then there's the bad diner food and then the skeevy motel rooms and then the truck-stop waitress with the bizarre rash. I mean, who wants this life, Sam? Huh? Seriously? Do you actually like being stuck in a car with me and Ana eight hours a day, every single day? I don't think so! I mean, I drive too fast. She sings songs under her breath. And I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again, a-and I sing along. I'm annoying, I know that. And you ─ you're gassy! You eat half a burrito, and you get toxic! I mean, you know what?" Dean says as he tosses the keys to the Impala to his brother. "You can forget it." He says as he grabbed Ana's hand and held it in his.

"Whoa, Dean, where are you two going?" Sam asks the couple as they start to walk away.

"Stay away from us, Sam, okay? Cause we are done with it. I'm done with the monsters and ─ and ─ and the Hellhounds, and the ghost sickness, and the damn apocalypse. We're out. We're done. We quit." Dean says, as him and Ana are walking, they hear growling behind them, as both Dean and Ana tensed up at hearing the dog behind them.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Sam comes into the motel room, as Ana is laying down on the bed that her and Dean has as Dean is sitting on the bed. "I looked everywhere for you two. How the hell did you two get here?" Sam says.

"We ran. What do we do now? I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die, Sammy."

"Yeah, you are." Sam says as Dean looks at his brother puzzled at what he said. "You're going back." He says as that's when Ana turns around at what he said and what is going on between the brothers.

"Back?" Dean asked his brother with a puzzled look on his face.

"Downstairs Dean, Hell. It's about damn time too. Truth is..." Sam says as he turns to Dean with yellow eyes which made Ana gasp as she grabbed her gun and pointed it to Sam. "... you've been a real pain in my ass." He says as he throws Dean against the wall with a hand gesture.

"No! You get out of him you son of a bitch!" Ana says as she cocked the gun.

"No one's possessing me, Dean. This is what I'm going to become. This is what I want to become. There's nothing you can do about it." Sam says as he advances against his brother as Ana stopped him with her handgun pointed to his head.

"Hey, hey, hey, guys. Hey." Sam says as that's when the couple realizes that was just a hallucination, of the Yellow Eyed Demon but as Sam.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Outside of the lumber mill, Dean and Ana are in the motel room, as Sam is sitting on the Impala as a car drives up, as it was Bobby. "Howdy, Sam."

"Hey, Bobby. Thanks for coming so quick." Sam says to the father of Ana.

"Where's Dean and Ana?" He asked.

"Uh, home sick." Sam says.

"So, have their hallucinations started yet?" Bobby asked the brother of Sam.

"Yeah, a few hours ago." Sam replies to Bobby.

"How, we doing, on time?" Bobby asked Sam.

"We saw the coroner about 8:00 am, Monday morning. So, uh... just under two hours. What about you? You find anything?" Sam asks the older man.

"This, uh, encyclopedia of spirits dates back to the Edo period." Bobby says as Sam gives him a look as he has the book in his hands.

"You can read Japanese?" Sam asked Bobby.

"君が生まれる前からずっとだよ." Bobby says in Japanese.

"Guess so, show off." Sam says.

"Anyway, this book lists a kind of ghost that could be our guy. It uh, infects people with fear. It's called BuruBuru." Bobby says to Sam.

"It say how to kill it?" Sam asked.

"Same as usual. Burn the remains." Bobby says, as Sam nodded his head.

"Wonderful. Uh... is there a plan 'B'?" Sam asked.

"Well, the BuruBuru is born of fear. Hell, it is fear. And the lore says we can kill it with fear." Bobby says.

"So, how do we scare a ghost to death?" Sam asked.

"Pretty much." Bobby says.

"How the hell we gonna do that?" Sam asked, as back in the hotel room, Dean's phone rings which scared Ana as it made her jump from the loud noise.

"Hey." Dean says.

"Hey! So, uh, just ride out the trip, okay? You're ─ you're gonna be fine with Ana. We got a plan." Sam says to his brother.

"What is the plan?" Dean asked his brother.

"Uh, just a good plan, alright? Hang in there." Sam says to his brother, as he hangs up.

Not too long after Dean and Sam's phone call, Dean and Ana start to hear barking which makes Ana shoot up from the bed. The door rattles loudly. "What's that?" Ana asked fearful as her eyes widened in fear.

"Bathroom, don't leave, whatever you hear." Dean says as she nodded her head as she didn't hesitate at all, as she ran towards the bathroom and closed the door. After she closed the door, the hotel room door broke off its hinges. "Sheriff?" Dean asked as he sees the gun in his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Why are you looking into Luther Garland's death?" The Sheriff asked.

Dean sees the blood through the Sheriff's right arm, just like Ana's arm. "Hey, hey, you're ─ you're sick. You sick. Just like me and my fiance, okay. You got to relax." Dean says to the sheriff as he did everything but relaxing.

"Frank O'Brien was my friend." He says as he hits Dean. "So, he made a mistake. So, I didn't bust him. So, what? And you're gonna bring me down over that?! No, sir." The sheriff says as he points his gun at Dean, but he swats it away, as the fight ensues. "They know what you did." The Sheriff's voice says in his head. "Get away from me!" The real Sheriff says as he starts to hyperventilate.

"Al, you got to calm down." Dean says to the sheriff which didn't help at all because he didn't do anything calming at all.

"Step back!" The Sheriff says as he is having a heart attack, and then he dies.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Dean is sitting on the bed, scratching his arms. He hears again what Sam had said in his hallucination earlier. Ana peeks out from the bathroom door, where she was hiding, where Dean had told her to go for the time being. "Is he gone?" Ana's voice asked as it was so soft with fear laced in her voice as her eyebrows furrowed at Dean. "Is he dead?"

Then there was barking, Hellhound barking, and Dean looks down on his watch and sees something on the floor. He picks it up and sees that it's a Bible. Ana's eyes widened even more when she sees a little girl. "Hi, Dean." The little girl says to Dean, which made him shoot up to his feet.

"Huh, no! No!" Dean says.

"Yes, it's me, Lilith." The little girl says as she hugs Dean. "Oh, I missed you so much. It's time to go back now." Lilith says, as Ana closed the door as quiet as she could and goes to hide in the bathtub in the bathroom.

Dean moves away from Lilith. "You ─ you're not real!" Dean says.

"What's the matter, Dean? Don't you remember all the fun you had down there? You do remember. Four months is like 40 years in Hell. Like doggy years. And you remember every second of it." Lilith says which made Ana look up from the bathtub, but she didn't get up yet.

Dean clutches his chest with the Bible. "You're not real." He says to the little girl.

"It doesn't matter. You're still gonna die, along with your Pretty, Pretty Lady. You're still gonna burn." Lilith says to Dean.

"Why me? Why us? Why did we get infected?" Dean asked the little girl.

"Silly goose. You know why, Dean. Listen to your heart." Lilith says to the oldest Winchester. "Baboom, baboom, baboom, baboom." Lilith says taunting both Dean and Ana. Even if Ana isn't nearby she fell in the bathtub momentarily losing consciousness, as her breathing momentarily stopped.

Then it went back to normal again as she was gasping for air as Dean comes running into the bathroom, just as Ana gets up from the bathtub where she was hiding in. Dean fell to his knees as he held Ana in his arms. "It's okay, sweetheart." He says as he presses a kiss to the top of her head.

───※ ·❆· ※───

In the middle of nowhere, Bobby, Sam along with Ana and Dean are in the middle of nowhere, as Bobby, Dean and Sam are drinking beer and Ana is drinking a Dr. Pepper can that was in the cooler that Dean has, solely because she doesn't drink beer. "So, you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?" Dean asked as he had his free arm around Ana as she is leaning into his shoulder.

"Iron chain etched with spell work." Sam says to his brother as Dean nodded his head as he took a drink from his beer.

"Hmm, that's a new one." Dean says.

"It was what he was most afraid of. It was pretty brutal, though." Sam says.

"On the upside, me and Annie are still alive, so uh, go team!" Dean says as Ana has a small smile on her face at what he said.

"Yeah, so hey, how you feeling, by the way?" Bobby asked the couple as Ana rolled her eyes a little at what Bobby asked.

"We're fine, dad." Ana says as Bobby was trying not to smile.

"You sure, 'cause this line of work can get awful scary." Bobby says to his daughter and Dean.

"Were fine. You want to go hunting? We'll hunt. We'll kill anything." Dean says as he rubbed Ana's side with his free hand.

"Aww, he's adorable. I got to get out of here. You guys drive safe." Bobby says as Ana waved at her dad.

"You too, Bobby. Thanks." Sam says as Bobby drives off as Sam turns back towards his brother and Ana. "So, uh...so, what did you guys see? Near the end, I mean."

"Oh, besides a cop, beating my ass?" Dean says as Sam nodded his head a little as Ana took another drink from her Dr. Pepper again.

"Seriously." Sam says to his brother, as Dean looks at his brother and sees a yellow flash in his eyes.

"Howler monkeys. Whole roomful of them. Those things creep the hell out of me." Dean says as Ana couldn't help but smile at what he said.

"Right." Sam says not believing him at all, as he knew that was a lie.

"No, just the usual stuff, Sammy. Nothing I can't handle." Dean says to his brother, as after that he presses a kiss onto Ana's head.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Sam had made an excuse to go see a friend for a couple which ended up being Ruby, but neither Dean nor Ana knew that. So that meant that both Dean and Ana were in her apartment in Portland, Oregon. Which also gave time for Dean to spend a little time with his and ana's daughter. He already loves the little girl more than anything right now.

For as long as he knew Ana (even before they started dating), he always knew the little sighs of when Ana seemed or even looked off in the slightest way. Even today, of all days, she allowed herself to wallow in her sadness, letting it suffocate her like a weighed blanket until one day it magically lifts and she's back to being herself. It was a routine at this point since Dean got chewed up, and something she just accepted as part of her life.

Dean's heart ached as he watched Ana spend her days (that they are staying in Portland) in their bed, withering away amongst the sheets, letting her unspoken thoughts and feelings at her, draining the usual light and fiery attitude in her eyes, into dull lifeless voids. Each morning was the same routine that she's had since her depression started in the first place.

"You want some breakfast, sweetheart?" He asked, sitting on the side of the bed, with his hand carefully threading through her unkempt red hair. She shakes her head again, as Dean sighs, it's like clockwork that this happens. "You sure?"

"M'wanna sleep." She mutters her quiet croaky voice just barely louder than a whisper, before he left the room, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then with that he's out of the room, and she's back in the quiet solitude of the bedroom, blanketed by the dull smell of thick air that seems all-consuming.

Back in the midst of her own tired brain, spewing out things she'd never dare say aloud. Things she'd never share with Dean. But Dean's not an idiot. He knows depression like the back of his hand, and he's seen her episodes before ─ even if they are far in between, it doesn't make it any less painful whenever she enters one.

She would spend her days in and out of consciousness, swimming in the dire thoughts that would plague her mind and leave her feeling empty, and her perhaps looking even worse than she feels. She should be embarrassed, she thinks letting Dean see her like this ─ the unwashed hair, the unbrushed teeth, the crinkled pajamas she's sleeping and been wearing since they've first came here two days ago.

She's so wrapped up in her own brain, trying to fight the onslaught of grim thoughts, that she doesn't even see the impact she's having on Dean. He's tried everything. He was gentle at first ─ the soft-spoken words and tender touches that just made her feel worse. When his soft love didn't help, he moved onto bringing her things, like a meal or a toothbrush, hell even Dr. Pepper, but every time he tried, he was met with a hum of disinterest. It broke his fucking heart so much.

Hours later, she was still lying in the bed, as she heard Dean's heavy ass footsteps patter down the hallway to the bedroom, she pulled the blanket further up under her chin, almost shielding herself from him and whatever he was going to say to you, along with coax her with.

The door then opened with a creak, the light from the hallway, illuminating the dark room, as Dean popped his head in, letting his eyes land on her on the bed. It wasn't hard to find her in the first place, just find a lump under the blankets that is curled up in a ball. "Sweetheart?" He asks quietly. When she didn't respond, he sighed, as he opened the door wider and stepping into the room. She felt his weight pull down the mattress as he sat right behind her on the bed, as hand met her side gently rubbing, trying to coerce a response out of her. "I just put Kota down, which was shockingly easy." He says to her. He knew what he said were redundant, since she'd first fallen into this depressive state. He gently scooped her up, which resulted in the blanket falling off of her, and he put her onto his lap, as his arms enveloped around her, as he presses a kiss to her head as his chin was on the top of her head.

Ana didn't fight when he pulled her into his lap. She didn't even lift her arms ─ they just hung there, heavy and useless, like weights at her sides. She wasn't sure if it was the comfort or the exhaustion that made her let him. Maybe both. His warmth seeped into her like sunlight that couldn't quite reach through the storm.

She could hear his heartbeat against her ear ─ steady, human, alive. It almost made her angry. Not at him, but at the world that had taken the same rhythm from her once before. It wasn't fair that she got to have this again, not when the first time ended with blood and screaming and Hellhounds.

Her breath hitched, and for a second, she thought maybe she'd cry; but the tears never came. They hadn't for days. Grief had a strange way of burning you out until even crying felt like it was too much effort.

Dean's hand was tracing slow circles over her back, and his voice was barely above a whisper. "You don't have to say anything, sweetheart. Just... breathe, okay?"

But breathing hurts too. Every inhale scraped against the memory of what she'd lost. Every exhale felt like letting him go again.

She didn't know how to tell him that the world felt gray ─ not sad, not tragic, just ─ colorless. Dean's thumb brushed the edge of her jaw, tilting her head up. His eyes searched hers, and she hated that look ─ the mixture of worry and helplessness. "Talk to me, baby." He murmurs.

She shook her head weakly, voice raw when she finally spoke. "There's nothing to say. I just feel... gone." She says.

"You can talk to me, sweetheart." He says to her.

Her voice was a rasp against the quiet. "There's nothing left to say."

Dean closed his eyes, with his jaw tight. He'd heard her say those words before, but this time they had hit differently. Maybe because he understood them more than he wanted to. He brushed his thumb over her hand, debating whether to say what had been clawing at him for a week and a half. "Yeah, there is." He finally says, his voice was rough. Ana's head tilts slightly against his shoulder, her eyes dull but curious.

He hesitated ─ because if he said it out loud, then it'd be real again. The smell of sulfur. The screaming. The sound of his own voice breaking in ways it shouldn't have been able to. But she deserved the truth, and maybe he did too.

"It wasn't four months." He starts quietly.

Her brows furrowed at what he said. "What?"

He exhaled shakily, looking somewhere past the wall ─ past now. "When I was gone. When I... died. It wasn't four months for me. Time's different down there. It was forty years, baby."

Her breath caught, her head lifting a little more to actually look at him this time. "Forty."

"Yeah." He says as he gave a humorless laugh, one that sounded more like a cough. "They... tore me apart. Put me back together. Every single day. And this demon ─ Alastair ─ he'd come at the end of it all. Told he he'd take me off the rack if I started doing what they did. If I started torturing souls instead."

Ana's hands trembled, where they rested on his lap, as he continued. "I told him to shove it." Dean continues, as his voice was hollow, his eyes glistening of tears. "For thirty years, I did. Every goddamn day. Until one day, I just ─" His voice then cracked. "─I couldn't do it anymore. I got off that rack. And I started... doing it to them."

The silence that followed was thick and sharp, broken only by the sound of Dean's uneven breathing. Ana turned slowly in his lap, her face pale, but eyes wide and soft. "Dean...."

He shook his head before she could say more, a tear slipping down his cheek. "You don't get it, Ana. I became what I swore I'd never be. The things I did ─" He swallows hard, trying to keep his voice steady. "God help me, I lost count. And I wish ─ I wish I couldn't feel it now. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing."

Ana reached out, her hand trembling as she touched his face ─ hesitant, like she was afraid he'd pull away. But he didn't. He leaned into her hands, his eyes closing like he hadn't been touched gently in decades. "Dean..." She whispers as her voice was shaking. "You're here. You came back. You fought your way out, even if was by Cas. That's what matters."

He gave her a broken laugh. "You don't know what I brought back with me."

"I don't care." She says her voice slightly firmer now. "You're still you. You're still the man who makes pancakes at three in the morning and hums Led Zepplin to the baby just to get her to sleep."

He opened his eyes, looking at her like she was the only real thing left in the world. "And I'm still the woman who can't get out of bed." She whispers to him.

Dean's thumb brushed away the tear that was on her cheek. "Then I guess we're both a little broken, huh?"

Her lip trembled, and for the first time in days, she let herself cry ─ silently, messily, clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping her anchored. Which he was.

He held her tighter; forehead pressed against hers. Two souls who'd seen Hell ─ one literally, one figuratively ─ finding something close to peace in each other's arms.

───※ ·❆· ※───

hannah speaks!

hope you like this chapter!

see you in the next chapter!