All Nightmare Long Chapter Five

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Chapter Five


He sat on the hood of his car, arm around the Sherry's shoulder.

The sunset was beautiful and he mentally patted himself on the back for choosing this time and place to take his girl.

Girls liked sunsets.

Girls liked guys that liked sunsets.

And he knew how to pretend to like sunsets.

"Oh, Andrew, this was the best idea!" Sherry gushed and snuggled tighter into him, their backs against the windshield, their legs straight out in front of them as they reclined on the front of his car.

He turned his head and nuzzled in to the side of her neck, her hair warm and soft against his face.

She didn't pull away, instead she sighed in a contented, almost enraptured way.

Encouraged, he kissed her ear, gently, then let his tongue trail down her neck, relishing the warm, sweet taste of her skin.

"Ooooh, did you feel that?" she asked.

"I'm definitely feeling something" he whispered back.

This time a lurch and bump of the car brought his head out of her silky tresses with a start.

"The car's moving!" he gasped. "The handbrake must've slipped"

Sherry sat up straight and looked at him, her face bright with fear as the car picked up speed, rolling towards the lake.

"Jump!" he yelled and gave her a little push, sliding her off the side of the car where she rolled and leapt to her feet, unscathed.

"Andrew, you too! Jump!" she called out.

He looked at her as the car picked up momentum, but he couldn't seem to move.

"Jump!' screamed Sherry, her hands clasped together as she jumped up and down."Andrew!

JUMP! JUMP!"

He turned his head to look at the lake as the car sped towards the bank, and he could not move. He felt glued to the hood of his car as it bumped and shook over the uneven ground, picking up more and more speed.

He could feel his heart pounding and his bowels loosening in fear, but he could not bring himself to jump from the car.

He tried to scream to yell, but he could make no sound.

He closed his eyes as the car careened over the steep bank, not opening them until the shock of the frigid water made him gulp one last breath before his head was pulled under, the water murky and dark, though still enough of the sunset's red and pink tones break through to let him see around himself.

The car went down quickly and he was freed from his invisible bond. He wasn't too far down and knew he would have to get out; the water was so cold it could kill him as quickly as drowning if he didn't get out of the water fast.

He swam towards the surface when he felt something snag the hem of his jeans.

He kicked to free himself, but whatever it was, it had a tight hold.

He was so close to the surface, but just not close enough.

He kicked again, but to no avail.

He bent and ducked towards his foot, pulling hard to free himself from the unseen tether.

Andrew lost half his air in shock when a face drifted up towards him.

He knew that face.

It was Daniel's face.

And Daniel was smiling.

Andrew was confused, and wanted to reach out to him….

But his lungs were bursting; he didn't have much time left.

He pulled at his jeans again, desperately shaking his leg to try to break free.

Daniel smiled again, his sandy red hair waving in the murky water, the pink fingers of light caressing him in a crazy pale hued rainbow.

He pointed and Andrew realized that Daniel was holding his hem with his other hand, pointing to what he was doing and smiling.

He stopped pointing and waved at Andrew.

Panic set in and Andrew kicked and struggled, using all of his strength, trying to break free of his best friend's vice like grip.

The last thing he saw was Daniel smiling, waving goodbye, as he could hold his breath no more and took in a mouth full of the brackish lake water.



Dean let his towel drop and reached over for his boxers as the motel door opened.

Covering himself with his hands he let out a sigh of relief as he saw it was his brother carrying a cardboard tray of food and coffee, newspaper tucked under his arm.

Dean turned back to the bed and grabbed his underwear. "Shut the door, Sammy, you're lettin' all the cold air in"

Sam kicked the door closed and sat the food on the table, hooking a chair out with his foot and sitting as he opened the paper. "Happened again, Dean"

"What?" Dean pulled a t shirt over his head and grabbed his bag and rummaged for a pair of jeans. "What happened again?"

"Last night. Kid drowned in his sleep. In his bedroom"

Dean sniffed his jeans and shrugged. Clean enough. "Another kid? One of the swimming group?"

"Not just the swimming group. This one was Andrew, the best friend, the guy that pulled coma kid from the water."

"The hero?" Dean pulled on the jeans and zipped the fly, his expression confused. "The girlfriend and the best friend, both drown in their own beds." He padded barefoot over to the table and sat opposite his brother. "I think we gotta talk to the whole group of kids. See if anyone is trying to extract some kind of justice here. For my part, though" he sniffed his coffee and took a large gulp of the scalding liquid "It's still the coma boy."

Sam nodded, swallowing his mouth full of food. "Yeah. Right. But why now? Why'd he wait a month before doing anything?"

Dean lifted a brow and picked up his cell from the table. "Let's ask his doctor"

Sam ate while Dean talked to the hospital, hanging up his phone with a satisfied smile.

"Boy's finally giving up the struggle. Apparently, a body can only live so long with such severe brain damage. A few days ago his organs started to fail. Doc says no longer than a week, even with the machines at full bore"

Sam shrugged, his mouth down turned. "Sounds like he's our boy. But, Dean, how do we stop him? I mean, we can't drag his half dead ass into the hall and light him up. So, how do we trap his spirit in the meantime?"

Dean leaned back on his char and wiped his chin with a motel napkin. "There has to be a way. I'll call Bobby, see if he's got any clues. You track down the other kids from the group, though I'm thinking they're not in much danger while they're awake. The other two died while they were sleeping"

"So do I need to source out some African Dream Root?"

Dean stood and stretched, then grimaced. "God, I hope not". He tipped his head a little, his smile creeping up to cover his face. "Though, the dreams of a sixteen year old cheer leader…"

"Angst, Taylor swift and pimples, I'm thinking. Not pillow fights and lingerie"

"Mmmmm…pillow fights…."



Dean grabbed Sam's arm. "Isn't that Busty Mc Hot Butt from the bar?"

Sam looked towards the nurses' station to see the tallish woman, her long red hair swirling down her back, her ample buttocks jutted out as she chatted to the staff at the desk. "Yeah. Um. Alison, I think. Yeah, Alison"

"What's she doing here?" Dean pulled at his jacket and walked up to the desk.

"Oh, agents. The doctor's expecting you" The middle aged nurse behind the desk gave them a bright smile. Alison turned and her face reflected the boys surprise when she saw who had approached.

"Oh. Hi. What are you guys doing here?"

Dean frowned a little. "We're here to see the doctor of a young man that nearly drowned about a month ago. And you?"

"Drowned? You mean Daniel Bradmere?"

Sam stepped forward. "I guess everyone has heard about him. This being a smallish town and all"

Alison gave him a sad smile. "Well, there is that. And the fact that Daniel is my brother. I'm Alison Bradmere."

Dean frowned and shook his head. "You said your brother died in an accident"

"You call that living? Seriously, my brother died that day. My mom just won't face it, and keeps his heart beating with that damned machine. But we all know Daniel's not there. He never has been. My brother is gone, and right now we're just waiting for the rest of his body to accept that"

"Doctor will meet you in Daniel's room" the nurse told them, hanging up a telephone. Sam nodded thanks to her and then followed Dean and Alison to the boy's hospital room.

"I can tell you pretty much all you need to know" Alison propped the door open then moved to the window to pull the curtains open, sending the brilliant rays of light into the room and across the still form of her brother. "He was a good kid, my little brother. Got teased a little for being a red head, but he won everyone over sooner or later"

Dean pulled a chair over and sat. "You're a red head. Did you get teased as well?"

Alison shook her head, the red tresses reflecting the sun in a soft, coppery glow. "I'm actually blonde. I dyed it red when Daniel had his accident. I don't know, tribute or something. Just seemed like the thing to do"

"Well, red suits you" Dean smiled at her.

Sam cleared his throat. "Yes. Well. Miss Bradmere"

"Alison"

"Alison. The doctor said to my partner earlier that your brother's body is giving out. His organs are shutting down"

Alison sat in the soft arm chair by the window and looked towards her brother. "He's giving up. It's enough. I think my mom has had her chance to say goodbye, and now it's time to let him go."

"I couldn't agree more" the doctor entered the room, a tall man, shaggy brown hair and dark, round eyes giving him a roguish air. "Daniel's parents are on their way in. I think that they finally accept, well, what Alison has. It's the right thing to do"

Sam held out his hand to the doctor. "I'm Agent Smith. This is my partner, also, um, Agent Smith. Nice to meet you Doctor….?"

The doctor grabbed his hand and shook it warmly. "Dr Hassan. Nice to meet you gentlemen. I know you're investigating the strange deaths we've had over the last couple of nights, but I can tell you, this boy isn't connected. He's been here in the hospital for over a month"

Sam pulled out his trusty little notebook. "Can you tell me, Dr Hassan, when Daniel's organs started to shut down?"

The doctor nodded. "He's barley been holding on, but four nights ago his kidneys started to fail. The rest of his body is shutting down, bit by bit, but the progress is speeding up"

"Four days ago. Penny died four days ago" Sam spoke loud enough only for his brother to hear.

"Can he feel anything? I mean, he's not suffering, is he?" Dean asked the doctor.

Dr Hassan shook his head. "Daniel's been incapable of any feeling, of any pain response or rational thought, since he was dragged from the lake. He's brain dead. Whatever you believe in, the soul, life force, the spark of life, Daniel hasn't had that the whole time he's been in hospital. He has almost no brain function. Take the machine away, he can't even breathe on his own."

He turned to Alison. "I'm sorry. I know you accept this, but it can't be easy hearing me say it out loud over and over"

She offered him a sad smile. "You're right, it's not easy. But I made my peace with it a month ago. I come here to, I don't know, say a final good bye? See him for as long as I can? But I know, today should be the last day I do this. Oh, there are my parents now"

Dean stood as Mrs. Bradmere came into the room, closely followed by a tall, red haired, athletic looking man. They were trailed by a younger girl, almost a clone of the boy in the bed.

Dean and Sam slipped out of the room and stood, trying to hear what was conspiring inside.

A loud sob from Mrs. Bradmere and a muffled cry from her husband told her all they needed to know.

They turned to leave as Alison grabbed Dean's arm. "I can't watch this bit" she gasped. "Please, can you get me out of here?"

Dean looked down at the pinched face, pain and sorrow clearly painted across her delicate features. "Are you sure? I mean, if they're pulling the plug, you know this would be the last time…."

"I know. I've already said my goodbyes. Over and over. I just can't sit there and watch his heart monitor until it stops."

"You don't want to wait with your family?" Sam asked her.

"I'll meet them at home, later"

"Okay. Fine. Let's go"

[ Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue]
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