Guardian

Part I - What the Hell

Dean woke up to the familiar sensation of his skin burning. 

There was no smoke; it wasn't a flame that burned him. It was the sensation of fresh wounds exposed to open air. Three new cuts crisscrossed the skin on his arms. He got up with a grunt and shuffled towards the mirror, lifting his shirt to find three deeper lines along his stomach. There was a rip in his shirt.

He turned away from his reflection and sighed, sat on the edge of his bed and dropped his head in his hands; ruffling his hair. 

"Why does this keep happening?"

At first, he thought it was because of the new nightmares, maybe he was thrashing about. But the cuts became deeper and started to appear in places that he couldn't possibly reach in his sleep, so that theory went out the window. The other option was that, somehow, he didn't notice someone carving him like a turkey while he slept.

Dean changed his shirt and cleaned the cuts the best he could and went down the stairs. He knew that his brother, Sam would already be up. He figured it had been morning for a while, he hadn't checked the clock so he couldn't be sure and there were no windows in this part of the house. 

House; more like an underground mansion. The strange building had belonged to their eccentric grandfather; Henry Winchester and he left it to them when he died. The old man had a hobby of hoarding rare and strange items and books, carefully catalogued and organised in the vast library in the main building and the storage rooms and vaults below. Henry had always said it was the greatest collection of mythology and lore in the world. Dean was inclined to believe him.

Sam was sitting at one of the large wooden tables that sat in the middle of the library, a book with illustrations of strange creatures opened in front of him. There's writing, but god knows Dean didn't speak chicken scratch. He plopped down in the chair opposite and grabbed Sam's cup of coffee, taking a sip.

"Hey, get your own!"

"I just did"

Sam sighed and looked up from the book "there was a fresh pot in the kitchen"

"And there was a fresh cup right here, guess who won?"

Sam rolled his eyes and skipped a page before looking back up and furrowing his brow.

"Rough night? You look like you haven't slept"

Dean grunted.

"That wasn't an answer. Are you still having nightmares?"

"My skin looks like I got in a bar fight with Edward Scissorhands, so yeah, I think so"

"Maybe we should try safety proofing your room or something"

"How can I be the one doing it? It doesn't make sense!"

"As opposed to someone else getting in here by some miracle? Or do you think it's me?"

"Of course not."

"Then, it's worth giving it a shot. And maybe...you could see someone about the nightmares? Since you won't tell me about them."

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to tell a stranger if I won't tell you"

"Well alright, fine. But talking about it might help"

Dean picked up the coffee and drained it in one gulp then got up "I'm gonna get more coffee and head down"

"Dean-"

"Can't hear you, coffee's calling"

Sam sighed and slammed the book closed "fine, I'm heading to the campus and I'm taking the car!"