Song Remains the Same

Chapter 7: Alone With Everyone

"A brand-new start and a goodbye. We fall apart just to come alive."
- Bebo Norman

Alex found herself alone in a gnawing, inescapable darkness. Claws swiped at her, invisible and fiery. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but nothing came out. Somewhere far away, she heard her brothers calling for her, but she was drowning and couldn't call back to them. She suddenly spotted Dean—impossibly far away. He saw her and reached across the distance—then was violently dragged away into nothingness, screaming. Mind clanging with alarm, Alex fought to get to him. She remained stuck in place. Overwhelming despair overcame her as she twisted, rolled, and struggled against the dark creatures that tumbled around her. Boom, boom, boom. Sam was suddenly there within reach almost, but when he saw her plight, he just stared. Boom, boom, boom. Alex screamed out in silence, begging her brother to help her. Boom, boom, boom.

She heard herself gasp and her eyes flew open to see daylight and the familiar ceiling of Bobby's guest room. Her heart rate was skyrocketing, and her breath was shallow and frantic.

A dream. It was just a dream.

She began to calm down as she realized it wasn't real.

Boom, boom, boom.

"Hey, I've been banging on this door for like five minutes! You asleep or what?!" Dean. Disoriented, Alex scrambled out of bed and pulled the door open, squinting at her oldest brother. "Yikes, ever heard of a hairbrush?" His good humor faded when he took in her expression. "...You all right?"

"Yeah. Fine. Crazy dream." She rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand tiredly. That was the only problem with sleeping a whole night through: There were always nightmares.

Dean looked sympathetic and gave her arm an enthusiastic 'cheer up' whack. "Well, come on. Up and at 'em. We're hitting the road soon. Pack everything."

Alex made a wise-ass face. "Might take me a while." Yes, it was early, but never too early for sarcasm. She grabbed her duffel bag and slung it over a shoulder. She was already dressed except for shoes. She didn't own pajamas. "Ready when you are."

Dean hooked his arm around her neck, giving the top of her head a hard scrubbing with his knuckles. Alex protested the noogie with a halfhearted sound of protest. In the living room, Sam watched, separate and silent.

Later

Piled into the Impala, the Winchester family sped along toward a new destination. A few moments into the journey, Alex realized she was missing one vital piece of information. "Where we going, anyway?"

"West," Dean answered impassively. Hmm. Mysterious. After another minute, he glanced back at her in the rearview. "So, uh. Castiel came to me in a dream last night."

Alex raised a teasing eyebrow, jumping on the chance to rib her brother. "TMI." In the front seat, sullen Sam even had to smile momentarily.

"Ha ha," Dean retorted after an eye roll. "I'm serious."

"Yeah? So what did Mr. Handcuffs have to say?"

Dean made a face. "A whole lot of self-righteous crap about how he's God's warrior. Oh yeah, and the apocalypse is nigh."

He suddenly had her full attention with that one. "Huh?" She hadn't thought about the prophecy of the witnesses since yesterday—she'd been too busy fuming about Sam.

"He said that Lilith's game is to break these seal things."

Alex frowned. "Wait. The seals from Revelations?"