Dream One

Drabble
Emily sat on the couch in Bobby’s house with her headphones on, writing happily in her journal. She scratched her forehead with the back of her pen; her fingers were bare of rings.

She wrote another line, then heard a knock at the door. Emily lifted her head, confused. She looked around the room. “Dean? Sam?”

She got no reply. There were another couple of knocks. She shook her head, put her journal aside, then approached the door slowly, all the while checking around for any sign of her brothers. Before she opened the door, she looked back down the hall once more. The clock on the wall read 3:13 AM.

The knocking got louder. Emily jumped back in surprise. “Jesus, calm down. I’m right here,” she said as she turned the knob. Emily paused, furrowing her brow. She stepped out onto the porch and looked around. There was no one to be seen.

“Hello?” she called. “Is anyone here?”

There was no answer.

Emily screwed up her face in confusion and turned to go back inside.

She was one foot in when a huge spear drove into her abdomen from behind. A cry tore from her throat. Looking down, Emily saw a large bloodstain spread across her shirt. Her breaths came shallow and ragged.

“N-no… Ah!” She grimaced. A slight breeze blew in through the door and ruffled her hair. Emily stumbled forward and finally fell to her knees. “D-Dean! Sam!” she called again, to no answer.

A chain clanked loudly behind her, heavy shackles clamped down on her wrists and a surge of darkness flooded into the house. Emily sobbed in pain and terror, her voice growing more and more and more hoarse as she screamed.

“No! No, please! Help me!!! DEAN!! SAM!!! HELP!!!!”

--

“NO!!!”

Emily shot up on the couch, awakening from her nightmare. She clutched her chest as it heaved. The panic coursed through her veins, leaving her feeling completely weak and terrified. Bobby raced into the room and opened his arms to her. Before he could get too close, Emily scrambled away, screaming even louder.

“NO! NO, PLEASE!!! STOP IT! STOP IT! Stop…”

“Em, Em, I’m so sorry, it’s alright. Hey? Hey, listen to me…”

Still hyperventilating, Emily looked up at him, eyes wild. She stopped screaming when she saw his face.

Bobby smiled at her. “It’s me, dear. Look at me. It’s alright.”

She tried to regain her breath while she listened to his soft words. “Bobby… Bobby…” She studied the kind and concerned contours of his face. Just this small practice grounded her and soothed her racing heart. Emily took a shallow breath and said, “Please don’t touch me.”

Bobby shook his head. “I won’t, Emily. I promise. What d’ya need?”

She thought for a moment. “Do you have hot chocolate?”

Bobby sat back a little. “Actually, I think I do. Hang on.” He stood up and walked toward the kitchen.

“Um, Bobby…”

“Yeah?” He stopped and turned back.

She paused, then looked away. “No, never mind.”

Bobby watched her with a fatherly kind of concern one would not expect from a man without children. However, to him, Emily was very much his daughter. The daughter who was suffering and he was helpless to stop it. The only thing he could do was get her hot chocolate and he’d be damned if he could not do that for the only family he had left.

Once he was gone, Emily fumbled for her phone and shakily dialed a number. It rang once and was picked up. “Dean?”

“Hey, Em. Are you okay? I felt something major over the line… Is Bobby there? Are you hurt?”

“N-no, no, I’m, um… I’m fine. Bobby’s here, being awesome as per usual. I just, I just…” She sighed. “I don’t know what happened, to be honest. I just had a really weird nightmare. Woke up screaming.”

“You okay now, though?”

“I’m alive if that’s what you mean.”

“Emily…” Dean paused. “We’ll be back soon. We have a lot to talk about.”

She sank further into the corner of the couch. “Damn, Dean, you think?”

“Funny. Stay safe, Em.”

“I’ll try, jackass.” She heard him chuckle, then hang up. She tossed her phone to the side and hugged herself tight.

Bobby walked into the room, placed a large mug of hot chocolate into her hands, and sat down gingerly next to her on the couch. “I won’t force you to talk about it, but…” he started, “if you want to, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?”

Emily nodded and smiled. “And I’m damn grateful for it.” She took a sip from the mug and felt the remaining panic evaporate along with the steam from the hot chocolate. She took a moment to gather herself. “When I don’t feel like flinging myself out of the window whenever I think about it, you’ll be the first person I’ll go to.”

Bobby grinned. “I’d be honored.”