Oh, Nicole. You really know how to jerk the tears. Even when I'm not prepared to let them go, you pull them from me.

Thanks for posting this here. So sweet. And very in-line with your Sam and Dean.

Holy cow! Not only do we get a kick-ass angst-filled chapter, but a video! I have to admit, I was so curious I scrolled to the bottom to see the video first. :) Nicely done! I loved the editing and the way you timed the actions to the lyrics. Though I'm usually not a Korn fan, that one was fitting. Thanks so much for sharing!

And now the chapter -- okay, I feel a little silly that I didn't see what you were doing earlier, but I simply chalk it up to the fact that I enjoy allowing the story to unfold before me and not try to think around the author to figure out what's going on.

Dean's guilt with Hannah -- whatever happened with her -- is wrenching. And I loved that you tied it back to Bloody Mary. I've always wondered why Dean's eyes bled -- AND why Sam never asked him. *silly Sam*

And with this Culpa-Moh (right?) invading/possessing Dean... gah. Nicely done. I hope the stars align so that you can bring us the next installment soon. I have a feeling that Dean's plight is going to get worse before it gets better...

I am so sorry it took me so long to get to read this -- being on the dark side of the moon has certain distinct disadvantages. But I wanted you to know that I enjoyed this chapter so much -- your use of flashbacks for Dean's memories of Hannah was well-done and showed us a lot more detail than we would have gotten had we only been privy to Dean's conversation with Sam.

Sam irritates the hell out of me when he lets his emotions drive him to reacting without thinking about what the words that are triggering him are doing to Dean. He did the same thing in Hunted and I wanted to reach through the TV and shake him.

The ghost hunt at the Winchester Mystery house was nicely done, and how *horrible* for Dean to not only have to live with how Hannah died -- but to live with having to leave her there... his stake out in front of Sam's place was wrenching.

The Hannah/Demon is appropriately creepy. Love how you had her crawl into his lap. But when Dean left -- thinking he'd be protecting Sam -- I was almost as irritated with him as I was with Sam! Stay. Just *stay* for crying out loud.

Can't wait to see Chapter 10!!

PS -- love that you had Dean use "sideways" in his description of a hunt gone wrong.

Woman -- this was fantastic. I quite literally stumbled over it, not thinking it was up yet, and stopped everything to read.

I think this was your best chapter yet -- and I don't mean for this to sound wrong, but I almost didn't care what else was going on in the story... I didn't really care about Hannah or the black-winged-devil-creature (which, creepy) that Bobby shot... I didn't care about the why so much in this chapter because the what was so very captivating.

I've always had personal issues with the idea of Dean attempting suicide (for any reason), but because I know how good you are at weaving the angst, I pushed that aside and just read for the sake of enjoying your story. I'm glad I did because the care Sam showed for his brother in this chapter was so great and the efforts that he and Bobby had to go through to try to fix Dean's battered body just.... guh. Gut-clenching.

I am not one to presume to tell or suggest how one might finish a story -- I believe you have a movie in your mind and a path you are leading us down and you know how you're going to reach resolution with the real demon and the internal demon that is Hannah's memory for Dean.

I just hope that while Sam and Bobby will surely kick ass, Dean has some say in how resolution is achieved.

Now I need to go compose myself and actually face the day because your chapter seriously wrecked me. Thanks for that. :)

{{I'm cheating and copying, but I have a baby calling my name and wanted to support you on both sites...}}

First -- the title. That vid pretty much stomped all over my heart and then I immidiately downloaded that Dishwalla song to play it to death. So, NICE choice there. In fact... the song literally just came on my iTunes... Heh.

I know what parts you were concerned about, and I think you did a wonderful job -- Sam's talk with Dean after Bobby left was nicely paced and very much needed. Both of them have a tendency to blame themselves for things they can do literally nothing about, but Sam seems to be the worst culprit of that. He wallows in guilt while Dean shoves guilt down deep inside with every other emotion that slowly tears him apart. And I think the cadence and the tone of that conversation illustrated both tendencies beautifully.

This demon is a nasty sonuvabitch. The description of the blood and saliva pouring down its chin when it smiled, smearing on Dean when it ::shudders:: *kissed* him... UGH. I loved that you had Sam see the torture Dean had endured for so long -- I always love stories when Sam bears witness to how strong his brother is. Amazingly, it always seems to surprise him, but somehow... that works. Hearing Dean break in the grip of the demon had to be torture for Sam and you captured that nicely. Favorite phrase? "Winchester cacoon." I smiled every time I read that.

Also really liked: "Sam needed to have a firm grip on things at all times, to have stability in his thoughts and actions. Dean had long ago accepted the uncertainty of life and knew that control was only an illusion at best." Nice display of the dychotomy of the brothers.

And now... Plan B. Because you just *know* Plan A won't work. They're Winchesters! When has Plan A *ever* worked?? C'mon handcuffs... ::wink::

Hooray! It's here. :) I'm so glad to be able to have two places to read your wonderful story. Now, I will anxiously await your next chapter.

GS

It's an interesting twist -- Sam hunting alone while in college. Not completely out of the realm of possibility -- and it totally works for this story!

And I read on...

GASP!

Thank God there's more...

Okay, lovin' the angels/demons fight for the Winchesters. And now GABRIEL'S in the mix?! Holy cow! Poor Sam... he's not going to know what's real by the time this whole thing is over.

Favorite line of the whole chapter? "Because he's Dean." That says it all, man.

Now, go write more!

Oh, sob. That was really good -- Sam's ghostly image in the car, reaching out to Dean, the irony of "Stairway...", the angel prayer...

I'm ready to see Dean kick some demon butt -- bring it on!!

One thing I really like about your writing are the prayers and/or spells. You have a real knack for that. I loved how this one showed us the power of good -- the power of God's warriors: the angels.

There is so much real evil in the world, and in this supernatural universe it's multiplied tenfold, wich only our boys to fight it. It's nice to see a story that shows there are other guardians, other warriors -- other supernatural warriors -- out there fighting back the evil.

Nice job.

And here it is -- the chapter with the best 'tingly' moment I've read in a long time. I absolutely love that you had Dean and Sam fighting earlier about going to Palo Alto, and then the scene when Dean was looking up his symptoms on the computer... and still trying to push Sam away... and then he turns... and collapses, reaching out for Sam... GUH. My head spins just thinking about it.

Fabulous job!! I can't wait to get to read this again!