Freaking Witches

Point of No Return

A/N: Finally on summer break so hopefully I'll be able to update more often now! Enjoy the chapter!

Dean was lost and disorientated. He felt constricted, trapped, unable to breathe as he tried desperately to get himself free from the inferno that kept him restrained. Judging by the intense heat that engulfed him, Dean had to still be in hell. There was fire swirling around him as nightmares swam behind his eyes. Cas and Gabriel coming to save him had all been a sick and twisted dream. Hell liked to play tricks with a person's mind, so why would the thought of rescue be any different?

Dean knew he was never getting out of this place. He was going to die here, and his soul would forever remain a prisoner of hell. Crowley was going to get his little girl, and then he was going to make sure Dean died. All of this was entirely his fault. Dean was going to be responsible for fucking up the world once again. This time, however, he wouldn't be there to try and fix it. This time, Cas and Sammy would be stuck cleaning up his mess.

He hadn't been strong enough to save his daughter. She was just another person he couldn't save, another person he let down. To make the situation even worse, he was the one who was responsible for bringing her into this cruel world. Dean's careless mistake had doomed the life of a little girl before she was even born. What kind of person did that make him? No one should ever trust him with the care of a child. He would always find a way to mess things up.

He'd never get to play silly games like peek-a-boo with his daughter. He'd never brush her long soft hair or read her bedtime stories. He'd never be able to watch her grow up or teach her how to read or cook. Dean wouldn't be able to show her how to shoot a gun or fix a car. Before he could gain control of his thought, Dean had begun envisioning a life with this little girl, his daughter. He was never going to get that chance because he had been an idiot and thrown it all away. Dean watched as the path to that future crumbled away beneath his feet.

As the illusion shattered, the world shifted beneath Dean's feet. He watched as the ground in front of began to crack and split, falling away to reveal an endless cavern of darkness. Dean felt rooted to the spot, mystified by the jagged pit that had opened up in front of him. Hesitantly, Dean stepped forwards when he found the strength to move. He peered into the depth below but saw nothing but endless night within that void. Dean could feel his heart booming in his chest, pounding against his ribcage as terror coursed through his veins. He tried to back up, to escape from the darkness that seemed to be rising from the pit and suffocating him. However, it felt like he was trying to move through sticky syrup. Everything appeared to slow and to a crawl. Before Dean was able to get away, the darkness twisted and swirled around him, winding tightly around his ankles. The dark tendrils pulled at his clothes and seeped beneath his flesh to tug at his soul as it dragging him closer to the edge. He felt himself wobbling at the very edge, fighting hard against the dark. Then, out of the dark, Dean watched something undefinable rise up and lunge towards him. As the mass curled around him, Dean could feel himself falling, finally descending into that suffocating darkness.

As he fell, Dean jerked violently and opened his eyes. To Dean's relief, he was no longer falling, but his heart was still racing, and his breath came in shallow gasps. His skin was coated with a thin layer of sweat, beads of moisture collecting and starting to slide down his face. When Dean tried to move, he found that somehow he managed to tangle his self in the covers while he slept. That would explain why he had been so hot and felt so restrained. Dean hated his nightmares; they always seemed to get worse and worse. They made Dean never want to sleep again.

As Dean tried to steady his breathing, he tried to wrestle his way out of the constraining blankets. He didn't get far though before someone placed a firm hand over his heart. Dean jumped at the unexpected touch and looked beside him and saw Cas watching him, concern evident on his face.