Summary: Anna Winchester fights to find her place in the world, and in her family of three men, who are also hunters. Rated M for spanking.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. I only own Anna.

Chapter 1:

"Never stop hoping
Need to know where you are
But one thing's for sure
You're always in my heart"

- Within Temptation -

Something was wrong. The air around me was too calm, too still, to the point where it was eery. Darkness enclosed me as a heavy fog pressed down and settled around me. Something, definitely, was not right.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice wavering with fear. Did I even want an answer? Who was out there, and if there even was anyone, were they good, or bad? "Is anyone out there?" Where was I? I had never been to this place before.

There were doors lining the room, but when I tried them, they didn't open. I was becoming more and more frightened by the minute, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck rising, goosebumps erupting up and down my arms and legs. I was not alone, I could feel it.

"Who's there!" I demanded, trying to sound intimidating, only to have my voice turn into a pathetic squeak, muffled by the fog. I looked around the room, realizing that nothing was in color. Everything was in black and white. That was strange. A door creaked open to my right. I turned to face it quickly, breathing unevenly. Someone, or something, was coming through.

"What do you want!" I yelled at it, when it just stood there in the doorway. My legs had started to shake, making me unbalanced on my feet.

"Anne-ahhh." It said, and I covered my mouth with a hand, squeaking in terror. It's slow, drawn out version of my name in a raspy voice made my blood run cold. "Anne-ahh!" it said again, this time a little faster, and more forcefully. It walked forward, and I stood shaking in my place, too terrified to move. When it got closer, it started to become clearer. A man, tall and broad.

I tilted my head to the side, removing my hand from my mouth as it stood in front of me. It was my father. John Winchester.

"Anna!" he said again, this time more urgent and clear. I jumped, and looked around. I was laying on my bed in yet another crappy motel room.

My heart was racing as I sat up. My hair was plastered to my forehead with sweat, and my hands were cold and clammy. The terror I felt in my dream was lingering with me, slowly ebbing away, but not entirely. My father, who usually slept in the bed beside me, was not there. But he hadn't been there for the past few days. He was on a hunt.

The bed, which should have been occupied with my older brother Dean, was empty. I threw the covers off my legs, getting to my knees on the bed, looking around the room. It was still dark outside, which meant it was very early in the morning. The clock on the night table read four thirteen. Why wasn't he in his bed?

"Dean?" I called out, feeling my heart rate quicken once again. The door to the bathroom was open, and the light was off. Everything in the motel room was dark, except for the dim night light I had plugged into the wall.

Eleven years old, and I still used a night light at night. But if you knew of the things that were out there, you would use one too.

"Dean?" I slid off the bed and almost dove to the floor as the door to our room opened. I was crouched between the beds, frozen, as Dean stepped into the room, flipping his phone shut.

"Anna?" He called out gently, and I let out a relieved breath, standing up. I could see him cock his head to the side as he watched me emerge from my hiding place. "What are you doing?"

I quickly ran over to him, throwing my arms around his waist. The uncomfortable, uneasy feeling I had ever since waking up had died down a little. My impact made Dean's breath come out in a loud 'Oof'.

"What's wrong? I heard you calling my name." Dean said, pulling away so that he could look at me as best he could in the dark room.

"Dean, something's wrong! Dad, he's . . . he's in trouble or something!" I stammered out

"What?" Dean knelt in front of me, grabbing a hold of my shoulders. "Anna, did Dad just call you?"

"No, I had a dream-"

"A dream?" Dean interrupted, his tone sounding disappointed.

"Yes! A dream, and-"

"Anna," Dean sighed, standing up and running a hand through his hair, "It was just a dream. Dad's fine. He's out hunting and he'll be back soon."

"It wasn't just a dream! He really is in trouble, Dean! We have to do something!"

"Alright," Dean said, turning me around by my shoulders then marching me back over to my bed. "You need to calm down. It was just a bad dream, probably from eating all those cupcakes before bed and watching that movie-I knew that was a bad idea." He added in after thought. "Come on, let's get back to bed."

I stepped aside from his guiding hand and knocked it away, frustrating rising in me. Why wouldn't he listen to what I was trying to tell him? Did he not understand how important this was?

"You're not listening to me!" I snapped loudly, which seemed to get his attention. He stopped and looked at me. "This wasn't like a normal dream, Dean. It was different, it felt real! I don't know how, but Dad found a way to get into my dream and-" I stopped, feeling like nothing I was saying was making any impact on Dean what-so-ever.

I plopped down on my bed, putting my face into my hands in frustration. Why did adults have to be so logical? Why couldn't they listen to you when you and believe that strange, unexplainable things could happen? Especially ones that spend their entire life knowing strange, unexplainable things.

"He hasn't called in three days, Dean." I said, my tone laced with the fear and apprehension that I felt. It wasn't that Dad called every two seconds while he was away, sometimes he would go a good week without calling, but for some reason, this just felt wrong.

Dean sat down beside me, pulling me against his side.

"He's probably just busy, Anna." He assured me. "It's only been three days."

"I know somethings wrong! I'm worried about him, and you should be too!"

"Okay, how about this, if Dad doesn't call by tomorrow night, I'll start checking around."

"We need to check now, Dean!" I insisted, reaching for my cell phone on the bed side table. Dean took my phone from my hands before I could even dial the first three numbers. "Hey!"

"Anna, enough."

I looked at Dean through hurt eyes. Why didn't he believe me? I watched him place my phone back on the night table, the gestured for me to lay back down.

"Come on. Back to bed." He said with a no-nonsense tone. I bit my bottom lip to refrain from arguing, and resigned myself to my pillow and blankets. Dean pulled them back up to my shoulders, then brushed my hair gently away from my face. "You don't have to worry about Dad. He can take care of himself. Soon enough he'll be back home barking orders around like he never left."

I knew that was supposed to cheer me up, to make me smile, or even laugh. But it didn't. I rolled over on my side so that I was facing away from him, keeping my mouth shut. I was not impressed.

"Anna," Dean sighed, and I knew he was probably shaking his head at me. I didn't care though. He didn't believe me. "I'll wake you up for school."

He kissed my head then I felt his weight lift off the mattress, and soon, his bed creaked as he got into it.

~ . ~

Two more days went by without any word from my Dad. I had a hard time sleeping at night, and I wasn't focusing in school at all. My teacher kept calling on me and I was always either dazed or falling asleep on my desk. It got so bad the second day, that when I finally realized she was calling my name, the entire classroom was staring at me. She asked me to stay after the bell rang, so I sat in my desk while everyone left with their coats and backpacks on. I had mine sitting beside me on the floor.

"Anna, come up here please." My teacher said once the room was clear. She was writing something when I approached her, and a few seconds later, she signed it, then placed it in an envelope and handed it to me. "I would like you to give this to your father when you get home tonight."

"He not home." I said blankly. "He's away on a trip. It's just me and my older brother."

My teacher opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. I reached to grab the letter, and she seemed to get a hold of her voice once again.

"Well, show this to your brother, then. I expect you to bring it back tomorrow, signed, okay?"

I nodded, and she allowed me to take the letter from her hand. I gave her a forced smile, then turned and walked silently from the room, ignoring the 'Good-bye' that she called to me.

Usually, I would be worried about giving my brother a letter from school. The only times I've ever had a letter sent home from school, were times when I did something I shouldn't have, and really regretted it later. But this one, I didn't really care about. I pretty much knew what it would be about, and I wasn't concerned. At least, I knew Dean wouldn't get angry with me if I was right about what it said.

My bus was just about ready to leave when I made it outside, so I ran over to it and knocked on the door. My bus driver looked at me, then shook his head, opening the door.

"We got a schedule to go by." He reminded me. "Next time I'm not waiting."

"Okay." I said, sitting down in the front seat by the door. I placed my backpack in my lap and leaned forward, resting on it. I was so tired, and I had until the last stop to get off. Kids shuffled by me every few minutes, and soon the bus was quiet as I was the only one left. When we pulled up in front of the motel, I stood up and waited for him to stop and open the door. "Thank you." I said to him as I got off.

Dean's car was parked outside, which meant there was a good possibility that he was home. I took my key out of my pocket and used it to open the door. As I walked in, Dean snapped his cell phone closed and slipped it in his pocket.

"Hey." He said. I walked over to him and handed him the letter that my teacher gave me. "What's this?" He asked, eying me suspiciously. I shrugged, putting my backpack on the table and going over to sit on my bed, taking my cell phone out of my pants pocket and opening the tetris game that was on it. Dean was silent for a few moments as he read the letter, and I focused on beating my high score.

When he was done, Dean sighed, wiping a hand down his face. He folded the letter back up and dropped it on the table.

"It's been two days, Dean." I said before he could say anything to me. "I want to call Dad."

Dean was silent for a moment, so I put exited my game and looked up at him.

"I mean it, Dean. I want to call him now."

"Yeah, I know." Dean came over and sat down beside me on the bed. "But he's not going to answer, Anna."

"Well we can try!" I pushed.

"No, what I mean is-I called around, and no one else has heard from him either. Bobby hasn't, Rufus hasn't, not even Pastor Jim."

"I told you something was wrong, Dean!" I yelled, immediately getting upset. I smacked him on his arm as I said that, and then pushed myself off the bed, walking over to where my duffel bag was on the floor. "We have to go find him! We have to start looking!"

"Anna," Dean said, getting up and coming over to where I was anxiously shoving my clothes. "Anna." I ignored him, until he put his hand on my arm, stopping me from what I was doing. I turned to look at him, expectantly. "We're not going to find Dad."

"W-what do you mean, Dean?"

"No, calm down, it's not like that." Dean soothed as he noticed I was starting to get upset. "I mean, we can't do this alone. We're going to go find Sam."

"Sam?" I said, as if that was a foreign concept to me. I hadn't seen Sam since I was seven, four years ago. I hadn't talked to him in over a year. He even stopped sending me cards and gifts. I never got a birthday card this year. "But . . . he's not going to help." I said sadly. "Sam doesn't want us anymore."

"Well, when I go talk to him he will." Dean assured me, removing his hand from my arm. "We're going to get Sam, and we're going to find Dad. But we have to leave now because it's about a days worth of driving to get to him."

I nodded, frantically, then started to pack again.

"I'm going to email your teacher back and let her know you won't be in for a few days." Dean told me as he sat down at the table, opening his laptop. "She was concerned about you, you know. Said you've been really out of it, not participating or doing any of your classwork."

I paused in my packing, wondering how I should respond to him. I didn't say anything, but continued to pack.

"She even asked if there was something going on at home that might be affecting your schooling."

I got up from my duffel bag which was finally packed with all my clothes. I looked at Dean briefly, before glancing down to the floor.

"Come here." Dean said, holding a hand out to me. I went over slowly and let him pull me into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face into his shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay, Anna. We're gonna find Dad."

"Promise?" I asked tearily, pulling my head back so I could look him in the eye. He hesitated for a moment, his jaw clenching, before he nodded.

"I promise." he patted my butt and said, "Now finish getting your stuff. Let's hit the road."

~ . ~

Car rides with Dean were hardly ever boring. At least when it was just the two of us. Dean let me sit in the front seat, and he gave me his box of tapes so that I could pick which one to put in. All his tapes were by artists like ACDC or Metallica. I didn't mind though. Sometimes I wished he would let me listen to people I liked, but I never complained.

We played games and there were always yummy snacks to eat.

"Is it a orange?" Dean asked.

"No!" I giggled. "That's twenty! You lose!"

"Well then what was it?"

"It was a kumquat!" I laughed hysterically, rocking back and forth in the seat.

"A what? What the hell is a kumquat?" Dean demanded.

"It's a fruit!"

"That's-you cheated! You can't pick things I don't know!"

"How was I supposed to know you don't know what a kumquat is? Everyone knows what a kumquat is!" I defended, smiling at him. Dean glanced over at me, then his right hand came off the steering wheel and was tickling my sides. I was saved after a few seconds, when his phone rang.

"Shit." He said, tapping his pockets as he tried to find it. "Anna, you see my phone?" I looked on the floor as it continued to ring. I found it on the floor and as I reached for it, the ringing stopped. I opened it and saw on the screen that it was a missed call from Dad.

"Dean! That was Dad!" I practically yelled, turning to face him. The phone beeped, and another message popped up saying that there was one new voice mail.

"Let me see that." Dean said, taking it out of my hand. I watched intently as he pressed some buttons then put it up to his ear. His expression changed into a look that didn't quite seem right.

"What happened?" I asked. "Is he okay? What's wrong? Where is he?"

Dean didn't answer me, instead he dialed some numbers, then held it up to his ear. He was silent for a few moments, then cursed, flipping it shut and sliding it back in his pocket.

"Dean?"

"He's fine, Anna." Dean told me shortly.

"But where is he?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

"Is something wrong?"

"Anna!" Dean snapped, holding his hand out firmly. "Enough."

I crossed my arms over my chest angrily, and turned to look out the window.

"Well you don't need to be a jerk." I mumbled. I hated it when Dean didn't tell me things, but that's pretty much how it's always been. I never get in on any of the details of what's going on with anything or anyone. Sometimes, when things get really bad though, I get sent to Pastor Jim, or Uncle Bobby, and that's when I know sometime is really wrong. They don't have to tell me then.

"I want to listen to the voice mail."

"Not a chance."

"Well then I'm just going to call him!" I argued, taking my phone out of my pocket and flipping it open.

"No you're not." Dean challenged in a firm voice.

"He's my Dad, I can call him if I want!" I cried angrily.

"Susannah Lee Winchester." Dean started, and I knew I was really going to be in for it. He hardly ever used my full name. "If you don't put the damn phone away right now, I will pull this car over."

"It's not fair!" I whined, holding it firmly between both hands, safely between my legs. "Why can't I call him? It's not like it's going to kill him!"

"Because I said so, that's why! Now put it away or I'm pulling over."

I held it in my lap for a moment, weighing my options with gritted teeth.

"Fine." I snapped, shoving it back into my pocket. I unbuckled my seat belt and began crawling into the backseat. "I'm going to sleep."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

I grabbed my pillow and blanket off the floor and stuffed it onto the seat, slamming my head onto it and covering myself with angry, jerky, movements. I loved Dean with all my heart, but sometimes he was a real jerk. I hated it when he treated me like a child, like I couldn't handle hearing the truth of what was going on.

I closed my eyes, remembering the last time I saw Dad a few days ago. I thought about the hug he gave me before he left, and the kiss that tickled my face from his beard. I remembered the dream I had, and the feeling of fear and dread that I had from it. I pulled my blanket closer to my chin and tried to think of other things, like what it would be like when we got to Sam's.

Maybe, Sam would decide to come with us. Maybe, Sam would decide to help. Maybe, we would find Dad, and be a happy family again. Maybe.