Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

seat. “Bo and I had another fight.”
“Thought so. About the fort?”
“Yeah. Well, mostly.”
“You didn’t think he should go, but he ignored you.” It wasn’t a question.
“Got it in one.” Sam let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “The hell of it is, he wasn’t even unpleasant. He was so sweet to me. He told me how much he loves me, and how important I am to him, and he apologized yet again for how he was acting. But here we are anyway. Nothing changes, ever.”
Dean was quiet for a moment, watching Sam’s face. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but don’t you think you’re overreacting a little?”
Sam shot a glare at Dean. “No, I’m not.”
“Then explain it to me.” Dean twisted in his seat to face Sam. “I understand why you’re upset about this. Y’all were supposed to be here on vacation, and now we’re here and Bo’s gotten all caught up in our new case. It sucks, but frankly I don’t see why you’re this upset about it. What’s really going on, Sam? Tell me.”
Sam sat up straight and glanced toward the front of the vehicle. David and Cecile were both leaning forward from the middle seats, involved in an intense discussion with Bo and Andre.
Moving closer to Dean, Sam lowered his voice to a near-whisper. “You remember that weird blur on the video Bo took last night?”
“Yeah. Bo said he stumbled and that’s what made the camera move and the picture blur.” Dean shrugged. “Made sense, actually.”
“But he didn’t just stumble. He had a… Well, he called it a hallucination. I don’t know what to call it, but it sure as hell wasn’t normal.”
Dean stared at him, eyes wide. “What did he see?”
“He said he didn’t see anything, but he felt like he was somewhere else. He said it was dark and hard to breathe.”
Frowning, Dean brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. “That’s definitely not normal.”
“Tell me about it.”
“How long did it last?”
“Only for a split second. But Bo said he felt as if he was there in that other place for ages, even though he knew it was practically no time at all.”
“Huh.” Dean glanced at Bo. “Let me guess. That wasn’t the only time it happened.”
“Right again. It happened again this morning on our run, and again while we were swimming.”
“And nothing like that has ever happened to him before?”
“No. And he had a nightmare last night that was very similar to the vision or whatever it was he had.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.” Sam picked at a loose thread in the hem of his shorts. “I had the same dream the night before, Dean. Exactly the same. The last time that sort of thing happened was at Oleander House.”
“Christ.” Dean ran a hand through his hair. “What do you think it means?”
Sam shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. But I don’t like it. The whole thing feels wrong.” Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the window. “He’s in danger at the fort. None of the rest of us are. Just him. I know it. I can feel it. And he won’t listen.”
A warm hand enfolded Sam’s. He opened his eyes. Dean was gazing at him with determination on his face. “I know you’re already planning to stick close to him tonight. If anything happens, if he has another one of those spells, note the exact time, and note anything at all that you pick up with your psychic senses at that time. We’ll look for any fluctuations in the fort’s energy field and see if they coincide. If we find any sort of correlation, we’ll confront him. I’ll help you.”
Sam’s vision blurred. He blinked away the sudden stinging behind his eyelids. “Thank you,” he said, and squeezed Dean’s hand.
    At the fort, Bo suggested a switch in teams. Sam wasn’t surprised, considering, but it hurt anyway. To his profound relief, Andre vetoed the idea with a decisive “no”, and, when Bo tried to argue with him, a threatening glower.
    The entire team—Bo included—had learned not to argue with Andre when he gave them what David called simply That Look . Bo shut up and followed Sam to the old living quarters lining the inside of the fort’s northern wall.
    Two hours later, Bo still hadn’t stopped muttering under his breath about Andre’s curt dismissal of his suggestions, and Sam’s nerves were worn ragged. Listening to Bo’s constant complaining was bad enough. Knowing that the reason for it was because he didn’t want to be with Sam was downright painful.
    As they entered a tiny, windowless room carved into