The Dead Who Groan Within Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
Sam swam hard, pulling powerful strokes despite the burning pain from his shoulder and bruised ribs. Every movement made him want to gasp in pain and he almost welcomed the aching cold water that started to sap feeling from his limbs. The flashlight; and he silently thanked his brother for investing in waterproof mag-lights, cut a clear beam through the absolute darkness. He ducked his head, looking beneath and behind him and felt Dean's hand tap his foot; a mute order to get a move on. Sam turned his gaze ahead once more, lungs burning with the need for air and took some hope as the tunnel they swam through suddenly angled sharply up. Sam pushed hard against the current, refusing to give in as his body was dangerously close to letting go and almost didn't realize light was filtering down from above. The sparkle of sunlight broke through the fog in his head and he pushed himself, frantic to reach the surface as black spots began to dance in his vision. He almost sucked in a mouthful of water in surprise when Dean's arm suddenly wrapped around his chest.
Dean saw the flickering light above his brother. He was fighting to hold what little breath he had left and knew it had to be harder for Sam, injured as he was. The closer they came to the surface, the slower and more sluggish Sam's movements became. Dean knew he was going to lose the battle and found a reserve of energy, kicking himself forward he drew even with Sam and snaked an arm around his chest, pulling him in and drove them both upward. They broke the surface at the same time and Dean held Sam's face above water while they both gasped in grateful gulps of cold air.
"Sammy?" Dean asked and got a slow nod in response. He didn't loosen his grip. He could feel Sam trembling against him and figured he had little to nothing left at that point. Dean looked around and saw they were in a small grotto formed by a u-shaped formation of rocks. The walls were too sheer for them to climb and he turned around, pulling Sam with him as he headed them out to the open water beyond. The waves were thankfully mild and not pushing too hard as he swum out between the walls to the lake. Sam did his best to help, kicking his legs weakly and Dean felt a surge of pride for the kid; beat to hell and still fighting.
Once outside the grotto, Dean changed direction and made his tired body keep moving, keep pulling toward the tree lined beach so close. "Almost there, Sammy." In response, Sam started to kick harder and pull with his good arm, giving them an extra burst of speed. Dean struggled up and onto the shore, dragging Sam with him as the cold water took the last of his strength and he collapsed into the rocky sand beside his brother. "No more…swimming…for a while."
Sam nodded in complete agreement, speech beyond him as he shook hard with the beginnings of hypothermia. He felt similar tremors in Dean where his arm laid against his shoulder and closed his eyes, trying to find a reserve of energy. They needed to get warm. He tried rolling to his side and ended on a hiss, curved around his bruised ribs; the shaking of his body was not helping the pain level.
"Stay still, Sam." Dean told him and made himself sit up. "I g-gotta get us warm…somehow." He wasn't entirely sure where they were in relation to the ruins and their car. All he could see as he looked up was lake on one side and steep, thickly forested hill on the other. "Crap." No signs of civilization at all. He dug his cellphone out of his back pocket knowing it would be useless and it was. He tossed the waterlogged phone away with a disgusted sigh. "Ok. Ok." Dean stood slowly, using a nearby tree to pull himself up. "Stay put." He told Sam and trudged into the screen of trees, looking for dry wood to start a fire. Twenty freezing minutes later he returned to find Sam curled up in a fetal position and shaking fit to knock his teeth loose.
He dropped the wood on the rocky sand and kicked a hollow with the toe of his shoe before settling to his knees. He spent precious minutes building the base for their fire and mounded the dried leaves he'd found beneath the wood before feeling through his pockets for his zippo. He brought it up to his face with shaking hands and held it tightly.
"Come on, baby. Light for daddy." Dean begged the little gold rectangle and flipped it open, spinning the wheel. As he'd feared, nothing happened. He blew hard on the wheel and wick several times and gave it another spin. On the fifth try it sparked and spurred him with hope. He spun the wheel several more times and was rewarded with a tiny flickering flame, trying hard to hold on to the water damp wick. He slowly lowered it to the tinder and held his breath until it caught.
He helped the first of the wood catch and then crawled over to his brother. "Sam? Crap." Sam's shivering had almost stopped while he was gone and that was not good. Fear wormed its way into him as he rolled Sam to his back and pulled him close to the still burgeoning fire. "C'mon, Sammy. You gotta w-wake up." Dean's own body was still trembling hard and he realized leaving Sam to lie alone exposed on the beach had been a mistake. Once he'd stopped moving there had been nothing to stave off the cold. He pulled him to the far side of the fire between it and the trees and started peeling Sam's jacket and shirts off him.
"Sorry, kid. This is gonna be uncomfortable for us both." Dean shook his head, resigning himself to getting Sam warm again, even at the expense of cuddling. "You so owe me for this." Dean groaned as he pulled off his own clothes, stripping down to his shorts and doing the same to Sam. The bandage on his left arm had been lost in the water somewhere but the stitches and wound beneath looked thankfully untouched. He looked out to the water as he lay down next to his brother and pulled his back in against his chest. "Hope no one over there's got binoculars." He groused; looking at the distant lights on the other side of the lake as dusk fell. He wrapped his arms around Sam and rubbed his arms, trying to encourage the blood to flow. Dean could feel the first edges of warmth from the fire on his arms and legs and dropped a hand to Sam's chest, feeling the skin there much warmer.
"Come on, Sammy. Wake up before this chick flick gets even more embarrassing." Dean chuckled. Sam groaned against him and Dean put a hand on his forehead. "Sammy?" Sam started to shiver then and Dean felt relief sweep through him. His body was starting to warm itself. "That's my boy." Dean rubbed vigorously along his arms and smiled when Sam's dark head bumped up into his chin.
"Dean?" Sam asked weakly, confused.
"Right here, buddy." Dean said reassuringly and Sam stopped struggling, settling in quietly and drifting off again as his body warmed. A half hour later, when Sam's shivering and his own had finally drifted off, Dean pulled himself up and went about spreading their clothes next to the fire, as close as he dared. They were not going to troop back to the car in their skivvies, he thought and chuckled at the sight they'd make. He looked over at Sam across the fire and frowned. He went back over, taking a moment to hop up and down and generate some body heat and then knelt beside Sam, turning him slightly so he could see his chest. A wide, long bruise crossed his chest on a diagonal from his right shoulder to his left hip and made Dean wince just looking at it.
"And you still swam out." Dean said softly, brushing a hand through Sam's now dry hair with a little smile and wished their Dad had been around to see. He sighed and wondered for the hundredth time what their Dad was doing that he wouldn't answer his sons.
"Mmmf." Sam moaned and slowly blinked his eyes open. "Dean? We're out?"
Dean snorted. "Nothin' gets by you huh, college boy?" Dean held a hand on his shoulder when Sam would have tried to get up. "Just stay down for now. Get warm while our clothes dry. We're gonna have to hike out of here."
Sam nodded and let his head drop to pillow on his arm and then he chuckled. "You're naked."
Dean pushed at his shoulder. "Am not and you're not exactly dressed to impress either, sweetheart."
Sam looked down at himself, eyes widening and then groaned. "Well this is…awkward. I want my clothes."
"Still wet." Dean said and settled behind Sam as unobtrusively as possible, lending his body heat to his back. "I want a damn burger." He licked his lips. "And a beer dammit."
Sam gave a short laugh, holding an arm across his chest in an effort to brace his bruised ribs. "We still have the Skeins?" He asked then, concerned suddenly for their safety since the Dhobar-Chu had come out the same way they did. He smiled and nodded when Dean reached an arm over to show him the blade he held.
"Not gonna catch us off guard this time." Dean said firmly. He kept his eyes on the sloping forest behind them, trusting Sam to watch the water while their clothes dried.
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Navigating the steep, forested slope in the dark was a pain in the ass; Dean thought to himself and stumbled. He caught himself on a tree and felt Sam's hand press into his back. "I'm good." He looked back and saw Sam give him a weak smile. He was walking cradling his chest, the steep climb not doing him any favors. "We're almost to the top I think." Dean told him and kept climbing. He pushed out through a screening of bushes and stopped to survey the scene before them.
"Whoa." Dean said and reached an arm back for Sam, pulling him up beside him. "Check it out."
They stood at the top of the Bluff Point ruins; ancient stonework's and crumble down buildings spread out before them in a maze of narrow alleys and wide, stepped stone workings.
"Parking lot's that way." Sam pointed off to their left and Dean nodded.
"We'll go around from up here." Dean said, looking down into the shadowed alleys. "Have a better chance of seeing that friggin anaconda coming for us." He gave Sam a gentle push ahead of him where he could keep an eye on his swaying brother, hand hovering behind his shoulder just in case. They made good time around the top of the ruins, sometimes heading back into the tree line when the stone ledge narrowed too much to be safe. The night sky was clear and the moon gave them more than enough light to see by.
They reached the edge of the parking area a long hour later and both men sighed, relieved to be so close to the car and then a warm bed. They stumbled into the lot and across, pushing each other upright as if they were drunk rather than simply exhausted and chuckling at each other.
"Didn't lose the keys in the lake did you?" Sam asked with a smirk.
Dean rolled his eyes and produced the keys, twirling them in front of his little brother's face. "Give me some credit." He reached the car and ran a hand along the hood. "As if I'd lose your keys, baby."
"Good grief." Sam groaned and went around to the passenger side, determined to sit and not move for a while. He was so tired, so close to out on his feet, he didn't at first register the dark, glistening form as it eased from under the belly of the Impala until it nudged his foot. Sam froze with his hand on the roof. "Dean." He whispered.
"What?" Dean slid the keys into the lock and looked up, frowning. Sam was standing stone still, eyes on the ground. "Sam?"
"It's under the car." Sam whispered again and took a step back as the color drained out of his big brothers' face. He fumbled a hand behind his back, fingers grasping the hilt of the bronze knife and saw Dean from the corner of his eye backing away and bending to get a better look.
"Get the HELL out from under my car you bitch!" Dean shouted, incensed. The Dobhar-Chu swept it's long tail out and took Sam's legs out from under him. "Sam!" Dean leapt onto the hood of the car as the snake's head shot from under the driver's door. He drew his bronze knife and dropped beside his brother, pulling him up and shoved him to the side as the creature's tail lashed out at them like a whip. It whistled between them and the snake's head rose over the Impala, rocking the entire body of the car.
"You got a plan?" Sam said, breathless. His left arm hung useless, popped out of joint once more with his impact with the ground.
"I'm workin' on it." Dean growled, watching the giant head as it wove above them. He groaned as the horn slid out of the center of its head, glinting dangerously in the moonlight. He narrowed his eyes and tensed, waiting. The Dobhar-Chu struck, head whistling forward intent on impaling Dean. He spun at the last second and wrapped his left arm around the neck behind the snake's head and brought his right hand around. He drove the bronze blade into its skull and used his weight to push the head to the ground. "Sam!" He gasped and straddled the thrashing serpent, trying not to hear the crunching sound as its tail lashed into the Impala. "Find the damn heart!"
"This is a plan?" Sam gasped and darted in toward the shifting coils. Its body shoved him away and he jumped back, wrapping his good arm around the body, hand running along the soft underbelly through its dark hair. "Don't let go yet!" He said, seeing Dean riding behind the head like it was a bucking horse.
"Doing…my best…hurry UP!" Dean shouted and put all his weight onto the Skein and its head.
Sam shouted when he felt the fast, rhythmic thump of the creature's heart beneath his hand. "I found it!"
"Stop talkin' about it and…stab it already!" Dean turned his head to see Sam draw his own knife, glistening gold in the night and watched as he stabbed down into the snake. The Dobhar-Chu convulsed beneath him and screamed. Dean couldn't hold it anymore and was thrown through the air, landing with a grunt several yards away in the soft grass. He rose up to his elbows and saw Sam rolling to a stop through the parking lot. Between them, the Dobhar-Chu coiled in upon itself, gave one last massive spasm and sank to the ground; still.
"Holy crap." Dean rolled to his feet, rubbing his sore back and went cautiously toward the creature. His and Sam's blades stood out like exclamations in the dark, furred hide. He went to its head, braced a foot behind the horn and grasped the hilt of his Skein. He gave a pull and, with a little effort, slid the blade free. Green ichor colored the blade. "Yech." He wiped it off in the Dobhar-Chu's fur and went to check on his brother.
Sam had managed to roll to his back and watched Dean retrieve his blade but moving any further than that just seemed beyond him.
"Sammy? You ok?" Dean knelt beside him and Sam nodded.
"Just…shoulder's out again." Sam admitted grudgingly and Dean sighed.
"Ok." Dean went to his other side and used his right arm to pull him to his feet. "What is it with you and that left shoulder?" He chuckled, trying to lighten some of the pain he saw on Sam's face. It did always seem to be his left shoulder Dean was forever popping back in.
"Just lucky." Sam groaned and then groaned again when he got a good look at the Impala. "Oh man." He felt Dean's grip on his arm tighten. "It's just the windshield. We can fix that."
Dean nodded and delivered a parting kick to the serpent's corpse as they passed it. He opened the passenger door and settled Sam in the seat. "Gonna salt and burn that bitch before we go." Dean ground out between his teeth, tearing his eyes from the spider web of cracks across his baby's windshield. Sam nodded wearily as he closed the door and went to the trunk.
Minutes later he stood over the cheerfully burning corpse of the Dobhar-Chu and wished he could kill it again. "No one messes with my baby." He said softly and turned his back on the creature, pushing Sam's Skein into his belt as he went around to the driver's side and slid behind the wheel. "How you doin', Sammy?"
"Peachy." Sam replied with a pained smile. "Burger. Beer. Bed. Remember?"
Dean chuckled and brushed a hand over the inside of the windshield before he rumbled the engine to life. He backed away from the still smoldering corpse and left the ruins behind with a satisfied smile.
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"Sir?" Lana knocked on the private apartment door of her boss, Mr. Fielding; the current owner of the Esperanza Mansion hotel. "Mr. Fielding?"
The door opened and a young man in his twenties, dark hair pulled back in a severe ponytail and tailored suit frowned down at her. "You are aware of the hour, Lana?"
"Y-yes, sir but." She wrung her hands. "Sir you asked to be notified if the…if your…pet failed to return and well…it hasn't come back."
Mr. Fielding's eyes darkened. "Are you sure?"
"Sir, it's almost dawn and it always comes back before dawn. It never leaves her alone for long." Lana stuttered, watching his eyes darken.
"Tell Jasper I want him to go to the ruins and find out what's happened." Mr. Fielding dismissed her with a short wave and shut the door in her face.
Lana let out a relieved sigh. She wondered why she didn't just walk away and leave the mansion as badly as he treated her and then she sighed, remembering. "Just had to sell your soul, Lana. You idiot." She rubbed a hand over her face and went to make his call.
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