Counteroffer (Gen, R)

[monicawoe]

word-count: ~5500 words
characters: Sam, Dean, (cameo by Jody Mills)

written for this prompt
Killing a hellhound triggers Sam's dormant superpowers: mind reading, telekinesis... Dean freaks out because there are things Sam might find out.

This prompt ran away with me and things got very, very dark.[spoilery warnings]mind-whammying like whoa.
other warnings /

Comments

[cassiopeia7]

Oh, my God. So dark and quietly terrifying. This fic read like an inescapable waking nightmare, and I mean that in the best possible way. You sent legit chills down my spine with every revelation, and totally blew my mind at the end. Bravo!

. . . and that last line. *shiver*

[monicawoe]

Thank you for reading, and thank you for the wonderful compliments! I aim to please - or terrify, whichever works ; )

I had been pondering the potential effects of hellhound blood on Sam for quite a while, so when this prompt was tossed my way I knew it was time to write it out. Glad it worked!

[keerawa]

Eeep. No, really, this .... I actually found myself flinching away from THINKING about the implications of what I was reading. *shivers*

[monicawoe]

Thank you! Coming from you that is indeed a high compliment, as your tales have made me shiver with fear & delight on several occasions : D

[jagfanlj]

Holy Hell, Hannah! That is truly terrifying: subtle unease turns to eerie happenings, turns to overwhelming wrongness like something conjured out of H.P. Lovecraft's worst nightmares. The effect of that story is extraordinary. I'm still getting shivers down my back. I want to read it again, but I'm actually afraid to, as though reading it might make it real.

[monicawoe]

Thanks so much for your lovely comment! I'm glad this was effective - I loved the prompt so much (and have been wanting to write about Sam and hellhounds in depth for some time).

Lovecraft is definitely amongst my horror-writing influences, though this particular fic was probably even more heavily inspired by the Silent Hill video game series which is a favorite of mine. ; )

Did you ever see "In the Mouth of Madness"? It is an older (1994) John Carpenter horror movie that essentially combined Stephen King and Lovecraft into one author- the concept of the movie (which I loved) was that his books had grown so popular that his universe started to exist simply because so many people believed in it.
It is cheaply made - but soooo fun. Sam Neill is in it, Jürgen Prochnow (as said author- he's just fabulous)- and John Glover (in a small but awesome role)

[jagfanlj]

I've heard about the "Silent Hill" movie, but haven't seen it or played the game. I'm a horror/suspense movie buff, but don't remember seeing In the Mouth of Madness. *adds to Must See list* You really can't go wrong with John Carpenter, even his bad stuff is better than most horror flicks. Although I can have a blast watching a truly terrible horror movie by poking fun at the characters and nit-picking the special effects.

[monicawoe]

Silent Hill is a phenomenal Japanese psychological horror video game series. One reason it stands apart from the rest is that you're dumped into the universe and never fully understand what's going on. In addition they perfected the technique of things that are unsettling just because of their wrongness. I'm not sure how else to explain it with words.

Here's a peek at a room from Silent Hill 3 that gave me chills every damn time

You really can't go wrong with John Carpenter, even his bad stuff is better than most horror flicks.
Exactly. They're just so fun!

Although I can have a blast watching a truly terrible horror movie by poking fun at the characters and nit-picking the special effects.
That's what's so weird about this particular flick too- some of the effects are great and some are insanely cheap but still really, really creepy. The part that still sends chills up my spine every damn time is when Kane says "blue."
You'll see what I mean ; )

[kazluvsbooks]

Ooooo creepy and GOOD!!!
Evil Sam...nooooooooooooooo!!
Awesome writing (as always)

[monicawoe]

So glad you enjoyed the read!

Evil Sam...nooooooooooooooo!!
Evil Sam = YES (which also stands for Yellow-Eyed Sam, obviously)

: D

[amberdreams]

Oh now that was an idea worth pursuing - poor Dean! When Sam turns evil Dean with his open loving heart, has no chance at all. I loved how you kept it tightly in his POV so the building confusion really hurts.

A wee typo "then downed it in one bug swig." Well unless it was full of bugs of course, being so close to Hell and all...LOL

[monicawoe]

bug swig!! the horror! (still not as embarrassing as the "Will you kelp me?" typo from many moons ago, lol. Oh autocorrect - you are the reason I shouldn't write on my phone as much as I do, and yet...

I found at least 5 typos today and corrected them but I am sure there are more. Perhaps tomorrow night if my brain is fully functional I will find the rest!

I loved how you kept it tightly in his POV so the building confusion really hurts.
That single person POV is really crucial for horror, I've found. (For my favorite kind of psychological horror, at any rate.) It's not nearly as scary if you know what's going on.