Taken Chapter 5/10
Yay for chapter five. I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Even though I was having sympathy pains for Dean, lol. I'm still sorta having them. So you've been warned that there's some violent and gorey scenes in here. Rated R. Enjoy!
Chapter Five
"Should I try to take it out?"
Dean kept his eyes closed for a second, though sighed to let Alex know that he'd heard him. He didn't really feel like opening his eyes. The nausea, the blood loss, the pain, it all just made Dean want to go to sleep, to curl up in his bed and wake up safe and cozy and warm with Sam sleeping closeby, nightmare free. Yeah, maybe if he just closed his eyes for a few minutes, he'd wake up and everything would be okay. Maybe he could somehow make this whole thing work in reverse. He woke up in a nightmare, right? So maybe if he went back to sleep he could wake up back where he was, back in his cheap motel room that smelled like carpet cleaner and ashtrays. But he knew that the last thing he should be doing right now was sleeping. If not solely because he was losing blood, then because there was a sixteen year old kid squatting in front of him trying to stop the bleeding but shaking so badly he was actually only making it worse.
So Dean opened his eyes and Alex immediately looked up at them, waiting for some sort of response, some sort of order. Man, was this how Dad felt in these types of situations? All those times when they were kids hunting with their father and things didn't go as planned, did his Dad sit there and wish he could just go to sleep and wake up when it was all over? No, of course not. John Winchester was a Marine. He was a soldier. He kept his head straight in situations like this, and he'd trained his sons to do the same. So Dean had to step up to the task, yet again. And though Dean thrived for this hero business, he couldn't deny that there were times when he wished someone else could just take care of the situation. That someone else could bust in here guns blazing and be the hero. Because sometimes even Dean got tired of it. But he'd never admit it.
"No," Dean rasped through his bruised throat. Man, was that really his voice? Bastard better not have left permanent damage. Although some girls might find it sexy. "Leave it." He watched as Alex tore one of his pajama pant legs off and waded it up before pressing it gently around the hook. Dean still grunted in pain and had to close his eyes for a moment against the dizziness. After it passed, he looked back down at the protruding hook and glared at it. It looked like the hook had entered somewhere near his neck and the guy must have twisted it just so that it came out the front, just below his collarbone. The barbed end of the hook stuck out sorely and the blood that dripped from it was dark and heavy. He could feel the metal rubbing against bone and he knew if they tried to get it out now, they probably wouldn't be able to do it without snapping his collarbone in two. And that was a pain Dean had lived through once when he was fifteen and he wasn't about to do it again. There were some pains Dean could handle. A broken collarbone wasn't one of them.
"You're bleeding pretty bad," Alex whispered as he kept pressure on the wound. "It's not stopping," Alex's voice hitched and Dean's eyes travelled back to the kid's face. He looked close to crying. Dean watched him for a second as Alex struggled to keep his tears back. Tough guy. "I don't know what to do," he admitted after a moment and Dean moved his good hand and put it on Alex's arm.
"Hey," he said and Alex met his eyes. "You're doing fine," he said quietly, not exactly sure what else he was supposed to say. Whenever Sam berated himself like this, he could always come up with something to say. He'd either make him laugh or pull rank on him. Big brothers were allowed to pull rank. It was part of being a big brother. But he didn't know what to do for Alex. The kid was terrified, that's for sure, and Dean was pretty sure that when they got out of this, he'd have lasting symptoms of traumatization. So what could he possibly say to make this kid feel better? Was there really anything? Well, maybe one thing. "You know, some chicks would find this whole hook think pretty kinky."
Alex paused in his attempt to staunch the blood flow and looked at Dean with arched eyebrows. Dean grinned and Alex let out a scoff that sounded too much like Sam. "You've got a meat hook through your shoulder. I don't think any girl would find this kinky."
Dean just broadened his smile. "Well you've met Sheila," he chuckling but instantly stopped when it jarred his shoulder. "This is her kind of kink."
"That's sick," Alex said, going back to pressing the now soaked pant leg to the wound. He cringed when the blood started seeping onto his hands.
"Don't knock it till you try it," Dean sucked in a breath at the new pressure, but kept his face straight. "What? You never had a girlfriend with some funky fetish before?"
Alex shook his head. "I'm sixteen," he gave as an answer.
"Ah, Alex, my man," Dean said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. Damn, did someone turn up the heat? Hadn't it just been freezing a few minutes ago? "Never too early to start."
Alex chuckled and Dean smiled at the sound. That was more like it. He shifted a little at his sudden uncomfortableness. His head felt heavy and he could feel sweat break out on the back of his neck and on his forehead. Man, wasn't he supposed to be cold if he was going into shock? Because he sure as hell wasn't cold. It was like he was sitting in a fucking sauna.
"Dean?" Alex's voice startled him back to awareness and he opened his eyes, seeing the kid was now looking at him wide eyed again. He pushed himself up a little straighter, realizing he probably thought Dean had passed out. "You okay?" he asked.
Dean forced a laugh. "You ask stupider questions than my brother," he said. Alex half smiled, but there was still worry etched across his face. "I'm fine, man," he finally answered. Alex nodded. "How's your face? He knocked you pretty hard there."
"It's fine," Alex said, touching his swelling eye. "Girls like the tough guy look," he joked.
Dean laughed, which turned into a wince. "Now you're catching on."
Their laughter was short lived when they heard the sound of the door opening again. Dean tensed and Alex seemed to freeze like a deer in headlights. Dean reached up and took the cloth around the wound on his shoulder, holding it as he nodded for Alex to stand up and see what was going on. Alex looked hesitant at first but then did so, clenching his fists and waiting, slightly rocking side to side as he did so. Dean tried to push himself into a standing position, but he could only get so far before the chain still attached to the hook would give him a tug. He sat back down, heavily, and grit his teeth against the sudden new flare of firey agony in his shoulder. The dizziness almost claimed him this time, but he managed to gather himself. He had to spit a couple of times when the nausea made his mouth salivate. And damn if the heat he'd felt just a moment ago flared up again and sweat beaded on his skin anew. He knew pretty soon he'd start to feel cold again, when the blood loss got to be too much. He wasn't looking forward to it.
The wooden door leading to the outside opened harshly and Dean heard a scuffling, followed by some muffled grunts. His eyes shot open as he recognized the voice. New panic and anger made him forget for a moment about the pain and the fever and he pushed himself up as far as the chain would allow him. He could just barely see over the assembly line and the light from the outside silhouetted three figures. Two which were clearly the bar brawlers and one which Dean could recognize anywhere. It was Sam.
One of the guys reached forward and pulled something from Sam's mouth. Dean noticed that his brother's hands were tied behind his back and there had been a gag in his mouth and a blindfold still rested around his eyes. But that, too, was soon removed and he watched Sam blink a couple of times, eyes adjusting to the dark. The guys didn't give him a chance to orient himself as they shoved him forward, where he hit one of the assembly lines with his hip before falling to the floor in a heap. Then they left as abruptly as they'd come, neither one looking in their direction. Dean growled in anger and before thinking better of it, he moved forward and was immediately tugged back by the chain. He could help but cry out. And a dark fog settled over his eyes and around his brain for a moment. He could vaguely hear Sam grunt.
"Dean?" Sam called out a moment later, having heard his brother's cry. Dean wanted to answer his brother, but his head was spinning and he was finding it hard to remain in a sitting position. The floor seemed to be tilting back and forth, like he was on a boat. Dean had never liked boats.
"He's over here," Alex's voice was quiet, unsure. Dean heard Sam grunt and then there were footsteps coming their way. "Who are you?" Alex asked.
"Sam," was the answer and before Dean could register how close the voice had been, there were hands on his face. The coolness of the skin made him jolt and he could hear his brother shush him quietly. "I'm his brother."
"I tried to stop the bleeding," Alex said meakly.
Sam's hands were close together, cupping Dean's chin and holding his head up. "Jesus," he whispered under his breath and Dean guessed that Sam had spotted the hook. All right, time to say hi. He forced his eyes open, which took a lot more effort than it should have, and saw Sam eyeing the hook in his shoulder with disgust and horror on his face. Sam's hands were still tied together at the wrists, only he had somehow managed to get them in front of him. Then Sam's eyes moved up and the met Dean's and for a moment the brothers just stared at each other. Dean took stop of his little brother. Of the swelling left cheek, of the split lip, of the tears glistening in his eyes. And he guessed Sam was doing the same with him. He thought guiltily that he hadn't been as worried as he should have been. He'd just assumed Sam was safe, back at their motel room, sleeping away like nothing had been happening. God, had they had Sam this whole time? Had they been doing things to him? Had he really failed that badly? Finally, Sam spoke. "Dean?"
It took a moment, but Dean found his voice. "You okay?" he asked.
Sam let out a relieved chuckle and and smiled, though it looked like he was only smiling to keep from crying. "Yeah, Dean," he answered and quickly looked him over again. "You know, when we had that whole talk about not going missing again, I assumed it went both ways." Dean grinned and Sam's smile grew a little.
"Just trying to keep you on your toes," Dean answered. "What happened to you?"
Sam finally let go of Dean's face and turned slightly towards Alex, who came forward and helped him untie the rope around his wrists. Then he moved to Dean's side and looked at the chain attached to the hook. "Oh, you know, woke up to find my big brother missing, held a gun to some guy's head, snuck into a farmhouse, found out they got a demon doing their dirty work, then got my ass kicked." Sam paused as he grabbed the chain and started trying to detach it from the hook. "I owe you a Colt by the way, your's got stolen."
"Ow! Fuck, stop it!" Dean yelled as Sam's hand jerked and the hook jarred inside Dean's shoulder. The scraping of metal against bone made Dean's head spin again and he felt one of Sam's hands brace his chest to keep him upright. Dean closed his eyes until the dizziness passed and when he opened them again, he found that Alex had come back and was holding the cloth around the hook again, watching as Sam went back to fiddling with the chain.
"Where'd you get this hook anyway?" Sam asked, his voice obviously distressed. That wasn't a good sign.
Dean held up a shaky hand and waved it absently. "Welcome to the slaughter house," he said hoarsely. Sam paused what he was doing to look around the room, actually look. Dean heard him suck in a breath before he busied himself with the chain again. "Definitely a fixer upper," he mumbled, frowning when his eyes slipped closed again.
"There's bodies in the freezer." Both Winchesters froze and looked at Alex, who couldn't meet their eyes, trapped in his own fear. Dean looked towards his brother who glanced at him and they exchanged silent words that made it clear that they needed to find a way out of here, now. "They're missing parts. And...and the skin..."
"Hey," Dean said gruffly, surprising both Alex and Sam. Alex looked up at him. "Sammy here is a hero in training and he's gonna get us out of here." Dean felt his brother's grip tighten on his shoulder but chose to ignore the look he knew was on Sam's face. "I mean he's just a sidekick, but I was thinking about giving him a promotion pretty soon."
Alex smiled at the joke. But the door to the outside suddenly rattled again, startling them all. Dean swore when Sam's hands shook the chain. Sam instantly leaned forward to get a look at Dean's face, taking note of the sweat streaking his forehead and neck. He'd already noticed the cold clammy feel to his brother's skin, and every minute he was getting more and more worried that Dean had lost too much blood. But he pushed those fears aside as he stood up, standing protectively in front of his brother with Alex behind his shoulder and watched the door open.
"Sorry to break up the party," came the gruff voice of one of the locals as they entered the room. Sam glared heavily at him, wishing that they hadn't found his gun and knife. They'd snuck up on him in that basement, something which Sam was still trying to figure out. But he guessed they weren't exactly playing fair. They'd moved too quickly for big, bulky farmers. Sam guessed they had some sort of demon steroids working for them. There was no way they could have snuck up on him. He'd been paying extra close attention to his surroundings lately. He wouldn't ever be snuck up on again. Well, starting now.
They made their way across the room, with flashlights held out in front of them, towards where Sam, Dean and Alex were. Sam bent down a little, wanting to be close enough to his brother so they couldn't sneakily get passed him and get to Dean. Alex backed up a bit, his breath hitching in his throat. The kid sounded like he may hypervenhilate.
When they came to stand in front of Sam, the shorter of the two, which Sam had found out was Lyle, went to grab Alex's arm, but Sam pushed Alex behind him. Lyle looked annoyed and jutted his jaw.
Keith, the taller man, laughed and pointed a finger at Alex. "He says you're ready, boy," he said and Sam heard Alex's breath break and something like a muffled sob slipped out. Keith's eyes went to Sam. "You're going to get out of my way." It wasn't a question.
"No," Sam said sternly, bracing himself.
"Suit yourself," Lyle spat and lunged forward, a fist swinging at Sam's head. He managed to duck beneath it, but Lyle's body collided with him a second later, sending them both tumbling to the ground, Sam tripping over Dean's legs that lay outstretched. He heard his brother yell something semi-coherent that sounded like a threat, but when Sam's head smacked against the ground, he couldn't really make out what Dean had yelled. He felt Lyle land two punches to his face before the man got off of him. He lay there, stunned for a moment that one guy could move so fast and land in so many punches without Sam getting time to land one.
"No!" Alex's terrified voice broke into Sam's thoughts and he forced himself back into the moment. He shoved himself off the ground and watched Alex wrestle with Keith, the man having wrapped his massive arms around the kid, effectively pinning Alex into a defenseless position. Keith turned and started carrying Alex back towards the freezer. "No! Stop, please!" Alex screamed, his voice so full of fear that Sam felt panic well up inside of him. He barely knew the kid, but hell if he was going to stand there and let him get taken away.
"Sam!" Dean suddenly yelled and Sam turned to look at him, but saw that his brother was trying to get to his feet, the chain connected to the hook in his shoulder preventing him from doing so, but it looked as though Dean was willing to let it just rip out if it meant stopping them from taking Alex away. Sam shoved his brother back down and turned around, ready to run after Keith.
Lyle got in his way, pushing Sam back so he hit the assembly line Dean was attached to. He stood between them and Keith, who was reaching the freezer.
"You bastard!" Dean suddenly screamed and kicked out with his feet, hitting one of Lyle's ankles. Both Sam and Dean were surprised when Lyle's ankle cracked with a snap, the bone snapping in two, and Lyle let out a scream. "Holy shit," Dean said, surprised.
From the back of the room, Keith had clamped a hand over Alex's mouth, shutting him up. He turned and looked at Lyle. "You're next you little shit!" Keith yelled and then looked at his brother. "Lyle, come on. We need to get this one ready. He's hungry!"
Sam watched Alex's struggles increase at that and Keith just squeezed tighter. Lyle growled and pointed a finger at Dean, though Sam had squatted down, blocking him, afraid Lyle would seek retribution for his broken ankle. But Lyle didn't seem to notice or care. "Don't go anywhere. He's just going to be an appetizer," Lyle cocked his head to the side, motioning towards Alex. He chuckled and then turned around, walking towards Keith, not even limping. That confirmed it within Sam that these guys had made some sort of deal with a demon. "Keith!" Lyle yelled as Keith let go of Alex's mouth and went to open the freezer. "Shut him up, I'm sick of hearing them scream."
Keith grinned and before Sam or Dean could think of a way to stop them, Keith grabbed Alex's head with both arms and gave a hard push. The crack was loud enough to echo around the room, followed closing by Dean's distressed gasp of, "No..." Sam stood still in front of his brother, shocked as he watched Alex's body go limp, watched his head hang loosely, his neck angled oddly. The kid was obviously dead. God, they'd just watched Alex being killed. Just watched a sixteen year old fucking kid be murdered. Like snapping a twig. Like breaking a nail. Like one flick of the wrist hadn't just taken someone's life and squashed it out of existence. Keith and Lyle laughed, both giving Sam and Dean one more look as they opened the freezer, stepped in, and closed the door behind them.
Sam took a moment to remember how to breathe before he turned and looked at his brother, who sat wide eyed watching the freezer door. Dean's face was pale, from blood loss, shock, or horror, Sam couldn't tell. Sweat beaded his skin and dark circles were forming under his eyes. They needed to get out of here. Sam came around and started working on the chain holding his brother to the assembly line.
"Sammy?" Dean's voice was quiet, shocked.
"I'm sorry," Sam answered automatically.
Dean licked his lips and set his jaw. "I'm going to kill these guys," he whispered so quietly that Sam had to lean down to hear it. He continued working on the chain, trying to free his brother, trying to get them both away from this slaughter house, away from those lunatics, away from the dead kid who Sam had just met but Dean had probably promised to save. God, Alex...
"I know."
Go to Chapter Six
Chapter Five
"Should I try to take it out?"
Dean kept his eyes closed for a second, though sighed to let Alex know that he'd heard him. He didn't really feel like opening his eyes. The nausea, the blood loss, the pain, it all just made Dean want to go to sleep, to curl up in his bed and wake up safe and cozy and warm with Sam sleeping closeby, nightmare free. Yeah, maybe if he just closed his eyes for a few minutes, he'd wake up and everything would be okay. Maybe he could somehow make this whole thing work in reverse. He woke up in a nightmare, right? So maybe if he went back to sleep he could wake up back where he was, back in his cheap motel room that smelled like carpet cleaner and ashtrays. But he knew that the last thing he should be doing right now was sleeping. If not solely because he was losing blood, then because there was a sixteen year old kid squatting in front of him trying to stop the bleeding but shaking so badly he was actually only making it worse.
So Dean opened his eyes and Alex immediately looked up at them, waiting for some sort of response, some sort of order. Man, was this how Dad felt in these types of situations? All those times when they were kids hunting with their father and things didn't go as planned, did his Dad sit there and wish he could just go to sleep and wake up when it was all over? No, of course not. John Winchester was a Marine. He was a soldier. He kept his head straight in situations like this, and he'd trained his sons to do the same. So Dean had to step up to the task, yet again. And though Dean thrived for this hero business, he couldn't deny that there were times when he wished someone else could just take care of the situation. That someone else could bust in here guns blazing and be the hero. Because sometimes even Dean got tired of it. But he'd never admit it.
"No," Dean rasped through his bruised throat. Man, was that really his voice? Bastard better not have left permanent damage. Although some girls might find it sexy. "Leave it." He watched as Alex tore one of his pajama pant legs off and waded it up before pressing it gently around the hook. Dean still grunted in pain and had to close his eyes for a moment against the dizziness. After it passed, he looked back down at the protruding hook and glared at it. It looked like the hook had entered somewhere near his neck and the guy must have twisted it just so that it came out the front, just below his collarbone. The barbed end of the hook stuck out sorely and the blood that dripped from it was dark and heavy. He could feel the metal rubbing against bone and he knew if they tried to get it out now, they probably wouldn't be able to do it without snapping his collarbone in two. And that was a pain Dean had lived through once when he was fifteen and he wasn't about to do it again. There were some pains Dean could handle. A broken collarbone wasn't one of them.
"You're bleeding pretty bad," Alex whispered as he kept pressure on the wound. "It's not stopping," Alex's voice hitched and Dean's eyes travelled back to the kid's face. He looked close to crying. Dean watched him for a second as Alex struggled to keep his tears back. Tough guy. "I don't know what to do," he admitted after a moment and Dean moved his good hand and put it on Alex's arm.
"Hey," he said and Alex met his eyes. "You're doing fine," he said quietly, not exactly sure what else he was supposed to say. Whenever Sam berated himself like this, he could always come up with something to say. He'd either make him laugh or pull rank on him. Big brothers were allowed to pull rank. It was part of being a big brother. But he didn't know what to do for Alex. The kid was terrified, that's for sure, and Dean was pretty sure that when they got out of this, he'd have lasting symptoms of traumatization. So what could he possibly say to make this kid feel better? Was there really anything? Well, maybe one thing. "You know, some chicks would find this whole hook think pretty kinky."
Alex paused in his attempt to staunch the blood flow and looked at Dean with arched eyebrows. Dean grinned and Alex let out a scoff that sounded too much like Sam. "You've got a meat hook through your shoulder. I don't think any girl would find this kinky."
Dean just broadened his smile. "Well you've met Sheila," he chuckling but instantly stopped when it jarred his shoulder. "This is her kind of kink."
"That's sick," Alex said, going back to pressing the now soaked pant leg to the wound. He cringed when the blood started seeping onto his hands.
"Don't knock it till you try it," Dean sucked in a breath at the new pressure, but kept his face straight. "What? You never had a girlfriend with some funky fetish before?"
Alex shook his head. "I'm sixteen," he gave as an answer.
"Ah, Alex, my man," Dean said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. Damn, did someone turn up the heat? Hadn't it just been freezing a few minutes ago? "Never too early to start."
Alex chuckled and Dean smiled at the sound. That was more like it. He shifted a little at his sudden uncomfortableness. His head felt heavy and he could feel sweat break out on the back of his neck and on his forehead. Man, wasn't he supposed to be cold if he was going into shock? Because he sure as hell wasn't cold. It was like he was sitting in a fucking sauna.
"Dean?" Alex's voice startled him back to awareness and he opened his eyes, seeing the kid was now looking at him wide eyed again. He pushed himself up a little straighter, realizing he probably thought Dean had passed out. "You okay?" he asked.
Dean forced a laugh. "You ask stupider questions than my brother," he said. Alex half smiled, but there was still worry etched across his face. "I'm fine, man," he finally answered. Alex nodded. "How's your face? He knocked you pretty hard there."
"It's fine," Alex said, touching his swelling eye. "Girls like the tough guy look," he joked.
Dean laughed, which turned into a wince. "Now you're catching on."
Their laughter was short lived when they heard the sound of the door opening again. Dean tensed and Alex seemed to freeze like a deer in headlights. Dean reached up and took the cloth around the wound on his shoulder, holding it as he nodded for Alex to stand up and see what was going on. Alex looked hesitant at first but then did so, clenching his fists and waiting, slightly rocking side to side as he did so. Dean tried to push himself into a standing position, but he could only get so far before the chain still attached to the hook would give him a tug. He sat back down, heavily, and grit his teeth against the sudden new flare of firey agony in his shoulder. The dizziness almost claimed him this time, but he managed to gather himself. He had to spit a couple of times when the nausea made his mouth salivate. And damn if the heat he'd felt just a moment ago flared up again and sweat beaded on his skin anew. He knew pretty soon he'd start to feel cold again, when the blood loss got to be too much. He wasn't looking forward to it.
The wooden door leading to the outside opened harshly and Dean heard a scuffling, followed by some muffled grunts. His eyes shot open as he recognized the voice. New panic and anger made him forget for a moment about the pain and the fever and he pushed himself up as far as the chain would allow him. He could just barely see over the assembly line and the light from the outside silhouetted three figures. Two which were clearly the bar brawlers and one which Dean could recognize anywhere. It was Sam.
One of the guys reached forward and pulled something from Sam's mouth. Dean noticed that his brother's hands were tied behind his back and there had been a gag in his mouth and a blindfold still rested around his eyes. But that, too, was soon removed and he watched Sam blink a couple of times, eyes adjusting to the dark. The guys didn't give him a chance to orient himself as they shoved him forward, where he hit one of the assembly lines with his hip before falling to the floor in a heap. Then they left as abruptly as they'd come, neither one looking in their direction. Dean growled in anger and before thinking better of it, he moved forward and was immediately tugged back by the chain. He could help but cry out. And a dark fog settled over his eyes and around his brain for a moment. He could vaguely hear Sam grunt.
"Dean?" Sam called out a moment later, having heard his brother's cry. Dean wanted to answer his brother, but his head was spinning and he was finding it hard to remain in a sitting position. The floor seemed to be tilting back and forth, like he was on a boat. Dean had never liked boats.
"He's over here," Alex's voice was quiet, unsure. Dean heard Sam grunt and then there were footsteps coming their way. "Who are you?" Alex asked.
"Sam," was the answer and before Dean could register how close the voice had been, there were hands on his face. The coolness of the skin made him jolt and he could hear his brother shush him quietly. "I'm his brother."
"I tried to stop the bleeding," Alex said meakly.
Sam's hands were close together, cupping Dean's chin and holding his head up. "Jesus," he whispered under his breath and Dean guessed that Sam had spotted the hook. All right, time to say hi. He forced his eyes open, which took a lot more effort than it should have, and saw Sam eyeing the hook in his shoulder with disgust and horror on his face. Sam's hands were still tied together at the wrists, only he had somehow managed to get them in front of him. Then Sam's eyes moved up and the met Dean's and for a moment the brothers just stared at each other. Dean took stop of his little brother. Of the swelling left cheek, of the split lip, of the tears glistening in his eyes. And he guessed Sam was doing the same with him. He thought guiltily that he hadn't been as worried as he should have been. He'd just assumed Sam was safe, back at their motel room, sleeping away like nothing had been happening. God, had they had Sam this whole time? Had they been doing things to him? Had he really failed that badly? Finally, Sam spoke. "Dean?"
It took a moment, but Dean found his voice. "You okay?" he asked.
Sam let out a relieved chuckle and and smiled, though it looked like he was only smiling to keep from crying. "Yeah, Dean," he answered and quickly looked him over again. "You know, when we had that whole talk about not going missing again, I assumed it went both ways." Dean grinned and Sam's smile grew a little.
"Just trying to keep you on your toes," Dean answered. "What happened to you?"
Sam finally let go of Dean's face and turned slightly towards Alex, who came forward and helped him untie the rope around his wrists. Then he moved to Dean's side and looked at the chain attached to the hook. "Oh, you know, woke up to find my big brother missing, held a gun to some guy's head, snuck into a farmhouse, found out they got a demon doing their dirty work, then got my ass kicked." Sam paused as he grabbed the chain and started trying to detach it from the hook. "I owe you a Colt by the way, your's got stolen."
"Ow! Fuck, stop it!" Dean yelled as Sam's hand jerked and the hook jarred inside Dean's shoulder. The scraping of metal against bone made Dean's head spin again and he felt one of Sam's hands brace his chest to keep him upright. Dean closed his eyes until the dizziness passed and when he opened them again, he found that Alex had come back and was holding the cloth around the hook again, watching as Sam went back to fiddling with the chain.
"Where'd you get this hook anyway?" Sam asked, his voice obviously distressed. That wasn't a good sign.
Dean held up a shaky hand and waved it absently. "Welcome to the slaughter house," he said hoarsely. Sam paused what he was doing to look around the room, actually look. Dean heard him suck in a breath before he busied himself with the chain again. "Definitely a fixer upper," he mumbled, frowning when his eyes slipped closed again.
"There's bodies in the freezer." Both Winchesters froze and looked at Alex, who couldn't meet their eyes, trapped in his own fear. Dean looked towards his brother who glanced at him and they exchanged silent words that made it clear that they needed to find a way out of here, now. "They're missing parts. And...and the skin..."
"Hey," Dean said gruffly, surprising both Alex and Sam. Alex looked up at him. "Sammy here is a hero in training and he's gonna get us out of here." Dean felt his brother's grip tighten on his shoulder but chose to ignore the look he knew was on Sam's face. "I mean he's just a sidekick, but I was thinking about giving him a promotion pretty soon."
Alex smiled at the joke. But the door to the outside suddenly rattled again, startling them all. Dean swore when Sam's hands shook the chain. Sam instantly leaned forward to get a look at Dean's face, taking note of the sweat streaking his forehead and neck. He'd already noticed the cold clammy feel to his brother's skin, and every minute he was getting more and more worried that Dean had lost too much blood. But he pushed those fears aside as he stood up, standing protectively in front of his brother with Alex behind his shoulder and watched the door open.
"Sorry to break up the party," came the gruff voice of one of the locals as they entered the room. Sam glared heavily at him, wishing that they hadn't found his gun and knife. They'd snuck up on him in that basement, something which Sam was still trying to figure out. But he guessed they weren't exactly playing fair. They'd moved too quickly for big, bulky farmers. Sam guessed they had some sort of demon steroids working for them. There was no way they could have snuck up on him. He'd been paying extra close attention to his surroundings lately. He wouldn't ever be snuck up on again. Well, starting now.
They made their way across the room, with flashlights held out in front of them, towards where Sam, Dean and Alex were. Sam bent down a little, wanting to be close enough to his brother so they couldn't sneakily get passed him and get to Dean. Alex backed up a bit, his breath hitching in his throat. The kid sounded like he may hypervenhilate.
When they came to stand in front of Sam, the shorter of the two, which Sam had found out was Lyle, went to grab Alex's arm, but Sam pushed Alex behind him. Lyle looked annoyed and jutted his jaw.
Keith, the taller man, laughed and pointed a finger at Alex. "He says you're ready, boy," he said and Sam heard Alex's breath break and something like a muffled sob slipped out. Keith's eyes went to Sam. "You're going to get out of my way." It wasn't a question.
"No," Sam said sternly, bracing himself.
"Suit yourself," Lyle spat and lunged forward, a fist swinging at Sam's head. He managed to duck beneath it, but Lyle's body collided with him a second later, sending them both tumbling to the ground, Sam tripping over Dean's legs that lay outstretched. He heard his brother yell something semi-coherent that sounded like a threat, but when Sam's head smacked against the ground, he couldn't really make out what Dean had yelled. He felt Lyle land two punches to his face before the man got off of him. He lay there, stunned for a moment that one guy could move so fast and land in so many punches without Sam getting time to land one.
"No!" Alex's terrified voice broke into Sam's thoughts and he forced himself back into the moment. He shoved himself off the ground and watched Alex wrestle with Keith, the man having wrapped his massive arms around the kid, effectively pinning Alex into a defenseless position. Keith turned and started carrying Alex back towards the freezer. "No! Stop, please!" Alex screamed, his voice so full of fear that Sam felt panic well up inside of him. He barely knew the kid, but hell if he was going to stand there and let him get taken away.
"Sam!" Dean suddenly yelled and Sam turned to look at him, but saw that his brother was trying to get to his feet, the chain connected to the hook in his shoulder preventing him from doing so, but it looked as though Dean was willing to let it just rip out if it meant stopping them from taking Alex away. Sam shoved his brother back down and turned around, ready to run after Keith.
Lyle got in his way, pushing Sam back so he hit the assembly line Dean was attached to. He stood between them and Keith, who was reaching the freezer.
"You bastard!" Dean suddenly screamed and kicked out with his feet, hitting one of Lyle's ankles. Both Sam and Dean were surprised when Lyle's ankle cracked with a snap, the bone snapping in two, and Lyle let out a scream. "Holy shit," Dean said, surprised.
From the back of the room, Keith had clamped a hand over Alex's mouth, shutting him up. He turned and looked at Lyle. "You're next you little shit!" Keith yelled and then looked at his brother. "Lyle, come on. We need to get this one ready. He's hungry!"
Sam watched Alex's struggles increase at that and Keith just squeezed tighter. Lyle growled and pointed a finger at Dean, though Sam had squatted down, blocking him, afraid Lyle would seek retribution for his broken ankle. But Lyle didn't seem to notice or care. "Don't go anywhere. He's just going to be an appetizer," Lyle cocked his head to the side, motioning towards Alex. He chuckled and then turned around, walking towards Keith, not even limping. That confirmed it within Sam that these guys had made some sort of deal with a demon. "Keith!" Lyle yelled as Keith let go of Alex's mouth and went to open the freezer. "Shut him up, I'm sick of hearing them scream."
Keith grinned and before Sam or Dean could think of a way to stop them, Keith grabbed Alex's head with both arms and gave a hard push. The crack was loud enough to echo around the room, followed closing by Dean's distressed gasp of, "No..." Sam stood still in front of his brother, shocked as he watched Alex's body go limp, watched his head hang loosely, his neck angled oddly. The kid was obviously dead. God, they'd just watched Alex being killed. Just watched a sixteen year old fucking kid be murdered. Like snapping a twig. Like breaking a nail. Like one flick of the wrist hadn't just taken someone's life and squashed it out of existence. Keith and Lyle laughed, both giving Sam and Dean one more look as they opened the freezer, stepped in, and closed the door behind them.
Sam took a moment to remember how to breathe before he turned and looked at his brother, who sat wide eyed watching the freezer door. Dean's face was pale, from blood loss, shock, or horror, Sam couldn't tell. Sweat beaded his skin and dark circles were forming under his eyes. They needed to get out of here. Sam came around and started working on the chain holding his brother to the assembly line.
"Sammy?" Dean's voice was quiet, shocked.
"I'm sorry," Sam answered automatically.
Dean licked his lips and set his jaw. "I'm going to kill these guys," he whispered so quietly that Sam had to lean down to hear it. He continued working on the chain, trying to free his brother, trying to get them both away from this slaughter house, away from those lunatics, away from the dead kid who Sam had just met but Dean had probably promised to save. God, Alex...
"I know."
Go to Chapter Six