A/N:Thanks to Ravenrants for beta-ing and helping me. Please read and review, hope you like it!
When you wake up it's to the same gray walls and darkness you've woken up to for the past six months. Not that you can really tell the time that's passed, but you remember the date he came to get you, November 2, and you talked to a kid who just arrived and according to him, it's May 8. You roll over and nudge Sammy, who's been asleep since the last drawing. Sammy wipes his eyes with his fists, yawns, and rolls over.
"Come on." You whisper, nudging him again. "We have to go soon."
It's been over six months of this, of sleeping in this cell, obeying orders, watching kids like you die. You're a prisoner to the Demon's sadistic game and you keep playing because you know the consequences, you saw them flash before your eyes when you first got there. So you follow the rules, and for now, you and your brother live.
But you turn and the Demon stands over you, his face imprinted in your memory. "What?" You say as you sit up, now being careful not to wake Sammy. He shouldn't see this.
"Get up." He tells you simply and you hesitate, tempted to make some wise crack to him when he lifts you up with a hard tug.
You stand in front of him and he narrows his eyes at you. "You'll want to follow my orders, Dean." He reminds you.
You raise your chin in defiance. "Why?"
His eyes flick to Sammy, who's curled up in the corner. "Do I really have to tell you why, Dean?"
You swallow and shake your head and he smiles. "Good."
He turns around to leave and you relax a little. But just as you begin to turn back to your brother you see the flash of a fist flying in your direction. It connects with your jaw and you cry out in surprise. Falling back, he catches you and punches you in the stomach. Your head swims as he punches you one more time, dropping you to the floor. You try to wipe the blood from your mouth with a shaky hand.
"Why?" Y introduced to the game.
"Drawing straws." He said with a smile and reached out a hand as a cup came forward. "I will pick five children to draw straws, and the one who has the shortest will receive a prize."
You doubted that what you got was a prize but you're silent and remain standing in front of Sammy without breaking the circle. That day, he gave fou gasp, as you lay on the floor, holding your stomach, while the blood drips from your mouth to your hand.
"Because they're special, Dean. I have plans for them. And for you as well." After six months, you still don't know what that means, or how it could possibly relate to this most recent beating. But he smiles at you as if you understand anyway. "I'm going to need help from you, Dean. Will you help me?"
"What if I don't?" You mutter from the floor, already knowing the answer. Once again, his eyes flick toward Sammy and he opens the cell door and walks out closing it behind him again. "Think about it, Dean." He tells you and walks away and you lie there trying to breathe.
When Sammy finally wakes up, he looks you over, sees your swollen lip and the way you're still holding your stomach. And he hugs you. Maybe because he knows why it happened, or maybe because it's all he can do. You hold him tight and whisper to him that you'll get them out of there somehow, that everything will be ok. Somehow. He nods and whispers back, "I know."
On your second day here you and your brother walked into a large room for the first time. You were both told to join a circle. And that was when you wereive straws to five different kids, seemingly at random, but even then, you had your doubts. They all stepped forward, as if they've seen this done before, and compared. The boy with the shortest straw began to shake a little and the Demon ushered the boy to an opening in the circle.
He guided the boy out of the large room and everyone was silent and still for a second. You jumped at the sound of the gunshot and you heard a couple cries from around the circle. He came back in a couple minutes later, a smile on his face as if he had not just killed a little boy. Like it happened everyday.
"That's what happens children, when you don't follow the rules." He said and he looked at you. You raised your chin, took a deep breath and followed the rest of the line back to your cell. And you didn't let go of Sammy's hand the entire way.
You remember when you first realized who he was. After that first circle, after the first time you'd seen a Drawing, he came to your cell. He gave you a talk not that different from the one that he gave the other children. He said he had plans for you, just like he said again later when he beat you, and that he had to do what he did for a reason.
After that he asked you to come for a ride with him. He took you to a house, in which he killed a young mother, set her on fire and took the baby.
You ran from him then, tried to get someone's attention, but with the chaos of the house fire no one noticed you and he managed to knock you out.
If you had feared him before, after that moment you despised him. Here was the son of a bitch your father had been hunting for the first eight years of Sammy's life. When you got back to the cell you threw up, glad Sammy had been out training. And you sobbed until you had nothing else left in you.
You prayed, begged for Dad to come, please let Dad come.
But he never came.
Six months later, you stand by the same cell door with Sammy swaying beside you, yawning. A man comes to the cell and opens your door and you and Sammy join the line. Everything here is about lines, the line between you and the other children, the line that forms to go to wherever he wants you to go.
The line that makes up a circle when you are drawing straws. It's all a line.
Later on that day when the Demon comes to your cell you go up to the bars and look up at him. Whatever he wants you to do, you know now that you have no choice but to do it. It and anything else he wants you to do.
"Fine, I'll do it." You tell him, not even waiting to be asked, and he gives you an evil smile that makes your stomach roll and you desperately try to remember what it was like before it all came to this.
The demon's booming voice brings you back to the present where all the children are lining up for training. A couple of kids you recognize are setting things on fire in the corner, a boy and a girl sit in the corner taking turns making things disappear. Sammy turns to you before he goes to join the others. "Dean..?"
"I know Sammy, just do what he says and work hard okay?" You don't want to tell him why this is important but you're pretty sure he remembers what being weak and not following directions gets you.
You ruffle his hair and after a second you walk away to where the demon is talking to a blonde haired girl and dark haired boy. "Watch them." He growls at the pair and they walk away before you reach him.
"Dean." He says, smiling at you. "Are you ready?"
You want to tell him no, that you'll never be ready. You want to tell him to go to hell, and you want to take Sammy and run, but instead you nod slowly and follow him out of the room.
He takes you to a car and you get in the passenger side and wait.
You pull your hood up over your head, covering your face, and he buckles you in, his way. Not with a seat belt, but with handcuffs so you can't escape like you tried to during your first trip. You didn't get very far and you were knocked out before you could even get five feet from the car. When you woke up the demon told you that you and Sammy would both die if you tried that again and you believed him.
You haven't tried anything since. You've been praised for learning quickly.
Scenery passes by you and you wonder what town you've been living in. Two weeks ago you were in another place and then the demon had you moved. Everyone had been put into the backs of vans in the middle of the night when you were too exhausted to think of escaping. You're pretty sure your food was drugged, too.
"How about some music?" The demon says as if you were a normal kid and he was a normal guy. He reaches and turns on the radio and a Metallica song comes out blaring.
You grit your teeth as you look out the window and keep quiet. The demon stops the car outside a house. "Visited them a couple months after your family." He says conversationally. "The Millers. A nice family, poor kid needed a friend with what his dad was doing to him." The demon shook his head. "I think its time we collect. Don't want him to wait any longer."
The demon gets out of the car and you go with him. "Take care of the family will you Dean?"
You take a deep breath, afraid to ask.
"Knock them out, only though, I happen to like them." The demon tells you and hands you a gun.
You nod with relief and knock on the door as the Demon disappears around the back of the house.
A woman with blonde hair answers and you force a smile. "Hello Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you but I just moved here and my mom wanted to know if there was any kids in the area."
She looks you over and then gives you a smile. "Well yes, there's my son Max, he looks about your age, maybe a little younger. Why don't you come in and you can meet him."
"Thank you." You say and walk in. You follow her to the kitchen.
"Is there anyone else home?" You ask her and she turns to you. "No, just my son and I, my husband's at work."
"Oh, okay." She turns around for a second and that's when you hit her with the butt of your gun.
A couple of minutes later you're sitting back in the car with the demon. And the kid, presumably Max, keeps on asking what "Tommy" is doing.
"Tommy" had been the alias of Sammy's imaginary friend.
You remember the night you met him like it was yesterday. Dad had been on a hunt, and you woke up to Sammy screaming. He was standing next to your bed staring at something in the dark. At first you thought it was another one of his nightmares, because he had been having them so much lately but when you asked him what was wrong. His gaze flicked to a figure in the dark and he whispered in his small scared voice, "Tommy."
You reached for the gun you knew was at your side. How this thing could have gotten in with all the salt around each window and door was beyond you, but you pushed that thought aside as you confronted the thing. "Tommy" stepped out of the dark, his eyes glowing yellow, and suddenly Sammy's imaginary friend wasn't so imaginary anymore. "Put the gun down, Dean." He told you. But you didn't, you just gripped it tighter.
You had your finger on the trigger and you made sure it was aimed directly at the guy… thing… whatever it was.
"I wouldn't do that Dean." He said, coming fully out of the shadows. You don't recognize his face but you know would never forget it, it's a face to fear.
But still, you narrowed your eyes at him and challenged,
"Oh yeah, why's that?"
"Because it won't do you any good. Put the gun down."
You swallowed whatever was creeping up the back of your throat and steadied the gun. The bullet slammed into his chest after you pull the trigger.
The guy faltered and grunted and his yellow eyes focused on you with menace.
The next thing you knew the gun was flying out of your hand and into a wall. You got up, surprised. Nothing Dad had taught you could have prepared you for this. You didn't know what to do.
Before you could think you were up against a wall, sent there by an unknown force, completely against your own will.
"Dean!" Sammy screamed from his position by your bed. You wanted to tell him to run and get out of there, but you doubted that would be any safer then inside. What if there were more?
"Tommy" took a couple steps forward and you tried to move your head, your arm, a leg, but you couldn't. He stopped right in front of you and you felt your stomach roll.
But he didn't do anything. He just turned around and and grabbed Sammy.
You screamed.
Sammy kicked and punched but that only made the thing tighten his hold.
"Let him go!" You screamed as you fought against the invisible restraints.
Please , you thought, please don't hurt him . Over and over, it was all you could think and Sammy was screaming and kicking and then it just all went black.
"Dean?" The voice makes you blink.
"What?" You ask.
"Well, I was just telling Max here that he should meet your brother, that he and Sammy would get along just fine. Don't you think?"
You swallow down what you really want to say and just turn to the boy in the backseat, who has no idea what's going to happen to him, and you nod.
You get back just before dark and the Demon points Max in the direction toward his 'new home'. You turn back to the demon. "Is that it?" You ask. "That all for tonight?"
He thinks about it for a second. "Yes, that's all. But I want to go out again, soon."
This time you don't think he means that he wants to go out to collect; you think he wants you to help him in another fire. Just like the one that killed your mom.
You walk silently back to your cell, knowing that whatever you're planning to do is going to have to happen soon. You're not sure how much longer you can do this, and you're afraid of what will happen if you say, "no."
There's a girl who can set things on fire without even a blink of her eye. Max and this other kid can move things with their minds. There's another boy who can heal himself and others, some girl who can freeze time, and then there's Sammy, who has dreams of the future. There are others, but these are the kids you're hoping to have on your side. They don't want to be here either, and they only do what they do because they're just as scared as you.
You approach each one of them with a well rehearsed speech as to why they should help you with your plan. You get them to trust you and promise that if you get caught, none of it can be traced back to them. One by one, they all agree, but they're still scared.
You can't tell Sammy your entire plan, because even though none of it can be traced back directly to him, he's still your brother. He'd be guilty by association if you're caught, and the less he knows the better. For both of you.
You tell them all to be ready, that at some point they have to be ready to use their powers against "Tommy." You tell them to train hard, and don't get caught disobeying. Stay low and there won't be another circle. There won't be another Drawing.
They listen to you and you don't talk to them for another week to be safe, so as not to draw any suspicion from the demon's followers who still watch your every move.
You stay very quiet, and remain obedient, and eventually the Demon begins to trust you with more. Not long after you help him bring Max in, you're even trusted enough to be left alone with a new batch of the "special" kids. You keep yourself distant at first, trying to judge the newer "recruits," trying to figure whose side they'll come down on. They remain distant as well, adjusting to their new lives, adjusting to you.
A little girl, who got here a couple of days after Max, eventually approaches you. "What's your ability?" she asks.
You don't say a word.
"Oh." She blinks and rejoins her group.
The newbie's don't talk a lot to you and you know that'll change. The fact that you're here and you don't have powers seems to fascinate them. And when they do begin to talk with you, you'll be able to tell. Some of them will end up being on your side and the others will end up being on the side of the demon. You just need more time.
The Demon comes over one afternoon and gives them the same speech the others all got at sometime or another. He tells them that he has plans for them, that they are special and a bunch of other bullshit that makes them follow orders and not question. They're young, you realize, and scared and of course they'll listen to him, at least at first. Or so you hope.
That was over a year ago, now, and you have been forced to ally with the demon that killed your mom, destroyed your family and took you and your brother from your father. You hate what you're doing, helping destroy other families, but if you don't the cost is too much and you have no choice.
You're about to go join Sam, you can see him talking to Max, when you feel a hand on your shoulder. You turn around to see the demon standing over you. "I have a job for you." He says. "Come on."
He leads you out of the big room and into a hallway that leads past a series of doors. He nods toward one side of the hallway and you follow him down it, observing that it's not the same hallway which holds all the cells. At the end of the hallway, he opens a door and nods his head toward the staircase inside.
"Go." He urges and, as always, you follow orders and descend into the dark.
A small light is on when you get to the bottom and you see a body back in the corner. You turn to the Demon with a questioning look.
"I need you to get rid of him. I would do it, but honestly I don't have the time."
You nod and he hands you your gun. You swallow nervously and as he walks up the stairs he reminds you to turn the light off when you're done.
You slowly walk over and kneel down next to the man and you turn him over. It's no one you recognize, you notice with relief. But your hand is still shaking as you get up and raise the gun.
The gunshot echoes in the small space and you turn off the light quickly, hurrying up the stairs. You barely make it to the top before you throw up, but after you continue back to the great room where all of the kids are gone and it's just the demon sitting in a chair.
"I thought you said…" You trail off weakly.
"Well Dean, I just wanted to see if you could kill a federal marshal is all." He says to you and your stomach still doesn't feel right.
"He asked me, when I went to look up on another child, if I'd seen a Katie Nolan." He shakes his head. "Poor girl went missing a couple days ago around here."
The Demon's yellow eyes focus on Dean's face. "We'll have to move again."
You still don't say anything and he smiles at you. "You can go, Dean." He tells you and you slowly walk down the long hallway to your cell at the end.
After you return, you stand by bars looking out at the darkness. You grip the bars until your knuckles are white and Sammy asks you if you are okay. "Fine." You tell him.
"You sure?" He asks as he tosses back the ball to Max, with his hands.
"I said I was fine, Sam." You growl, and when the Demon walks down the hall to your cell and opens the door, You follow him down the hallway and you don't look back because you're afraid of what you'll see when you do.
"I want to go to one more house before we leave." He tells you as you get in the passenger side. The demon pulls out into the road and you slump in the seat, looking out the window.
He stops the car only a couple of houses down from the house you were just at. You walk a few steps behind him and finally stop right before the house. He turns to you. "Take care of the husband and anyone else downstairs. I don't want anymore John Winchesters." He tells you with a growl and you nod, trying not to say anything you'll regret later.
You pick the lock on the front door as the demon goes around the back. The door swings open and you look around the house. A second later, someone runs at you but you step out of the way. Whoever it is swings something at you and you manage to grab hold of whatever it is and push them backwards. They fall over to the floor and you grab the thing that they were carrying and knock them out.
You stop after that the other person falls, quiet and listening.
You hate this, you really hate this, and you try to imagine yourself anywhere else but here. But then a scream comes from above, and you hear a baby crying, and the next thing you know you're sprinting out of the house toward the car.
The Demon's already there, and with the baby.
He hands you the bundle and you're sucked into the past eight years ago, when you carried Sammy out of the house. You're shaking and you want to run out of the car so badly but you're cuffed in, and even if you could get out you know you won't get very far. And what about Sammy then?
You don't say anything during the car ride back and you don't look at him. When you arrive, he takes the baby from you and you walk back to your cell with a bone-deep weariness that won't go away.
When you wake up you're in a different cell in a different place. They must have moved you while you were sleeping and now Sammy sitting on your bed and smiling at you.
"Hey." You say slowly.
"Hey." He says back.
You're both quiet for a minute and you realize that you've changed so much, and your brother has no idea what you've been doing when you leave. But then Sammy tilts his head to the side, and he crawls over to you and curls himself next to your side.
Just like he always has.
You rest your chin on his head, and as you lie there you know that you might have changed, but he hasn't, and he won't, and you'll still do anything for him. He's still your little brother.
You two don't say anything for a little while and eventually you drift off into sleep where you dream of being home with Sammy and Dad and where everything is OK again.
Soon, you think, soon.
You both wake up, and its time for training again. You follow the same line toward another big room where the Demon gathers everyone together. He introduces some newbie's to everyone and says that for a change, there won't be any straws drawn this month.
The announcement both terrifies you and gives you hope. Hope that maybe the drawings will be farther and farther apart and terror that perhaps he knows you're planning something, maybe something is coming. And maybe he's decided to play with you.
The new kids are a set of triplets: Danny, Tyler and Jake Iverson and Sammy get close to them. You're not sure of their abilities yet but your pretty sure they'll come to your side if and when you ask them. You hope.
All of the kids are pretty much Sammy's age and over the next few months, more of them are coming in, more than any other time since you've been here.
A girl named Eva arrives after the Iverson's. You think that Sammy has a crush on her and he rolls his eyes at you every time you bring it up.
Eva has the same ability as Sam and you know she'll be on your side.
It's been a year and four months since you've been there when the twins come. The Demon's really excited about them, and lets everyone know about it. The demon has a lot of plans for them, after all. Andy Gallagher and his twin were separated at birth when their mother gave them up for adoption. Now, they both have the ability to make other people do things with their minds.
Andy is on your side, his twin is not.
In the next few months, you go with the demon to pick-up four more children, and start one more house fire. The demon kicks up the training for Sammy and the others and starts teaching the kids things they haven't tried before. He's teaching you, too. Killing, home invasion, even torture.
You haven't had to draw straws for awhile and you're grateful, but you're starting to get worried. Something is happening out there in the world and even the Demon appears to be getting worried. There haven't been as many fires lately and you're noticing a change in him. It's subtle, but it's a change. He's scared about something.
Eva finally comes up to you one day and tells you why. "Your dad is looking for you and the demon is worried about it. There are lots of people looking for you and Sammy, for us. Some of them have power. He's worried, Dean, and he's trying to start an army. Whatever you're planning we have to do it soon. We're running out of time.."
You nod at her and when the Demon comes by you tell her to get back to work and try to make it convincing.
"I have something for you to do." He tells you, and you follow him down a large hallway to a door, and then down some stairs to a small room.
He leaves you alone with a grin on his face as he gives you a gun and walks away. You turn around to see a man sitting on the ground with his back against the wall for support.
He has a cut on his head right above his left eyebrow and dirt on his face. He stares at you for a second before recognition crawls over his features. "You're-You're the Winchester boy, aren't you? Your Dad, he's been looking for you. Is your brother with you? Are you okay? Did the Demon hurt you?" The guy speaks quickly, quietly, like the Demon's still lurking. And you realize that he's a hunter. He knows where he is, he knows where you are, that you're alive.
He knows where your Dad is.
Tears build up in your eyes and you swallow.
"Kid, are you okay? You're name is Dean right? We'll get out of here Dean, your Daddy's been looking for you, it'll be okay."
You can't look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry." You whisper as you raise the gun and shoot him in the head.
You fall to your knees and throw up everything in your stomach and then some. When it finally stops, you get up on shaky legs and walk up the stairs.
You don't tell Sammy, not about the hunter, and not that you've made your decision. You don't want to get his hopes up but you know that you're going to get out of there soon, you have to. One way or another you're both leaving.
That night the demon comes to your cell again. "Thought we'd get some fresh air." He tells you as you follow him.
You get in the car with him like always and he drives. He drives much longer than usual and is silent the whole way. Finally he stops on a street and gets out.
"You coming?" He asks.
You exit the car and follow him, stopping in front of a house. The lights are on and there's a couple cars parked in the driveway.
The demon nods. "In that house Dean are a bunch of friends of your Father's, hunters. They're all looking for you Dean. Now, I'll let you go right now if you promise me you won't look for Sammy, if you leave us alone. I'll let you have a nice normal life and stay away from you and your father as long as you do the same. What do you think?"
You stare at him; you don't even look back at the house.
"I thought so." He grinned again and begins to leave.
You follow him back to the car, and when you get back you walk to your cell where you just listen to Sammy's breathing. You watch as he sleeps and remind yourself that it's both of you or none of you.
The next day the demon announces everyone's moving again.
Over the next few days and weeks it's all about training and you watch different kids and talk to others about what you're planning. They all ask when and you can't tell them but you have a feeling they'll know. They usually do.
The Iverson boys finally discover they have the ability to manipulate time. But one day, as you notice as Tyler Iverson is laughing hysterically, a girl sitting next to him freezes. They can't control them yet, and they're affected by the boys' stress and emotional state. It doesn't seem to bother the Demon, if he even notices. He says nothing about it.
And there still hasn't been a Drawing.
You finally talk to the Iversons about you plan and they agree with you, they say they'll help.
You're planning the escape, or whatever code name one of the Iverson boys has given it, to happen in the next few days. You want to check out a couple harmless things, hallway layout, the locations of the Demon's helpers, to see that if they work with your plan. No one not even the Demon should suspect.
You tell Sammy to be extra careful and when he says he will you're grateful.
That night the Demon comes to you and you head out to another house. It looks familiar and even though you know you're not in Kansas, you could have sworn it was your old house. Its enough to send chills down your spine.
The Demon nods toward the door and you pick the lock.
You're met with the quiet of a sleeping household and a familiarity that it hits you like a punch to the gut. You creep quietly toward the living room and the feeling of déjà vu only grows stronger. There's a toy on the floor and it looks so familiar you could swear it was one of yours.
And then you hear it. The TV, and the sound of guns blasting on a late-night movie. You turn to see a man lying in a chair near the TV, asleep.
"No." You whisper, and you shake your head to try and clear the image.
You know this is supposed to be the part where you knock the guy out, and the fact that he's sleeping makes it easy but you can't. And as the light from the television flashes over his face you realize who it is.
But then there's a scream, a sound almost as familiar as the man before you and before you can stop him, he's up out of his chair.
"Dad!" You scream as you follow him up to the nursery doorway where he's standing.
"Hey Sammy, you okay?" He says quietly, entering the room.
A few seconds later he sees something drip into the crib and he looks up. You follow his gaze and there's your Mom on the ceiling, blood dripping down onto Sammy. Your Dad falls over, crying, "No! Mary!" But the familiar flames engulf her and suddenly your Dad is grabbing Sammy and running toward the door.
"Daddy?" You hear yourself say. Your four-year-old voice seems alien to you now.
"Take you're brother outside as fast as you can, go Dean now!" Your Father orders and you watch yourself run down the stairs and out the open front door.
As your Father goes back in, a huge ball of fire erupts and he's forced to escape. You follow him down the steps and out the door where he grabs your younger self and Sammy and takes you toward the street before the final explosion comes from the house.
You stand there watching, I caused this , you think, I caused this .
You see the Demon's face looming over you. And when you wake with a start, you realize he's really there.
"Bad dream, Dean?" He asks with another of his grins.
"Its time to go."
The Demon parks down the street from a house (thankfully different from your own), and you follow him to the door as usual. You start to enter the house but this time the Demon stays behind. "Get everyone else taken care of." He tells you and you walk inside, again thankful that you can't remember being here before.
You walk around the house, systematically looking to see if anyone is on the first floor and you find nothing at first. But eventually you hear something in the back room and walk toward it, keeping your gun down at your side.
The man turns around quickly when he sees you. He has a little boy standing next to him and they both look as surprised to see you as you are to find them both up and awake.
"What are you doing?" The boy says. His voice isn't panicked like it should be, but you figure he's about your age and he doesn't look all that dangerous. The Father remains silent but neither of them have seen the gun yet. "Who are you?" The son asks again, as his Father pulls him back.
You keep the gun hidden behind your back and slowly raise it to put it in the back waistband of your jeans. You suddenly have a flash back to your dream and try to shake your head of it.
You don't want to hurt them, and the Demon won't be there for a couple minutes if he was still outside.
They can still get out.
Before you can stop yourself you blurt, "Listen, you have to get out of your house."
"What?" The man asks.
"Listen, please, get out, go get your wife and baby and whoever else is in the house and get out it's not safe." But the man stares at him.
"I'm serious, go." You urge him and after a minute the little boy is tugging on his Father's sleeve.
"Please go, there's not much time. And be quiet." You tell him and he finally listens and runs up the stairs.
You walk back outside and the Demon's standing right where you left him. "Everything good?" He asks, and you nod.
As you watch, the Demon walks inside the house and comes out just a minute later as the fire starts.
He looks at you for a second before returning to the car, not saying a word. If the family got out, he doesn't say. and if the Demon knows you tried to warn them, you don't know.
The next day is another day of training. A few of the kids tell you they're ready, but you tell them to wait. The Demon still hasn't said anything and you're afraid to move until he does.
Nothing changes the next day, or the day after, or the next day.
One morning when you wake up, Sammy's shaking your shoulder and telling you its November 2nd again, and you've both been there for two years.
You don't say anything as you follow the line to the big room and prepare for yet another day of training.
But the Demon is waiting there instead.
He smiles at you and he is holding the cup in his hand, the cup full of straws. And you begin to think he knew all along.
You never knew that inanimate objects could hold such menace in them, could scare you as much as those straws do. They hold the destiny of anyone who holds them, and the one who has the shortest one is going to die.
And you have a good idea who that will be.
You take a deep breath, knowing that you had to prepare for this; you knew it would come sooner or later. You look around the circle and try to meet the eyes of all the kids you've recruited. You're trying to tell them that it's time.
Slowly, the Demon goes around with the five straws. But even if you have to die today, maybe your plan will still work and Sammy will get free. Sammy will be okay, or so you hope as the demon goes around and gives a straw to a new girl who you can't remember meeting. Another straw goes, this time this kid who is standing just a few spaces away and you realize that you've never seen them before. You don't know where they came from.
But you're not really paying attention anymore and your heart is pounding in your ears.
The next straw goes to a kid you've seen only once or twice and he whimpers when he gets it. But you already know who's getting it and you silently wait for the Demon to come around to you again.
The fourth straw goes to another kid who's new and the last straw the Demon holds up like a small flag, absently waving it back and forth.
He walks around the circle a few more times before stopping.
He's in front of Sammy.
"No, Sammy, no." You whisper as you leap in front of him, taking the straw from the Demon's fingers. You look at the Demon. "I'll go instead, let me go in his place."
The Demon considers this and you ignore Sammy as he tries to say something behind you.
"Please, take me instead." You plead, and you don't think you've ever begged for anything like this in your life.
After a moment, the Demon nods.
You finally turn to face your brother. He's grown up so fast in the last two years thatshut behind you. You hear a couple more bangs behind you as objects are slammed into the door.
The Demon pushes you off toward a wall and you take a deep breath. Maybe they can still get out, you think. Maybe Sammy and the others have a chance to run and maybe Dad will find them.
The Demon slowly raises the gun and you try to stop your shaking.
He pulls the trigger and everything goes black.
You jolt awake suddenly and wonder if this is what death feels like. If you're in Heaven and you'll see your Mom soon. Slowly you look around and realize that Heaven, or even Hell, has no bearing on your current location. you almost forget he's only ten. He has tears in his eyes and he's shaking his head furiously, trying to grab for the straw. "No, Dean, no."
You gently raise your arm, keeping the straw from him. "I have to Sammy."
He shakes his head at you again but you ruffle his hair and take a deep breath, stepping forward along with the other four kids so you can hold up your straws.
You drew the short straw. You knew it, but you can't help but be a little dizzy. Sammy cries out as you're leaving the opening of the circle and you purse your lips together as the tears fall.
And that's when you hear the sound. It's a loud bang and the demon turns quickly as Max and another kid are rising up a table slamming it toward you and the demon. The Demon manages to stop it in mid air, and it falls to the floor.
Casually, he raises a finger at them and wags it, pushing them down with his own powers. The Demon grabs your arm and pulls you through the door, slamming it it shut behind you. You hear a couple more bangs behind you as objects are slammed into the door. The Demon pushes you off toward a wall and you take a deep breath. Maybe they can still get out, you think. Maybe Sammy and the others have a chance to run and maybe Dad will find them. The Demon slowly raises the gun and you try to stop your shaking. He pulls the trigger and everything goes black.
The Iverson boys, you think, time manipulation, affected by stress. Fighting the Demon was probably enough to throw them into blasting them all back to two years ago. You blink a few times and pinch yourself to make sure this isn't a dream or one of the demon's tricks.
But a quick glance to the bed next to you reveals Sammy, snoring, fast asleep and eight years old again. You look at your arm, and a scar you got from a training accident last year is gone. You let out a sigh that comes out almost as a sob.
"Hey kiddo," Your Father rasps from the doorway, just above a whisper. "You alright?"
He hasn't left yet. I'm back before he left, before the Demon came, before everything. The thoughts come in a rush as
you jump up and hug him, startling you both as you swallow a couple of times to clear the tears. He pulls you to the other bed and you both sit. You can't stop shaking.
Your Dad silently rubs gentle circles between your shoulder blades like Mom used to do, and like you did for Sammy those first few nights he was having nightmares. He runs a hand through your hair and shifts you in his lap as you slowly calm down.
"What's this?" He says finally, gently taking something from your clenched hand.
He holds the straw up to you and you flinch. "Nothing." You tell him and hope that he gets rid of it.
"You sure you're okay, Dean?" Dad looks at you and before you can stop to think, the words tumble out of your mouth.
"Don't leave for the hunt, or take us with you, Dad. Don't leave us alone. If you leave us here something bad's gonna happen."
"Dean?"
"Please, Daddy. Take us away, we need to go."
You can read the confusion in your Father's eyes, but he nods and holds you tighter gently rocking you back and forth like a small child.
Eventually you fall asleep next to him, and for the first time in along time, you dream no dreams, and you fear no demons. Everything was going to be all right, and it was going to stay that way.