The black Impala drove gracefully down the empty back road somewhere in the middle of Montana. The two things that were illuminating the road was the dim moonlight and the powerful beams that the car had. Dean Winchester sat behind the wheel of the car with both of his hands firmly holding onto the steering wheel and eyes never leaving the road ahead of him. His brother, Sam, sat next to him in the passenger's seat, left hand placed in his lap and right hand relaxing against the edge of the closed window, eyes focused on the darkness outside of the car as they drove on. Vivian Denzil - long time friend and hunting partner of the Winchester boys - claimed the back seat to be hers. She sat awkwardly on the seat right behind the youngest Winchester, her body askew as she kept her right leg propped up on the rest of the leather seat and her right leg planted on the floor of the car, her arms were crossed directly under her breasts and her head was pressed against the cold window.
The three hunters had just completed a werewolf hunt that took them from their wonderfully comfortable home in Lebanon, Kansas all the way to the middle of nowhere in the state of Montana. The werewolf male was a difficult beast to defeat and an even more difficult one to locate. It took about ten days for the three of them to locate the monster, and as ready as they were when they eventually found him, they still had their share of bloodloss. Nothing extreme, but nothing that could be classified as the simple bump and bruise either. Dean knew for a fact that he was going to have a sore back for at least a week from the way his back came in contact with the wall the werewolf threw him at. He also received a good cut to the leg, tearing the pant leg of his jeans and drawing blood. Sam got several scratches along his right arm that he was certain would leave some badass scars. Vivian had a huge gash on her left side. Each of the gashes the hunters obtained were more minor than they could have been. No one needed stitches, but they all needed a good cleaning.
Everyone was in deep thought, no one speaking one word to each other, but instead staring at, or rather out of, certain things. Sam and Vivian were staring out their windows into the blackness of the night and Dean was staring directly at the road ahead. Every now and then, one of them would shift in their seat in order to try and rid themselves of the pain in whatever body part was aching at that very moment. Neither of them were successful on that note.
"We need a vacation." Vivian's feminine voice rang through the car, successfully pulling herself and both of the boys out of the trances of their thoughts. "Or at least some time off."
It was the first time that any of them had paid any attention to each other and it was then that they all realized that the song Enter Sandman by Metallica was gently and quietly flowing through the speakers of the aged vehicle. Sam and Dean caught each other's gaze and each gave their own heavy sigh. Dean was the first one to speak.
"That would be nice." Dean said, eyes back on the road.
"We don't have time though." Sam followed Dean's response. "There are too many hunts out there and not enough hunters and we can't just let people die." Sam's voice sounded absolutely exhausted as he slurred some of his words, but it was noticeable how hard he was trying to stay awake.
Sam, normally, was the rational one in the group and seemed to know what he was talking about most of the time. That time was no different. It was rare when hunters were able to get a vacation, or hell, it was rare for a hunter to be able to sit down and have a nice cup of tea or coffee for five minutes without there being some sort of monster who has decided to show his or her ugly face to the world and start killing people.
Vivian sighed, her eyelids drooping. "When things quiet down?" She asked, trying her best to stay awake, but the exhaustion seemed to try and overpower her body.
"If things quiet down." Dean said. "I highly doubt they will anytime soon."
Everyone was quiet then, returning to what they were doing before the question surfaced. All of them managed to stay awake for the remaining ten minutes that it took them to get back to the motel.
It was a simple Motel 8 that was located in the middle of an unknown Montana town - neither of the boys bothered to remember what the name of it was - with a parking lot that could be described by most as abandoned or just down-right sad. Aside from the Impala, there were two other cars in the lot. One of the cars was a dark colored newer Ford truck that was parked near the exit of the lot and the other car was an older, smaller Chevy car that was placed near the office building. Dean parked the beautiful car in between the two cars - at a decent distance of course - directly in front of the two motel rooms that they had decided to rent - one of them for the boys to sleep in while the other one was for Vivian alone.
The car stilled as it was placed in park. Each of them slowly, but surely, made it out of the car - Dean locked it when all three of them had gotten out - and they trudged their way towards their doors. Vivian dug the keycard to her room out of her back pocket and placed it in the key slot while Dean did the same to his and Sam's room.
"Good night Viv," Both Sam and Dean said in unison, looking at their friend with their tired eyes.
Vivian turned towards them. "Good night boys." She replied, but before she opened her door all the way, she stopped and looked at them once more. She asked them when they should be leaving the next day.
"I don't know," Dean replied with a tired shrug, completely sincere about his response as well. "Probably whenever we wake up?"
"So tomorrow night," Sam yawned.
Vivian grinned. "I like that idea."
They all wished each other good night once more before retreating to their rooms. A strong chill ran down Vivian's spine once she entered hers. She closed the door quickly behind her and crossed her arms under her breasts and moved over to the broken air conditioner. She tried pressing several buttons on it, noises coming from the device from her actions, but nothing even happened. She sighed and fought the urge to kick the machine repeatedly.
Vivian turned away from the air conditioner, moving towards the bed and, again, fought the urge to just throw her body down on the piece of furniture and fall asleep. One glance down at her body and torn up clothes easily convinced her that she needed a shower. She figured that it would be better for her to be able to sleep if she was nice and clean compared to if she was completely covered in muck and grime from a nasty, disgusting monster that they killed.
The duffel bag was in a chair that sat next to the small hotel table. Vivian grabbed it and placed it on top of the table, unzipping it and glancing at the contents that were inside of it. Clean day clothes, which she was planning on wearing the day after the hunt, were visible. She reached her hands in and dug to the bottom of the bag to see the night clothes that she packed - short black shorts and a black t-shirt that she may, or may not, have stolen from the youngest Winchester when she was out of clothes at one point.
Vivian grabbed the clothes as well as a pair of panties before she walked into the bathroom, closing the door so that large amounts of cold air doesn't blow through the open space. Vivian walked over to the mirror and started into it, examining her body. Her eyes landed on the bloody spot that was on her side. She licked her lips before she wrapped her fingers around the hem of her shit and lifted it up, hissing as the cloth made contact with the sore and sensitive skin. Once the shirt was off, she looked down and examined the wound. It wasn't deep and the bleeding had stopped. She would clean it after she took a shower.
She continued to strip until she was completely naked, the cool air giving her goosebumps and making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She moved over to the shower turning the knobs, the water gushed out of the hose at a poor speed. Her hand was placed underneath the pouring water until she was completely satisfied with the temperature of it. Then, she turned another knob and the water began to spray out of the shower head.
Vivian stepped into the shower, making sure the wound didn't get hit with the water. As a result, her body faced the shower curtain as she did her best to scrub almost every part of her body without getting soap in the wound. She groaned with every move she made, convinced that her joints were going to be hurting in the morning and for the rest of the week. Some of the shampoo, conditioner, and cheap body wash gotten into the wound, causing Vivian to hiss out in pain. She bit her lip the entire time she was in the shower.
When Vivian finished cleaning herself, she turned off the water and immediately felt the cold air hit, despite the shower curtain blocking her from the rest of the room. She opened the curtain and stepped out, not bothering to try and dry herself off. Quickly, she opened the door leading to the main part of the motel and ran towards her bag, shivering at the cold air that touched her wet skin. She dug into her bag and found some wrapping and some hydrogen peroxide and ran back into the bathroom, closing the door. She set the materials down on the edge of the sink.
Vivian took the hydrogen peroxide and walked into the shower, leaving the curtain wide open. She looked down at the wound and opened up the bottle. There was a moment of hesitation as she tilted the bottle close to her side. Vivian licked her lips and turned away. Biting onto her knuckles, she poured the contents of the bottle onto her wound. She groaned at the painful sensation. When she looked down at the wound, she could see all of the dirty areas bubbling up. The liquid rolled down her left leg.
Vivian closed the cap on the peroxide and reached over, setting it on the sink before she grabbed the wrap. The peroxide soaked the wrapping as she completed the process. Finally, she finished and placed the rest of the wrap right next to the bottle. She then proceeded to get dressed.
Vivian closed the bathroom door and turned off the light when she was done, her dirty and ruined clothes were snuggled close to her body. They were placed inside of her duffel bag and that bag was zipped up before it was placed on the floor right next to the bed Vivian slept in. The lights were turned off and Vivian crawled underneath the thin blankets on the bed, wrapping them around her sore body so that she could get as much heat from them as possible. Despite the cold temperature, it didn't take long before the exhaustion from the hunt seemed to hit Vivian right in the face, which allowed her to easily close her eyes and wander off into a very deep slumber.
Only a couple hours had passed by, it seemed, when Vivian woke up abruptly, her eyes flying open as she sat up, cringing at the pain she felt on her left side. Bright lights caused her to close her eyes immediately, using her right arm as a shield. After blinking for some time, she finally opened her eyes, lowering her arm and using both of them in order to prop herself up. She looked around at her surroundings. She wasn't in her room anymore.
The room that she was in looked as if it was a lounge. She sat on top of a red, leather couch that sat in the middle of the room. Right behind the couch, sat a long, wooden bar with three rows of shelves filled with different types of alcoholic beverages. In front of the couch, there was a large, round stage. In the very back of the stage, there was a large, flatscreen television with several game consoles hooked up to it. Vivian could recognize the PlayStation 2, the Xbox 360, the Sega Genesis, as well as the Wii. Accompanying the game systems, there were totes upon totes of unknown objects sitting next to them. Her eyebrows knitted together as she continued to look around the room. Finally, her eyes landed on three chairs to the right of the couch and in those three chairs sat a sleeping Sam and Dean as well as Castiel, who was already looking at her. She felt her heart jump up as the angel startled her at first.
"Hello Vivian." Castiel said in his normal deep and gravelly tone.
"Oh my God." Vivian breathed out as she stood up and walked over to the three of them. "Are you okay?"
"I believe so, yes." Castiel said.
Vivian stood in front of Sam and Dean and began shaking them awake. "Guys," She began. "Guys, wake up, seriously."
Sam was the first to startle awake, followed soon by his brother. "What's wrong?" Sam asked in a tired voice, his eyelids drooping as he looked around the room rapidly. "What? Where the hell are we?"
"The hell?" Dean's tired voice asked as he looked around as well.
"I have no idea," Vivian replied to Sam's question. "Castiel." She turned towards her angel companion. "Do you have any idea where we are?"
Castiel hesitated as he stood up, looking around the room. "I do not know the exact location." He said.
"Well, do you at least know who's behind this?"
Castiel opened his mouth to respond verbally, but just closed it and shook his head instead. Dean looked at the floor and sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
"So you don't know?" Dean asked. Again, Castiel shook his head. "Dammit."
"Well, we weren't restrained. I figure that whoever captured us means us no harm." Castiel said.
"Cas is right," Sam said with a shrug. "I guess. I mean. I don't know who would have done this. Do any of you have any ideas?"
Vivian shook her head as she looked around the room that the group was trapped in. Dean denied any knowledge, as well as the angel. Sam let out a sigh and let his hand slap against his thigh.
"Well then," Sam rubbed the back of his head as he moved his eyes around the room for a quick while. "Why don't we have a look around? See what we can get up with."
"There isn't much to look at. Really. There are no doors or windows." Vivian said as she crossed her arms underneath her breasts. "There isn't really much of anything in here."
"Except the full liquor bar over there," Dean gestured to the large array of bottles decorating one side of the room. "Which I would gladly like to partake in."
"Do you think it's safe?" Sam asked.
Dean hesitated before he shook his head. "No," He said as he began to walk over towards the bar, eying the alcohol. "Wish it was though."
Without another word from anyone else, they began to look around. Vivian walked up the stage, eyes attached to the totes. She uncrossed her arms and wrapped her fingers around the sides of the lid very gingerly before she opened up the lid and gazed at the contents. She stared down at the objects, completely bewildered. With slow movements, she reached into the tote and brought out a single case that was in there. A video game case. In fact, it was one of the first Xbox games that she had ever played: Dead Rising.
She adored that game with a passion. The plot was inventive and memorable. The characters, realistic and lovable. She could remember hours that she spent portraying the character of photojournalist, Frank West, as she went through the zombie infested mall in Willamette, Colorado, fighting the main antagonist and other psychopaths that would set out to make sure you knew that their materials belonged to them. It brought a natural smile to her face at the memory. She lost it, though, when the question really got into her head. Why were they there?
Vivian turned the case around and looked at the design on the back. It was the same as she had remembered it years ago. Just as she was going to put it back, she heard a familiar voice - one that she hadn't heard in well over several years - speak from directly next to her.
"Dead Rising. Great choice." It spoke and hummed. "You really did like that game, didn't you?"
Vivian let out a yelp as it felt like her heart had jumped right into her throat. She turned towards the sound and was then staring at the television screen that she didn't remember being on. On the screen, however, was a face that definitely fitted the voice. It was Gabriel.
The boys had turned towards the sound of Vivian's yelp and looked at her, immediately, for any injuries that they thought might have been present. When they saw where her gaze was fixed, they followed it. Their worried looks turned into those of complete irritation once they saw the archangel on the screen. Gabriel inhaled sharply.
"Sorry sweetcheeks," Gabriel licked a lollipop that he had conjured up in his hand. "Didn't mean to frighten you." He admitted.
"Gabriel?" Vivian questioned as she took a step forward towards the screen.
Gabriel smirked and nodded. "In the flesh. Well, not really in the flesh, but I'm really here. Alive and well." Gabriel chuckled.
"But, Lucifer, he-" Castiel stepped forward so that he was in front of Vivian, staring at the brother that he thought he had lost.
"Didn't do anything. You don't have to worry, little bro. I'm fine."
Castiel shook his head and rolled his eyes, turning around and facing away. Dean snarled. "What the hell do you want, Gabriel?" Dean asked. "Why have you brought us here?"
"Well, that one is quite easy. You see, I got really bored when I went into hiding. Not being able to do as many tricks as I was used to. Doing too many would raise suspicion and I didn't want to be caught, especially by you three hunters. But, I have decided that enough was enough. I thought that I, and even you guys, could use a little bit more fun."
"How is this going to be fun for us?" Vivian asked with a cocked brow.
"Alright, probably more fun for me, but that's besides the point."
"What is the point of this even, Gabriel?" Sam asked.
"I already told you Samsquach. I am bored. Extremely. So, I figured that tormenting you Winchesters and sweetheart over there would bring back a little bit of fun. Then I figured; Cassie is close to them. Why not bring him into the mix? Hence the reason why you are here little brother." Gabriel looked at Castiel.
"Cas, can't you just zap us out of here?" Dean turned towards the angel.
"I can't Dean. Gabriel is an archangel. He is too powerful for me. The sigils he used to keep me trapped in the room with the three of you are, at least." Castiel explained.
"He's right Dean-o. The only way out of there is if you follow my rules. Simple rules really. And if you follow them, then I might get bored again. Depending on the situation. Then, I will leave you alone. Fat chance, though." Gabriel chuckled and popped the lollipop into his mouth.
"What rules? What the hell do you even want us to do here?" Dean asked as he flailed his arms in the air, complete and utter irritation seeming to take over what little sanity he had left.
Gabriel said nothing initially, but gestured towards Vivian. Then, he spoke. "Why don't you tell them about that game you're holding?" Gabriel asked her.
Vivian looked down at the game with a confused expression etched onto her features. She then looked back up at him. "Why?" She asked.
"Just do it sweetheart." Gabriel shook his head as he told her.
"Um," Vivian looked down at the game. "This game is a classic zombie game. Best I've played. It's about a photographer named Frank West who goes to this mall in the middle of Colorado to cover a story about zombies. It turns into this whole fiasco with trying to complete cases to find out who started the outbreak, saving survivors and, all-in-all, getting the hell out of dodge." She explained.
Gabriel smiled. "Perfect." Gabriel clapped his hands together and rubbed them together. "Now that she's explained the plot, just briefly, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do." Gabriel chuckled. "How would you guys like to play a little game. Well, what I should as is this; how would you guys like to be in the game?"
Vivian gaped at the television screen. She let her shoulders fall towards the ground as a look of complete horror crossed her face and her skin seemed like it was turning white. "You better not be saying what I think you're saying." Vivian said with a low voice.
"You know, I think Dean would make a very good Frank West." Gabriel said. "Let's find out, shall we?" With the snap of his fingers, Dean Winchester was gone and Vivian, Sam, and Castiel were the only ones left.
Vivian looked frantically between the television and the spot that Dean had once been standing in. "You son of a bitch!" You cursed and walked over to the television, smashing your fist against the wall next to the screen. "Bring him back! Now!"
"Why are you so mad sweetheart? I thought this would be fun for you!" Gabriel hummed. "You know what? I think Sam would make a really good...Brad." Gabriel snapped his fingers again and Sam disappeared.
"This has got to stop Gabriel!" Castiel shouted and had an angry look on his face.
"Be quiet Cassie." Gabriel flicked his wrist and Castiel appeared in the chair that he was once sitting in, a cloth tied around his mouth so that he couldn't speak.
Vivian looked back with wide eyes at her angel friend before turning back to Gabe. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Vivian asked with a huff. She rubbed her face with her hands and turned away.
"I told you sweetheart. I'm bored." Gabriel shrugged. "This'll be fun, though. And the only way that the three of you are going to get out of there is if you finish the game. Understand?" Without a response, Gabriel continued. "If the three of you play your parts correctly, then it'll go over smoothly. Simple as that."
"There is no way that I am going to be able to convince you to bring them back and forget all of this, is there?" Vivian asked with a small tone. Gabriel shook his head as a response. Vivian looked at the floor and sighed. "How is Sam supposed to know how to play the part if you didn't tell him anything?"
Gabriel smiled. "Now you're asking the real questions!" Gabriel clapped and laughed. "I'll let you explain that to him. As you know, Brad and Jessie don't appear until a little into the game. That is when you can explain it to him. Make sure he knows what is going on." Gabriel placed his hands into his pockets.
"What about Dean?"
"Dean-o? Oh, he'll have to figure it out for himself." Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "He'll do that, you don't have to worry about it."
"But, what if-"
"Enough questions, alright sweetheart? The game'll come naturally to you and to them once they get the hang of it. You don't have to worry about them. I may be a little bit of a...dick at times, but I'm not going to hurt them...permanently. Or kill them...permanently. Trust me, alright?"
"It's kind of hard for me to do that, you know?" Vivian said.
"I know." Gabriel smirked. "Have fun in the game."
And then it was, with the snap of his fingers, Vivian was gone. Castiel was the only one in the room. And then, with the snap of Gabriel's fingers once more, he appeared in the room, sitting down next to Castiel. Castiel sent a glare towards Gabriel once he appeared next to him. Gabriel smirked at Castiel's look.
"Don't give me that look little brother. You'll have your fun. But for right now, let's sit back and enjoy the show." Gabriel said before he turned towards the television.
On the screen was the Capcom logo in blue and yellow lettering. It slowly disappeared before the sign for the game - Dead Rising - showed on the screen. Slowly, the image of the mall in the background appeared and many different zombies were making their way towards the building. Gabriel smirked as he watched the small letters appear at the bottom of the screen that read 'press A to start'.
"Alright," Gabriel began. "Let the games begin."