Meltdown

A/N: This is inspired by the full conversion mod "White Night" for the game "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" which, despite being made using the Amnesia engine, is actually a very different game and a very well made mod (once you get past the bad voice acting) and you don't need to have played it or know anything about it to follow this story. You have to play as a patient in a mental hospital who can't remember why he's there, and finds himself on his own while lots of freaky things go on around him. So I figured it was about time I wrote Sam a story, and this is a good opportunity for that which will also give me chance to have fun with Lucifer :) Set during season seven while Sam's going crazy in hospital and Cas isn't back yet. I'm not planning on making this too long, or even giving it a clear ending considering I still don't know what the actual game ending was supposed to be, but I just wanted to try out writing some creepy stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, Amnesia: The Dark Descent or any of of its custom stories.

Chapter One – Wake Up Mr. Insane

"Rise and shine, Sammy!"

The roaring voice cut into his hazy consciousness like a baseball hitting a pillow, sending feathers flying everywhere like his thoughts that were scattered into disarray. Sam groaned and opened his eyes blearily, struggling to wake and wishing he could sink back into the blissful blankness of sleep that he felt like he'd been missing for eternity. How was it he even managed to sleep in the first place? That wasn't something he'd found easy for a long time, and actual peaceful sleep was as good as impossible…

He didn't have time to collect his thoughts before they were invaded once again. "Come on, Sam, you're no fun when you're asleep. Now, get up! You won't believe what you've missed."

Groggily, Sam sat himself up against the metal frame of the hospital bed and shot a glare at the ever-present hallucination by his side, but didn't actually retaliate. That was only what it wanted.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and huffed childishly. "Really, Sam, you wanna take a look round. There was all sorts going on while you were off in snooze-land. Best get a good look at your surroundings and remember where all the important stuff is now, because you'll need that when it gets dark."

Sam didn't have a clue what he was talking about, and, as usual, tried to ignore him. He was too exhausted to play along with this, and the more attention he afforded the illusion, the more he felt his mind breaking down. It would only get better if he succeeded in tuning Lucifer out, like he used to be able to, but that was growing harder by the day.

His silence, of course, didn't shut the hallucination up. "Sammy, listen to me. I'm trying to help you out here. Get up and look round. There's important stuff you're missing."

Finding him increasingly difficult to ignore, Sam finally snapped back. "Look, I'm not listening to you because you're not real, okay? Nothing you say is real. Now just shut up because there's gonna be doctors here soon with medication and then I'm going back to sleep."

Lucifer just laughed at him, clearly not at all deterred by Sam's hostility. "That stuff never works, Sam. You know it doesn't. And it doesn't matter anyway because no doctors are going to be coming with medication."

Sam was still refusing to look at him, knowing that he was only trying to screw with his head even more than it had already been fucked over, but Lucifer leaned closer to whisper in his ear with a sneer. "You want to know why that is, Sam? Because nobody's here."

That didn't get a reaction, and looking annoyed, Lucifer wandered over to stand by the door. "You don't believe me, Sam? Fine. Then why don't you get up and check for yourself? You're the only one left."

Still nothing.

"Or are you just going to be a stubborn brat and stay in bed all day?"

That got a vague eye-flicker.

Lucifer gave a triumphant grin and punched the air, taking that as a sign of success. "Knew you were listening, Sammy. Now I mean it. You have to get up and find a way out of here, before they get to you too."

Sam's bloodshot eyes narrowed at him. He was used to Lucifer's constant torments, but the hallucination had never tried anything like this before. Its commands now seemed oddly specific, and Sam was confused as to why the angel seemed to want him to get up so urgently. Normally there was just lots of random shouting and hallucinations that ensured he never got a moment of peace, but today the angel seemed to be trying a different tack. Unless Sam's brain chemistry had drastically altered, he wasn't sure why something that only existed in his head would start behaving like this. Then again, he hadn't yet worked out how he'd managed to get to sleep in the first place, or even really remember what had been going on last night before he'd gone to bed.

His curiosity piqued enough to at least have a quick look out into the corridor, Sam swung his legs off the bed and got up stiffly, resolutely not looking in Lucifer's direction as he walked towards the door. The angel was probably leering at him, but Sam heard nothing more from him as he opened the door and peered out. He didn't see anyone in the corridor, but that didn't mean he was the only one left on the ward by any means.

Part of him was still tempted to just go and climb back into bed, tired as he was, but he knew that with Lucifer pestering him, there'd be no chance of getting any actual rest now. Deciding it couldn't hurt just to have a quick look around for someone else and confirm it for sure, Sam took a hesitant step outside into the corridor, but then Lucifer piped up again from behind him. "See? What did I tell you?"

"Shut up," Sam growled, taking a few paces down the corridor and not looking back. He came to the next door along, recalling that it belonged to a schizophrenic girl he'd managed to have a coherent conversation with a couple of times. He tried the door, unsure as to whether it would be locked or not, but finding that it wasn't he pushed it open slowly, trying not to disturb her if she was inside. However, as Sam got the door fully open without hearing a thing from within the room, he was surprised to see there was nobody there. Even odder, the mattress has been lifted from the bed and now lay on the floor several feet away with the sheets flung messily over it. Sam frowned, a little confused, and Lucifer chuckled.

"Believe me yet, Sam?"

Sam was beginning to think that maybe he did - or at least he believed that something was wrong - but he still didn't want Lucifer to have the satisfaction of seeing how unsettled he was. He stormed past the hallucination and back out into the corridor, trying the next room along. That one was empty too. Very confused and worried now, Sam half-ran down the hallway, looking to see if there was a nurse or janitor or anyone anywhere, but saw nothing.

Panic was starting to settle in when he heard Lucifer remark calmly behind him again. "I told you, you're the only one here."

Angrily, and with his tiredness overridden by worry, Sam rounded on him. "Alright, now what's going on?" he snapped. "Am I even awake? Or is this just another way for you to torment me in my sleep?"

Lucifer shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe, but do you really want to take that risk, Sam? Now do as I say. You need to find a flashlight."

None of this was starting to make any more sense to Sam. "Why? It's not even dark."

"It will be," Lucifer answered, a sense of urgency in his tone, "And the way out of here isn't easy. Now check in one of the doctor's offices. There should be a flashlight and batteries in a desk drawer somewhere."

Unnerved, Sam flashed him a distrusting look, but decided it might be best to actually follow his advice for once. He didn't like this situation one bit, and it especially frustrated him that he couldn't tell whether any of this was real or not. And if it was real, then what happened to cause it?

He thought he ought to get to a phone and call Dean, and decided to follow Lucifer's instructions and head to the nearest office. Walking briskly, Sam rounded a corner to where he knew Dr. Manners' office to be, but as he did so stopped dead, his eyes falling on a huge dripping patch of blood spatter on the wall. A gasp of shock escaped him at the sight, and he felt a ripple of fear.

"Okay, tell me what's going on here?" he demanded of the imaginary angel, "What happened?"

There was no answer.

Turning round to look for the ever-present Lucifer, Sam's eyes fell on empty space. "What…?" he muttered to himself, taking a few steps back in the direction he came from and glancing round furiously, but there was no-one there. "Lucifer?" He couldn't believe he was actually calling out for the angel, but he needed someone to tell him what happened here. For weeks he'd been plagued by the hallucination of his tormentor in Hell refusing to leave him alone, but now at last that it was gone, oddly, relief was the last thing that Sam felt. Something very wrong was going on here, and Sam still thought he'd prefer to have the Devil in his head than have to face it completely alone.

He started to run down the corridor, wanting to reach the exits although he was disoriented as to where they were, but just as he came up on a corner he stopped suddenly, taking a few brisk paces back and breathing sharply. A chill ran down his spine as he heard the noise coming from round the corner; that of guttural, inhuman groan.