Chapter Two
Author's Note: Although this story was intended to be a one-shot, some reviewers have shown a desire to see more so I have decided to oblige them and write more for this fanfic. If you want to, you may keep reading but if you were happy with the one-shot style, then that is fine as well. Thank you for your reviews and I am glad that you enjoyed this story (and hopefully you will continue to enjoy it).
Sam straightened up, shocked at what had just happened. Dean and Cas were nowhere in sight and the room was splattered with black goo.
Kevin stared wide-eyed at the scene as well before tugging at the youngest Winchester's sleeve, "Sam, we should go."
Where's Dean? Sam thought frantically, helplessly. One moment he was there and the next he was just… gone. Was he dead?
"What the hell?" Sam whispered.
Kevin pulled urgently at Sam's sleeve, "More chompers any minute, Sam."
Both of the young men turned around quickly at the familiar voice coming from behind them and saw Crowley, dressed all in black with a smug smile on his face.
"Not to worry. I have a small army of demons outside. Cut off the head and the body will flounder, after all. Think if you'd had just one king since before the first sunrise, you'd be in a kerfuffle too," Crowley announced, taking a step closer to the two humans.
"Which is exactly what you wanted!" Sam snapped, trying to hide his fear from the demon.
Crowley shrugged, "So did you. Without a master plan, the Levis are just another monster. Hard to stomp, sure, but I hear you hunters love a good challenge."
Sam narrowed his eyes at the demon and stepped in front of Kevin, knowing that Crowley had really come for the teen.
"Where's Dean?" Sam nearly growled but the demon wasn't the least bit intimidated.
"That bone… has a lot of kick," Crowley told Sam with a gleeful glint in his eyes, "God weapons often do. They should put a warning on the box."
Sam took a deep breath, "Where are they, Crowley?"
The King of Hell shrugged, "Damned if I know."
Without taking his eyes off the demon, Sam spoke to Kevin, "C'mon."
"Ah ah ah," Crowley raised an eyebrow, "Where do you think you're going?"
The King of Hell snapped his fingers and a pair of demons appeared on either side of Kevin.
Sam frowned and reached out, grabbing the younger man's shirt in his fist.
Crowley just chuckled at the hunter's attempt at protection, "Sorry, Sam. Prophet's mine."
The King nodded to his cronies and the demons disappeared, taking Kevin with them. Sam moved to go around Crowley but the demon spoke.
"I didn't say you could leave."
Sam was trapped. Crowley was blocking the only exit and the hunter was sure he wouldn't be allowed to pass until the demon had had a chance to rub his nose in it some more.
"You thought I was just going to let you walk out of here? You're even dumber than you look, Moose!" Crowley crowed smugly and Sam closed his eyes for a moment, hands clenching into fists.
"I don't have time for your games," Sam glared at the demon, "Soon there'll be more than just Leviathans to deal with once someone calls the cops."
Crowley chuckled, "You don't need to worry about any of that because you'll be far away from here by the time the bizzies arrive."
Sam frowned. What was the demon talking about? Why didn't he just leave? He had what he came for, so why wasn't he blowing Sam a raspberry and doing his usual disappearing act.
The youngest Winchester took a step back, careful to avoid slipping in the goo that had once been Dick Roman, and the demon chuckled, clearly enjoying himself.
Crowley smiled knowingly, "You don't know how special you are, do you? How valuable you are. I've been waiting quite a long time for this moment and now that Big Brother and Wings have been blown to Kingdom Come, I have you all to myself."
Sam opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He retreated farther into the room, his shoes slipping in the black blood and his feet flew out from under him.
The young man fell, landing heavily on his back and he groaned in pain, dazed.
Crowley tsked as he stepped right up to the hunter.
This was too much for Sam. Cas and Dean were gone- dead- and now Crowley wanted him for some unknown reason. He had never been more helpless.
He stared up at the ceiling, breathing hard, until the demon's face filled his vision.
"Now, I have a schedule to keep," Crowley announced, "So if you don't mind…"
A wave of vertigo washed over Sam and he closed his eyes as bile climbed his throat. Rolling onto his side, the young man groaned when his stomach evacuated its contents onto the floor. The smell of Leviathan blood was making him sick.
Sam heard Crowley back away with a disgusted sound. The demon snapped his fingers and the hunter opened his eyes slightly to see two of Crowley's cronies standing over him.
"I would transport him myself," the King of Hell said, "But this suit is Gucci and I'm not sure Levi blood will come out."
The demons made no reply- probably used to doing the grunt work- but bent down and grabbed Sam's arms, heaving him into a standing position. The young man's legs trembled and Sam's head was swimming. He wondered if he was going to throw up again.
He glanced up when Crowley stepped up to him.
"I'm doing you a favour, really," the demon told Sam, smugly, "You have a tendency to self-destruct when the Squirrel's not around."
"Fuck you!" Sam snapped, struggling against Crowley's minions holding him back from smashing a fist into the demon's teeth.
The King of Hell just raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers.
W
Sam staggered, his legs nearly buckling underneath him as his demon entourage disappeared from SucroCorp headquarters and reappeared in an abandoned warehouse thousands of miles away.
"You might feel some discomfort but that will wear off," Crowley's voice echoed in the cavernous factory floor, "Demon Airlines isn't as user-friendly as your angel buddy."
Sam's only response was to groan miserably. His stomach felt as though it had been twisted into knots and his legs felt like Jell-O.
Crowley gestured to his minions and the two demons dragged Sam between them across the room.
Sam fought to regain his footing but failed. The small group stopped at the far end of the room where an old elevator shaft waited.
Crowley pressed the button to summon the lift and waited somewhat impatiently, tapping his foot on the dusty floor.
Sam hung his head; his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to keep from being sick again. The elevator doors screeched as they opened slowly and the young man wondered how the damn thing was even still working.
Sam stumbled when he was pushed into the elevator and collapsed into the corner, his legs doing nothing to hold him up. Crowley and his two goons entered the small lift and the demon king pushed one of the buttons on the panel, ignoring the hunter as though he was not there. The elevator car lurched and Sam's heart leapt into his throat; he wouldn't be surprised if their weight caused the cables to snap and send them all plummeting down the shaft.
The elevator stuttered to a stop and the doors creaked open. The demon lackeys grabbed Sam's arms and tugged him up.
As they stepped out into a long hallway, Sam saw that the ceiling was lined with fluorescent bars and the walls were now off-white, the original shade smeared by years of dirt and decay. The floor was green tiles faded in the middle by many feet walking up and down the hall.
"Wh-where are you taking m-me?" Sam asked, his voice more shaky then he'd like.
Crowley, walking ahead of his prisoner, didn't answer.
"Tell me!" Sam's voice rang out in the quiet hallway but the demon still did not respond.
The young man began struggling again, the effects of the teleportation wearing off, and anger surged through his veins. Sam couldn't believe he'd let Crowley get the jump on him. It was unthinkable! Embarrassing! Dean wouldn't have let that happen.
Sam threw all his weight into the demon on his right side and all three of them went crashing into the wall. The demons must have been caught off guard because they scrambled for a moment to regain their hold on the prisoner. Sam extricated himself from the two incompetent cronies and found himself standing face-to-face with Crowley.
"Admirable attempt, Moose," the King of Hell smirked and flicked his hand at Sam. The young man was flung down the hall, "But you've seem to forgotten who you're dealing with!"
Knowing that Sam wasn't going anywhere, Crowley turned to his minions who were just picking themselves up, "And you two! Obviously I've given you a task beyond your capabilities."
The two demons looked at the floor, contrite and a little fearful, "Why don't you go check up on my Prophet; that is if you can manage it."
Crowley's goons nodded and vanished. The King of Hell sighed, muttering to himself about how hard it was to find good help these days and turned to the hunter.
Sam was staggering to his feet, one arm wrapped protectively around his middle.
Crowley walked forward slowly, smirking at the expression of poorly-concealed pain on the young man's face.
"Did you really think you could best me?" the demon asked arrogantly, "I'm the King of Hell!"
Sam didn't give Crowley the satisfaction of rising to his bait.
"Oh, so now you're going all strong and silent on me?" the demon asked, smirking, "Very well. I don't mind."
Sam gritted his teeth together, "What do you want from me?"
Crowley grinned, "There's the sixty-four dollar question! I wondered how long it would take you to ask."
Sam waited but the King of Hell didn't elaborate. Surely Sam didn't think Crowley was going to tell him what was going on? He had to know him better than that by now.
Sam glared at the demon and flinched away when Crowley made to grab his arm that wasn't wrapped around his midsection.
"Don't touch me!" the young man snapped and Crowley shrugged, "Than I suggest you move."
Sam walked forward with Crowley following right behind him to the end of the hall where a metal door stood part-way open.
"After you," the demon gestured. Sam pulled the door wider and peered inside. The room was nearly bare but for the rusty skeleton of a bed bolted to the concrete floor. The unpainted cinderblock walls were old and covered in stains and mold. There were no windows and only a single bare light bulb to illuminate the room.
"What is this?" Sam asked, backing away.
Crowley smirked and placed a strong, pudgy hand on the young man's back, "Your new home."
With a shove, the demon sent Sam stumbling into the room. Sam cried out in surprised and turned around in time to see Crowley grinning at him smugly as he closed the door.
"Nighty-night," the British demon drawled before slamming the door and locking it.
SPN
Dean startled awake, lifted his head and peered at his surroundings. He sat up as he stared at the dark, mysterious forest that seemed to be crowding in on him.
What had happened? Why was he here? The last thing he recalled was stabbing Dick Roman in the chest.
The sound of footsteps caused Dean to whip around but he relaxed at the familiar sight of Cas.
Standing cautiously, Dean moved to meet his friend, "Where are we?"
The dark woods around them seemed to shiver and strange sounds- hoots and screeches- met Dean's ears. Dean couldn't put his finger on it but there was something off about this place. He looked around once more and saw, with a shock that a full moon was hovering large and cold in the sky above the trees, bigger than Dean had ever seen before.
"You don't know where we are?" the angel answered Dean's question with another question.
The hunter sighed, "No, Cas. The last thing I remember, we were at the SucroCorp HQ, ganking Dick Roman."
Castiel stared at Dean intently, "And where would he go in death?"
The human hesitated, not liking where this train of conversation was going.
"Wait. Are you telling me…?"
"Every soul here is a monster," Cas paused as the trees nearby rustled ominously, "This is where they come to prey upon each other for all eternity."
"We're in Purgatory!" Dean exclaimed, beginning to panic, "How do we get out?!"
"I'm afraid we're much more likely to be ripped to shreds," Cas answered, sounding disinterested.
Dean turned as the sound of rustling branches grew louder and froze when he saw two creatures standing just at the edge of the woods, their bodies silhouetted against the full moon and their eyes glowing red. They were looking right at him, Dean was certain of it.
"Cas, I think we better-" he turned as he spoke but stopped. Cas was gone.
Wide-eyed, Dean glanced around the clearing, trying to catch sight of his friend, "Cas?"
There was no response. Dean was all alone.
W
Dean stumbled over a protruding root and swore under his breath. He wished the sun would appear but he was starting to get the idea that it never would. Although Purgatory seemed to have both night and day, the sun and blue sky was permanently on vacation. Daytime didn't even have the decency to be bright. It always shifted from night into this strange twilight time, not completely dark but not completely light either.
Dean couldn't count on his fingers how many times he had already tripped over a rock or a root, walked into a low-hanging branch he'd failed to see or jumped when a shadow moved suddenly.
He hated this. He hated that Cas had ditched him, left him at the mercy of those creepy gorilla-wolf things. With no weapons and no other way out, Dean had run. He hadn't known where he was going; he'd just torn through the trees as fast as he could, anything to avoid becoming luncheon meat. It wasn't his proudest moment. He was Dean Winchester! A hunter and a damned good one but he would have been a dead hunter if he had decided to see if he could fight off the monsters. Dean wasn't sure how he'd even managed to escape. He'd run for as long as he could and maybe the monsters had gotten tired and left to find easier prey.
Now that he wasn't fleeing for his life, Dean had some time to think as he picked his way across the precarious forest floor, eyes sharp for barely-hidden tripping hazards.
Was Sam okay? Had he gotten out of Leviathan Central alright? Did he know that Dean was in Purgatory?
If he knew his brother, Dean was sure Sam was well on his way to breaking him out of this hellhole. All he had to do was be patient for a little while and he'd see Sam in no time.
Dean froze when a twig snapped loudly behind him. He glanced over his shoulder suspiciously but saw nothing. He waited a moment before continuing on his way.
Where the fuck was Cas when he needed him?
Dean was practically a sitting duck out here! He may as well have been walking around with a neon sign over his head proclaiming 'I'M A HUMAN! COME EAT ME!'
The hair on the back of Dean's neck stood on end and he forced himself to keep calm. Something was definitely watching him. He was sure of it.
Dean continued on his way, acting as though he were oblivious to his pursuer. He surreptitiously glanced at the forest floor around him, searching for something, anything that could be used as a make-shift weapon.
There was a broken branch in his path; it looked as though it had snapped off a nearby tree during a storm. It was around the same size as a baseball bat and was in Dean's opinion was better than nothing. Bending down, Dean wrapped both hands around one end of the branch, knowing that he was now telling whatever was following him that he was onto it.
As expected, a form burst out of the undergrowth behind Dean and charged him. Twisting at the waist, the hunter stood and swung the branch like a Louisville Slugger. The branch hit his attacker's skull with a sickening crack! and the monster dropped like a ton of bricks.
Dean grinned widely down at the prone form at his feet. He wasn't going to go down so easily.
He peered curiously at the creature and grimaced. The monster was humanoid, naked except for a dirty loincloth wrapped around its hips, its skin was a pale grey that made Dean think of drowning victims. The creature was bald, with slightly pointed ears and what looked like small tusks poking out from beneath its upper lip.
Dean wasn't sure but the thing looked like the ogres in the pictures he'd seen in one of Bobby's books.
The hunter nudged the creature with the toe of his boot but it did not stir. It was either unconscious or dead; not that Dean was willing to get a closer look to make sure. Smirking, Dean rested the broken tree branch on his shoulder and continued on his way, satisfied that at least he wasn't completely defenceless against whatever monsters Purgatory decided to throw at him.
SPN
Sam slammed his fists into the metal door, knowing that it would be locked fast.
This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not with Cas and Dean gone. What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of this?
Sam let out a shout of frustration as he hit the door again.
Turning away, he stared at the interior of the small room he was being held in. The floor was concrete, grey and dull, covered in a layer of dust. The cinderblock walls were old and crumbling with mold and mildew. The room smelled strongly of decay. A single bulb hanging in the middle of the room gave off sickly yellow light. The only furniture in the room- the rusted bed frame- completed the room's creepy atmosphere.
I feel like I'll get tetanus just by staring at that thing for too long, Sam thought and closed his eyes, rubbing his hands over his face.
Taking a deep breath, Sam almost choked on the rancid smell of Leviathan blood still clinging to him.
Where are you Dean? He thought sadly; what happened to you?
Sam wiped the sleeve of his jacket across his eyes, grimacing at the sight of black goo crusted onto the green material.
Had the blast killed his brother and Cas? Sam didn't know. He thought that it most likely had, if it had killed Roman than they were certainly close enough for the unexpected explosion to be fatal.
Sam sank to the floor. This was it. The end. Dean was gone and he was never coming back. He was all alone.
Sam wasn't naïve enough to think anyone would look for him. Besides Bobby, he didn't have many friends in the hunting community and no one was likely to miss him if he didn't show up for a while.
Why'd you have to go and leave me again, Dean?
W
Sam had to escape. He didn't know what Crowley had planned for him but there was no way he was going to stay to find out.
Sam knew there was no way he was going out the door- it locked from the other side and there wasn't even a keyhole for him to try and pick- so he tried to find any of the cinderblocks in the walls were old enough to be crumbly.
Dean would have laughed at Sam if he knew he was trying to make a daring getaway by tunnelling through the wall. Sam wasn't even sure if it would work but he wasn't going to sit around and why Crowley took his sweet time reappearing.
Sam picked at one of the cinderblocks at the bottom of the wall, frowning when only the tiniest bit of concrete flaked off.
He tested all of the cinderblocks he could easily reach, meeting the same result every time. Although the walls were old, they were still as sturdy as the day they were built.
Sam glanced up at the ceiling and saw that it was made of the same fibreglass tiles that were often used in schools. Even standing on the tips of his toes, Sam wasn't tall enough to reach them. Looking around, Sam's gaze landed on the rusted bed frame and he wondered if it would hold his weight.
Walking over to the rickety-looking metal skeleton, Sam set his foot against one side of it. The bed frame creaked ominously but didn't break.
Placing both hands against the wall behind the bed frame to steady himself, Sam settled his other foot on it, holding his breath.
Smiling, Sam straightened up, balancing precariously. Reaching up, Sam groaned in frustration when his fingertips just barely brushed one of the fibreglass tiles. He wasn't tall enough!
Sam stepped down from the bed frame and ran his hands through his hair. He didn't know what to do; there was no way out.
He began pacing around the room anxiously, trying to figure out how he could get out of this mess.
SPN
Dean swore silently. He was cornered. Three against one was not a fair fight. And to top it off, Dean only had his tree-branch-baseball-bat to defend himself with.
Where the hell was Cas when Dean needed him?
"You think that twig's gonna hurt us?" one of the vampires sneered and Dean shrugged, "Hey, if I beat you to pulp do you think you'll still be able to come after me?"
The monsters chuckled, obviously not scared of Dean whatsoever.
Without warning, one of the vampires leaped at Dean and the hunter swung the tree branch as hard as he could.
Dean never hit the monster. In mid-leap, a dark blur slammed into it and drove it to the ground, blood from a gaping wound in its throat spilling out onto the forest floor.
The two remaining vampires stumbled back in shock and Dean lifted his make-shift weapon again, ready to fight off the new threat: the threat which happened to be a man perhaps a little older than Dean himself wearing an old white dress shirt, dirty black dress pants, boots and a long navy blue pea coat.
"Now it looks like a fair fight to me," the stranger said, his voice was low and slightly raspy, his accent telling Dean he came from one of the Southern states.
The hunter stepped up beside the man, deciding that for the meantime he could work with him, whoever he was.
The vampires ran at the duo and Dean swung the tree branch into the face of the monster gunning for him. The branch connected with a loud crunch and the vampire fell back, blood gushing from its ruined face. Dean swung again and again and again.
The young man only stopped when the stranger reached out and grabbed the tree branch as Dean raised it high to continue pummelling the already dead vampire.
Dean turned quickly to face his strange saviour and the man smiled, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners.
"I think it's dead," the man said and Dean looked down at the body at his feet. The vampire's head was nothing more than chunks of brain and bone in a pool of blood.
Dean lowered his weapon and ran the sleeve of his leather coat across his sweaty brow.
"What are you?" he asked. He decided that the man in the navy pea coat wasn't about to kill him anytime soon. If that had been his intention, he could have done it numerous times while Dean was fighting with the vampires.
"Name's Benny," the man held out his hand. Reluctantly Dean took it and shook the man's hand.
"I'm De-" he began but was interrupted, "I already know who you are. Word travels fast in these parts, especially when there's a human and an angel stumbling around here like babes in the woods."
"Angel? You mean Cas," Dean said, "Have you seen him?"
Benny nodded, "Few days ago now. He was down by the river, following it I think."
The human's brows furrowed. River? What river? He hadn't seen any river- or any source of water since arriving in Purgatory.
Benny glanced up, past Dean and into the trees behind him, "We should get moving. If we stay still any longer we're likely to have some more uninvited guests."
Not having much choice either way, Dean followed the man as he picked his way through the forest, past the third vampire, its head torn off its shoulders.
"How'd you do that?" Dean asked, indicating the body.
"I have no weapons, no blade to chop off it head with, so I just used what I had," the man answered cryptically.
"You mean you ripped his head off," Dean commented dryly and the man shrugged.
Dean narrowed his eyes, "That still doesn't explain what you are."
"Does it matter?" Benny asked with a smirk, "We're all monsters here. Take your pick. Which one do you think I am?"
Dean opened his mouth but then closed it again, "Doesn't matter."
Benny chuckled, "You always so trusting?"
Insulted, Dean snorted, "Hell no, but the way I see it, if you were out to eat me, you could have easily killed me back there and I'd have no idea what hit me."
"So you don't think I'm just saving you for later?" the man asked and Dean shook his head, "What would be the point?"
Benny smiled. The human wasn't a complete dolt after all.
"You said you saw my friend by some river," Dean said suddenly, "Can you take me to it?"
"I could," Benny muttered.
"But?" Dean asked, "What's wrong? Is it full of kelpies or sirens or something? Is the water poisoned?"
"You want to try and track down that angel of yours, am I right?" the man asked, halting and turning to face Dean.
"Yeah, we both got stuck here and I'm worried about him," Dean explained.
"It's you who should be worried," Benny said, "A human walking around in Purgatory, I'm surprised the monsters are lining up just waiting to take a bite out of you."
Dean shrugged, "I'm just lucky, I guess."
Benny chuckled, "What I can't figure out, is why you want to find your angel when he as the one who left you high and dry in the first place."
Dean stopped walking.
"How do you know about that? Have you been following me?"
The man raised an eyebrow, "I already said that word travels fast here."
"Sure," the hunter muttered, "Right."
"You think Cas would have followed the river?" Dean asked after a couple of minutes, silently picking his way along beside Benny.
"Mmhm," the man answered noncommittally.
Dean sighed but said nothing more. He hoped they found Cas soon; he really was worried about the angel.
"And we should really see about getting you a better weapon," Benny muttered.
SPN
The sound of the door unlocking startled Sam awake. He sat up and blinked confusedly, disorientated.
"Good morning," a mocking British voice sounded and Sam stared up at Crowley.
The events of the past day came back to Sam in a rush- Dick Roman's destruction, Dean and Cas' disappearance, his kidnapping- and the hunter glared daggers at the demon.
"Fuck off!" Sam growled, standing up so that he could use his height to try and intimidate the King of Hell, a futile gesture but Sam didn't back down.
Crowley tilted his head slightly so that he could look up at the young man, "You know how easy it would be for me to simply walk out of here, lock the door and forget about you?"
Sam was not sure how to respond to that threat.
"What do you want with me?" he asked, trying to keep the trepidation from his voice.
Crowley shrugged, clearly not in a sharing mood.
"Tell me, Moose," the demon said in a conversational tone, "When was the last time you ate?"
Sam didn't reply. He narrowed his eyes at Crowley, trying to read him but the monster's expression revealed nothing.
"Let's play a game," the demon said, "Let us see how long you can go without asking for food."
Sam's mouth dropped open, "No!"
The King of Hell raised an eyebrow, "No? Don't you like games?"
"You can't-" Sam began but the demon held up a hand, stopping Sam from continuing.
"If you win, the prize is really great," Crowley said smugly, "Trust me."
With that, the demon turned and headed for the door. Sam went after him. He reached out and grabbed the demon's shoulder.
Crowley flicked out his free hand towards Sam and the young man was flung backwards, hitting the wall on the opposite side of the room and crumpling in a heap.
The demon brushed off the shoulder of his suit where Sam's hand had been and closed the door, locking it as he left, without another word.
Dazed but not hurt, Sam sat up and stared at the heavy metal door.
"Dean," Sam sighed, his breath hitching, "Where are you?"
Author's Note:
1. Thanks to reannablue, SUPERNATURALANGEL67, cold kagome, FireChildSlytherin5, Samstruck, L.A.H.H, sarah, Maiden of the Heavens, sammynanci, CeCe Away, Sparkiebunny, mandancie, Melanie5629, Katlover98, jkf340, BranchSuper, McGeeklover, and dianacp8 for reviewing.
2. Thanks to everyone who alerted, followed and favourited.
3. Please leave a comment!