Sam woke with the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, and he gagged as he swallowed, trying to rid his mouth of the taste.
'Sammy?' he heard Dean's low voice from across the dungeon like room they were caged in.
'Dean! Are you ok?' he asked, relief flooding through him as he looked at his brother. He looked to his hands and feet, and was glad that he wasn't tied up.
He tried to walk towards his brother, but found, as soon as he started to move he collapsed on the floor, clutching at his side, shouting out in pain.
'Hey! You alright?' Dean said, jumping up and darting to his little brother, pulling him up and leaning him against him
Sam swayed on the spot, holding onto Dean's neck as he battled to stay upright. 'What the hell?' he groaned, patting where it hurt, bringing his hand back and seeing blood.
He tried to lift his shirt up, but the fabric was sticky with clotted blood, and he hissed through his teeth as he attempted to pull it away, without success.
'Oh god...Dean-those were that crazy's sons!' he gasped, suddenly looking around for the descendents of the man who tried to kill them some time before.
Dean's mind was instantly drawn back to the last time they came into contact with him, remembered almost drowning...the carbon monoxide poisoning...being strung up like butchered meat...
'We have to get out of here!' Sam' urgent voice broke into his thoughts.
'I know Sam, I'm gonna get us out!' Dean promised, feeling a sense of Déjà vu as he said it.
Sam nodded, knowing Dean would always get them up. That was what he did.
He tried to move away from his brother to walk on his own, but fell back down again with a howl of pain, clutching at his side again.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you' came a voice from the other side of the bars of their cage. The boys whipped round to find Dominic standing with a small smile on his face, hands tucked deep into his pockets.
'And why the hell not?' growled Dean, once again bending down to pull his brother back to his feet.
'Well, Sammy here has just come round to, well, I'd call it major surgery' said Dominic matter-of factly.
Dean felt a heaviness fall into the pit of his stomach, and looked in horror at Sam, who had begun to shake.
'w-what do you mean?' Sam stammered, fear coursing through his body.
'Well, let me explain this first game to you two...now. this cage you boys are in has only one key, and you need to locate and use the key before the time runs out, and you are locked in here for good!' Dominic smiled, looking from one shocked brother to the other.
'What? You guys honestly thought you two could get away with killing my dad? I loved my dad-and you just took him away!' he said, his voice dangerously low.
'Your dad was a psychopath who tried to kill us!' Sam gasped, pain lancing through his body.
'Maybe to you. But to me he was just pappy. And you took him away from me!' he spat.
'Let us out! Why are you doing this?' asked Dean.
Dominic scoffed. 'One word-revenge.' He said simply.
'Please...let us go!' pleaded Sam, closing his eyes against the pain that soared through his body like boiling tar.
'No. Now Dean, you better get cracking...otherwise you two will be stuck here for good!' grinned Dominic, before he walked away, chuckling.
Sam looked fearfully at his older brother, watching as he thought, trying to figure out a way out of their situation.
'he said I was the only one who could find the key...and that you had just come from major surgery' he gasped out, all the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place at the same time.
'Oh god...' he groaned, looking down at his brother's side as fresh blood dripped onto the floor.
Sam felt like icy water had just been poured into his system, fear clenching his stomach and heart as he put a palm onto the wound.
'No...No no no...' he said, looking at his brother in abject fear.
'This can't be happening...' said Dean, looking around for another alternative, but all he found was a grey tray with a scalpel in it.
'Oh god...' he moaned, before looking back at Sam. his brother had turned ashen white. He moved from his brother's tight hold and lowered himself painfully to the floor.
He gritted his teeth and pulled his shirt free with a deep growl of pain.
Under the clotted and congealing blood surrounding his skin, in a stark contrast to his pale flesh, was a line of black stitches.
'Oh my god...' Sam moaned, his fingers ghosting over the stitches.
'What's going on?' asked Dean, eyeing the tray with the scalpel on it again.
'The key, Dean-it's inside me!' he said, fear coursing through his body.
'No. It can't be-not you...' started Dean, but Sam cut across him.
'The scalpel...Dean- you have to use it!' he said, grabbing his brother's arm with a bloodied hand.
'No, I can't! You can't ask me to do that!' said Dean, backing away, shaking his head.
'You have to! Otherwise we won't be able to get out! Just do it!' said Sam, trying to pull him back, but Dean was pushing himself further into the wall. 'I can't Sammy...I can't!'
There was no way in hell that he was going to carve up his own brother, no matter what the reason.
'I can't do it myself! Please Dean...it'll be quick-just do it!'
'let me see...' ordered Dean, falling to his knees and pulling Sam's shirt up more, trying to ignore Sam's slight moan of pain.
He put a hand on the wound, and despite Sam's quivering stomach, he started to feel around for the key, relief flooding through him as he immediately felt the key, just under Sam's skin.
'It's not far in your skin Sammy...maybe I can get it...' mused Dean, smiling at his brother, trying to reassure him.
'Just get it out' came his reply.
Dean scrabbled across the room and grabbed the scalpel, hoping there was still time. There was no clock, no way of knowing when their time would run out.
'Dean! Hurry!' Sam said, laying himself down flat on the floor, shirt pulled up to expose the scar.
'Sammy...this is going to hurt!' he said, wishing more than anything else that he could trade places with his little brother, take the pain away.
He dropped to his knees and looked down at the stitches. He was going to need to cut them first, then get the key out.
'Ok, now keep still...it's gonna sting a bit' he said, before going down to make the first incision.
'No, really?' asked Sam, but he kept still, gritting his teeth and stiffening when he felt the cool press of a knife against his skin. He groaned in pain as he felt the knife go in, cutting his skin like paper.
Dean's hand was shaking, but he tried to keep it steady. His brother's blood oozed over the blade, spreading over his fingers and the back of his hand as he dug deeper. With the stitches now cut, it wouldn't be long before he got to the key.
After a few more seconds of digging, the blade touched metal, causing Sam to groan in pain.
'I got it Sammy-I got it!' he exclaimed, getting the knife under the key and prising it up. He used his other hand to grab it, and managed to get his fingers around the metal.
He closed his mind of to his brother's screams of pain, and dug his fingers into the wound, holding onto the key and pulling it out, blood soaking his skin.
'It's out!' he breathed, smiling up at Sam, who was still shaking, but looked relieved.
'That's...good...' he groaned, closing his eyes in pain.
'I'll unlock the door, and we can find our way out!' said Dean, but in his mind, he was pretty sure that it wasn't going to be that easy, but there was no way he was going to tell Sammy that.
'go..' said Sam, watching as Dean bounded to the door, and frantically put the key in the lock, turning it and hearing it click.
As soon as it did, the lights went out, plunging both brothers' into complete and utter darkness.
'Dean? What's happening now?' he heard his brother's scared, pain filled voice float across the room to him.
'I don't know Sam, but don't worry, I'm here' came his reply.
He was intent on protecting his little brother, no matter what the cost, to him or anyone else.
Wow, I think this chapter was a bit darker then usual, but I still hope you enjoyed!
What's going to happen now?
Find out in the next chapter!
Thank you for reading, and please review, I would love to know what you think!
