Chapter 4:

While the Cat's Away….

Alastair's beaming face appeared above him once again…he cringed back as far as the restraints would allow, a trembling whimper broke from his lips and Castiel turned his head away, burying it in the flesh of his arm and shoulder, tucking it as far down as he could…

Alastair smiled deeply, savoring the sight of the whimpering, cringing angel…delicious…he turned briefly to pluck a clean towel from the table at his side, wiping his hands of the flesh and blood and sweat of the man he had laid to waste…he held them out before him, tilting his head as he gazed upon the tips of the fingers….blood caked heavily under his nails….a soft tsk tsk sighed from his lips…"that will just never do…", he thought to himself…he tipped the container of rubbing alcohol onto the towel briefly, letting the clear liquid thrum into the cloth and disappear into the fibers….replacing the bottle back to the table, he took the towel and rubbed at the blood and gore caked there. Once he had them cleaned to a satisfactorily pristine level, he tossed the towel down and retrieved the syringe and glass vial that lay waiting silently for use…

Piercing the rubber stopper, he thrust the needle deftly into the viscous liquid and plyed back the plunger, taking in a deep, heavy draw of the fluid therein….he pulled the glinting tip out of the vial with a practiced flick of the wrist and depressed the plunger with a slow, steady flex of his thumb until the liquid beaded along the surface of the metal…he looked with fascination at the gleaming tube he held, "awwww…." he breathed out softly...inwardly thanking modern technology as it furthered his appreciation of the art he wrought so masterfully… he sighed, placing the vial on the tray and moved the fractional distance separating him from his subject…

Alastair turned briefly to look behind him. A pair of demons looked on as he caught their night-dark eyes, nodding….they exited the room, returning moment later, one with a cart of medical objects de jour….and the other with an IV tree…the clatter of the wheels of the encroaching equipment echoed throughout the vast, dim space…

Castiel was near catatonic, withdrawing inside himself, refusing to face whatever new terror could possibly come next…he flinched visibly at every harsh thump and sighing squeak of the new agony he thought was being wheeled toward him…

Alastair allowed the demon servants to set about their assigned work, setting up the equipment, preparing the tubes and such…when they nodded their preparedness, Alastair reached out and dug his hands harshly into Castiel's scalp, gripping down into the wildly astray hair of the angel's host, dragging the haggard face to the fore-front of his view….he bent low, his harsh, hot breath ghosting over Castiel's ear…Castiel shuddered, his own breath escaping him in a terrorized, whimpering gasp, his eyes remaining stubbornly clenched shut…

"Castiel…now now….I'm done for the day…." the whispered hiss of his voice causing the angel to jerk weakly in his grasp, writhing to free himself from the proximity of pure evil that gripped him mercilously…Alastair's jackal-grinned maw fell open into a low, sinisterly rumbling laugh….."See now Castiel…if we were home, in Hell…I would merely think you back into one piece, whole, sound…like magic...a brand-new canvas to play upon for the next day…but…unfortunately for you, we are here…in this limited, weak world…and…I can't make you whole again…and knowing how prone these…….pathetic meatsuits are to disease and mortality, well…it just means I have to modify my routine ever so slightly…can't have nearly a much fun if you aren't able to scream for me…so, I just have to mend you up a little bit before I tear you back down again…"

Alastair wrenched the angel's head up and slammed it back onto the table, eliciting a surprised gasp of pain from Castiel's lips…his eyes flew open…which is exactly what Alastair wanted…he turned slightly and nodded to the demons, who swept in and deftly pierced the back of Castiel's hand, inserting the needlewith the connection for tube for the IV…another needle slid home in the crook of his arm, depositing the junction for a tube that would pump plasma into his system…a thick tube slid down his burning throat…it was quickly covered by a connector to a machine…he felt air rush into him, as the machine took over breathing for him…his laboring lungs piteously accepted the assistance without any resistance or hesitation…

Once Alastair was sure everything was in place, he nodded one last time to the demon servants and they took their leave…he bent over the weak form of the former Angel of the Lord and grinned down into the haunted eyes…"There now…buying myself some more time to play…but, as I am sure you would try to escape, despite the overwhelmingly unlikely odds against you, I am going to give you this sedative, to assure...your continued presence…" He tugged harshly backward on the hair in his grip, exposing the throat's pulsing veins and arteries….he stabbed the needle through the thin skin and angled it through the wall of the vein, depressing the plunger of the needle all the way down in one smooth, rapid movement, then snapping the needle out once again with oft-practiced ease…

Castiel's mind reeled, collapsing into the waiting abyss…his eyes rolled back to white and he fell away into the oblivion awaiting him….