Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville or Supernatural...or See No Evil.
Sequel to: Hallowed Ground
A year has passed since the events in "Hallowed Ground" so age-wise our main cast are as follows:
Lois Lane - 19 years old
Chloe Sullivan - 15 years old
Dean Winchester -23 years old
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Chloe awoke in a white night gown in a room she didn't recognize, the bedroom window having been boarded in and yet broken boards proved that recently they'd been broken outwards. The lights were off and the only reason she could see was because of the candles lit all over the place. It was probably supposed to cast a romantic vibe but they did nothing but freak her more as she sat up in bed and hugged the sheets to her. She searched the darkest corners of the room, terrified, knowing she wasn't alone, and when the shadows shifted and the male appeared it was all she could do to keep from screaming in fear.
"Fear not my child." The teenaged male in whom Preacher Hathaway resided announced as he slowly made his way towards the bed, working on the buttons of his shirt. "Your whole life has been for this purpose."
The fourteen year old pressed up against the headboard, eyes wide in horror, knowing this trapped, prey-like feeling all too well.
Hadn't she felt the same when her mother had tried to kill her?
Twice?
"Where's my cousin?" Her voice wasn't as strong and brave as she would have wanted it to be, the sound instead small and terrified. "What have you done with her? And where's Dean?"
"He's a sturdy thing, I had been sure he'd die, and yet when you finally stopped fighting me and I awoke he was right there, a little pained but otherwise dandy." The man announced as he reached the bed, crawling up on his knees. "His death, and that of the whore, will bring joy to the lord."
Her eyes widened in horror as she suddenly realized what was going on. "You're going to crucify them!"
"Sinners need to hang." He replied, yanking the sheets off of her viciously, leaving her feeling vulnerable and alone. "Only the pure may live in god's kingdom."
"You're sick." She hissed, pressed hard against the headboard.
The preacher didn't answer, only lunged for her.
Throwing herself to the side Chloe tumbled off of the bed to the ground, grunting as she stumbled to her feet. He grabbed her arm and she fought, screaming and clawing and somehow they'd knocked over the side table covered in candles, the flames quickly consuming the bed. He let go of her a second to try and put it out with a large jar of water, and Chloe took the opportunity to make it towards the window. She pulled herself halfway through the window by the time he grabbed her legs once more, pulling her almost completely in, her hands on the window frame the only thing keeping her from being dragged within the now raging inferno.
The door to the room was open and people were yelling, but flames blocked their entrance, his jar of water obviously not having been enough as the wood quickly caught fire with hunger.
"The Lord's work will be done!" Hathaway yelled.
"Screw! You!" Struggling, Chloe freed a foot and slammed it into his face, feeling the bones in his nose crack as he let go with a howl, giving her the chance to pull herself out of the room and onto the roof of the wrap around porch.
The blonde made to jump off but the followers of Preacher Hathaway fanned out beneath her, and she knew that should she jump she would be injured and captured. That didn't bode well for any chance of saving her cousin and Dean.
"The Lord's work WILL be done!" Hathaway yelled as he began to pull himself out of the window.
Screaming, Chloe looked around her before carefully making her way to the side and it was only thanks to the adrenaline in her system that she was able to pull herself up the half-broken trellis to the roof, looking around her, terrified. Beneath her, her feet began to warm uncomfortably as the fire continued to spread in the house below.
And then Preacher Hathaway began climbing up onto the roof.
She was going to die.
A stray tear made its way down her cheek as her heart throbbed in pain.
She didn't want to die.
…
Waking up with a silent scream Chloe tumbled out of bed and barely managed to grab the trashcan she'd placed there before going to bed, vomiting out the contents of her stomach. Her body shook violently with each heave, and by the time it was over she had only enough strength to lay on the floor next to the trashcan and close her eyes as silent tears made their way down her face. Her body shivered, her mouth was bitter, and her heart hurt. It was only because Lois' bedroom wasn't on the other side of the wall that Chloe allowed herself the freedom of actually sobbing, although even now she did it softly, resting her arm over her eyes as she did so.
It was very rare that she allowed herself this weakness, and even now she felt bad for indulging in this self-pity. She'd survived Hope. She'd survived her mother. How was it then that their memories could hurt her more than the actual events? How could she be so disgustingly weak? Dr. Masters believed that Chloe was the one who was to blame for the most of what was happening to her, that deep down inside she didn't believe that she should have survived, that she didn't deserve it…and that she was subconsciously punishing herself over and over again. If that was so, then Chloe hated herself terribly.
Once the sobs had subsided, the blonde finally sat up, taking in a deep breath as she reached for the bag under the bed, pulling it out. She unzipped it and shuffled within, grabbing a bottle of water and using it to wash out her mouth, spitting into the trashcan before tying the plastic bag to keep the stench from making her queasy.
Putting the bottle of water back into the bag, Chloe reached for the bottle of Grey Goose Adam had gotten for her. She thanked every deity out there for Adam and alcohol as she opened the bottle and took a long gulp. As always it was horrible without another taste to mask it, but after the first couple of gulps came the numbness she needed, sought. It came quicker thanks to her empty stomach, and she welcomed the buzz. The blonde never drank enough to get terribly drunk, couldn't trust herself not to do something to give everything away to Lois if she did, but she knew just how much she could drink so that she was a little more than tipsy and numb to the pain, both mental and physical. Dr. Masters called her behavior as "hiding from the issue", Chloe called it surviving.
Pushing up to her feet, Chloe shook her head, taking another sip before closing the bottle, placing it in the bag, and pushing it under her bed once more. She shivered at the rush down her spine before picking up the bag from the trashcan. There was no way she could sleep with the hint of vomit in the air. At her home she could usually just sneak outside and place the bags in the large garbage containers, but here she'd have to get to the kitchen and place it in the big trash can there.
She considered changing clothes, but figured everyone was either sleeping or screwing right now, so they wouldn't notice her. She stuffed her feet into her slippers and stepped out of the room, wearing only the tight camisole she only wore when sleeping since it was a low cut and showed her scar, and underwear shorts. The blonde stepped out of the room, looking side to side before closing the door behind her. The place was dark, but that was why she'd brought her flashlight along.
Yawning into her hand, Chloe made her way slowly, fighting the aftershocks of terror in her system, reminding herself that it'd only been a dream.
She needed to get over this!
No way was she going to get on the meds people with her issues were slaves to!
She was stronger than this.
She was.
A fly buzzed past her.
Chloe batted it away with her flashlight, not paying much attention to it.
Another fly.
And another.
Eyes widening in realization, Chloe dropped the bag of vomit and crouched down, covering her nose and mouth with her hands seconds before the swarm reappeared, descending on her with fury. She cursed herself for not having changed clothes before coming out, trying to peek out through her slitted eyes yet the flies were relentless as they flew around her, more daring ones landing on her. She shook her head and body, trying to get them off, yet never removing her hands from her face, refusing to let those things close to her mouth and nose. The thought of one flying up her nostril was horrifying.
She needed to get out of here back to the relative safety of her room!
Stumbling to her feet, Chloe pushed forwards before running into a hard body and giving a little cry as the force sent her backwards a couple of steps, forcing the teenager to remove her hands from her face to try keep balance. The flies were still around her, yet not in as thick a formation as before, and those that remained weren't enough to distract the blonde as her wide-eyed gaze fixed on the shadow-covered figure before her. She couldn't really make out who he was or what he really looked like in the darkness, but she knew without a doubt that he wasn't one of the people who'd come to this place with her.
He was someone else.
And he was huge.
A part of her wondered in horror if he was the one who'd watched her bathe earlier on.
The teen opened her mouth to scream but his large hand wrapped around the bottom of her face, completely covering her mouth and sealing any noise as he roughly twirled her around and slammed her back against the wall, keeping her pinned there with just one hand.
This man was strong.
Inhumanly so.
His other hand reached out and his large, clumsy, calloused fingers pressed uncomfortably hard against the intersecting scars over her chest. His head tilted as he observed them in what seemed like a mixture of fascination and reverence.
She scratched at the hand holding her, trying to scream at the top of her lungs and yet no sound escaped his hold. Finally she bit down on the meat of his palm, teeth sinking in and drawing blood.
A half choked snarl escaped his lips as he pulled his hand free long enough for her to let out a loud scream. Before she could let out another the man yanked her away from the wall only to shove her head back harder, her knees buckling at the blinding pain that spread through her. Darkness began to spot in her vision as strength left her body. Her eyes rolled back, and the last thing she remembered before blacking out was being thrown over his shoulder and disappearing into all-consuming blackness.
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The whole thing with Dean had been a bust and Lois had returned to her room in a bad mood and feeling very much like a fool. And really, what had she expected? She should have seen this coming. Given the little she knew about Dean she knew that his father was like hers except slightly deranged and somewhat obsessive, who would have probably been somewhat brutal in his punishments, fanatical in his rules. He'd have had boundaries in place, would never let Dean or his brother get out of line without feeling dire repercussions. It was probably why "Sammy" had been so eager to part ways with his family. She should have figured that if Dean stayed he somewhat shared his father's views. Should have been prepared for him to question things, to comment. When had he ever curved his tongue or kept his peace before?
And yet it'd been a surprise and a slap on the face. It made her feel like all she'd done hadn't been enough, that she was a failure, that she wasn't giving Chloe everything she needed.
And she probably wasn't.
That was most likely why she was so upset.
She knew he was right.
Suddenly a scream echoing throughout the hallways jerked Lois out of her misery as she jolted up into bed, eyes wide as she recognized the sound.
Chloe.
Tumbling out of the bed, Lois slipped her feet into her boots and pulled on her shirt, head hurting somewhat from the rum but she pushed it to the back of her mind and surged out of the room. Lights were coming on and some of the doors she passed opened to reveal those who'd been sleeping within, but she passed them without a second thought, following the trajectory of what she'd guessed was the origin of the scream. The fact that it was in the opposite direction of Chloe's room gave her a sick stomach, and that feeling didn't get any better when she turned the corner and found a small group consisting of Dean, Phelan, Beels already there, dressed in their sleeping clothes.
Behind her she could hear Sean, Pete, Trevor and Margaret catching up and stopping as well.
"Did you hear that?" Sean wanted to know. "What was it? Was it a scream? Was it real?"
"Is someone playing a joke?" Trevor's voice wavered.
"Everyone's supposed to be in their bedrooms." Phelan declared.
"That sounded like Chloe." Pete yelled.
Lois pushed passed the others to Dean's side, where a flashlight and plastic bag were discarded on the ground, the wood of the wall dented in slightly and coated in blood.
Dean nudged the bag with his shoe. "Looks like spew."
"Vomit?" Lois felt her stomach drop. "She had another nightmare."
"What do you mean they aren't in their rooms?" Phelan snapping at Beels caught Lois' attention as she turned towards their driver. "Where else would they be?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Beels looked away, unable to meet the man's gaze.
"Because you signed those three up!" Phelan growled, taking a step towards Beels. "You vouched for them! So where are they?"
"Where's Jenna?" Trevor turned to Sean.
Sean shrugged, apparently not all that worried. "We had a fight. You know she tends to avoid me for a couple of days as punishment when that happens." He ran fingers through his blonde hair. "She's probably still in her room."
"No, she isn't." Margaret announced as she hugged her shawl around her tighter. "I checked all the rooms on my way here and her room was empty."
Phelan turned his attention back to Beels. "That's two missing, teenaged girls! The two girls Wade was making no secret of his attraction to."
"Have you looked at the guy?" Beels finally snapped back. "He doesn't need to resort to these methods to get laid! Especially not by horny teenaged girls!"
"Hey!" Lois growled, taking a menacing step towards him. "You be careful what you say about my little cousin."
"Little?" Beels snorted. "Have you seen her body? She's been getting a good ramming in her, who's to say it's not Wade or his boys doing the job and they're not all just having some fun out there?" His gaze went to where Dean was before returning to her. "She probably learnt all about having a good time from you."
Lois lost it, and she didn't realize she'd punched Beels until the man was on the floor cursing her off vilely and screaming about a broken nose.
"Does anyone else hear that?" Dean suddenly spoke, apparently not interested in the man's plight, eyes narrowed as he gazed around him.
"Hear what?" Sean frowned.
Silence fell upon the group as the soft sound of a piece of music drifted to them in the hallway.
"It sounds like a ringtone." Pete mumbled, going towards the wall and pressing his ear to the wood. "And it sounds like it's in the wall."
"You said this place had secret passageways didn't you?" Lois turned to Margaret.
"The stories say so but we've never been able to find any." The old woman declared.
"Who's cell could that be?" Trevor wanted to know. "Ours were all taken away. I mean, even Mr. Beels' was taken away, and Ms. Margaret says she doesn't have one."
Phelan turned and hurried away, presumably to find where he kept their cellphones stashed away.
"Bitch." Beels continued to whine and complain on the ground, holding his bloodied nose. "This is all being taken way out of context! I bet you those two girls are just having a good time."
"There's blood on that wall man!" Pete snapped at him. "And we heard screams."
Margaret crossed herself, whispering softly something that sounded like a rendition of Hail Mary.
"There's got to be an entrance somewhere." Dean growled to himself. "A hidden lever, a lock, grip holes…something!"
"If it's Wade and his guys they're not going to need a secret passage." Lois growled, running her hand over her hair.
"What do you mean?" Dean's eyes narrowed as he turned towards her.
Pete took his position, checking the wall.
"Well, if rumors can be believed, they've got a talent of getting anywhere they want to be, even if it's a locked vault, without breaking any locks." Lois wanted nothing more than to call Adam right now and demand more information on his acquaintances, but considering she'd have to wait until Phelan brought their phones she was-.
A scream echoed throughout the hallway.
Dean took off immediately towards the sound, with Pete behind him.
"Was that…Phelan?" Sean squeaked, eyes widening.
Beels frowned, shaking his head. "It can't be."
Margaret continued to cross herself.
Not one to just stand around doing nothing, Lois hurried after Dean and Pete, hearing the others following her. She doubted in this time of uncertainty that anyone would want to be left alone to be picked off if something sinister was truly going on. They were prey, acting just like they should, and that made her feel queasy…and that was before she finally rounded the corner and stumbled to a stop in the doorway of Phelan's room, eyes wide in horror. Her stomach revolted, and it was all she could do to keep from vomiting…Sean not as successful as he spewed behind her after a cry of terror.
The bedroom was covered in blood, and Phelan was hung from the ceiling by a meathook lodged deep into his throat. His body had been mutilated beyond belief given the little amount of time that had transpired, but what terrified Lois even more was his empty eye sockets.
"Jesus." Trevor whispered, apparently able to keep his food better than his friend could. "How could this have happened? He must have been gone only a couple of minutes!"
Beels' eyes were wide in horror. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"
Lois turned towards him and grabbed the man by his collar, shoving him violently against the wall. "What do you know?"
"They were just supposed to get to the vault that's on the highest floor. That's all!" Beels looked ready to piss himself. "No one was supposed to be hurt! It was just supposed to be a normal job. In and out with no one the wiser!"
"You were planning on stealing from the premises?" Margaret gasped in horror and scandal.
"No one even knew it was there! And Luthor, who was the only one who knew about it, obviously didn't care enough to come and get it himself! It was up for the grabbing!" Beels pushed Lois away, snapping at the older woman. "No girls were supposed to go missing and no retired detective was supposed to be strung up like meat in a butcher's storage locker!"
"The phones aren't here." Dean announced, finally leaving the room with Pete still inside. "Whoever did this trashed the place and must have taken them. Phelan probably walked in on the person while this was going on and that was why he was killed this viciously and out in the open instead of being taken like Jenna and Chloe were."
"Where could he have vanished off to though?" Pete had his back to the body, visibly ignoring it desperately as he gazed at the walls. "There has to be a secret entrance somewhere in this room. This wasn't Wade or the guys."
"How could you possibly know that?" Beels snapped at him, obviously happy to believe that Wade and his friends were killers.
"It's like what Chloe was saying earlier tonight. Goodnight." Pete declared, finally forcing himself to look at Phelan's body, going paler as he did so. "Look at his eyes…or…uh…lack of them."
"I was thinking the same thing." Lois whispered, not wanting to have even considered it but now that Pete was thinking the same she had to give the idea some credence.
"What are you two talking about?" Sean groaned, visibly shaking, running the back of his palm over his mouth.
"Jacob Goodnight. This is his MO." Dean was quick on the uptake.
"Wait, wait, I remember this. You're talking about the Goodnight Murders." Beels frowned, running his hand over the back of his head nervously.
"The what?" Margaret frowned, hugging her shawl closer to her as if that offered some sort of protection.
"Some years ago this psycho went batshit crazy, had him a good lil massacre." Beels replied with a narrowed gaze. "He was known for his meathooks, removing the eyes, and almost inhuman strength. Phelan worked on the case. It's why he has a bum leg. But Phelan killed the fucker."
"This has to be a copycat then." Trevor pointed out. "It couldn't possibly be this Goodnight guy. He's dead."
"When's that ever stopped them before?" Dean growled as he left the room, hurrying towards his room, probably in search of his EMF reader and rocksalt gun.
A part of Lois wanted to go after him, but another part of her, a stronger part, forced herself into the room.
Chloe could be strung up somewhere in the walls like this.
Closing her eyes, Lois took in a deep breath, forcing her rising nausea and hysteria down as best as she could.
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Groaning, head killing her, Chloe blinked her eyes a couple of times before finally having the strength to open them fully. She closed her eyes immediately afterwards as nausea rose in her throat and the shadows spun dizzyingly. Her hand trailed from the rough floor to her head, to the throbbing pain, coming back away coated in warm wetness that held the faint aroma of metallic. Blood. She was bleeding. This so wasn't good.
Opening her eyes slower this time, Chloe fought the vicious dizziness and narrowed her eyes, trying to get her foggy gaze to clear up. She seemed to be in a cage of sorts, and that in itself didn't seem promising.
Forcing herself to sit up, the blonde leaned hard against the bars, her vision slowly clearing to show a large room with slight fire scorches yet other than the unholy clutter seemed to be in perfect condition. Either this was a part of the top level that hadn't been as badly destroyed as the rest of the place, or the reports of the damage had been vastly exaggerated.
Crying drew her attention as she slowly crawled towards the front of the cage, holding onto the bars as she narrowed her eyes, trying desperately to finish clearing up her vision. And when it finally did clear she wished it hadn't, because then she wouldn't have to see Jenna chained up to the wall, slices cut into her body in patterns and symbols.
"Jenna?"
The cheerleader gave a little cry in fear before she realized who it was that was speaking. "You're awake!"
"Who did that to you?"
"I don't know." Jenna's eyes filled with more tears as her bottom lip trembled with barely restrained sobs. "He's big, pale, and he looks so scary."
"Mental scary or deformed scary?" Chloe tightened her grip on the bars.
"I don't know!" Jenna cried out. "Get me out of here! Get me loose!"
"Don't scream, we don't know where he is right now." Chloe hissed. "He could be right in the other room."
"That's easy for you to say!" Jenna snapped, tugging on her chains desperately. "He hasn't decided to draw on you with a knife!"
"True, but I'm not exactly going to have a holiday here after he's finished with you, am I?" She felt a little bad for the horror that entered Jenna's eyes as she burst out crying, but Chloe needed the darker haired blonde to understand that she needed to be smart if she wanted to escape this in one piece. "Now stay quiet. We don't need him knowing we're talking. He could come up here and shut us up."
Jenna just continued to cry.
Shaking her head, Chloe tried her bars, grunting as she shook them with all her might, but none of them would budge. The gaps between the jagged bars weren't big enough for her to stick her hands out through them without getting cut and sliced up, but she was able to feel with her fingers and realize that there was a padlock keeping her firmly inside.
Things were just getting better and better.
"SEAN!" Jenna began to scream, tugging on her chains, the wrists held above her so abused they were beginning to bleed. "SEAN! SEAN! SEAN! SEAN! SEAN!"
"Shut up!" Chloe hissed.
"SEAN!" Jenna screamed louder, apparently beginning to lose it. "SEAN! HELP ME! HELP!"
Flies began to buzz around the room.
Suddenly the door on the other side of the room was kicked open, and a huge man entered the room, dragging a large and heavy chain with a meathook at the end. He was covered in blood, but that didn't hide the fact that he was incredibly pale, bald, and with eyes that were inhumanly blue. They were so clear his eyes almost matched his skin color. He was huge, incredibly tall and overly muscular.
Chloe's eyes widened in horror as she recognized him. "No."
"SEAN! SEAN! SEAN!" Jenna continued to scream and cry. "SEAN! SEAN! SEAN!"
Chloe felt her voice leave her as she slowly moved backwards towards the back of the cage, slinking into the shadow, fear choking her.
Jacob Goodnight stormed towards Jenna before leaning over her, tilting his head to the side as if examining a weird species.
"SEAN!" Jenna continued to cry. "SEAN PLEASE HELP ME! SEAN!"
"Leave her alone." Chloe's voice was wavering and not half as strong as she would have wanted it, more like a whisper truly. "Stop."
Goodnight turned towards her and eyed her before his gaze lowered visibly to her chest.
Chloe's gaze followed his gaze to her scarred chest, giving a little cry as she raised her camisole, trying to cover up the intersecting scars at the memory of his fascination with them.
"SEAN!" Jenna continued to cry.
Goodnight turned towards her and flexed his hands, his fingernails long and hard, resembling claws almost as he reached out and grabbed her hair viciously, keeping her head still.
"NO!" Jenna screamed. "NO!"
"Leave her alone!" Chloe managed a louder cry as she crawled back to the front of the cage, fingers gripping the bars tightly as she rattled them, trying to draw his attention away from Jenna. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"
"SEAN!" Jenna was nearly begging in her screams.
Goodnight made a little noise as the fingers of his free hand reached towards her face.
Chloe's heart skipped a beat in terror as she realized what he was going to do, shaking the bars harder in desperation. "NO! NO! Stop it! Please!"
But he didn't stop, and there was nothing Chloe could do but scream as Jenna's eyes were gouged out of their sockets.
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TBC
