Chapter Nine
Eve and Dean stood at the top of the basement stairs, listening to Sam pound on the door. After a moment, he stopped.
"Think he's given up?" asked Dean.
"Guys!" Sam yelled from the panic room. "Get down here! Something's coming!"
Dean looked at Eve. "What's he talking about?"
"It's a side effect of the detox," said Eve. "Hallucinations."
There was a commotion downstairs before Sam started yelling very loudly.
"Oh, hell…" Dean muttered, walking away from the stairs.
"No," Sam yelled. "Alistair, please. No—"
Dean froze, looking back at Eve. "He's seeing Alistair?"
Eve nodded sadly. "Probably."
Sam yelled again. "No! No! Please! Please!"
Dean and Eve walked over into the living room, listening to Sam as he yelled in pain over and over.
"Stop!" Sam yelled. "Stop!"
"How long is this gonna go on?" asked Dean.
Bobby sighed from his seat at the desk. "Here, let me look it up in my demon-detox manual." He began reaching for a stack of books before stopping. "Oh, wait. No one ever wrote one. No telling how long it'll take. Hell, or if Sam will even live through it."
"He'll live through it," said Eve suddenly. The guys looked over at her. She looked down at the floor. "He has to."
Dean looked over at the basement. "Well, at least he's stopped yelling."
"That may not be a good thing," said Eve. "It could mean a new hallucination."
"Let's go check on him," said Dean. He and his sister walked down the basement stairs and stopped at the door to listen in. Sam appeared to be talking to someone.
"I tried," said Sam. "I did. It didn't pan out that way. Sorry, kid."
There was silence for a moment.
"Look," said Sam suddenly, voice aggravated. "They killed Jessica."
"Who is he talking to?" asked Eve.
"I don't know," said Dean, listening intently.
"I know," Sam practically growled out. Long silence. "I'm sorry. I am. But life doesn't turn out the way you thought it would when you were fourteen years old. We were never gonna be normal. We were never gonna get away. Grow up."
"Is he talking to himself?" asked Eve.
"I thought we already established he was," said Dean.
"No, I mean, like a hallucination of himself as a kid," said Eve.
Dean shrugged. "Maybe."
An hour later, Dean and Eve were sitting on the floor in the basement, waiting for something else to happen.
"Mom," said Sam suddenly.
Dean and Eve startled, staring at each other. They got up and walked to the door, listening to what Sam was saying.
"Let's hear it," said Sam. "Go ahead." There was a moment of silence. "You're disappointed. You never thought I'd turn out this way. I'm a piss-poor excuse for a son."
Dean's jaw clenched at those words, sorrow filling him.
There was the sound of springs squeaking as Sam sat on the bed. "Your heart is broken. Am I close?"
There was a long silence.
"But—but Dean—" began Sam.
Eve looked over at Dean, waiting for Sam to speak again.
"For revenge?" Sam asked after a minute. There was silence. "What's…in me…Mom…it's—" There was silence. "What if it's stronger than me? Look at me. What if Dean's right?"
There was a long moment.
"Even if it kills me," said Sam.
There was silence from the room.
"You think she's gone now?" asked Dean.
"Probably," said Eve. "What do we do now?"
There was a crash upstairs and a yell from Bobby.
"Now we help Bobby," said Dean as they darted for the stairs.
They emerged into the living room to see Bobby by the wall with a salt gun and a man in a suit…a familiar man.
"Hello, Dean," said the man.
"Zachariah," said Dean. "What are you doing here? The apocalypse is over."
"Exactly," said Zachariah. He walked towards Dean, his face a mask of rage. "Who do you think you are?"
Dean smirked at him. "Dean Winchester…at your service."
"You pathetic maggot!" Zachariah shouted, towering over Dean. "You were supposed to fall in line! You were supposed to obey your orders! You were supposed to let Sam kill Lillith when the time was right!"
"Oh, really?" said Eve. "Well, it looks like we wrote our own ending."
Zachariah raised his hand—probably to smite them—when someone grabbed his hand. He looked to his right to see Castiel and another man there.
"That's enough, Zachariah," said Castiel.
"Who do you think you are?" said Zachariah. "You are my subordinate!"
"But I'm not," said the other man.
Zachariah's eyes widened. "Of course not, sir. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was you. But…with all due respect, these boys—"
"Have saved their world," said the man. "It was not the way it was destined to be, nor the way we wanted it exactly…but Lucifer is not unleashed upon this world. We are not to interfere in human matters any longer. You are to return to heaven immediately."
Zachariah bowed his head. "Yes, sir." He disappeared. The man and Castiel turned to Dean and Eve.
"Who is this, Gabriel?" Dean asked.
"Michael," said the man.
"As in the archangel Michael?" asked Eve.
"Yes," said Castiel. "You both did well. Sam, too."
"Does that mean it's over?" asked Dean.
"Yes," said Michael. "Congratulations."
He and Castiel disappeared.
"Guys!" Sam yelled from the basement. "Help! Bobby! Dean! Help! Eve! Guys! Help!"
"They couldn't have helped Sam while they were here?" grumbled Dean.
"At least we don't have to worry about the angels anymore," said Eve. "Or about Lucifer breaking out."
"That's a relief," said Dean, looking over at Bobby.
"Now we just gotta get Sam out of this," said Bobby.
Eve suddenly perked up, frowning as she looked at the basement doorway. "Speaking of Sam…"
The three of them froze, listening to the sheer silence emanating from the basement.
"You hear that?" said Dean.
"That's a little too much nothing," said Bobby.
The three of them rushed towards the stairs, climbing down them and rushing towards the panic room door. Bobby opened the window of the door, and the three of them peered into the room. Sam was lying on the floor, convulsing and groaning in pain.
"What if he's faking?" asked Dean. Sam flipped over onto his back, back arching from the floor as he seized.
"You really think he would?" asked Bobby.
"I think he'd do anything," said Dean.
Sam was suddenly pulled from the floor and swept through the air, slamming into the wall of the panic room.
"That ain't faking," said Eve.
Bobby rushed to open the door as Sam was thrown along the wall, turning until he slammed onto his back against the wall opposite the door. Sam raised his arms to fight off whatever hallucination he was seeing. Bobby and Dean rushed forward, grabbing Sam's arms and pulling him to the floor as he seized. Eve stood over them as they pinned Sam's arms to his chest. Bobby ripped his belt off and shoved it into Sam's mouth to keep him from biting his tongue.
"We're gonna have to tie him down for his own safety," said Bobby.
Dean stared in horror as Sam's eyes rolled up into his head as he convulsed.
"Dean?" asked Bobby. "You with me?"
Dean could only watch as a line of blood ran down from Sam's mouth and his eyes slid closed as he seized some more.
"Dean!" Bobby yelled to grab his attention. "Before he has another fit!"
Dean shook himself to clear his head. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get it over with."
"Hold on," said Eve. She pulled out a flask of holy water and removed the belt from Sam's mouth.
"What are you doing?" asked Dean.
Eve didn't answer, but she forced Sam's mouth open and poured some holy water in his mouth. She closed Sam's mouth, forcing him to swallow it. Sam settled, his body instantly calming down.
"Holy water?" asked Dean. "Really?"
"Hey, demon blood makes him worse," said Eve. "Holy water makes him better."
"Huh," said Bobby. "Makes sense…I guess."
They moved Sam to the bed, pulling out some handcuffs. They cuffed Sam's hands and feet to the rails of the bed.
"Come on," said Dean. "Let's head up."
Bobby left the panic room, waiting for Eve and Dean to leave before closing the door. Eve and Dean sat at the basement door, waiting the long hours until Sam got better.
Two hours later, there was the sound of metal clinking—probably the handcuffs shifting against the bed rails.
"You think he's up?" asked Dean quietly.
"You know why," said Sam suddenly.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Eve. They stood and waited by the door to listen to Sam's latest hallucination.
"Of course," said Sam. There was a long silence. "The point?" This time Sam sounded exasperated, and they heard him shifting in the handcuffs. "How about stop the damn apocalypse?" There was a long silence again, and they heard the bed springs squeak as Sam laid back down. "Just leave me alone."
There was silence again.
"No," said Sam. "You're wrong, Dean."
Dean froze as he looked at Eve. "He's hallucinating me?"
"Stop," said Sam. There was silence again. "Stop it." Sam repeated a little more forcefully. "Shut up!" Sam yelled. "Just—shut…the hell…up!" Sam rattled his chains in aggravation. "Dean, no." There was a longer moment of silence this time. "Don't say that to me. Don't you say that to me."
After this, there was silence. The hallucination had ended.
"You guys wanna check this out?" asked Bobby.
Dean and Eve looked up to see Bobby on the stairs.
"Check what out?" asked Dean.
"Come on," said Bobby. Dean and Eve walked up the stairs after Bobby, heading into the living room. "I put an EVP recorder in the panic room. I've been getting some hits."
"I thought Sam was hallucinating," said Eve.
"He is," said Bobby. "But with the demon blood, his hallucinations are appearing on the EVP."
"What do you got?" asked Dean.
"You're not gonna like it," said Bobby as he hit play.
"The answer's yes," said a young voice faintly on the recorder. Bobby turned up the volume. "You're hallucinating." There was a moment. "That's right, it's me. Or I mean, it's…you."
"I'm losing my mind," said Sam, his voice slightly louder than the younger one.
"Definitely," said the boy.
"What do you want?" asked Sam.
"An explanation," said the boy. "How could you do this to me? I thought we were gonna be normal."
"So he was talking to himself," said Dean.
"I tried," said Sam. "I did. It didn't pan out that way. Sorry, kid."
"'Sorry, kid?'" said Young Sam. "That's what you have to say? It's all we ever wanted. We were so close. You got away from Dad. You quit hunting. You were gonna become a lawyer and get married. Why'd you blow it?"
"Look," said Sam with a bit of force. "They killed Jessica."
"Yeah. And if you hadn't run off with Dean, if you'd been there to protect her, she'd still be alive."
"I know."
"You think Jess would want you to turn into this? She loved you. You think she'd be happy you using her as an excuse?"
"I'm sorry. I am. But life doesn't turn out the way you thought it would when you were fourteen years old. We were never gonna be normal. We were never gonna get away. Grow up."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe there's no escape. After all, how can you run from what's inside you?"
Bobby pressed stop. "Okay, this next one is an hour later." He put in another tape and pressed play.
On the tape, Sam groaned in pain.
"Poor baby," said a woman.
Dean froze as he recognized the voice. "Mom?"
"Mom," said Sam from the tape.
"Sam," said Mary. "You look just awful."
"Let's hear it," said Sam. "Go ahead."
"What do you mean?" asked Mary.
"You're disappointed. You never thought I'd turn out this way. I'm a piss-poor excuse for a son." The bed creaked as Sam sat. "Your heart is broken. Am I close?"
"Not at all. You're doing the right thing, Sam. What you're doing is brave. You're not being crazy, you're being practical. Sam, I am so proud of you."
"But—But Dean—"
"Your brother doesn't understand. I was raised a hunter from a long line. We understand that there are gonna be hard choices. And we do what we have to, to get the job done. Yes, our family is cursed. But you—you have the power to turn it into a gift. You can use it against them."
"For revenge?"
"No, for justice. I know how scared you are."
"What's…in me…Mom…it's—"
"Evil. And you know it."
"What if it's stronger than me? Look at me. What if Dean's right?"
"Dean can never know how strong you are…because Dean is weak. Look at what he's done to you. Locking you in here? He's terrified. He's in over his head. You have to go on without him. You have what it takes. You have to kill them all. All the demons."
"Even if it kills me."
"Make my death mean something. I'm counting on you, Sam. Don't let anyone or anything get in your way. Not even Dean."
Bobby stopped the tape and pulled it out. "I think that Mary was the demon blood talking."
"Sounds like," said Dean. He looked up at Bobby hopefully. "You got another one? Maybe of me?"
Bobby nodded. "This one was just now." He put in another tape and pressed play.
They heard Sam sit up on the cot.
"We had to," came Dean's voice from the tape. "The demon blood was flinging you all over the room. Tell me something, Sam. Why did you do this to yourself?"
"You know why," said Sam.
"Right," said Dean's voice. "'Kill Lillith.' The big excuse. But why? What, revenge? Right?"
"Of course," said Sam.
"Revenge for what? For sending me to hell? Did you happen to notice I'm back? Alive and kicking! So, what's the point?"
"The point?" said Sam, jiggling his handcuffs in frustration. "How about stop the damn apocalypse?"
"My gig! Not yours! The angels said so, remember? God picked me, man! So, you got any other fantastic excuses? Hm?"
They heard Sam lay down on the coat.
"I know why you really drink that blood, Sam," said Dean's voice.
"Just leave me alone," said Sam.
"Makes you feel strong," said Dean's voice. "Invincible. A big bad wolf in a world of little pigs."
"No. You're wrong, Dean."
"It's more than that, isn't it? It's because your whole life, you felt different. Am I right?"
"Stop."
"Oh, I hit a little close to home, huh? Not different because you were some lonely kid or because of your weirdo family."
"Stop it."
"Because you're a monster."
"Shut up! Just—shut…the hell…up!"
"You were always a monster. And you only feel right when you're sucking down more poison and more evil!"
As Sam struggled with his handcuffs, Dean felt his heart clench. "Is that what Sam thinks of me? That I believe he's a monster?"
"Monster, Sam," said Dean's voice from the tape. "You're a monster."
"Dean, no," said Sam.
"And I tried so hard to pretend that we were brothers," said Dean's voice. "That you weren't one of the filthy things that we hunt. But we're not even the same species. You're nothing to me."
"Don't say that to me," said Sam. "Don't you say that to me."
Bobby pressed stop. "It's a friggin' maze in that kid's head." He looked at Dean. "And it's up to you to straighten it out, boy."