Author's Note: Here is the next chapter! A special thanks to those of you that continue to review!
Chapter 11: Playing
Fire. One thought coursing within his mind: fire. It grew within him as he clenched his eyes shut in misery. His very insides flared with unimaginable agony as he willed himself to stay conscious. She was still playing—toying with him as if he were something she'd found under the tree on Christmas morning.
The feeling of fire subsided and Sam forced his eyes open. Max had appeared and was striding down the aisle. The look of dread on his face suggested that he was about to tell Lilith something she wasn't going to like. She took the cue and met him near the aisle.
Max whispered something as Sam strained to hear the words. He couldn't understand them, so he concentrated on Max's lips and was able to see that he spoke Dean's name at least twice.
"What happened?" Sam was still reeling from Lilith's most recent attack, but the idea of Dean brought him to full attention. Sam yanked on his binds with all he was worth, hating the inanimate rope more than he'd ever hated anything. Rubbing his hands back and forth, he felt the rope on his right wrist shift. He glanced down, unable to see exactly what he'd done, but hope sparked within him.
Finally Lilith turned away from Max and approached Sam. Her expression was troubled for a moment before she replaced it with her sickeningly innocent smile.
Sam couldn't help himself from questioning her about Dean. A hundred awful possibilities had already flown through his mind, "What happened? What'd you do to him? If you hurt him, I will—"
His words were cut off by excruciating pain that ripped through his head and flowed quickly down towards his chest. He gasped and choked, feeling as if he were on the brink of death. He felt his legs flail pointlessly as he writhed in agony. When he was sure he would die from the pain, it drew back, though he could still feel it, licking at the outer edge of his life force.
"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy," she sang in a voice that made Sam's skin crawl with dread, "I don't have to kill you." The word 'kill' was stretched into at least four counts within her self-composed song, "I just want to take it."
Sam pulled his head up, still dizzy from the pain, "Take what?" He was entirely exhausted with resisting her power and wanted nothing more than for it to end. He had opened his mouth two different times, intending to exclaim that he would give her anything—anything—to end this torture, yet both times he had been able to stop himself.
Lilith's 'meat suit' took a bow at these words, as if Sam had somehow complimented her, before grinning with a mouthful of teeth, "Your power, Sam. I want it." Sam was apalled by the fact that she sounded like a child demanding a toy at the supermarket.
Sam couldn't help but be thankful for the fact that she had quit assaulting him for the moment and decided to continue the conversation, hoping it would delay another unbearable attack, "Power?"
"It can be separated," Lilith spoke the words as if they were discussing the weather over morning tea, "I don't want you, Sam. I just want your power. If you resist long enough, it will kill you—then no one gets it." She paused as she brought both of her hands to her face, revealing purple painted fingernails. She pressed her hands to her cheeks and made a show of sighing out a long breath, "And that would be a shame."
Sam swallowed and glanced towards the floor. She knew she was breaking him—that he couldn't last much longer—but he didn't know how to give her this so-called power. Even if he'd wanted to, he had no idea how to go about doing so.
Sam. A stern voice was on the verge of scolding him within his mind—Dean's voice. Dean's voice had been periodically popping into his mind, willing him last long enough for Dean to come back. Every time Sam began to consider giving in, it was there, encouraging him to resist her power.
Okay, Sam finally answered the voice that he had created to help him somehow survive Lilith's torturous game. But hurry.
Lilith was standing in front of Sam, eyebrows tilted up expectantly and her bottom lip slightly pushed forward, pouting, "Give it to me."
Sam was finally able to bring his eyes up to meet hers, "No."
Another surge of anguish slashed through Sam's attempt to rationalize the situation. "Aaaughh!" He dipped his head down, wishing with all of his being that his hands were available to hold his aching forehead. Somehow the pain allowed him more focus than he'd felt in days. He emerged himself in it—until he wanted it—then he used it, once again tapping Dean's energy as he spoke, "Bitch!" He felt her essence pull away again and knew that she was thoroughly disappointed.
Sam had accomplished something, though he wasn't sure what it was. Lilith was forcing herself to appear unaffected by what Sam had just done, but he knew better. He could feel it in the presence that she had just been forcing upon him. She was pissed.
"Fine," Lilith's face revealed that she wanted Sam to believe she was undaunted, "There's always plan B." She smiled sweetly, as if she'd just revealed the fussed-over cake for the birthday boy, "You won't give it to me? I'll take it."
Lilith broke her childish demeanor as she snapped her fingers and looked expectantly towards the door. Sam twisted in his seat, anxious to see what the next stage of his torture would be. To his surprise, there was a woman striding down the aisle of the theatre, an apprehensive look on her face.
"Hello, Beth." As Lilith tilted her head to the side, her eyes once again grew strangely large as she offered Beth a toothy smile.
Beth finally passed the last row of chairs and walked towards Lilith and Sam. She was an attractive, middle-aged woman with shockingly red hair, which fell just below her shoulders. She was broad shouldered for a woman and she was carrying a good-sized tote bag over her left shoulder. Sam also couldn't shake the feeling that she seemed somehow familiar, although he was almost certain he had never seen her before.
"We're going to have to do it your way. If I push any harder, it might kill him," Lilith spoke in a tone that a child would use to discuss the strategy of a merry-go-round, "What do you need?"
To Sam's surprise, she stopped at least five feet away from Lilith, obviously fearful of her. Lilith pretended not to notice and continued to smile unnervingly.
"I have what I need here," she motioned her head towards her bag, "But I need the room to be empty—aside from Sam and I."
At these words, Sam's eyes flew back to Lilith as he felt a surge of hope. If Lilith were out of the room, she wouldn't be berating his body with her force. That was something Sam couldn't help but be thankful for, regardless of Beth's plans for him. Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than Lilith's torture had been.
Lilith frowned at these words as she turned back towards Sam and cocked her head to the side, resembling a confused dog. As her eyes dug into him, Sam held his breath, fearing another attack simply for her amusement. After a long moment, she turned back to Beth, "I don't like that."
Beth was positively squirming under Lilith's gaze, "It's the spell. If you're here, it could affect you as well."
Lilith pursed her lips together, disappointed at these words. As her eyes seemed to be burrowing into Beth, questioning her loyalty, Beth shifted her weight nervously. Lilith sighed and clicked her tongue. Then the brilliant smile took over her features—the one that made Sam feel nauseous.
"Fine," She gave Sam another long stare before practically prancing around Beth and towards the back of the theatre. When she reached the entrance, she turned back, "Don't be too long—and try not to kill him. I want to give Sam a little taste of what we're taking from him."
O O O O O
The impala purred to a stop a block away from the abandoned theatre. Dean knew that they would all be on high alert and could only hope that they hadn't left. He cut the engine and climbed out of the car, running through a quick supply check. Machete? Check. Gun? Check. Plan? Sorta. Leverage? Check.
As if on cue, a thump and a muffled grunt came from the trunk of the impala. Dean smiled as he tapped the hood of the trunk twice with the machete and said quietly, "Don't hurt yourself, old buddy." He started to slink towards the alley in which he had made his escape only hours before. As an afterthought, he frowned and turned back towards the car, saying a little louder, "And don't hurt my car!"
As Dean surveyed the streets, he was pleased to see that most of the buildings in the immediate area seemed abandoned. He hadn't taken any real notice to the surroundings when they'd been shuffled up to the theatre in the mild light of the coming morning; and he certainly hadn't bothered to stop and make any observations as he'd hopped a horse trailer out of the alley when he'd escaped. Peering around the streets, he spotted a total of three people and barely felt the need to even hide his machete, as the three people he did see were walking with their shoulders slumped and their eyes to the ground. Odds were they knew something nasty had been going on that theatre and were too afraid to interfere, fearing that they might just get a little nastiness thrown their way for doing so.
Wishing that it was dark so he'd have more cover, but knowing that he couldn't possibly wait until nightfall to get back to Sam, Dean worked his way nearer to the theatre exit that had provided his means of escape. As expected, there were two men guarding that door with large automatic weapons and rather bored looks on their faces. Not only had they learned from their mistake of allowing Dean to escape, it was apparent that they expected him to come back. And they were ready.
O O O O O
Beth sighed heavily after Lilith had taken her leave. It was obvious that she was relieved to have Lilith out of the room as she took the last two steps towards Sam, being careful not to get close enough for him to make contact with her using his feet. She sat Indian-style with her back against the front part of the stage and lowered her bag in front of her, all the time avoiding Sam's gaze.
Glancing over his shoulder towards the entrance, Sam was satisfied that they had been left alone. He began speaking quietly and rapidly, "Don't, please. Whatever she wants you to do, don't do it."
Beth essentially ignored Sam, but he could see her frowning. She still avoided looking anywhere near him as she began to pull items from her tote bag.
Sam continued to work his hands under his ropes, fully aware that he was rubbing them raw and not giving a damn. He was now able to move his right wrist at least an inch back and forth and could feel that he was gaining some slack. He twisted it, pulled it, pushed it; moved his right arm in every way possible, attempting to loosen the binds.
Sam recognized a few of the things that Beth had produced, but wasn't sure how they would be used together. As he continued to work at the ropes, Sam tried again to speak to Beth, "You don't want to do this. You don't have to be afraid of her, alright?" He tried to sound sincere and reassuring instead of scared and pleading, like he felt, "Just—please, just look at me."
To his surprise, Beth finally lifted her head to stare into his face, her light green eyes frightened, "You don't understand."
Sam was bewildered to see that she was on the verge of tears, "I do, okay?" Sam nodded his head, wanting to get through to her, now that she was actually looking at him, "I know what she's capable of, but we can get away. We'll both go—right now."
"She'll—" Beth glanced fearfully at the entrance to the theatre as if she expected Lilith to somehow know of the exchange that was taking place, "She'll hurt them," Beth finally finished in a whisper as a choked sob escaped her body.
Horrified, Sam could only stare back for a moment, "Your family?"
The answer came in the form a meek nod as she dropped her eyes away from Sam, clearly ashamed of what she was doing, but fully believing that she had no choice.
Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading, friends! I hope to have a new chapter posted some time tomorrow! (As always, all comments and reviews are appreciated and answered!) Cheers!
