Candle In The Window
Candle In The Window
Chapter 11: Welcome to My Nightmare
Disclaimer: They are mine in my fantasies, and I get pleasure from them, but no money.
Welcome to the world thru my eyes.
AN: Once again you wonderful fellow SN addicts make my life worth the space I take up. Ta so much for your kind reviews of that last chapter. They were a warm spot to cuddle up to while languishing next to that frigid bitch called life. If anyone is my muse, it's you guys. (Virtually pets with great fondness, readers, reviewers, and lurkers)
Ta also for the well wishes on my surgery. It appears I survived. The point was to fend off a hip replacement but as is so often my luck, I had damaged myself more severely than first believed (how I did it remains a mystery) and now a hip replacement has become a 'when' rather than an 'if'. Ah well, such is life.
I've always said that I didn't care what I had to drag around with me as long as I could stay mobile; fate it would appear, has decided to call my bluff. To her I say, take your best shot. I got a lot of body parts left to go and as long as one finger and my mouth works, I'm good. (I can work with the one finger if it comes down to that.)
On with the show! Let's see if we can get these poor bastards dry again. Rubs hands and bites back nefarious cackle.
"C'mon, Dean," Sam grunted through chattering teeth. "Time to go."
He appreciated Emma's added strength as they raised Dean up and pulled him into a sitting position, ignoring his groans and noises of protest. Sam was quite sure Dean couldn't have fended off a rabid kitten at the moment, let alone he or Emma.
Dean's head fell forward and Sam braced him with a hand against his chest, which Dean immediately clamped with one of his own hands to help hold his body in place.
"Steady," Sam encouraged, trying not to wince as Dean's fingers dug into the back of Sam's hand. He tried to catch Dean's eye to offer him a smile, but they remained down, his breath coming in smothered gasps.
Dean's muscles jumped and shook, trembling with cold and pulling against each other as he fought to control them. The room was moving in a sickeningly slow spin and he couldn't keep his eyes open. He felt he had become part of the sounds around him as the house moaned in agony, its foundations steadily weakened by the floodwaters eating away at it, sinking metaphorically to its knees, its body mortally wounded by pressure, wind and rain.
He and this damned friggin' house were both gonna be sucked down into the mud and die.
"S…Sam…" he clutched at Sam's shirt, half-frozen fingers failing to catch at the fabric.
"What? Dean, what?" Sam asked anxiously, sinking waist-deep in the water, anxious to see Dean's face, instantly angry when he did. He knew that look and a coldness poured through him that had nothing to do with where he was.
"You gotta…leave me…" Dean's hoarse, broken voice, his eyes, begged Sam. "Please..."
Sam stood immediately and tried to haul Dean's leaden body up. "I don't want to hear it!" Sam snapped. "Just shut up! Nobody's gettin' left! Now get up!!"
"Sam…don't…don't be stupid…" Dean tried to resist but he was no match for Sam's angry strength as Sam yanked him upward.
"NO!" Dean growled, letting his legs go limp, no real effort required there, bringing them both back down on the bed. "Save her…save yourself—" Air whistled through his teeth as they clamped down, shuddering tremors rolling over his body.
Sam put his face in Dean's. "We've had this conversation!" He snarled. "We're not having it again! Now get your ass UP and help us get the hell out of here!!"
Worn hands suddenly closed over Sam's and he looked up into eyes, shining with icy determination even as the blue seemed to have been leeched away by time.
"Stop it," Her voice carried over the sound of the wind and the shrieking of the house.
Staring at her, slowly, Sam's hands relaxed and Dean sank back into the soggy bed.
Emma leaned over Dean, her tone a gentle remonstration. "He's not going to leave you, why are you trying so hard to leave him?" she asked, reaching to cup her hands against Dean's cold, pain twisted face. To Sam's surprise Dean's dull green eyes rolled to Emma's face.
To Sam's surprise Dean's dull green eyes rolled to Emma's face.
"You won't make it…with me…I want him to make it…" Dean choked. "Help him…make him see…it's too late for me…"
"Dean…" Sam broke in.
"It's never too late," Emma stated flatly, cutting Sam off. "There's always hope, even if it's keeping someone else's hope alive, even when it's hoping for something that isn't going to happen." She stopped and tears filled her eyes, spilled over, dropping with heated stings to Dean's face. Her voice shook. "Even if it's deluding yourself by lighting candles for a lost child you just want to come home."
Dean stared at her, his eyes flicking from her to Sam and back.
"Light a candle," she whispered, leaning close to Dean's ear. "If not for your sake, for your brother's. You may have lost your hope but don't take his."
Emma straightened, stumbled slightly as the floor shifted, catching herself on the edge of the bed. Her own body was numb with cold, but her voice was steady even as her hands shook.
"Everything is going to be okay," she said in a firm voice. "Sam's going to take care of you. He'll have you out of here in no time."
Dean swallowed, shivering, some of the tension leaving his muscles. He closed his eyes and nodded shortly, lower lip clamped between his teeth.
His eyes opened again and fastened on Sam, doing his best to glare. He coughed and cleared his throat, lifting his arm as best he could. "What the…hell…are you waiting for?" he forced out. "Help me…up."
Sam's face split into a relieved grin and he clasped Dean's hand with his, sliding an arm along Dean's elbow to support him as he and Emma worked to get Dean to his feet; Sam shouldering the bulk of Dean's weight and Emma doing her best to help.
"Thank you," Sam murmured, looking at her with a level of gratitude those words would never adequately express.
She smiled tiredly. "No one else needs to die here. Least of all the two of you."
Sam yanked the candle out of the wall where it was in danger of being extinguished by the rising water, indifferent to the hot wax he couldn't feel running down his hand.
"C'mon," Sam prompted again, pushing them forward, toward the door, trying to hold the candle high enough to offer something to light their way.
"S-sure…" Dean gasped, gripping their hands weakly, making the effort to take some of his own weight. "We're doin' great…"
He could feel things moving under the water against him, his mind instantly conjuring writhing tentacles wrapping themselves around his legs, pulling him from Sam's grasp and down into the icy blackness, water pouring into his lungs as he choked and struggled…
"Dean!" Sam barked as Dean suddenly tried to wrench away with a hoarse cry. "Calm down! We got you, it's alright!! It's okay!"
Dean rocked against them, struggling for balance that simply wasn't there, but then the suckers fell away from his body and he could move his legs again.
He squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head and ground his teeth together.
It's not real…
IT'S NOT REAL!
"The attic stairs are to the left of the upstairs bathroom. They stick, you have to pull hard." Struggling slowly through the swirling water, Emma gasped out instructions.
Dean was gripping her left hand so hard she was sure her bones were breaking as pain shot through her arm. Sam wrapped an arm around Dean's waist and tried to take as much of him as possible.
"You okay?" Sam asked Emma as she caught herself on the doorframe.
"I'm fine!" she assured breathlessly.
Sam had never been in a shipwreck, but he couldn't help but feel a kinship to people struggling down corridors that were filled with water, trying to get high enough to keep from drowning.
The walls of the hallway swayed and twisted in the wavering light from Sam's candle; pieces of the ceiling cracking and falling away to drop on them as they fought their way to the end of the hall where a cord with a handle dangled, knotted end dancing.
They were half-leaning on the wall as they staggered forward, the tilt of the floor worsening with each step, their footing becoming more and more precarious.
The rope pull of the attic stairs dangled within reach and Sam stretched out a hand to grasp it. As his fingers closed on the plastic handle the entire hallway, walls, floors and ceiling suddenly corkscrewed and gave way beneath their feet in an abrupt drop to the right that threw them in a heap against the opposite wall. The candle vanished with a hiss and blackness buried them.
Water surged around them, rushing past them in a muffled roar, mixing with the deafening screams of rending wood and exploding glass, current doing it's damndest to suck them back the way they had come.
Explosions of light from outlets and light fixtures fizzed and sparkled sending sparks flying as the hallway was alternately brilliant with light and plunged into total darkness.
Floorboards buckled around them. Sam felt a long, burning tear along his legs from what had to have been nails sticking out of the boards. Emma screamed as she was thrown into Dean, tearing both from Sam's desperate grasp. Dean went under, gasping and cursing.
"Dean!!" Sam yelled, struggling upright, grabbing the first splintered piece of wall or some such his hand encountered in the darkness. He reached blindly for the sound of Dean's flailing body and Emma's cries, trying to get his hands on anything living.
Another shriek of wood, lost in the cacophony of noise came from behind and unseen, the attic stairs spilled open, unfolding like a demonic tongue, the end striking Sam's head as it fell, knocking him senseless. Unseen in the flickering darkness, his body tumbled into the icy maelstrom of the hallway.
Emma braced her feet against a section of ruptured floor and grabbed at Dean's arm as it smacked into her, bringing him to the surface where he coughed and spluttered. The hall light exploded over them and she took advantage of the brief light to push Dean to her left.
"Here!" she cried,."Grab the door frame! Hold on as tight as you can!"
Obtusely, she was grateful for the buoyancy the water gave to Dean's much larger body, allowing her to move him with greater ease. She helped him get his arms around the doorframe that had torn free from the ceiling and wall. It gave slightly, but appeared be at least somewhat firmly attached.
Still choking, Dean's hands slipped and Emma pushed him back roughly. "You hang on to that!" She yelled. "I don't care if it's the last damned thing you do, you hold onto that and don't let go until I tell you!!" She half fell back into the water, letting the wall take her weight.
"Did you get the stairs down, Sam?" She called out, brushing the wet hair form her eyes. She twisted to look behind them, squinting. "Sam?"
Dean clutched the doorway as tightly as he could, cursing himself for his weakness, feeling the pull of the water around him, so cold and tired, so ready for this to end, alone he might have released his hold and let it take him where it willed, but Emma was right, he couldn't do that to Sam—
Dean's eyes popped open. Sam hadn't answered Emma's question.
Where was Sam?
"SAM!!" He yelled, feeling his grip relax.
Emma's voice rang out at the same instant, a bizarre echo of Sam's name screamed into the darkness surrounding them.
"Sam!!" Dean yelled again, "Answer me!" He pushed away from the wall, reaching into the blackness. The strength of the water tearing by was almost too much for him and he choked again as he went partly under. Something hard crashed into him then swept past as he shoved weakly against it.
"Emma! Where is he?"
"I don't know!" she cried, floundering away, sending another wash of water Dean's way and submerging him once more.
Emma cried out as she banged into the dangling staircase.
"What is it?" Dean shouted.
Emma ignored him and cast about with her hands grabbing into the water. "Sam!?"
Her hands encountered cloth and she clutched at it, pulling it toward her, grateful for the weight that told her she'd found him. She could feel and hear him coughing as his face went under and she struggled to keep his head out of the water.
"I've got him!" She shrieked, dragging Sam back the short distance she'd covered before she collided with Dean. He grabbed for them as their bodies struck him, pushing him back into the doorframe. He wrapped an arm around it as best he could, good hand clutched in the collar of Sam's shirt.
Sam moaned and shifted in their joint grip.
Thank God, thank God…
"What happened?" Dean gasped, trying to see if Sam were injured. It was still dark but it seemed he could make out the faint print of Sam's flannel shirt.
"I don't know," Emma wheezed, her eyes closed. "I think the…the stairs fell and hit him, they're down but…all twisted."
"Sam, c'mon m-man…" Dean coaxed, teeth rattling. Dean clearly saw Sam's eyes flutter. Dean spared a bleary look around.
It was getting lighter.
Grey light was filtering into the hall from the open bedroom doors, now twisted out of their frames.
Dawn was upon them.
Emma blinked as she realized the same thing, her posture taking on a watchful alertness. She reached over Sam to touch Dean's arm.
Dean's head had fallen to Sam's shoulder and he glanced over. "Wh-what?"
He could dimly see the water swirling around Emma's shoulders. She was looking up, on hand gripping the doorframe the other Sam's arm. Sam coughed and began to . lash in an effort to get his feet under him, groaning.
"It stopped raining…" she spoke so softly it was almost lost in the rush of water.
Dean's eyes snapped heavenward and he strained to listen. The steady pound of rain was gone.
"What the hell…" Sam pressed a hand to the back of his head. It felt like someone had belted him with a two-by-four. "Something hit me--"
Dean's head rolled against Sam's chest. He lifted a limp hand to pull Sam's tangled hair. "We need to get on…with this rescue mission…dude. Nap time's…over. You…okay?"
"I think the stairs fell on you," Emma said thinly, resting back against the wall. She rubbed her arm. Even freezing cold, she could still feel pain shooting down her left arm. There was a tightness in her chest she recognized.
"I'm okay," Sam said shaking his head. "Is it getting lighter?" He managed to get his feet under him but it was like standing in a shoulder deep pool, the natural buoyancy of his body making staying upright difficult. Dean slumped against the bit of doorway, head hanging, painfully shifting himself as sam moved away from him. The current had slowed but it was still an effort to move against.
Sam gave his attention to Emma. She rested against the collapsed wall, eyes half closed, taking choppy breaths, rubbing her left arm. He frowned, looking at her.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Dean lifted his head at Sam's question to blink at them both, experiencing an odd sensation of being outside himself. Sam, Emma, and the hall shifted in and out of focus. A sharp ache slithered up the back of his neck and he closed his eyes, biting back rising nausea, willing the clench of his muscles away.
Emma blinked and looked up. "Just one of my spells," she said, smiling weakly. "This has been…a busy day for me. Everything… will be fine soon."
Sam watched her a moment longer. If something was really wrong there was nothing he could do but try get her out of this along with Dean and hope help arrived in time.
No, help would arrive in time. He refused to accept any alternative.
He glanced back at Dean. Dean was watching him through half closed eyes. His head moved in the tiniest of nods and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly upward before his face twisted back into a grimace.
Turning, Sam half-swam toward the stairs, hanging lopsided from the ceiling. He grabbed them and pulled. They swayed from side to side but seemed well enough anchored above them. Satisfied, he allowed the water to carry him back to Emma and Dean.
"They should hold long enough." He rubbed his forehead, trying to ignore the pain in his head from the blow the stairs had given him. "We need to get moving." He reached out for Emma's arm.
"No," she protested, pulling away. "Help your brother; let me rest for a moment…please." She turned to look at Dean. "He needs you to help him. A few more minutes won't matter…to me."
Sam finally nodded and went to Dean rather than waste time arguing. "C'mon, let's get you up the stairs." He pulled Dean up with an effort. Dean fell against him, almost taking them both under. If Sam's balance in the water was dicey, Dean's was non-existent.
"More…fucking stairs?" Dean mumbled unhappily, eyeing the loathsome object. To him, the twenty or so feet he had to cross to reach it might as well have been a mile "I'm too tired." He fisted his one working hand in Sam's shirt. "Let me sleep down here…"
Sam shook his head. "Not a chance. Bobby'll be there soon. We gotta go."
Dean closed his eyes, his head falling forward. "You got any aspirin?" He groaned into Sam's chest. "I got a hangover…like you wouldn't believe…"
Sam put his arm around Dean's waist. "It's upstairs. All you gotta do is climb up to get them."
He started them walking against the current, a few faltering steps. Sam legs shook and trembled. Dean was almost pure dead weight. He put Dean's hands on the narrow hand rail of the attic stairs. Dean went to his knees in the water but managed to hang on.
"One step at a time," Sam urged, somehow managing to push and carry Dean, both of them grunting and gasping at the effort, up the swaying, creaking stairs, ending up sprawled on the sloped, buckled attic floor.
"You okay?" Sam asked slowly raising himself to his hands and knees.
Dean's only reply was a noise followed by a quivering intake of air.
Faint light came through the cracks in the roof and ceiling, enough for Sam to fumble his way quickly through the immediate boxes, remembering Emma's comment about getting blankets out of the attic.
A few steps and he located several dusty quilts strewn along the floor. He gathered up an armful, fairly certain they lay where they had fallen after Emma's discovery of her son's body in the trunk.
He hurried back to Dean, who had curled into himself, shaking uncontrollably. Laying several of the quilts on top of his brother Sam leaned close.
"Keep your eyes open, Dean," he begged. "Just a little longer. I'll be right back." He watched until Dean's eyes flickered open and he turned his head a little to look at Sam.
"G-go…" Dean forced out, his exposed hand fisting at the effort it took to say even that much.
Sam instantly swarmed back down the twisted stairs, cursing as the cold water shocked him all over again; stunned he hadn't grown used to it by now.
There was enough light to see down the hall now and it took less than a second to realize Emma was gone.
Heart thudding, Sam launched himself forward. "Emma!!" He pulled himself through the water calling her name, moving toward the open door of the spare room where he had left the trunk containing the body of her son. The closer he got the faster his heart beat.
No, please…
He hung in the door, staring into the early morning gloom.
Water lapped over the end of the bed, swirling around the mostly submerged trunk. The lid was still on and Emma lay on the bed next to it, half in and out of the water. One hand rested against the part of the trunk that still remained free of the water.
"Emma…" he said brokenly, the words catching in his chest. He stumbled forward, tripping on some unseen item under the water and splashed the rest of the way to the bed.
Reaching out he stroked the hair from her cold face with a shivering hand. "Emma?"
Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled. Her blue eyes so bright they appeared to almost glow. Her hand came up slowly and she pressed it to his face. "Sam…" she murmured.
"Let me help you," Sam said trying to get an arm under her to help her rise. "We have to go. It's just a little ways-"
She shook her head still smiling and gently pushed his hand back before returning it to his face. "I'm right where I need to be," she said softly. Even over the water moving around them and the continued creaks of the settling house he had no trouble hearing her.
"You have to come with us," Sam insisted. "We can make it, help will be here soon, everything will be okay-"
"Sssshhhhh. Hush now. Everything is okay," she replied. "Everything is fine now. Take care of your brother. Don't forget, He's waiting for you." She reached out and touched the corner of the trunk. "I've waited all this time for my son to come home. Thanks to you, he finally did." She took a slow shuddering breath, her eyes fluttering. "Remembering what happened, I realize that he's been waiting a long time for me. I need to go where he is" She gave a soft low laugh, another gentle smile curved her lips, her thumb brushing against Sam's cheek. "Who knows? Maybe he lit a candle for me…"
The smile still curved her lips, her thumb still stroking his skin. "Ben," she whispered, "My love…my light."
Her hand grew still and as Sam watched her eyes, there was no other way to put it.
She went away.
Gone to find Ben…
"No…" Sam murmured, clutching her hand. "No…Emma…" he bit his lip, throat aching.
For her, this nightmare had ended.
But not for him.
He forced a hand into his pocket and pulled out the medallion he had found next to Ben's body. He had planned on returning it.
Reaching out, he carefully wound the silver chain around Emma's limp fingers then leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek. "Thank you," he said softly.
He took a deep breath and pushed away from the bed, swiping roughly at his eyes. He paused at the door, but denied himself a last look back. Pushed into the hall against the current rushing past him, he struggled back to the stairs.
"I'm coming, Dean!" He shouted, needing to be heard over the water, over the destruction and needless dying. He grabbed the rail and pulled his exhausted body up, out of the water and back to the fight to keep his brother alive.
End Notes